Social Networking TechnologiesSocial media and social networking technologies such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly becoming more popular and important part of how people communicate and connect day to day. These technologies play a key role in making connections and communications between families, friends, colleagues, schools, churches, and other groups. Many teachers find social networking a great way to expand their learning communities and to discover resources. Our students are digital natives and they live on a social media society. One way to make learning relevant to them is to meet them where they live, which means finding social media sites that work in the classroom. Here are my favorite social media apps that I use in the classroom:
In China, most Christians meet in home churches. My family and team meet in various homes where we pray, read and share Bible passages, give testimonies, and listen to sermons. These gatherings are considered illegal but since we do it inside our homes, it is usually fine as long as we don`t let any local Chinese join our home church. Brooks (2012) suggests that by using the available mobile apps and presentations tools, the Church can easily deal with this technological change and continue to provide the needed services to its members and seekers. In China, we usually use WeChat to communicate with our church members but we are always careful with the words that we use. We use codes in sending messages through WeChat or SMS, for instance, we use “G” for God, “Pr” for pray, or “Book” for the Bible when we send messages to our friends. Aside from WeChat, our Church also use a secure company email with servers outside China so that it is much safer to send messages to the members. References: Brooks, M. (2012). Why and How To Use A Mobile App For Your Church. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://pastors.com/why-and-how-to-use-a-mobile-app-for-your-church/ Neo (2018). About NEO. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://www.neolms.com/info/about Richland. (2018). Retrieved February 28, 2018, from http://www.richland.edu/online/canvas
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading your perspective this week Aldwin on social media and possible uses. I read your post with enthusiasm seeing how you are in China and I understand some of the limitations that are put on the internet. I attended a workshop in Shanghai a few years ago and felt cut off from the world for those 4 days as Facebook was blocked. I am familiar with WeChat but did not understand the extended services it provides. According to Wang (2016), “the Chinese cultural tradition of “speech is silver, but silence is gold” correlates to the practice of inner circle sharing. This means that a particular WeChat user customizes in the “Share to” feature so that only certain users can view the content of the user’s post” (Pg. 26). Being flexible is important as a teacher no matter where you work but especially in China where are at the mercy of the government as to how much access you have to platforms on the internet. I am familiar with strategies that some users of WeChat employ to speak using code words In order to avoid potential red flags in their social media lives. Using this tool in the classroom seems to be a viable option. One concern I would have would be the protection of student data and metadata especially considering how closely the internet is monitored in your geographic location.
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Author:Aldwin Lauron is currently working as Technology Integration Specialist in ISC (International Schools of China). Archives
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