1.a+Compelling+Rationale+for+Study

Studies about the effectiveness of online social networking in an educational setting generally fall into two realms....they are either very nascent, and more focused on marketing aspects (as evidenced by a Google Scholar search), or the results are too quickly eclipsed by the newest form of social media and networking (does anyone even use MySpace anymore?). Perhaps, this is too simplistic a view of the world of educational studies in social networking. However, while formulating the Take Action project, Kira and I noticed that while many of the previous and current projects focused on aspects of social networking, they were predominantly driven by a particular cause or "feature" (going to have to replace that word, as it doesn't do the other projects justice).

We recognized that an investigative study of social networking itself, and what motivates learners to participate with other individuals online that they may or may not have met in real life would be a fascinating look into social networking. Clearly, a strong interest in urban agriculture, abusive labor practices in China, or the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo all generate an interest, and curiosity in a great number of people. So much so that people are willing to come together online to learn, collaborate, and develop new understandings with each other. But what drives that collaboration once the initial curiosity or interest in the subject matter wanes? What does a good model of social networking look like, and where could it be improved?

The actual subject matter of our cohort's research projects were never in doubt as to their general ability to engage our classmates and the participants in their projects. The Millenium Development Goals proved a very fertile ground for many of our projects, and almost everyone could identify with one of the problems addressed by the goals; girls only attending an average of 4 years of schooling in many developing countries, poverty and disease being an endemic permanence in Africa for many peoples, etc. In fact, the MDG themselves provided an excellent way to engage a large number of learners; issues of clean water, disease, unfair educational practices, and the environment are just a few of the topics with which many students and young learners can easily understand and engage with.

Kira and I were more interested in discovering how users of a social network interact with each other, when given a common prompt, in our case the daily action or "deed", and then given a blank canvas with which to respond. Many social networking sites have become popular because they have focused on one form of media, format, or topic. YouTube is currently the most prolithic video sharing site, Flickr has found success by focusing on photography and still images, while other sites like the Huffington Post have found a way to sustain growth with their political coverage and editorials. However, when these same forms of media and or "single leader", "learner response" formats are applied to social networking sites focused on a particular topic, perhaps just the 7th goal of the MDGs (environmental sustainability), how might a teacher find a way to keep not just the conversation, but the creation, problem solving, and activism going after the "unit" is over? How can the blank slate of an empty comment box be used to encourage the sharing of all forms of media, ideas, and thoughts, to synthesize not just new understandings, but also spark a genuine interest that goes beyond the teacher-led initiative?

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