Social Software: It's all new to me

I will admit that I am a social software novice. I have never blogged. I thought only birds tweeted, and I have rarely IM'd. So it was with great trepidation that I signed up for this class, viewing it kind of like I view exercise ... I'd be in pain at first, but once I got through it, I would be glad that I did it.

What strikes me most about all of the software that we have been using is that for the most part, it creates a greater sense of connection among online classmates. In other classes, we got to know classmates through asynchronous posts. Social software, such as IM and even to a certain extent Twitter, promotes a type interaction that is more spontaneous than the well thought-out, well articulated comments of the traditional on-line class posts of most classes. This kind of interaction feels more genuine and more closely simulates, for me, a traditional classroom experience.

Blogs add yet another dimension because they provide a forum for classmates to express themselves more fully and less formally. Usually in an online class post, students try to be succinct, knowing that others, including the teacher, have the entire class' posts to read. In the blog format, students follow only the blogs to which they are assigned or those that interest them, so there is less concern about length and therefore, more freedom of expression for the writer. Classmates get a better view of one another thought these more detailed blog postings.

I definitely think that when I am school librarian, I will utilize these technologies as much as possible. They have so much potential for augmenting the learning process and for making learning more fun and interesting for our students. Whether I blog or tweet with my friends, who are mostly older and not very technologically savvy, is another story, ie., probably not going to happen, but who knows, never say never, right????