Social_Networks

**__Glogster__**
[|**http://edu.glogster.com/**] Glogster - short for graphical blog. A social network that allows students (and educators) to create online multimedia posters with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, and data attachments. This website can be used for any content across the curriculum and any age group. While teenagers comprise the majority signed up for Glogster, the site claims even users as young as four years can easily maneuver the site. We've used Glogster for book reports, current events reports, and in tandem with actual blogs.

Here's a link to a very simple presentation about how to use Glogster: []

Katherine Tuttle

[|www.shelfari.com] This is a very cool site, especially for librarians and book lovers. It allows you to create a virtual bookshelf and share the books you've read, are reading, and are planning on reading. There is even a shelfari widget you can add to your blog or library website. Reading teachers could have students register and review the books they've read - an updated version of the book report. It would allow students to read one another's reviews and to recommend books for one another.
 * Shelfari**

Jacquelin Daves

[] This social networking site allows teachers to share assignments, projects, etc. with students (and other teachers). These assignments can also be submitted to teachers through the website. It is social learning for classrooms where teachers create groups for their students and then students receive a group code to register with. Teachers can share information with their entire class, or one on one with a student. A librarian could create activities for students to complete, book talks for students, a place for students to share ideas, and all in a safe, secure environment.
 * Edmodo**

Vanessa Stenulson

[|http://weRead.com/]
 * weRead**

This is a social networking site for book enthusiasts. The site was created by Krishna Motukuri and Harish Abbott in May of 2006. The site contains book reviews, discussion boards, book clubs, book quizzes, book suggestions and catalogs. Members also have access to hundreds of free online eBooks and the ability to connect online with other members.

There are numerous ways to use this site in a school library. A teacher may assign certain books to read and then allow students to post a review of the book(s) as a type of book report. Another use would be for students to have access to what other students are reading and increase interest levels through peer reviews. A librarian may use the site to allow students to take book quizzes as a self-assessment to show strengths and weaknesses. Teachers and librarians may also choose to use this site as a source of free eBooks for their students. This site would be most appropriate for high school students.

By Kristy Cawthorne

http://www.goodreads.com/
 * Goodreads**

Goodreads is a social network for book lovers! Users are able to create their own book lists and reviews. As a member you can suggest books to friends. Goodreads allows people to connect and discuss their reading interests. This social network makes reading cool. I have a 12 year old daughter who is an avid reader, she enjoys Goodreads. She loves reviewing books and making recommendations to her friends. Students in middle school on up can benefit from Goodreads. Librarians can use Goodreads as a tool to get their students interested in reading by making book recommendations and encouraging students to join. This is a great discussion tool. Goodreads is basically an online book club that is easy to navigate. Parents will like Goodreads because it is a safe and secure website.

Elizabeth Osayande-Davis

http://flatclassroomproject.ning.com This is a website the partners high school students from different countries as they focus on globalization. A Ning is quick and easy to create so groups can discuss problems, create a forum, make notations, podcasts, videos, albums of photos. The group is in control of the site. Berger, pages 168-171, uses the example of American History class collaborating on the 1930"s.Each student could have his own personal page.Tutorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG9Bj8RA7vs.The students make it private and they create a private profile page. More screen is available when ads are removed from this educational site. The librarian would demonstrate the creation of this site, then the students would make their own page. The Chat and Twitter will attract their interest.This is a preferred select group.
 * Flat Classroom Project**

Frances Albright

[] Skype is a type of software (which may be downloaded to a computer for free) that enables audio, video, and text communication around the world. The applications are endless. Some possible applications include live communication with a class at an international school in the country that your social studies classes are currently studying or a virtual author visit. It takes pen pal writing to a whole new, immediate level.
 * Skype **

How could it work in an educational setting? Some organizations exist to help with this such as ePals Classroom Exchange or SkypeInSchools. With a little networking and some student and technological preparation, a semi-scripted session could be a periodical highlight to a visit to the library. Also, with the capabilities of mobile Skype, a traveling parent or staff member could be a live link to an inexpensive virtual field trip.

Of course a systematic building of skills would start this process. First, the students would practice with a Skype call across the library in which the students learn the set up and software as well as improve their comfort levels with speaking into a microphone and camera. Next, a call to another classroom within the school would precede a call to another school across town. Soon the students would be ready for calls to other parts of the state, country, or world. Imagine that unused back room of the library (media center) becoming a portal for the foreign language classes to “travel” to their country of choice to communicate with native speakers in a live conversation. Break out the salsa and we could have a fiesta!

