Social Networks and Socrates:
Web 2.0 Hubs for Classics Pedagogy

Andrew Reinhard (Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers)

Classicists, it would seem, would be the very last people to employ any kind of technology to further their teaching and research. This fallacy has been exposed through the proliferation of discussion lists, blogs, wikis, social networks, and virtual world simulations all dedicated to the study of things both Latin and Greek.

While discussion lists and blogs provide forums in which to build and refine ideas, the communication with other users is not necessarily instant and, in the case of an ill-advertised or undiscovered blog, is non-existent. Wikis are a step up in utilizing social computing to communicate ideas, and do allow community creation of content which is either vetted, changed, or vetoed by peers.

There is a relatively new on-line phenomenon that has been put to work for teachers and scholars: social networks. Social networks combine these Web 2.0 tools and foster the sharing of content, plus pictures and personal profiles of members. A social network allows its contributors to get to know one another as people, to find commonality in experience, adding a layer of comfort and even informality when discussing topics of import to a particular group. Social networking sites like MySpace can often be outrageous and overwhelming, but there are other social networking hubs like Ning that provide a quieter space for creative dialogue and professional content-creation.

One example of a Classics social network that I will illustrate is eClassics, the first social network dedicated to integrating technology and Classics, specifically for teaching Latin and Greek. In three months, the network has grown from 1 to over 175 official members, and has received over 38,000 site visits. The heavy lifting of exploring emerging technologies for pedagogical usefulness is handled in the blog with members having the ability to comment and add to the posts. Discussions are also present, allowing for debate or exploration on current Classics events involving technology. There are links to other digital resources for Classicists, and all members have the opportunity to upload teaching materials, plus Classics-themed audio and video for educational purposes (and for fun). The main purpose of the eClassics social network is to allow Classics teachers to meet and exchange ideas and war stories of the success (or failure) of their implementation of technology in a teaching environment.

Other new, growing Classics social networks to be discussed include Logosphera and the Classical Archaeology group on Facebook.