Social Networks

We all are used to use Social Networks on a daily base. Most of us at least use Facebook, Twitter, and Linken In to communicate with our friend and colleagues. However there are other social networks to consider, such as: Pinterest, Google Groups, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, My Space, and Tagged.

But, what is a Social Network? Basically, is a platform that allows the interaction among people who share interests. Each user can create its profile, contact other users, and share information through the platform.

Even through we used Social Networks for fun, we can also use them as an educational tool since we can create a specific group for our students were we share information related to our course. Some of the benefits of using social networks in class are:

• It allows to share information immediately.
• Allows permanent contact with our students.
• Inmediate comments and feadback.
• Interaction between the teacher and his or her students. 
• Interaction between classmates. 

If we choose to use Facebook as an educational tool, we could have a personal account were we share information with our friend and the public we choose, and create a private group for our students. This is a practical solution for make a distinction between the information we what to share as well as the public we want to address.

References:

Wikipedia. Social Networking Service. 

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