Reader's Response

This assignment was to locate a scholarly reading about social networking and libraries and post a "reader's response." The article I chose was:
Farr, Greg. (2009) "Mad Magazine to Facebook: What Have We Learned?" Teacher Librarian, 36(5), 30-32.

The very first sentence – uppercase and larger font for emphasis – of Farr’s article boldly states his counterintuitive premise: that he believes “all schools should allow students access to all forms of technology and their educationally beneficial applications.” (Farr, 2009. p.30) This seemingly reckless statement is not simply a misleading teaser headline, but rather previews a well-reasoned argument in favor of taking education out of its ‘time-warp’ and embracing the technology that student are already using outside the school walls. While his article doesn’t exclusively address the expanded use of Web 2.0 by libraries, his premise relates directly to the school librarian, who often feels or meets resistance to the integration of the less easily controlled technologies with information access. Farr’s argument in this article, while unsettling in the extreme at first, has some merit.

The obvious desire of students for the integration of technology and education is illustrated in a YouTube video the author references within the article: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5D_1mNASgs). One can imagine these students from Texas as anywhere in the nation. The potential problem of students in the library logging onto Facebook or MySpace and meeting up with friends for non-educational chatting during school hours while they should be conducting research are acknowledged by Farr, but characterized as ‘distorted misconceptions rather than demonstrated truths.” (Farr, 2009. p.32) Perhaps the fear is greater than the reality, but it is a fact that students (like most adults) will try to get away with as much as they can, and while many Teacher-Librarians and classroom teachers are alert and in control of their classrooms, there are still those who are lax or oblivious. A demonstrated educational benefit needs to be weighed against the responsibility to limit access accordingly. Apparently, my feelings are closer to the established view and less radical than the author’s.

Alternately, however, the argument in favor of using technologies such as Facebook or cell phone texting or Twittering for educational purposes in school libraries and classrooms does invite further exploration. The author acknowledges, but doesn’t explore, the challenges of implementation – which are where my thoughts immediately go. Balancing safeguards with effective use seems to be a nearly insurmountable obstacle to me. The article has certainly stretched my understanding on the subject, though, and I will probably be more open to the use of social networking and other technologies within the school library setting as a result.