Chapter 6: The Social Web: Learning Together
Please view the below video, Social Network in Plain English from Common Craft.
Will Richardson surmises the social web may create a network of resources allowing us to work with others to help support our own learning. Additionally, he mentions that this is just "another example of how the collective contributions created by the Read/Write Web are changing the way we work."
Social Networks:After reading these chapters, setting up accounts and utilizing various social networks (Linked In, Elementary School Classroom 2.0 (Ning), and Twitter), I am hooked! I do have to admit, when I initially set up Twitter last fall, I tried it and then put it on the back burner. However, just recently, I decided to give it a whirl. The verdict…so far, so good.
Please read, Laura Walker’s, Nine Good Reasons Why Teachers Should Use Twitter. If you want to get a better understanding on what Twitter is all about, please visit the following Twitter Bookmarks. Make sure to check out the How to Guide for Teachers too. Also, please check out the below video from YouTube, Twitter in Plain English.
- Linked In - A Professional network
- Classroom 2.0 (A Ning social group)
- "Ning is a platform for creating your own social network. Our passion is putting new social networks in the hands of anyone with a good idea. With Ning, your social network can be for anything and anyone. You start by naming your social network and choosing a combination of features (photos, videos, forums, events, etc.) from an ever-growing list of options. You can then customize your social network's appearance and launch it! People who join your social network will automatically have a customizable profile page and will be able to message and friend each other" http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2695
(Please know: Ning is block at school but they did unblock two of the sites for the purpose of this workshop.) - Twitter - Fast becoming a favorite
- Web20BookStudy Social Network - I set this up specifically for our book study - I will be sending you an invite for this one - please accept it and join. It is my hope that, we as a group will use this on a regular basis even after this book study is completed.
- A listing of social networks used in educational environments
- List of social networking websites
Websites to visit: Interesting reads!
- Study on Study Uncovers the Educational Benefits of Social Networking Sites
- Ning: A Social Network for Adults
- So del.icio.us: A Must-Use Bookmarking Tool
- Learning Spaces: Social Networks and Virtual Worlds
- Why teachers should embrace networking, and how they can use it to improve education
- Collaborative Online Continuing Education: Professional Development Through Learning Communities
- Social Network Delicious Bookmarks
Please view the video, Social Bookmarking in Plain English from Common Craft:
There are two main social bookmarks that are mentioned in this chapter; del.icio.us and diggo. Both are very good and I believe, it will come down to personal preference. I suggest you visit each bookmark cloud tags (which maybe found on the book study blog) and see for yourself.
Assignments for Chapter 6: Please completed by 06May09
- What are your thoughts about this chapter? Post to the comment section at the bottom of this post.
- What relevance do you see in using social web sites (i.e. Twitter, 2.0 Classroom, Ning, Diigo, del.icio.us) as an educator? Post to the comment section at the bottom of this post.
- Do you see relevance using these tools in your classroom/students? Why or why not? Post to the comment section at the bottom of this post.
- Set up a Social Bookmark account with either Diigo or Del.icio.us and try it out.
- Please join the following social networking groups:
- Linked In
- (I will send you an invite.)- Classroom 2.0
. - (I will send you an invite.)- Twitter
- Web20Book Study Social Network
- (I will be sending you an invite for this one - please accept and join.) Please post to your blog at least once a week and view and comment to each other's blog.(You do not need to comment to everyone's blog on a weekly basis but please post comments on a few.)- Set up your profile/My Page for the above social networks and begin becoming familiar with these sites
.- Check back from time to time to read some of the other participant's comments to the chapter post. You may find some interesting reads.
- Chapter 6: Twitter
- Chapter 6: Twitter Collaboration Stories
- Chapter 6: InnerTwitter
- Chapter 6: YouthVoice
- Chapter 6: AcademHack - Tech Tools for Educators
- Chapter 6: Terraminds
- Chapter 6: Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day
- Chapter 6: Diigo
- Chapter 6: Beyond-School
- Chapter 6: Del.icio.us
- Chapter 6: Absolutely Delicious Tools Collection
- Chapter 6: LibraryThing.com
- Chapter 6: ScuttlEDU
- Chapter 6: Furl.net - blocked at school
- Chapter 6: Shelfari.com
Please view the below video from Common Craft: Online Photo Sharing in Plain English.
.As you may have read, Flickr has vast possibilities for classroom use such as virtual field trips, digital storytelling projects, slide shows and power points, digital student portfolios, and more.
