Journal #4 - Final Reflection

To this topic, i can probably argue both sides - to the irrelevance of social media in the classroom and also how social media enhances learning.

I have honestly never used nor personally seen social media utilized in a class myself but from research and considering interactive curriculum, i think it is possible to integrate into education given the right environment and type of students. For some programs it would be a great way to connect graduating students to industry experts and research.  Other programs, students and teachers and connect with each other. However when using public social media services such as facebook, linkedin, twitter, pinterest we must be aware of FIPPA regulations and perhaps integrate existing plug i s and features within internal LMS.

Social media is great to connect, network and to receive up to date information. However we must be aware of the uncensored, unedited information that gets pushed out. There will be incorrect information to inappropriate. With higher ed, there is no way to shield our students from such extraneous data, so i really stress that internal social tools may be more appropriate.

Then i argue, but these is also so much valuable data out there and we should train our students to make the distinction between fact and gossip.

Research tells us that social media such as twitter and facebook has been used in classes?

·      Connecting with community/industry experts to network

·      Most up to date research, trends and issues (good for current events type)

·      Connecting with other students, cohorts, teachers

And why shouldnt we use social media?

·      Lack of control over content

·      Develop poor writing style/habit

·      Distraction and too much extraneous data

·      Lack of standardization

·      Violation of FIPPA

·      Lack of knowledge on pedagogical use

As an educational technologist, i am convinced that social media will become an essential skill to have such as email. But until the technology becomes stable and we learn how to use it so students and educators have a purpose for using the tools not just integrate it because it is the trend to do so, the role would be quite limited in the curriculum.

Technology and Trends - Web 2.0 Tools Clickers

Social Media - Web 2.0 tool

At the Blackboard World conference in 2008, shared the typical array of wizos and gadgets. Many of which were very fascinating. But one little simple Web 2.0 tool which was introduced (if not re-introduced) was the Clicker. In the broad sense, we categorize Clickers under Student Response Systems.

Clickers are simply response systems in which students can respond to polls, questions, quizzes etc using an input system. For those "early innovators" this little device has proved to be powerful in encouraging student response, increased learning and student engagement in the lessons.

Clickers can be used during the lesson to ask questions. Instead of asking the class verbally where it is likely no one will give an answer, using Clickers will certainly receive a response from the class.  In addition most types of clickers will give you instant results of what the class responded. As clickers can be completely anonymous, students would be more likely to participate. 

Clickers can be used in most any class given the creativity of the instructor and proper integration into the lesson can give students a different learning experience than without the technology. However, as with all technologies it is just a tool and ultimately it is up to the instructor to design a well thought out lesson that would be able to integrate the tolls to truly enhance student learning.

Reference:

Guess, Andy (2008, July). Keeping Clickers in the Classroom. Inside Higher Ed.  Retrieved July 26, 2012 from http://www.insidehighed.com/news/2008/07/18/clickers

Journal #3 - Twitter in Education

Objective:

Summarizes the article in Emerging Education Technology titled "More than a third of Higher Education Faculty are on Twitter " and a report titled "Twitter in Higher Education 2010: Usage Habits and Trends of Today's College Faculty". Simply restating the info that was in this publication. Highlights that were discussed in the videoblog were:

·      Statistics on the increase of use of twitter in higher ed

·      Reasons for using twitter

·      Reasons why not to use twitter

·      100 ways to use twitter post has the most hits and most popular

Reflective:

My first impression was that the blog part of it was pretty weak. The author, it seems just re-read what he thought was most important parts of the articles that he used. I read the article that talked about in the video as it was difficult to follow without reading the articles. Based on the research it would seem that social media (Twitter) is becoming more commonly used in education. Most of the research points towards more faculty using Twitter in various ways. The testimonials from faculty showed consistency in the use in their teaching.

Interpreted:

I think the main message with this piece is how we can use Twitter in education based on research and what faculty are saying about it. It may be intended to convince us that we should be using twitter as a lot of the focus was on reading the testimonials word for word from the article.

Decisional:

Im not at all convinced with using twitter. Social media may have become tbe most trendy tool, it is also a tool that is primarily used to push out information to a mass audiences. Therefore i am not sure how the classroom can be seen as a marketing tool to push information out. Social media is essentially marketing. Faculty can benefit from connecting with others in the sector and to a smaller extent perhaps students can as well but at this time i have not been able to see how it can be effectively used in the curriculum.

