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Social networking is the new buzzword.  According to a recent online article titled, 20+ mind-blowing social media statistics revisited:

Facebook currently has in excess of 350 million active users on a global basis.

Six months ago, there were 250 million active users....meaning around a 40% increase of users in less than half a year.


At the current rate, Twitter will process almost 10 billion tweets in a single year!

LinkedIn has over 50 million members worldwide.  This means an increase of around one million members per month since August 2009.

There are more than 3.5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook.

What Does This Mean for K-12 Educators?
The statistics are staggering.  There is a good chance that you recently created a blog, updated your Facebook account in the last 24 hours, or sent a photo to a friend or relative using your phone or computer.  Ten years ago, it was difficult to share information with teachers in the same school.  Web 2.0 and online discussion boards are making it possible for a middle school science teacher in Colorado to connect with a middle school science teacher in Canada, Florida, Puerto Rico, and Ohio without attending a state or national conference.  Ongoing professional conversations can improve teaching and learning and teachers can impact students well beyond the walls of their classroom.

What Social Network Sites Are Available for K-12 Educators?
This is a short list of resources and online communities that educators can navigate and join.  When blogs started appearing on the Internet, they were typically one-way communication or message boards.  The sites below allow you to be a full participant and you can even steer the direction of the conversation.  You can post questions, share your teaching strategies, and connect with other professionals.

http://englishcompanion.ning.com/
English Companion Ning by Jim Burke
Nings have borrowed the tools of Facebook and MySpace—the ability to post a personal profile, upload media, and have multiple asynchronous and synchronous conversations—while allowing for the customization around a particular subject. 

http://www.classroom20.com/
Classroom 2.0 Ning

http://ncssnetwork.ning.com/
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Ning

http://ascdedge.ascd.org/
ASCD EDge

http://www.allthingsplc.info/
Professional Learning Communities 

Social Networking and Learning Communities
Social Networking enables teachers to accelerate their professional development and to connect with their friends and colleagues more frequently than the annual conference.  While there are obvious benefits from attending state and national conferences, social networking allows educators to stay connected.  What Social Networking sites do you recommend for K-12 educators?  Please share your thoughts regarding Social Networking for educators and your thoughts on participating in these virtual learning communities.

About This Site:
K-12 Curriculum Development was designed to encourage teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators and others to share ideas, discuss recent books about curriculum, share tools for supporting the work of teachers and administrators, and foster an online professional learning community.
 


Comments

Peter richards link
05/13/2011 09:45

The idea of developing curriculum is barely new. However, the way people comprehend and theorize it has changed over the years. This implies that there is a considerable dispute as to its meaning. Curriculum development has its origin in the chariot of the Greece. Curriculum was literally, a course. In Latin curriculum was a racing chariot and currere was to run. At the moment a beneficial starting point might be the definition presented by john Kerr and developed later by Vic Kelly in his standard work on the issue. John defines curriculum as, the learning activities which are guided and planned by the school. This can be either individually or in groups, outside or inside the school. This gives one some basis to move on. At this point all what is needed is to highlight two major features.
1. Curriculum is guided and planned: one has to specify in advance what he or she is seeking to achieve and how one is to go about it.
2. The definition is based on schooling: one should recognize that the modern-day appreciation of curriculum development practice and theory emanated in the school and in connection to other related ideas like lesson and subject.
In order to fully understand how curriculum development has changed over the years, it is of crucial benefit to consider the four modalities of approaching curriculum development practice and theory. These four ways are;
1. Transmission-curriculum is a system of knowledge which is supposed to be transmitted.
2. Product-curriculum development is an attempt to present certain ends in students.
3. Process-curriculum development must be viewed as a dynamic process.
4. Praxis-to fully comprehend curriculum development, it must be viewed as praxis.
At this point, it is of benefit to consider the above modalities of embracing curriculum development practice and theory in the line with Aristotle’s demarcation of knowledge into three sections: the theoretical section, the productive section and the practical section.
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