Category Archives: facebook

altc2007, facebook, flickr, web 2.0

Using external web services?

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Brian Kelly (who writes the UK Web Focus blog) has been asking the question:

Externally-hosted blogs, wikis, etc: (a) valuable solution for institutions which can save effort and resources; (b) to be avoided, as institutions need to be able to manage and tweak their own services or (c) an alternative view (please describe)?

He’s been using Facebook to ask the question and it is a valid question to ask. Should we as institutions take advantage of such services or should we be running our own services.

Some of the answers on Brian’s question make for interesting reading (Facebook login required) and he has been discussing this on his blog.

I use Flickr quite a bit now, finding it useful for not only organising photographs but allowing staff within Gloucestershire College to use them simply and easily. Now if I used an internal service this would probably also meet their needs, however those of you who have checked my Flickr feed will know I also used it quite a bit at ALT-C and delegates (and non-delegates as well) would have been unable to view (and in some cases use) the photographs. From my perspective using a single service makes life easier, there are lots of guides online, also using an external service allows me to use such clever applications like ShoZu.

One potential downside is what happens when staff leave? They can remove the photographs very quickly and easily.

Also though most Web 2.0 services are free, some like Flickr have limitations on the free account. The “pro” upgrade does cost and the question is who pays for that?

There are many more questions. Luckily for us some Universities have already been down this route and have created guidelines, check lists and risk assessment so providing the basis for any college which is looking at using external web services.

facebook

Facebook is costing “businesses dear”

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BBC is reporting on a report on Facebook.

Workers who spend time on sites such as Facebook could be costing firms over £130m a day, a study has calculated. According to employment law firm Peninsula, 233 million hours are lost every month as a result of employees “wasting time” on social networking.

Doing anything socially costs time (which in business terms means money). However a happy employee is often more productive than a miserable one.

In terms of learning institutions, should we be banning Facebook? We create physical social areas in our learning institutions, we have a cafe and a refectory for example, why not allow students to interact socially online? There is a hit on bandwidth and access to computers, true, but is that the only thing we need to take into account.

Is using Facebook (and other social networking sites) a problem that needs to be dealt with and “banned” or is it something that the majority of users use sensibly and get a lot from?

facebook, google, web 2.0

“Facebook Profiles Will Appear in Google Results Next Month”

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According to an article on Mashable, your Facebook profile will be appearing on Google next month.

If you thought the news feed was a threat to your privacy, be warned: Facebook is announcing Public Search Listings today, meaning profiles will be searchable through Facebook, and soon turn up on Google, Yahoo and MSN Search.

As of tomorrow, search will be available through Facebook; users will then have one month to change their privacy settings before profiles get indexed by the major search engines. These results will include, at most, your name and profile picture.

So anything on there you would not want a current, prospective, future employer or family member or associate or your bank manager or insurance company to view, remove it now before it’s too late!

facebook, social networking

Facebooking

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We are in the process of looking at Facebook because our learners are wanting to use it to engage and interact with the college. It is in the main for the social and sports side of college (which is why a lot of learners come to (and stay at a college)).

Gloucestershire College Facebook Group
(note you need to be a member of facebook to access this page)

Facebook

It is in the main going to be used for marketing.

Whether we use it for teaching and learning…  well this is a different question.

There is already a college Facebook network (set up by the students)

The learners are already engaging with Facebook, we as institution need to consider how we are going to engage with both Facebook and the students who are using Facebook.

As for blocking facebook, we don’t.

We do however (for some reason) block bebo, however students (and one or two staff) are using bebo on a daily basis in college…

Interesting Facebook links

Facebook: Engage with it or leave it alone?

12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally

Bluetooth helps Facebook friends

I personally think there is real potential to utilise social networking to support teaching and learning.

Our students network socially (in the offline world) already to support their learning, they meet for coffee, they create study groups, they share information and resources.

An online social network allows them to do this at a time and place to suit them, it also allows some students who would be discrimnated in a physical social network to engage.

An online social network will not replace an offline social network, it is not an “either or” situation, for me it is about supporting learners to learn.

facebook, m-learning, mobile

Bluetoothing Facebook

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Interesting article from the BBC on how researchers are using Bluetooth and Facebook.

A team of UK researchers is combining the power of social network Facebook with communications tool Bluetooth to learn more about human interactions.

Bath University scientists have created a tool which can use the unique ID of Bluetooth devices, like a mobile phone, to build new friendship networks.

Users register with the Facebook tool, called Cityware, that tracks encounters in the real world via Bluetooth.

facebook

12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally

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Web Worker Daily has a nice feature on how to use Facebook for business or in a professional capacity.

Let’s look at 12 ways Facebook can benefit the web worker, particularly those who are home-based. The more connected you are to your co-workers and clients without being intrusive, the better your working relationship.

Read more

I am a relatively recent convert to Facebook (more for discovering the potential of the site then for other reasons, but I have managed to make contact with some old colleagues from at-Bristol which is nice). For me there are quite a few ways in which Facebook can be used both as e-learning professionals but also to support and enhance learning.