As of right now, the search feature is not blocked by the district. Because it is public and anyone may upload to Flickr, I would be very careful if you use it "live" in the classroom. Instead, I suggest you use Flickr Storm. Please view the following videos on TeacherTube to learn more. FlickrStorm Tutorial Part 1, 2 3 - (very short).
Assignments for Chapter 7: Please complete by 06May09
Will Richardson surmises that, "Flickr is a great tools for introducing students not only to digital images and publishing, but also to the social conversations and collaborative-learning opportunities that the Web now offer."
- What benefits do you see using Flickr in your classroom? Post to the comment section at the bottom of this post.
- Please read over the following: (Some are blocked at school)Flickr in the Classroom
Flickr in the Classroom
Ideas on how to use Flickr in the Classroom
Haiku Project using Flickr
My Friend Flickr: A Great Photo Opportunity
Flickr in the Clasroom: A New Perspective
Teaching and learning with Flickr
Tackling Copyright Issues with Flickr Storm - As well as check out these bookmarks on photo sharing.
- Visit the links under the heading of Favorite Web Tools
- Bookmarks on various photo sharing site
- Links from Chapter 7:
- Chapter 7: Flickr
- Chapter 7: Jane Goodall's Camp
- Chapter 7: What Can We Do With Flickr?
- Chapter 7: Creative Common
- Chapter 7: Slide Show of Plants and Flowers
- Chapter 7: The Great Flickr Tools Collection
- Chapter 7: Flickr Magazine Cover
- Chapter 7: Flickr Color Picker
- Chapter 7: FlickrReplacr Bookmarklet
- Chapter 7: Flicktion Blocked at school
15 comments:
I have never used Flickr. I am about to create an account. However, I did a little research on Flickr vs. Picasa. Generally Picasa wins, but here is the article http://chrisnoble.wordpress.com/2007/08/16/photo-faceoff-flickr-vs-picasa/
Chapter 6 - getting through the different sites and becoming familiar with them takes quite a bit of time, and that is a commodity that is in short supply for me right now. I think the technologies are great, and I need more time to get into them. I am using twitter, and I like it. I keep up with some basketball blogs and news stories.
I think some of these could be used in the classroom, but you would have to have some serious parameters and constantly keep cheking on the kids. They may use some more for play than learning. The social book marking makes finding different things on the web much more convenient.
Flickr could be great for virtual field trips. I think it could be a great way to set up a unit about France, Italy, or a current event. It could also be a great tool to show kids pictures and have them write about what they see.
Chapter 6- I like the social booking marking idea, although I haven't really played around with it too much. But I do think that could be really helpful for students and parents at home that need some extra math tutoring. It is hard for me right now to send students to specific webpages through HAC b/c the only way I have figured out how to do that is put the link on a word document and attach the document. However, if I set up a blog for next year (which I think I will try for a year as just a class info page and see what happens), then I can send kids to the math webpages pretty easily.
I signed up for twitter and facebook and I am not sure I like it. I don't seem to get it! I see people's posts that say 'going to the store!' and just think 'why do I need to do know that and why should I care?' So I may have to play with that some more to understand it. I did hear on the radio today that 60% of first time twitter users stop using after the first month. Interesting... I wonder how long the fad of 'tweeting' will last?
Chapter 7- The flickr seems pretty cool, but I couldn't seem to get it to work at school. So that would put a pretty big damper on using it for class purposes. :) We could use pictures for a math class to show how math is in the real world and for an activity in my class where they have to make equations that would match part of the picture.
Side note- RSS feeds have gotten me SUPER addicted to reading blogs! :) I had subscribed to many blogs and have already had to delete them since I just have too much to look through. I am on a 'craft' kick now and am so excited for the summer to make all the things I found on the craft blogs.
I too felt the same way about Twitter when I first tried. So, now I am trying to follow folks with my same field of study (Instructional Tech). You may want to visit this site http://wefollow.com/.
I am now receiving tweets that are about 90% related to educational technology and I am getting some great recources!
The social bookmarking is very exciting. I am thrilled to know that such a wealth of information is at my fingertips. I worry that it may be overwhelming after a period of time as more and more people become linked. Is there a 'comfort zone' with the number of people that should participate as your social group?
Twitter seems very mundane to me at this point, but I am going to give it a try. If used correctly, I could see where it might be a good way to build healthy competition amongst the students.
2.0 classroom will be a good way for me to stay abreast of things after this book study is over and I intend to use it to stay informed.
As for del.ici.ous and Diigo, they are very new (and foriegn) to me. Diggo seems to be more usable for the art classroom because of its organization, but I am going to explore them both.