Reference:

Walsh, K (2010). Emerging Education Technology. More than a third of Higher Education Faculty are on Twitter. Retrieved July 12, 2012 from http://www.emergingedtech.com/2010/10/more-than-a-third-of-higher-education-faculty-are-on-twitter/

Walsh, K (2010). Emerging Education Technology. 100 Ways to Teach with Tiwtter. Retrieved July 12, 2012 from http://www.emergingedtech.com/2010/02/100-ways-to-teach-with-twitter/

EmergingEdTech (2010). The growing use of Twitter by today’s eductors. Retrieved July 12, 2012 from http://youtu.be/GFP07a3ThAs

Technology and Trends - Social Media in Elearning

How to leverage Social Media into E-Learning

Social Media is something that we been talking about for awhile yet it is still a big monster that is being avoided. We should stop fearing it because its not going to go away. So why dont we leverage what we have.

We are now wanting information and we want everything in real time. The freedom of getting the information that we need. There are ways to use social media in elearning.
• Adding speed to elearning
Social media is instant and there is no delay like asynchronous learning
• No Distance
Social media erases geographical lines. The tools that are now available enable people to work together from any location
• New way of collaboration
Because there is no barriers in terms of location
Everything is instant feedback and no lagging.
We can now collaborate from all corners of the earth
• Encourages communication
Since social media is so instantaneous, we now need more communication.
Feedback is now fed to everyone is the course and not just one person

Opinion Piece:

I dont quite think that social media will replace LMS as they exist today. But i can see social media being a necessary companion to an online class. The points mentioned in the article all add to the positive methods of why educators should consider social media in curriculum.

Technology and Trends in Education - Social Media

Using Social Media to boost student employability

This blog discusses how employment skills have changed to adapt to the changing way that people do businesses. As educators we do have responsibility to teach and prepare students to have the required skills that businesses are looking for.

Twitter was used with an untraditional area study. The students were able to connect with professionals in the industry. Both industry professionals and students enjoyed the experience so much they went beyond the due date. Most students are aware of social media and use it. But most students are not well versed in using it professionally.

In today's highly competitive market, we need to provide our graduates with more tools to get them ahead of the competition. Social media has become another avenue to tap into the ever growing hidden job market which is becoming so important. A statistic came out over a twitter feed a few weeks ago stated that 72% of jobs now are posted over twitter. The responsibility lies with us the educators to ensure that our students have not only the knowledge skills but also essential skills to survive in this digital world.

What is your take on making social/digital media as part of the basic curriculum like email is an essential skill in todays world?

Reference:

Swan, Gill (2012, June). Using social media to boost student employability. Guardian Professional. Retrieved June 21, 2012, from  http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/jun/18/social-media-to-boost-student-employability

Journal #2 - Building on the Social Layer

Objective:
Priebatsch talks about the concept of laying in this article. The past layer, which we have already past, was the social layer. This is the layer where we laid down our connections that we have with each other. Game layer as he explains is the layer of the present of which we use it in combination with different dynamics to influence people’s behaviours in all aspects. Using 4 dynamics, Priebatsch presents the methods of how to manipulate/influence how people behave.

Reflective:
According to the article, the information presented made me very interested. But I felt like Priebatsch was trying to tell us how to influence people and how they behave using every day methods that are discreet and therefore you can get away with it. He presents our daily lives and all we do and how we connect with people as a game. I sadly admit that I am a Diablo3 player and the need for constant progression and how he presented it with the idea within WoW was absolutely priceless.

Interpretive:
So I think Priebatsch is a dork. Why is he telling us how to influence people’s behavior? Werent we always taught not to try to change people and to leave people as they are and accept them?
Analyzing a bit deeper, I think his reference to games and current video games and connecting it to real life is pretty brilliant.

Decisional:
I will not make any decisions based on just reading this article. While I do agree with Priebastsch’s ideas, I do not find it relevant to my life. Sure it is true, we follow societal rules, but honestly what’s to stop me from not following the rules? Unconsciously, we all try to influence each other. When we are in love with something and get so excited about it, what’s the first reaction. To tell your best friend and you try to tell him that it’s the best thing in the world and he should try it too. But in this case its not a pyramid scheme like the new Body by Vi scam is like but just because you want to share your excitement. Can that be also classified as an attempt to change behavior?

