Education or Distraction: Facebook in the Classroom

1. Education or Distraction: Facebook in the Classroom Patty Sullivan Dennis Beck

2. Facebook???? You’re kidding! Why? How?

3. Why Use Social Media? • Because everyone is doing it……….. • More than 80 percent of college faculty are using social media, with more than half using these tools as part of their teaching, according to a recent survey, "Social Media in Higher Education.” May, 2010 –conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group in collaboration with New Marketing Labs and Pearson Education

4. More information from the survey • Nearly 1,000 faculty from across the nation participated in the survey. (me, too!) • Most faculty respondents (59%) have more than one social network account; nearly 25 percent have accounts on four or more social networks. • In order of frequency of use--------- • Facebook YouTube Skype LinkedIn Twitter Pearson Survey

5. Really, everyone is doing it. • More than 30 percent use social networks to communicate with students and use social networks to communicate with peers. • Over half report using video, podcasts, blogs and wikis as part of their classes. Pearson survey

6. Surprised? • By a ratio of over four to one, faculty members report that social media has value for teaching. Pearson Survey

7. However….. • The survey indicates that social media are used mostly to convey information, not to communicate (passive use versus active use) • Only about 10% report active use such as tweets, posts, etc. Pearson survey

8. And more….. • Watching a video or listening to a podcast is the most common activity for both faculty personal use (72%) and for use within a class (46%). • Older faculty (those teaching more than 20 years) make substantial use of social networks; in fact, older faculty's use of social media is only slightly lower than that of their younger peers. Pearson Survey

9. So, if everyone is doing it, why should I? Ease of use Cost Flexibility

10. Caveat emptor • Something for nothing? • Privacy • Boundaries • Ease of cheating • And, remember, technology doesn’t equal learning.

11. Using Facebook in the Classroom We talked about who and why, Now on to how……

12. FaceBook: Best Practices

13. FaceBook: Best Practices

14. FaceBook: Best Practices

15. FaceBook: Best Practices

16. FaceBook: Best Practices

17. FaceBook: Best Practices

18. FaceBook: Best Practices

19. FaceBook: Best Practices

20. FaceBook: Best Practices

21. FaceBook: Best Practices

22. FaceBook: Best Practices

23. Best Apps - Links

24. Best Apps - Notes

25. Best Apps - Events

26. Best Apps - SlideShare

27. Best Apps - CiteMe

28. Best Apps - Bing

29. UARK Library

30. Social Media – The Future • Personal learning networks • Created by an individual learner • Specific to the learner’s needs • Extend relevant learning connections to like-interested people around the globe

31. Why PLN’s? • Overcomes isolation of online teachers/learners • Supports knowledge construction through distributed nodes/networks • Empowers learners to become self-led, independent knowledge seekers and creators • Allows customization of learning paths specific to individual interests or needs

32. 5 ways to begin building your PLN • Join a professional social network • Classroom 2.0 • EduBlogger World • Transforming Ed for the 21st Century • Plurk • FriendFeed • Pick 5 blogs and read them • Identify – what’s out there? • Lurk – How do things work here? • Contribute – What can I offer? • Create – What can I construct? • Lead – How can I lead and mentor others?

33. 6 ways to begin building your PLN • Set up iGoogle account • Subscribe to the blogs you selected - Google Reader • Become part of the conversation • Comment on the blogs you read

34. 6 ways to begin building your PLN • Join Twitter • Start by selecting 5 microbloggers and follow them • Suggestions • WillRich45 • Coolcatteacher • Stevehargadon • Acarvin • Penelopetrunk

35. Q & A