Joren Roth

Spine Breakers []

Spine Breakers is a teen social network for teenagers who enjoy reading. It includes author interviews, video book reviews, writing competitions, and other events. It encourages students to share and discuss books, and it gives them a place to go to find more book recommendations. It is a great place to send students who already have a love of books and writing to grow their skills and to “meet” with like minds. Or, author interviews could be pulled off the site for displays or classroom use. Ragan Osteen

Scitable @http://www.nature.com/scitable

Scitable is a combination, library and social networking site, focused on the sciences. It has a quick search feature and contains detailed information concerning genetics. It is geared for college and high school students, but middle school students would find this site useful for research and answering difficult science concepts for projects. The ability to chat about science is a helpful way that students can discuss and debate about classroom topics. Creating online groups can also serve to elaborate certain elements in science.

Heidi Head

** Voice Thread **
[] A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos, and allows educators to moderate group conversations and collect and share them with friends, students, and colleagues in one place. //__ Library Setting: __// //__ Educational Setting: __// Dawn Bonacci
 * Literature Discussion - [] (Discussion of character from Shiloh)
 * Library of educational uses- []

Facebook []

This website from Onlinecollege.org suggests 100 uses for Facebook in a classroom setting. The site divides this list into categories, including but not limited to Class Projects, Facilitating Communication, Facebook Applications for Students and Teachers, Facebook in K-12, and Facebook to Help Find a Job. In terms of library applications, Facebook would be an excellent place to post book reviews where all students could view them. Facebook is also suggested as a news feed for school information, posting competition results. Personally, I would follow this websites advice closely, creating accounts just for my own classes and friending carefully to ensure only current students have access. I could also encourage students to use Facebook applications such as CiteMe to help with research paper preparation. In general Facebook could help keep students engaged in their own informal setting.

-Janelle Richard

Blogs __ http://edublogs.org __ Edublogs is one of the most popular blogging services. It is for teachers, students, librarians, administrators and anyone involved in education. It is free. A good use for the blog in a school library is to have the students post book reviews over a book. This is also an excellent way for teachers to have students respond to a writing topic - instead of turning in a paper a student can post their paper in the class blog. Kelly Vigil

Twiducate http://twiducate.com Twiducate is a social networking site geared specifically for teachers and students to interact on the web with appropriate controls set in place for teachers to manage. It allows teachers to create a private online learning environment that can only be accessed by teachers and their students. Twiducate was created and is maintained by a teacher. It allows students to experience learning through blogging, social networking, and basic internet skills.

Through Twiducate, librarians can share information about new books or library events. Teachers can leave assignments for their online class. Teachers can moderate online discussions in their class or group. Librarians can host book chats online where students can register their thoughts and feeback on books. Possibilities are endless. John Vanhook

Facebook [] This blog written by academic librarian Anna Laura Brown is focused on exploring social networking and technologies in libraries. She has many useful, informative entries. In fact, she has written a series of three entries on how to use Facebook to teach library literacy to students. She suggests creating a Facebook page for the library and then using the poll application to ask library literacy questions. Students would log-on and answer the poll. The librarian would then share the results of the poll along with her thoughts on the answers received. She also suggests continually updating the library’s Facebook page with helpful library literacy tips and including videos that highlight that week’s tip. She also recommends including widgets that are offered by many library database providers on the library’s Facebook page. Ideally, the library’s Facebook page would be a relevant, highly utilized tool that continuously teaches library literacy to students.

She also details how librarians could use Facebook in a library class presentation. She suggests that while teaching a lesson on library literacy, students respond interactively to her questions via the Facebook poll tool. She also suggests creating a Facebook fan page for the specific class being taught and then adding content and questions for students to consider. Lastly, the students would answer the questions in essay or short answer format within Facebook as part of the literacy lesson.


 * // Twitter //**

[] Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service. Twitter is can be used by school libraries to promote and/or report from school events, live blogging and sharing. Twitter is being used to communicate with patrons things such as special events, exhibits and new book arrivals. Twitter can be used in the educational setting in a variety of ways. It can be used in all levels by being able to communicate between school and home. With today’s push on becoming a paperless society this is a simple way to communicate with a large portion of parents. Twitter can also be used to bring the world into the library or the classroom. Students can post and receive answer to questions in real time. //**Wendy McAlister**//

**LibraryThing** [] LibraryThing is a social networking site that allows book lovers to catalog their books while connecting with other book lovers. In addition to its self-proclaimed "library-quality" cataloging, LibraryThing also makes excellent book recommendations and connects its users to other members who have similar reading interests. This technology can be used in a school library setting to spark students' interest in reading, connect students with similar interests, and to help them understand how books are organized through cataloging. English teachers could use LibraryThing's "Talk" section to have their students discuss novels with each other and/or people from various parts of the world. Librarians could use the cataloging aspect of LibraryThing for practice when teaching students about research and the catalog system. //Tabitha Clynch-Guevara//