A way to achieve common goals
Will Richardson’s post Blogs For Professional Development on his Weblogg-ed site gives an example of how blogs and blogging are becoming part of the professional development scaffolding for educators.
His reference point comes from “The Fischbowl” which is the work of Karl Fisch. Fisch discusses how blogging has become the pathway to reach the common goals set by his staff: “to improve teacher and student use of technology, to achieve curricular goals, to help transform our school to a more student-centered, constructivist approach, and to prepare our students to succeed in the21st century.”
Fisch sees blogging as a way have teachers “push” their thinking and make sure they are not only doing the best job they can, but that what they are doing truly aligns with their beliefs. Blogging provides a place to openly discuss challenges facing their students, and allows teachers to work together to achieve their common goals.
From this viewpoint, blogging has become another form of a professional learning community for educators.
Subscribing to other peoples’ brains
Edublogging @ Macworld describes itself as a “workshop blog to learn more about blogging in educational settings.” As I was researching for this topic, I discovered a blogging discussion which perfectly illustrated the networking aspect this web 2.0 tool, which is an essential component of professional development.
The question posed for workshop participants asked: “How has blogging impacted your professional development?” These are a few of the responses:
* What’s your most powerful/memorable experience that’s resulted from blogging? A complete stranger becoming my blogging mentor and helping me build a better site (kolson29)
* I use it to keep tabs on what smart people are thinking. I call it, “subscribing to other peoples’ brains (SkyDaddy)
* I was hooked by the idea of being able to reflect regularly on what I was discovering about Web 2.0 for schools and libraries, by being able to share information, and by being able to help develop social networks between bloggers (heyjude)
* social network blogging… offers a way to deliver a message to like-minded individuals, while keeping tabs on professionals with similar interests (Lucy Gray)
Another great example of how blogging is related to the professional development of teachers can be seen at the So You Want to Teach site: 8 Ways Blogging Makes Me A Better Teacher.
Painting Ourselves into the Picture
Konrad Glogowski’s blog The Embedded Practitioner uses the painter Caravaggio to draw parallels between his painting and the role of the teacher in the blogging community. Caravaggio is well-known for inserting his self-portrait, inserting himself, so to speak, into his paintings. Similarly, Glogowski feels that a teacher in a blogging community should enter the context that gives rise to his or her work. Glogowski states that “we can gain a better understanding of our classrooms-as-communities if we immerse ourselves in them.”
Professional development in the networked world requires that we look closely not only at what we do as educators but also at how we are embedded in educational contexts. Much like Caravaggio, we have to narrate ourselves into existence through participation in our classrooms in a way that is non-authoritarian, readerly, and conversational.
By engaging in reflective blogging with our students, we are participating in both their learning journeys, as well as our own.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Part 1 - An Introduction: Blogs/Blogging for Professional Development
Much of our focus for exploring Web 2.0 tools this semester has been to understand how these tools can be used in school classrooms. Generally speaking, we have mainly looked at how they would benefit student learning. But what about the professional development of teachers? How can these same tools further their own development as educators, specifically blogs?
The reasons which make blogging significant learning tools for students are the same reasons they enhance the professional development of teachers.
Blogs can:
* promote critical and analytical thinking
* be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking
* promote analogical thinking
* be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information
* combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction
(Eide Neurolearning Blog, 2005, as cited in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson)
Will Richardson (2006) also explains that blogs are ways for teachers to “manage and communicate the knowledge that gets created” and can be used as “articulation tools” to share best practices, lesson plans and learning objects. Blogs allow teachers to share with one another without having to be “in the same room.”
So as I see it, this topic really has two components to it:
* BLOGS (noun – “an online diary”) for professional development
These are weblogs which offer advice and information; places to read and retrieve information; engage in discussions.
* BLOGGING (intransitive verb – “to write entries in a weblog”) for professional development
This is the process of maintaining your own site to explore your own professional development. Blogging is expressing one’s thoughts through writing.
The reasons which make blogging significant learning tools for students are the same reasons they enhance the professional development of teachers.
