Module 9

Which of these social and professional networking tools could enhance learning, both in my classroom and beyond it, and how?

- Second Life
- Facebook
- Twitter
- LinkedIn

Second Life is a 3D world where everyone you see is a real person and every place you visit is built by people just like you. This definition was taken directly from http://secondlife.com/whatis/. Just from the video I found positive and negative aspects and it is important to address the negative aspects in order to get a positive outcome in learning. I do encourage students to use their imagination and explore their options especially when designing in Textiles & Design. However with a tool so open to the imagination you as a teacher need to monitor and scaffold exactly what the students are able to create and control. 

This could be a great tool to create fashion runways reflecting the hard hours before the show and of course during. I am aware that the student will not be physically using a sewing machine however it caters for a different skill, the skill of creativity and innovation. Creativity and innovation are two of many points markers look for in design.

It can be used for school open days to promote subjects through the setting and characters created. For example students can create a kitchen setting and chef to demonstrate what they learn in the Food Technology course. Imagine a primary school student walking into a room and being captivated by the projection of an animated video about Food Technology. Animation is the new real-life!

Facebook and Twitter I am aware of and have been a previous user of both tools. 

Facebook has always been a tool for personal use not educational. Unfortunately it will be difficult to change the context of Facebook for a teenager but I have a solution. EDMODO!! I addressed Edmodo in Module 2 if you want to recap. It functions the same as Facebook but the difference is that it has been introduced to teenagers will an educational context. 

Twitter can provide more flexibility, it can be utilised by students doing the following:
- type questions that can be instantly answered by the teacher. This will maintain classroom behaviour and structure.
- type questions that can be instantly answered by peers. Similarly this will maintain classroom behaviour and structure.
- follow relevant companies, celebrities etc. that are relevant to the subject e.g. jamie oliver for Food Technology.
All of these points can be achieved by creating and storing hashtag (#) codes for particular pages, groups etc. 

LinkedIn is not necessarily a tool for students. Nevertheless it helps teachers keep in contact across occupation, industries and countries. It can effectively help teachers accumulate resources through sharing and use them in the classroom to enhance student learning. 

In summary I initially had in mind which social and professional networking tool could enhance learning and I am guilty to say that I only relied on one tool; Twitter. After this Module I can see benefits from Second Life, LinkedIn and Twitter as they all equally have distinct ways of enhancing learning as stated above. However I have to leave Facebook out of this one only because its been around too long to change teenagers perceptions of its purpose.