A few days ago, the flagship product from the company I work at, Democrasoft, was featured on my favorite social media news website, Mashable.  

Collaborize Classroom made Mashable's list of the best tools for incorporating social media into the classroom.  As you all know, I am a huge social media nerds so it was a huge honor to be recognized by them.   From Mashable:

"Democrasoft, the company that developed Collaborize Classroom, clearly field tested the product with their other business-targeted products. The site is simple and effective; it’s clear how to ask a question, invite class members and send messages.  The service is free for one year."

"As high school English teacher Catlin Tucker points out in a video (see below), “Class discussions seem to be dominated by about five to seven students. The same kids talk, the same kids don’t speak at all…” For some students, however, online discussions are less intimidating to participate in."

"This app gives teachers four discussion format choices. Students can either agree or disagree with a statement, answer a multiple choice question, post responses, or have the choice between adding a new response or voting for someone else’s response. Teachers can add photos or videos to their prompts and all of the discussions take place on one class page."

The other education focused companies that were featured in the article ranged from video sites, to blogging tools to teaching project management tools, are all great social media tools to bring technology inside and outside the classroom.  

As school budgets are cut, teachers have larger class sizes and less time to get more done, tools can help teachers face the challenges of today's education system. Technology is a way for teachers to engage students in a way that is known to them, via online activities. Democrasoft recognized the need to support education and we are looking to keep our product free for teachers in the immediate future. 

Check out 7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers on Mashable.com.  Also, while you are at it... Come to our Education Matters mixer on Wednesday, October 27th in downtown Santa Rosa!  Some of my favorite wineries, Longboard Vineyards and Fogline Vineyards will be pouring!