Recommended reading: SocialTech

Recommended reading: SocialTech
by Karyn Romeis | Mon, 01/19/2009 - 04:24

Josie Fraser is a hard person to encapsulate in a single sentence. She is passionate about learning, about technology, about social media... the list goes on. She combines all these passions in her blog: SocialTech. She is to be found in a great many social media/networking spaces, experimenting with all manner of emerging technologies.

One of her major drivers is the education of children in the appropriate use of social media/networking tools. She has done some sterling work in this area, and many adults could stand to learn a lesson or two from it! She has contributed to several government research projects on the subject. This post addresses the issue of digital literacy, while also linking to several useful publications on the subject of Internet safety and cyberbullying. Nor is it wise to assume that these matters apply only to children or the digitally naive. Kathy Sierra, a well known technical author and public speaker, with a blog readership in excess of 3000 for Creating Passionate Users, was hounded out of cyberspace by cyberbullying and cyberviolation of the most vicious kind. But I digress...

I am absolutely convinced that social media are going to play an ever stronger role in the learning process. They already play a significant role in the arena of informal learning and CPD (continuing professional development). I believe we are still only seeing the thin end of what they have to offer formal education. Learning how to optimise the use of the technology while observing appropriate netiquette and preserving one's own personal safety are lessons that can certainly be moved forward by means of insights gained from this blog.

Josie also co-ordinates and hosts the annual Edublog awards (or Eddies, as they have become known). Opinion is sharply divided as to whether these awards constitute a good thing or a bad thing. Whatever the case, I find the nominations list helpful in that it introduces me to blogs I hadn't previously encountered. It provides a rich source of often conflicting views on the issues that concern me, and ensure that my personalised online community of practice does not become an echo chamber.

Tags: Blogging, edublog awards, Josie Fraser, Kathy Sierra

• Karyn Romeis's blog
• Printer-friendly version
• PDF version

---