Reference:
Priebatsch, S. (2010). TED: Ideas Worth Spreading: Seth Priebatsch: The game layer on top of the world. Retrieved June 9, 2012, From: http://www.ted..._the_world.html

Journal #1 - Social Media

PIPD 3240- Journal #1 - Social Media

Objectives:

Clay Shirky's talk discusses how "social media" has changed throughout history. He gives examples how social media enabled worldwide knowledge of current events as it happened and how out of control information can get to the point that certain censorship needed to intervene and shut down entire social media services. There is a change on how information is now created. In the past media was generated by professional media and conveyed through limited channels. Now media is generated by anyone and everyone and the network of information becomes global and its growth is exponential.

Reflective:

There is nothing new to me here. Yes we all know about censorship in certain countries and ti.e of political unrest. My opinion is that its their way to shield commoners from the truth by only allowing what information they want their citizens to be exposed to. However th internet has become so powerful and information is more than we can handle. Tools are ever changing from the first time we used text to convey a mass message such as the bible when the printing press was invented to how the internet has the ability to mass produce a single message globally within a short period of time. The message is strong and although it can be useful when trying let the world know a message it can also be very dangerous. Once something is out there on the internet, it is there forever and the footprint is permanent. This may be the biggest adjustment in media. Professionals in the past produced quality information that was deemed prifessional. Now with the flood of amateurs flooding the social media without standards, how can we now censor the truth from fiction?

Objectives:

The implications of the shift in the way mass media is presented today as it were yesterday can be seen in recent events. The internet has pulled everyone together in conversations and widespread globalization of local events that occur.

The author talks about three big changes about how media has changed. Formerly, media was presented by professionals in the media industry in the past. It is now put out by anyone that can get their hands on a social media platform. So how now we become flooded with data,facts and information and opinions of every commoner that may or may be correct. Then in turn we hear about something and thenpost it to someone else and someone else. Reminds me of that old telephone game.

Secondly, the internet is so important that maybe we cant live without. Everything traditional media, digital media, entertainment, education etc all are available and gathered on the internet. Internet is become the central hub where everything revolves around. Its like a hamg out place where people go to see the latest gossip or information. Certainly i personally would find it odd not being able to "go online".  You feel disconnected.  Just a day off twitter, feels like ive missed out on so much. That the world is so different.

Finally the last significant change is how we direct messages to mass groups. The internet and tools enable us now to get a message out quickly. The term "go viral" is now common when we see something that gets repeated throughout different social media channels globally. The internet is hard to be private and personal. Its a medium where you can reach mass groups quickly and seemlessly. It almost seems the wayz of traditional media such as TV, radio, paper ads are gone or needing a real overhaul to be able to keep up internet social media. We want information and we want lotz of it and most importantly we want it NOW. We cant wait for the first edition of the morning paper or the 6 o'clock news.  By then its "old" news. Crazy isnt it?

Ive mentioned about censorship. In some ways it may seem impossible as the internet (as far as i understand without research) doesnt really have an owner. Websites are "owned" by whoever provides content per se. So when we hear of countries like Egypt and China attempting to censor incoming information to the commoners seems almost impossible, but yet it is being done. We yearn for information because its become so easily accessible. Then we hear of censorship of mass media sites like Twitter or facebook which are extremely powerful sites capable of mass reproduction of information. So to me that sounds like someone has something to hide or they want to shield their citizens from the real outside world.

Decision:

There is no doubt that social media can benefit everyone and the changes that have occured and are still occurring at such a rapid space just show how powerful this tool is. We also now must make decisions like how to best use this medium in our world. Whether in education, health care, media/news or politics we want to know and we want to tell others far and wide what we know, think and make an opinion.
In terms of the educational world, social media can be powerful yet dangerous. Im not even considering my 8-12 students but even in post secondary or adult education, there is the danger of misinformation. How reliable is the information that is passed on from one source to another? Twitter and facebook can blast a message or topic completely out of hand that rgulations might need to be put in place about its use with our students. But then we talk about connectivity and we dont want to place censorship into our schools and take away a powerful educational tool.