PLO 1 & 2

This lesson demonstrates PLO 2 "Demonstrate knowledge and skills in current and emerging instructional technologies."

It also demonstrates PLO 1 "Demonstrate knowledge and skills related to learning using technology."

Teachers must posses a certain knowledge of trends, issues and emerging technologies in order to offer students rewarding and effective learning opportunities.

SOCIAL NETWORKING LETTER OF REQUEST

Dear Principal Sorensen,

            You may be aware of the benefits of social networking in education. The use of social networks in the classroom helps students develop the 21^st century skills they need to succeed in the real world. The use of Facebook and other social networking sites among students demonstrates their popularity. These sites allow users to use technology to connect, build communities and share content. Ning allows users to build customized networks that can be used exactly as they choose. Because of the functionality of Ning, and experience that student already have using social networks, educators can use sites such as Ning to their advantage in the classroom. The use of social networks for teaching and learning allow instructors to facilitate a strong sense of community among the students and encourage personal interactions that can lead to the creation of new knowledge and collective intelligence.

            Ning is an online service that allows users to create their own social networks and join and participate in other networks. Users determine the sites appearance and decide whether their site is public or private. The sites can contain photos, videos, other network members, events, groups within the network and communication tools such as forums or blogs. Ning is a no cost service and there is no limit on the amount of networks a user can join (Pigee, 2010). In addition, setting up a Ning does not require any technical skills.

            The educational benefits of Ning are numerous. First of all, it has the ability to enhance discussions between students because it facilitates the sharing of personal and other information which creates an intimacy among them.  Second, Ning fosters and supports discipline-specific social networks which allows for collaboration across geographical boundaries. This is especially important in distance education where students do not get to meet face-to-face. A third and practical example of the classroom benefits of Ning involves the technologies provided by this network. Ning provides for use of blogs, message boards and chat rooms (Pigee, 2010).  In the classroom, teachers can introduce an assignment using a blog or message board and the students can respond using the comment feature or they can create their own blog or posting to the message board.

            Educators prefer Ning over other social networks because they want online discussions with their students that are separate from their personal lives. Students can use Ning for homework responses and to further discussions outside of class. Some students struggle with speaking in class, before a crowd or among their peers.  “While education must transform students, it must also recognize the way they think and communicate” (Kurthakoti, Boostrom,  Summey & Campbell, 2013). These students can use this network to share ideas and discuss topics in a comfortable setting.  Ning also allows teachers to collaborate and share ideas and curriculum.

            As stated the users are in control of their own Ning, and while this can be a plus for educators there is also a downside to this. Being able to control the dynamics of a social network leaves most networks in a constant state of change. Whereas, change can be a good thing this type of constant change can confuse users because there is no specific model of organization and function to best meet the needs of the users. In addition, because users can join multiple networks this leaves the burden of managing multiple personal networks. Finally, because Ning hosts all of the content for the networks on its platform, some organizations will be reluctant to  use the service for important or sensitive material (7 Things to Know About Ning, 2008).

Sincerely,

Shundella Hudson

References:

Kurthakoti, R., Boostrom, R.E., Summey, J.H., & Campbell, D.A. (2013) Enhancing classroom effectiveness through social networking tools. 

Marketing Education Review, 23(3). 251-264. Doi:10.2753/MER1052-8008230304

Pigee, J. (2010, January 31). Technology taps greater learning power: Technology taps greater learning power. Hawk Eye,The (Burlington, IA).

7 Things to Know About Ning. (2008, April 1). . Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7036.pdf