For years research has said that education should be student-centered and collaborative. Now teens have found a way to do this and most educators are going out of their way to stop them-sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it?

However this what is happening with social networking. The commentary Don’t Tell Your Parents: Schools embrace myspace looks at the use of social bookmarking in schools. Many schools are trying to block sites that waste time and attract nasty attention-think bullies and pedophiles. However these negative views often overlook the many positives that can be gained from social networking. This is a student-centered way of learning, dialoges and conversation are generated around the knowledge. For many years we have known that group study works and technology now offers a whole new way to embrace this.

picture source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/93136022/

written source:Don’t Tell Your Parents: Schools Embrace MySpace
Andrews, R. (2007).Don’t Tell Your Parents: Schools Embrace MySpace.Wired.