Social Media Classroom: New Web 2.0 Platform for Education
The Social Media Classroom (SMC) is a new project started by Howard Rheingold which offers an open-source Drupal-based web service to teachers and students for the purpose of introducing social media into the classroom. The service includes tools like forums, blogs, wikis, chat, social bookmarking, RSS, microblogging, widgets, video conferencing, and more. The SMC is more than just a collection of new media tools repurposed for educational use, though. The end goal of the service is to move education away from being a unidirectional delivery of knowledge to become a more collaborative learning process.
Why A Social Media Classroom?
The SMC is meant to supplement, not replace, the face-to-face interaction that occurs in the classroom. According to Howard, when he tried to introduce new media tools into his first Wi-Fi-equipped classroom, he was surprised by the blank looks on so many of the students' faces when he told them that he expected them to blog and edit the wiki. Since he was so familiar with the power of Web 2.0 tools and was surrounded by people who felt the same, he hadn't realized how many college students didn't actually have experience using these types of 21st century tools. This sparked an idea to build a new social media platform designed specifically for use in an educational setting. And thus, the Social Media Classroom was born.
What's Included
The SMC includes all the familiar social media tools from blogs to RSS to videos and wikis and even microblogging. All are integrated into one seamless environment where the different applications are available from navigational tabs at the top of the page just like any ordinary web site has. Everyone who is a member of a particular instance of the Social Media Classroom will initially see a personalized start page upon login that aggregates their own different posts to the various parts of the site.
The SMC will be available to educators both an installable version for self-hosting and as a hosted version (coming soon) for those less tech-savvy.
The Classroom and The Collaboratory
The project itself has two components called The Classroom and The Collaboratory. The The Collaboratory (or Colab) is simply the web service part of the project which is also made available to anyone, even non-educators. It includes both the downloadable install file and the soon-to-launch hosted service.
The Classroom, on the other hand, is the entire web site available at www.socialmediaclassroom.com which contains, among other things, the curriculum materials. In these materials you'll find all sorts of information about the different types of social media as well as links to various resources across the web.
21st Century Education
Social media and the participatory web have had a greater impact on our world beyond just how we connect and socialize with our friends online. The base concepts surrounding how these interactions take place has influenced a whole new generation of web users who now expect to participate in discussions and not be dictated to...whether online or offline. We've seen this influence occur in the workplace, where millennial employees demand to know "why" they're being asked to do something instead of just doing it. We've also seen it effect the business of marketing as social media users now feel strongly that brands (companies) should be listening and conversing with them in an open, transparent matter. So why not bring the social media revolution to the classroom, too? It only makes sense.
Those involved with this project believe that today's students need more than a class where a professor lectures for an hour - that has no hope of engaging their interest. Students need a classroom where learning is a more participatory experience and where the tools they use in their everyday lives - social networking, videos, chat, aren't checked at the door. The Social Media Classroom is an important project to make those types of tools available to educators who might not be as up to speed with the latest technology, while also simplifying the use of those tools through the introduction of a single platform that integrates the best of the Web 2.0 world.
Perhaps the project doesn't introduce anything new that hasn't already been available to the tech-savvy, but its ease-of-use and educational slant make its introduction an impressive and potentially game-changing move for the educational system as we know it.
ShareRelated Entries
1 TrackBacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.readwriteweb.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/8626
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
this sounds pretty promising. I know a dork or two that could have done a lot better in school had the real social aspect not played such a large role :)
He is positive and forward thinking but this is a centralized tool which will get too disorganized.
Sarah, if you are interested in education and web 2.0 then see my blog at http://worldlearningtree.com/blog
Nobody I have found is close to what I imagine for the near future for online education. My website shows just a sampling of what I want to accomplish and my netvibes shows the concepts I consider important at http://www.netvibes.com/harleycw#General
Also, I am surprised that you sent out a twitter saying you hadn't followed everyone that is following you. After that I checked and you still aren't following me "harleyw".
Alex used to be my favorite RRW writer but his articles are less interesting now (book lists? boring).
You have really stepped up your game and are reporting on really interesting things. I recommend the readers follow you on twitter as well. However, I recommend you work at little less and get more sleep :)
Harley
Posted by: harleycw.pip.verisignlabs.com
|
October 17, 2008 6:48 AM
Very cool - about time education kicked into gear.
should be great to see that platform in spanish.
