CTEO - Unit 5 - Social Media

ITTT Specialized Course

Teaching English Online

TEO 005

Unit 5 Social media

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Unit 5 Social media

5.1 What is social media?

5.1 What is social media?

5.2 How do I use it? n 5.3 Typical resources n 5.4 Unit 5 comprehension text n

n

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines social media as follows: Forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos).

Fundamentally, social media is any online platform where people can communicate with each other and present and discuss ideas. Blogs, forums, YouTube and online English teaching are just some examples.

Social media can be interactive or you may use it passively. Mainstream media, such as T.V. and newspapers now actively use Social Media to increase their reach.

Social media definition https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media Posted by: Margaret Rouse, WhatIs.com social media

Here are some prominent examples of social media: Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues.

Google+ (pronounced Google plus) was Google's social networking project, designed to replicate the way people interact offline more closely than is the case in other social networking services. This website is no longer offered to new users and plans to shut down remaining accounts in 2019.

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Where the world is your classroom

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Unit 5 Social media

LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally.

Pinterest is a social curation website for sharing and categorizing images found online. Pinterest requires brief descriptions but the main focus of the site is visual. Clicking on an image will take you to the original source. For example, clicking on a picture of a pair of shoes might redirect users to a purchasing site and an image of blueberry pancakes might redirect to the recipe.

Reddit is a social news website and forum where stories are socially curated and promoted by site members. The site is composed of hundreds of sub-communities, known as "subreddits." Each subreddit has a specific topic such as technology, politics or music. Reddit site members, also known as, "redditors," submit content which is then voted upon by other members.

The goal is to send well-regarded stories to the top of the site's main thread page.

Twitter is a free microblogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called tweets. Twitter members can broadcast tweets and follow other users' tweets by using multiple platforms and devices.

Wikipedia is a free, open content online encyclopedia created through the collaborative effort of a community of users known as Wikipedians. Anyone registered on the site can create an article for publication; however, registration is not required to edit articles. Wikipedia was founded in January of 2001.

Brian Solis created the following social media chart, known as the conversation prism, to categorize social sites and services into various types of social media. (See a larger image)

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Where the world is your classroom

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Unit 5 Social media

Business applications of social media Social media is becoming an integral part of life online as social websites and applications proliferate. Most traditional online media platforms include social components, such as comment fields for users. In business, social media is used to market products, promote brands, connect to current customers and foster new business.

Social media analytics is the practice of gathering data from blogs and social media websites and analyzing that data to make business decisions. The most common use of social media analytics is to mine customer sentiment to support marketing and customer service activities.

Social media marketing (SMM) takes advantage of social networking to help a company increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach. The goal is usually to create content compelling enough that users will share it with their social networks. One of the key components of SMM is social media optimization (SMO). Like search engine optimization (SEO), SMO is a strategy for drawing new and unique visitors to a website. SMO can be done two ways: by adding social media links to content such as RSS feeds and sharing buttons, or by promoting activity through social media via status updates, tweets, or blog posts.

Social CRM (customer relationship marketing) can be a very powerful business tool. For example, establishing a Facebook page allows people who like your brand and the way you conduct business to like your page, which creates a venue for communication, marketing and networking. Through social media sites, you can follow conversations about your brand for real-time market data and feedback.

In terms of customer feedback, social media makes it easy to tell a company and everyone else about their experiences with that company, whether those experiences are good or bad. The business can also respond very quickly to both positive and negative feedback, attend to customer problems and maintain, regain or rebuild customer confidence.

Enterprise social networking allows a company to connect individuals who share similar business interests or activities.

Internally, social tools can help employees access information and resources they need to work together effectively and solve business problems. Externally, public social media platforms help an organization stay close to their customers and make it easier to conduct research that they can use to improve business processes and operations.

Social media is also often used for crowdsourcing. Customers can use social networking sites to offer ideas for future products or tweaks to current ones. In IT projects, crowdsourcing usually involves engaging and blending business and IT services from a mix of internal and external providers, sometimes with input from customers and/or the general public.

On the other hand, the integration of social media in the business world can also pose challenges. Social media policies are designed to set expectations for appropriate behavior and ensure that an employee's posts will not expose the company to legal problems or public embarrassment. Such policies include directives for when an employee should identify himself as a representative of the company on a social networking website, as well as rules for what types of information can be shared.

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Where the world is your classroom

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Unit 5 Social media

5.2 How do I use it?

Here we consider some of the ways you could use social media to help your teaching.

1. Blogs Create classroom and individual blog accounts where students can share ideas and learn how to communicate online by posting and replying to comments.

Here is the ITTT blog: https://www.teflcourse.net/blog/ 2. Social media accounts Set up a social media account for the class on spaces such as Twitter or Face book. https://twitter.com/TeachThought

3. Google Meet https://apps.google.com/meet/ Video calls and meetings for everyone.

Google Meet is one service for secure, high-quality video meetings and calls available for everyone, on any device.

Meet safely Meet uses the same protections that Google uses to secure your information and safeguard your privacy. Meet video conferences are encrypted in transit, and our array of safety measures are continuously updated for added protection.

Meet from anywhere Get the whole crew together in Google Meet, where you can present business proposals, collaborate on chemistry assignments, or just catch up face to face. Businesses, schools, and other organizations can live stream meetings to 100,000 viewers within their domain.

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Where the world is your classroom

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Unit 5 Social media

Meet on any device, anywhere Guests can join from their computer using any modern web browser—no software to install. On mobile devices, they can join from the Google Meet app. Guests can even join meetings and calls from Google Nest Hub Max.

Meet clearly Google Meet adjusts to your network speed, ensuring high quality video calls wherever you are. New AI enhancements keep your calls clear even when your surroundings aren’t.