Flickr offers some great opportunities for showcasing student work. And also for students to use as an art critiquing tool. I want to really explore the possibilities of using Flickr to its fullest potential. That will have to happen over the summer as time is in a crunch and so is my brain for right now.
I really like the NING network. I've found several really good art groups to join on there and have been using it since the book study started. Time is becoming more of an issue now, and I don't feel like I have enough to devote to figuring out a bunch of new sites.
I also like Flicker for the art class. I will be exploring it more over the summer as well :)
I haven't had much time to start bookmarking with Del.ici.ous, but I need to start putting things on there before school gets out so I don't have to save my bookmarks from year to year.
Hope everyone is well....21 days to go!!!
I prefer picasa over flickr. I feel that picasa and google earth could be just as effective if not more so at creating virtual field trips.
I am a facebook addict and I have not cought the Twitter bug. For now it is easier to find blogs and wikis and subscribe to them with my Google reader.
I love ning, as long as I can find the networks I want to be a part of.
Chapter 6:
1. What are your thoughts about this chapter? I love the social web, learning together, learning from each other, sharing ideas and information, getting connected, reconnecting, networking ... I love it! I am addicted!
I need time to stand still so that I can "catch-up". I know that we will never catch up. We just have to become better at filtering through information and then focusing on the information that is most relevant to us. I know that I see things some days look great, but I don't need them information/resource right now, but I know that I might need it soon, so I bookmark it or place the resource on my external hard drive for future reference. That way, I can find it when I really need it or am ready to go through it.
2. What relevance do you see in using social web sites (i.e. Twitter, 2.0 Classroom, Ning, Diigo, del.icio.us) as an educator? I set up my del.icio.us account last year some time. I added a few bookmarks, but I really did not like it, so I stopped using it. At the time, I preferred the ikeepbookmarks site, so I went back to it.
Eventually, ikeepbookmarks fell by the wayside, as well, I went back my old habit of saving links by topic to folders on my external hard drive. For some reason, that was working for me. When this chapter challenged us to try del.icio.us, I decided that I would give it a try. So, I moved the links that I was holding in my email box to my reignited del.icio.us site. I will have to go through the hundreds of folders on my external hard drive and bookmark and tag the web sites that are still good and valid on my del.icio.us account this summer.
I tried Twitter a few months ago, and I just did not get it. However, I have been twittering for the past few weeks, and it is starting to grow on me. I participated in a webcast the other day, and they were using twitter throughout the day for the live participants and the off-site participants (alongside ustream) to ask questions, comment, etc. I enjoyed twittering with a few of my TIFs as we participated in the webcast. I have added a few people to my twitter list (besides my co-workers) whom I believe I can learn some great web 2.0 and integration tips from.
I don't think that using Facebook with our students would be appropriate because it is a more personal, social networking tool, but I do think that a social networking site like Facebook could benefit students and teachers. For one, I don't think that anyone is really educating students on how to properly use a social network. I think that a lot of students are posting information about themselves that it too personal and that may come back to harm them at a later date. If the parent is not using social networking sites, then they are either going to forbid their children from using them to protect them or they will allow them to use them without educating them on how to properly use them. I recently read an article in T.H.E. Journal (April 2009) that was very interesting. The Ramapo Central School District in Hillburn, NY is using saywire as an internal, secure "facebook type" environment where teachers and students and students and other students interact. Students learn how to properly use an online social network in a safe environment.
3. Do you see relevance using these tools in your classroom/students? Why or why not? I think that the del.icio.us bookmarks would be great to share with students and teachers. I understand the importance of tagging the websites and see how helpful that will be for myself and for others (students or teachers). I love the fact that it is social. We can all share our findings with others. The facilitator group does a great job of sharing information with each other, and this is just one more tool that makes share easier for us. Also, I am constantly sharing resources with teachers. Instead of creating word documents filled with hotlink that the teacher has to save in a file for her students or for her use and then try to access when needed, I can now just share my del.icio.us site with them and all of the information is at their finger tips and does not take up space on their H-drives.
I think that Twitter could be used in the classroom to encourage discussion. Initially, it would require monitoring of students to ensure that they were staying on task and that they were twittering appropriate information. I believe that it allows your shy, quiet students to engage in the discussion, it helps to move the discussion along (same questions typically are not asked because you can see what has been written). Students are learning from each other as they answer each other's questions and share information. Students are deepening their understanding and memory of the information as they help others, read posts, etc. Twittering during a lecture or presentation would keep the students engaged and actively participating in their own learning and the learning of their classmates as they are providing and receiving feedback constantly.
