Learning Networks

Alright. So I recently joined two learning networks. Plurk and Classroom 2.0.
Plurk was awful, I'm embarrassed that I invited my friends to join before I realized how bad it was. I can think of no practical use for Plurk.
Classroom 2.0 on the other hand is fantastic. I love that I can search for people based on various features, and that I can contact these people in a multitude of ways. I also thought that the forums were very useful. All the topics brought up in the forums are usually very interesting and worth some serious thought.

I'm following a few people who teach in Japan since I am a Japanese major and there is a good chance I will be teaching in Japan at some point in my life. Also, I haven't figured out how to search by where they work or what they do, so instead I was able to search by country and find people specifically in Japan, then filter out who would be worth talking to and who didn't put enough information on their page. That being said, a few of the people I am following are: Darren Elliot, John Paul Loucky, Michael Stout, Alex, and Kevin G. Rowley ( because I believe he is also taking EME 4406, so it will be interesting to see who he does in the future). With the exception of Kevin Rowley, everyone I follow teaches English in Japan, or has taught in Japan for a number of years at some point in their career.

I haven't engaged in any personal conversations as of yet , though I have posted comments to peoples pages ( they all live in Japan, so I would imagine they are very busy, and there is also the time difference). However, I have posted on a few discussions in the forums. I found a few discussions that were very interesting, and once I got around to writing my opinion I suddenly got very excited about this website. It was really fun and interesting to read other peoples opinions on controversial subjects in education, and I enjoyed being to put in my two cents as well. Some of the discussions I posted to were : Facebook for Students, and A Vision of K-2 Students Video.

From this process, I learned that there is a network out there for educators where we can all connect and share our ideas. Of course, I also learned that there are some very impractical networking sites out there, so I'm glad I decided to give Classroom 2.0 a try. I think Classroom 2.0 will be a very useful resource as an educator. I think it will be nice to be able to connect with other educators and get their opinions on controversial topics, as well as be able to get some creative ideas for lessons, and discuss our experiences. I think this website has a lot of potential. By searching through the forums I was able to see some very varying perspectives on different topics, and it inspired me to write up a little something on different ways to use facebook with the curriculum, so one day if facebook is still popular when I become a teacher, I will be able to integrate facebook into my classroom to some extent to keep the students connected and motivated.




The following is a work in progress, I just wanted to get my initial thoughts down for my own use. :P

How to use facebook in the classroom:

Kids are always on facebook these days. You might as well take advantage of it. One way to do this is to set up a group page for your classroom and ask your students to “become a fan”, offer extra credit if you have to. Through this you can keep them up to date with reminders on the group page about due dates, etc. This will also give them a place to ask questions of the teacher or each other when they are doing hw late at night because they spent all day on facebook ( hey, at least they are doing it!). This will also give them a good way to find their classmates in a neutral zone so that they can feel more comfortable about adding strangers from their class (yay for making friends!).

Here are some components of facebook and how to make them useful:

Status updates: Give students a brief reminder about what hw is due tomorrow! These will show up in their friend feeds with all their other friends status updates etc. So while they are browsing through to see what Jack and Jill are doing, they will come across your reminder.
Photos: upload photos of past assignments for students to do self-corrections, also you can upload photos of any group projects your students are proud of, share the love!
Wall/Discussion board: Q&A area, this could also be used for when you want your students to discuss topics relevant to the class as hw. Here you can monitor the discussions and remind them to stay on topic.
Events: Invite the students in your group to “events”. Events can be anything like big exams, due dates, student recitals, or out of class speakers, etc. (if they choose to “attend” it will show up in a side bar where their friends birthday reminders also show up).


As an added bonus, if you so choose, you can also invite student’s parents to the group. Believe it or not, there are a lot of parents on Facebook!

This will help to set parents minds at ease that you aren’t acting inappropriately with the students on facebook as they will be able to see your communications. Also, it might appease parent’s in the sense that they know their children are getting reminders and maybe even some school work done even though they are still on facebook.