Some+Social+Media+Tools

The group members (up to six of you) are listed below: Nathan Bailey Amy Bailey Kourtney Shepard Huguette Lewis Carol Ann Tonn Fiona Teh Thong


 * SOME SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS** (asynchronously, each of you, when you have time, EDIT this page and put in the name of the subsection you want to add here. At the end there will be one sub-section written by each of the teammembers. You do not have to put your names on your section. We will be able to explain how we know who did which section later in the feedback. For grading be sure to review the rubric (see SIDEBAR).)

__**LINKEDIN:**__ "LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 80 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals." This quote, taken directly from the LinkedIn website, describes this social media tool's main functionality. It differs from so many other social media tools out there with its focus on the professional world. It is fast becoming an indispensable tool amongst professionals. According to Laycock (2008, para.10), LinkedIn is not so much about finding contacts to collect, but about finding the contacts one needs to know in order to grow one's business.

Skype is one of the the fastest growing and most high-tech social media tools in the world. At peak hours, they log over 23 million users. The company showcases their user stats as public information to highlight their success in the bottom right hand corner of the product interface. This builds their PR "buzz" factor and also attracts advertising revenue. There are three main technology focuses: calling, video and messaging. In regard to education, Skype now has a product in beta entitled "Skype in the classroom." Their goal is to partner with schools and embrace the educational community.
 * __SKYPE:__**

Twitter is a form of communication for family members, friends and other acquaintances to stay connected through through short messages. These messages, also known as "Tweets" are often brief and can be updated often throughout the day. Tweets are updated on a personal blog or profile and followers are able to check out updates. Twitter is a free service, and allows a maximum of a 140 character text message to be sent.
 * __TWITTER:__**

Twitter within the school-age students is popular as it is a social networking site that allows students to keep track of their various social circles. Using twitter in the classroom is a tool upper grade levels can use to its advantage.

__**FACEBOOK:**__ What is Facebook? - Facebook is a social networking site used by people all over the world in more than 70 different languages. It is used by individuals as well as businesses, organizations and governments. It is seen as a powerful communication tool to network globally with friends as well as for the purpose of marketing, seeking charitable donations and customer relations.

Why Facebook? - Facebook's versatility has led to its immense popularity. People chat, share personal updates, post pictures and videos, play games and support various charities. The 2.0 interactive nature of Facebook has proven to be much more intriguing than a simple 1.0 web page. This pulsing hub changes constantly to reflect the activities and topics that are relevant in people's lives at that moment or time.

Facebook and Education? - There are strong opposing viewpoints in terms of whether Facebook is a valuable tool in education. At first glance, Facebook can simply be seen as a social hangout to catch up with friends. Some institutes resist the use of Facebook in their schools as they fear that it is simply a distraction to academic studies. However Nate Green's recent article, "The Advantage of Facebook in Schools" (2011, February 8) http://www.edsocialmedia.com/2011/02/the-advantage-of-facebook-groups-in-education/ argues that there is great educational value in using Facebook as a learning tool. He believes that it is necessary to use media that is already a part of our student's world. If you take time to teach students how to use Facebook for academic purposes they are empowered to take ownership in their learning through collaboration, research, and academic conversations and feedback.

This is a Chinese version of Facebook.
 * __RENREN:__**

This is an excellent multi-media classroom tool that can be used in any K-12 classroom! Using VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world (About VoiceThread, n.d.). It’s very simple to use. A person with a VoiceThread account uploads a file to share (document, picture, video, podcast, etc.) and anyone that has been invited to view the file can make a comment on it.
 * __VOICETHREADS:__**

What makes this suitable for any age? When you respond to a media posted you have five different options to choose from: audio (microphone or telephone), video, written text, or doodling a picture.

VoiceThread is a secure site for educators to use. There is a fee associated with setting up a VoiceThread account, however classroom accounts are available. VoiceThread is a phenomenal education tool that can be used for any subject, in any class around the world!

Students can work independently or simultaneously on documents. [|Teachers and Principals Talk About Google Docs] YouTube (2008, August 5). Teachers and Principals Talk about Google Docs. Retrieved January 31, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPjJK6LZdM.
 * __GOOGLE DOCS:__**

__**CELL PHONES:**__

__**WIKI:**__


 * __BLOGS:__**


 * __DELICIOUS:__**


 * __YOUTUBE:__**

**Assignment T3, A4 - Selecting a Social Media (Group Project)**
My "Social Media Tools" team has requested me to start the group project. I am passionate about Skype so it is very easy for me to add to the wiki on this product. I love Skype as I believe it is so very clever in merging technologies (yet it remains one of the most user-friendly ones which is often not the case so the product does not "take off"). I wish I had purchased stock in Skype. I have past Yahoo! colleagues who work in their Palo Alto, CA office and they are the best professionals in the industry. I can speak with personal conviction as we use Skype every Saturday morning to call my mom back in Indiana. It is hard to be living overseas at times, but with Skype's video element, it is truly like "being there."

Adding an example from the classroom here at Concordia...my son is in second grade and they have a "buddy class" in Colorado. They Skype once a week and he truly talks about his "friends in his Colorado classroom" almost as closely and as detailed as his Shanghai classmates. As there is little (to no) cost, they Skype for one hour a week and share cultural and fun holiday exchanges. I can also see the benefit in using Skype for education as children have very limited attention spans. I remember getting bored, or even forgetting my penpals overseas, due to the time delay of snail-mail. The "real time" of Skype keeps students engaged, learning and their relationships fresh each week.

This is a cool article on ways to use Skype in education (Anonymous, 2009) entitled "50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in Your Classroom." []