EDUC 439/639 Social Networking - Fall 2012

Safe Keeping

"I truly believe that most of my full-time, tenure-track colleagues would rather quit their jobs than teach an online course. And that's a shame, since they are exactly the people who should be helping to set standards for meaningful online education."

"MOOCs are characterized by their openness, enabling anyone across the world with an Internet connection to participate.  As a result, most MOOCs have thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of participants. An online course with potentially tens of thousands of students is a very different teaching environment than face-to-face courses or even "traditional" online courses.  Teaching strategies practiced in other teaching contexts won't necessarily translate well to this context. Indeed, the sets of choices regarding learning objectives, content presentation, assessment, and instructor-to-student and student-to-student interaction are still being developed in this emergent teaching environment."

Lesson Plans in History, English, Science for High School, Middle School, Elementary, Home School

A good rule of thumb is if it's boring to write, then it's probably boring to read. The reason is that your enthusiasm for the subject is reflected in your treatment of the subject. If it's a subject you are passionate about, it is only natural that you lavish attention on the details and spend that extra time fussing over the language. So how do you take a hum-drum post and make it awesome?

The last weekend of September ended the month wonderfully with a fantastic conference in Wilmington, Delaware : Pod Camp East. A smaller conference atmosphere than many other social media events, the setting made for great dialogue and opportunity to really get involved with participants & speakers.

"I love being a scholar, but one thing that really depresses me about research is that so much of what scholars produce is rendered inaccessible to so many people who might find it valuable, inspiring, or thought-provoking. This is at the root of what drives my commitment to open-access. When Zizi Papacharissi asked Nancy Baym and I if we'd be willing to guest edit the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (JOBEM), we agreed under one condition: the issue had to be open-access (OA). Much to our surprise and delight, Taylor and Francis agreed to "test" that strange and peculiar OA phenomenon by allowing us to make this issue OA. Nancy and I decided to organize the special issue around "socially mediated publicness," both because we find that topic to be of great interest and because we felt like there was something fun about talking about publicness in truly public form. We weren't sure what the response to our call would be, but were overwhelmed with phenomenal submissions and had to reject many interesting articles. "

Today is Banned Website Awareness Day, and all across the country, educators are doing their part to raise awareness of how overly restrictive blocking of educational websites affects student learning. The dialogue around filtering must also include bring-your-own-device policies, appropriate use of social media in schools, and overall responsible use of technology in school.

Open access as the default sounds ambitious, but is consistent with recent trends, particularly for research funded by taxpayers. A growing number of governments and funding agencies have already embraced mandatory open access requirements, recognizing that if the public funds the research, it is entitled to access the results.

"To acquire and practice literacy skills today, students and educators in Oklahoma City Public Schools require access to Evernote, Google Docs, Gmail, Edmodo, Posterous, Celebrate Oklahoma Voices, and other educationally appropriate, interactive websites. All these websites are currently (as of February 9, 2012) blocked by OKCPS for student access. OKCPS must stop its "draconian" and unjustified Internet content filtering policies and adopt BALANCED policies. The district must TRUST teachers and empower them to directly bypass the content filter with their login credentials when it is professionally justified for instruction and learning."

"More schools are beginning to use social media.ore officials in the Vista Unified School District in California are using social media to communicate with parents and the public. Before a policy to govern such communication was adopted earlier this year, few officials in the district were using Twitter. Now, nearly 50 administrators use the tool, and more parents have created accounts to subscribe as well."

""The first thing an employer is going to do is Google you," Alexandra Levit, generational speaker and author of Blind Spots: 10 Business Myths You Can't Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success tells Mashable. "The worst thing is to have something negative pop up. In the absence of anything negative, having nothing come up really doesn't say much about your level of seriousness in terms of being out there and being professional."" In the digital era, sharing your story is easier than ever. Your job is to consistently build your credibility and visibility online. Being active in crafting your personal brand ensures you're getting the right ideas across to the companies and brands you want to work for.

This is a unique transition course designed to facilitate students' integration into the learning community of the University. The course enhances student's skills for academic success, develops understanding of university culture, increases understanding of self, and fosters educational engagement.