Tumblr

Tumblr is a social networking site where users can blog and post pictures, audio, and video. Before I even discuss the features of the site I want to say that I realize that using this in an educational setting may be unrealistic in many districts at this point. I am using the site for my final project and was on the fence about using Tumblr or just a blogging group. Then I happened upon this article which made me realize that social (educational) networking can be a great tool and probably eventually will be utilized in most schools. Of course there are privacy issues; probably tumblr would not be safe in anything but high school level. An important thing to note if planning to use tumblr in a school setting is that the user is not allowed to make the primary blog private--however you can make everything else private and you can add as many secondary private blogs as you want. Still, the names are out there. You could get around this by using "handle" names or if you were using it for a class project, just using the name of the school.

With that said, I think there are a lot of things you can do with this! It is similar to facebook in the functions it provides: sharing text, photos, video, chatting, or audio. Rather than the snippets of text you can post in a facebook status update, it's more of a blog format-you have space for a title and then paragraphs of text below. Another difference between tumbler and facebook is ease of use. When you go to the site, your dashboard has seven labeled icons with the users choices. There is no learning curve at all. And the most important thing differentiating tumblr from facebook is perception. Facebook has a (maybe deserved) reputation for being only for fun and kind of a time-waster. Tumblr doesn't have the name recognition but still allows you to do the same things.

There are several different things you could do with this. You could use it to document a group project--building a garden or making something together. After you're done you also have this link to show everyone how cool your school/class is. You could create "tumblogs" with people around the world who are learning the same things as your students. Maybe classes who are reading the same book in England, or even in a history class to gain a broader perspective.