Blogs can:
* promote critical and analytical thinking
* be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking
* promote analogical thinking
* be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information
* combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction
(Eide Neurolearning Blog, 2005, as cited in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson)
Will Richardson (2006) also explains that blogs are ways for teachers to “manage and communicate the knowledge that gets created” and can be used as “articulation tools” to share best practices, lesson plans and learning objects. Blogs allow teachers to share with one another without having to be “in the same room.”
So as I see it, this topic really has two components to it:
* BLOGS (noun – “an online diary”) for professional development
These are weblogs which offer advice and information; places to read and retrieve information; engage in discussions.
* BLOGGING (intransitive verb – “to write entries in a weblog”) for professional development
This is the process of maintaining your own site to explore your own professional development. Blogging is expressing one’s thoughts through writing.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Part 4 – Social Networking in Education
Issues and Concerns
While social networking sites lend themselves to numerous educational uses, there are many school districts that block these types of web sites. Since Acceptable Use Policies for computers in schools are intended to convey that computer resources are meant for school work, “social networks” are likely regarded as non-school related because of the potential for misuse. If certain social networks (such as Facebook) are blocked in a school district, it still may be possible for teachers to use social networks with their students. Instead, teachers may have to subscribe to a social network which is designed and created specifically by the teacher, such as Ning (check out Ning in Education: “a community of educators using Ning to build social networks”). Also, some school districts can lift the block off certain sites for particular class projects, by special request from the teacher.
A recent and highly publicized issue relating to Facebook as a tool for peer tutoring in Ryerson University reveals how students have adapted social networking for educational purposes. Chris Avenir and his classmates used Facebook as means of comparing notes and sharing homework tips and questions. The controversy lies in the fact that his professor stated that the assigned work was to be done individually, and not worked on with others. However, Avenir’s argument remains that an online study group is no different from an in-person mentoring group, or peer tutoring. Despite the circumstances of this situation, the use of social networking as a method of online peer tutoring becomes apparent.
Potential Uses of Social Networks in Classrooms
How can classroom teachers use social networking? Social networks allow students to:
* learn how to come together in an environment to interact for a specific purpose; build a community
* personalize pages to express individuality and creativity
* pose questions to the community
* hold forums to discuss topics of interest
* find and share research resources
* create study groups and peer tutor
* interact with people who are working on similar projects/homework
Educators and students may find some of the following sites useful for their activities:
LinkedIn: A networking site for professionals looking to make contacts and build relationships in their professional communities.
Xivio: This is a networking site designed for children or young adults. You have to have permission of an adult if you are under 18 and the site is monitored to ensure appropriateness. It is a 3D world for chat and video and music uploading and sharing.
Imbee: Imbee is designed for children ages 8 to 14 and is designed to be a chaperoned site that adults can keep tabs on. Accounts are free and they are actively courting teachers to set up classes using the service.
Bebo: Bebo is a social media network where friends share their lives and explore great entertainment. Open to anyone 13 and older.
Yahoo360: This site combines a personal webpage with a blog and a photo album.
Ning: An online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds.
Twitter: Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? It provides a constant feed of updated personal information to those in a social network.
For other ideas about how educators are using social networks, take a look at the list of links at Social Networks in Education.
Potential Uses of Social Networks in the Library
Social networks, such as Facebook, can have many potential uses for the school’s library. Miller and Jenson (Connecting and Communicating with Students on Facebook) suggest that Facebook be used as a way to communicate the events and services of the library to students. The four Applications they recommend to utilize to grab students' attention are: My Profile, Notes and Posted Items, Albums, and Events.
Some suggestions include:
* posting up to date contact information and office hours
* share favourite books, TV shows, interests, or quotes
* get the word out about a new database or resource
* post a weekly trivia question and offer a prize to the first person who messages you with the correct answer
* create a library tour that features hotspots in the building and details guidelines for their use
* describe how to use library technology, including software and hardware. For example, you could provide screen shots of citation management software and the instructions for using it.
* plan a drop-in workshop that highlights a new tool at your library. The R.S.V.P. feature will let you know how many students to expect.
