I had the opportunity to attend this thought provoking discussion at Buzz2010 today. All about the growing place for social media and how we can leverage these tools effectively in our organizations. Follow the conversations at http://www.buzz2010.org/blog/
Recently a colleague and I made a presentation at the Virginia Society for Technology in Education conference on social media. Our talk entitled, “Using social media to support learner generated content” offered participants a chance to consider the growing connect and disconnect on this topic. In our experiences, college students were typically not as engaged with many of these popular social media tools. Our review of the research and noted authors also supported these findings. Noted author Henry Jenkins offers a poignant discussion around this topic of what he terms the “participatory culture“.
Today another twist on this conversation is highlighted in the Washington Post within the article, “Lack of computer access hampers some students“. Another interesting discussion about the “digital divide” that currently exists with many across our nation. While many of us find ready access to internet connectivity at work, home and in leisure settings — such is not the case for all.
Several years ago this digital divide related to a lack of computer access for many whereas today this speaks to a different concern. Today we face a challenge where all cannot always have internet access to the range of technology resources many are afforded. And in an information rich society such as ours, this is an important concern.
As educators, this presents a challenge. For many of us, directing students to the wealth of tools and resources on the web is the right thing to do. Teaching students how to utilize the various social media tools to acquire and manage information makes sense. Incorporating educational websites and resources adds richness to the content. In many instances this also affords those with differing learning approaches a way to actually access the content. Yet, how do we approach this perplexing issue of digital participation? Is this a time for open wifi access for all?
Increasingly, more folks are flocking to social networking sites to share their information, whereabouts, interests, and day-to-day musings. What does this really mean? An interesting article appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Monday suggesting a new fate for email?
As these authors contend, more individuals are using Facebook and Twitter to communicate with friends and family. Have we gone completely digital? What’s happening to face-to-face communication? Is this a good trend or one that brings caution. What does this mean for individuals who may not be able to access the technology medium — what about users who may be blind? Thoughts to ponder.
As I thumbed through my Wall Street Journal (yes, I read a Newspaper) I read this interesting take on Facebook and social media. An interesting read and full of thoughtful commentary, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204660604574370450465849142.html
I’m addicted to the website TED Talks. These folks offer such a comprehensive array of informative discussions on topics across technology, entertainment and design. But, I love them even more as I appreciate their design and functionality…offering the clickable ease to turn on/off subtitles in a range of languages.
Last week I had the opportunity to join a colleague in sharing best practices in universal design for learning, differentiated instruction and the uses of assistive technology. I thought some of the e-tools that she shared were worth passing along. First, to establish that baseline again, universal design for learning means we’re keeping in mind 3 guiding principles: (1) providing multiple means of representation to support the recognition brain networks, (2) providing multiple means for action and expression to support the strategic brain networks, and (3) providing multiple means for engagement to support the affective brain networks. Some e-tools that might be used to facilitate instruction/ learning through these principles might include:
Language translators: Applied Langauge, Google Translator
Interactive books: Starfall, The UDL BookBuilder
Graphic organizers: My Noteit, The Brain, Mind Map, Inspiration
Center for Digital Storytelling | Scratch | Toondoo | Kodak Lesson Plans
Choices to motivate: National Geographic Kids, Discovery Channel, Smart Science Education, Teacher Tube, Science News 4 Kids, Math.com, Illuminations Interactive, National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
Flexible grouping: Moodle, Cable in the Classroom, Reading Pen Pals, Read-Write-Think
The National Center on Technology Innovation provides a wealth of resources and information on the importance of technology. They share best practices, innovative ideas, new technologies, and research. It is by far one of my favorite websites! Take a peek, http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/
What makes a social network so attractive to others? This question I ask as I peruse my Facebook page after an absence. I, as I suppose many, only visit this location several times a month. However, I see that more folks are using this area, more undergraduates seem to prefer this medium over email, and more individuals are looking for old friends through this medium.
Social networks are growing and offering some attractive features as well. Facebook seems to be the social connection spot for many. Linkedin attracts the business crowd and those looking to “network”. Ning has much appeal to organizations and educators as this offers a more secure and closed environment. And then there is Twitter… a social network of following others. Which do you find appealing and why?
This is day two at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative 2009 conference where cultural anthropologist Michael Wesch delivered a thought provoking opening feature session. Dr. Wesch teaches a New Literacy Class at Kansas State University.
He first shared his experimentation with using a NetVibes customized portal for his class which included front page locations for Facebook, YouTube, RSS feeds, a place for course links, a twitter feed, a wiki feed and even a location on the wiki for student’s to add and share their notes/perspectives on the course. However, Wesch noted that with all of this “one-stop” customizing for a class portal, he later surmised that students reported that some of these tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, were distracting to the educational content. So, Wesch has moved to a singular wiki portal that he has customized with RSS feeds which bring in the related content.
As he concluded his talk, he posed to all the following questions which are interesting to ponder in this transforming digital age:
What are the basic literacy skills?
What am I really teaching?
Is my teaching a hindrance to learning?
What use are they, what is education for, how should I deliver my content, and should I deliver content?
What is learning and why. Are these walls necessary?
Upon closing he asked, “are we preparing our students to create in this world?
While digging into the digital universe for some resources, I bumped upon this great site. Several articles caught my attention and I thought worthy of sharing. One discusses the growing concern over the digital divide, http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/01/your-guide-to-the-digital-divide017.html. These authors offer a great synopsis of the problem especially in light of how many people are still disenfranchised by their digital access to the web or their inability to use the Web 2.0. A dig deeper using my favorite search engine, Clusty.com, revealed this great discussion that does a great job of informing the discussion around the accessibility (or lack of) social networking sites. Definitely some thoughts worth pondering.
