Social Networking
If you do a quick poll in your classroom, chances are the majority of your students have a myspace or facebook account...or both! How can educators turn that to our advantage?
Pompano Beach High School started heytornadoes as a challenge from the principal. “Why aren’t we cutting edge? What do we need to do to get back to the edge of technology?” The answer came in the form of a hosted server (off campus due to school board policies) and open source software Elgg. We brought the platform and expectations, and the students taught us, the faculty, how to use it and how they wanted to learn.
On the sides of this page you will find links to different websites to assist you in your quest to turn your school website into a social networking site that everyone uses. Enjoy!
Questions? jill.burdo (at) mac.com
IN PLAIN ENGLISH -
Social Networking
The MacArthur Foundation - Study Results
Digital Media & Learning - Website
Social Networking for the K-12 Set - Jim Klein - Learning & Leading, International Society for Technology Education
Don’t Tell Your Parents: Myspace for School - Wired.com
Does Facebook replace face time or enhance it? - Time
Connecting students and teachers on common interests outside the classroom
Various departments in the school use it to communicate, collaborate and create
Club and sports have pages to communicate and promote
Great place to turn homework in - digital homework, that is!
Book club anyone? What a perfect place to keep everyone at the same point in their readings!
Connect with parents and alumni. Connect STUDENTS with parents and alumni!
BUILD YOUR OWN FROM SCRATCH
Elgg - Open Source Server Side Software
Let someone else deal with the headaches!
Ning - Sign up and go!
ConnectED.info - Free and pay-for-service options for School Portals with Networking capabilities.
Need inspiration?
University of Brighton - First campus wide social network
If you decide you want to try it yourself, finding a reputable hosting company is critical!
Communicate, Collaborate, Create!