* create Events for book groups, exhibit openings, or student appreciation festivities
Merideth Farkas writes about another interesting way libraries can utilize the power of social networking. She explains:
“We need to start thinking about how to make our content more portable so that we can easily place it into the paths our users travel online. The more places our content can be found and ways it can be accessed, the more likely it is that our content will get used…. If the library is literally in our patrons' faces when they need to do research, they are much more likely to utilize our resources….Last spring, I wrote about creating a portal to library services in Facebook (facebook.com) and MySpace (myspace.com) (AL, Apr., p. 27). Since then, Facebook has opened up its platform to software developers, enabling people to create applications that will either pull content from other places into Facebook or to search content already in Facebook. A number of libraries have created applications that will search the library catalog and selected databases. Patrons can add these tools to their profiles for easy access” (Your Stuff, Their Space).
Currently, the University of Michigan Library, among many others, has created a Facebook application for searching their library catalog, while the Birmingham Public Library has a catalog search widget in MySpace. Patrons can easily add these widget applications to their profiles so that they may search the library from within these social spaces (Kroski).
Social Networking for Educators
There are many professional development opportunities available through social networks. Edublogs has several recommended social networking sites for educators:
Classroom 2.0
EFL classroom 2.0
Kingswear School Network
Talkabout Primary MFL
Voices of the world
Social networks for educators can provide forums to share teaching strategies and ideas. I have found Classroom 2.0 helpful on numerous occasions while learning about the uses of web 2.0 tools!
Some Final Thoughts
I could not help but find myself completely consumed by this week’s blog topic. I am fascinated by the phenomenon of social networking, and how it is shaping our day to day interactions. I recognize that there are still several barriers which may prevent social networking from finding its way into classrooms immediately, but it is not likely a permanent situation. As with any new technology, there is learning curve, as well as some “troubleshooting” which must happen before the educational uses can be fully realized. With some careful preparation by a knowledgeable teacher, I believe that social networking can become an effective tool in classrooms and libraries. Social networks provide a way in which we can teach, and learn from others through a collaborative “dynamic” online community!
While social networking sites lend themselves to numerous educational uses, there are many school districts that block these types of web sites. Since Acceptable Use Policies for computers in schools are intended to convey that computer resources are meant for school work, “social networks” are likely regarded as non-school related because of the potential for misuse. If certain social networks (such as Facebook) are blocked in a school district, it still may be possible for teachers to use social networks with their students. Instead, teachers may have to subscribe to a social network which is designed and created specifically by the teacher, such as Ning (check out Ning in Education: “a community of educators using Ning to build social networks”). Also, some school districts can lift the block off certain sites for particular class projects, by special request from the teacher.
A recent and highly publicized issue relating to Facebook as a tool for peer tutoring in Ryerson University reveals how students have adapted social networking for educational purposes. Chris Avenir and his classmates used Facebook as means of comparing notes and sharing homework tips and questions. The controversy lies in the fact that his professor stated that the assigned work was to be done individually, and not worked on with others. However, Avenir’s argument remains that an online study group is no different from an in-person mentoring group, or peer tutoring. Despite the circumstances of this situation, the use of social networking as a method of online peer tutoring becomes apparent.
Potential Uses of Social Networks in Classrooms
How can classroom teachers use social networking? Social networks allow students to:
* learn how to come together in an environment to interact for a specific purpose; build a community
* personalize pages to express individuality and creativity
* pose questions to the community
* hold forums to discuss topics of interest
* find and share research resources
* create study groups and peer tutor
* interact with people who are working on similar projects/homework
Educators and students may find some of the following sites useful for their activities:
LinkedIn: A networking site for professionals looking to make contacts and build relationships in their professional communities.
Xivio: This is a networking site designed for children or young adults. You have to have permission of an adult if you are under 18 and the site is monitored to ensure appropriateness. It is a 3D world for chat and video and music uploading and sharing.
Imbee: Imbee is designed for children ages 8 to 14 and is designed to be a chaperoned site that adults can keep tabs on. Accounts are free and they are actively courting teachers to set up classes using the service.
Bebo: Bebo is a social media network where friends share their lives and explore great entertainment. Open to anyone 13 and older.
Yahoo360: This site combines a personal webpage with a blog and a photo album.
Ning: An online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds.
Twitter: Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? It provides a constant feed of updated personal information to those in a social network.
