Social Networking
 
Organisational Issues

Many of the suggestions outlined below are based on the social networking site, Think.com, which has been designed specifically for educational use. 

• Registration: sites such as Think.com are free and involve an initial email from the Headteacher giving permission for the school to participate in the networking site. A nominated member of staff will be the main administrator and has the power to allow other teachers to have teacher permissions and to be team leaders in shared projects. Classes are enrolled by Year and each student is issued with a password which they can change. It is possible to automatically advance all classes into the following academic year.
• Moderation and supervision: moderators can see all home pages of all students and the messages and materials that are posted on them. They can contribute messages themselves to student sites and disable accounts where necessary. All images that are posted must be ratified by moderators.
• Internet safety: all users have to click on a code of conduct at the beginning which sets appropriate usage rules. Think.com has a list of proscribed words which it will not allow within the network.
• Technical challenges: educational sites such as Think.com provides extensive support that can be accessed online or printed. There is also a forum for support. Most other educationally-centred networking sites would have similar facilities. Once students are issued with log-ins and passwords, those who are familiar with using sites for social use will probably be able to navigate easily and use the built-in tools. Clicking a 'save' button is the most important technique to be learned. Uploading files is straightforward, but may take some time or even time out if the school’s system is not the fastest and if all students are trying to upload at once.
• Demands on the network: participation in social networking sites is usually hosted on a remote server, as happens with Think.com. This eases demand on the school system and an in-built system of messaging and email protects users from school updates and changes to email accounts. The ability to log in via a web interface on computers in other countries is very good for projects run during school trips abroad.
• School protocols and permissions: it is possible to make content and projects unique to a particular school or class and not viewable by others. It is also possible to set up a range of restrictions to stop students gaining access to other students' work and editing or deleting it.   Everyone can contribute to shared project pages, but cannot edit those pages, unless the teacher wishes them to do so.

Author: John Hopwood : Languages/ICT consultant, Language College, St Julie's Catholic High School for Girls, Woolton, Liverpool.