There are several general points of view (of course, they should be integrated into a consolidated strategy of teaching/learning arrangements):

- lecturer to student:

> Simple exchange of documents (not really new)

> Getting opinions in an open environment, so students of a course but also other people could be asked for a response

> instead of fighting against "mis-use" of laptops or mobile systems for gaming in lectures, voting mechanisms, blogs etc can be used, so they integrate into the students life in an adequate way

- student to student

> asking for support in a forum on a subject (as you are doing here)

> realise a (virtual) learning team (with distributed locations, using skype etc,)

> using a blog to reflect own learning and to get additional feedback (well, I guess most students don´t do that, but it would be very helpful - I tried it)

> for research (thesis), try to get relevant interviews/questionnaires by posting into the corresponding groups (can work)

> not encouraged: research to do some plagiarism

There are several general points of view (of course, they should be integrated into a consolidated strategy of teaching/learning arrangements):

- lecturer to student:

> Simple exchange of documents (not really new)

> Getting opinions in an open environment, so students of a course but also other people could be asked for a response

> instead of fighting against "mis-use" of laptops or mobile systems for gaming in lectures, voting mechanisms, blogs etc can be used, so they integrate into the students life in an adequate way

- student to student

> asking for support in a forum on a subject (as you are doing here)

> realise a (virtual) learning team (with distributed locations, using skype etc,)

> using a blog to reflect own learning and to get additional feedback (well, I guess most students don´t do that, but it would be very helpful - I tried it)

> for research (thesis), try to get relevant interviews/questionnaires by posting into the corresponding groups (can work)

> not encouraged: research to do some plagiarism

I think it's worth noting that there are many different varieties of social media. While the general mechanisms of social media (collaboration / exchange of ideas) are universally applicable across all (?) social media sites, the actual results will vary widely, based largely on a site's barriers to entry.

At one extreme there are YouTube videos and the comments -- often an excellent reason to stop using a computer entirely. At the other extreme one might find sites such as ResearchGate, which serves a laudable academic function.

In between, one might find virtual learning environments (I've used both Moodle and Sakai very effectively). There is tremendous potential value in the use of instructor-controlled collaborative spaces that enable a flow of ideas and content without being exposed to a chaotic (disinterested / hostile / invasive) global audience.

The answer to the question, then, is, "It depends on how you define 'social networks' and what you are trying to teach."

I am so glad you have urged the task of defining quality social media here, Michael. So I will go on to "which possibilities?" Formative assessment is excellent through social media, both during class and after. Examples might include rubric apps, polls, back channels like Twitter, interactive sites and quizzes. Collaborative possibilities are where social media really shines. You can use wiki's, shared websites, Google doc's of all sorts, and so on. These can be used for group research and authorship. Presentation is really fun with the new editing tools allowing multiple editors to adjust video and sound in YouTube channels. Literature, Social Studies, and Historical discussions can occur in real time or asynchronously online. Competitive exercises in math can sharpen skills. Khan Academy even has a dashboard to keep track of student scores for the teacher; (but this is only as social as you all agree to make it.) Regardless, I do favor learning environments more focused on specific class projects like a LMS, or Edmodo, or Sophia Learning,

Shared networked learning such as social network services facilitates collaborative learning.

Yes! How do you use it most often? Cooperative research; cooperative authoring; peer assessment? Do you have favorite tools?

There might be a variety of ways to try collaborative learning through social networks, but as a personal experience, we often use social networks for discussion, specially when the classroom is out of patient and time. One important matter in online discussion figured out to be that members have open access to information and knowledge, and this would change an ordinary passive classroom student, an active participant in the online discussion in social networks. One other important matter is that students often lag in face-to-face discussion, some for being shy, which would dissapeared in online discussion. All those cooperative approaches such as (CLL) are designed to move students form a passive student towards an active one, and this is somehow faciliated through the use of social networks.

Exactly! Can you clarify CLL?

Cooperative Language Learning (CLL) which in fact is a learner-centered and group (Panel)-based approach to learning and is seen as an extension of the principles of Communicative Teaching. In this approach the students of the class are divided into four or five groups (Panels) with almost 6 members, varying between 4 to 6 members depends on the number of students. Each group is released with a subordinated taught topic. They discuss what they have learnt from past sessions. At last, each group would publicly report the outcome by the circulatory coordinator and ultimately all students would involve in topics and outcomes of other groups as well as their own and accommodate in the process of learning. Throughout this process, the teacher plays only the role of a director by calling at each groups and giving clues and making certain that they are in a right direction. In fact, the key role is incumbent upon students. This process enhances all students’ learning performance and their general achievements.

Wonderful! Perhaps I will one day apply if you need an English coordinator/teacher.

Dear Walter, Michael, Debra and Hossein, thank you very much for the important contributions!!.

@Dear Rolando, students do establish their communities at different social networks for educational purposes. You have got fine responses until now. I want to give a contribution with a list of available networks for educational purposes! It is very useful link!

http://www.educationalnetworking.com/List+of+Networks