Lauren Cherry and Maddie Cunningham

ET 449-006

Using Facebook in the Classroom!

What is Facebook?

Launched in February of 2004, Facebook is social networking service that allows people to connect with different people, places and ideas from all around the world. Owned and operated by Facebook Inc it is now one of the most popular social networking sites with over one billion active users. On Facebook users can register for the free service and create a personal profile where they can post photos, update their status and share what they’re interested in.  Then the user can add other users as friends, exchange both public and private messages and “like” other members posts.  Users can also create events and invite people to them as well as join group interest pages.

History of Facebook:

 This social networking site was founded by Harvard students Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes in 2004. Although membership was initially limited to Harvard students, the popularity of the website caused the founders to expand the circle to include other Ivy League Universities and eventually to all colleges students and finally to the general public ages 13 and over. Although Facebook is such a success today it did encounter many trials and tribulations in its early years. For example, the site was initially closed down after Zuckerberg illegally obtained photos of Harvard students by hacking into the dorm website. More importantly, two Harvard seniors, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea to create a product that would compete with their original social networking idea called HarvardConnection.com, an eventually filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg. Facebook became a public company in 2004 and moved their headquarters to Palo Alto, California. Facebook’s value kept increasing as the site expanded and is now valued at 104 billion dollars and is the most visited website after Google and Amazon.

How to Create/Use Facebook:

This youtube video goes through the process of how to create a facebook page!! Check it out!

How Facebook can be used in the classroom:

Facebook is an amazing site that can be used for all content areas. There are many online resources that give hundreds of examples for how to incorporate Facebook in the classroom. Here are a few examples:

-       Public polling: Students can research and poll friends and family members by simply asking questions on Facebook.

-       Follow politicians: If your class is studying the current election, use Facebook to follow politicians on the local, state, and national scale. You can even ask students to interact with the candidates, posting questions and getting feedback.

-       Learning games: Plenty of games are on Facebook, and many of them are actually educational. Adopt Facebook crosswords, math games, and more as a reward in your classroom.

-       Book reviews: Ask students to head to Facebook to review and report on books that you've assigned in class, sharing what they've learned with the rest of the class.

-       Teaching 21st century skills: Use Facebook to create a lesson on using social media tools for collaboration, news, networking, and more.

-       Create fake profiles: Students often love filling out their own profiles, so creating fake ones offers great appeal. Ask students to create fake profiles for historical figures, fictional characters, and more.

-       Pet day can get a little less scary: Students with pets that are not quite appropriate for school (like huge pythons or newborn kittens) can still participate, sharing photos of their beloved friend at home.

-       Document class trips: Headed to the zoo? Have your class share the tasks of taking photos, notes, and more to share in a Facebook report on the activity.

-       Create study groups: Allow study groups and group projects to easily connect with each other within their own Facebook groups.

-       Post events: Get your classroom event on your students' calendars by creating a Facebook event. This can be used for everything from exam dates to after-school mixers.

FOR MORE EXAMPLES-go to http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/05/21/100-ways-you-should-be-using-facebook-in-your-classroom-updated/

Sources:

http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

www.facebook.com

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/05/21/100-ways-you-should-be-using-facebook-in-your-classroom-updated/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaNkbbc6In4&feature=related

Other Resources for future teachers:

http://www.facebook.com/safety/groups/teachers/

http://edcetera.rafter.com/how-to-use-facebook-in-the-classroom/

http://www.mentormob.com/blog/2012/how-to-use-facebook-in-the-classroom/

http://www.emergingedtech.com/2011/03/facebook-in-the-classroom-seriously/

http://teacherstraining.com.au/how-to-use-facebook-in-the-classroom-without-compromising-your-professional-relationship-with-your-students/