Social Networking-Online Collaboration-Audio-Web-Conferencing
From LiteracyTentWiki
- Back to Adult Literacy Professional Development
- Back to Technology
- Back to Using Social Media
Subject: [PD 4817] Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Jackie A. Taylor
Date: Wed Jul 14 09:29:35 EDT 2010
Dear Colleagues,
Yesterday was a quiet day! I hope you're not letting the discussion
framework limit things. If to err, err on the side of participation! :-)
There will be overlap among tools/examples. Please make the most of this
opportunity to explore the topics this week.
Here are some questions to open new topics regarding social networking,
online collaboration, and web conferencing tools (existing threads should
also continue):
We mentioned that it was valuable to connect with students using forums with
which they are already familiar (See Richard's post today, #4813). Some of
you also noted privacy concerns and strategies for keeping the private realm
and the professional realm separate w/o duplicating efforts. Tell us more
about your work in these areas. How are you using - or beginning to use -
tools like Facebook, Myspace, and other social networking sites (see
examples below) for teaching and / or professional development?
What tools do you find especially useful for collaborating online? Why?
As Kristine Marane Gongora mentioned: These online spaces are merely tools,
therefore their value is in what we bring to them, and what we make of them.
What do you make of them?
Looking forward. Jackie
--
Jackie Taylor
PD List Facilitator
jackie at jataylor.net
Subject: [PD 4820] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Susan Gaer
Date: Wed Jul 14 12:08:46 EDT 2010
First I want to say I love these tools. You may visit me at any of these
places:
- *Skype*: Susangaer (download skype, register, and search for me.)
- *Facebook:* Susangaer (log in to your account and friend me)
- *Myspace:* (my students and I don't really like myspace as much anymore)www.myspace.com/susangaer
- *Linked In;* LOG IN and look up Susan Gaer
- *Diigo: *http://www.diigo.com/user/susanlgaer
- *Delicious:* http://delicious.com/sgaer
- *Picasa:* http://picasaweb.google.com/susangaer (due to privacy issues, most student photos require password access*)
- *Flickr*: http://www.flickr.com/photos/susangaer
- *Slideshare*:http://www.slideshare.net/sgaer
- *Scribd:* Look me up http://www.scribd.com/ (search for sgaer)
Hope I see you online!
I hope you will join me and we will become fast friends.
Susan Gaer
Google Certified Teacher
Santa Ana College School of Continuing Education
Subject: [PD 4821] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Susan Gaer
Date: Wed Jul 14 12:14:29 EDT 2010
Wikis, Blogs, Google Docs and more
Sorry for a double post. But as I said, I love these tools and so do my
students.
I have the following projects for you to look at:
- Blogs Low Beginning ESL*:
http://beginning2.blogspot.com/
- Wiki: ABE*
Writing: Google Docs to PDF
Intermediate High ESL
- Go to http://www.susangaer.com *
- Intermediate 2/3 combo (Inappropriate uses of the cell phone and
favorite clothes)
- Intermediate 3 Spring: Hairs and Best Friends
Susan Gaer
Google Certified Teacher
Santa Ana College School of Continuing Education
Subject: [PD 4822] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Combs, Kay
Date: Wed Jul 14 12:28:47 EDT 2010
First I want to say that this discussion board has been great because we were able to express our ideas, challenges and forward-thinking educational ideas to help our students achieve success in today's world.
But above all, we have "networked" and found individuals, like Susan Gear, who can be of help in using many of the tools shared. If you have a chance to attend a Google workshop offered by a certified google instructor, I suggest you do so. I attended one this summer and it will be invaluable in using social media tools which are free to use with your students.
This discussion board has confirmed our need to charge forth in technology no matter what the barriers so we can prepare ourselves to educate our students.
Kay Combs, M.A.Ed.
Coordinator - GED/ESL
Center for Lifelong Learning
Georgetown, KY
Subject: [PD 4825] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: George Demetrion
Date: Wed Jul 14 13:00:28 EDT 2010
Hi Susan,
Thanks for posting these. I just signed on to diigo.com and can see its potential value. Would you be willing to put together a one or two sentence description of each of the websites you highlighted, including their primary functions and something about what each site offers that is unique? Stated a bit otherwise, for what purposes would I draw on each (or someof the) of the site(s)? That information, perhaps, will better facilitate strategic utilization in which for some users, one or two of the sites may serve best.
Again, thanks for sharing this information. Your enthusiasm is evident and contagious. Very cool.
San Diego George
Subject: [PD 4824] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Helaine Marshall
Date: Wed Jul 14 13:03:49 EDT 2010
Susan,
You have listed so many options. By any chance have you - or anyone on the
list - tried Google Wave? It replaces email and enables both synchronous and
asynchronous discussion. Also pics, video, audio, links and active web pages
can be embedded here. You can also embed a wave into an online learning
platform.
