Learning a Language Through YouTube

Using social media networks to communicate is continually offering more ways to connect. This Mashable article explains that using social media networks not only to expand your virtual social networks, but also to learn a language as well.

Using YouTube can be a great way to gain the benefits of learning another language and being introduced to another culture through communication. YouTube allows for the casual viewer to gain a basic introduction or for the focused student to engage and begin to learn word and phrases.

The possibility of YouTube for learning is rooted in its ability to be accessible and flexible- it is free too!

Facebook is Getting the Conversation Going

Image source: http://goo.gl/2BDOVC

Facebook has recently announced that it will begin allowing its users to connect to broader conversations or trending topics using the hashtag, already in popular use on other social media platforms. An article in TechCrunch states that the hashtag on Facebook will involve capabilities such as “searching for hashtags, clicking on hashtags that come from other services, and writing posts directly from the hashtag feed”.

With the new hashtag feature introduced on Facebook its users may be able to use the social media site more like Twitter is used. On Twitter, using hashtags, you have the ability to begin conversations or even include yourself in conversations on topics far beyond your conventional social group. The result of this is, at the users discretion, they have a voice in either broad topics or niche topics where without the hashtag they would not have this option so easily available to them.

New Online Tool to Track Agroclimate

As reported in Ag Annex, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has developed an online app for tracking agroclimate. The Agroclimate Impact Reporter (AIR) collects data from a network of people and media across Canada. The participatory model provides active updates that are timely and regionally specific. This data will be valuable in the ongoing monitoring and assessment activities by the AAFC.