melaniemcbride.net

For those who have experienced inequity on the wrong side of the social and digital divide, social networking sites may not be experienced in quite the same way as those who enjoy material privilege and/or stability. In this sense, webby fun is relative to inclusivity. Especially in spaces that are not designed according to our [...]

As today’s wired learners become increasingly alienated from an education system that is 50 years out of date, innovative teachers are exploring ways to make learning more relevant to learner’s social and cultural identities.
In addition to making learning more meaningful, these explorations have the potential to revolutionize education and transform it into something that equips [...]

What are the most essential user controls for social media?
NOTE: When I created this little poll it was my first time using poll daddy. I configured it to allow people to choose more than one option. I’m not sure the results say as much as I’d like them to. Thanks to all who participated in [...]

A couple of months ago I started experimenting with the use of Twitter and other social media in my wired college classrooms. Meanwhile, out in California, Howard Rheingold was exploring the question of wired attention spans with his UC Berkeley social media class. Rheingold turned these explorations into a series of compelling vlog posts called [...]

Has anybody else had a tough time explaining the value and purpose of Twitter to your non-Twittering friends, clients or colleagues?
After writing several lengthy emails, I threw all my best examples and links into a single message. My “Twitter explained” boilerplate is the result.

Despite the popularity and widespread adoption of social tools, there’s little agreement when it comes to matters of our individual terms of use. Without a collective social contract for social media, many of us are left wondering: How do I define my own social policy? Until now, corporate social media developers are defining those policies [...]

About a month ago I created a short Twitter survey. The idea for this survey emerged out of discussions about using Twitter in learning environment and the varied responses I received from students and educators. This inspired me to capture and share these responses in hopes that we might, collectively, demystify this weird new moment [...]

I created the following scorecard for small publications and organisations in order to help them assess the absence or presence of social media on their site. Here are the questions. You can dowload the scorecard to calculate the results social_media_scorecard [PDF]
1. How social is your site?
Rate your site features following social media (2 points [...]