Embedded Files
Social Networking sites have vastly expanded how people communicate, receive and create news, and interact with the world in general. There are many that have become common and widely used in the past few years, and there are many more that are popping up everyday. Some of them are great tools for personal correspondence, and some of them can be very valuable for use in education, as well as keeping up with current practices, especially in the every changing world of technology use in education. Tips for using Social Media in School Communications.
Popular sites to try:
Facebook: Facebook is a popular site for people to connect with friends and family. It has also become a way for people to connect with businesses that they are interested in trying or frequently use. Some businesses even offer special coupons or discounts for "liking" them on your facebook page. This is a page that you can add your own posts or pictures, view pictures and posts from people you have "friended", and add comments. I have found that this can be a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, or to meet up with people you haven't seen since high school, but I would not suggest friending students. It's like going into your students' bedroom, and like inviting them into yours. One option would be to create a separate facebook page that is just for students to communicate with you, but you would still be privy to whatever they are posting to their friends and family.
Twitter: This is a site based on the idea of people posting short "tweets" consisting of 140 characters or less. Some people use this site to post comments about whatever they choose. This can be a way to follow friends, family, celebrities, or people within your field. Once you sign up (free), you can begin to "follow" people. Depending on what you want to find out about, you may choose to follow different people. You can also look at who the people you choose to follow, are themselves following. If you are on Twitter, I am WIteacher2. I don't really "tweet", but I have found interesting people to "follow", so you are welcome to look at my list, and start adding people you want to "follow." Video Tutorial on Twitter Chats. Ideas on how to use Twitter. 5 tips for using Twitter
All I need to know about Twitter, I learned in Kindergarten
Twijector : Projectable twitter feed for meetings, conferences, ect.
All Things Twitter: Cybrary Man's webpage on Twitter.
Digg: Digg is really a social news site, rather than networking. It allows users to add, or "dig up," articles that they find interesting or relavant, and as more users "agree" that the article is interesting, it goes up in popularity and rises to the top of the list. Ones that users determine not to be helpful can conversly be "buried" at the bottom of the list. It is a way to check in and see what readers feel are the most important topics at the moment.
Edmodo: This is a site designed for use by educators. It is very similar to facebook, but it is a more controlled way for teachers to communicate with students, and it can allow for students to have discussions with the teacher and each other. News video about schools using Edmodo.
Google+: This is a new site from Google. Currently, I believe it is still in a beta phase, and not available unless you are invited to it. It is supposed to offer a combination of social networking tools that makes it a cross between facebook and twitter. It allows users to have friends, but to group them so not everything they share is automatically shared with all "friends". Here's a recent (July 2011) article on Google +. Video guide.
TED: TED is a website that has a variety of video presentations that are regularly added to, and show prominent speakers from a wide range of fields and specialties.
Skype: online video conferencing. Blog describing ways to use skype in the classroom.
Scoop.It: Scoop it is another site that allows you to post whatever you want, but it connects with your facebook, twitter, Diggo, and other sites to allow you to use multiple formats at once, instead of going through and curating each site separatly. Here's a slide show tutorial showing how Scoop.it can be used.
Kidblog.org: This site allows teachers to create a class site, where students and the teacher can blog. The teacher can control how students add to their blogs, and they can preapprove any comments before they are published online.
Page updated
Report abuse