An online curriculum that allows youths to safely express themselves and connect and interact easily with peers can most likely be achieved by using a variety of social media tools. Here, we provide a few suggestions on how sessions or session components might be implemented online through the use of such tools.

+Wikis: Wikis are excellent tools for organizing information in a central location, where users can collectively contribute to or modify that information. Wikis can be public or private, so that only registered users can access and/or modify the content. A wiki might be useful as a source for private or sensitive materials, to provide an overall structure and table of contents for the curriculum, or for collaborative online assignments/projects.

-For a quick video introduction to wikis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7BAU2XX5Ws

-For an example of an education Wiki: http://latinoyouthinaction.wetpaint.com

 +Blogs: These days blogs often function as personal webpages, and are excellent for connecting to others through an ongoing dialogue. Blogs might be useful for youths to keep journals about progress in the program and/or personal experiences, as well as a place for them to complete assignments online (for instance, sharing their outreach experiences for “HIV Training Session 7: Keeping Track of Success”). Having youths comment on each others’ blogs might help initiate an online dialogue similar to those within classroom sessions. In general, blogs will provide another venue for youths to express themselves as well as connect to peers; they may even be more comfortable sharing experiences through a blog than in person. It might be a good idea to create an LYIA blog separate from the main webpage and specifically for the Peer Education Training program, that youths can all link to; use it to post audio/visual/text content from the classroom sessions, as well as updates, quizzes, reviews, online assignments, etc.

-Some Blogging tools: www.WordPress.com, www.Blogger.com, or even MySpace

 +Podcasting: Make audio recordings of classroom sessions, and distribute them online as a podcast. This can be useful for those who miss a session and need to catch up. They are easy to download (on a computer or portable electronic device) and easy to produce, requiring no more equipment/software than what is already provided by a Mac or Microsoft OS package. The link for downloading the podcast can be placed on a website, blog, or wiki.

-For more information on podcasts, Commoncraft gives a quick, simple video introduction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MSL42NV3c

-For free, open-source audio editing software: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

 +Polls and Quizzes: Use online polling and quiz tools for collecting information and reviewing lessons, such as www.surveymonkey.com or www.polldaddy.com . These can be easily integrated into other online platforms like blogs or wikis.

 +Photo-sharing: Photo-sharing tools like Flickr serve as a repository for images, as well as provide a way to share and pool those images. It might be fun and useful to create an LYIA Flickr account and encourage peers to create their own accounts, linking to the LYIA account. You can also create an LYIA Flickr group, where members can pool their pictures together and discuss them in a forum. Again, this is easily integrated with other online platforms such as blogs, wikis, etc. Pictures/slideshows of classroom sessions can be posted to the LYIA account or group pool, for those who may have missed a session. Photo-sharing tools can also be useful for interactive assignments for a particular session. For instance, in the “Skill Training 2: Body Image Workshop” session, peers are asked to examine the ways people of color are represented in the media by searching through images and answering questions; youths can complete this activity by searching through images online or taking their own images on their cell phones/cameras, uploading them, and posting them to the LYIA Flickr group and/or blog. Youths might also use their photo accounts to create photo essays and slideshows of their experiences, post images of social marketing campaigns, or just in general, to share and comment on peers’ photos.

 +Forums: If you want a more centralized and/or private discussion or feedback forum outside of using a wiki, you might try using a free discussion forum such as www.lefora.com.

 +Sprouts: “Sprouts” are small applications, also called “widgets,” that function like mini-webpages. These can be used to create small and dynamic packets of information that are very easy to place, transport, and share online. For instance, you might create a sprout on how to put a condom on correctly, which might include video content, a text explanation, and links to other safe-sex informational resources; you could embed this in a corner of your website or blog, and peers can copy the sprout and embed it in their own blog. You’ll be able to track where your sprout spreads and who is using it, making it useful for social marketing projects as well. Youths might have fun designing their own social marketing sprouts, since they are both free and easy to make.

-Tool: www.sproutbuilder.com

+Video-sharing: Video-sharing is a great way to enhance a lesson plan (both on-line and in class) by focusing on the main messages of the session and by making visual some of the more complex or sensitive issues. It is also a great way to engage peers in participating in the creation of the video. For example, the session on HIV could be complemented with a clip on HIV transmission . Videos can be recorded on a number of devices (digital cameras, video cameras, cell phones, webcams) and uploaded onto a website such as youtube, vimeo and seesmic. They can also be posted directly onto the website of the organization. Basic editing software ($50-100) can be downloaded on most computers, giving enough internal/extermal memory, allowing the user to add text and collate audio, photo and video footage together. (Mac OS comes with imovie and Windows comes with Windows Moviemaker– photo/video editing software).

Originally from http://socialteaching.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/online-curriculum-implementation/