Interesting question... see this story in Stuff.co.nz before it is removed. I have noticed a significant drop in blogging traffic across the various ones I have subscribed to. A sign of the times? If so, no doubt more research attention and activity will go toward trying to exploit Facebook and MySpace for educational purposes (said with a hint of cynicism). However, as I mention in E-Primer 5, the issue of genre is an important one. It could be too late to redeem the likes of social networking for the purposes of educational discourse. Consider this quote from the Stuff article:
...the online network is like a virtual pub, where you and your chosen "circle" can share photos of your weekend shenanigans, look up old classmates or simply waste time on trivia quizzes that prove your pop culture mettle.Sounds like promising stuff for academic learning! Now, where can I get me a research grant...
1 comment:
I have yet to see Facebook match the pub as a learning space! Though blogs have probably been even better for me as learning opportunities than CS Lewis favourite pub (the Eagle and Child) was when I was a studenbt round the corner from it ;)
By this I mean Facebook is good for building, and building up, relationships, but useless for exploring ideas. Conversation with an interesting group in the pub was a very good way of doing that (as CS Lewis and the other Inklings demonstrated). Blogs (at their best) can offer something similar at a distance in space and time. As you say the question of genre is really important!
Post a Comment