Virtual relationships, the hook-up of the 21st century

Myspace, facebook, bebo, studybreakers. What do they all have in common? They are the virtual realms connecting our students to one another and providing a new sense of community and sense of belonging.

‘Virtual’ space is the future and new category of social relationships. This may seem incomprehensible to most, but consider communication through the 20^th century and it seems a lot less scary. At first, we had letters and telegrams, then radio, telephones, then television, satellites, mobile phones, and now the internet.

Just as television was seen as a social evil that could corrupt and turn viewers into ‘idiots’ and passive receivers, I ask, how many people in Australia own television sets and continuously purchase bigger and better widescreen TVs? Many viewers have relationships with celebrities and feel as though they are connected to them in some way. Computers and the internet provide the same thing. The major distinction is higher interactivity through chatting and virtual spaces. For a teacher, “online learning communities provides wonderful opportunities for students to engage in global discussions, data sharing, and cooperative problem solving.” (Lamb & Johnson, 2006, p55)

Teachers can now develop e-pals and engage their classes in global debate and discussion, which in turn creates new social relationships. I’d love to hear from anyone who has done this, or hear about your thoughts on these new virtual relations.

Reference

Lamb, A., Johnson, L. (2006, October). ‘Want to be my “friend”? What you need to know about social relationships. Teacher librarian. Vol.34 issue 1. p55.