Back to School: Are you on Facebook?

Back to School: Are you on Facebook?

Parents may want to consider adding cell phones to the back-to-school list, and not just to keep tabs on their kids.

According to a USA Today article today, online and social media access are becoming increasingly prevalent and valued learning tools in the classroom, with some teachers asking students to use their mobile devices to access online polls and information, and adapting Facebook pages to serve as classroom sharing spaces.  

‘"Being literate in 2011 means being digitally literate," says Chris Lehmann, principal of Science Leadership Academy, a public high school in Philadelphia that has been using social media since it opened in 2006.’

Some critics say opening the Web to students is too risky given the presence of explicit content that filters don’t always catch, but proponents of the non-traditional learning style say it’s a mistake to ignore the Internet as an educational tool to teach students responsible online behavior.