Web+Technologies+2

Tools 2: Social Networking Sites http://e-language.wikispaces.com/social-networking Social networking sites in Education Different communication channels on Facebook
 * Social Networking –**
 * Dominating applications (ie. Facebook). Facebook, My friend map.
 * **Danah Boyd** & Nicole Ellison. SNS sites shift from topics of interests to people.
 * Danah Boyd – key researcher on social networking – blog @ [|www.zephoria.org/]
 * New forms of socialising, countering the hype (social & educational advantages)
 * PLN’s, PLE’s and e. portfolios underpinned by SNS principles.
 * SNS have had a profound impact on the architecture of the web.
 * Mark Granovetter – Weak Ties (1970’s) wider networks rather than close networks more likely to put you in touch with connections to support your development
 * SNS sites now making these weak ties more manifest, foundations of PLN, PLE’s
 * Educational institutions (uni ofKentucky) encouraging students to check into Facebook (to create weak ties – like an alumni community)
 * Setting students up with learning networks that they can take with them into the future.
 * National Schools Board Survey (USA) 2007 found 50% of students were using Facebook to talk about their homework.
 * Project Tomorrow (2011) US, 46% leverage social networking sites for school projects.
 * Matt Levinson (2010), Facebook Group set up means you don’t have to friend each other (contact is ceased once you leave the group)
 * Public perceptions (ensure you have another colleague who is on the site) dangers for how teachers who are interacting with students are perceived.
 * “From Fear to Face Book” by Matt Levinson – an account of introduction of technologies into schools.
 * Dan Perkel (2008) language and literacy in composition, selection and manipulation and appropriation of profiles.
 * Guides to using Facebook – The Edublogger (Sue Waters Blog)
 * IM chat, post on the wall, email messages, photos, videos etc as well as content.
 * Discussion board and topic view
 * Set up pages or groups, don’t have to join a page as you do in a group, just join – lots of educational pages on Facebook. Can get RSS feeds from your pages (fully public)
 * UWA example of pages, other students providing answers.

Variations on Social Networking Sites: Down side of social networks: Chat windows, rooms for education. Examples of chat windows you can build in: Groupboard – a white board where anyone can interact on the whiteboard; Typewith.me – free version with Google docs – with a text based document that everyone can work with – also can be done in google docs. The more channels of communication you are opening up the more you are splitting their attention.
 * Ning, was very popular but now is charging (1 year ago) You are administrator of network.
 * Grouply or grou.ps – from free to premium service. Includes networking and wiki functions.
 * LinkedIN – described as a professional networking service – it is all work related. Asks you not to connect in with people you do not know (connections as part of your profile).
 * Google Plus – ability to separate out your social and professional friends to control points of communication.
 * Scott Mc Nealy (2001) you have no privacy get over it.
 * Search history and interests are tracked, and digital data trails (copies) backed up in multiple locations.
 * ‘Collapsed contexts’ (danah boyd) – in real world we do not talk in the same way, we present ourselves in different ways in different contexts but in SIN’s all of our contexts are collapsed into one.
 * ‘continuous partial attention’ Linda Stone, problem is we are paying full attention to nothing – good person to read for a critique of social networking. [|www.lindastone.net/]
 * Post-multi-tasking behaviour – afraid we might miss something important – motivated by desire to be a live node on the network.
 * At its extreme makes you overwhelmed and exhausted – engaged attention is the opposite of what you are looking for. Ratch ting up our anxiety levels – need to learn how to turn it off and what communication is of value.
 * What are we doing offline how are we bringing focus and meaning into our lives.
 * Chat and Instant Messaging**
 * Two functionalities have collapsed into each other.
 * Mark Prensky (2007) for young people email is an outmoded way of communicating.
 * Chat rooms not good for coherent discussion.
 * Better used as a background channel, not a main channel
 * For instance when discussing a document.
 * Built a chat window into every wiki page for quick questions about what they were teaching or for students to talk each other.
 * Today’s meet – a temporary chat room, set up chat rooms for time limits.

Educational use
 * Microblogging:**
 * Most famous of these is Twitter.
 * Why is it interesting (5th anniversary of Twitter)
 * Twitter feed topic feed thread diagram.
 * As a base for a personal learning network.
 * Search function on twitter
 * Being promoted as a backroom channel.
 * Wiffiti – another tweeting software
 * Can embed twitter very easily in blogs/facebook etc.
 * 2009 Horizon Report – to continue conversation after class (one point about discussions) or update students on course logistics.
 * Twiter in the Primary classroom, summarising something about the learning of the day in a Tweet, being able to summarise your day – being succinct with language.
 * Bliptv – joe dale, importance as base of PLN
 * Paper.il – provides a daily digest in newspaper layout, flipboard does this for the ipad.

Negative Aspects: Fragmentation of expression & understanding > > > > Edmondo – learning management system on the cloud > Classroom collaborator.
 * Polling
 * A personal clicker – personal polling – answer a question, give a table.
 * Web based polling systems:
 * Micropoll – to answer questions about your content – present as a bar graph.
 * Kwik Surveys – also allows people to put in texts – 1 words or expression they would use in their own language.
 * Pollyeverywhere – one that works with your phone… answers will come in in real time – around picking up a proprietary system.
 * E.clicker – an app for an IPAD, IPOD or laptop.
 * Negative aspect
 * Costly technologies – can applications students are using themselves have a impact.