David Burns gave a presentation on using social media to extend the reach of English language programs. He discussed 20 different social media platforms that can be used for education, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and Google tools. He explained how each one can be utilized for teacher professional development, student projects and collaboration. Burns emphasized that teachers should make responsible choices regarding social media use and consider privacy issues in their local context.

1. Using Social Medi@ to
Extend our Reach

2. David Burns
English Language Fellow
5th ELTA Conference – May 2012
Tirana, Albania

3. English Language Fellow Program
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/English-Language-Fellow-Program
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/elfellowprogram

4. Contact information:
 Name: David Burns
 Email: ELFellowAlbania@gmail.com
 Mobile: 069 549 0927
 Facebook:
www.facebook.com/ELFellow.Albania
 Twitter: @ELFellowAlbania

5. Warmer Activity!
 Social networking activity you can use in your classes
to get your students up and moving.
 Practices team-building skills, ability to follow
instructions, memory skills, speaking, listening &
writing, the benefits of collaboration, etc.
 Lots of variations on this type of activity.
 Today, I’ll divide you into groups of varying size – the
largest with 8 members and the smallest with only 1
member.

6. Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
Source: The Constitution of the United States of America

7. Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no
Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized.

8. What this presentation is
and is not about:
 It IS an attempt to give you some useful and practical ideas
on how you can use modern education technology – and
specifically social networking resources – in your
classrooms and to assist your professional development
goals. And it’s a great chance for us to share ideas.
 It is NOT an attempt to promote specific companies or
insinuate that you MUST use these online resources in your
classes or in order to be effective. You are all wise enough
to make mature and responsible choices regarding social
media related to the social, political and religious realities in
your respective host countries.

9. A major concern when
using social media:

10. Privacy issues…

11. Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eGHAuV5yLo

12. Two key skills in today’s
globalized world:
 Non-routine thinking
 Complex communications

13. Every student in the 21st
Century needs to be able to:
 Critically think
 Problem solve
 Collaborate
 Communicate
 Innovate
 Be globally aware
 Be self-directed
 And be technology literate
…Those are the new outcomes of the 21st Century
Source “Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills” (YouTube video; Pearson Foundation).

14. Why should we include
technology in the education of
our children?
Here are 10 good reasons:
Source: John Page writing for www.21stCenturyTeacher.com

15. Reason 1 – Expansion of Time
and Place
 In a typical American high school, a student has access
to a teacher for about 40-50 minutes a day or about 5%
of her waking day, which is shared with 25+ other
students.
 Technology is NO substitute for an inspiring teacher,
however online materials are far more available. 20 x
more available.
 Using the ‘textbook + classroom’ model, the places
where learning can occur are limited. Yet a wireless
laptop can access the teacher’s course materials and
the entire internet from almost anywhere.

16. Reason 2 – Depth of
Understanding
 Interactive simulations, video chat discussions and
debate, illustrations, etc., can produce a much greater
depth of understanding of a concept.
 Because the students have access to the same online
tools, they can reinforce the ideas by experimenting
with the simulations themselves, any time, any where.

17. Reason 3 – Learning vs.
Teaching
 Technology allows the tables to be turned. Instead of
teaching (push), students can be given projects that
require them to learn (pull) the necessary material
themselves.
 Key to this is the ability to get the information anytime
and from anywhere (without the need to be in the
physical presence of the teacher).
 This project-based pull approach makes learning far
more interesting and fun for the students.

18. Reason 4 – New media for self-expression
 In the old days, students could write in a notebook, and
what they wrote was seen only by the teacher.
 Using modern technology students can express
themselves and their creativity in many ways: make
Power Point presentations, record/edit spoken word or
music, create and share digital photograph albums,
make a video, run or contribute to a class newspaper,
run a web-based TV or radio station, do claymation,
create a blog, start a web-site, etc…..

19. Reason 5 – Collaboration
 A vital skill in the new digital world is the ability to work
collaboratively on projects with others who may not be
physically close.
 Many university projects are undertaken by teams
spread around the world. Students need to be
prepared for this.

