In this chapter, we are going to add social networks to Moodle using Web 2.0 as a resource. We are going to incorporate Twitter and Facebook, due to the fact that these social networks are popular all over the world. We are including them in our course to incorporate the students' routines in their homework to enhance and interest their work. We have already used them in one of the recipes in Chapter 1, Connecting Ideas, but this chapter is going to deal exclusively with both of these networks. We are going to create different activities in them. After the activities have been created, students have to gather information in different ways and create stories. I hope that you find this chapter entertaining, as I believe that your students will!
It is very important to highlight that there exist some education privacy issues in different countries, which teachers have to be aware of before advising students to sign up for social networking. For instance, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects students' rights and privacy. For more information, enter the following website: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- Debating about a topic
- Cause and effect diagram, Fishbone fact or Ishikawa diagram: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram)
- Positive and negative points list
- Play the reporter
- Writing a story guessing facts
- Writing a very short play using text messages
- Chain composition
- How to summarize information
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Web 2.0 to help students interact amongst themselves in the virtual classroom using Twitter and Facebook. In addition, the students will also learn to perform difficult tasks in Moodle 1.9.5. We are going to use Twitter when we need keywords, few facts, and short statements. We are going to use Facebook to get more data, longer sentences, a short paragraph, some pictures, and so on.
You will also be able to design several types of Exercises after adding social material to the Moodle course. We are going to include two popular social networks. We are going to incorporate these networks into the Moodle course and we are also going to include different types of methodologies. This is done so that our students have several options to gather ideas for their pieces of writing. We are going to use Facebook and Twitter as resources from Web 2.0. Afterwards, we are also going to design the activities in Wikis and Forums. This allows the students to interact amongst themselves within the Moodle course.
In this virtual classroom, we are going to enrich the use of several well-known techniques using popular resources. Instead of sitting around a round table, we are going to ask our students to debate their ideas through Twitter as you will see in the first recipe. We are also going to incorporate management theories into education—for example, Fishbone fact fish or Ishikawa diagram, which is mainly used in business administration. We are going to teach it to our students so that they can create excellent pieces of writing, taking into account cause and effect.
We are going to deal with many topics, which may lead to discussion. Therefore, students can start writing argumentative essays without even realizing it. The most important detail is that we hand them the right tools to work with. In that way, they will be using keywords or phrases, which they will gather from Twitter or Facebook and they will create excellent pieces of writing. Let's Moodle it!