1. An introduction to social networking Marga Navarrete m.navarrete@imperial.ac.uk 1 st June 2007

2. Social Networking basics Web 2.0 describes way people are using the internet as an application rather than a set of static pages. The popularity of social networking services are a large part of Web 2.0 At their most basic social networks allow users to create a profile for themselves and communicate with other “friends” on the network. Over the last ten years, social networks have developed into a variety of different genres, with different features and levels of interaction that appeal to different groups of people.

3. How popular are they? People use social networks to connect with people who share a similar interest, hobby or passion. For example –Facebook: is aimed at College/High School networks of friends (21,000,000 registered users) –Friends Reunited lets you get back in contact with your old school or university classmates (12 million registered users) –MySpace is a social network popular with young people who are into music (176,500,000 registered users) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

4. My Space Myspace.com is a popular social networking website offering an international, network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos http://groups.myspace.com/learningspanish

5. Example Spanish cultural group Ask questions about the language and culture Discussions can be in either English or Spanish Learn about the culture through literature, poetry, latin music, facts, history, politics, food Share website links But: feels limited for educational application http://groups.myspace.com/learningspanish

6. A blog It’s like an online diary, with the most recent entry at the top of the page. Has a personal, informal voice. Visitors can comment on the blog entries and start a debate You can search blogs using http://www.technorati.com/http://www.technorati.com/ You can start a free blog with a service like http://www.typepad.com or http://www.blogger.comhttp://www.typepad.comhttp://www.blogger.com

7. Blogs: educational application There are lots of different uses for blogging within educational environments Content-related blog around academic specialty Networking and personal knowledge sharing Instructional tips for students Course announcements and readings Recommend links For more information on blogs in education visit http://awd.cl.uh.edu/blog/ http://awd.cl.uh.edu/blog/

8. Second Life Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. It opened in 2003 and has nearly 7 million registered users Advanced social network, with it’s own economy, newspapers and institutions Users create avatars which meet up in the virtual world and interact using text chat (voice is being introduced) Instead of a homepage, people buy land and create a home, which they can customise or invite people to.

10. Second Life: educational applications Lectures (e.g., people who couldn't attend a face-to-face lecture; might be centered in Second Life, or streaming video from a f2f lecture) Faculty or students creating something that people can walk through or manipulate: something where learning benefits from happening in a simulated 3D environment. Activities that benefit from the participant's sense of being part of a group Learning a new language and culture by interacting with people from that culture But: Time and effort are needed to learn to use Second Life and to build things. Secondlife education page: http://secondlife.com/educationhttp://secondlife.com/education Education Wiki: http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wikihttp://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki Source: http://tlt-swg.blogspot.com/2007/03/educational-uses-of-second-life-notes.htmlhttp://tlt-swg.blogspot.com/2007/03/educational-uses-of-second-life-notes.html

11. Conclusions Online social networks are very popular They can have different educational applications Look at how they are being used and find educational elements in popular behaviour Many networks are free to join, but may charge for advanced features. It’s important to use networks that are time efficient Make sure there is enough benefit from the activity to justify the effort

12. Task In groups of three discuss possible educational applications of one of the social networks mentioned in this presentation