Anyone using Facebook?

[Laura Nicosia--LauraMaria Onomatopoeia]

Hi Everyone,
If any of you have pages in Facebook, let me know. We can link as friends. Also, I'm thinking of using Facebook as part of my classes (along with SL, Twitter, Wikis and Moodles). I teach English and Methods at Montclair State University in NJ and would love hearing if any of you are using these other sites and how you incorporate them in your syllabi.
-Laura

[JoeClark]

I'm using it; in fact, there are several SL-related groups there. I am experimenting with a couple of "web 2.0" related projects in my Communication class this term & will follow up.

[Laura Nicosia--LauraMaria Onomatopoeia]

HI Joe. I teach American literature and English Methods and am thinking of incorporating FaceBook in various ways. I want future English teachers to value the social networking power of web 2.0 and think that having pre-service teachers use FaceBook as a training ground for community-building will prove fruitful. As for uses in my literature classes, I'm piloting an assignment where students create either actual FaceBook pages for protagonists or "virtual" pages as a method to teach characterization. What do you think?

[JoeClark]

I think that's an awesome idea! Elizabeth mentioned something like this - maybe she was referring to your practice or something else very similar. SL would also be a cool tool to practice characterization in.

If for some reason students have trouble creating sham accounts in FB, I'm sure there would be other things like MySpace that might work.

[Laura Nicosia--LauraMaria Onomatopoeia]

Thanks for your response! I just completed my syllabus (I think) for an introductory course, "The Art of Fiction," where I'm incorporating SL. If you'd like to see the syllabus and the accompanying list of SL activities, I'd appreciate your feedback.

Do you think MySpace would be a better choice for sham accounts? I'm not expert in the site and could use a bit of coaching... (hint hint!)

[JoeClark]

I'd love to see the syllabus sometime. Alas, I'm not well-versed enough with the sites to say which is better for sham accounts, but I think you could just try inventing one on FB and see how it goes. I'd love to see a FB page for Ignatius J. Reilly from Confederacy of Dunces. :-)

[Elizabeth Clark]

What I probably mentioned was a colleague who, I've heard, has his students in fiction writing create MySpace accounts for characters. I think that would also work well in SL.

I've never used or seen FaceBook. Is there a place where I can see some sample pages without having to create an account.

This fall I'm teaching a hybrid technical writing class, and I'm planning to create a Ning social network for them to participate in discussions and work in groups online.

[JoeClark]

Elizabeth, if you go to Facebook.com there is a "tour" link that should show you what the pages look like. The basic page is really just a "profile"-type page. IMO the real networking angle comes from the ways it lets you see what your "friends" are doing, all on one page.

Like with Ning and SL, a "friend" is basically just a bookmarked person.

[Elizabeth Clark]

I actually joined Facebook yesterday using my SL name. Veritas Variscan invited me.

[Elizabeth Clark]

I've discovered one thing about Facebook I definitely don't like: I have to log in to read messages. When I get a message in a Ning site, the notification e-mail includes the message.

[Elizabeth Clark]

Would it be possible to use a blog for developing a character through writing a journal for that particular character?

[Laura Nicosia--LauraMaria Onomatopoeia]

Hi Elizabeth,
I'm going to be doing this activity in my Art of Fiction class this fall. I'll let you know how it works out.
-Laura

[Tim Thompson]

I highly recommend creating a Facebook account and letting your students know about it if for no other reason than to observe the kinds of conversations they have there and to be "in the loop" with them. I'm in the Palm Beach group (which is the university) and West Palm Beach. My facebook acct is TD Thompson.