Presentation Summary
Social Media and Folksonomies are online resources that have developed from the birth of Web 2.0. Essentially, the internet has developed from a place where people only obtained information to a place where people can be active participants in what information there is to obtain.
Social Media is defined as “media that is posed by the user and can take many different forms. Some types of social media are forums, message boards, blogs, wikis and podcasts. Social media applications include Google, Facebook and YouTube” (BatchBlue.com). The word folksonomy was coined by Thomas Vander Wal to describe the method of tagging online information that can be done by anyone (Vander Wal, 2007). It is a way of organizing online information that is done by the user with equal emphasis on each tag as opposed to taxonomy which describes tagging that is done by experts and organizes tags by importance.
A study by Grunwald Associates LLC entitled “Educators, Technology and 21st Century Skills: Dispelling Five Myths A Study on the Connection Between K–12 Technology Use and 21st Century Skills” debunks common myths about technology use in the classroom and uncovers some shocking information about the amount of teachers who do not think technology is needed for their lessons (2010). This study describes 21st Century skills as the following: Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and innovation, Information, media and technology skills , Life and career skills, such as flexibility and adaptability, Initiative and self-direction, Social and cross-cultural skills, Productivity and accountability, and Leadership and responsibility (Grunwald Associates LLC, 2010). It also tells us that of Science, Math, Social Studies and English teachers, it is the English teachers who are using technology in class the least. The article suggests, and I agree, that in order to ensure our students are equipped with 21st Century Skills, there needs to be a “shift in typical pedagogy” (Grunwald Associates LLC, 2010).
The Grunwald suggests that we approach this shift by “[making] a commitment to learning new technologies or applications that can genuinely help your own productivity or student learning. Try them out in your everyday life or with your students. Look to your students or your peers who use technology comfortably. Think through which skills you have and which skills you need to use technology. Use technology more frequently to support student learning.” (2010).
A good resource for teachers wishing to employ social media is a website listing the 100 Best Web 2.0 tools for use in the classroom as decided by people on the internet: http://edudemic.com/2011/11/best-web-tools/ (Dunn, 2011). Essentially, Web 2.0 tools were employed to suggest ways in which teachers can be using Web 2.0 in the classrooms. The website lists everything from twitter and YouTube, to websites that are used to create digital classrooms that allow you to extend your relationship with students beyond the walls of the classroom location (Dunn, 2011). Below are details how to introduce such a site (www.collaborizeclassroom.com) into the classroom. These are ways you can engage your students in activities, resources that you can use in collaboration with your assigned course material, and even provide create outlets for students to present what they are learning.
There are no PLO’s that specifically direct you to the use of social media and technology. Instead, as you read the PLO’s you will see that it is possible to use social media and technology to reach the majority of these learning outcomes. For example:
B2 read, both collaboratively and independently, to comprehend a variety of information and persuasive texts with some complexity of ideas and form, such as
– opinion-based material
– student-generated material
B7 after reading and viewing, select and use a range of strategies to extend and confirm meaning, including:
– responding to text
– asking questions
– summarizing, synthesizing, and applying ideas
B8 explain and support personal responses to texts, by
– making connections with prior knowledge and experiences
– describing reactions and emotions
– generating thoughtful questions
– offering and supporting opinions using evidence
C10 write and represent to synthesize and extend thinking, by
– personalizing ideas and information
– explaining relationships among ideas and information
– applying new ideas and information
– transforming existing ideas and information
In conclusion, Social Media extends the classroom beyond the walls and time frame of your scheduled class. It allows students to participate in ways they may not feel comfortable with in class. Social Media gives students access to many different medias such as videos and photos to help them convey their points, or to gain access into the thoughts of others, be them fellow students or people from other places around the world. It allows students to hear and be heard in a new way.
Works Cited
Alexander, B. (2006) Web 2.0: A new wave of innovation for teaching and learning?
EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2), 34-44.
Dunn, Jeff . “The 100 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By You.” Edudemic. 2 Nov. 2011.
16 Oct. 2012. http://edudemic.com/2011/11/best-web-tools/
“Educators, Technology and 21st Century Skills: Dispelling Five Myths.” Grunwald Associates
LLC. Jun. 2010.<http://www.grunwald.com/pdfs/Educators_Technology_21stCentury-
Skills_GRUNWALD-WALDEN_Report.pdf>.
“English Language Arts 8 to 12.” BC Ministry of Education. 2007. 16 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/english_language_arts/2007ela_812_9.pdf>.
“Freedom Of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.” Office of the Information & Privacy
Commissioner. 16 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.oipc.bc.ca/legislation/FIPPA/Freedom_of_Information_and_Protection_
of_Privacy_Act (April%202010).htm#part3_division2>.
Lankshear, C. and Knobel, M. (2006). Blogging as Participation: The Active Sociality of a
New Literacy. American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, US. April
11, 2006.
Nicosia, Laura . “Social Media is Not the Enemy.” Slideshare. 2 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.slideshare.net/lauranicosia/social-media-is-not-the-enemy-social-media-
in-english-education-4738626#>.
“Social Media.” Dictionary.com. 2 Oct. 2012.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/social+media?s=t>.
“Social Media.” Wikipedia. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media>.
“Social Media.” Wikitionary.com. 7 Oct. 2012.
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page>.
“Social Media.” batchblue.com. 2 Oct. 2012. <batchblue.com/glossary.html>.
Vander Wal, Thomas . “Folksonomy.” vanderwal.net. 2 Feb. 2007. 16 Oct. 2012.
<http://vanderwal.net/folksonomy.html >.
Lesson Plan:
CONTENT: In this lesson, I am going establish a classroom community introducing the students to our digital classroom.
LEARNERS: Grade 9 English Class
STRATEGIES/METHODS: We are going to establish a classroom community by creating a digital classroom for all the students to belong to. There will be an assignment they must complete on the site that will require them to introduce themselves by discussing a character from their favourite book that they would most like to be.
RATIONALE: This is going to be the way we start off the semester because it allows the class to get to know each other, establish a place of community that all the students feel a sense of ownership in, and also gives us a place where the students can look for assignments, submit create responses to course work, and respond to the ideas of their fellow class mates.
OBJECTIVES:
A2 express ideas and information in a variety of situations and forms to
– persuade and support
– engage and entertain
C1 write meaningful personal texts that explore ideas and information to
– experiment
– express self
ACTIVITY:
We will have signed out the school’s cart of laptops for the class to complete activity
10 min: Have students log in and create an account on www.collaborizeclassroom.com and approve them to the site created for our
class.
20min: Go through the three activities posted on the blog
1) Voting on Digital Classroom Rules
2) Choose 3 important guidelines for online class work
3) Write a paragraph about a character in literature that you would like to be
EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT: Use the character assignment as formative assessment to find out where the students are at with their writing, and what pieces of literature they have connected with in the past to learn about them. It will also serve as a frame of reference for how to engage them in class.
MATERIALS/RESOURCES:
ASSIGNMENTS:
For homework, assign the students to log into the blog at home, read the comments of their classmates and reply to a minimum of two students per each activity (a total of six responses).
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