For other ideas about how educators are using social networks, take a look at the list of links at Social Networks in Education.
Potential Uses of Social Networks in the Library
Social networks, such as Facebook, can have many potential uses for the school’s library. Miller and Jenson (Connecting and Communicating with Students on Facebook) suggest that Facebook be used as a way to communicate the events and services of the library to students. The four Applications they recommend to utilize to grab students' attention are: My Profile, Notes and Posted Items, Albums, and Events.
Some suggestions include:
* posting up to date contact information and office hours
* share favourite books, TV shows, interests, or quotes
* get the word out about a new database or resource
* post a weekly trivia question and offer a prize to the first person who messages you with the correct answer
* create a library tour that features hotspots in the building and details guidelines for their use
* describe how to use library technology, including software and hardware. For example, you could provide screen shots of citation management software and the instructions for using it.
* plan a drop-in workshop that highlights a new tool at your library. The R.S.V.P. feature will let you know how many students to expect.
* create Events for book groups, exhibit openings, or student appreciation festivities
Merideth Farkas writes about another interesting way libraries can utilize the power of social networking. She explains:
“We need to start thinking about how to make our content more portable so that we can easily place it into the paths our users travel online. The more places our content can be found and ways it can be accessed, the more likely it is that our content will get used…. If the library is literally in our patrons' faces when they need to do research, they are much more likely to utilize our resources….Last spring, I wrote about creating a portal to library services in Facebook (facebook.com) and MySpace (myspace.com) (AL, Apr., p. 27). Since then, Facebook has opened up its platform to software developers, enabling people to create applications that will either pull content from other places into Facebook or to search content already in Facebook. A number of libraries have created applications that will search the library catalog and selected databases. Patrons can add these tools to their profiles for easy access” (Your Stuff, Their Space).
Currently, the University of Michigan Library, among many others, has created a Facebook application for searching their library catalog, while the Birmingham Public Library has a catalog search widget in MySpace. Patrons can easily add these widget applications to their profiles so that they may search the library from within these social spaces (Kroski).
Social Networking for Educators
There are many professional development opportunities available through social networks. Edublogs has several recommended social networking sites for educators:
Classroom 2.0
EFL classroom 2.0
Kingswear School Network
Talkabout Primary MFL
Voices of the world
Social networks for educators can provide forums to share teaching strategies and ideas. I have found Classroom 2.0 helpful on numerous occasions while learning about the uses of web 2.0 tools!
Some Final Thoughts
I could not help but find myself completely consumed by this week’s blog topic. I am fascinated by the phenomenon of social networking, and how it is shaping our day to day interactions. I recognize that there are still several barriers which may prevent social networking from finding its way into classrooms immediately, but it is not likely a permanent situation. As with any new technology, there is learning curve, as well as some “troubleshooting” which must happen before the educational uses can be fully realized. With some careful preparation by a knowledgeable teacher, I believe that social networking can become an effective tool in classrooms and libraries. Social networks provide a way in which we can teach, and learn from others through a collaborative “dynamic” online community!
Part 3 – The Facebook Phenomenon
The name of the website refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some American colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus. (Wikipedia)Facebook has certainly made its mark. Created in 2004, Facebook is one of the most well-known social networking sites. In January 2007, the site had 3.3 million users, compared to a whopping 15.3 million users a year later (Peesker). While Canadian Facebookers showed a recent drop in use of the site, the U.S. figures show a continued increase in users per day (Peesker).
Facebook has dramatically affected the way people communicate. Many people have an account, or have at least been invited to create an account. Signing up for an account allows Facebook users to go out and find their friends who have also created accounts. Teens and adults alike can keep track of their friends’ lives by: viewing status updates; photo albums; sending notes, gifts, cards, and videos; as well as other fun and nonsensical applications available on the site. (I have sent “Tim Horton’s coffee” to my friends on Facebook; doesn’t that say it all?)
However, Facebook doesn’t impress everyone. Sites such Snubster, Enemybook and Hatebook are appealing to Internet users who get a kick out of the tongue-in-cheek humour of mocking their friends and others who are just plain cynical (Parody sites start anti-social trend). One criticism of Facebook is that some users are “friend collectors” and add as many people as they can to their friends list as a symbol of status. Having hundreds of friends on Facebook doesn’t really mean that all of those connections are genuine or meaningful relationships.
