http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=socialnetworking
Social Networking is using a service to build a community of friends, coworkers or others with the same interests, to interact, communicate and share information. For example, the most popular social network sites include Facebook and My Space. Ning is a tool that allows you to create your own social networking site and can be used by school administrators to set up a site for teachers at the same school or in the same school district.
Most of the discussions on Classroom 2.0 were about what kinds of incentives would encourage teachers to use the networking site and about what kind of content should be posted on the site. Suggestions for inspiring teachers to use social networking included providing content that could only be accessed by teachers that joined the site and having a "hot topic" of the week with forums set up for members to discuss the issues. One suggestion was to send regular emails to teachers that did not join to tell them what they were missing on the site.
Social networking Ning sites provide a forum for teachers to pool their experience, make connections, discuss curriculum issues and solve problems. It can be a valuable resource for teachers to participate in productive discussion and to facilitate improvements at their school.
Q: What about teachers that are not comfortable using new technology?
A: One administrator said that technophobic teachers were being assisted by students who could show them how to log into and post content on the site.
Q: What kind of content should the Ning site include?
A: As far as content, the Ning sites could include teacher resources, professional development ideas, social event postings, articles related to education and links to sites related to teaching and education as well as social posting to colleagues within the school or district.
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8 comments:
Hey Michelle, social networking is also something that interests me. I love the idea of teachers being able to share ideas. This class is the first time I had heard of social networking. My Mom is a teacher and she had never used social networking, now I have her asking all kinds of questions. It's a great way to keep teachers creative.
Hi Michelle,
I think the incentives you mentioned seem like really good ideas! Having a social network just for educators would be ideal, especially if it could be accessible to teachers at their school sites! That way it would be easy to find related topics and other professionals to discuss them with.
Michelle,
I think social networking is a fantastic idea. I think a lot of teachers would benefit from cross communication. I read an article where a small school district had a big problem with curriculum, and when they started a discussion board for the staff, the inspiration and creativity of the teachers shot through the roof! Think about it, almost everyone has a myspace account, a face book...ect. the limits are endless!
I agree that social networking has to be one of the most valuable net tools. I've noticed how fellow teachers so openlly share ideas and frustrations. Respondents unselfishly try to help with feedback and references. Another great aspect of the tools is that feedback and ideas can come from another state or halfway around the world. Sometimes great perspectives can come from a fellow teacher who is furthest "outside the box."
I've never heard of Ning but it sounds very interesting. I jumped on the myspace bandwagon a couple years ago and depending on who your friends are you can learn a lot from their pages and posts. But in terms of the classroom I could see the need to create and control a social networking site because the usual types of personalization that kids put up such as bikini or butt shots might not be that constructive.
It is great to hear that social networking is another tool that teachers are beginning to use to benefit and collaborate. It is amazing the information we have at our disposal to help benefit our class, curriculum ans students!
Social networking is a valuable resource for educators. Locally teachers can stay up to date with developments in their school or district, while also accessing resources from the extended internet community. One controversial issue that comes up a lot about social networking is the content on teachers' personal pages (myspace, facebook, etc). There is a delicate balance between personal expression and professional decorum when it comes to social networking as teachers.
I think that Social Networking is great, I am happy to hear that teachers are using it more. I know that I would like to be able to talk with others and share ideas without having to call or always set up some sort of meeting. I also think that it is a great way to keep teachers within the school communicating. This is also another way teachers can collaborate.
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