As new social media present new opportunities for education I thought it might be useful to mention a few social media tools and the way they are being used now. A popular one is Livestream – iOS , £free . You can subscribe to channels and publish your own material to have people see it. It’s operation is clear and simple and free at the moment. Go to https://livestream.com/solutions/education for more details.
Of course their is Youtube but then you have filtering issues. The same applies for Google Hangout though this is becoming an improving scenario as schools are seeing the benefit for free or low cost alternatives now that google have improved security.
Periscope is relatively new and proving popular around the world. I really like the world map and its brilliant to use on the move with your mobile. The drawback is those who use it for pornography and the lack of filering makes this not the tool of choice in schools.
Touchcast is not really a social media tool so much as a multimedia cloud-based tool which combines a range of media all-in-one package.
As this is still a new and emerging media what are they being used for?
Topic based
Livestream use a subject/topic based approach to video streaming – arts, business, education, science, etc. Materials and methods can be around particular events such as a music concert or a rocket launch as in the case of Space-X .
Talent based
Have a skill to share ? Or a gift like music ? People are sharing their gifting on social media sites like Periscope to a wider audience live. Running Marathon events for music or sport is popular too!
Travel based
Sharing a journey and talking on route. This gives me some conerns over road safety if the driver is doing this! But the idea is to show you where you are and what that place is like! This would be a great idea for pupils who for medical reasons cannot attend a class that day and would like to be connected to the class!
Knowledge based
Have some interesting knowledge to share? Then set up a question and answer session live. Periscope allows people to send messages to the broadcaster live and answers come back via the live video. People can only interact with the broadcaster live using text. Combining travel and knowledge based uses means a useful educational resource captured and shared widely. Great for class projects sharing to the world! Use Touchcast for this!
Local based
Link with other people close by or in the same local area. Perhaps not effectively using Periscope but Google Hangout could be used effectively that way.
As an educationalist and teacher I am excited by the possibilites these new social media tools are developing to make learning more interactive, more media rich and fun! For those with disabilities alternative methods of recording can show their ability ( not disability using traditional methods!)
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