Sounds very promising and could be a service that is in need. My mom is currently a teacher and doesn't know the first thing about social media or how to utilize it. This could be something great for her to help expand her teaching skills in the classroom.
Craig
www.budgetpulse.com
They could certainly use a few more screenshots on their website, but this sounds quite promising!
Posted by: xxdesmus.myopenid.com
|
October 17, 2008 7:40 AM
It's nice to see a collection of open source tools put together like this. I'd love to see it in "JumpBox" format, i.e. a preconfigured virtual machine that I can turn on for a quick test drive.
Posted by: Daniel J. Pritchett
|
October 17, 2008 7:58 AM
This is a great educational idea, but based on the trends in applications and their development tools, I would concentrate on the web service only method of deployment and training.
I would like to see a version developed with Google's tools and the Chrome Browser too.
For an example of a school district that really really excels and impresses with their use of effective tech and social tools look no further than Dearborn, MI School District. They're using Moodle LMS, WordPress, Ning and more. They're facilitating student and teacher blogging. They have a robust parent-teacher portal and social network. Video and photosharing... This district is amazing! http://www.dearbornschools.org/ The fellow I gather is primarily responsible, Chris Kenniburg http://blog.dearbornschools.org/webmaster/, is on the bleeding edge and is a great resource for anyone who wants to layer technology effectively into EDU. Oh, I should add they're using MindTouch Deki for every school in the district. In fact, Increasingly I'm seeing MindTouch being used school district wide. Loudan, VA, also the largest district AK, another in WA, more in FL and NC and and.... :-)
My daughters school has a similar platform built on Ning
This is a great idea! Its a great way for teachers and students to interact with one another, with tools that most kids by the age of 14 are very familiar with.
This is a great Idea!
Spanish article about the same issue.
Os dejo enlace a artículo en español sobre el mismo tema:
http://www.dreig.eu/caparazon/2008/08/22/social-media-classroom-un-modelo-para-el-elearning-20/
thanks.
As a former educator now working in private business, I can see where this could also be useful in training departments at companies that want to begin integrating social media into a less-than-tech-savvy workforce through 'socializing' training materials.
Good idea. I looked it over last night and it sure like like it could help as an introductory socnet for any group.
Posted by: Daniel J. Pritchett
|
October 18, 2008 10:19 AM
This article got us talking at school yesterday - now how to do it.
Posted by: dan
|
October 18, 2008 10:37 AM
three dans in a row! We win at friendfeed.
Posted by: Daniel J. Pritchett
|
October 18, 2008 10:38 AM
I really wish that we'd had social media 2.0 back when I was in high school. The geeks woulda ruled the school! I was one! Still am LOL!
Excellent article! Consider it Diigo'ed on at least one social media group there!
Have an excellent day! :)
LOL what do we win? I want a castle and a pony! :-) LOL!
Posted by: dan
|
October 19, 2008 5:29 AM
wow, A great, new and innovative idea indeed
nice idea indeed
Great way for people to even learn from countries that do not have good infrastructure for educational institutes.
It was a good learning resources for educators,writers,students and startup company.
Hi everyone,
If you're interested in using wikis, blogs, forums, chat, debates, video and other social tools in education, I recommend you check out EDU 2.0 (http://www.edu20.org).
It's a free online education site that includes virtually everything you need to teach and learn online. It's a web-hosted alternative to Blackboard and Moodle that's easier to use and also includes the social tools mentioned in the above article.
Cheers,
Graham
thanks.
thanks.
The new classroom is about information, but not just information. It’s also about collaboration, about changing roles of student and teacher, and about challenges to the very idea of traditional authority.
--------------------
Sally
Social Bookmarking
I think Howard is onto something. I recently revamped my teaching practice to make heavy use of social media tools in my high school creative writing class. The result is my students developed and created their own online social media magazine called WA Mash. They write weekly articles on a variety of topics, they contribute to Twitter, keep a gallery in Flickr and create original video content for YouTube.
What is most powerful about using this technology is that students are asking to stay connected to the blog and want to continue contributing well after the trimester is over, which is on Friday.
The power of making students content creators has made my practice as a teacher seem more relevant, more interesting and far more effective.
Consider checking us out at http://wamash.com