Social Applications in the Classroom

New technologies in the classroom can help reach a larger range of students.

By using a myriad of technologies we educators can reach audio, kinesthetic and visual learners.

The New Media and Technology

Sound Cloud Facebook

Turner Technologies Badgeville

Youtube Skype

Sound Cloud

Allows for free storage for audio media. Up to 120 minutes of free storage is allowed with

100 free downloads. This can be upgraded by paying a subscription fee.

Playlists or lectures that are recorded can be made private so that only students with the appropriate links will be able to view the content.

Sound Cloud

Visible Audio allows for students to pose questions and start discussions on the audio notes themselves.

Skype

Allows for text, audio, and audio visual conferencing as long as there is a stable internet connection.

Conference calls allow up to 25 people at a time, allowing for a class of 24 and a professor to gather for online lectures.

Allows for guest speakers from around the world to join the classroom without having to travel.

Skype

Allows for one on one conferences with students to help improve performance.

If text is the primary means of the conference then the student has a working note set saved in Skype conversations.

Facebook

Use of groups can allow instructors provide a stream of information to students through their feed.

Facebook was the number one visited website in 2011 according to Google AdPlanner.

Facebook groups can be made private so as to allow only those you have allowed into the group to see updates and discussions.

Facebook

Groups allow for instructors to put the classroom where the student is and to have a more constant presence in their mind with group updates and discussions coming to a students feed.

Badgeville

Uses gaming concepts and competition to increase productivity and profit in corporate settings.

These same results may be found in the classroom by allowing instructors to tailor the “achievement” system to the needs of their online classroom.

Achievement systems give students something more than just a grade to work towards, this same idea is used in video games to create replay ability.

Badgeville

Allows instructors to give out automated badges to students upon completing certain tasks. The program also has the capability to create leader boards to promote healthy academic competition.

Turning Technologies

A company that specializes in creating academic “clickers” and technology revolved around the “clicker.”

Allows instructors to pose a question to the entire class and receive real time feedback from students as to what they think the answer is.

While in most cases the questions must be multiple choice due to the nature of the clicker, this technology still engages the student in the classroom and allows all of the students to answer.

Turning Technologies

Turning Technologies also specializes in “Responseware” which allows mobile devices to be used as clickers, opening up the possibilities to having short answer questions being received from a classroom quickly and efficiently.

Youtube

Allows users to post videos for the internet community to see.

Instructors can readily find or load tutorial videos to help struggling students with course material.

Videos can be made private to allow only those selected by the professor to view the video. This would allow instructor generated videos to pose discussion questions that the students could then answer in the comments section.

Youtube

The site offers a multitude of supplementary materials to assist in the classroom. This includes music, plays, documentaries, and the aforementioned tutorial.

Some universities are already starting to turn their eye towards the use of Youtube. Yale has an entire channel dedicated to recorded lectures that anyone can view. This channel already has over 1,000 videos loaded within it.

Conclusion

As time goes on, new trends and technologies will take center stage. As educators it is our duty to convey information and knowledge to our students in the best way possible. This occasionally means that we must embrace new technologies and media sources to keep up with the students needs and learning styles.