Presentation for NALA Social Media Workshop

1. Peter Cleary
Tipperary ETB

2. Objectives
1. Tutor development through the use of Social Networking sites
2. Student development through the use of Social Networking sites
Website to support workshop:
www.socialmediainadultliteracy.weebly.com
Covers topics in more detail

4. Overview
 Tutors and Social Media-Personal Learning Networks (PLN)
 Twitter
 Blogs.
 Google +
 ALTI
 EPALE
 Students and Social Media.
 Research
 Blogs
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Voicethread
 Google +
 Free Rice
 Fotobabble
 Goodreads
 Pinterest

5. Tutors – Personal Learning Networks (PLN) Personal Learning Networks (PLN's) are a means for
educators to grow professionally. Each PLN is crafted and
personalized based on the professional interests and
goals of an individual educator.
•Personal learning networks aren't about one social
network platform.
•Personal learning networks take time to develop.
•Personal learning networks can be as large or small as
you want them to be.
•Your personal learning networks will change over time.
•Everyone has something to share.

6. Connect with educators and organisations in other countries, find resources
and websites, participate in discussions.
To connect with educators and organisations involved in adult literacy search Twitter using the hashtag
#adultliteracy or #adultlearning
This will allow you to find any tweets that have been tagged with that hashtag or that mention adult literacy in the
tweet.
Some people and organisations worth following:

7. Follow Twitter chats
Some chats move very quickly and it can be difficult to keep with all the chatter. Don't be intimidated or feel that you have to read
everything! Just catch what you can. Many chats are archived afterwards and can be a gold mine of valuable information and
resources. Often, a link to the archive will be shared at the end of the chat. Or, just do a Google search for the chat hashtag and the
word "archives." For example, a search for "edchat archives" brings you quickly to the #edchat archive at edchat.pbworks.com.
Participating in Twitter chats is a great way to build your Personal Learning Network. Twitter chats attract passionate educators
who are dedicated to lifelong learning, improving their professional practice, and sharing resources with others. Follow people
with whom you interact, or who tweet helpful resources and/or comments that resonate with you. Chats provide terrific
opportunities for relationship building!
Some Chats worth following:
#edchat Considerd the "grandfather" of educational chats,
#edchat is one of the most popular chats and is held on Tuesdays
( 6 pm Irish Time.) This fast moving chat attracts participants from
all over the world to discuss a variety of topics related to
education.
#edtechchat: is dedicated to all things related to Education
Technology and takes place Mondays
#digcit discussion on best practice in teaching
digital citizenship and literacy
#adedchat Discussion about adult education on the
second Wednesday of the month at 6 pm

8. Blogs
Many educators now write blogs, some on general practice some on educational technology, some on
Adult literacy and some on adult literacy and technology.
These can be a very useful source of information, resources and inspiration.
While the majority of blogs are not specific to adult literacy we can still gain a lot from following them.
A few blogs worth following :
Free Technology For Teachers – Richard Byrne http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
This is one of the best educational blogs on the web, full of useful information and resources.
Adult Literacy Education –David J Rosen http://davidjrosen.wordpress.com/about/
David J Rosen has been working in and writing about adult Literacy for many years, this blogs is a collection of his
thoughts and ideas over that time.
Working in Adult Literacy- Kate Nunsuch
For teachers of adult literacy, numeracy, adult basic education, GED prep and adult ESOL; about teaching and adult
learning. http://katenonesuch.com/

9. Blogs
Research and Practice in Adult Literacy (RaPAL) Blog http://rapal.org.uk/home/our-purpose/
NIACE The National Voice for Lifelong Learning
NIACE is the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education in the UK. http://www.niace.org.uk/blog/
Reading all your blogs in the one place.
Rather than going from one blog to another on the web it may be useful and save time to use an RSS service
such as Feedly.com. This will allow you to view all the blog posts in the one place.
www.feedly.com

10. Google + is the second-largest social networking site in the world
after Facebook. It has 540 million monthly active users.
Like Facebook you have your own personal profile and a news feed.
In Google + you can also join communities.
Some of these communities may contribute to your Personal Learning Network
(PLN)

