Facebook vs. Face-to-Face
I was reading the article in the Sept/Oct issue about whether or not Facebook can replace face-to-face in education. Though I think the opinions presented are important, I find them to be far to biased to be present in the educational world. Why can we not compromise between the two? Students are indeed living in a world where face-to-face interaction must be fostered, but along with that they need to have internet presence, responsibility, and networking skills. The internet and the ability to effectively use specific sites, such as Facebook, is extremely important in today's world, both socially and in a business sense. Because of this fact, I think it is important that as educator's we address both forms of communication with our students. Both the point and counterpoint sides of this argument in the article are completely biased and are not arguing for a mix of the two. We cannot teach students to communicate merely on the internet, for they will not have the social skills necessary. But at the same time, student's who can only communicate face-to-face will have no idea what to do when assignments or jobs in the future ask them to use the internet for an interview, search tool, or networking opportunity. Essentially, both means of communication need to be addressed, and I am a bit disappointed that this face was not addressed in the article.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Marcy Beaverson on -
I agree with you Cassie, both skills are important. Students need to be able to communicate using the internet, but that doesn't mean we should let their face-to-face skills go by the wayside. I think overall we have to look at technology and how it's transforming social norms. Many students, and adults, will zone out into their phones and become more engrossed in their texting or hand-helds than what's going on around them. Students are losing their ability to write a complete sentence with proper punctuation because they are used to their texting language and you see it all the time on sites such as Facebook as well. I think instead of doing away with face-to-face interaction, schools need to incorporate things such as Facebook. I also believe a lot of them are doing just that with their Moodle and other blackboard type sites. Students have access to the classroom through these sites, but they do not replace the face-to-face instruction they need, not only to learn the material, but to learn proper social behavior.
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Permalink Reply by Brooke Roth on -
I don't think that Facebook will ever be able to replace face to face instruction, simply because people can't instruct on Facebook. Often times when students come in to ask teachers for help, the teacher uses a multitude of ways to get the concept across such as using different explanations or drawing pictures. This type of one on one communication can't be duplicated on Facebook. I agree that Facebook is getting used more and more for networking, and that social skills are beginning to lack because of it, but I don't think that this trend will change the way that students and teachers interact when it comes to asking for help.
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