I’m often asked to speak about social media or run workshops on the topic but I realise that I haven’t had much time to carefully consider the reality of living in a school world where access to these technologies can pose some serious challenges for teachers, peers, parents and school leaders.

The ubiquity of Facebook has resulted in virtually everyone having a common language and method in which they can share information. I’m confused about whether FB should be used for business or for socialising only or, if you so desire, both. I used to be 100% clear about this but now I’m no longer so certain.

Twitter is such a fantastic tool and I really enjoy following my favourites. This seems to work better in that I can privately choose whether I wish to follow those more professionally aligned to my interests or whether I wish to follow those more aligned to my personal interests – one of my best ‘follows’ is Lance Armstrong.

Last week I attended an ICT conference in Joburg which had a strong focus around the use of Web 2.0 and various social media. I left having picked up new ideas but also with the whole feeling of being overwhelmed by the sheer number of technologies and social media tools available to me for my educational interests. If I felt like this I wondered how others, new to social networking technologies, were feeling!

In the end I have decided that they’re all useful and that I must be disciplined to do a quick bit of my own research about what’s best when I wish to carry out a specific task. A general awareness is good but the ever changing social media environment is too demanding so anywhere, anytime learning using the ‘tool of the moment’ needs to be applied, if I am to remain sane!

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