Meet with everyone With live captions powered by Google’s speech recognition technology, Google Meet makes meetings more accessible. For non-native speakers, hearing impaired participants, or just noisy coffee shops, live captions make it easy for everyone to follow along (available in English only).

Stay connected: Share your screen: Host large meetings: Join from your phone:

Simple scheduling, easy recording, and adaptive layouts help people stay engaged and connected.

Present documents, slides, and spreadsheets by showing your entire screen or just a window.

Invite up to 500 internal or external participants to a meeting.

Use the Google Meet app to join a video call, or join audio-only by calling the dial-in number in the meeting invite.

Take control: Meetings are safe by default. Owners can control who can join the meeting; only people approved by the meeting owner can enter.

Broadcast internal events: Live stream events such as town halls and sales meetings for up to 100,000 viewers within your domain.

4. Canvas A good alternative to the more general social media accounts, Canvas is targeted for schools, is worldwide and is used by students and teachers. www.instructure.com/en-au/canvas 5. Virbela A new way to approach remote education, with virtual realistic classrooms, avatars and interactive lessons. www.virbela.com

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Where the world is your classroom

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Unit 5 Social media

Social media sites in China You should be aware that China accounts for well over half of all English learners online and that many of the social media websites mentioned here are not available in China.

The following blog articles give a whole range of alternatives which are available to use in your teaching.

Visit these websites for more information:

an d

www.dragonsocial.net/blog/social-media-in-china/ www.echinacities.com/career-advice/5-Awesome-Free-OnlineResources-for-Foreign-ESL-Teachers-in-China

St re o se p a

rc h

In summary, social media can create useful spaces for you, your students and if you are going it alone, your business. As an online teacher you should make as much use as possible of online resources such as these.

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Unit 5 Social media

5.3 Resources There are a huge number of free resources for EFL teachers in general. You should take all the resources you can get, try them out and then, from the results of how well they work (or don't) in your particular teaching situation, adapt them or radically change them.

Some examples: https://busyteacher.org/20651-how-to-use-socialmedia-esl-classroom.html https://matadornetwork.com/abroad/30-freeonline-resources-for-teaching-and-learning-esl/ www.eslkidstuff.com/esl-kids-lesson-plans.html Just put 'free ESL resources' into any search engine and you will have access to all the resources you may ever need.

For a brief overview covering all the previous aspects read the following article from the ITTT blog:

an d

www.teflcourse.net/blog/4-essential-tools-for-teaching-esl-online-ittt-tefl-blog/

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Where the world is your classroom

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Unit 5 Social media

5.4 Comprehension text Read the following text and additional readings.

Knowledge of the text will be tested.

The Best Apps to Have on Your Phone While Teaching English Abroad www.teflcourse.net/blog/the-best-apps-to-have-on-yourphone-while-teaching-english-abroad-ittt-tefl-blog/

Apps for Inside the Classroom Educreations This app allows you to create an interactive whiteboard filled with instructional videos that can be watched as a class or at home. You can also annotate and animate your content to make it more fun to learn for your students.

The best part about this app is that you can also invite your students to share their ideas and help other students with tutorials.

Kahoot There is nothing worse than a boring lesson - for both the students and the teacher. However, with Kahoot, you can easily turn any subject into a fun game that involves all of your students. You can create your own questions and answers and create a game show style activity that can be played with the whole class. The best part is that your students don't even need to download the app to play.

Epic! Unlimited Books for Kids This epic app gives teachers access to over 20,000 popular children's books, including editions from National Geographic and Goosebumps. This is especially useful if you have to create your own curriculum for reading classes or if your school doesn't have an extensive student library.

Tip: Take our 50-hour Teaching English to Young Learners Course if teaching children is your dream!

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Where the world is your classroom

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Unit 5 Social media

Instructables Sometimes it can be hard to come up with fun school projects for your students. Instructables is a great resource for your next fun project and your students will love it. Whether you are looking for a science project or an art craft, you will definitely find something useful for your students here.

Apps for Outside the Classroom Additio Additio is likely going to become your new best friend. This nifty app keeps track of all your students' grades and attendance, as well as your timetable, and it also lets you save class notes. You can even communicate and exchange ideas with fellow teachers.

Slack What is a teacher's worst nightmare? Your students didn't do their homework and you have to spend the whole lesson doing the work during class and fall behind on your curriculum. But don't worry, Slack is a useful messaging app that lets teachers communicate with students and send out messages and reminders for homework, due projects, papers and everything else you'd like to remind your students of.

Teacher's Assistant Pro Teacher's Assistant Pro is a very useful app that helps you to keep a record of classroom behavior. The app lets you create an incident report, complete with date, time, location and even “evidence” photos. This is especially useful for parent-teacher conferences to explain exactly what happened and to clear up any misunderstandings.

Remind Similar to Slack, the Remind app also sends out reminders to students. The only difference is that you can even communicate with the parents through this app. Moreover, the messages sent through the app can be translated into over 70 different languages, which is perfect for overcoming the language barrier between foreign teachers and parents when teaching English abroad.

International TEFL and TESOL Training

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Where the world is your classroom

TEO 005 Copyright © 2019 International TEFL and TESOL Training. All rights reserved.

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Unit 5 Social media

Classtree Many teachers around the globe use Classtree to send out notifications to parents of upcoming projects, field trips, exams and much more. It eliminates paper parent consent forms completely and also eliminates the chances of students losing these letters to their parents. The app also shows you exactly who has read your message and who still needs to sign.

Edmodo Another helpful app that we shouldn't miss from this list is Edmodo. With this app, you can simply post assignments, grades, and notifications, and also share useful resources, calendars and even quizzes and polls with your students.

You should now be ready to attempt test 5. Go to the control panel to open and take the test.

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Where the world is your classroom

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