ELL+and+Social+Networking

Teachers that incorporate social networking platforms into ELL instruction have found several positive educational and social outcomes. Facebook is a global norm and students can post, share stories, collaborate, message and engage in debates and dialogue. Including Facebook as a tool for ELL students can help encourage language development in several ways. Teachers thinking about using Facebook as part of their ESL instruction can effectively integrate social media by following a few guidelines.
 * ELL and Social Networking**

Teachers are frustated by today's distracted student and it's a point well-taken. By turning to social media, the adage, "meet the student where they are at" is applicable. Encouraging social media in an ELL strategy starts with dropping the barriers to success and highlighting why it will be successful and planning around pitfalls. The first step is to not be afraid of social media as a distraction. Encouraging the distraction by adding a classroom Facebook page and having your ELL students "friended" can create a non-threatening, fun, collaborative engaging platform that capitalizes on positives of social media including instant access, current technology and group building.

Some schools do not allow teachers to "friend" students on Facebook. This can be understandable when you consider the issues in some student/teacher transgressions we unfortunately hear about in the media. If you open a "teacher" Facebook account that is separate from your personal Facebook and make everything public, you may encounter much less resistance from school administration. By not posting your personal pictures, posts and "check-ins", the appearance of the Facebook teacher-student relationship is less muddled. Likewise, students would not use their own personal Facebook account, but create a classroom student Facebook account that is dedicated to only ELL activities. Again, keeping the focus on friendly, instant and collaborative learning and feedback that is so wonderful about social media and establishing a professional process is key. As always, get approval from school administration, keep all posts public, and give your username and password to your school principal. Students will be required to have a username and password issued by the teacher.

While ELL students will face language barriers instantly in Facebook, there are some great ways to intertwine your Facebook posts and responses as well as assisting your ELL learner to use Facebook as a technology tool for their own learning. Encourage your students to load Facebook on their mobile device and create conversations and activities student will enjoy. For example, start a dialogue on Football (Soccer) vs. Football (NFL) or compare and contrast popular movies or TV shows. Keeping it fun and light, as well as constant because of the mobile app updates will be fun for students. Another great opportunity is the encouragement factor within the classroom. Posting back and forth in their native and then the new language is a way to keep the spoken language learning moving each day.

Finally, utilizing the "like" feature in Facebook and having students "like" great tools like Duolingo, Edmodo, Google and Rosetta Stone will encourage other opportunities for the student to learn from either their computer or mobile device. Constant updates from those Facebook pages into their ELL Facebook profile will be positive and further student's desire to actively look for other apps and Facebook profiles that support their language learning process.

[] [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Media_Language_Learning#Social_networking]