Everything
for somebody
A presentation on the implementation of Peer Press, Social Spaces,
and Weblogs in the classroom.
By Rupert Owen 2009 -
www.simuli.blogspot.com

Opportunity
“A time favourable for the purpose; a
suitable time, combined with other
favourable circumstances”
- A Concise Dictionary of The English Language
Charles Annandale M.A. LL.D
Blackie & Son, London 1886

Hazard
“Chance; danger; peril; risk”
- A Concise Dictionary of The English Language
Charles Annandale M.A. LL.D
Blackie & Son, London 1886

Social Networking
Social Networking sites are beneficial
for Experiential Teaching.
Students get to know you on a more
humanistic level.
An egalitarian bond is formed.
Formal barriers are reduced shifting
the interpersonal loci.
Trust is built.

Blogs
Blogs are great for teachers and some
students enjoy keeping them as well.
Blogs map the learning journey by
providing students with access to the
key concepts covered in class.
Blogs do not tire of repeating
themselves ... archives, links,
trackbacks, and Memes.

Wikis
Wikis seem to work well for most
students.
Wikis are powerful Visual Diaries
with a centralised virtual space for
classroom engagement.
Wikis provide fast feedback between
teachers and students.
A Wiki is Peer Press.

MicroBlogging
Fast and precise communication
works well with small groups
operating within a large class.
Effective for Brainstorming and
sharing digital notes.
Less responsibility of care-taking a
personal profile for the duration of a
course or subject.

Vlogs and Podcasts
Most students may find speaking
directly to the world in an articulate
fashion or facing an invisible audience
through Webcams too confronting.
However one or two may embrace
this opportunity.

What
then
are
the
Negatives?

Privacy
We all deserve our privacy
We all deserve intact integrity
We all seek refuge from the public eye

Partition
Many Social Networking sites, Blogs,
Microblogs, and Wikis all have
customisation tools for delegating
Privacy, Administrative Rights and
Comment/Posting functionality.

Partition
Many Social Networking sites, Blogs,
Microblogs, and Wikis all have
customisation tools for delegating
Privacy, Administrative Rights and
Comment/Posting functionality.
Use the “curtains” for determining
when and when not to share
information or invite participation.
(Don’t forget you can always delete,
block and vanish in a puff of HTML.)

Some niche nooks
Sharing uncharted waters
If meeting a student at your
Local seems undesirable,
consider meeting them
somewhere else.

Here are a couple of
examples of where my
Online presence has
enhanced my teaching/
learning practice

Gradually, as more students became “friends” on Facebook, conversations about Web
Applications and Class Content began to filter out into our non-class social space.
This form of communication between student and teacher encourages the intrinsic
sharing of knowledge and information without any extrinsic need to exchange it.
Student
This student will receive no better mark at school, no “browny points”
in class, no educational institute formal recognition for having
responded to my Update.
What the student will benefit from is having thought about and
communicated independently in their own time information and
knowledge that is relevant to their dedicated area of interest.

Student achieves part of a production process that she is proud of. She
posts it up onto Facebook, I give it the thumbs up, another teacher who is
also on her “friends” list agrees and four other people leave encouraging
remarks.
When she had finished the video, she then Uploaded it onto Facebook,
five people gave her positive responses and eleven others gave it the
thumbs up.
I don’t know what kind
Text
of Mark would have
been as good as eleven
people responding with a
Thumbs-Up to someone’s
work.
What has happened here is a better reward then any mark she
could have received from this project, what she experienced
was her hard work and dedication to her work being accoladed
and admired by her peers.

The www.slife.wetpaint Wiki was a fascinating classroom virtual
environment. The students used their Second Life avatars to host the
Wiki Space to cover classroom topics. On the front page we Uploaded a
Virtual Snapshot group photo of their Second Life avatars.
Students are accustomed these days to expressing themselves through
Mediums like avatars and profiles, it empowers them through a proxy to
express “free thought”.

Navigating the Virtual World.
Usability
Functionality
Free/Freemium/Premium
Aesthetics
Privacy Controls

Credits(Images)
• www.iconpot.com / www.blogperfume.com
• www.ephemera.ning.com
• www.artsytime.com
• www.fontplay.com