So Not Me, But I'm Trying!

So I took the Social Media (So-Me) test and discovered I'm pretty much as clueless as I thought I was: 50%.  You too can learn if you are as inept as I am at the BusinessWeek website. I would consider myself a casual social media person at best.  I don't Tweet, but I do have a Facebook account.  See, I can't even remember what the names of the other social sites were for my blog!  At any rate, I do like to tinker around on Fb.  Its a great place to catch up to and keep up with friends and co-workers that I don't see often enough.  Also, its a great place to disseminate information quickly to my church and the youth group there. ( I am one of the Youth Leaders.)  I also enjoy some downtime on games like Words with Friends and Castleville, yes I said it for all to see.  I play Castleville. LOL. 

I would say I have a low to moderate participation level.  Low during the week.  Moderate on the weekends. (at least during the winter.)  I do have it linked to my email though in case my kids from youth need to reach me.  Facebook and texting are by far their favorite ways to reach me.

I see social media as something which is here to stay.  Choose! either jump on board or be left behind.  That being said, knowing how to use it and being an addict are very different things.  For the most part, I am in on it, but I believe it should be used in moderation and should not replace verbal conversation and meeting face to face.  There is nothing like catching up with an old friend or a new one over coffee or tea.

SoMe is currently relevant to me both personally and professionally, and I only expect that relevance to continue to increase.  It really is a fun way to interact and unwind.  It is equally useful in collaborating with peers.  I've both used and shared some really good teaching ideas.

In my opinion, the most prevalent ISTE standard for this activity is number 1d; model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues and others in face to face and virtual environments.  As an addendum, however, I would not recommend "friending" students on fb.  In fact, we're not allowed to in Berkeley County.  Too much room for problems there.  I am hoping to learn about other avenues to take in this class.