Social Networking: What Every Teacher (and Parent) Should Know

1. Social Networking: What Every Teacher (and Parent) Should Know Dr. Joan A. Rhodes Richmond Area Reading Council Fall Conference November 8, 2007

2. What is Social Computing? Social computing embraces the growing use of electronic tools that allow individuals and groups to virtually communicate through blogs, wikis, instant messaging (IM), Web 2.0, virtual communities, and web-based social spaces.

3. What are Social Networking Sites? an online community where people meet to share information and ideas a collaborative workspace that allows for social interaction

4. Why Should I Care? More than 100 MILLION young people belong to MySpace Employers are using social networking sites to review applicants Your students and children use the sites sometimes with relatively little or no adult supervision

5. Why Should I Care? “ The changes, among others are ushering us toward a world where knowledge, power, and productive capability will be more dispersed than any time in our history…A world where only the connected will survive… A power shift is underway, and a tough new business rule is emerging: Harness the new collaboration or perish.” (Tapscott & Williams, p. 12)

6. What is the Appeal of Social Networking? Public expression of individual identity (Boyd) Provide a broad audience for sharing and networking Peer to Peer information and opinion Opportunity to become part of the collective intelligence (Tapscott & Williams, 2007) Beginning to impact the educational landscape (Methodist University, TakingITGlobal)

7. Types of Social Networking How many social networking activities or spaces can you list in one minute?

8. Types of Social Networking flickr IM Wikis Blogs Facebook MySpace Wee World Folksonomies YouTube Second Life

9. What is the major concern for students interacting in social networking sites? Loss of Privacy

10. Using Social Networking Sites Safely: Tips • Keep laptops and desktops in open areas • Check screen names so they do not include too much information • Use privacy settings • Check postings for material that is appropriate for wide distribution • Get on – get connected! www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec13shtm

11. Aren’t my students too young for this ? NO

12. Wee World • Founded in 2000 • Based in Glasgow • Allows consumers to create a customized individual WeeMee • By 2005 more than 5 million WeeMees were created • Raised 4.5 million dollars to expand to the US

13. What does it look like? www.weeworld.com

14. What does it look like?

15. Exploring MySpace www.myspace.com

18. Displaying Friends

21. Creating a MySpace Account • Open www.myspace.com • Create a log in. Do not use your school account. • Create a profile. Include your name and basic information about yourself. • Send a message to a friend. • Post on a friend’s wall.

22. Facebook • Started by student at Harvard • Growing number of educators participating because of .edu focus • Now open to others • Increasing applications are reducing readability

23. Facebook In 2007, Facebook’s appeal was estimated to reflect 80-90 percent of college students with membership expanding to include anyone with Internet access (EDUCASE Learning Initiative, 2007).

24. Exploring Facebook www.facebook.com

30. Creating Your Own Social Space: www.ning.com • Launched in October 2004 • Allows anyone to create and customize a social networking space • Has templates for developing site • Free • Benefits: Allows teachers to create a social networking space for specific students

35. Second Life Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents. Opened to the public in 2003 Inhabited by millions of Residents from around the world Has a thriving economy based on Linden dollars which are purchased with real money

36. Second Life

37. Educational Implications? Or what does this have to do with my teaching? • Blogs • Advertisements • Videos • Podcasts • Marketing

38. Questions and Discussion Additional queries or ideas can be shared at: jarhodes2@vcu.edu E-mail drjar44 – AIM Screen Name

39. Selected References • Brown, J. S. (2000). Growing up digital: How the Web changes work, education, and the ways people learn. Change, March/April.11-20. • Brown, J. S. & Duguid, P. (2002). The social life of information. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. • Conklin, M. S. (2007). 101 Uses for second life in the college classroom. Retrieved October 31, 2007 from http://facstaff.elon.edu/mconklin/pubs/glshandout.pdf • EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (2006). 7 Things You Should Know About Facebook. Retrieved October 18, 2007 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7025.pdf • EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (2007). 7 Things You Should Know About Facebook II. Retrieved October 18, 2007 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7025.pdf • Liebowitz, Jay. (2007). Social networking: The essence of innovation. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

40. Selected References • Mitrano, T. (2006, November-December). A wider world: Youth, privacy, and social networking technologies. EDUCAUSE Review, 1-7. • NMC: The New Media Consortium (2007). The horizon report. NMC: The New Media Consortium National Learning Infrastructure Initiative. Retrieved on July 20, 2006 from http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=CSD4387 • Prensky, M. (2005). Engage me or enrage me: What today’s learners demand. EDUCAUSE Review, September/ October, 61-64. • Tapscott, D. & Williams, A.D. (2006). Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changes everything. New York: Penguin Group.