Thing #19: "Liking" Other Social Networks

While I had not previously been a member of any of the listed social networks, I have used Ning before, though, as I have had friends create Ning social networks for various reasons.  I decided to join Gather and Classroom 2.0 to find out what to expect, in addition to joining TeacherPop.

Gather is a very different experience from other social networks I have used.  Gather seems more like a social content aggregator than a traditional social network, but I'm okay with that description.  It could also be deemed a "debate platform"; the comments on any particular piece are typically from both sides of the issue and are remarkably civil, especially in comparison to other sites that attempt to approach current and controversial issues.  I could see using Gather (or articles & commentary from it) as part of a debate project with students.

Classroom 2.0 is very much like my experience with other Ning-based networks.  It is a well-designed and thorough site with all the basic features you would expect in a modern social network:  status updates, comment walls, member-to-member messaging, content sharing, etc.  The community is also very active, and many of the members seem helpful.

Thing #18: All A-Twitter about Facebook

Social networking is a relatively new phenomenon, but in just over a decade, it has become an integral and indispensable part of our society.  The number and type of social networks are constantly changing, but Facebook and Twitter remain two of the most dominant right now.  However, they are very different in their design and aims.  Facebook is a social network originally designed to help Harvard students connect, but has since evolved into a service "to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected."  Twitter bills itself as "a real-time information network" that "connects you ... to what you find interesting."  It's unique feature is that Twitter messages, called "tweets," are 140 characters or less (not counting any links you may include.)

As educators, it's important that we be familiar with social networks for any number of reasons, but in my opinion, the most important  is that the world of social networks is the world most of our students live and thrive in.  To understand our students, we have to understand where they spend their time and what they do there, and increasingly that is on Facebook, Twitter, or any of dozens of other social networks.  I could potentially see creating a "professional" Facebook account specifically for interacting with your students, so that if they did want to "friend" or "follow" you, they could do so.  I would also advise locking down the privacy settings on your "personal" account; potentially embarrassing photographs and tweets on social networks have already cost teachers and staff their careers.  Basically, I wouldn't recommend ever connecting to your students through a "personal" social network account; it's safer and easier to simply have a secondary "professional" account for interacting with students and parents.  Also, I could see using Facebook "fan pages" as a potential classroom resource.  For example, I could have a group or fan page for  "Mr. Davis' Math Classes," which could have copies of all the course documents, and could also update students on projects, assignments, etc.

If you want to connect with other education professionals, however, I would not recommend doing it through Facebook or Twitter (unless you are actual friends or acquaintances in real life).  Use a professional networking site like LinkedIn for this purpose; this also gives you a place to point potential employers if they should ask for your social networking presence.  Also, be aware that you should never be required to give your Facebook or Twitter account and password for a job interview - if the interviewer tells you it is an absolute requirement, then politely decline and thank them for the interview.  This practice is not only bordering on illegal, it tells you that the educational culture at that school is inherently distrustful of its staff, which is not a conducive teaching or learning environment.

Thing #17: Tagged as Delicious

I have to admit, I'm a little late to the Delicious party.  To be honest, I hadn't seen the usefulness behind the idea of social bookmarking.  I consider myself pretty security-conscious, and the idea of having my bookmarks be public where literally anyone could examine them seemed like just another way for someone to learn about me and my Internet surfing habits.  I'm already a bit disturbed about how much tracking of our Internet habits already takes place; avoiding another opportunity to be "tracked" seemed a wise precaution.

Using Delicious was an interesting experience;  I can now see the value in a social method for bookmarking:  It provides a lot of the same benefit of having "access anywhere" like other "cloud" services, and adds the social dimension by allowing you to follow and share your "stacks" of links.  However, there are some competing services now that provide these some of the same benefits.  For example, I can access my saved bookmarks on any machine with Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox by "signing in" to the browser.  Delicious does have the advantage, though, in that it is browser-agnostic (and is integrated into the new Yahoo! Axis browser).  One of the newest social sites to challenge Delicious is Pinterest, which has exploded in popularity.  While I haven't used Pinterest myself, friends who have claim it also allows you to socially share links that interest you by "pinning" it to a virtual corkboard.

From an education standpoint, I can see quite a bit of potential for using Delicious in the classroom.  Imagine having a stack of links that students can access for a project or as part of a webquest, or having students search for a particular tag, like "geometry" or "algebra" and do research from there.  Having links that students or fellow teachers can access from anywhere is definitely an advantage.  Like it explained in the Common Craft video, having teachers sharing bookmarks through delicious would be a simple but effective way for them to collaborate on resources and techniques.

Thing #16: Organization & Productivity on the Web!?!

It's more likely than you think.

Contrary to popular belief, the Internet is not just a place to look at funny cat photos, or rot your brain on YouTube, or pirate torrent legitimately purchase and download music, movies & games.  There are a number of services and apps that are actually designed to help you keep organized and be more productive, and the majority of them are free, to boot!  Check out some of these productivity-boosting technologies after the jump.

Thing #15: And Make It Wiki!

Wikis have become an integral part of the Internet.  In fact, it's almost a given that if something exists, there's a wiki for it somewhere on the Internet.  I was first introduced to wikis through Wikipedia (or as I only-somewhat-jokingly call it, the One Wiki to Rule Them All), which quickly became a staple in high school and college as a "jumping off" point for doing further research into a topic.  I soon found other uses for wikis, though, as sites like Wikia started developing fan community wikis for video games, PC modding projects, and more.  I am very familiar with reading, using, and even contributing to wikis, but I had never considered using them for education until I started working on this "thing" for the blog.

When looking through the suggested wikis, I really liked Welker's Wikinomics - it has everything you'd need to teach economics at the high school level.  It even includes special sub-units for AP or IB Economics courses, which means that you have a flexible curriculum, already in place!  It would make a great supplement for any high school (and even freshman collegiate) economics classes.

I will post the link to my created wiki at a later date.

Thing #14: Mapping the Chart Flow of the Mind

Mind Map for my "Triangle Inequalities" Unit:


For the Mind Map above, I chose to use bubbl.us web app. I found it a very easy tool to use, and very full-featured for a free web app. There isn't a lot of explanation for the app's features, but I found while using it that it encouraged a "trial & error" approach, providing tool tips on features as I used them. It's simple and intuitive, and I liked it a lot. It seems like this would be a great collaborative tool for students to use with learning strategies like concept webs and visual outlines.
Flowchart for Writing an Indirect Proof:


This flowchart was made with gliffy.com.

Thing #13: Writing (& More) in the Cloud

Online productivity applications have become quite common in the past few years, and while they won't likely supplant traditional desktop office suites (like Microsoft Office) anytime soon, the two examples I used while working on this "thing" were surprisingly versatile.

Zoho Apps and Google Documents are both very competent productivity suites in their own rights, and while they may not pack in all the features of a desktop sutie, I would argue that's not necessarily a bad thing. What each leaves out is for good reason. For example, both Zoho Writer and Google Docs' word processor provide far more than the basic text editing tools normally associated with the Web; both have LaTeX-based math equation editors, collaboration tools, page layout options, and support a number of different file formats, including the Microsoft Open XML formats, like .docx, .xlsx, etc. Don't expect more advanced features like mail merge or complex cross-reference tools in the free online versions (although the paid business versions do have some of these features). Still, in my opinion, either of these online productivity suites would cover 95% of the average user's needs.

For comparisons of Zoho Writer and Google Docs and examples from each, keep reading after the jump!