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Using social pages for language

learning and teaching POOLS -2 workshop

January 2010Madrid

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LEARNING IS FUN • 69% of learners around the world said that

they learnt most effectively when socialising (2007- British Council research)

• the things we learn from our loved ones are often more immediately relevant to our lives than what we learn from a teacher in a classroom

• also being more relaxed at home means we are open to suggestions and new ideas

• when learning is fun, students are more motivated to learn, an out of classroom setting helps

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Technology

• Ownership of technology e.g. a mobile phone is widespread.

• Young people get more new information from the technology they use outside of school than they do from the teacher in the classroom.

• Sometimes they learn more using the internet. On the net, young people feel connected to others. The classroom can feel disconnected, isolated and irrelevant to everyday living.

• Teachers can make learning more relevant to students’ lives. They can show students how to find information through technology, help students develop networking skills so that they make a connection with the person who can give them information.

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Action

• Teachers can:

• find out what networking sites their students like to use

• show students free learning opportunities

• available through social networking sties such as facebook

• show students how they can set up their own blog site using sites such as Wordpress.com. 

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Facebook Statistics

Facebook has a growing number of teacher and learner groups. 

Wikipedia lists over 200 social networking sites. Facebook is by far the most popular with approximately 350 million users globally, hi5 has 80 million users and LinkedIn 53 million.

 Facebook as an e-learning tool: Within facebook

there are regional, leisure and work-related networks.

Facebook is growing in popularity with the 25

year + age bracket.

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Facebook Statistics (2)

It is the sixth most trafficked site in the US.

It has more than 65 billion page views per month. More than 95% of facebook users have used at least one application built on facebook platform.

Facebook usage is highest in the US , UK, Australia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, France, Hong Kong.  

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Facebook as a teaching and learning aid

• Facebook is a social site. It increases a sense of belonging amongst its users and builds bonds between classmates.

 • To communicate with students, a teacher could

create a teacher profile separate from the personal one and ask students to create a profile add him/her as a friend.

• Facebook allows the teacher to create friends lists and e-mail students/friends. It is useful to circulate class rosters and material.

  

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Facebook Profile

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Facebook Profile (2)

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Facebook Profile (3)

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Facebook as a teaching and learning aid (2)

• Facebook groups allow their officer/

administrator to manage basic information,

student memberships, photos and videos.

Teachers can award students with exemplary

behaviour with officer status.

 

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Facebook as a teaching and learning aid (3)

• Privacy issues - before tagging students in a photo, always obtain parental permission.

• Students can upload photos and add captions describing the activity taking place in the photo.

• Facebook allows users to publish notes.• Status updates are a fun way of motivating

students. The teacher can write small, casual updates. Students can reply to these and a discussion is often generated.

• Students can share videos and comment on these.

• The teacher can share examples of exemplary work through posts or photos.

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Facebook status & links

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More uses

• You can add your courses to http://www.apps.facebook.com/courses. This avoids the need to add your students as friends on your facebook profile.

• Alternatively, you can list courses you teach on your profile.

• You can manage, make announcements, post documents and host discussions.

• You can post assignments to the class.• • You can give students feedback via chat.

• Facebook has some fun third party applications e.g. where students can play scrabble against each other.

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Word of caution

There is a lot of confusion about the role of social networks in learning. One common approach is to create a social network and call it a language learning community. This is naïve. Often there is neither a business nor a learning case for it. A social network does not have an intrinsic value or interest.

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Tried and testedsome teachers comments

• http://ww.livemocha.com

• This is a social networking and language site. The learning is well integrated with the networking aspect but the actual learning disappoints. Michelle Gallen 2008

• LiveMocha offers over 20 language courses. Each lesson comes with four stages of learning: reading, listening, learning and magnet where you drag and drop correct words into spaces.

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Tried and tested

• http://www.italki.com

• Students can connect and find each other using the site then connect via chat, IM, Skype etc.

• http://www.babbel.com/go/friendsabroad

• You choose your language and the language you want to learn and then choose the country where you would like to find the person. You click on search and you get a list of people who fit your criteria.

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Thank you

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info@ftz.org.mt

Ir-Razzett tal-Hursun, University Campus, Msida MSD 2080

Maltatel (+356) 2340 2189

www.ftz.org.mt

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