Social Media in English Education

or(Social Media: It’s Not the Enemy!)

Laura Nicosia, PhDAssociate Prof. English

Director, English EducationMontclair State University

Who am I?

This is the iconic Bell Tower of College Hall at Montclair State University in NJ

My upcoming book is: Educators Online: Preparing

Today’s Teachers for Tomorrow’s Digital LiteraciesPeter Lang, Publishers

In my book, I attempt to dispel numerous myths and anxieties regarding

Web 2.0 uses and social media participation--specifically regarding

educators.

A recent study* of over 1000 educators shows:

Only 16% of English/LA teachers are frequent users of technology, as opposed to 33% of all social studies

or science teachers.* Report by Grunwald Associates LLC June 2010: www.grunwald.com

Why Is That So?

Their answer is:

49% say: “The device [technology]isn’t necessary for my lessons.”

* Report by Grunwald Associates LLC June 2010: www.grunwald.com

But teachers who use technologies frequently in their livesand classes report greater benefits to student learning,

engagement and 21st century skills.

CollaborationAccountabilityCommunicationCreativityCritical ThinkingEthics

Global AwarenessInnovationLeadershipProblem-solvingProductivitySelf-direction

If English/LA teachers choose not to use Web 2.0 technologies & social media to

deliver instruction or in their own lives, how can they model valid uses of these tools?

This Begs the Question:

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education

“In the 21st Century, educators must be given and be prepared to use technology tools; they

must be collaborators in learning—constantly seeking

knowledge and acquiring new skills along with their students.”

March 3, 2010: Grunwald pp. 5

Let’s discuss a few select Web 2.0

sites and social media first as PD and

second, as to their importance for our own

personal growth and enjoyment.

Don’t be fooled into

thinking that you can’t

DO technology—

You CAN!

I wasn’t trained in Web 2.0 tools and wasn’t born a digital native*

Regardless, I’ve effectively used

several technologies in my classes.

These are some I currently use*Twitter*PlurkNing*Diigo*FacebookPandoraWikispaces*Second Life*

Flickr*GlogsterGoogleDocs*DeliciousWordleLinkedinSlideShare* & YouTube*Skype

* These are the tools & sites I use with my English and English Education classes.

These sites can be grouped into like

“genres” & we can talk about them after

this slide show

Collaborative

Work Spaces:

GoogleDocsWikispaces

Social Bookmarking:Diigo*DeliciousFlickr*Pandora*SlideShare* & YouTube

*These are “crossover” tools and can be categorized in several “genres”

Micro-Blogging:

TwitterPlurk

Social Networking: Ning*Diigo*FacebookSkypeLinkedin

*These are “crossover” tools and can be categorized in several “genres”

Creative Production:GlogsterWordle

3-D Virtual Reality Environments:

Second Life (think of Webkinz

or the Sims)

My SL avatar: LauraMaria Onomatopoeia

Frankly, I’ve learned

more from my

professional learning

network [PLN] than

in any PD course I’ve

ever taken.

“The social benefits of internet use will far outweigh the negatives over the next decade...because email, social networks, and other online tools offer ‘low-friction’

opportunities to create, enhance, and rediscover social ties that make a difference in people’s lives.”

-Pew Research Center, 2 July 2010. www.pewinternet.org

TwitterWikispacesDiigo

Since our time is limited, I’d like to talk about:

Have You Twittered Today?

What IS Twitter?It is the most popular micro-blogging systemIt is robust, elegant and simpleHas 75 million users*Permits numerous mash-ups & open source applications

Twitter is a Microblog

It is a mini-blog of 140 characters or less answering the question, “What’s happening?”

This is my Twitter Homepage

Twitter pages are vertically

oriented, linear and very ‘clean’

You may ask, “So, what’s the big deal?”

Meet colleagues from around the worldMake friendsCollaborate with my peersShare information and resourcesReceive links, insights and adviceShare my scholarship with peers

I post Tweets because I:

Tweets are, by definition, to-

the-point. They take little time to write and less time to read.

Tweets can be used to share links to websites and articles.

Here are some sample Tweets I’ve archived

With Twitter, you don’t have to be alonewhen traveling at a conference.

You make a request...

You get

responses

almost

immediately

Tweets can be used in class, too.

You can keep up with the newest YA titles and authors...

You can even offer one-question quizzes, short answers or extra credit questions using Twitter.

You can use Twitter to teach

creative writing in round-robin storytelling

fashion

I’ve taken attendance with Twitter

and I’ve used it for polling students

I’ve even used it with writing tasks:

Students have Tweeted their titlesor their Thesis Statementsor their Topic Sentencesor even Summaries

I use Wikispaces. When I want more depth & development...

I create a new Wiki for

every class I teach and

nearly every PD I offer.

I prefer Wikispaces.com

They offer Ad-Free educational spaces

You can create a Wiki EASILY

You use simple icons to manage and administer your wiki

You can even send email ‘blasts’ to all or some members of your wiki or to all

your wikis.

I’ve used Wikis in Literature Classes

Here are some of the students’ individual pages for their tasks

When students research topics, however...

The Web 2.0 tool we use is Diigo.

Diigo

This is my profile page

With Diigo you can annotate & highlight articles as you read them. These notations will remain there. That’s pretty cool already. But you can also send those articles as emails and/or as URLs.

When you sign up with Diigoyou download a tool bar menu

Standard Tool Bar:

You create bookmarks (like filing cabinets) for

resources, links and articles you find useful.

Imagine the possibilities for researching a new text or for a student doing a research

paper. Bookmarked articles can be mailed via email. You can also comment

on articles with a stickie note and mail those commented-upon articles.

Here’s how you bookmark, tag and send an online resource:

Here is the Bookmark box

This is a portion of my TAGS(arranged in size by frequency of my use)

These tools have been instrumental in

keeping me active, productive, current and

continually learning. I encourage you to

explore these tools--for YOUR use and

for your classroom implementation.

Let’s Talk:Any questions or comments?

Dr. Laura NicosiaMontclair State University, NJ

Slide 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joemorgan/4613982435/

Slide 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunnyrel/4309044350/

Slide 4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/93136022/

Slide 5: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66312989@N00/199538463/

Slide 7: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17877600@N03/3502818574/

Slide 10: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93813154@N00/400841798/

Slide 12: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pointofdesign/2371903317/

Slide 13: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trywhistlingthis/3949360768/

Slide 17: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanmurphy/3550585942/

Slide 18: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69659670@N00/2475156004/

Slide 19: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nochuckingaround/2526794634/

Image Credits: Flickr.com (unless otherwise noted):

Slide 20: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjoernehlers/456462870/

Slide 23: http://www.flickr.com/photos/krish4u/3367656155/

Slide 25: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brainbikerider/4358972488/

Slide 26: http://twitter.com/about/files

Slide 31: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaneur/2646032688/

Slide 33: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34930587@N05/3362529958/

Slide 34: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cml/241395048/

Slide 37: http://www.flickr.com/photos/belljar/18171527/

Slide 40: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shreddedrabbit/1780373693/

Slide 42: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46783336@N00/905120/

Slide 43: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pikturz/3497330484/

Image Credits: Flickr.com

Slide 23: www.pewinternet.org

Slide 27: http://themetricsystem.rjmetrics.com/2010/01/26/new-data-on-twitters-users-and-engagement

Works Cited