Any one exclusively using the Social Format for online teaching?
Like one big, loooong discussion with teaching material, assignments etc. posted inline frequently....
I am also looking at Social Format for single forum centered teaching/ learning format. I have been using a very similar format that is provided for web and email-based discussion groups at YahooGroups.
The main page of the web interface for such a group maintained using YahooGroups provides the last five messages and an area above the last five messages for discription and links. This arrangement is a bit like the summary space or topic 0 that preceeds the topics on the main page of a Moodle course using the Topic Format. The column to the left of the discription and five-message display lists links the message archives, the member list, a file area, a member chat et cetera.
I think the Social Format in Moodle more closely approximates the discussion-group centric format used at YahooGroups.
The one addition that I would suggest for Moodle's Social Format would be a space above the messages displayed on the main course page. This space could function like the correponding space, the summary or topic 0, provided in Topic Format. I would also suggest both a discription area and provision for adding resources and activities like the summary or topic 0 just like what is made available in Topic Format.
I will be looking at the other forums at Moodle.org to see where else I may advance this last idea.
John
P.S. The YahooGroups site that was utilized for a series of one-week continuing education courses over a six month period for lawyers, law librarians and legal professionals is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/network-lawyers
Anyone here at Moodle who is interested in taking a look at this set up let me know so that I may extend member and/or moderator priveleges so that you may take a better look. J.
Learners can access the Resource and Activity blocks on any course page. All the facilitator would have to do is to let them know which resource or activity to access. The center could be a nice, long discussion forum.