Why Social Media

From LiteracyTentWiki

Subject: [PD 4764] Why Social Media Anyway?
From: Jackie A. Taylor
Date: Mon Jul 12 09:33:47 EDT 2010

Hello!

Welcome to Nell Eckersley, our co-facilitator, and to our guests Susan Gaer, Melinda Holt, Richard Sebastian, Marian Thacher, and Steve Quann. This discussion is hosted by the National Institute for Literacy and co-sponsored by the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD, www.aalpd.org <http://www.aalpd.org/> ) and the Adult Literacy and Technology Network (ALTN, www.altn.org <http://www.altn.org/> ). Thanks to all for helping to make this discussion possible.

You know, there was a time when I would never post my photo online. Have you ever felt that way? Maybe you never have, or maybe you still do. But I'm shy, so I was thankful for text-only communications in my online work. The emergence of social media has changed that.

As the Web 2.0 world expanded like a star gone supernovae, I found myself learning a plethora of tools in my work. My hope was to break down access barriers to professional development and address a variety of different learning style needs. I leave it for you to decide whether online tools have, or can.

  • What hooked your interest in social media? Did it originate from personal use, professional expectation, or some combination thereof?
  • Why use social media for teaching or professional development? What value is there to it? Is it a waste of time socializing, is it communication, is it a tool for learning?

To post, reply to this email or send a new one to: professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov.

If you're following the backchannels on Twitter @TechPD and you are not subscribed to the PD List and would like to do so, visit: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Professionaldevelopment/

These next few weeks are opportunities to discuss and experiment with social media in teaching and professional development. What you create is a learning experiment, our own professional development. So it's OK to make mistakes. This is a safe place learn together and to share.

Looking forward to your responses. Jackie

Jackie Taylor
PD List Facilitator

Subject: [PD 4765] Re: Why Social Media Anyway?
From: Michele Brannon-Hamilton
Date: Mon Jul 12 10:09:31 EDT 2010

Hi I became interested in social media when I began freelance writing online. Instead of writing for paper magazines, I began writing for websites. Then websites grew into blogs and wikis with all kinds of new media incorporated into them. I was also teaching computer literacy and started noticing software that made learning more interesting.

I think social media is valuable because instructors can find material and programs for visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. Learners can learn anytime and anywhere which helps them overcome some of the barriers to adult learning.

I don't think socializing is a waste of time because learning takes place when communicating with others. Also, people can collaborate to develop new content, solve problems and advance their own learning. What I like most about Web 2.0 tools is the ability to interact, communicate, and collaborate with others and with content. We can engage our learners by creating rich active learning environments.

Michele Brannon-Hamilton

Subject: [PD 4766] Re: Why Social Media Anyway?
From: Kristine Marane Gongora
Date: Mon Jul 12 11:19:41 EDT 2010

What hooked my interest? For me, use of social media is something that has been part of a natural evolution of the work and personal sides of my life, both out of my tech-curious nature and my work needs. My first experience with distance ed was back in the early 90s developing online training and reference systems for delivery over mainframes (ack!); professionally, I've been in the mindset of connecting geographically distributed learners for a while. I first used Web conferencing as another means of distance ed around 10 years ago - I worked for an organization with offices around the US and using NetMeeting was the best way to offer instruction remotely. The one thing that both of these older systems modeled, however, was a "one to many" relationship between the organization (via an instructor) and their employees or students. The fantastic thing about Web 2.0 tools is that they encourage connections between people/participants/students in a "many to many" relationship where they are learning and sharing with each other, unfettered of a single information gatekeeper, geography, or time.

Is it a "waste of time" or "merely socializing"? These online spaces are merely tools, therefore their value is in what we bring to them, and what we make of them. I'd guess we've all had the experience of talking to someone about something not work-related and having an "a-ha" moment that contributed to our professional life. That's the other benefit I've found from participating in social media networks - a better personal integration of all the communities of which I'm a member. Adult Education, professional organizations, my town and region, my family, organizations for my hobbies and interests - the intersection of all these community spaces is unique and personal, but the connections that can be made between those communities can sometimes be useful to me or others. I used to keep my roles and functions in each of these communities fairly discrete - some by nature of geography and some by nature of the social norms for each of them. Social media tools allow and encourage us to not only maintain virtual connections to each of the individual communities we belong to, but more importantly, help make fluid any related connections *between* those communities, as well.

Kristine Marane Góngora

Subject: [PD 4768] Re: Why Social Media Anyway?
From: Steve Quann
Date: Mon Jul 12 11:52:50 EDT 2010

Hi Michelle and all,

I agree and think some see the word “social” in social media, social networking etc. and think only in terms of it offering opportunities for socializing. (Not that socializing isn’t or can’t be part of it as you say.) Michele, you sum up very well, the benefits of the tools of social media for learning. These tools offer opportunities for cooperative learning and construction of knowledge within the context of a community. We know that learning can be enhanced with reflection http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf#18 and teacher change http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/ann_rev/smith-gillespie-07.pdf.


