Social Networking:A story of Edmodo in

3 acts

Possibilities and Pitfalls

Mike Young

July 2012

Don’t run with scissors!

Setting policy for the pedagogical use of social networking tools

Pew Internet- prevalence of Facebook/ MySpace use2011 Pew Internet suggest Facebook users have more

close friends and are more trusting, and more politically engaged.

2010 Pew Internet survey results show that 93% of teens ages 12-17 go online.

Nearly three quarters (73%) of online teens ages 12-17 and an equal number (72%) of young adults use social network sites.

By contrast, older adults have not kept pace; some 40% of adults 30 and older use the social sites in the fall of 2009.

Among adults 18 and older, Facebook has taken over as the social network of choice; 73% of adult profile owners use Facebook, 48% have a profile on MySpace and 14% use LinkedIn.

Macarthur Foundation “Digital Youth Project”

(2008)

Kids use social networks routinely in at least 2 different ways:

1. Friendship-based

2. Interest-based

Background:Technology has not changed

schools(like it has medicine or entertainment)

TV and other media

Papert/ Logo

Bransford/ Jasper

The Internet

Digital media production– Shift from new online reading

literacies to new online writing/ collaboration literacies

So the context is more that while technology

changes most of society, schools tend to assimilate technology

Background:Technology inside and

outside schools Inside School

Exchange value of learning

Fidelity/Reliability

Equity

Outside School Interest of the

learner Customizable/

eclectic Meritocracy

“Social software” or “Social computing" Defined

…goes beyond the level of hyperlinks and

information retrieving by supporting the

profile-sharing, network-building and

the gathering, use, and dissemination of

information that is distributed across social collectives.

Ala-Mutka, Bacigalupo, Kluzer, Pascu, Punie, & Redecker, 2008;

Minocha, 2009

Social Networking… … is characterized by an algorithm (suggester)

that suggests potential network connections, such as suggesting

you become friends of your friends, or read

books that others who have read your book,

have also read.

A special kind of social computing!

PossibilitiesPeople

– FOMF (friends of my friends)Data

– Shared links– Shared searches

Video/Audio

Shared mediaMicroblogging (twitter)

Possibilities

Authentic audiences

– Fanfiction.netLocating mentors

– Livemocha.comMove toward Team Science

– Human Genome– Space Science

Current Capabilities

• Marketing & E-commerce– Target Marketing– Collaborative Recommendation

• Terrorist & Crime Detection– Ipswich’s Jack the Ripper, England 2006

• Medical Network– Finding Blood– Organ

• Knowledge Management– NSF- Sharing (Finding Knowledge)– Family History

Pro

• Public Groups can be created that don’t attach as personal friends

• Hoot.me and Moxme work inside Facebook to limit distractions and focus on collaboration

• Getting kids online allows us to teach about online interactions

• Social “identity” has been used to expand ELL and other language learner’s approach to foreign language learning.

How networks work

Suggester algorithms, nodes, and connections

First, a distinction…

Social Networking vs Social Media

Making connections

1. Turn on the power and set the MODE button you want with MODE button. You can confirm the MODE you chose as the red indicator blinks.

2. Lamp blinks when (someone with) a Lovegety for the opposite sex to yours set under the same MODE as yours comes near.

3. FIND lamp blinks when (someone with) a Lovegety for the opposite sex to yours set under some different mode from yours come near. In that case, you may try the other MODES to “GET” tuned with (him/her) if you like.

SONIC

Advancing the Science of Networks in Communities

Aphorisms about Networks

Social Networks: – Its not what you know, its who you know.

Cognitive Social Networks:– Its not who you know, its who they think you

know.

Knowledge Networks: – Its not who you know, its what they think you

know.

SONIC

Advancing the Science of Networks in Communities

Cognitive Knowledge Networks

SONIC

Advancing the Science of Networks in Communities

Multidimensional Networks in Web 2.0Multiple Types of Nodes and Multiple Types of Relationships

SONIC

Advancing the Science of Networks in Communities

Suggester Algorithms

Who knows who?

Who knows what?

Who know who knows who?

Who knows who knows what?

SONIC

Advancing the Science of Networks in Communities

Mapping Flows in the PackEdge CoP Network

SONIC

Advancing the Science of Networks in Communities

“Pre-wired” PackEdge CoP Network

“Re-wired” PackEdge CoP Network

Learning enabled classrooms, where

students seek information from the

people that know, and network with those with

shared interests.

Facebook or…?

…compared to alternatives like MySpace, Ning, Elgg.org, Yahoo groups, Edmodo,

LinkedIn, Orkut (Google’s version) MoxMe!, Google+

John and Mike find each other on Facebook

Monroeps.org

Google images

kids download thumbnails

Printed

Found in pocket

Ban Google Images or…

Consider how else to handle it with personnel

Connections through facebook

Facebook groups

Connect through School messenger

Pitfalls

If schools sanction their use, what dangers lurk for social network

users?

Social means civil, etiquette and decency

The specter of cyberbullying

Kids can be cruel… and need to learn how to

behave

Online and offline… in school and at home…

The scale of the audience can

exacerbate the problem of bullying

The role of bystanders in cyberbullying

Why cyberbullying is our problem

Liability to the victim and the perp – emotional and physical harm, constitutional

violationsSuicides: Megan Meier

(MO), Megan Gillan (England), Tempest Smith (MI), Jessica Logan (OH), Alex

Moore (AL), Phoebe Prince (MA)

What is cyberbullying?Traditional bullying using

technology– Intentional– Repeated – Aggressive or unwanted

behavior

+– Power imbalance

Some researchers say its not cyberbullying unless it is “a part of or related to offline bullying.”

The most hurtful incidents typically involve a personal relationship

(real life). 

Copyright © 2010 National School Boards Association. All rights reserved.

Summary/ Final Thoughts

Don’t discard (filter) the benefits of social networks (like Edmodo) for fear of abuses.

And set clear policies so “don’t spam or cyberbully” is as commonly understood as

“don’t run with scissors.”

ReferencesPew Internet 2011

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks/Summary/Findings.aspx