Social Networking

While working through this lab, I discovered that there are huge professional development opportunities that I am missing. There was a music technology conference last fall that took place online. It was even free! I had no idea this was happening. Maybe if I had known the advantages of social networking, I could have taken part. It will also be great as a professional development tool itself. I can have access to what other music teachers are saying on my Music Ed widget that is embedded on my blog. Also, I can pass this information onto my music colleagues, who like me two weeks ago, may be oblivious to these professional development opportunities.

As for Facebook, I have been a member for years. Although it is a quick and easy way to contact almost all of my friends, we rarely use it for professional purposes. It is more of a “look who had a baby” tool. For the most part, I think this is how students use it, too. Ok, maybe not for BABIES, but for social news, and that’s ok. We, as adults, sometimes need to keep our social and professional lives separate. The same can be true for students with their personal and school lives.