thing23

=Thing #23 - Beyond Facebook: Other Social Networks=

**Introduction**
MySpace and Facebook may grab the headlines in social networking, but there are many other social networks. Social networks are online communities created around interests with people-to-people recommendations and communication. These specialized social networks allow like-minded users to find and interact with one another, whether around crafts or cars or any other shared interest. In this Thing, we'll take a look at some of these networks.

[|Ning]is a social networking site with a different focus. With Ning, you can set up your own social network based on your particular interest or join one that someone else has already created. There are several educator networks from which to choose.

To learn more about Ning, watch the video and check out one of the librarian or school related groups below.

[|Video demo of Ning] by its CEO Gina Bianchini

School-related groups on Ning: [|Classroom 2.0], [|Teacher-Librarian Ning], [|Texas School Librarians], Flat Classroom Project, English Companion Ning

[|Wikipedia list of social network sites]

You get the idea; there is a social network for everyone. And, on the chance you can't find a social network that matches your interests, [|start one] of [|your own].

**Discovery Exercise**

 * Explore Ning and uses of Social Networking in Education**.

**NOTE:** You are NOT required to join the Classroom 2.0 network to explore its resources, but we hope you will. It's an amazing resource.

Increasingly, educators are beginning to leverage the positive aspects of social networking to improve both professional and student learning. [|Ning] is a service that allows anyone to easily create and manage a social network for any purpose. Ning sites may be private (viewable only to members) or public, and the site creator/administrator has lots of control over how users join and how they can participate/contribute. Recently, Ning announced that it will no longer offer free (ad-supported) social networks, but the company has promised to keep affordable options for Education.

In early 2007, [|Steve Hargadon] created [|Classroom 2.0], a Ning social networking site for educators "interested Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in the classroom." The site currently has over 13,000 members sharing ideas and resources, asking questions and discussing ideas and concerns about using these new technologies to support teaching and learning. Exploring this site is a good way to learn more about Web 2.0, and to get a feel for how a social networking site can be used in education.

If you begin to feel overwhelmed by the amount of content, remember that you are __not supposed to keep up with everything__ on a site like this, but rather to skim, explore and focus on those areas which are of real interest to you. In networked learning, the important ideas always come back around. Also, if you can't imagine managing this with students or colleagues, remember that you won't have 13,000 of them participating in your network, and that it's perfectly okay (preferable, even) to start small and limit the scope!


 * As you complete the exploration exercises, consider how you might incorporate social networking to benefit:**
 * Your own professional development / lifelong learning
 * Classroom teaching and learning; Student learning
 * Personal interests, hobbies, community, family, social causes, etc...


 * PART 1 (~60-90 min): Visit [|Classroom 2.0]** . Have a quality look around (see tips immediately following). If you don't spend some time exploring, you won't really get a feel for the site or the potential for this type of tool in education.

Tips for finding your way around **[|Classroom 2.0]**
 * **Forum** - (click //Forum// tab at the top of the page). Here you will find discussion categories with threaded discussions under each. Find a couple of discussions that interest you and read some of the posts and replies.
 * **Groups** - (click //Groups// tab at the top of the page). Here you will find special-interest discussions and resource sharing. Members interested in the topic can join the group and participate in the discussion. Find a group that interests you and explore the discussions and other content for the group.
 * **Tags** - (right sidebar on //Main// page) Click a link to find all discussions tagged by **tool**, **subject** or **area**. Or click a **tag** anywhere within the site (e.g. at the bottom of a discussion post) to view all resources tagged as such.
 * **Members** - (click //Members// tab at the top of the page). Click any member's profile picture to view his or her personal page, including their groups, discussion postings, personal blog, comment wall, friends and other self-selected content.
 * **Latest Activity** - (left sidebar of Main page) See the most recent activity by all members of the site.
 * **Videos** - (click //Videos// tab at the top of the page). View videos uploaded and shared by site members.


 * PART 2: (~45 min)** Check out possibilities for using Twitter in education. This very simple "micro-blogging tool" has become a key component of many educators' online learning networks, including my own. Because I "follow" educators who share my interests in libraries and learning with digital technologies, and who share their thinking and discoveries on Twitter, I learn **many** things from Twitter every day. It's like a steady stream of useful, thought-provoking information and resources from great minds. If you are brand-new to Twitter, start with this this brief video overview: How to Harness Twitter for an Extraordinary PLN, then explore these blog posts: Twitter - What is it and Why Would I Use It?, and Advice for Teachers New to Twitter . You can also use Twitter in your classroom. Check out The Twitter Experiment, Thirty Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in the Classsroom and Teachers Take to Twitter.(I am not requiring you to join Twitter, just to THINK about it).

**Learning Activity**
Write a blog post reflecting on your exploration of Classroom 2.0 and Twitter in Education. Label your post Thing #23 and address the following questions:

What were your overall impressions? Did you find any discussions or resources of value? Do you have any ideas for using social networking (including Twitter) in your own professional or personal learning, or in classroom learning?