Essential question week 2

Is there more to social networks than meets the eye? What is their role in education? 

Social networks not only act as a social media to find friends, relatives but it also helps students and teachers in various ways.  I would like to write my blog addressing each social media network sites. 

Twitter:

Twitter is a great area where we can find people of similar interests like us.  It opens up doors for us to learn and find interesting topics.  By following other people we can get an updated information information about what is going on around the globe.  It is definitely not time consuming.  I just started my twitter account and I am able to find lot of people with so many useful sites and articles which can provide great information about digital tools, science and other topics of interest towards education.  Twitter also helps to get connected with other teachers across the world and by doing so, we can get new ideas and strategies.  Twitter is also used in education conferences where teachers and others can share their opinions immediately.  It can act as a professional development tool by itself.  Twitter is also a great tool to pass an important information spontaneously as a flash news on the web.

Linkedin:

Linkedin helps to find people in groups of similar profession.  It is a valuable tool in education where we can find someone like a former principal or a teaching staff .  This will help us to build the the lost relationship and indirectly help us to get better advice, skills from them.  It also helps students to connect with teachers and faculty and keep in contact from wherever they are. It is place to search for new opportunities and ideas for teachers in this era. 

Google+:

Google+ helps to create circles .  It is a great tool where teachers can use it share valuable information like videos, photos ( about a particular subject matter) with his/ her students who are added to the circles.  By doing so, it will make the information available to all the students in class.  Even if a students is absent or sick  he/ she can access it at anytime and from anywhere.  

Facebook:

Compared to all the other social media networks I believe facebook is one of the least used tool for educational purposes.  But if used wisely, it can still be used to pass information and give an updated profile about a teacher for students before the start of a new class. 

Thus, finally I would like to conclude by saying that all the above social media networks can definitely be used in education in various ways possible when used wisely.