Web 2.0 Featured Article

Use Facebook, Ace a Math Quiz?

By Michelle Robart, TMCnet Editor

In an effort to extend learning outside the walls of a school classroom, ConnectYard, a company created by Cornell alumni that provides online social media solutions for the education industry, today went live with its Web 2.0 social learning service, the ConnectYard Student and Enterprise Edition.

 

As an affordable, subscription-based service, the ConnectYard solution is powered by Facebook Connect, the next evolution of the Facebook (News - Alert) Platform.

 

The educational service capitalizes on the power and global reach of online social networking to promote enhanced teaching and learning. ConnectYard explains that students are more likely to take an interest in school when they work with other students and their teachers outside of the classroom.

 

"We are pleased and excited to offer a service that will truly extend the learning environment into where today's students live and socialize -- online. We know that a number of Universities have had great success integrating learning into students' physical living environments through the establishment of living learning communities," said Donald Doane, CEO, ConnectYard.

 

Doane added that the company name, “ConnectYard,” underlines the company’s mission: to create online learning communities, or “yards,” where schools and students can work together through social networking sites, like Facebook.

 

The service strives to keep students motivated to learn and engaged both in and outside of the classroom.

 

In order to be effective in today’s challenging economic times, ConnectYard eliminates the need for additional IT staff and support, helping schools and universities reduce unnecessary expenditures.

 

ConnectYard can have a wide-reaching, positive effect on many aspects of the educational institution with minimal overhead.

 

It helps students and teachers create study groups, share educational information and subject matter, find homework help and keep up-to-date on school-related events.

 

ConnectYard also urges face-to-face communication between students and teachers. The solution utilizes Facebook Connect, which allows messages to be sent to Facebook through ConnectYard. Users will like that they can keep personal details hidden from study partners, students, and faculty.

 

It also provides group walls, discussion boards, whiteboards, chat, teleconferencing, calendaring and document sharing. The synchronous (chat, teleconferencing) and asynchronous (walls, discussions, etc.) discussion modes support a variety of learning methods.

 

ConnectYard keeps students in the loop by informing them of upcoming events via e-mail, Facebook, and/or text messaging.

 

Moreover, it includes a unique matching engine that "pushes" students study partners, content, and events pretaining to their interests, i.e. rank, class, and major, as well as social and learning interactions on the site.

 

To further its educational expertise, ConnectYard will be participating in the Educause Learning Initiative - 2009 Annual Meeting, which will focus on "Social Learning for the 21st Century." The event will be attended by numerous higher education professionals who make every effort to incorporate technology in their teaching practices.  

 

Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, ConnectYard is a relatively new company that strives to help colleges and universities use the power of social media to recruit students, keep them and keep them coming back to campus after they graduate.

 

ConnectYard’s Web 2.0 solutions take the college educational experience a step further by providing a learning environment that is fun and entertaining.

 

Extending learning capabilities beyond the classroom, ConnectYard is reinventing the traditional learning experience and turning it into something that is fun and entertaining, but also efficient.

 

Facebook has changed the way people communicate, but as its success continues to grow the social networking site has received negative criticism, mostly regarding the privacy of its users and its advertising.

 

The site has also received criticism in the past from numerous higher educational professionals, saying that it distracts students from their school work. On January 23, 2006, The Chronicle of Higher Education furthered its effort to in ongoing national debate on social networks with an opinion piece written by Michael Bugeja, director of the Journalism School at Iowa State University.

 

It will be interesting to see if social networking in the classroom takes off and if higher educational professionals endorse it, or fight against the move.

Michelle Robart is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Michelle's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Michelle Robart