The most amazing thing about the internet is that you can find virtually anything; including countless resources for teachers. Teachers can benefit from connecting with other professionals to troubleshoot, enhance, modify, and develop lessons for their classes. Teachers can even use these technologies to connect with other classes to do pen-pal type lessons where the students can actually get the chance communicate with other students via Skype or facebook. I have found in my own research that there are numerous blogs and websites for art teachers that have a plethora of information, including ideas for lessons and alternative material choices. Teachers should be using these websites, if not to just give their students interesting projects, but to also help themselves to be better more effective teachers.
Students are already spending a great deal of time on things like facebook and twitter, so why not let them use it in the classroom? I am a huge advocate of utilizing modern technologies in the classroom if it means getting the students engaged in the learning process. I would love to start a group on facebook for students to submit writing assignments, comment on works of art or class discussions, or see the instructions and examples for a project they are working on. I don't know if its possible to have a closed group on twitter, but as a teacher I could post a work of art and as an assignment have the students "tweet" instant reactions to work. There is an ongoing issue regarding literacy in this nation and I believe that students should be engaged in writing activities across the curriculum. Making students "tweet" reactions will force them to pick a point and be succinct with their reasoning. I can also imagine that students may be more likely to complete an assignment if it has to be done on facebook, since they probably come home and log on right away anyway.
These technological services that are so readily available to us should also be used to inform students and their parents about what is happening in the classroom. Like I eluded to earlier, since a majority of people are already familiar with facebook then teachers should use that to communicate with students and parents. Teachers can post pictures of student work to show parents what is happening in the classroom, as well as communicate about issues that may be taking place. If a teacher is posting assignments up on facebook in a privet group (open to students and their parents) then parents can also keep tabs on their child's work and assignments. Blogs can also help you advocate for your class. We face a lot of budget cuts in art education so we have to help keep our program runnings by showing the community and administrators what we are doing. Hanging up art work in the school is just fine, but if we want support we need to show everyone (via the internet) what the students will be missing if it is cut.
In closing, I don't only think that social media can have a place in the classroom, I believe it should. Technology, and our use of it is progressing rapidly that we need to embrace it in the classroom. If students are comfortable writing and expressing their ideas in this format then why not let them? Our goal as teachers is to get them to enjoy the learning process and if that means submitting a write up or artist statement on facebook, or "tweeting" a description instead of typing something up and printing it out then that is fine by me.
