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    Welcome to EDUC 58073 - Social Media for Educators!

http://lone-eagles.com/socialwelcome.html

      For details on how to begin the course, go to http://lone-eagles.com/socialbegin.html

The following is an informal introduction to key resources and trends to get you thinking about your own goals and
            ideal outcomes for taking this course. 

            Please DO view each link for at least one minute each, and view the 15 minute videos - to set the stage for this course.

            If your Internet speed is a problem, then view this Jing video created by Tim Coray
            (let it run through first, then view it without the start and stopping.)

            "Getting By With Crummy Internet" http://www.screencast.com/t/FQvhCslZ

Infographic: How Educators Use Social Media
http://educationaltech-med.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-educators-use-social-media.html 

Infographic: Effect of Social Media in Edu
http://infographicworld.com/social-media/

Optional, but likely more than relevant. Tom Vander Ark is an edu-futurist par excellence.
He's chair of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, author of the new
Getting Smart: How Personal Digital Learning is Changing the World, and an investor in startup technology and entrepreneurship school General Assembly.

http://Edutopia.org is great resource for K12 educators, supported by George Lucas of Star Wars Fame.
Use their site's  internal search engine to find their extensive, and current social media resources;  search  social media.  
  Note that  Edutopia  uses  social media extensively and is particularly excellent at  addressing  key topics of  current interest.    

I gathered some interesting social media tidbits which you might find of interest;

http://lone-eagles.com/social-media-trends.htm

I have a wiki with short introduction videos to Blogs, Wikis, RSS, etc., with lots of links; http://web2fork12classrooms.pbwiki.com in case you're eager to begin exploring.

In short, social media is fast becoming the basis for our personal learning networks. Elementary students as well as elders are finding smartphones and Ipads easier and more personal than laptops and PCs. My 3 year old granddaughter is teaching me how her preschool smartphone apps work, and it is amazing, to say the least.

But, what matters most depends on who you are, what you want and/or need, and whether you can drink from a firehose, or prefer to sip from a straw.

Teens today average 100 text messages a day, and have an average of 10,000 hours of video games under their belts. Elders, might enjoy 2-way video with family, and exploring topical videos, but likely will prefer “less” to “more.”

What’s YOUR Ideal Info-Diet?

Please start thinking about your current, and ideal, “Info-Diet.” What devices, and media, do you now spend your valuable time consuming, and with what return on your investment? Can you better use your time by learning different more efficient methods?

Let’s replace the word “broadband” with the word “connectedness” and begin to think about who, what, and why. The term “Broadband” can mean anything from slow unreliable access to super fast, and doesn’t relate to meaningful use.

Two key trends with most social media companies are:

1. Shameless marketing to make money off your use of social media, and a lot of what they are doing with your information is secret… but also,

2. Finding what meaningful uses can actually help people struggling in these dire economic times. I.E. The Power of All of Us.

Our choices will become our reputation and our life story

Social media can bring out the best of each of us, but also the worst, as the rise in cyberbullying demonstrates. We have new power to encourage and/or discourage those around us, and our choices will become our reputation and our life story – so we need to be mindful of the risks of our actions.

Global Impacts from 128 character Tweets?!

The Arab Spring scares a lot of people, as a dozen countries are experiencing uprisings, fueled by Tweets on Twitter and postings on Facebook. And this includes the United Kingdom and Wisconsin?!

So what’s with that, eh?

Now that 2 billion are online, any idea can go “viral” and become a worldwide phenomenon in shortening timeframes. Myspace got 100 million teens online in just a couple years, sold for 2.6 billion, and lost 49% of its users in one year.

Then came Facebook which has 750,000,000 users online, and continues to grow and will issue an IPO for $100 billion.

But, before we delve into details, let us first see some inspiring visions as to what’s truly possible…..

