Social_Networks

Classroom 2.0
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This social networking site is for people who are interested in using Web 2.0 tools in teaching and education. You are invited to join the site for free, but must be accepted by the site creator before your membership becomes active. The members are educators who can ask questions or post information about how to use specific technologies in their classrooms. The dialogue on the site is meant to be general enough that even "beginners" feel comfortable using the site. The site is aimed at teachers and not students.

This site could be used in a school library setting to teach the librarian how to use technologies she may be unfamiliar with to help create lessons for students/staff or help students with technology-based projects. Also, this could be used during staff development meetings. The librarian could use information or videos from the site to teach teachers how to use specific technologies to support their curriculum. The site is easy to navigate and full of short, easy to read information to further adult technological literacy. It is also a good resource for ideas about projects using technology one could implement in their own subject area.

-Danielle Tissiere Ramirez

Mixxt
http://www.mixxt.com

The thing that I liked about mixxt is that I was able to easily sign up for a FREE account and modify it to my needs. This type of site seemed like a nice fit for creating a library website with an easy url to remember to go and update any upcoming library events, closures or other info you would like posted. It allows for posting of blogs, videos etc, so people can add their two cents here and still find a link to the library home page where more in depth research-type stuff can be done. The basic site was easy to set up in a few clicks, and I was done. Seemed like a good fit for a small site to run some fun blogs about books that students can easily access and add to themselves!

-Leticia Montoya

__//Grou.PS//__
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Grou.ps is a social networking application that is comparable to Facebook only everything is customizable. You can add pages such us Blogs, Events, Photos, Videos, Subgroups, Wiki, etc. The site even offers apps and a mobile program. You could put your entire library online in a simple easy do-it-yourself application that can be semi-edited by others. As the Grou.PS developer of your page you can manage members, moderate content before being posted (wikis), and it offers a monetize feature that could be good for collecting fines!

As a library, this could be a wonderful social resource. You could add pages for book reviews, databases available, and wikis covering different topics. You could add photos of the library or library events as well as videos. You could create subgroups for the different grade levels at the school and provide content specific to them. This is an amazing idea and I am glad to have covered it. Here are some examples of Grou.ps for librarians:

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Sheri Humphries

// Flickr //
// http://flickr.com //

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The sites above list many ideas on how to use Flickr in the classroom. The last website also describes how to personalize the site to suit a user's individual needs. Berger's book discusses Flickr in great detail in the chapter on media sharing and briefly mentions it again in the social networking chapter. With Flickr, students, teachers, and just regular folk can access a plethora of photos and videos on a myriad of topics. Those visuals can be shared directly from the site, users can form their own pages within Flickr, or the images can be incorporated into visual displays, lessons, powerpoint projects (or Glogster or Prezi or.....) Libraries are classrooms so many of the ideas from the given websites can be incorporated into the library classroom. Bulletin boards can be spiced up with many public domain photos, colorful placards could be made to illustrate what might be found in certain areas of the library, and certainly any lesson on library usage, research, etc. would benefit from the high quality graphics available through Flickr.

Melanie Dulaney

http://flatclassroomproject.ning.com
====**I have been following the Flat Classroom Project for the past year. It is a very exciting adventure into using classroom collaboration globally. The Flat Classroom Project partners high school students from different countries as they focus on globalization. I think that students will be excited to work on various projects with peers from all across the globe. For example: **====

====**'A Week in the Life...' is a Flat Classroom® Project for Elementary School students of approximately ages 8-10. The curriculum focus is Interdisciplinary, how we live, how we communicate, cultural understanding and awareness. The aim of the project is to join Elementary School classrooms globally with a view to exploring what life is like in each country through discussion, sharing and collecting multimedia to create final products together. **====
 * Check out their website...very exciting things are happening! **
 * Shelia Potter **

// Teacher Librarian Ning // [|http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com]

I am thrilled to have learned about Ning. Ning is a Web 2.0 tool, which enables users to create a social network and grow a community of educators. Bing has many features, such as the ability to add podcasts, videos, groups, forums, notes and photographs. Social networks can be created for different topics of study, book-talks, specific courses, and library events. Forums can be utilized for group research purposes, as students share information while fostering a sense of support and community.

====Library Thing is a social network that allows one to catalog their books. This can be accessed from anywhere with the internet. It lets you connect to people with the same books and has suggestions to other books. There are also groups that people can join and make comments about books. In a school setting the school librarian could create a school library group and students could join this group and create their own libraries and be able to communicate with other students or teachers or even parents about books they’ve read or reading. Of course in this instance that would have to be done at the high school level. But I think it would also be a great tool for Book Clubs at lower levels and a good tool for a teacher Book Club on a school campus.====

Linda Forshage
__Facebook__

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Facebook is a social networking site that many people are familiar with. While facebook has been used mainly to keep in touch with people socially it is a great place for librarians to keep in touch with their faculty, students and parents. Since many people are familiar with the site the transition to using it should be smooth. Here is an example of a library taking advantage of facebook to keep their school informed:

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I know there are many policies the do not allow any teachers to be friends with students on any social networking sites however you don't have to have any friends on your facebook site it can be a site with a feed informing people of your library calendar events, book reviews and book talks or researching links, possibly student work if that is approved by administration. I would use it as another avenue, (very popular with students and their families), to keep people informed about your library students may feel more comfortable looking at a facebook page of your library since they are on facebook most of the day anyway rather than having to go to the school page to look up the library for information.

