Picture this: you attend media classes at college, but live far away from there, and have to leave early to get home. You struggle to keep up with coursework, and don’t have access to the support as you are hardly ever there. You drop out.

Now, picture this: You get home early, and log on to Facebook, ask a fellow student for help, they reply, and so does the teacher. He then posts online some material to help you, and chats to you live. You decide not to drop out.

Facebook in the classroom

Gloucestershire College says Facebook is used help keep students up to date with work, and get support from teachers.

Perry Perrot, media curriculum manager, claims that Facebook also helps students to bond.

“We’re embracing it rather than fighting it,” said Mr Perrott.

These closed (only selected members) groups form a few of the 45 million active groups that there are on Facebook today.

Did you know that the government have their own body that looks after technology being used as much as possible in education?

Becta is the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning.

As someone in education in the UK, I feel that there are too many mixed messages being sent out. At the school that I go to, staff speak of social networking as if it is a sin. They say that a user will get stalked, meet up in town and me murdered. There is a very small chance of that happening, and only if the user is a real dum-dum. You just have to know how to be safe online .

What do you think? Should schools and colleges use Facebook to educate their students? Leave your thoughts in the comments box below.

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