The Future of Facebook?
Social networking expert Charlene Li states that although Facebook is entertaining, it should expand into more practical areas. Li asks: wouldn’t people like to know more about things such as what books or restaurants their friends recommend? While Facebook does offer some insights into the likes and dislikes of the users, there is a limit on the types of interactions which can take place, and it does not allow users the ability to share information with other user-based websites. As Li points out, there are difficulties which arise in the privacy filters which would need to accompany such interactions.
Therefore, Facebook may be “the leader of the pack” in social networking for now; that is, until something better comes along.
Privacy and Safety on Facebook
One of my major concerns when I first signed up for a Facebook account was about how to maintain privacy. I have learned that there are a number of ways in which users can safely connect with friends, while at the same time, not feel completely “exposed” on the Internet.
Under the “Privacy” tab, users can select the degree of privacy they wish to control on the following:
a) Profile – users can control who can see their profile and personal information
b) Search – users can control who can search for them, and how they can be contacted.
c) News Feed and Mini-Feed – users can control what stories about them get published to their profile and to their friends’ News Feeds.
d) Applications – users can control what information is available to applications they use on Facebook.
Additionally, there is also the option to “Block People” so that they will not be able to search for you, see your profile, or contact you on Facebook.
My preference has been to connect with my friends and family whom I know to be on Facebook, but now having done that, I have chose not to be available for anyone else to contact me. One main reason I have done this, was so that I would not be contacted by students. I preferred not to include them in this particular social network.
It is also interesting to note, that should a Facebook user decide to deactivate or delete an account there may still be actually be information connected to him on the site. Andy Greenberg’s article, “How to erase your Facebook profile” explains the steps necessary so that a former user actually becomes “web dead” on Facebook. Other web privacy information is provided by this article, such as: deleting your MySpace page, subscribing to ReputationDefender; deleting photos off your blog, and deleting Google results.
Social Networking and Cyberbullying
Bullying is not a new phenomenon; however, with the increased ability to produce and publish content on the internet, bullying has taken a new twist. Social networking sites provide opportunities to target and terrorize individuals in insidious new ways. Due to the fact that bullying can take a more anonymous form on the Internet, social networking sites can become open forums for bullies.
Many schools block social network sites for this reason. Furthermore, some schools have updated their student code of conduct to clarify that bullying by electronic means-"interactive and digital technologies or cell phones"-will be treated as seriously as the traditional schoolyard variety (Stover, 2006).
Teachers, students and parents must engage in discussions about what is deemed appropriate and inappropriate web behaviour. Social networking is similar to the other web 2.0 tools which require respect for other participants.
* An excellent source of information about online safety can be found at:
Social Networking Sites: Safety Tips for Tweens and Teens.
Part 2 – Social Networking Web Sites: The New “Hot Hang-Out”
Wasn’t “the mall” the preferred hang-out for teens? Times are changing. Social networking now occurs in-person and on-line.
A January 2007 survey found 55% of all online American youths ages 12-17 have created profiles at social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, with 48% visiting social networking sites at least once a day. As with other teen activities, social networking filters down to younger kids. A recent survey found 71 % of tweens and teens between the ages of 9 and 17 visit social networking sites weekly (Hayes, 2007).
For 15-17-year-olds, the socializing sites are the big draw: 91% of all social networking teens say they use the sites to stay in touch with friends they see frequently, and 82% use the sites to stay in touch with friends they rarely see in person. While 70% of older girls have used an online social network compared with 54% of older boys, the boys are more likely than girls to use the sites to make new friends (60% vs. 46%). (Hayes, 2007).
Older teens are more likely to use the same site their friends use, typically MySpace, Facebook, or MyYearbook. As users update their content frequently to continue drawing in friends, and as they grow older, their pages evolve toward utility and maturity and away from frantic animations and edgy, repetitive content. (Hayes, 2007).
The Big Three
The three most popular social networking sites are generally agreed to be Facebook, MySpace and Friendster.
