Dear President Kaufman: As a student of Georgia Gwinnett College, I want to share my views on the issue of limiting access to certain websites. I understand that Georgia Gwinnett College would like to block all access to all social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, etc.) This has been the subject of much debate between the students with the faculty at GGC. I get the idea that some of the websites are inappropriate for use through the campus-wide wireless network. Faculty should get the chance to look at the site, not just look at the URL. I have learned that there are going to be sites out there that will be educational and schools have blocked them. Most of the college students in our generation learn through technology. Many students use social media to enhance their learning, expand the reach of the classroom, find things we know, and fashion our own personal learning network. By blocking access to all social media, it can also block helpful ways of communication between students and teachers. By putting things in a social network perspective, students can use YouTube to learn about things inside their classroom. Computers and social media can become allies in the hands of a creative teacher. For example, I had a teacher in high school that used Twitter as a tool in her class. She used to tweet our homework, the things we did in class, and we had class discussions. The principal watched our tweets, and if we put anything that went beyond the school rules, we would not be able to use Twitter. This is a great tool for students and teachers to communicate other than Email. As teenagers and young adults, we use social media to communicate with others much more than email, phone calls, or appointments with the teacher.
Social media increases student engagement. It does not lack the quality of our learning experiences. I use YouTube to look at math examples when I am doing math homework and I do not have