11. ALTI Network for Irish tutors
http://altiweb.ning.com/

12. EPALE is the new community of adult learning
professionals and volunteers It’s being developed to help
you work together to improve the quality and provision of
adult learning in Europe and establish a strong pan-
European Adult Learning sector.
The site is particularly designed to be of interest to
teachers, trainers, researchers, academics, policy makers
and anyone else with a role in adult learning across
Europe.
As the site develops you will be able to exchange news,
views, ideas and resources with others throughout
Europe.
The website is currently in development but EPALE has a
very active Twitter account with some very good
information about adult learning

13. Students and Social Media.
Research
The study Social Networking Sites & Adult Literacy Learning carried
out in Canada in 2011 asked:
• How are adult literacy learners using social networking sites (such
as Facebook)?
• How might social networking sites (such as Facebook) be used to
facilitate adult literacy learning?
Findings
It is clear that the main purpose for using web-based social media and SNS is for social connections. Moreover, people
connect with people they know in existing social networks of friends and family, whether nearby or at a
distance.
Blogging also serves a social purpose, often functioning as a tool for sharing personal thoughts and
feelings with others. Particularly interesting for adult literacy learners is the potential of blogging to enhance
opportunities to use their own voices to “speak” their stories in a public realm. While this is often done through print
publishing in literacy programs, it comes with a cost and has limited reach. Blogging is a low-cost alternative with possible
access to a much bigger audience.
The social functionality of SNS and other social media, however, can create problems for users – problems such as loss of
privacy, difficulties with family or employers because of comments posted online, and loss of “human contact”.

14. Key Findings
1. How are adult learners using SNS?
Adult learners are using SNS for social purposes and are simultaneously informally learning literacy
as well as technical and social skills.
Few are using it to its full potential due to lack of know how and access.
2. Should SNS be used for structured educational purposes?
(participants were divided about whether SNS helped or hindered text based literacy development)
3. How might SNS be useful to facilitate adult literacy learning?
A key contribution of literacy programs could be to help learners safely and effectively use SNS
for their own purposes.
Considerations must be given to
• Maintaining the Social focus.
• Building on existing skills, knowledge and experience.
• Safety
• Address the digital divide- access to computers in the programs and in the homes.
The challenge is to find ways to bridge the rich informal learning happening within SNS with formal
adult education setting.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to technology. Learners have different learning needs, goals, styles and preferences that are
equally important when using SNS or other social media. Furthermore, some learners may choose not to engage with digital technology at
all. However, there is a difference between those who make choices from among a range of options, and those who must make choices that
are limited or circumscribed by access to resources, information or opportunity.

15. Students and Social Media.
Facebook
Many students indicate that they want to participate in Facebook but are
reluctant to do so because of their lack of knowledge of the technology
involved or more commonly because of their spelling and writing ability.
To help students get to know the layout and feel of Facebook a useful tool is Fakebook
by Class tools.This allows you to create a fake Facebook account.
http://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page
Using Fakebook allows the tutor to work on:
• Wording and spelling of posts
• Uploading Images.
• Liking posts.
• Layout of Facebook.
• Entering dates
• Entering family names
• Unlike the real facebook you don’t need an email address to register

16. A tutor also has the option of using real Facebook. In order for your
Students to learn how to use Facebook in this way you might want to set up
a private group, in that way anything the student writes is not seen.
If the student do not want to set up an account under their own name to join
the group you have the option of setting up a fake account.
How do I create a group?
To create a group:
1.From your home page, go to the Groups section on the left side menu and click Create Group.
2.Click Create New Group at the top of the page. A window will appear, where you'll be able to add a group
name, add
3.members and select the privacy settings for your group.
3.Click Create when you're done.
Once the group is created, you'll be taken to the group. To get started, click at the top right of the
group and select Edit Group Settings.
From here you can add a group description, tags, set a group email address and add a group picture.

