Topic: Social Networking Sites
"We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site."
Taken from the Journal of Computer – Mediated Communication. Source: Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11.
Taken from the Journal of Computer – Mediated Communication. Source: Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11.
Lesson Plan
If you open the pdf documents, you find attached 1) the detailed lesson plan and b) the group work sheets
| lesson_plan.pdf |
| group_work.pdf |
Didactic Considerations
The lesson is useful for a class 12 (Leistungskurs), as the topic is quite complex and you need a good language level in order to discuss such a topic appropriately. Furthermore, the students are more experienced with SNS and are psychologically (due to their age) more advanced so that they can judge certain things better. By the way, we did not only include new media but the lesson itself is about new media... :-)
There are several reasons why we chose these two tools (Wordle and PiratePad). On the one hand, they contribute to the realization of our teaching aims, and, on the other hand, we wanted to include two tools we like the most.
Wordle:The students will hopefully be motivated when seeing their results presented in that way. It is a change to how a brainstorming is practiced normally (blackboard). It looks colored and nice and therefore is maybe more encouraging for the students than just having keywords on the board. It is, furthermore, a good summary realized by a new method, taking students who are frightened to participate orally into consideration. All in all, the tool Wordle is especially useful for an introduction or a conclusion.
There are several reasons why we chose these two tools (Wordle and PiratePad). On the one hand, they contribute to the realization of our teaching aims, and, on the other hand, we wanted to include two tools we like the most.
Wordle:The students will hopefully be motivated when seeing their results presented in that way. It is a change to how a brainstorming is practiced normally (blackboard). It looks colored and nice and therefore is maybe more encouraging for the students than just having keywords on the board. It is, furthermore, a good summary realized by a new method, taking students who are frightened to participate orally into consideration. All in all, the tool Wordle is especially useful for an introduction or a conclusion.
Wordle about Social Networking Sites
PiratePad: Students are motivated to write down their results as they can see the progress of the other groups. They want to present their results to the class and PiratePad offers a visual support for the student who presents it later on. Additionally, it is also useful for the teacher as he or she can pursue the students’ progress. Furthermore, it is a very useful tool for their homework as they can access this PiratePad page at home again.
PiratePad for Group Work
Traditional Media: As the balance between old and new media is quite important, we decided to include traditional media as well. For example, we use the blackboard in order to collect information about class statistics. Furthermore, the students should work in groups and talk in groups in order to speak English and practice their communication skills. As the comment writing process is an exercise for their A-Levels, they will write the comment into their books instead of using the computer. The use of the blackboard was realized due to the reason that it was the most appropriate one for the specific purpose.
As we all know, one should always use the medium which is the most appropriate!!! :-)
All in all, we decided to prepare a lesson with a topic that concerns the students in their life: Social Networking Sites.
This is a lesson planned for 45 minutes. You could also use this topic for a 90-minute lesson if you spend more time on each phase. You could discuss for a longer time and talk about the results in more detail then. Additionally, you could for example show some additional data concerning the actual numbers of Facebook, StudiVz and so on (the students could guess how many users Facebook has etc.). At the end, you could have a big discussion with the whole class where all students can comment and state their opinion!!
As we all know, one should always use the medium which is the most appropriate!!! :-)
All in all, we decided to prepare a lesson with a topic that concerns the students in their life: Social Networking Sites.
This is a lesson planned for 45 minutes. You could also use this topic for a 90-minute lesson if you spend more time on each phase. You could discuss for a longer time and talk about the results in more detail then. Additionally, you could for example show some additional data concerning the actual numbers of Facebook, StudiVz and so on (the students could guess how many users Facebook has etc.). At the end, you could have a big discussion with the whole class where all students can comment and state their opinion!!
Teaching Aims
Communication and Language Aims
- The students learn to express their opinion in English
- The students learn to present their opinion
- The students extend their listening comprehension
- The students learn to consider a topic from different perspectives and evaluate it
- The students consciously deal with an everyday topic and reflect on it
- The students should be sensitized for the disadvantages and advantages (the problem) of the topic (also regarding their own actions)
- The students learn to analyze a Wordle (in this case based on a brainstorming)
- The students should work with a PiratePad in order to visualize their results
- The students work in groups and discuss the guiding questions (or own questions as well)
- The students practice to present their opinion orally
- The students practice comment writing
- The students learn how to work and discuss in groups
Reflection
At first, we would like to mention that our teaching lesson was planned for a 12th grade, but the overall topic of our lesson (new media) can also be found in the curriculum for the 10th grade under the topic “Communication”. We would therefore suggest that Social Networking Sites could be discussed in a 10th grade broadly, but our lesson, which is very specific and leads the students to be reflective, is not that appropriate for that young age. Older students have the ability to reflect on such a topic more objectively. The lesson could hence perfectly be used as a lesson at the end of a school year in a 12th grade.
Furthermore, we talked about how to integrate authentic material in our teaching lesson. One possibility is to do further lessons or even a project on Social Networking Sites, for example to organise an exchange. Another possibility is to find pen pals for your pupils so that they can write mails with native speakers and meanwhile improve their communication skills.
While having a closer look at our teaching aims, we recognized that our main purpose is to practice media competence. On the one hand, students practice working with new tools like PiratePad and on the other hand, they talk about the use of Social Networking Sites. The pupils think about the advantages as well as the disadvantages and dangers of Social Networking Sites.
Furthermore, we talked about how to integrate authentic material in our teaching lesson. One possibility is to do further lessons or even a project on Social Networking Sites, for example to organise an exchange. Another possibility is to find pen pals for your pupils so that they can write mails with native speakers and meanwhile improve their communication skills.
While having a closer look at our teaching aims, we recognized that our main purpose is to practice media competence. On the one hand, students practice working with new tools like PiratePad and on the other hand, they talk about the use of Social Networking Sites. The pupils think about the advantages as well as the disadvantages and dangers of Social Networking Sites.
