Facebook Classroom - Education in Social networking

If I ask you that : Do you know Facebook? I must be crazy! It's popular, it's free and easy to use! There are many reasons why I choose Facebook to be an online classroom for my project in Assingment 3. I am trying to ensure students to be more engaged in learning experience. An excellent way to do so is to stretch the communication between students and student-to-teacher. These are just a few ideas to do just that.

1. Create groups. You can create groups for entire classes or for study groups with smaller subsets of students that allow for easy sharing of information and communication, without students even having to friend each other.
2. Schedule events. From beginning of semester mixers to after-finals celebrations, easily schedule events for the entire class using Facebook.
3. Send messages. From unexpected absences to rescheduling exams, it’s easy to send messages through Facebook.
4. Share multimedia. With the ability to post videos, photos, and more, you can share multimedia content easily with the entire class.
5. Post class notes. Post notes after each class period for students to have access for review or in case they were absent.
6. Provide direct communication with instructors. Instructors and students can contact each other through Facebook, providing an opportunity for better sharing of information and promoting better working relationships.
7. Allows shy students a way to communicate. Shy students who may not want to approach their teacher after class or during office hours can use Facebook to communicate.
8. Facilitate classmate connections. When students get to know each other more intimately, they become more involved in the learning experience. This is helpful in both large classes that wouldn’t normally promote such intimacy and in smaller settings that regularly depend on that connection.
9. Make announcements. Instructors can send out reminders about upcoming tests, upcoming due dates, or any classroom news.
10. Brainstorm. Students can have the ability to add their thoughts to the class any time they occur allows for more opportunities for brainstorming off each other.
11. Share interesting websites. Students and instructors alike can post interesting websites that add relevancy to the class.
12. Post homework. Posting homework through Facebook not only provides easy access for students, it also puts in writing specifically what is expected and when it is due.
13. Grassroots movements. Students at University of British Columbia learned that the weight room at their aquatic center was slated for closure, and through Facebook, won to keep it open.

 

This is an example of using the most popular social network as a classroom.
http://169.244.138.14/~terri_dawson/fb_classroom1.pdf