Learners on the Preparing For Employment Programme (PREP) at Tyne Metropolitan College are using Facebook, the popular social networking website, to help them keep a diary while attending a work experience placement. The diary is used as evidence for this unit, which is part of the Certificate in Employability and Personal Development. Facebook also helps the tutor to keep in touch and be more involved with the learners while they are away from the College.
There are e-safety issues with using Facebook in this way, however with adequate guidelines in place for both staff and students, and under the assumption that students will check Facebook more often than college provided tools, this will remind then of the curriculum need to keep a diary.
Personally I would prefer using Posterous which can either be used with e-mail, on the web, or using mobile apps, as it would be a little easier for learners to post photographs and video to an online diary. From a privacy perspective, in my opinion it is easier to lock down Posterous than it is Facebook streams.