Two weeks ago, I led a technology brainstorming session with many of the finest and most able educators in Minnesota.  These are the all-star teachers that every parent wants teaching their kids – highly-educated, caring, and always working to better their craft.  I was amazed to learn that not one of them uses MySpace as part of their teaching curriculum.  When asked how many of their students used mySpace, the answer was unanimous – EVERY singly student is on mySpace.  I asked them why none of the teachers use MySpace, and the answer was also unanimous – our administrators tell us not to.

So let me get this straight.  Teachers are always trying to connect with their students in helpful ways.  And here is a technology that EVERY ONE of their students is plugged into.  Yet the school districts are forbidding teachers from using the tool.  Hmmm….  Something is out of place here.

The interesting thing about all this is that millions of dollars are being spent by school districts across the country to develop tools that do exactly what MySpace does.  So, it isn’t the tool that is the problem, it is the administrators.  At a high level, those software development dollars could be better spent developing feature-rich applications for MySpace that serve a particular need of the students (as opposed to reinventing the wheel).  The dollars saved from leasing/buying MySpace clones at the district level could also be better spent training teachers how to use MySpace in the classroom.

I hold that it is better to meet students where they are at than to try to get them to learn a new tool and interact in a new environment.  The facts are that students know MySpace.  They like MySpace.  And they spend many of their waking hours on MySpace.  Why not add some value?

UPDATE 2/19/09: Check out this great post (and read the comments) for a great discussion on some University of Texas professors’ use of MySpace and Facebook in the classroom.