4 ways to create a fake Facebook page

Creating a fake Facebook page for a story character or historical character is an excellent way for students to demonstrate deep understanding.  They have to be able to articulate the connections and relationships this person has, what they would say, who would they say it to, what images would they share or not share.  It becomes an immense critical thinking activity.

There are a number of different ways to do this!

1) A Word Template: I created this last year when I wanted a simple way to create a Facebook page for feudal Japan. I hosted the template in Moodle and students opened it from there to work on.

2) My Fake Wall: This website allow you to create a page that will be saved with a unique URL.  It does require students to create a login with an email address.

3) Google Doc Template: This Presentation template has 4 slides.  Wall, Info, Photos and Video that you can change with your own information.

4) SMART Notebook Template: Another template, this time in Notebook.  I like this one because a lot of the items are locked, so they cannot be moved or deleted.  Also check out the attachments, there is a handy little word document to guide the assignment.

How can you see using this in your classroom?

Facebook...how could you use it?

A number of our schools have been unblocking Facebook and other social media sites, but now what? 

For some initial ideas look at  100 Ways You Should be Using Facebook in Your Classroom

Consider using Facebook as a communication tool with parents and students.  Take a look at how a grade 1 class uses Facebook and consider how it could be modified to meet the needs at your school.

1st Grade Facebook on Prezi

If any of the above resonates with you here are some steps to consider:

Step 1: What account are you going to use to set up a school or classroom Facebook presence?  You can use your personal account or you may want to consider creating a "teacher" Facebook presence.  Using a personal account simplifies login, you just need to ensure that all of your privacy settings are set to "friend only".  Creating a professional Facebook presence allows you to separate the two.  Either way, everything you do online must be professional. 


Step 2: Create a page or group? This does an excellent job of explaining the difference. In the case of PWSD Ed Tech Page, I chose a page because I did not want to have a place for discussions and I was not worried about keeping people in or out, both things creating a group can do.

Privacy via alancleaver's
photostream

Step 3: Double check your privacy settings and check them often. Facebook has a habit of updating their settings and changing everyone back to default, which is wide open to the public.

Step 4: Create your group or page, put up some meaningful content and monitor it frequently!


This is by no means a complete guide to how to use Facebook but some ideas and suggestions for where to start.  If you have any suggestions or resouces please add them in the comments below.