Genevieve Orozco

qlubb.com

This is a social network designed to manage groups. I researched it with the idea of forming a book club for a library, school or classroom. It will schedule reminders for you and allows for the setting up of schedules, lists, events etc. For examples see the website listed below. The second link is to a reading club I set up just to experiment with the application. The password is "Books". I would use it to set up book clubs for all ages including a read aloud club for young parents.

[|Book club examples]

[|Cool's bookclub]

Karen Cool

=**Edmodo**= []

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I didn't notice Edmodo in the reading, but it is a fabulous social networking tool for librarians, teachers, and students. It is free and safe to use in the educational setting. The example I gave a link to is actually a project where students were studying Polar bears via a webcam and it shows a teacher's post asking what students learned about the polar bears. The 4th grade responses are really great! I can see this being used as an information hub for a school or even just the school library. Librarians could post updates about book fairs and author visits, start discussions about books, post book reviews, etc. The possibilities are endless - especially if other teachers at the school used the site for homework and notices.

Barbara Holland

Reading-Rewards
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For librarians who enjoy book social networking sites such as LibraryThing or GoodReads, this is a wonderful tool to use with students. Reading-Rewards is a social networking site for students that revolves around the books they are reading. The site was created by a mom from Canada who was concerned that her children did not spend enough time reading, but instead played constantly on their game stations and computers. She devised this as a way for the children to record the books they read, the time they spent reading, and included a goal-setting element to work towards the reward of playing.

Students, parents, and teachers can sign up for a free account. The student can then search for books that he or she is reading or wants to read and "add" it to their virtual library. This creates an online catalog of the books they are reading which is similar to LibraryThing and GoodReads, but is specifically designed for kids. The books are listed by cover-art which adds an additional visual element for students. As a child adds friends to their account (this can include classmates and other schoolmates), they can see what others are reading as well. Students use the site to record the number of minutes and/or pages they are reading to reach set goals (either self-set or parent/teacher-set). When they are finished with the book, the student can then write a short review for others to read. The site will also offer recommendations based on what they've read. Another fun thing that students will enjoy is that when they've recorded a certain number of minutes or pages read, they can access various kid-friendly online games within the site. Then they must read some more to access the next set of games. This is a great way to encourage reluctant readers but avid online game-players to read more! Parents and teachers can set reading goals for their child/students and then track progress toward that goal. Teachers can create groups based on their classes of students so that each class can work towards a goal as well as towards individual goals. The students can get ideas for good books from others within their class or within the school. The teacher can also set outside rewards, if they want, based on the set goals.

As a librarian or as a classroom teacher, this site is perfect to replace the paper/pencil handwritten reading log. It can also serve as a motivation tool for students to read since they must record a certain number of minutes or pages read before they can access the online games. It's also a great way for both students and teachers to see the variety of books students have read over a period of time. This can help teachers and librarians encourage students to choose more challenging books or to offer suggestions for other books they might enjoy reading. I also like the fact that the site gives students a place to talk openly about what they are reading and make recommendations to other students. Teachers can also use this site for online discussions about a required story or novel being read by the class as a whole. There is a blogging feature and a discussion feature for teachers. This is a great way to jump-start a novel discussion with older students that can be finished aloud in class.

Emma McDonald

**Weebly (education)**

 * Desiree McConnell**

http://education.weebly.com/

Weebly is yet another free site that allows students, parents, teachers, and even school districts to create a website. Education Weebly is specifically for education. The site has a former teacher with at least 20 years classroom experience and leading educational technology consultant as their advisor. It is easy to use and allows the user to create classroom websites and blogs, keep parents informed, and turn in homework. Those features are just the beginning. The site does not allow advertisements, so no pop ups, and users can add videos, pictures, music, and more. In addition site is updated regularly and introducing new features.

The possible uses for this site are huge. Teachers can invite people to join their class page. Students can create blogs for their site if the they want to have discussions. Teachers can post homework, lessons, links, and projects. It almost seems that the features are limitless. I am actually looking forward to testing it out with some of my students. This is also a exciting way to engage students and foster their enthusiasm in learning. In the library this could be used for book clubs. Our library council could create a book review site or book recommendation page that students could access to decide what they want to read next.

The following is a teacher link that was created using Weebly.

http://cnapolitano.weebly.com/

Desiree McConnell