Social Networking Utilizing Social Networking for an Educational Purpose

Before Social Networks Before social networking websites there was communities of practice. Ubiquitous Formed with related ideas in mind (i.e. hobbies, interests, or educational). Wenger, E. (2008). Communities of Practice: Learning as a Social System. Systems Thinker.

Social Networking Tool Three components Public Profiles Share-ability Connecting people Utilize to connect to real-world networks rather than create new ones. Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: definition, history,and scholarship. Journal of Computer- Mediated Communication, 13,

Social Networking Tool Components of a social networking service user profile list of friends or connections profile is visible communication Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: definition, history,and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13,

A Brief History SixDegrees.com launches users can send messages to one another. Most Prevalent years Myspace, Last.FM Facebook, Flickr Facebook (high school), YouTube, Ning Facebook (Public), Twitter Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: definition, history,and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13,

Social Networking Sites Boyd, Ellison, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 13 (2008)

Evolution of SNS Sixdegrees.com, the first SNS shut down in 2000, after failing to make an ROI. Early in 2000, very little reason to be on a SNS Complaints about users meeting strangers. By 2001, profiles can be viewed and friends added without users permission. Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: definition, history,and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13,

Bulletin Board Systems In the early 1990’s, online bulletin board systems served as a means of social networking. Communication through a central system CompuServe Share files Access news and events Nickson, Christopher, January 21, 2009www.digitaltrends.com

Evolution Friendster is launched, and has many features similar to Sixdegrees. 3 million users and investment interest Myspace launches features popular music, videos, and is has a large young adult users Facebook, a Harvard experiment, launches to the general public. Large amount of investors and is the most popular social networking site. Nickson, Christopher, January 21, 2009www.digitaltrends.com

Examples Facebook Over 500 million world wide users 700 billion minutes in traffic per month Unsuccessful attempts to leverage it as an educational tool. FACEBOOK,

Examples LinkedIn Over 60 million members and in over 200 countries. Every 1 second a new member joins Used by executives and businesses to recruit. Linkin,

In the Classroom Educators have been trying to harness the power of social networking websites in the classroom. Students don’t want to mix social and school life. However, much of the research suggests otherwise, and offers improvement to using social networking tools. Jones, N., Blackey, H., Fitzgibbon, K., & Chew, E. (2010). Get out of myspace! Computers & Education, 54,

In the Classroom motivation is a crucial element The system that is used should be closed to the general public. “Closed feedback loop” Koutrika, G., Bercovitz, B., Ikeda, R., Kaliszan, F., Liou, H., Zadeh, Z. M., et al. (2009). Social systems: can we do more than just poke friends? Paper presented at the 4th Biennial conference on innovative data systems reearch (CIDR), Asilomar, California, USA.

In the Classroom In 2008, the website, cloudworks launchedcloudworks Provided social networking tools for educators. Conole and Culver evaluated and then redesigned the website and launched it in July, Conole, G., & Culver, J. (2010). The design of cloudworks: applying social networking practice to foster exchanges of learning and teaching ideas and designs. Computers & Education, 54,

Cloudworks Two outcomes from the evaluation by Conole and Culver Most teachers are unaware of the capabilities of social networking. drastic change in planning of curriculum or lesson Social networking is constantly evolving. Conole, G., & Culver, J. (2010). The design of cloudworks: applying social networking practice to foster exchanges of learning and teaching ideas and designs. Computers & Education, 54,

NING Ning is an online service where users can create a social networking website that is dedicated to a particular subject matter. There are over 300,000 Ning networks on the World Wide Web. Cost of an Educational account of NING is $19.95/year.

Attributes Privacy concerns The openness/closeness of social networks Admin control Developmental tools Communication tools Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: definition, history,and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13,

Conclusions Further research needs to be done Researchers found that students do not want to cross personal and educational social networks. Most social networking sites for education do not keep up with technology.