tions with them about social networking by asking what they’re doing offline with their students. Too often teachers will rush to establish a website, Facebook Page, or Google Group after becoming excited about seeing the possibilities play out in other classrooms, but haven’t taken the time to think about how their face-to-face environment might best be amplified online. For example, a history teacher at my high school was looking for a way for every student in his classroom to participate in class discussions, but was limited by the amount of time he had with the students each day. We talked about the depth that he wished the conversations could have, and how he wanted students to play off of ideas and questions posed in class. While the idea of a Facebook Group or a wiki had crossed his mind, we found that a Google Group through- out school’s Google Apps for Education accounts worked won- derfully. Students turned what would have been a very limited conversation about the anniver- sary of the 9/11 attacks into an asynchronous conversation over the course of a week with well over 200 posts and replies.
Because the teacher I was work- ing with had a strong sense of how to conduct conversations in the classroom that would allow students to mix personal narra- tives and reflections with their readings and schoolwork, it was easy to transition that conversa- tion to a social tool that was well suited for it. Sadly, not all first ventures with social network- ing and online discussion go so
smoothly. Often teachers may be initially excited about the social and collaborative nature of a wiki, only to turn it into a one-way publishing platform for them to give information to students. Or teachers that start using Twitter to share images and “happen- ings” in the classroom with parents in a near real-time fashion, quickly tire of being part-time micro-bloggers, and give up shar- ing and publishing new content. Each of these cases illustrate the playfulness and exploration that many educators possess, but often the lack of time or resources to think about what tool might best suit them, or how their classroom environment might best support the use of the tool.
Above all else, is the importance of recognizing that entering the world of social media and networking means that you need to be comfortable being a participant in the conversations, not just the “sage on the stage”, publishing content or resources to be consumed. Dave Copeland wrote about social networking in the higher-ed classroom last Spring (
www.readwriteweb.com/ archives/for-social-media-in-the-classroom-to-work-instructors-
need-best-practices.php), and while best practices don’t yet exist, it’s clear from preliminary evidence and observations that
MACULJOURNAL |
the participatory culture of social networking is not going away anytime soon, and teachers will have to strike a balance between when to “jump in”, and when to “pull back” in virtual spaces, just as they must do in face-to-face settings.
CHOOSING A PLATFORM
I make it a point to ask teachers exploring social networking what they want to achieve by using the tool. If the answer is shar- ing information, broadcasting news and resources, or sharing highlights of the day, then a tool like Google Groups or a Twitter feed might work best. If teachers are looking for more interaction with their students, and want to have a more two-way interac- tion, then establishing a Facebook Page, or setting up a blog on
Wordpress.com or
Edublogs.org might be better. For a fully flex- ible platform that allows social and instructional interaction, a service like Edmodo or a tool like Moodle might better fit a wide range of needs. Below are a few tools that I recommend, in addi- tion to a few options for creating a truly DIY (do it yourself) expe- rience.
• Edmodo (www.edmodo. com) - A social network built from the ground up for educators and learners. Similar to Facebook, teachers can create groups, share homework, post to the class timeline, encourage discussion, and a whole lot more. This is a great place for teachers looking for a larger community of educators interested in social networking to create a blended learning environment.
•
Facebook (
www.facebook.com) - The easiest way to earn “street cred” with your students. Create a Facebook Page for your class, as using your own personal account is usually not ideal. Many students are already on Facebook, and thus their school life can follow them to where they’re already gathering online.
•
Twitter (
www.twitter.com) - You can use Twitter as either a one-way broadcast solution, or interact with students in small 140-character at a time chats. Study sessions could be carried out this way, or conversations with other teachers and students in the wide-open network.
•
WordPress.com (
http://wordpress.com/) -
Edublogs.org would work for this one as well, since they both use the same WordPress tool to create free blogs. A good way to get conversation started around a topic of your choosing, or to get students journaling, reflecting, and discussing what they’re learning through threaded comments.
•
WordPress.org (
http://wordpress.org) - This is the “nerdy” option for WordPress, as you would need your own web hosting plan to install this version. Once you’ve cleared the technical hurdles, it’s only a few more clicks with an amazing plugin called BuddyPress (
http://buddypress.org/), which changes WordPress from a simple blog to a full-fledged social network, complete with profiles, groups, messages, polls, forums, and more!
Winter 2013 9
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