Social Media Is Not the Enemy: Social Media in English Education
1. Social Media in
English Education
or
(Social Media: It’s Not the Enemy!)
Laura Nicosia, PhD
Associate Prof. English
Director, English Education
Montclair State University
2. Who am I?
This is the iconic Bell Tower of College Hall at Montclair State University in NJ
3. My upcoming book is: Educators Online: Preparing
Today’s Teachers for Tomorrow’s Digital Literacies
Peter Lang, Publishers
4. In my book, I attempt to
dispel numerous myths
and anxieties regarding
Web 2.0 uses and social
media participation--
specifically regarding
educators.
5. A recent study* of over 1000 educators shows:
Only 16% of English/LA
teachers are frequent users
of technology, as opposed
to 33% of all social studies
or science teachers.
* Report by Grunwald Associates LLC June 2010: www.grunwald.com
7. Their answer is:
49% say: “The device [technology]
isn’t necessary for my lessons.”
* Report by Grunwald Associates LLC June 2010: www.grunwald.com
8. But teachers who use technologies frequently in their lives
and classes report greater benefits to student learning,
engagement and 21st century skills.
Collaboration Global Awareness
Accountability Innovation
Communication Leadership
Creativity Problem-solving
Critical Thinking Productivity
Ethics Self-direction
9. This Begs the Question:
If English/LA teachers choose not to use
Web 2.0 technologies & social media to
deliver instruction or in their own lives, how
can they model valid uses of these tools?
10. “In the 21st Century, educators
must be given and be prepared
to use technology tools; they
must be collaborators in learning
—constantly seeking
knowledge and acquiring new
skills along with their students.”
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education March 3, 2010: Grunwald pp. 5
11. Let’s discuss a few select Web 2.0
sites and social media first as PD and
second, as to their importance for our own
personal growth and enjoyment.
12. Don’t be fooled into
thinking that you can’t
DO technology—
You CAN!
13. I wasn’t trained in Web 2.0 tools and
wasn’t born a digital native*
15. These are some I currently use*
Twitter* Flickr*
Plurk Glogster
Ning* GoogleDocs*
Diigo* Delicious
Facebook Wordle
Pandora Linkedin
Wikispaces* SlideShare* & YouTube*
Second Life* Skype
* These are the tools & sites I use with my English and English Education classes.
16. These sites can be
grouped into like
“genres” & we can
talk about them after
this slide show
22. 3-D Virtual Reality Environments:
Second Life
(think of Webkinz
or the Sims)
My SL avatar: LauraMaria Onomatopoeia
23. Frankly, I’ve learned
more from my
professional learning
network [PLN] than
in any PD course I’ve
ever taken.
24. “The social benefits of internet use will far outweigh the
negatives over the next decade...because email, social
networks, and other online tools offer ‘low-friction’
opportunities to create, enhance, and rediscover social
ties that make a difference in people’s lives.”
-Pew Research Center, 2 July 2010. www.pewinternet.org
25. Since our time is limited, I’d like to talk about:
Twitter
Wikispaces
Diigo
27. What IS Twitter?
It is the most popular micro-blogging system
It is robust, elegant and simple
Has 75 million users*
Permits numerous mash-ups & open source
applications
28. Twitter is a Microblog
It is a mini-blog of 140 characters or less
answering the question, “What’s happening?”
32. I post Tweets because I:
Meet colleagues from around the world
Make friends
Collaborate with my peers
Share information and resources
Receive links, insights and advice
Share my scholarship with peers
33. Tweets are, by
definition, to-
the-point. They
take little time to
write and less
time to read.
34. Tweets can be used to share
links to websites and articles.
58. With Diigo you can
annotate & highlight
articles as you read them.
These notations will remain
there. That’s pretty cool
already. But you can also
send those articles as emails
and/or as URLs.
59. When you sign up with Diigo
you download a tool bar menu
Standard Tool Bar:
61. Imagine the possibilities for researching a
new text or for a student doing a research
paper. Bookmarked articles can be
mailed via email. You can also comment
on articles with a stickie note and mail
those commented-upon articles.
62. Here’s how you bookmark, tag and send an online resource:
64. This is a portion of my TAGS
(arranged in size by frequency of my use)
65. These tools have been instrumental in
keeping me active, productive, current and
continually learning. I encourage you to
explore these tools--for YOUR use and
for your classroom implementation.