Social networking sites in Educational Technology

What is your most important reason for using social networking sites?

We are living in the world of Internet now. Recently, people cannot imagine their lives without social networking sites including me, like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, MySpace, Instagram etc.The most important reason I use social networking sites is First, to connect with my family and relatives. I can spend hours talking to them via Skype and WhatsApp that makes me really happy. Second, I get to make new friends exchange information about each other and catch up with long time lost friends. Third, it is a constant place to reach someone than making calls. I can just send a private message even if the person is not online he/she will eventually see it later and reply back. Finally, since am not a T.V person I get current news about happenings around the world on the social networking sites.
 

Is it possible for you to use them in teaching EFL/ESL? Concrete examples?

Yes it is possible to use them in teaching EFL/ESL. As a language teacher I can use social networking sites such as the blog in teaching students to improve their cognitive and writing skills. Example: by giving them interesting topics to reflect on and then post on their blogs so that everyone can see and give feedback. Here the students can interact with different people around the world. This will not only enhance their writing skills but will also upgrade their English and communication skills.  On the blog I can have numerous activities for the learners e.g. videos focusing on vocabulary, grammar, and humor etc. I can create recorded listening exercises based on YouTube videos or audios. Ask the learners to watch or listen and then answer the questions. Each student can also be asked to create an account then record themselves speaking and upload for me to listen to and grade them. This will improve their listening and speaking skills.