social networking, web2.0 and teaching and learning

http://flickr.com/photos/7447470@N06/1345266896/

Teaching and Learning with SOCIAL NETWORKING and

WEB 2.0

Where are you?

“The Read/Write Web”(Tim Berners Lee)

Original photo by Hummanna.

eLearning 2.0/Web 2.0(Stephen Downes)

Elearning 1.0:• static packaged content • little true interactivity and learner input and • very little contact with a teacher• represented by Learner Management Systems. (eg WebCT,

Blackboard, etc)

Elearning 2.0:• more student-centred• centred around a Personal Learning Environment using social software. • students generate and share content. • they interact not only with teachers and their peers, but with anyone in

the world they can learn from.

(this description courtesy of Sean Fitzgerald)

PERSONAL PUBLISHING/ PARTICIPATORY MEDIA TOOLS

• Blogs – writing (mostly)• Podcasts (audio)• Wikis – collaboration (mostly text)• Social Networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Ning,

Bebo, Twitter, etc)

MEDIA• Video repositories:

– YouTube, TeacherTube, Google Video, BlipTV• Flickr (photo sharing)• UStreamTV (video creation)

Quick Poll

• How many of you have a– Have a blog?– Facebook, MySpace, or Ning site?– Delicious (social bookmarking) or Flickr

(photosharing) account?– Use Twitter (microblogging)?

PARTICIPATORY MEDIA/CULTURESOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL NETWORKINGSOCIAL SOFTWARE

YouTubeFlickrMySpaceFacebookNing, etc

Education by and large has not changed. Syllabus/curriculum is still rooted in a past paradigm of fixed knowledge. The world beyond classrooms has changed a great deal, and will continue to do so at an ever-increasing rate……

Photo courtesy of Sawrah, http://flickr.com/photos/sawrah/314474272/

WHAT HAS CHANGED?(See Mike Wesch’s The Machine is Us/ing Us at http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE)

• Decline of the Gatekeepers• Publish then evaluate• Content Creators; Content Rankers• Everyone has access to everythingThe World is Flat (Thomas Friedman) • “People just don’t subscribe to magazines

anymore; they also subscribe to people.”

Courtesy of Greg Whitby

Paradigm Shift #1

Paradigm Shift #2?

COMMUNITY-CENTRIC

Vance Stevens for AACE Feb 21, 2009

10 Aspects of Paradigm Shift1. Pedagogy - didactic->

constructivist

2. Networking - isolated ->connectivist, distributed

3. Sharing - copyright ->creative commons

4. Literacy – print -> multiliteracies

5. Heuristicsclient/server -> peer to peer

6. Formality –> informal learning

7. Transfer –lecture, sit/get -> modeled, demonstrated

8. Directionality – push -> pull e.g. RSS

9. Ownership – proprietary -> open source

10. Classification – taxonomy -> folksonomy

Networked Learning

CONNECTIVISM: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

(George Siemens, University of Manitoba, Canada)

Principles of Connectivism:

• Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

• Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

• Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Creative Commons Licensing

from Jeffrey Beall at http://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/301014978/

Blogs as a Teaching/Learning Tool

http://www.flickr.com/photos/millzero/1523858246/

Resource: Blogs in Education http://blogsineducation.wikispaces.com/

Podcasting

Resource: Podcasting for Educators http://podcastingforeducators.wikispaces.com/

Wikis as a Teaching/Learning Tool

Resource: Wikis in Education http://whywikisineducation.wikispaces.com/

Social Bookmarking as a Teaching/Learning Tool

Photosharing as a Teaching/Learning Tool

Resource: Teaching with Flickr http://teachingwithflickr.wikispaces.com/

Twitter as a Teaching/Learning Tool

yammer.com

Social Networking Sites as Teaching/Learning Tools (eg Facebook)

Horizontal Learning (multitasking)

Instant Messaging

Instant Messaging

Assignment

SMS

iPod

Surfing

Watching video/TV

HORIZONTAL V

VERTICAL LEARNING

Vertical Learning (single focus)

Assignment: What were the

principal factors that led

to the Indonesian coup in 1965

and the eventual downfall of

President Sukarno?(5000 words)

Horizontal v Vertical Learning

The discerning eteacher:

• Acknowledges the nature and influence of horizontal learning (multitasking)

• Knows when to encourage vertical learning (single focus activity)

How and where do teachers and students acquire the skills

to operate effectively in this type of networked world?

