3.1 Social technologies for promoting community

Figure 8 Social media tools can give learners an easy way to communicate with each other

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A picture of a desktop computer which has an image on the screen of a sphere being held up by a hand. The sphere has the words ‘SOCIAL MEDIA’ written across the middle, at an angle. In addition, there are various social media icons and symbols spread around the sphere.

Figure 8 Social media tools can give learners an easy way to communicate with each other

Some social media tools can be used to enhance communication and cohesion among your group of online learners. ‘Collecting’ tools such as Pinterest can help learners discover a topic collectively and share their findings or ideas. Social bookmarking tools such as Diigo can aid in broadening learners’ research skills, connecting them with resources they hadn’t previously discovered. Of course, simply using the right technologies will not force a sense of community and shared learning to develop in any given cohort, but it will give it a chance of happening. If all members of your cohort are using Facebook, the creation of a class Facebook group can give learners an easy way to communicate with each other, as well as providing the teacher with an opportunity to provide prompt scheduling reminders, and to share relevant resources. Coughlan and Perryman (2015) have written about the use of student-led Facebook groups and their role in facilitating learning and achieving educational inclusion.