Facebook: “Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.”
MySpace: “MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends.Users can create a community on MySpace and share photos, journals and interests with a network of mutual friends.”
Friendster: “Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them. Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, groups, activities and interests.”
A January 2007 survey found 55% of all online American youths ages 12-17 have created profiles at social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, with 48% visiting social networking sites at least once a day. As with other teen activities, social networking filters down to younger kids. A recent survey found 71 % of tweens and teens between the ages of 9 and 17 visit social networking sites weekly (Hayes, 2007).
For 15-17-year-olds, the socializing sites are the big draw: 91% of all social networking teens say they use the sites to stay in touch with friends they see frequently, and 82% use the sites to stay in touch with friends they rarely see in person. While 70% of older girls have used an online social network compared with 54% of older boys, the boys are more likely than girls to use the sites to make new friends (60% vs. 46%). (Hayes, 2007).
Older teens are more likely to use the same site their friends use, typically MySpace, Facebook, or MyYearbook. As users update their content frequently to continue drawing in friends, and as they grow older, their pages evolve toward utility and maturity and away from frantic animations and edgy, repetitive content. (Hayes, 2007).
The Big Three
The three most popular social networking sites are generally agreed to be Facebook, MySpace and Friendster.
Facebook: “Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.”
MySpace: “MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends.Users can create a community on MySpace and share photos, journals and interests with a network of mutual friends.”
Friendster: “Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them. Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, groups, activities and interests.”
Part 1 - Social Networking: An Introduction
Do you remember the trivia game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”? This game was based on the theory that any actor in Hollywood could be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon in six steps or less. I recall playing this game with friends during road trips to pass the time. You had to really know your movies, and the ability to remember who co-starred with whom. This quirky little game illustrates how connected or linked people really are, through their associations with one another. It’s a small world, after all!
I was reminded of this game after watching Lee LeFever’s video: Social Networking in Plain English. LeFever explains that in the real world, the connections between people are hidden from us. We often can’t see how people are connected, or to whom they are connected. However, when networks of people (or social networks) are displayed on the web, it allows us to see these connections that would be hidden in the real world. Thus, social networks are people networks, which reveal or create connections between people.
“What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, [social network sites] participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network” (Boyd & Ellison).
After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site—popular terms include "Friends," "Contacts," and "Fans" (Boyd & Ellison). Many people refer to this as “friending;” which is just a way of noting that you have common interests on a web tool (Learning 2.0 Challenge).
A Brief History
“Social networking tools and technologies allow like-minded people to find each other” (Robin Good). Social networking has evolved with the expansion of the internet:
1995 = Classmates.com founded
1997 = Six Degrees of Separation founded
1999 = Circle of Friends founded
2002 = Friendster.com founded
2003 = MySpace.com founded
2004 = Orkut.com founded
2004 = Facebook.com founded
2005 = Yahoo!360 founded
(Source: NFi Studios)
For a comprehensive list, check out Wikipedia’s list of social networking websites, which also includes a brief description/focus for each site, and its intended audience for registrants.
A Social Network Timeline:
I was reminded of this game after watching Lee LeFever’s video: Social Networking in Plain English. LeFever explains that in the real world, the connections between people are hidden from us. We often can’t see how people are connected, or to whom they are connected. However, when networks of people (or social networks) are displayed on the web, it allows us to see these connections that would be hidden in the real world. Thus, social networks are people networks, which reveal or create connections between people.
“What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, [social network sites] participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network” (Boyd & Ellison).
After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site—popular terms include "Friends," "Contacts," and "Fans" (Boyd & Ellison). Many people refer to this as “friending;” which is just a way of noting that you have common interests on a web tool (Learning 2.0 Challenge).
A Brief History
“Social networking tools and technologies allow like-minded people to find each other” (Robin Good). Social networking has evolved with the expansion of the internet:
1995 = Classmates.com founded
1997 = Six Degrees of Separation founded
1999 = Circle of Friends founded
2002 = Friendster.com founded
2003 = MySpace.com founded
2004 = Orkut.com founded
2004 = Facebook.com founded
2005 = Yahoo!360 founded
(Source: NFi Studios)
For a comprehensive list, check out Wikipedia’s list of social networking websites, which also includes a brief description/focus for each site, and its intended audience for registrants.