So it seems to me that the use of social media in the context of a “reflective” community can be an effective means of teaching and providing professional development. It is exciting to see how this approach is evolving as “we speak.” I’d love to read examples of how community reflection (and hopefully any subsequent evidence of teacher change or student learning) is occurring using social media. And if not, what you think the barriers have been.

Steve Quann
World Education
Boston, MA

Subject: [PD 4771] Why Social Media Anyway? Students take the lead
From: Paul Rogers
Date: Mon Jul 12 12:41:04 EDT 2010

In the field of adult literacy (ESL), my students have taken the lead. More and more are gong online, using webcams to talk to their families, and scouring the internet for English lessons. Now songs are popular, and you just need to google - aprender ingles con cnciones - to get an idea.

So I decided to catch up! And I look forward to these discussions.

Paul Rogers
Adult Biliteracy: wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Main_Page
PUMAROSA.COM

Subject: [PD 4772] Re: Why Social Media Anyway? Students take the lead
From: Kathleen Kelly
Date: Mon Jul 12 12:51:09 EDT 2010

So far these discussions are very interesting to me. I am involved both in literacy, ABE/GED, Spanish GED and ESL programs so the technology aspect will prove useful to my students.

Kathleen Kelly

Subject: [PD 4775] Re: Why Social Media Anyway?
From: Richard Sebastian
Date: Mon Jul 12 13:13:14 EDT 2010

I think Twitter is the tool that first engaged me in a profound way and really aroused my interest in this thing called social media or Web 2.0 or whatever buzzword you attach to this type of communication. I had used discussion boards and chat in the past, and email, of course. But Twitter was the first tool to allow me to easily interact with people from across the globe.

Now, there were ways of interacting like this before using other tools, but I was never inclined to go through the hassle of establishing and cultivating these networks. Twitter made it easy. And for me, Twitter made sense. And I think it is important to say that my early interest in it was completely personal. I followed funny people who used Twitter as a platform for humor. (If you are interested, there is a vibrant community of hilarious twitterers out there). Attaching a professional use for it came later.

None of what we are doing with social media tools is new exactly. What is new is how easy these tools make it to socialize and connect on a global scale. And I think the ability to do this--communicate on such a vast scale with so many other people--has caused many educators to step back and rethink some basic assumptions about teaching and learning. I beleive these tools have significant potential for the field of adult education to rethink how it engages learners, trains and develops its teachers, a provides services to local communities of adult learners.

Richard Sebastian
Instructional Technology Specialist
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

Subject: [PD 4777] social media as the answer to cutbacks etc.
From: Paul Rogers
Date: Mon Jul 12 14:18:07 EDT 2010

The biggest advantage to utliizing technology is that it allows one teacher to become 10. In adult ESL right now perhaps only 20% of those who would like to learn English can attend classes. The advent of social media provides ESL instruction to everyone via distance learning. As classes are being cut, the demand for ESL is increasing. Voila! Social media comes to the rescue. Social media changes the relationship between the teacher and student and makes it more democratic, that is equal. We all can practice the philosophy of Paolo Freire.

But as they say, the main thing is the ...Bottom line,

Paul Rogers
Adult Biliteracy: wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Main_Page
PUMAROSA.COM

Subject: [PD 4785] Re: The End of Boxes and the role of social media
From: Steve Kaufmann
Date: Mon Jul 12 16:57:48 EDT 2010

I fully understand the concept of learning communities where members share their knowledge and thirst for knowledge and learn from each other. There are many such communities on the web. I have yet to figure out Twitter and Facebook which seem to me (at age 64) more like time sinks with no educational purpose. Perhaps I am too old.

Steve
www.lingq.com

Subject: [PD 4787] Re: The End of Boxes and the role of social media
From: Melinda Hefner
Date: Mon Jul 12 17:26:04 EDT 2010

You're not too old!!!! You just haven't yet come across any uses of Facebook or Twitter that relate to education. For instance, at a recent literacy conference, there were individuals who tweeted activity from the conference for those of use who could not attend. Was it like being there? No, but the links that they provided in their tweets led me to some really interesting and useful information.

I took a class that had a Facebook exclusively for the students in the class. FB was wonderful for discussion and collaboration. We could upload all kinds of files, i.e. photos, videos, etc. and have them all in one place. More importantly, I suppose, was that the instructor would post questions, comments, etc. for our reflection and thought. We had some great conversations. I'm sure that there are even richer ways to apply Facebook to instruction.

