[Air-L] Examples of Successful Uses of Facebook in the Classroom?

Pam Brewer brewerpe at appstate.edu
Fri Aug 13 06:07:21 PDT 2010


Hi Michelle--

I read the other posts and understand the concerns with using Facebook.  
I also agree that Blackboard is clunky--as is the CMS we use which is 
adapted from Moodle.  It works well enough, but a few alternatives you 
might consider are wikis through PBWorks and WordPress (blogging tool).  
These tools have far fewer privacy concerns though you may already have 
considered them.

On a side note, I will soon post a CFP to this list for a special issue 
of the /Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and 
Globalization/.  The special issue is on *training,* and we are 
soliciting both research papers and best practices pieces.  I see the 
potential for many best practices pieces in this discussion and others 
on the list.  Please consider the CFP.  I should have an edited version 
out in the next week.  In the meantime, if anyone has questions, please 
let me know.

Best!
Pam

Dr. Pamela Estes Brewer
Assistant Professor
Director, Writing and Editing Internships
Department of English
Appalachian State University
Manager, STC Academic Special Interest Group
phone 828-262-2351
fax  828-262-2133
email  brewerpe at appstate.edu



Michelle Everson wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> For awhile now, I've been toying with trying to incorporate Facebook into my
> courses as a way for students to talk about statistics they are seeing in
> the news (I teach statistics courses).  My idea is to set up a group in
> Facebook where students could go to post things they are finding in the
> media related to statistics and to critique these items and comment on what
> others have posted.  I would likely either set this up as an extra credit
> assignment (and have other options for students who do not want to use
> Facebook) or as a required assignment (again with another option for those
> students who might not want to use Facebook).  I'm interested in trying
> Facebook because (a) I know many of my students use it and I thought this
> might engage them more, and (b) I like the layout of Facebook and the way
> you can easily link to things and share videos.  I haven't found a blog
> interface that I like as much as Facebook.
>
> I do have some concerns, of course, related to privacy issues, and I would
> not want students to feel that I am doing this because I want to pry into
> their personal lives (my goal here is not to "friend" all my students but to
> get them talking about statistics they see in everyday life and sharing
> things with each other).  So, I'm wondering if anyone on this list has tried
> to use Facebook and would be willing to share what was done and how it
> worked, or give some tips on "best practices" for use of Facebook in an
> educational context.
>
> Thank you in advance for anything you might have to share!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Michelle Everson
>
>   



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