Social Networking ~ is it worth all the hype?

Are teachers social creatures?



Years ago teachers were left on their own to close their door and teach their class what they felt they needed to learn in a way that they felt best.  As long as their students were learning the material things were good.  Teachers were not always so willing to share with other teachers their ideas or teaching methods. They were doing what they felt best for their students and only their students. This is not to say that all teachers did this but back then it took a special teacher to be willing to share information.

Fast forward to today's teachers and things could not be any different. Teachers have a host of professional sites were they can share ideas and/or get ideas to help them in their classroom.  things range from classroom management ideas, lesson plans, general concerns and specific concerns.  Teachers today are so willing to help out other educators that there are a few sites that I have looked at that were very insightful and helpful.

http://groups.google.com/group/google-for-educators?pli=1  this site is specifically for educators and here is a list of a few of the topics that are covered on this site:

Google In Your Classroom, Education Resources, Current Events, Misc, Submit Your Lessons, Google Apps Education Edition, Google Docs education

http://www.classroom20.com   this is a social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education. You are encouraged to sign up in order to participate in the great discussions, receive event notifications, and to find and connect with colleagues.

http://www.teacherslovesmartboards.com/training/   this site is all about the smartboard and what can be done with it.  the only down side with this site is that it is a paid site and not a free one.

http://blog.diigo.com/2010/07/01/diigo-v5-0-collect-highlight-then-remember/  this site is a great site because as soon as you add contacts you have access to their library as well as one you create.

http://www.delicious.com/ this site gives you access to a number of resources

One resource to use for on-line classes or video conferencing is:

http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/about.html  This site is used for video conferencing and has the following features:

Video and Audio broadcast over a network or internet.
No download and installation - it works in a web browser with Flash 8 (or greater) 'plugin'.
Easy to use - click the Broadcast button to start - click again to stop!
Indicate your intention to speak with a simple queuing system.
Public Text chat - chat to others while watching the broadcast.
Private Text chat - send private messages to individuals.
Share a URL - open a web page on all remote machines.
Shared whiteboard available to share text, drawing or photographs.
Vote and 'Emoticon' options - share your opinions and feelings!
Countdown timer shows time remaining.
View participants either as a list of images or names.
Simple booking procedure to manage your meetings.
Secure and private meetings.
Low-data friendly (one broadcast stream at a time).
Record the meeting for easy web replay.

To answer the question that was posted at the begining of this blog ~ yes, social networking is definetly worth all the hype and can be very usefull for todays teachers.