Diipo is a new free service (in beta) that describes itself as "Education 2.0 Social Network for your Class". Diipo allows the teacher to communicate with their students and vice versa and also allows the teacher to connect to other educators and connect classes to each other. It is easy to use and the user-interface (UI) is similar to Facebook and Twitter.

Some of the features include:

• collaborative workspaces for students to work with each other and get help from the teacher
• direct messaging 
• student blogs and micro-blogging
• upload and share files
• student project notebooks
• class roster
• an educator community

It only takes a minute to sign up and it is easy to use. There are "@mentions", direct messages, full search, getting started tips and videos, and an Educator lounge. 

Here's a shot of the main screen when you create a new account:

This is a great way for teachers and schools to create their own social network system for students that is access controlled.. It allows communication and collaboration and is easy to use. 

READ MORE - Diipo - Education 2.0 social network for classes

There are a variety of tools that I use to stay informed and connected online. They each have their own benefits and shortcomings and I have different reasons for using each one.



Twitter - Twitter is an excellent resource for educators. I connect with other educators from around the world and share resources and discuss educational topics. I also get breaking news, updates from companies I like, and more. I don't use it as a purely social entity though. It is more for my professional use. The one problem with Twitter is that you can easily miss things as your feed moves along. You can search for users and topics, but it is very easy to miss things. It's strength is instant communication and connecting with people around the world. (however, the 140 character limit can make it challenging sometimes).

Facebook - I use Facebook to connect with friends and keep up with social events. I do follow a couple of business and education pages, but my main use is for keeping with with my friends. There are plenty of educational uses for it, but I haven't gone to far with that yet.


Email -  email is a great method of communicating with people. You can write any length, attach files, and the responses don't disappear in a feed of messages like on Twitter. I have an email account for business use (like banks, etc), my school email account, and a gmail account for Google accounts and communicating. I do not believe that email is dead, or even dying, like many people have suggested.


RSS Feeds - I've read different articles about how RSS feeds are dying too. I don't believe that. I use RSS feeds to subscribe to web sites to get notified when there is a new article. The feed doesn't disappear into a long line of messages like on Twitter. It will be there until I read it or delete it. I can also favorite an article to read later, or even share them with others. It is an extremely useful tool.


Each of these tools is useful in different ways and has different reasons I use them. I don't think that any one could replace the other because they are so different.

How do you use each one?

READ MORE - Differences between Twitter, Facebook, email, and RSS feeds