ИСТИНА

Using popular social networks, such as Vkontakte or Facebook, as part of the English course in many contexts would not seem appropriate or reasonable. However, there are sound arguments in favour of seeing social media as a learning opportunity to be used in and outside of class. In this talk the presenter will explore both strong and weak sides of what this learning opportunity may present by an example of a Facebook group called Students Connected. Students Connected is a closed group which provides a safe community for over 500 students from more than 10 countries to connect and collaborate with each other. The group is maintained by teachers who work together to harness the power of Facebook to meet the communicative needs of their high school and university students, enhance their language learning, and boost motivation levels. The presenter will explain the key principles underlying successful collaboration within this international project and give examples of the variety of tasks the group voluntarily performs. At the same time, it seems logical to examine not only positive experiences, but also the struggles that educators face managing and monitoring the group activities. In this way, a number of valid concerns for a teacher will be discussed during the presentation as well in order to give a more complete picture.