A few thoughts on my experience with social networking - This week I joined Linkedin as part of our class assignment. It looks very practical. While I do enjoy Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family who live at a distance, I can appreciate Linkedin as a useful, professional alternative. I wish it had been available when I had a small business in an isolated community. It is quite interesting to me to learn through Linkedin that some people I know through their “day jobs” have second careers or are very devoted to their work in music, art, sports or civic service.
I was intrigued by Estus’ article describing the use of Facebook in a geriatric course for pharmacy students. As a health educator, I am interested in effective ways to bring about change in attitude as well as changes in knowledge or skill. Estus states that three-fourths of the students reported a change in their perceptions of older adults. Improvement in the relationship among the students was also noted. In this situation, the Facebook discussion was used to enhance an educational strategy that also included reading and in-class discussion. The instructor was involved in facilitating the Facebook discussion thread. Estus showed that the judicious use of Facebook discussion teamed with other educational interventions can be a useful tool in the challenging arena of teaching in the affective domain.
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