Social Networking Technology

Social media has become a part of everyday life for many individuals. It provides a great way to stay connected with friends, family, colleagues and the list goes on and on. Many educators have realized that this technology can be a useful tool in their classrooms. Two social networking technologies that may have potential in adult education are Edmodo and Blogs.

Edmodo

Edmodo is a social networking technology that it quite useful to students and educators. This technology functions in a similar way to Facebook, so navigating the technology will not be challenging for individuals who are familiar with Facebook. Edmodo provides teachers and learners with a safe online environment to connect and collaborate. This tool allows educators to continue classroom discussions online, as well as, give online polls to check for student understanding. Additionally, badges can be awarded to students based on performance. I think that these features will help to keep the students engaged in their learning.

I would use this technology in my class to help keep my students engaged in their learning outside of the classroom. I would post follow-up discussion questions to get students to continue to think about the material that was covered in the class. I would also post links to resources for students to explore. Learners will be encouraged to post links to resources that they come across that are relevant to the topics covered in the class.

More information on Edmodo can be found here: https://www.edmodo.com/about

Blogs

Blogs are great for sharing individual knowledge and experience, as well as encouraging discussion. I would create a class blog where I would post topics for students to post their responses. Additionally I would encourage students to add their reflections of their daily learning experiences. Their peers will be asked to comment on these posts. My students would be expected to post links to resources that are relevant to the topics covered in the class.

The following link provides some useful information about blogs and blogging: http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Category:Everything_Blogging