17. Students and Social Media.
Blogs
As we saw in the tutors section Blogs can be a very good learning tool. Blogs can also act as a place
to publish students work and also as a place where students can connect with students from other areas.
Social Networking Sites and Adult Literacy Learning –Raising the Issues Study 2011
‘Blogging also serves a social purpose, often functioning as a tool for sharing personal thoughts and
feelings with others. Particularly interesting for adult literacy learners is the potential of blogging to
enhance opportunities to use their own voices to “speak” their stories in a public realm.
While this is often done through print publishing in literacy programs, it comes with a cost and has limited reach.
Blogging is a low-cost alternative with possible access to a much bigger audience’.
Examples Student Writing South Tipperary ALS Students http://southtippals.blogspot.ie/
Writings from Kerry http://keswriting.blogspot.ie/
Student writing from California http://literacynet.org/expressions/toc.html
Setting up your own blog

18. Students and Social Media.
Communities Communities are places where users can share specific questions, comments or
content relating to a particular topic with other users who are just as interested in
the conversation. For example, if you're a member of a cooking community, it's
likely each post will contain something related to food. And if there is a user who is
posting content unrelated to the chosen topic, a moderator could step in and
police that person.
A tutor can create a community for a class so that students can practice posting comments and pictures, get
Involved in discussions etc. When setting up a community it can be set to private so that the students can be
sure that their comments are not seen by others.
A community can be set up for a general literacy class to practice the above or can be used to fulfil some of
the requirements for Level 3 Communications were students have to show evidence of taking part in an
online discussion.

19. Students and Social Media.
VoiceThread is a web-based platform that enables
teachers and students to upload images, video, or
documents, record audio, video, or text comments, and
then invite others to record comments as well.
Voicethread can be used to allow students give their views on images, documents and video. Comments
can be text, voice or video.
Can be used as a learning tool or as evidence for Level 2 or 3 Modules where audio or text discussion is required.
Each topic is stored on the voicethread website and can also be embedded into blogs and websites.
Ideas for use in class:
Comment on picture of a famous person.
Comment on a picture of an event
Comment on a picture of local building.
Comment on a current public debate.
www.voicethread.com

20. Students and Social Media.
For every question the student gets right a
Grain of rice is donated. Tutors can create
groups for their classes.
The site has audio
Levels can be set.
http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1355

21. Students and Social Media.
Fotobabble is an easy to use site that allows you to upload a picture and them add an audio comment
To that picture. This can then be shared on social networks.
Fotobabble can be used to encourage students to give audio feedback. It could also be used to meet
the requirements of both level 2 and 3 FETAC ( Listening and Speaking and Communications)
Ideas for use in class:
1. Upload picture of famous person and ask student to speak about them.
2. Upload a picture chosen by student and having meaning to them e.g. a picture of a family member.
3. Student speaks about a childhood memory.
4. Student speaks about a person they admire.
5. Student speaks about the year they were born.
6. Take pictures of signs in the locality- read the signs

22. Students and Social Media.
GoodReads is a social network for booklovers who want to
share what they have been reading and get book
recommendations from other people. Members can also
form book clubs, play trivia games, and browse famous
quotes.
Using this website a group can choose a book, find out more information about it and
discuss it online.
Close groups can be created for privacy
https://www.goodreads.com/
Idea for use with class
Create a private Group within Goodreads to discuss a
Quickreads book your class is reading.

23. Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually
share, and discover new interests by posting (known as
'pinning‘) images or videos to their own or others' boards
(i.e. a collection of 'pins,' usually with a common theme)
and browsing what other users have pinned.
www.pinterest.com
1. Create a board and give it a title
2. Add Pins (pictures, video)
3. Comment on Pins
Ideas for Student Boards
• Childhood Memories
• The year I was born
• My Favourite Film
• Someone I admire
• My Goals Board

24. Resources
Google + Community for discussion
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/101071098872768222677
Pinterest Board with more information
http://www.pinterest.com/petercleary/using-social-media-in-adult-literacy
All links can be accessed through website
www.socialmediainadultliteracy.weebly.com
Peter Cleary Tipperary ETB e-mail pcleary@tipperaryetb.ie