How to Teach the Public about Social Software Instructor: Beth Gallaway An Infopeople Workshop Summer 2007

This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople Project Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come, first-served basis. For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project, go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org.

Introductions Name Library Position What is your favorite social software?

Workshop Overview Working with Adult Learners Teaching Social Software Teaching Bookmarking & Tagging Teaching RSS, Blogs, & Wikis Teaching Social Networking Applications

Using Bookmarks in Class Go to: bookmarks.infopeople.org Look for the class bookmark file: teachsocialsoftware_bkmk Click on it so it shows on the screen Add to Favorites Add to your del.icio.us account

Working with Adult Learners Need to know why –immediate value Experiential learning –real life tasks instead of memorization –use analogies Problem-solving approach –allow discovery through questions exercises

For Everything You Teach Why? –create a reason What? –give them the facts How? –let them try it What if? –let them think how they would use it –let them teach it to others

When Teaching… During a demonstration –explain what is happening –point to things on screen Make mistakes –experts have problems, too Ask questions to: –verify knowledge –get them thinking

Teaching Tips Watch for “yes” or “no” questions –What questions do you have?” NOT –“Do you have any questions?” Wait 5-10 seconds Reply unconditionally Repeat the question for the groups

More Teaching Tips Put your hands behind your back Have extra exercises to give to fast studies Recognize simple things can be a challenge Create excellent handouts

Teaching Tips: Previous Sessions Be patient! Repeat yourself Say things in several different ways

Practice Teaching 1.Find a partner 2.Teach them how to do a simple task: Find and bookmark your library's website and add to favorites or to your del.icio.us account

Things to Watch: Eye contact Explained jargon Clarity of explanation Hands on Checked for understanding

Question for the Group What is social software? ajax.phpmagazine.net/2006/02/great_collection_of_web_20_log.html

Social Software Is... Any website where you create a username, password, and profile Sites that allow you to contribute by uploading or posting your own content for rating review and remixing

Benefits of Social Software No one knows everything but everyone knows something Creates connections between people

Question for the Group Are there special issues about teaching social software that we need to address? (as opposed to using the Internet or using productivity software)‏

Social Software Assumptions Everything is meant to be shared (“public” is the default)‏ Everything is meant to be critiqued (commenting “ON” is the default)‏ Everything is meant to be remixed (Creative Commons is the default)‏

When Choosing Usernames, DO Use… Something original and creative A nickname A favorite character's name A name that references a band, animal, food, hobby...

When Choosing Usernames, DON’T use Your real first or last name Your age Your phone number Your zip code or location A suggestive name or word Pornographic or obscene words Derogatory terms

Can't Get Your Username? Try adding a double letter to the beginning (i.e., Hhermione)‏ Add the current year or the year you graduate at the end (i.e. Hermione2007)‏ Separate words with an underscore (i.e., Hermione_Granger)‏ Change the spelling or spell in LEET (i.e., H3rm10n3)‏

Password Tips Choose passwords that are: –At least 6 to 8 characters –Combinations of letters and numbers –Personally meaningful for easy remembering –Not obvious to the rest of the world Use a password generator for help Write the password down and store in a safe place

del.icio.us del.icio.us is a bookmark utility that is accessible from anywhere del.icio.us has social features such as sharing and tagging

Questions for the Group What might the public want to do with del.icio.us? How might you describe del.icio.us, in a sentence or two? What three things might you focus on in a class on how to use del.icio.us?

del.icio.us: Three Things to Teach How to import bookmarks How to add a new bookmark How to organize bookmarks

Handout Tips Readable font 50% white space Consistent look Consistent language Correct spelling & mechanics Number actions in a sequence Branded

Word-processing Tips Content first Highlight to select, then add features Use numbers for actions in a sequence Use bullets if order is unimportant

What is a Tag? A tag is a relevant keyword with personal meaning to the user, to define or describe a link, photo, article, or other item.

“Web 2.0.” Kosmar. kosmar.de/archives/2005/11/11/the-huge-cloud-lens-bubble-map-web20/ © 2005 Markus Angermeier. Used with permission. Tag Cloud

Google Image Labeler Go to: images.google.com/imagelabeler/images.google.com/imagelabeler/ Apply as many labels to the image in front of you as you can think of Repeat for each new image At the end of two minutes, review your labels (and your partner's) Try again!

Flickr Flickr is a photo-sharing application for posting images publicly or privately Flickr has multiple post options, security levels, and copyright permissions

Questions for the Group What might the public want to do with Flickr? How might you describe Flickr, in a sentence or two? What three things might you focus on in a class on how to use Flickr?

Flickr: Three Things to Teach Uploading photos Tagging photos Creating a set of photos

Library Thing Library Thing is an online catalog for your personal library of books created by importing records from other book databases. Library Thing hosts ratings, reviews and forums.

Questions for the Group What might the public want to do with LibraryThing? How might you describe LibraryThing, in a sentence or two? What three things might you focus on in a class on how to use LibraryThing?

LibraryThing: Three Things to Teach How to add a title How to tag How to subscribe to a feed

What is RSS? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (or Rich Site Syndication) It's a way to subscribe to notifications about updated content. RSS feeds are read through a feed reader.

Bloglines Bloglines is a web-based multimedia feed reader that stores subscriptions to blogs for easy access from anywhere Bloglines can host your blog

Questions for the Group What might the public want to do with Bloglines? How might you describe Bloglines, in a sentence or two? What three things might you focus on in a class on how to use Bloglines?

Bloglines: Three Things to Teach How to add a blog How to search for blogs How to organize your blogs

PbWiki Peanut Butter Wiki is a hosting site for creating web pages that can be edited in real time with a very simple editing tool.

Questions for the Group What might the public want to do with PbWiki? How might you describe PbWiki, in a sentence or two? What three things might you focus on in a class on how to use PbWiki?

PbWiki: Three Things to Teach How to edit a page How to add a new page How to see when changes were made

Exercise #4 RSS Reader Showdown

What Are Social Networking Applications? A social networking application is a social software website where the primary focus is connecting with other people.

XKCD. imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities.png © 2007 Randall Munroe. Used with permission.imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities.png Map of Online Communities

LinkedIn Linked in is a business networking website, to make connections for career-related, professional purposes.

Questions for the Group What might the public want to do with LinkedIn? How might you describe LinkedIn, in a sentence or two? What three things might you focus on in a class on how to use LinkedIn?

LinkedIn: Three Things to Teach How to add a contact How to search for a job How to find a classmate

Eons Eons is a social networking website for the boomer generation

Questions for the Group What might the public want to do with Eons? How might you describe Eons, in a sentence or two? What three things might you focus on in a class on how to use Eons?

Eons: Three Things to Teach How to find an obituary How to create a Lifemap How to join a group

How will you use what you did today?

Evaluations Thank you for attending! Please complete an evaluation at: infopeople.org/workshop/wseval.html Contact Beth: informationgoddess29 on most social software networks