Four Square

I am fascinated that everyday I can open up my Internet explorer and find something new and exciting.  I have just recently discovered foursquare.  This is a social networking site that works with local businesses in each users area to gain more business and increase awareness via the Internet.  The website is easy to navigate and even easier to use through your Android, IPhone or blackberry.  Just in the short amount of time I have spent checking out the site I have found many local users that have suggested places for me to check out.  Since I work with children and frequent "kid friendly" locations, I searched for places with deals on certain days and found that on Wednesdays at Putters Paradise 1.2 miles from my job children can "pay what they weigh" for putt putt golf under age 12.  This information is not only useful to me but cost effective and when I arrive at this destination I can "check-in" from my phone and gain discounts from company's that I frequent as a reward for increasing the Internet awareness for their company and leaving other tips for what else might be enjoyable at that location.  This website also targets city hot spots and places with frequent deals.  Overall I still have so much more to explore and learn but its new and exciting and it can also be integrated into a classroom environment.  If students are doing a project on Ancient Egypt and want to find locations that have information, art exhibits or other fun things relating to this topic they can be found and marked as things I want to do and added to a list of things you want to try or experience.  Students can do this independently or as a group to find educational resources in the city they live in.  This might also be a resource guide for choosing field trips.  From the teacher stand point, it could be useful in finding quiet spots that other teachers frequent for grading papers or collaborating ideas.  It might also be useful to look at tips from other teachers on certain places that you haven't been too.  For example I might be interested in taking students to a Museum in a nearby city.  By searching the city and reading comments previously posted I can get a feel for how parents, teachers, and children liked the museum, what the museum has to offer and what exhibits are recommended for viewing.  This gives me lots of information so that I could make a plan for what I wanted my students to gain from the experience and then I can post my feedback after I have visited the location.  Foursquare.com

I also found a link called Foursquare Updates- Are you Over sharing (http://ustandout.com/social-media/foursquare-updates-oversharing) It gives a more detailed description of how foursquare links with other social networking sites and some warnings for oversharing and privacy concerns.