Online and Distance Learning

What is meant by "Social Media"? They are web-based media for sharing images, writing and voice. Using appropriate social software tools and web hosts, we can write and share blogs, record and share podcasts, upload photographs for nominated friends or all to see, make internet TV, or upload and share videos, and much more.   Perhaps most importantly we can create, join and participate in virtual communities, form new friendships and reconfirm old ones, recommend websites or products, share jokes or sad stories, and in many other ways engage socially on the Internet. 

An industry has grown up around this social networking and there are now many social marketing jobs available.  This page helps you find out more ...

From passive reception to socially collaborative

There is a lot of buzz about the social use of communication media. Whether you are sharing your words, video-sharing or photo-sharing, the most important aspect is the control that the user has to publish whatever they want to the web. Internet users are no longer passive recipients of information placed there by organizations and institutions. Instead they are active contributors and publishers. Social software tools have levelled the playing field.

They are designed to build a sense of community amongst the users. So working on a computer is no longer a private, individual pastime - it can be a communal activity.  The communities might be mirrors of physical communities (e.g., universities, cities, football clubs) or might be virtual communities based on interests.  The use of social technology in education is becoming ever more important as children are brought up surrounded by its use.

Another important aspect of the social revolution we are experiencing is in the speed at which our ideas can be communicated over vast distances and with huge numbers of people.  Twitter is a prime example of the way in which communication has been changed in this respect.  Major events can be described, and even world-changing demonstrations can be organized by using just 140 characters in a tweet.  The infographic below shows the growth of Twitter and its prospects for 2012.

Using #hashtags makes it possible to search easily for tweets on a particular topic.  Here is a poster of the most popular educational Twitter hashtags: 

Compiled By: OnlineCollegeCourses.com

Collaborating online with social media and social software

Collaborating online is so much easier now with the social software available.  Instead of sending drafts of documents to all those working on a particular document, it is now possible for them to work together modifying documents stored online.  This is particularly useful for teachers wanting to share information and collaboratively create courseware. It is also useful for class work in which groups of students work together on a project.

See the "Google Docs in Plain English" video by Lee Lefever on how to create and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations online.

For more information and related pages

Check out the videos in the right column.  Also check out the following pages:

• Social Use of Media in Education
• Internet Business Infographic
• Infographic: Pinterest as a Traffic Driver
• Social Media Jobs Salary Guide

List of schools and programs