Social Networking

            The Internet and social networking has made it possible for anyone who has a computer and access to the World Wide Web the ability to have access to information, share information and share their expertise on a subject, and have ownership of knowledge (Bonk, 2009). It has also empowered learners by placing learning in their hands. You can now go to your computer and at a touch of a button have hundreds of sources to pull from to learn about a particular topic. With social networking, information is relayed at a faster pace and learners have a voice in their own learning (Bonk, 2009). People are being connected to each other all over the world by their ideas and their passions (Richardson, 2010). The two social networking technologies that I would like to share are Twitter and YouTube.

            The URL for Twitter is: http://www.Twitter.com.

            The URL for YouTube is: http://www.YouTube.com.

            Twitter is a “microblogging” tool that has grown from its introduction in 2006. This network was designed to send quick updates to people who “follow” the person sending out the tweets. You can create a network of friends, family, or colleagues to keep in touch with. It is a “running river of conversation and ideas” that connects the members of the network to each other (Richardson, 2010 p.86). The rationale as to why I selected this technology is that it can connect a lot of people in a network. You can send out one tweet and all of the followers will get it at the same time. It would be very useful to send students, parents, administration, or anyone else you wanted to share information with the in a quick and efficient manner. Two examples of using Twitter in the classroom would be to extend the lesson by continuing the discussion outside of the classroom, and to live tweet your class on a fieldtrip so that the parents can share the trip with their child.

            The second social networking technology that I would like to share is YouTube. Along with YouTube there is Common Craft, Teacher Tube, and SchoolTube (Bonk, 2010). People can share their knowledge of a subject, or share their ideas with others via a video on the computer. Common Craft offers videos in 27 different languages so everyone can watch the same video at the same time and feel respected with personalized learning (Bonk, 2010). Students can explore, research, and reference videos for their content and that makes YouTube a useful tool in education. Also, the teacher can reference YouTube videos to have another teacher via the video teach their students. The teacher could “invite” a guest lecturer or expert to come in the classroom via YouTube to share their expertise on a subject that the students are studying about (Bonk, 2010).

            Examples of how I would use YouTube in my classroom would be to go on virtual fieldtrips, or to bring in a guest lecturer in the classroom.

 

References

Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education. San        Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd   ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.