Awareness:

• More about ‘learning to be’ – part of a participatory culture– a networked learner/educator– part of a community

How do I work?

• I know from my own life that something has changed. I am now a much more social learner. I like to draw on the knowledge of others who I can contact and with whom I can discuss issues... I have definitely changed the way I learn, and have found a more enjoyable way of learning. Technology, and the connections it affords, has made that possible.

• I doubt that I could study a formal ‘course’ anymore….

Acquiring the Skills• Join an online community or email list• Ask questions and initiate discussions about your interests and needs• Start publishing or tracking blogs, podcasts• Do an online course in multiliteracy• Create social bookmarking and photosharing accounts• Create media – start simple:

– Upload photos to Flickr; comment on others’ photos– create Digital Stories (Photostory, Moviemaker) and upload to YouTube

• Search YouTube and other video repositories for educational content and start using it in your teaching

• Place yourself in the new habitus of learning – you need to do it to understand and internalise the power of networks; reading and observing will not achieve this philosophical seachange

• Put yourself to the side; know that the best teachers are always willing learners

The excellent eteacher:

• has an online presence/website (eg course homepage on LMS, or own website, blog, etc)

• Knows how to use technology for delivery and assessment and therefore has a blog, a wiki, or podcast site

• Includes media in delivery and production of teaching materials and student assessment

• Models and teaches digital literacy – Creates and provides digital resources– Teaches search, validation, and verification skills– Employs and models RSS as a means of aggregating and

distributing content

The excellent eteacher:

• Teaches about, and employs collaborative approaches

• Switches between sage and guide as appropriate

• Knows when to call in the wisdom of the experts to balance the wisdom of the crowd

• Acknowledges the value of informal learning• Accepts that engaging learners is necessary

(and that probably means using technology)

The excellent eteacher:

• Acknowledges that students may assess the value of a resource via their networks rather than accept the word of the expert (teacher/lecturer)

• Uses social bookmarking for collective mining and sharing of resources

• Is a good (and frequent) online communicator• Knows how to effectively combine synchronous and

asynchronous modes of delivery• Is able to teach in a virtual classroom/web conferencing

environment (eg Centra, Elluminate, etc)• Must be e-connected and draw on the resources of their

networks to remain current (and demonstrate to students)

New Learning? No - different conditions and environments

• a new habitus of learning (Learning 2.0?)• Despite Prensky’s mantra that Gen Y brains are wired

differently, the physiology of learning has not changed• But learning no longer confined to the classroom or

working with immediate peers• Teacher no longer the sole source of content• We now have a “decentralisation of resource provision”• the blurring of social and academic spheres of activity

Agency is on the learner to turn information into knowledge

• The new model supplies ‘stuff’; not knowledge, which an individual assembles according to their own interests

• Text WAS knowledge pushed; NOW text is a resource that learner must make sense of > self-knowledge

Resources

• TAFE SA eLearning Website (still under development/almost ready) http://elearning.tafesa.edu.au/

• Blogs in Education http://blogsineducation.wikispaces.com/

• Podcasting for Educators http://podcastingforeducators.wikispaces.com/

• Teaching with Flickr http://teachingwithflickr.wikispaces.com/

• Wikis in Education http://whywikisineducation.wikispaces.com/

• Your Guide to Social eLearning - http://socialelearning.flexiblelearning.net.au/social_elearning/index.htm

IN CONCLUSION:

Being a connected educator involves: • engaging with the world of participatory media• guiding students in this new disintermediated

world• modelling the use of technology for lifelong

learning• allowing time for ‘slow learning’ and reflection

• It’s all about connections……

yammer.comAND DON’T FORGET: