Flipclass. Social Learning With Social Networking Tools Designed Just For Education. Are you using one of these education-specific Social Learning applications? Last week’s article, “Facebook in the Classroom. Seriously”, was the first in a series focused on the use of social networking tools in the classroom. I am writing this series of articles as part of my preparation for a presentation on the subject at this year’s Campus Technology 2011 conference. In addition to looking at popular tools like Facebook and Twitter, I also want to be able to recommend a number of worthwhile education-specific platforms. Using applications that are intended solely for education eliminates concerns about exposing students to the inappropriate types of content found on popular mass market social networking tools.
One challenge in examining these types of tools is that of definition – what makes a tool a “social networking” application? There is a lot of categorical over-lap with online social tools for education. LearningSpace is one of several offerings from ePals, and it is not free. Free Social Teaching and Learning Network focused solely on education. Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies. Elgg - Open Source Social Networking Engine. 2012 Social Learning Summit Recordings. Social Learning Centre.