A Social Network Timeline:
Source: Boyd & Ellison
Monday, March 17, 2008
Educational Uses for VoiceThread
Part 1 - Ed.VoiceThread
VoiceThread has an educational counterpart called Ed.VoiceThread. While still an internet based tool, it is a secure network or closed community for educators and students. It provides a safe place to collaborate on the internet. As Valenza (NeverEndingSearch) explains: “the new web-based, multimedia collaborative network, offers a more secure solution for those who'd like to play in the 2.0 sandbox but have to deal with the realities of district restrictions on social networking.”
Ed.VoiceThread is also described as “a space for creating digital stories and documentaries, practicing language skills, exploring geography and culture, solving math problems, collaborating with other students, or simply finding and honing student voices.”
Ed.VoiceThread is not a free service. This is because many web services with free accounts are blocked by school districts because of online protection policies. Therefore, Ed.VoiceThread offers reasonable pricing for whole-school subscriptions. Ed.VoiceThread points out that they would prefer that the costs of these kinds of safe, effective learning tools should be not fall on the educator. They urge teachers to advocate for this service, and Ed.VoiceThread offers to provide a complete refund to any educator who signed up as part of the “Pioneer Class.”
This option is perfect for schools who wish to use a collaborative Web 2.0 tool, but want to safeguard students against some of the risks associated with publishing information on the Internet.
Part 2 - VoiceThread in Teaching and Learning
VoiceThread was ranked as #24 in the Top 100 Tools for Learning Spring 2008. Wesley Fryer in his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity also has high praises for this tool. He says reasons for using VoiceThread in the classroom are:
* Digital storytelling is a pedagogically sound activity for learners at all levels in all content areas.
* VoiceThread is simple, focusing on still digital images and recorded audio narration.
* VoiceThread stories are immediately web-accessible via a link or HTML code which can be embedded on another webpage.
* VoiceThread permits MODERATED feedback, so teachers can control text and audio feedback to their students’ shared digital stories.
Fryer also likes VoiceThread because it allows for immediate publishing on the global stage. He also believes this technology will help teachers have "a-ha" moments once they realize how to use it in an instructional context and purpose.
Some suggestions for using VoiceThread in the classroom include:
* Teachers can post an image or video (example: video from united streaming) with comments.
* Student can post comments creating an online discussion.
* Each student creates a Voicethread to discuss an essential question (example: What if images such as … never existed?). Students and teachers can create a discussion with each voicethread. (JAG Stacks)
Other educational uses and ideas for VoiceThread can be seen by browsing through the examples on these web sites:
VoiceThread4Education Wiki: A very useful site with examples of VoiceThreads posted by grade level.
PageFlakes VoiceThread Page: A lot of examples linked to from this page.
Maths 247 Wiki: This wiki is trying to build up a huge library of number problems organised by level and using VoiceThread to demonstrate and solve them.
The Connected Classroom: This web site offers a detailed information, explanations and links for teachers wishing to explore digital storytelling.
JAG Stacks: This web site offers handouts which teachers can use to engage students in critical thinking while viewing a VoiceThread.
The 50 Tools: Alan Levine explores VoiceThread, as well as other tools to build a story for digital storytelling.
Part 3 - Some Final Thoughts
What I have found so appealing about VoiceThread is that it allows users to incorporate so many forms of media, thus, it truly is “multimedia sharing.” Collaboration can center on various media formats; not just one or two. The more examples of VoiceThreads I view, the more ideas and uses for this tool become apparent. While it is perfect for digital storytelling, VoiceThread goes way beyond one possible function, and holds potential for any subject area and grade level.
Teachers who decide to incorporate VoiceThread (instead of Ed.VoiceThread) into their classroom should carefully plan how create identities for their students which will be viewed on the Internet. Photos of students should not be used without explicit signed permission from parents. A good alternative is to create an avatar (a computer generated character), or even a scanned image of a student’s artwork.
This is a media-rich tool which has unlimited potential for teachers and students in both the process and products of learning. There are many "a-ha" moments on the horizon!
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