Week 9: Social Networking

What is social networking, beyond Myspace and Facebook? How can teachers use social networking in the classroom? This week, you will learn the answers to these questions and perhaps generate some new ones. The Discovery Resources below include a video about why social networks are important, and two brief articles about some social networking tools that are intended for teachers and students to use. Please peruse ALL of these Discovery Resources, as they each offer an important perspective on online social networks.

Once you've become familiar with social networks as an idea, you'll join a network that brings together people interested in... drum roll, please... global education! The Global Education Collaborative is a social network hosted by Ning. Ning.com allows users to create social networks for just about anything. Fans of Disney, New Kids on the Block, and Sarah Palin have all come together via Ning. Technology, photography, cycling, and cooking networks have found a home on Ning. Some networks are private (but allow requests to join), others are public (anyone can join).

Enjoy the resources and exercises this week. We look forward to reading your thoughts!


Discovery Resources:

1. Watch this video (Social Networking in Plain English):




2. Read this article: Building Networks in Schools (be patient, may have a slow load time)

3. Read this 2-page PDF: 7 Things you should know about Ning


Discovery Activities:

1. Join The Global Education Collaborative (a Ning social network). Click "Sign up" in the upper right (below Blogs, Notes, Chat).

2. Click on Discussions and choose a topic to browse.

3. Go to Groups and join a group.

4. Go to this wiki to find another social network that interests you.

5. Post to your blog. Describe your experience joining and navigating The Global Education Collaborative. Did you make connections with anyone? Find anything that surprised you? What group did you join? Did you find another interesting social network on the Social Networks in Education wiki? Which one?

6. Comment on one other staff member's blog. (If you haven't yet figured out how to do this, ask!)