Overview+of+the+Workshop

=Social Networking in the Classroom =

==Participants: This workshop is intended for educators who want to engage in discussions about using social networking in the classroom and sharing ideas as to how it can be used to enhance student learning.==

Objectives:
1. Identify benefits of using social networking the classroom. 2. Explain how to encourage the protection of students, while still using social networking tools. 3. Incorporate the use of social networking in the classroom with specific lesson plans and activities tied to curricular aims.

Gap:
Participants in this workshop already have an understanding of what social network sites (sns) are but are looking for ways to engage the student population in the use social network sites to increase student engagement and learning. The workshop will provide opportunities for participants to create lesson plans that use social networks and have others evaluate those lesson plans to identify strengths and areas needing improvement. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a better idea of how to incorporate social networks into classroom activities.

Agenda for the Workshop

1. Introduction and Welcomes (10 minutes)

2. Overview (5 Minutes)

3. Exploration of Social Networking Sites (1 hour) (Presentation)

1. Introduction to Social Networking Sites (SNS)
 * What are Social Networking Sites?
 * Different forms of Social Networking Sites (Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin, Twitter, etc.)

2. History of Social Networking Sites 3. Time to explore various social networking sites -- In small groups, go to the Social Networking Sites covered in the initial overview and explore how people are using the sites. We will spend a bit more time discussing the differences in the way the sites are used.
 * Development of Social Networking Sites

4. Social Networking in the classroom (2 hours) (Presentation)

1. Current Demographics of SNS Users (Who uses social networking sites?) This section will be a brief overview of the current users of SNS sites and what it means to classroom educators.

2. Uses of Social Networking Sites
 * How do people currently use social networking sites?
 * Is this different for students vs. adults?

3. Uses in the classroom of social networking sites
 * Facebook vs. Educational Social Networking Sites
 * Class Discussions
 * Facebook Polls
 * Teaching Reading with Facebook
 * Teaching Writing with Facebook
 * Networking with other classes on Facebook
 * Communicating Objectives with Facebook
 * What ideas do you have?

4. Setting up groups in Facebook

5. Issues with social networking in the classroom
 * Appropriate contact with students on social network sites
 * Cyberbullying
 * Educating about inappropriate content
 * Students being off task on Facebook


 * Group Work (1 Hour) In this time block, you will have about an hour to build a Facebook page for your own class. You will examine some other classroom sites and how they are used. You will then begin adding content to your own page. At this point you will also begin to network with your colleagues and start adding some connections between the two classes.**

5. Setting up your own Facebook Page for your class

6. Establishing connections with other class pages.

The first piece of the workshop wrap up will be to go to the workshop Facebook page and we will have a group discussion on the page to see how the group discussion function works. The workshop Facebook Page will also be a place for the group to share what they are doing with Facebook in the class and how things are going. It will be our place to continue this discussion beyond the workshop and continue to learn from each other. The workshop Facebook page is located at https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_112118615540039 or you can search for the group, "Educational Applications of Facebook" to locate it.
 * Wrap Up (30 Minutes)**

After we have shared our reactions to the idea on using Facebook in the classroom, you have on this page, a document for the workshop evaluation. If you would please take a few minutes to download that, complete it and either print it or email it to me so that I may improve my workshops, I would appreciate it.