I think it has potential and I started a wave and invited the list in case
anyone wants to play around there.
I am lainehwm at googlewave.com
Helaine
Helaine W. Marshall, Ph.D.
Director of Language Education Programs
Westchester Graduate Campus
Long Island University
Subject: [PD 4826] Re: [BULK] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Susan Wetenkamp-Brandt
Date: Wed Jul 14 13:19:55 EDT 2010
I've been listening in the past few days (uh-oh, a "Lurker"!) but since the other Susan took the initiative to put herself out there, I think I'll do the same. I'm an Ed Tech Trainer for ABE/ESL in Minnesota. You can find me online almost everywhere as "swbrandt".
I'm on blogger: http://literacytechmn.blogspot.com
On Delicious, Twitter, Slideshare, and I'm sure other places online I'm forgetting about, I'm "swbrandt".
I'm on FaceBook (look up Susan Wetenkamp-Brandt) and friend me.
On Flickr (though I haven't uploaded a thing in a couple years, eek!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/swbrandt/
On Tokbox: http://www.tokbox.com/SusanWBrandt
My Delicious, Twitter, Blogger, and FaceBook accounts are the most active. I also use Google Docs (sharing under my work email address: swbrandt at themlc.org<mailto:swbrandt at themlc.org>) almost every day. I'd love to connect with other ABE/ESL professionals who are interested in technology.
To Susan Gaer: Look for friend requests/follows to come soon!
Susan
Subject: [PD 4827] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Jackie A. Taylor
Date: Wed Jul 14 13:28:42 EDT 2010
Hi George and All,
Actually, Nell Eckersley created pretty much what you've described. It's a
matrix of nearly 100 social media tools that can be used for adult
education. She's added columns that indicate various types of functions, and
a column that describes what each tool does. Richard has recently put it
into Google Docs for us so that anyone can add/edit it (thanks Nell and
Richard!):
Susan, perhaps you could tell us more about your experience with any of
these?
Do others have social media sites and online projects in adult education
that you'd like to share with us as Susan has?
Thanks,
Jackie Taylor
PD List Facilitator
jackie@jataylor.net
Subject: [PD 4829] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Melinda Holt
Date: Wed Jul 14 14:11:34 EDT 2010
I train educators on the use of online tools esp. "the Google". Google Wave
is a great tool but not very intuitive. Teachers and other staff that I've
attempted to train on the Wave did not continue to use it after the initial
"show and tell" - it was "too hard". The core apps (Docs, Calendar, Groups,
etc) are always a hit and used after workshops /trainings.
Google Wave definitely has potential - I just think it needs a wee bit more
development in order to be widely understood and used (its not totally
understood right now so it's not being used.)
BTW: Susan has done great work with Google - I use her links during
workshops to show others all the time. (Thanks Susan!)
Melinda Holt
Project Specialist, Internet & Media Services
Sacramento County Office of Education
www4.scoe.net/ims
www.usalearns.org
www.myefa.org
www.cdlponline.org
www.adultedonline.org
Subject: [PD 4833] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Bethany Lezanic-Smith
Date: Wed Jul 14 16:07:24 EDT 2010
Since all of my students learn from a distance, I use as many tools as
possible to help me try to connect with them. As of right now, I haven't
tried using Facebook, MySpace, or any of the other popular social networking
sites. The biggest problem with this (and it was mentioned earlier today) is
keeping your personal and professional information separate without having
multiple accounts. I have a feeling some of my students have Facebook and
Myspace accounts, but they probably also have pictures or content that
shouldn't be shared in a classroom environment.
We are currently using Adobe Connect Pro to provide our students live online
instruction. Adobe Connect Pro offers a wide variety of instructional tools.
Almost every possible activity you could plan to use in a face-to-face
classroom can be replicated using this software. For example, you can put
students in breakout rooms. This is a great tool for having students work in
small groups online. Each breakout room has its own chat pod, and the
teacher is able to pop in and out of the rooms to guide students as needed.
Additionally, we record the live student webinars, so they are available at
anytime to any of our students who have Internet access. That way, if a
student cannot make a particular webinar, they can still benefit from
hearing and watching the lesson. There is a great Adobe Connect Pro overview
video available at:
https://admin.adobe.acrobat.com/_a227210/acpmeetingoverview/. Adobe also has
a great resource page where you can explore any of the tools offered as a
part of the Adobe Connect Pro package. These can be found at:
http://www.adobe.com/resources/acrobatconnect/. You can also easily download
a free 30-day trial version if you are interested in trying it out.
