I opened accounts on all of the social media sites that were suggested. Although, I have not had time to explore all of them thoroughly, one commonality I notice about them all is that they are social. That is, they are all geared towards sharing whether it be quick thoughts as with Twitter or lists such as the 43 Trio or photos as with Flickr and talking about photos with Voicethread. The difference with these seem to amount to their focus as mentioned before.
The main difference that I see with these when compared to LMS is that the audience is much wider. Anyone can access these and comment/connect where as LMS systems are private only for the particular class involved. However, it should be noted that their is the option with the social media to keep it private if you like which is a nice option.
Social Media is a means of sharing your thoughts and ideas with the world via the internet and from that developing communities and resources around common interests. I have used blogs, wikis, 43 places and things to some extent and I enjoy using them, however, I have not had much luck in creating any communities or an audience for what I have added to these platforms. I am looking forward to connecting with more people through this workshop.
January 22, 2008 at 4:45 am
I haven’t tried to establish an audience for anything other than my blogs, but I have seen it happen there. One thing that helps to create a community more than anything is how often and effectively you comment on other people’s blogs. With this session you have a built-in audience, and some of us will stick around long after the session if you keep posting.
January 25, 2008 at 6:45 am
Hi Sawanttara,
Welcome to the SMiELT session. I hope you are enjoying it and manage to find some people to network with.
All the tools we have suggested are based on tagging and aggregating, which help you network better and most allow you to export your data to other places (43Trio, WordPress).
January 27, 2008 at 12:52 am
Hi Sawantara,
Twitter can be great to get in touch with people. Through their quick messages you can find their blogs and then post there. I think Nancy is right. The more you comment on others’ blogs the more chances you get to form a community around you and your interests. Do you have anything you particularly like and know about? I mean it can be a hobby. If you do, you could start a community around that topic. For example, I like photography. if I go flickr.com , I will find many people with the same interest as mine.
July 2, 2008 at 2:00 pm
[...] an audience Posted on January 22, 2008 by Nancy Reading a post on one of the blogs for the EVO session Social Media in English Language Teaching, I came across this: I have used [...]