Instructional use of social media has increased significantly over the past three years, but it has also generated concerns among instructors regarding student privacy, data ownership, and profit-driven content filtering. This presentation critically evaluates such concerns, and considers an alternative that has emerged over the last two years: private social netwoks (PSNs). Born after smartphones have come to prominence, PSNs offer a means to increase student engagement in mobile learning. The presentation will provide a comprehensive overview and evaluation supported by a semester-long, real-world case study of this emerging alternative, including solutions from EveryMe, GlassBoard, and Kibits.
Learning Objectives:
* Identify main concern areas in instructional use of leading social networks
* Understand the functional definition of PSN as an emerging category
* Be familiar with several new software "platforms" in this category (for example, GlassBoard, EveryMe, Kibits)
* Experience mobile clients for these software PSN "platforms" on popular hardware (iPhone, iPad)
* Be able to use a comparative evaluation matrix to assess instructional potential of such software