Lastly, I wanted to mention that we use many of the Google tools. Google
Docs is probably the one tool that we use the most. Some of our teachers
work out of our office, while others work from their homes. This obviously
creates communication gaps. Google Docs really helps us to bridge some of
those gaps. We also use Google sites, calendars, mail, and Manymoon. I'm
interested in learning about more ways we can use Google to eliminate our
communication gaps. Furthermore, I would like to find ways to begin using
Google's tools to enhance our distance student/teacher relationships.
Bethany Lezanic-Smith
Distance Learning Associate
TIU 11 Community Education Services
Lewistown, PA
Subject: [PD 4834] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Susan Gaer
Date: Wed Jul 14 17:16:01 EDT 2010
Some people have emailed me and asked me what I use and why. So here is that
list. Remember these are just my personal preferences.
- For me, I use the ones I am comfortable with. With my students I use:*
I like Facebook or Myspace to connect with my class. They also like learning
about me. Students can follow what the teacher is doing and I can know what
is going on with their lives.
Picasa and/Flickr are great for sharing photos and have privacy features.
Blogs are wonderful tools for students to keep journals and Wikis are nice
for a collaborative work group.
Of course I love anything Google. I have found that students will write more
when there is an easy to use word processor. For math projects, google
spreadsheets works well and for PowerPoint that students can share with
their families back home, I always use Google Docs. Google Docs also allows
you to keep work private. We use Google Spreadsheets to make a class
directory so students can contact each other. I make it private and invite
my students so only the students in my class can see the directory.
For my own personal professional development, I use Diigo and Delicious (but for me personally I find Diigo easier to use so I
probably bookmark more there. I also love Twitter for my PD because so many
people post wonderful links to good sites that I can then bookmark in Diigo.
I don't really write many Tweets (new vocabulary for me) because 140
characters is not enough room.
Susan Gaer
Google Certified Teacher
Santa Ana College School of Continuing Education
Subject: [PD 4851] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conf...
From: Araminta Matthews
Date: Thu Jul 15 10:46:02 EDT 2010
I have been following this conversation for some time and I would like to
chime in on a few points. Like some others, I too work within an adult
education program linked to a public school system. The public school
system has aptly blocked certain internet uses from our network in order
to protect the youth that attend the public school, but this blocking
extends to adult students. More and more, I meet adult students who
require computer/technology/internet literacy in order to succeed in life
-- everything from personal banking to applying for and achieving new jobs
is housed almost exclusively on the internet these days. Many of the
adults I work with speak of the internet as though it is some demon out to
steal their identities and ruin their lives. As a result, they fear this
technology and view it as "the wild west" as someone else called it. I
have one student in particular who, until very recently, believed that the
mere act of sitting at a computer and opening Internet Explorer would
expose the world to enough of his personal information to allow a thief to
steal his identity. The result is that this man is and has been without
work for nearly a year and, until he can overcome his fear of this
technology, will doubtlessly remain so.
So how do we reduce the fear adult students have surrounding the internet?
I think the only answer is to expose them to the sources of that fear --
such as Google, Facebook, Myspace -- and rather than telling them "these
companies will infringe on your privacy and collect your personal
information against your will" and thus scaring them more, we should teach
them how to make safe choices on the internet. We should teach them about
their rights, about how the internet can collect information and how to
avoid letting that information get collected, about performing security
checks on their computers, and about what types of information to share on
these various sites (and what to avoid sharing). Otherwise, we continue
to expose these students to the cycle of fear that will inevitably keep
them unemployed, undereducated, and disconnected from the current time.
And let's not forget the fact that Google is not alone in privacy
violations. Video game companies are some of the biggest culprits.
Indeed, any internet service provider or internet-based program is
dangerous with regard to privacy -- hackers can even lift information from
your computer if you have a modem even if you aren't connected to the
internet. I live with a very gifted internet user who works for a
prominent company in their information technology and security department.
He has a breadth of understanding of the Internet's inner mechanisms that
I'll never come close to and he assures me that if someone wants your
identity or your personal data, there isn't anything you can do to avoid
it. There is no security system or firewall that can block out every
hacker. There is no mailbox secure enough to keep a common thief from
breaking in and lifting your mail out of your box and using that to steal
your identity. There is no RFID badge encrypted enough that some talented
hacker can't lift the information from it just by sitting near you in a
public place(with a device, of course, which can be made apparently with
about $20 worth of parts). So really, what would avoiding Google, or any
other social network, accomplish with regard to securing a person's
privacy?
I think it is better to prepare the masses, to teach them about safety,
and to expose them to modern technology and the value of its uses while
simultaneously educating them about strategies to keep their information
safe.
Cheers,
Mina Matthews
Career Transitions Coordinator
Lewiston Adult Education
Lewiston, ME
Subject: [PD 4913] Re: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: McNutt Jr, William R
Date: Mon Jul 19 14:40:55 EDT 2010
I know that I am coming quite late to the party, but I had a major
professional effort during the height of the discussion, and can't
resist sticking my two cents in.
