Supervisors’ ICT Training ProgrammeRabat, Monday 23rd - Wednesday 25th June 2008

Social Networking and

Community Building

Khalil Zakari

Social Networking and Community Building

1. Social Networking 1.1. Defining Social Networking 1.2. Why Network 1.3. Networking Rules

2. Building Communities for Professional Development 2.1. Aims 2.2. Background 2.3. Nature of knowledge and development

2.4. Building a Successful Community 2.5. Social communities: Friend or foe?

Continued …

3. Sample ELT Communities 3.1. Yahoo Groups 3.2. Ning

4. Strengthening Supervisors Development Network

4.1. Workshop

4.2. Discussion REFERENCES

• Social Networking

1.1. What is Social Networking?

• Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups,

like small rural communities or a neighbourhood subdivision.

Continued …

• A social networking website is

an online community of internet users whose members share a common interest such as hobbies, religion, language education or politics.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

1.2. Why Network?

» Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize.

» Although you are in Morocco, you could develop an online friendship with someone in South Africa, Spain, Scotland or Egypt.

» You might learn a new thing or two about a a different culture, language or teaching practice.

1.3. Networking Rules

Etiquette experts have suggested a set of rules to help politely navigate social networking sites:

» Never post a profile you would not want to see in your local newspaper

» Gather your thoughts before accepting or removing a friend

» Remember that social networking is meant to complement and improve your existing social life, not complicate it

2. Building communities for teacher development

2.1. Aims 1. Build a community of EFL professionals to:

> Create teaching networks and provide teachers with a “voice”

> Encourage collaboration in dealing with day-to-day issues that teachers face in their EFL context

> Allow for the sharing of best practice in a non-threatening environment

Continued …

2. Expose teachers to the possibilities offered by Web 2.0 technologies and allow for life-long learning

3. Share data and experiences from which a teacher’s project can be developed

4. Offer chances to autonomous professionals to take control of their own development

2.2. Background

All too often our teacher development goals are not met as teachers’ voices are not heard, since they do not have a forum where they can express their doubts, build communities and share

ideas.

2.3. Nature of knowledge

• Social networks have been designed to build a ‘community of inquiry’ where the private world crosses into the public world, forming an environment where knowledge construction takes place.

(Garrison & Anderson, 2003)

Continued …

• Jonassen (1994) lays out three principles, which he calls the three C’s:

* context : a meaningful and authentic context for learning and using of the knowledge they construct.

* collaboration : a collaborative environment among community members.

* construction : the construction of a set of propositions we have called knowledge.

2.4. Building a Successful Community

> Serve a clear purpose in the lives of your community members (keep them coming back).

> Define your purpose (what type of commumity am I building? Why am I buiding it? Who am I buiding it for?).

> Find a need and fill it (identify an ongoing, unmet need that your members have in common and address it).

> Make room for changes ( keep pace with the changing needs of your members as your community matures).

2.5. Social Networks: Friend or Foe?

> The rise of online social networking has brought a new dimension to social interaction.

> This fact has sparked a debate on whether this technology, an ever increasing part of children's lives, is a force for good, or an opportunity for cyber-bullying to proliferate.

3. Sample ELT Commuinities:

• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FRIOUATOELT/

• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MELTEF/

• http://teacherdevelopment.ning.com/

• http://ed-links-morocco.ning.com/

Bibliography:

• Jim Ewing and David Miller: A framework for evaluating computer supported collaborative learning. Educational Technology & Society 5 (1)

2002. • Jonassen, D. H. (1994). Thinking technology.

Educational Technology, 34 (4), 34 - 37. • R. Garrison, T. Anderson, W. Community of

inquiry model. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 4, No 2 (2003).