Using Social Netowrking Sites to Teach
Social software, by design, reflects the traits of social networks and is designed very consciously to let social network analysis work with a very compatible database. All social software systems create links between users, as persistent as the identity those users choose. Through these persistent links, a permanent community can be formed out of a formerly epistemic community. The ownership and control of these links - who is linked, and who isn't - is in the hands of the user. Thus, these links are asymmetrical - you might link to me, but I might not link to you. Also, these links are functional, not decorative - you can choose not to receive any content from people you are not connected to, for example. Wikipedia user pages are a very good example, and often contain extremely detailed information about the person who constructed them, including everything from mother tongue to their moral purchasing preferences.
+ - Social software to enhance local relationships. Party/get together planning, asynchronously keeping in touch.
Licoppe, C., & Smoreda, Z. (2005). Rhythms and ties: Toward a pragmatic of technologically mediated sociability. In R. Kraut, M. Brynin, & S. Kiesler (Eds.), Information technology at home. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Maintain friendships across distance
~ Husband dumps wife with Facebook Message
Interest Groups
~ Reaching Students with Facebook
Concerns
Transactional distance is the psychological
and communications space between the
learner and the teacher
Moore, M. "Theory of transactional distance"
Potential to have separate worldspaces combine like when the party photos are posted and subsequently found by a person in a position of authority
+ - Solution
+ - Caveats
Now you have a common place to meet where you can maintain the appropriate transactional distance with the possibility of increased communication with the students and increased communication among the students