Research presentation given at SITE 2009 on the use of Social Networking in a distance education classroom.

2. boyd & Eliison (2007) define social networking as: web based services that allow individuals to

3. (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system

4. (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection

5. (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site

6. 42,089,200

7. 18-24 40%

8. 25-34 26%

9. Student Use

10. Ellison et al (2007) surveyed 286 students, 94% were users of Facebook.

12. Even though they had Blackboard

13. But do we, as pre-service educators want to endorse Facebook usage?

14. Ning: The Walled Garden Approach

15. The “walled garden” is a term coined by former TeleCommunications, Inc. founder, John Malone to describe a closed network that limits subscribers’ choices to a restricted range of content (Van Tassel, 2006)

16. Ning

18. * Nomenclature may be changed within each respective Ning network Ning Facebook Comment Wall The Wall Blog Post Status Update Latest Activity News Feed Photos Photos “ My Page” Profile Page Friends* Friends Blog Post Notes

19. Does a student-centered online tool, such as Ning, foster knowledge construction through discussion boards more than a class-focused online tool, such as a traditional CMS?

21. Discussion Board

23. Interaction Analysis Model Gunawardena, C. N., Lowe, C., & Anderson, T. (1997)

30. Lack of diversity common

32. Week 8

33. Phase Number of Postings Percentage Phase I 4 28% Phase II 7 50% Phase III 2 14% Phase IV 2 7% Phase V 1 0.06%

34. Started by a Student

35. Controversial Topic

36. Implications for Practice

37. Creating a Walled Garden

38. Shift of current discussion board expectations

39. Tool acquisition

40. Bethany Smith [email_address] [email_address]