Module 9
Learning Objectives:
·
Visit Scootle and explore the ratings and
comments of others.
·
Understand the difference between professional
learning networks and social networks.
·
Explore social networks for your own
understanding (not for use with students).
·
Create a blog post on your learnings in this
module.
13/11/13
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I have used Scootle before so this was not a new
resource for me – I spend a lot of time with teachers exploring the resources
available. I used to use it when it was Digilearn but it is so much bigger
now.
I did download the User Guide so that I can learn more
about all the features in Scootle and better utilise it. I even managed to
put in a profile picture!
I had
already discovered and used learning content and I understand and can refine
search results. I have also added, managed and shared learning paths.
I
discovered that in order to copy someone’s learning path you need to change
the name of it otherwise it won’t copy. In the meantime I created three empty
folders because I thought that was what I was doing wrong J
Scootle
is a bit like a a lot of other Web 2.0 platforms with its capacity to
personalise what you do and with lots of weblinks and different ways to
access content and make comments.
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From Wikipedia: A social networking service is a platform to build social
networks or social
relations among
people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or
real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation
of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of
additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Online
community services
are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a broader
sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service
whereas online
community services
are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas,
pictures, posts, activities, events, and interests with people in their
network.
And
from the course advice: The
use of collaboration tools such as blogs, wikis and nings for learning with
students is recommended. Personal social network sites such as Facebook are
not.
Social networking is
certainly popular and not just with kids – most people I know use Facebook at
least if not Instagram, Twitter, etc. We need to recognise what we, as
teachers can do to maximise positive uses of networks but keep a “lid on” the
social and emotional risks associated with social networking. Cybersafety has
to be a big part of education today, without stifling opportunities for
creativity, collaboration and learning.
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Exploring social
networking sites:
A.
Second
life
While I can see there might be some value in this for education, particularly
being able to create realistic virtual “situations”, the content in the
introductory video seemed a little unsuitable for most school aged children
and I would be concerned about the level of violence possible from what you
could create. I could not see myself
getting into it and I certainly would not want anyone in my professional life
to see anything I had created there!!
B.
FACEBOOK
I have a personal
Facebook account in my own name, which is a concern when I think about my
digital footprint, I need to ensure that I am not being linked to anything
unsavoury and I am contributing more regularly to other online sites so that
what I put there is more readily available than anything I might be associated
with in Facebook. I also only accept actual people I know as” friends”
c.
TWITTER
I also have a twitter account but I only
set it up for CEOM and have not really used it much at all – my children have
twitter accounts and are less than eager for me to “follow” them, unless it
is to comment on my daughter’s blog. I have concerns about using this tool at
school too – maybe I just can’t see the value in having kids tweeting with
each other when they could be talking!!
D. LINKEDIN
Yes I have one of these too, but I don’t
access it very much. I need to see the professional value it can give before
I am convinced it is good for me. I have always preferred networking in
person but after watching the video I can see the point in giving it another
go – so maybe I will!!
This is the one that has the most possibilities
for positive addition to my digital footprint.
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This module reminded me about the good things in Scootle and gave me
the impetus to properly examine it through the User Guide, which I will keep
handy through Delicious.
It also got me rethinking about social networking in my own life but
it didn’t really give me much reason to embrace it in an educational setting.
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