http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/instagram-facebook-acquisition_n_1412623.html
The above article in the Huffington Post talks about how Facebook has purchased Instagram for over $1 Billion. Why is this article interesting in regards to technology in the classroom? Well at first I was not sure how this would connect to our current course; but then I realized that it is a technology that our future students will be using - there are already over 30 million users of Instagram to date. The article stresses that Instagram will remain a private entity - users do not have to have a Facebook in order to use Instagram. For people like me who do not use Facebook but enjoy Instagram, this is a relief.
We have discussed the potential uses of Facebook in our curriculum - creating Facebook pages for main characters - and how integrating the web tools students use everyday outside of class in class makes technology fun and interactive. There is a lot of discussion about privacy and photo sharing on Facebook and now that it has acquired Instagram it has come up again. This is one of those blog posts that cautions future teachers about photo sharing. I got off of Facebook because of how open and accessible it is to strangers and future employers (let's face it, with the privacy controls changing constantly, who takes care to update them as often as necessary?), and started using Instagram because it was less of an exposition of my life.
Educators (current and future) need to be aware of these technological pitfalls and celebrate their usefulness but respect their pitfalls and stay away from them. It will be interesting to see how Instagram changes now that it is in the realm of Facebook.
I think about social networking often: myspace, facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc. I have thought about what I'll do with FaceBook when I start teaching. I may get rid of it completely in order to avoid any issues with students or create a new one with immediate contacts (my 10 or 15 REAL friends). I haven't decided yet. I have an Iphone and thought about getting an instagram, but am uncertain there as well. When I become a teacher, do I want to continue with social networking? If I stop completely, how will I remain in touch? I ask myself these questions all the time and really admire people like you that have given up Facebook. I am in a tough place and not sure if I want to keep FaceBook or get rid of it. I found your post encouraging.
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