Social NetworksSocial Outlets

How to meet student social needs

I know that many of you want to use Social Networks (SN)

And I know some reasons why…

You want to….

1.Communicate with your friends -On and off campus2.Meet new people

3.Share things about yourself with others

4.BE the social adolescent you are!

I have to promise you this…

I have given this tremendous thought…

…And I want to meet your communication and social needs

Here is what I believe…

I believe SN’s are a great education tool

I think MYSpace have given SN’s a bad rap

I believe many school districts against MY Space and SN’s know

little about SN’s…and perhaps never used them (one)

I believe SN’s can be distracting in the school setting if not created for

educational purposes

I believe schools need to ne sensitive to student needs and

provide social outlets

So here is what I will do…

You will be given an inter-school email where you can create blogs

and groups (Gaggle)

You will be able to join and use a private community network (MS

Sharepoint

You will be able to post and share photos on the school server folders

(Edufiles)

You will be able to contribute to class forums on an LMS (Moodle)

You will be able to join and contribute to global discussions

(TakingITGlobal)

You will be to create and publish on the WWW (Voicethread, MS

Photostory,…)

You will be able to contribute to school/classroom Wiki’s and Blogs

(Wikispaces, Blogger)

I hope to allow you to be part of an educational SN (education.Ning)

Thus, short of permitting MYSpace (or other SN’s) I am unsure how to meet insatiable social needs. The list provides ample opportunity for

contribution, self-expression, collaboration, sharing, publishing,

etc…