20. Reason 6 – Going Global
 The worldview of the student can be expanded due to
the very low cost (often free) of communicating with
people around the globe.
 One example, the internet permits free video
conferencing which permits interaction in real time with
sister schools in other countries.
 From an educational viewpoint, what can be more
important than understanding other cultures through
collaboration and direct dialog?

21. Reason 7 – Individual pacing
and sequence
 Students are, of course, all very different. Information
technologies can allow them to break step with the
class and go at a pace and order that better suits that
student.
 Without disrupting class, they can repeat a difficult
lessons and explore what they find interesting.

22. Reason 8 – Weight
 Three textbooks and binders can weigh over 25 lbs.
 A laptop weighs about 5 lbs and new tablets even less.
 A 40 Gb hard drive can hold over 2 million pages with
illustrations (and all are searchable and updateable).

23. Reason 9 – Personal
Productivity
 Students need productivity tools for the same reasons we
do: they need to write, read, communicate, organize and
schedule.
 Most of your students will ONLY be aware of technology that
we were not born and raised with: for many, laptops, email,
cell phones, text messaging and internet social media sites
are the ONLY tools they know and use.

24. Reason 10 – Lower cost
 It is not unusual for a text to cost over $120 at colleges
and universities.
 Through the use of open, free educational tools on the
web, the dependence on expensive paper textbooks
can be reduced.
 Today a decent laptop can cost as low as $99
 Free eBooks are out there and available as ‘public
domain’: see Google Books and their well-stocked
virtual bookshelf Classics Shelf are good examples.

25. Now for my Top 20 list of
social media* for educators
Sources:
 www.theedublogger.com
 www.edublogs.com
 www.whiteboardblog.co.uk
 www.secondarysolutionsblog.com
*All logos are registered trademarks.

26. 20. Teacher Lingo
 www.teacherlingo.com
 An educational community to connect teachers from
every level.
 Find teaching resources for your classroom or share
your teacher created resources with the community and
earn extra money.
 Search by subject, grade level, and many categories to
find Lesson Plans, Worksheets, Printables, and even
eBooks.

28. 19. Diigo

29. Diigo: Social Bookmarking

30. 18. Dropbox

31. 17. Email, Listserv, etc.

32. Email
 Class email groups; send homework; links for follow up
and comprehension tasks; updates on class times and
assignment deadlines, etc.
 Respond directly to students’ questions (works well for
shy students) who may be more willing to ask for
clarification via email.

33. 16. Dipity
www.dipity.com

34. 15. Busuu
www.busuu.com

35. 14. Flickr
www.flickr.com

36. 11. Apple

37. iTunes U
http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/

38. iTunes U
 The free iTunes U app gives students access to all the
materials for your course in a single place.
 Right in the app, they can play video or audio lectures.
Read books and view presentations. See a list of all the
assignments for the course and check them off as
they’re completed.
 And when you send a message or create a new
assignment, students receive a push notification with
the new information

39. The iTunes U app puts complete courses — and the
world’s largest online catalog of free education
content — on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.

40. 10. Soundcloud
www.soundcloud.com

41. Audacity
www.audacity.com

42. 10. Linked in

43. Linked in
 Online CV/resume site.
 Promote yourself and your skills and experience to
prospective employers.
 Network with like-minded people by joining professional
Linked in groups.
 Use it in class to demonstrate CV-writing skills, do job
searches, find tips on how to interview, etc.

44. 9. Wikis

45. Wikis
Where to create Wikis:
 Wikispaces www.wikispaces.com (public or private)
 WetPaint www.wetpaint.com (community)
 PBWiki www.pbwiki.com
Editing and Viewing options (public, members only,
administrator only, etc)
 Wikipedia www.wikipedia Great opportunity for research,
fact verification, and open source writing and publish
projects for your students.

