10 Ways to Use Facebook as a Learning Tool
Posted by Amanda Kenuam on Tue, Mar 23, 2010
Facebook has begun to surpass Google in weekly traffic. Everyone knows how to use Facebook to find old friends or connect with family, but how can educators use it as a learning tool? A recent blog post from onlinecollege.org lists 100 ways educators can use Facebook in their classroom. I have highlighted the best projects below that are most applicable to k-12 students.
1. Book Reviews
2. Writer's Workshop
3. Journal Entries/Blogs
Students can use the Notes section to post book reviews for other students to read or teachers to grade, access each other's papers for peer reviews, or simply maintain online journal entries or blogs allowing other students to respond and react.
4. Literature Responses
Students can create facebook representation of works of literature or any unit of knowledge they are learning about. Click here to view an example assignment.
5. Follow News Feeds and Current Events
6. Create a News Source for the Classroom or School
Students can keep up with news like World News Webcast that provides video clips of world news, share their favorite stories to their wall, and respond to classmates' news of interest. Students can also use their status update feed as a breaking news source for sports results, academic competition results, school news and events.
7. Poll Your Students
You can poll your students using an interactive Poll app for Facebook. Your students can also poll classmates to generate real life data for data analysis, to write reports, or simply to get to know their peers better.
8. Practice Reading Skills with Facebook Games
Knighthood promotes strong reading skills. Click here to see how a teacher used this game with her ESL class.
9. Engage in a Challenge
Microsoft, Ikea, and other large corporations often present Facebook challenges for students to solve problems or create new materials for their businesses. Engage your students in applying their skills in these real world opportunities.
10. Practice a Foreign Language
Students learning a new language can interact with native speakers through language groups or fan page opportunities.
Facebook Privacy Tips for Educators by Learning Today
Free Teacher Resources by Learning Today