Just as with any other media tool, the quality and purpose will depend on the users. Facebook can be junky, but it can also be a wonderful information, collaboration, and discussion tool.

Think young, Steve! :-)

Melinda

Melinda M. Hefner
Director, Literacy Support Services

Basic Skills Department
Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute
Hudson, North Carolina

Subject: [PD 4793] Re: The End of Boxes and the role of social media
From: Steve Quann
Date: Mon Jul 12 20:43:18 EDT 2010

Melinda,

What excellent examples of how these tools can be tapped for learning, even though the primary use of these technologies is often for social ends. And as you said "..the quality and purpose will depend on the users." Sounds right out of the POST method handbook, so to speak. I think we need to first consider the P(People) or users to see if it makes sense. And when in a related post Allen mentioned that "a program needs to look at possible obstacles to their success and implications of their use in order to consider how to overcome those obstacles and minimize less desirable implications." In one project I am working on, we found that many of the users didn't check email regularly, but did check the internal messages within Facebook, so we realized for some participants in this course, email was in fact an obstacle, but FB was a better delivery mode of communication.

Best,

Steve Quann
World Education
Boston, MA

Subject: [PD 4866] Catch-up - Why social media
From: Thompson, Duren J
Date: Thu Jul 15 16:16:39 EDT 2010

So sorry, I am playing catch-up as I was focused on our statewide face to face PD event Mon-Wed this week. Please bear with me as I respond somewhat belatedly to the prompts from our facilitators' and others' posts as well).

On Monday Jackie asked:

What hooked your interest in social media? Did it originate from personal use, professional expectation, or some combination thereof?

Back in the late 80s, early 90s when online chats were essentially long text-only venues used primarily by geeks who had internet access from home, I found the idea of synchronous group communication fascinating. What an interesting way to hook up and chat with folks from all over the world on various subjects. And I jumped at the chance to use synchronous classroom environments like Dim Dim for PD as soon as I ran in to them. So personal and professional - and just an overall fascination with technology.

Why use social media for teaching or professional development? What value is there to it? Is it a waste of time socializing, is it communication, is it a tool for learning?

A devotee of 'soft' science fiction, I breathlessly awaited video phones, video conferencing, and virtual reality communities. Yet when they finally arrived, I found myself avoiding them - they were/are still too clunky to be universally accepted, and thus too challenging to implement smoothly. And I am still disdainful of social networking tools for purely "social" purposes (back when Xanga was just starting up, you couldn't get me NEAR a blog - I couldn't see the point.) But as I have experimented, and yes, been SHOWN the value of blogs, wikis, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I have again experienced that fascination with the idea of world-wide group communication, sharing and collaboration possible.

I cannot list all the various learning possibilities of social media for adult education. But like any tool, someone (usually the instructor) needs to *structure* their use in order to meet educational goals/purposes. Pencil & paper are great for doodling, passing notes in class, drawing hearts with initials in them, and even creating paper airplanes or sticking into acoustic tile - none of which are typically considered educational purposes. Instructors must GUIDE and plan activities for learners to use these tools effectively. Instructors who resist or decry the use of social media for instruction simply cannot see the wealth of benefits. The questions should not be "Why use?" but rather "HOW can I use it to support learning?"

Duren Thompson
Center for Literacy Studies - Celebrating 20 years of support for life-long learning!
University of Tennessee

Subject: [PD 4871] Why Social Media
From: david dirtyknees
Date: Thu Jul 15 19:58:31 EDT 2010

We need to change the way we teach if we consider ourselves "green". The solution to our current mess is not a high-mileage car. We have built our lives around the car, a technology that is not sustainable.

The college with acres of parking lots and buildings is not sustainable, either. In the midst of a depression, my state's higher education leaders sought $639 million for new buildings and maintenance on existing buildings. For those of you who have rightly pointed out that students don't have the requisite technology, here is the fund source. $639 million would go a long way to closing those gaps if it was re-purposed. We should be spending that money on the technology of the future, not on the technology of the past.

We need to learn this because we really don't have any other choice. The world we trained for is quickly disappearing. But not all is lost. Most of our favorite lessons, books, scenarios, dialogs, games, authentic materials, student stories, conversation starters, etc. will cross over the bar.

Learning about social media isn't all that different than learning how to do an information gap activity, or a logic puzzle or a scenario where the flow of the activity depends upon what the participants bring, and choose to share, and when they choose to share. It is out of the teacher's control. It takes the same courage to step into a virtual experience that it takes to do a service learning project. I remember worrying if they were getting anything our of the project, only to be blown away with the wisdom that came out in the reflection.

I think we have to trust that our students are as inquisitive as we are. As we have always done, we need to find out what they are interested in, what they want to learn about. I'm sure we all will be fine.

This has been a great topic. Thanks, everyone.

David

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