After reading the two articles and the comments, I really got fired up. The whole situation for the university student is completely absurd; the student was definitely in the right. The professor's punishment was definitely out of line with those charges he filed against the student. A study group is a study group, whether it's on Facebook, in a study hall... anywhere, really. There will be and always will be study groups.

It starts in the 1st grade - students always discuss assignments, no matter what. I can say this because of my own experiences. "Hey man, what's on that chem test I missed last week?" It's nothing new. I would quote one of the comments posted for the article, but there are too many good points.


Facebook has the potential to be an educational tool. It would be extremely easy to get in contact with others and to share ideas. But personally, I'd prefer for it to stay as a socializing utility. If I need help with my work, I'll just ask a friend of mine personally instead of making everything all 'public' on Facebook. If somebody wants to create an educational tool, create it elsewhere. Also, I already think that Facebook has enough applications -- you can even play games on Facebook now. I think it gets a bit overbearing, and I really just prefer simplicity.

Also, one more thing - with incidents like this one at Ryerson University, I'm not really jumping at the opportunity to make Facebook an educational tool. People need to remember that not only students have Facebook accounts, but teachers as well. I don't want to risk anything, even though I know it's just an 'innocent study group'...