Course: Blogs, Wikis and Social Networking

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	Blogs, wikis and social networking

1	This Netskills course was facilitated by Steve Boneham and included hands-on exploration of web 2.0 tools. Delegates had opportunities to create their own blog and explore different web sites. Included here are a few examples from the course. e-safety file Social networking provides new opportunities to communicate, but it also raises issues of safety online. The RSC ran an event on esafety and here are the resources. e-safety theme on the Excellence Gateway file This Excellence Gateway theme includes a section on social networking

2	Blogs: a web log is a web-based diary. With the web-based tools now available anyone can create their own web page and include multimedia. Common Craft - blogs in plain English file Blogger file Word Press file Technorati file

3	Wikis: Any participant can edit a wiki. Enables collaborative authoring. Pages can be public or private. Common Craft video - wikis in plain English file Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit file pbwiki file wikimatrix - which wiki shall I use? file

4	Social Networking: online communities are the biggest thing on the web. It is challenging traditional means of communication and the way we learn. Common Craft video - social networking in plain English file Facebook file My Space file Twitter file

5	Examples of use of Blogs, Wikis and Social Networking from the Excellence Gateway website Below are examples from http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/ in the e-learning case studies section. To find more the best way is to do a search for "case study wiki" or "case study blog", etc. Craven College: Blog to get your learners to answer back! Seeing that the college virtual learning environment (VLE) had the function, Su Illingworth tried out blogging with her students to see how they would respond. The result was emphatic, with benefits to both learners and the College. http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=168970 Solihull College: Blogs for Travel and Tourism Solihull College introduced blogging for students to record their experiences whilst on overseas study visits. This has proved to be a popular alternative to traditional paper-based reports. http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=191908 Middlesbrough College: Blended learning Blended learning has successfully been implemented in various courses at Middlesbrough College. The ‘Access to Health Sciences' course is making use of e-learning technologies such as wikis, podcasts, blogs, discussion boards and text messaging. Blended learning has been used to deal with reduction in course hours and to improve student retention. The College is committed to supporting a sustainable future and e-learning has also helped to move away from a traditional paper-based environment. http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=170539 Newcastle City Learning and Gosforth Community Education: Social network for adult guitar class students ‘Jonny's Guitar Classes' is an online social network in Ning for learners of Jonathan McCourt's guitar classes at Gosforth Community Education, which is part of Newcastle City Learning. It contains blogs, discussion forums, video (vodcasts), photos and recordings which support and inform the learners outside their weekly classes. Ning is an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks. http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=170759 Barking College: ESOL getting more out of Moodle This case study looks at Barking's experience of using the communication and collaborative tools within Moodle, including wikis, to target different aspects of the ESOL curriculum and support classwork and students' self-study. http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=190975 Northumberland College: Successful farming wiki Northumberland College uses different wikis for various purposes. From agricultural education to international projects and staff communication. http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=166639