Thing # 23: Beyond MySpace: and other Social Networks

Wow and OMG! I signed up to access the Classroom 2.0 and was totally overwhelmed at how busy the site was. There were so many replies to different discussions that I was getting dizzy trying to scroll down past them to look at the rest of the website. I did find the Visitor Map interesting of where everyone was from that had joined the site. Being educators, seems to make the world a little world a little smaller since we have so many things in common.

I did plan to make a mental note and check out the Public Broadcasting Service live Webinars: Sid the Science Kid on Germs, Viruses, and Vaccines http://www.pbs.org/teachers. With the growing concern of the H1N1 flu going around, this could possibly educate us a little more on the flu epidemic. I also found the links for various tools such as Google Earth http://classroom20.ning.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=gearth and Collaborative Idea Map http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=ideamaps and other links helpful. The site also had links by subject as well.
One of the coolest things that I saw which would really turn on teachers who are in different countries is the translation tool in order to translate this network in your native language. Just like Google Docs, this would be great to share information with non-English speaking teachers. There were also other links listed toward the bottom of the website that looked interesting for future investigation.

Checking out http://socialnetworksined.wikispaces.com/ part 2 of this assignment, I saw an intersting article on the educational networking site titled: Why Every Parent and Teacher Should Learn MySpace and Facebook and A 30-Day Guide To Losing Your Digital as a Second Language (DSL) . I found the article interesting but I am not really sure that every parent and teacher should learn about myspace and facebook. Just because both of these social networking sites boasts a lot of members, it doesn't mean that the entire world has to join these social networks. There is life outside of these networks. The author of the article did encourage parents and teachers to join a social network that they have interests in.

I did check out the Ning Network and copied the widget. But for some reason it would not load. I also tried to get the badge and for some reason that didn't work as well as getting a second widget. I have no idea of what I am doing wrong, but the deadline to getting everything turned in is fast approaching. At least I did attempt it even though it did not show up on my blog. This was very frustrating to me since I am so close to finishing up this class.