Social Networking Sites for ELT Professionals

Ismail Fayed ESL Teacher

TESOL Arabia Webmaster

Twitter ID: @Tweet4education

Ismailfayed [at] yahoo.com www.edunile.net

Outline

•  Social Networking Sites (SNS) for ELT purposes.

•  Instructional Technology vs. Ed. Tech.

•  Social networks vs. social network services

•  Social networks vs. personal learning networks

•  Examples

•  Concerns

Instructional Technology vs. Ed. Tech.

  “The theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning… as a part of educational technology” – The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)

  “While instructional technology covers the processes and systems of learning and instruction, educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability.” – Wikipedia (2010)

A.

http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/pages/its/black/_borders/top.ht1.jpg

Tech Talk!

  Technology o  Educational Technology

•  Instructional Technology  VLEs, CMSs, etc  Social Networking  Web 2.0 & web 3.0  Virtual worlds  What’s next?!

http://cstrips.bitstrips.com/44b3dd0595b5abe6d76ede4a22ea7e37.png

Sociology: Social Networks   A social network is a social structure made of individuals

(or organizations) called "nodes" which are connected by one or more specific types of interdependency (e.g. friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sex, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.)

  First used in a systematic way in1954 by J. A. Barnes.

  It was used in other fields like anthropology, communication studies, computer studies, and many more.

Photo credit: Konstantinos Kokkinis

Social Network Services/websites   Is the missing link between Web 1.0 & Web 2.0

  Building and reflecting on social relations among PEOPLE

  The ‘social’ aspect is highlighted through new and emerging interaction technologies (e.g. group messaging, online communities, etc.)

  It is mostly ‘web-based’

  Free

  User-friendly

  Popular!

“Social networking is in its infancy and I’m guessing it will become as widespread as

email,”*

*Richard Kimber, Google’s former managing director for South Asia

Social Constructivism Theory of Learning - Piaget (1960)

  Learning by doing … & playing

  Humans develop knowledge from their own experiences

  Human assimilate and accommodate to ‘construct’ their own knowledge

  The learner is a unique individual with unique needs & background (context)

  The learner has to be active, responsible & motivate

  The teacher is rather a facilitator

Atherton (2009)

A social network vs. a personal learning network?

  Members in social networks must be actually ‘social’

  Personal learning network can simply be acquiring info without contributing in return

Alan Levine (2007)

Examples?

SNS & Models   CMS (TACON Online 2010 & Moodle)

  Social Networking Websites   Twitter.com

  Slideshare.com

  Wave.Google.com

  Google documents (doc.goolge.ae)

  pbwiki.com

  Ning.com

  Teachertube.com

  Avatar (3D) Worlds   Second life

B.

Taconference Initial Plan

http://TAconference.org

TESOL Arabia Conference Online 2010

TESOL Arabia on Twitter

Edmodo or Twitter?

http://www.slideshare.net/egermann/using-edmodo-in-the-classroom

Slideshare your presentation

Google Wave: a new generation..

SNS Networks Concepts

Network Represents

Slideshare PowerPoint

Twitter Mobile SMS

Google Documents & Pbwiki Office Applications, Surveys, Collaborative spaces, etc.

Ning, edublogs Teachers’ room!

Teachertube TV & Mobile vides

Google wave Email

Moodle, BB, WebCT Virtual Classrooms

Avatar worlds Advanced Virtual reality/ simulation

Avatars.. Second Life

http://www.slideshare.net/nnoakes/virtual-worlds-and-language-learning

Issues & Concerns C.

privacy

Guidelines for Educators Using Social and Educational Networking Sites

  Use Educational networking sites rather than just social networking sites (e.g. teachertube vs. youtube)

  When online, maintain your professional image all the time in your communications and media sharing with students, parents, or others.

  It is important to maintain a professional relationship with students to avoid relationships that could cause bias in the classroom. (Don’t grant your students access to your personal network)

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2009/8/20/networking-guidelines-revised.html

Guidelines for the use of social networking sites by professional staff

  Do not accept students as friends on personal SNS. Decline any student-initiated friend requests.

  Do not initiate friendships with students

  Remember that people classified as “friends” have the ability to download and share your information with others.

  Post only what you want the world to see. Imagine your students, their parents, your administrator, visiting your site. On a SNS, basically once you post something it may be available, even after it is removed from the site.

  Do not discuss students or coworkers or publicly criticize school policies or personnel.

  Visit your profile’s security and privacy settings. At a minimum, educators should have all privacy settings set to “only friends”. “Friends of friends” and “Networks and Friends” open your content to a large group of unknown people. Your privacy and that of your family may be a risk.

Hegna & Johnson (2009).

Guidelines for the use of educational networking sites by professional staff

  Let your administrator, fellow teachers and parents know about your educational network.

  When available, use school-supported networking tools.

  Do not say or do any thing that you would not say or do in as a teacher in the classroom.

  Have a clear statement of purpose and outcomes for the use of the networking tool. Establish a code of conduct for all network participants.

  Do not post images that include students without parental release forms on file.

  Pay close attention to the site's security settings and allow only approved participants access to the site.

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2009/8/20/networking-guidelines-revised.html

Hegna & Johnson (2009).

References ATHERTON J S (2009) Learning and teaching; constructivism in learning. Retrieved:

Jan. 2010, from: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/constructivism.htm

Barnes, J. A. Class and committees in a Norwegian island parish", Human Relations 7:39-58

Garrison, R. & Anderson. T. (2003). E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice. Routledge.

Piaget, J. (1983). Piaget's theory. In P. Mussen (ed). Handbook of Child Psychology. 4th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Wiley.

Hegna, J. & Johnson, D. (2009). Guidelines for Educators Using Social and Educational Networking Sites. The Blue Skunk Blog. Retrieved: Jan. 2010, from: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2009/8/20/networking-guidelines-revised.html

Levine, A. (2007). Social networking for teachers. Retrieved: Jan. 2010, from: http://socialnetworking4teachers.wikispaces.com

Wikipedia website (2010). Instructional Technology. Retrieved: Jan. 2010, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_technology