One of the observations I've made recently that really seems to
underline how I differ from the Millennials has been how my concept and
execution of the concept "privacy" differs from that of Millennials.
Young people (Stay off my lawn!) don't seem concerned at all about
privacy, and share their entire lives, warts and all, on Facebook or
using other social networking tools. I've been truly startled by the
private information that's shown up casually in the News Feed section of
my Facebook interface. Personal relationships, engagements, divorces .
. . are all fodder for the news aggregator. I've seen arrests, fines,
and a detention by Homeland Security SELF-REPORTED.
I've expressed concern about this to a number of them, and the general
response I've gotten has been an utter unconcern about keeping that sort
of thing private. One young lady did explain it to me in some detail.
She is the product of what's currently called "helicopter parents." Her
parents have dictated her schedule and activities all her life. They've
used technology to monitor and control her behavior. They have perused
her cell phone logs, read her text messages, reviewed her web browsers
log, and read her e-mail. Having grown up with a total and complete
lack of privacy, she feels no particular need to guard the details of
her life after having left home.
Bill McNutt
Technology Coordinator
Center for Literacy Studies
University of Tennessee
Subject: [PD 4914] Privacy online
From: Thompson, Duren J
Date: Tue Jul 20 12:34:40 EDT 2010
Interesting - you said, "Having grown up with a total and complete lack
of privacy, she feels no particular need to guard the details of her
life after having left home."
The fallacy of that logic that we have to then teach young folks is:
The world is not looking out for your best interests - like your parents
were. Your parents won't steal your personal information and run up
credit card debt in your name. They are not thieves/felons looking to
steal your identity so they can "live as you." Your parents understand
why and what happened regarding all those embarrassing events - your
employer and/or co-workers won't.
There is a great deal of difference between your parents and the wide
wide world.
Duren Thompson
Subject: [PD 4915] social networking, online collaboration
From: LHarlow
Date: Tue Jul 20 13:36:40 EDT 2010
Hi Bill,
I would also be considered a digital immigrant. My friends, family and
I have spent our lives believing that privacy is important and to be
protected. I am presently taking graduate courses with a cohort of
classmates. We started our first class together this past January.
In our class we have the Blackboard Suite, which I am sure you have a
familiarity. During the course of the first class, my classmates and I
were intensely learning new vocabulary and skills. The blackboard was
primarily (at that point) a tool for learning and helping each other
master these skills. It also gave us an opportunity to begin the
process of getting to know each other as individuals. We started to
have a favorable regard for each other not just as classmates but as
individuals.
When the second class started, some left and some new faces joined the
group. There was some storming, not unusual when new people join an
already established group, but things worked out. This time the
blackboard became more than just a tool for learning new skills, it
became a vehicle for personal growth. The members of the group from the
first class and many of the members that joined in the second class
shared a level of comfort and respect for each other. Individuals began
to share information that was much more private about themselves. In
return their classmates stepped up and provided validation, support, and
even comfort.
This sense of community bonding I had never experienced except within
groups such as family and friends, or subgroups within work or civic
work. Most of these relationships took longer to establish and were
never this open. The point of my example is that I now understand this
need for so much connection and I like it. With social networking I
have the opportunity to get to know people I might never meet physically
and yet we can become a part of each others lives. I see this as a very
enriching experience. As one of my teachers might say "I have an
opportunity to change the filter of my own personal lens".
Like you, I do have concerns about the dark side of the digital era and
I set out to learn about those issues also. Being foolish is also not a
good idea.
Just a few thoughts Bill,
Laura
Virginia Commonwealth U.
Subject: [PD 4919] Subject: RE: Social Networking, Online Collaboration, and Audio/Web Conferencing
From: Ball, Patrice
Date: Wed Jul 21 10:07:49 EDT 2010
I was on vacation all of last week and am just catching up on all of the posts, but here is a link to my list of web2.0 tools with descriptions that I have tried and have found useful for various activities in the education field. http://www.scribd.com/doc/12838032/Adult-Literacy-Ed-Web-20-Resources
I have presented several workshops on web2.0 tools for the classroom and am also including those links which are on Slideshare: http://slidesha.re/byOBx0
My current favorite web2.0 tool is Twitter (http://twitter.com/poochiesan24) which I use extensively to share resources and tips with other educators. I also love Ning, (http://nesabestech.ning.com) despite the fact that there will now be a fee. I also use Delicious (http://delicious.com/poochiesan) and Diigo for bookmarking. You can find me all over the web using the name poochiesan or poochiesan24. Hope to be able to join one of the small groups also to participate more fully.
If the links aren't live, copy and paste into your browser.
Patty Ball, Reg. Technology Coordinator
NorthEast SABES c/o NECC
Lawrence MA