I think you’ll enjoy the following 15 minute videos from http://TED.com

A Visioning Tutorial to Kindle Your Imagination

We're limited only by our imaginations as our one human family learns to join voices, virtually. The "Promise of Broadband" is literally that the clouds will part and the angels will sing. As you watch this short video, think about a new type of Facebook with individuals posting short video testimonies on what they believe in and are learning to contribute. Imagine elegant visuals mirroring to all which individuals are being “most effective” helping others as an area ripe for innovation. Many successfully new media entrepreneurs are now focusing on “meaningful” social media.

1. http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_whitacre_a_virtual_choir_2_000_voices_strong.html

    See also (Optional but outstanding!);
    Seven Billion Others - Teaser
http://www.7billionothers.org/ 
The home site for our one human family.

NOTE (Optional): Video biographies for individuals with disabilities are at www.itsourstory.org - The founder, Scott Cooper, could use funding support. Recommended: View the short video on the home page.

2. The Hole in Wall experiment in India demonstrated how kids taught themselves how to use a computer placed in a hole in the wall. Here's a recent 18 minute TED talk from that project founder - related to Love of Learning, models for self-directed learning where teachers are not affordable, and kids as the global solution.

Note: The Granny Cloud refers to Elders mentoring youth as they engage in self-directed digital learning - simply by giving youth encouragement and attention: Most youth need a minimum of five adult mentors to encourage learning, and the 'the love of learning.'

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html

3. Two billion will leave rural areas to swell urban slums in the next decade, but we're learning how to empower those in poverty in ways we all can contribute to;

Melinda French Gates: What nonprofits (and for-profits) can learn from Coca-Cola
Article link:
http://www.matr.net/article-42944.html
TED talk video link:
 http://www.ted.com/talks/melinda_french_gates_what_nonprofits_can_learn_from_coca_cola 

At TEDxChange, Melinda Gates makes a provocative case for nonprofits taking a cue from corporations such as Coca-Cola, whose plugged-in, global network of marketers and distributors ensures that every remote village wants -- and can get -- a Coke. Why shouldn't this work for condoms, sanitation, vaccinations too? How about peer mentoring and educational goals? Aspirational marketing is a theme to take a hard look at.

4. The Khan Academy is a new metrics-based approach to education. One individual can impact the lives of millions of others by posting their inspirations, videos, self-directed lessons, and encouragement to others online! The Gates foundation touts the future of Education as the Khanacademy.org - an example of the impact of one person's generosity.

Master learning with new K12 assessment metrics. Over 2000 high quality instructional videos are listed by topic with an emphasis in mathematics.

Google and the Gates Foundation gave this project $3 million – Bill Gates touts the Khan Academy as the future of education.

http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html

www.khanacademy.com

5. How Web Video Powers Global Innovation
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.html

This might be the most important video in the whole course. One individual can scout the world for the best innovations to post locally, to fuel the home fires of local innovation.
If we all share what we know, we'll all have access to all our knowledge.

6. Did you know there is a $100 Billion/year market for sharing services?
I.E. Doing more with less.
We can all benefit by sharing our stuff - when we're not using it. Smarter ways of supporting each other are now easier than ever as broadband gives us the means to connect needs and resources. If we can all learn to get by at less cost through sharing, everyone wins.

Collaborative Consumption http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/rachel_botsman_the_case_for_collaborative_consumption.html

7. Anyone can quickly create a free online video capture literally showing and explaining how to use new web 2.0 tools. I.E. Now…Everyone CAN be both learner and teacher, consumer and producer. Take the 2 minute tour at www.jingproject.com    You  don't need a webcam  to create and post instructional videos -  have your students show you  how!

8. A Must SEE Video: Social Media Revolution 2015 #Socialnomics - YouTube, 2 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jottDMuLesU 

Similar but Optional:   “Did you know?” (four minutes) updated 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4znQDyz038 In our age of accelerating change, here are some fast facts to start you thinking. But don’t worry, this class will not be presented at this pace, but you might see some things you didn’t know.