There would be practically nobody who never heard about any of these sites Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning, Orkut etc. It is hard to find people who don’t have an account in these networking media. Surveys shows that around 20 million minors are actively using Facebook and there are 7.5 million people are below the age group 13. There is lot of concern and over these figures. The reasons and remedies were discussed in the globe wise and so as in our country. The blame was put on Facebook privacy system as well as on the lack of parental care.

There are debates and discussions going on the negative effects of these social networking medium on the learning part of the students. Why this much of concern about the student using these social media? Why the teachers are disturbed when the students are tweeting or updating the status in the Facebook page? Why we consider that the Networking sites only mean for distracting the students from the studies?

If the students are interested in these sites why can’t we make use of these sites as an effective tool for teaching. In this technology driven world we can make use of every opportunity for excellence. The downsizings of social media to the field of education can a larger difference in the learning sector. Some of the advantage of putting these social networks on the classrooms can be

Increasing Student’s Participation

Students are eager to update their status in the Facebook or to tweet what is going on. We can effectively use these opportunities to make classrooms more lively and engaged. There are facilities for creating the community group in these networking sites and this will help each classroom to make its own community. Assignments and tasks can be updated in this group forum and students can be encouraged to discuss on various topics through these forums.

There are students who already have user accounts in such social forums and it will be a great feeling for them to help their peers in using the sites. Those who are not having an account in such sites will be excited to having one. This could just improve the level of students participation in the assigned activities.

The teachers can place the discussion topic on the networking sites and the students can give theircomments on that. This will also good for recording the student’s activities and participation in the learning part, a easier way to justify the grade given to them.

Exploring the iworld

The networking sites are initial step towards the vast world of internet. Most of the people are introduced to the iworld through these medium. It will enable the students to learn to use the internet for a purpose. Unlike old days, today it is very important to have basic knowledge about the internet and its usage. It will be a great idea students are introduced to the iworld at the school level itself. This could also channelize the students to use the internet for good reasons.

One-to-One focus

The introduction of social networking into the education sector will also provide a chance to get the individual attention for the students. The teachers will able to track the performance of the students and can provide a personal guidance for the students. The students are different from one another and their need is also different from others.

There are students who are not able to ask the doubts in the class. What about those students who are leaving classes with vague ideas and doubts? They won’t able to perform in the exam as well as in the outside world. The social networking helps this category of students in a great way. They can ask their doubts through this medium and the teachers will be able to give the necessary attentions towards them. They can also get the information from the other students by sharing each other’s view points about the topic or question.

It also helps the students to interact with the group in a mutual way and can be another way to learn the social behavior. They can learn Mathematics, History, science and language and also learn to interact with the larger group, which is also very important part of learning. This will also help them to express their own ideas and an opportunity to gain the social recognition. This type of learning can boost the process of group activities and help to develop the quality of teamwork.

Opportunities not limited…doubts too

These are some advantage of the social networking sites on the classroom level. It has a wider scope in the higher education sector also. But now the question here is how much it will be practical in a country like India? A country like India having lot of social divisions and economic classes, where a lot of social imbalances exist, there can be a common question that whether this will be an effective tool in the Indian Scenario?

It is true that our village schools still lacking the facility of having a computer lab and the students in the rural area doesn’t have enough knowledge on the technology world so as the teachers.

Another fact is the increasing concern about the ill-effect of the iworld and its influence on the social and cultural behavior of the students. Here Government and other investors can play their part; the Government can make this as part of the teaching aid, not at all of a sudden, but in a step by step method. There should be rigid social networking policies and Nonconformists so as to monitor the activities.  We need to take the initial steps that drive our young ones to the field of excellence and competitiveness. After all there is nothing in this world which is completely error free; we have to adopt the best part of everything for the better future….