46. 8. Moodle and Ning

47. Moodle
 Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment
 Moodle is an Open Source Course Management System
(CMS), also known as a Learning Management System
(LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
 Moodle has become very popular among educators around
the world as a tool for creating web sites for their students.
To work, it needs to be installed on a web server
somewhere, either on one of your own computers or one at
a web hosting company.
Source: www.moodle.org

48. NING

49. Ning
www.ning.com
 Ning is an online service provider that provides a set of services and
technology applications that enable users to create their own Networks
utilizing the “Ning Platform“.
 Has a good reputation for its privacy and information gathering policies.
Certified by Truste and complies with EU Safe Harbor policies (regarding the
collection, use and retention of personal information).
 Shaping the Way We Teach English
http://shapingenglish.ning.com/
 English Language Teaching in the Russian Federation
http://elt-russia.ning.com/

50. 7. Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/

51. Pinterest
 Pinterest is a vision board-styled social photo sharing
website and app where users can create and manage
theme-based image collections.
 Pinterest has an active and dynamic ‘education’
section that is frequently updated by educators around
the world.
 http://pinterest.com/all/?category=education

52. 6. Skype

53. Skype
www.skype.com
 Great potential for aiding ESL classroom collaboration
with students and teachers around the world.
 Webinars with different schools in your host country,
region or anywhere in the world.
 Classroom and cultural exchange opportunities.
 Check out Skype in the Classroom (currently listing
21,000 teachers, 1,500 projects, and 600 resources.
http://education.skype.com/

54. 5. YouTube

55. YouTube
 YouTube for Schools initiative:
http://www.youtube.com/schools
 School administration and teachers can log in and
watch any video, but students cannot log in and can
only watch YouTube EDU videos plus videos their
school has added. All comments and related videos are
disabled and search is limited to YouTube EDU videos.
 Has hundreds of playlists of videos that align with
common educational standards, organized by subject
and grade.
 http://www.teachertube.com/

56. 4. Twitter

57. Twitter
 Twitter is a social network formed around shared
interests. Twitter has LOTS of TESL and ELT-related
members, many of whom are experts in their field.
 Excellent professional resource for networking,
research, teaching, learning, news, updates,
collaborations, sharing, etc.
 The ultimate guide to using Twitter in the classroom:
http://edudemic.com/2011/09/twitter-in-education/

58. 3. Blogs (edublogs,
blogspot, etc)

59. Blogs
 Edublogs: 10 ways to use your edublog to teach
http://edublogs.org/10-ways-to-use-your-edublog-to-teach/
 Facilitate online discussions and collaboration. Create a
class publication that students can easily publish to and you
can easily edit.
 Anything that you post to your blog will instantly be
accessible by your students from school and from home.
What’s more, you can easily manage who gets to access
them through passwords and privacy measures.
 Share lesson plans, stay in touch with parents, integrate
video, podcasts and other media, and get your students
blogging (make writing tasks fun and interactive).

60. 2. Google
www.google.com

61. http://www.google.com/edu/

62. Google for Teachers
 Google docs
 Google books
 Lesson plan search
 Classroom videos
 Training and development
 Connect with other teachers: blogs, groups, and with
Google+
 Competitions, scholarships, conferences, Google apps,
college tips, etc.

63. 1. Facebook

64. Facebook
 Love it or hate it, Facebook is probably where most of
your students (and a majority of teachers) spend a lot
of their time while online – go to where your audience
is and speak to them in their language.
 U.S. Embassies, RELO’s, American Corners, State
Department, and most USG offices are using FB to
actively and directly engage American citizens and host
country citizens.
 How do you use Facebook in your classes? How can
you use FB? Should you use FB? Privacy? Options?
Benefits?

65. What else?
 Movie and music-making projects
 Photo essays on any topic.
 Social games online: Spelling bees, Jeapordy!, Trivia
Pursuit, Scrabble, and most card games have online
versions.
 Mock trials, debates, campaigns.
 Create a news broadcast with script, production and video.
 Meet-ups – get together in your city with like-minded folk on
any topic.

66. Recommendations:
 In the 21st Century, 1st impressions are made digitally –
electronically.
 Elect a permanent member or board officer to your teachers
organization or school who is in charge of 21st century
marketing – VP for Social Media.
 Brand your organization promising and then delivering
quality.
 Conferences and retreats are great! But limited to only a
few times a year – social media outreach is now 24/7 for
students, teachers, businesses, groups, etc.

67. How to contact me:
 www.facebook.com/ELFellow.Albania
@ELFellowAlbania
 ELFellow.Albania@gmail.com
 + 355 69 549 0927

68. Shumë Faleminderit!