Cell phones could be used the classroom in similar ways to Twitter. Instead of twittering questions, comments, insights, students could txt the teacher or each other. The disadvantage of a cell phone, however, is that you can't see the discussion among the group like you can with Twitter.
Chapter 7:
What benefits do you see using Flickr in your classroom? While Flickr is a large, collaborative photo hosting site, I have seen too many inappropriate photos on Flickr to use it in a classroom with students. The concept is fabulous - connecting the students visually to a unit of study, sharing photos with others who could benefit from them or who share your same interests. It could be used with digital storytelling, to engage kids in writing, to chronicle the school year or a field trip, etc. There are many uses, but you would have to be really careful using it with students. I think that FlickrStorm would be a better option. I have not had the opportunity to explore it thoroughly, but it appears that you could easily compile sets of photos for your students to use with a project/lesson and avoid the dangers of them stumbling upon inappropriate pics on Flickr.
Chapter 6-- The Social Web
Twitter: I’ll be completely honest and say… I am too busy to twitter. (at this point of the year) This summer…. I am going to dive in the twitter craziness!
Diigo on other hand is so neat! I love the fact of how easy it is to save a site! I love organization and I feel like this is will be a great way to help me organize the web. I think that it is neat that you can add comments to the web sites, so that you can easily remember what you liked or wanted from the site.
Chapter 7: Flickr
I will defiantly use this in my classroom! (more so for parents and family members!)
I love taking pictures, therefore, I am so excited to try out Flickr!I like that parents and students can comment on individual pictures. I email pictures to my parents of my classrooms weekly. This will be a great place to keep pictures updated so that the family members of the students can view the activities that happen weekly. I also like that Flickr allows me to see "recent comments" This is a very easy way for me to keep up with questions or comments that are being posted.
I found that flickr, ning, del.icio.us, diggo fit right into what I want to create in my classroom. It seems like with anything in life, there are no shortage of options out there, but one must have a vision for what they want to create in their classroom. I was starting to feel like if I was being overwhelmed with options. It seems to me that to decide what works for me, I first had to decide what I wanted to create in my classroom. One I decided that, then it was easier for me to try new sites, but also quickly decide if fit into my vision of my classroom. The social aspects of the web might have a place in the classroom but not with me. I want to create virtual trips since a language teacher, and connect with teachers from other countries. Options like twitter, although many people enjoy it, for me I start to feel like there is not enough time or interest on my part to continue. But the other sites I cited are amazing and excited to start to put sites together for next year
If anyone wants to see the bookmarks that I have started creating on my del.icio.us account, you may view them here ... http://delicious.com/Sherri.Richardson. Feel free to add me to your network if you find my bookmarks useful.
Hi Hank,
In your discussion question for Chapter 6 and 7 you mentioned that you wanted to create virtual trips and connect with teachers from other countries….I found this site you may find useful for collaboration projects with other teachers.
http://teachersconnecting.com
A place for K-12 teachers to find other teachers
for cross-classroom collaboration.
Chapter Six
1. What are your thoughts about this chapter?
Like some have said, I too am a little weary of Twitter. I think it could be a good tool, I just haven't quite got the hang of it. Facebook- I love. I enjoy catching up on people that I haven't seen in some time. The one thing that I really enjoyed reading was about Diigo, del.icio.us. We tend to plan together and use websites to enhance our instruction. Instead of emailing the links to each other, I can see us creating an account and sharing the information.
2. What relevance do you see in using social web sites (i.e. Twitter, 2.0 Classroom, Ning, Diigo, del.icio.us) as an educator?
I am still trying to get used to the blog in the classroom for younger ones. I see using those tools more for planning right now than in the classroom.
3. Do you see relevance using these tools in your classroom/students? Why or why not? I do see how they can be relevent in my planning, but I think it would take a lot more research to use the other with my students. Since they are so young, I am still trying to wrap my head around how to do that.
Chapter Seven
When I first started thinking about Flicker, I thought, "Yes, this is cool, but can I really use this in my classroom." Even when reading the chapter, I continued to wonder that. However, when I clicked on some of the sights, many ideas came to mind. The picture Haiku is wonderful. That is something we are studying now and I would love to try that next year. Plus having their projects in a picture and having them label the areas is a great way to check for understanding.
The one area that still makes me wonder is the sercurity of it all. If we have a classroom log in how can I ensure they are using it properly and not on other stuff that isn't school related. I am glad I have read this book before summer. I plan on working on figuring these things out over the summer.
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