What do you think of when you hear the words social networking? For many, including myself, our minds automatically travel to thoughts of Facebook and Twitter. With the overload of memes of anthropomorphized cats and recipe sharing on Facebook and the 140 character limit of Twitter we would not necessarily think of these applications as having any sort of educational benefit or role. We look at these sites as places to socialize, places to meet up with friends (people we have an interest in) and share whatever makes us happy, makes us wonder, makes us think of the other person, not as places to meet based on our shared interest in a particular subject (Richardson, 2010). Yet, they and many other such applications certainly have that opportunity.

Schooltube is one such application. Schooltube, like YouTube, allows people to create and upload videos for viewing by others. The difference here is that it is the teacher and students of a particular class who are creating and uploading the videos for that particular class. Schooltube allows the teacher to upload a video of the day’s lecture so that students can see it before class, where students would be spending their time in learning activities rather than listening to lecture, or so that absent students can watch and not be lost when they come back to class. This allows the teacher to create a flipped classroom where students learn by doing in the classroom and getting lecture and information before class at times and in ways convenient to them. Schooltube also allows students to share videos with their classes. These can be collaborative interactive homework assignments or ones they find elsewhere that help them understand the material. I find that Schooltube has a great deal to offer adult education from the flipped classroom concept to the connected learning occurring by engaging students in topics and through applications of interest to them (Ito, 2013). So many students are lost when they lose interest or have no way to connect to other with those interests.

Edmodo offers a space for students and teachers to come together around a subject even when they are separated by distance. Like Facebook and Twitter, it allows the class group, as set up by the teacher, to comment and post about whatever the subject might be. Like Twitter, the class can easily “follow” a topic, post, comment or any other subject they might find interesting to follow. It creates a sense of learning through fun again. Everyone feels connected, engaged and excited about learning and everyone can communicate easily and efficiently in a space that is familiar and comfortable, bringing the bricks and mortar classroom into the digital sphere. It also has many features that are similar Blackboard which will be familiar to any students who have taken online classes almost anywhere. These include a calendar that the teacher puts up and the ability to turn in assignments on the Edmodo site rather than being forced to turn them in during class.

The ability that both of the applications has to at least partially flip the class so that class time can be used in engaging and active learning makes them interesting and useful options in any learning setting. Although I am somewhat shy and introverted, I would definitely use Schooltube to create and upload lecture videos so that more of my class time can be spent engaged in active learning through deeper discussion or role play. I would also allow my students to use Schooltube as a way to engage in and communicate their pleasure and knowledge in what interests them whether it be about the subject we are learning in class or any other. Any time we can engage students in their interests and allow them to share those interests is a time where we build bridges and connections with others rather than push people away and create division. With Edmodo, I would create another place where the learning and engagement can continue after the class period is over or before it even begins helping students maintain and build their interest. I would also take advantage of the ability to use Edmodo for students to turn in assignments and ask advice on those assignments. The more time I can spend in class actively engaging in the material with my students, the more time we have to grow as a learning community with shared interests and goals which is just as vital in building bridges to today’s learners as giving space to their individual interests. It is after all all about connection.

References

http://www.edmodo.com/about

Ito, Mizuko, Kris Gutiérrez, Sonia Livingstone, Bill Penuel, Jean

Rhodes, Katie Salen, Juliet Schor, Julian Sefton-Green, S. Craig

Watkins. 2013. Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and

Design. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

http://www.schooltube.com/

There are as many educational technologies and applications of those technologies as there are people using them. Many of these technologies such as Blackboard allow us to access an education and learn new skills and ideas from people from all over the world at the touch of a button in the comfort of our own homes or while on the road for work making distance learning a reality for many. Others like Edublogs allow us to share our interests, understandings and questions with a multitude of people online simply by writing them down and publishing them to the web without having to know how to write computer code in order to make it look right and make sense. Even social media sites such as Pintrest and Facebook have their educational uses especially in engaging adult learners in the life and uses of technology to help them learn and grow both as students and human beings. Two current applications I have found quite interesting in their abilities to enhance adult learning are a social learning tool called Quora and the enhancing and engaging educational opportunities surrounding the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) surge in education.

Quora is a tool that can be used by both educators and learners. The site touts itself as the site that “connects you to everything you want to know about” (https://www.quora.com/). It is a social media tool like Facebook that allows people to collect everything they want to know about a certain subject onto “boards” they create about that subject. This can include everything from pictures, videos and information they find on the internet or other places to their own personal writings on the subject. Users can also connect to other people’s boards focusing on some aspect that interests the user/learner as well as allow other users to contribute to their boards creating a collaborative environment. One of the most interesting features of Quora is that you can ask a simple question and that question will likely be answered by someone with knowledge and experience in the field involved whether it be medicine or law, history or math or anything in between. Many times we, as educators, are seen as sages on the mountaintop with all the information and answers at our fingertips or on the tips of our tongues. We know this is not true and our students often learn it when they ask us questions and we have to explain to them that we have no answer and must research and get back to them. By using Qoura as an educator I am able to collect information on the many topics that are of interest to me as well as those topics that are stumping my students thereby keeping all that information at my fingertips. I can also use Quora as a teaching tool allowing students to set up their own accounts in order to research both topics of their own interest and those required for class. This is a wonderful tool for collecting information and research for class projects in a way that is engaging and thought provoking at the same time.

There is an overwhelming growth in looking at the usefulness of and implementing the technological infrastructure on campuses to hold what may very well be the next iteration of on campus, bricks and mortar learning, called Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) learning. Almost every student out there has some sort of personal computing device at their fingertips whether it be the latest iPhone or other smartphone or a tablet or an eReader or all of the above. Moreover they are more than comfortable using these devices to their fullest extent both in and out of class. Understanding this it would seem that we are long past fighting students over turning their cellphones off during class. So, as the old adage goes, if you can’t beat them join them. Although there are technological issues that must be studied and overcome as it relates to infrastructure and security, there are any number of advantages to functioning in a BYOD educational society. These include increased student engagement, creating a technology-rich learning environment and opening up new ways of learning (Bring your own device, white paper, 2012). As the aforementioned white paper published by CDW states students who are able to use their own mobile devices anywhere and at any time for learning are more likely to collaborate with other students and the faculty in order to problem solve and critically think. Not only does this engage them with their fellow classmates and teachers on a different level it opens up new ways of learning that are more self-directed and open to collaboration and feedback. I see great advantages and uses for any technology that engages students and helps to make them more self-directed learners. With that I would incorporate BYOD at least on a limited level inside my classroom by allowing students to bring their devices in order to take notes, collaborate on projects, open up multimedia files or as polling devices for questions I ask during class. It that way these devices are, albeit more powerful, no different than the typical notebook students bring to class now. Another way I would use BYOD technology is by requiring my students to bring their devices to class in order to interact with virtual learning materials and skill sets that only the technology will allow for. This would be especially useful in history and anthropology courses in giving students an up-close and personal experience with the material.

While technology and computers have long been the areas where we store loads of information in smaller and smaller units of virtual space, they can also be tools for helping us critically think and analyze that information in ways that allow us to understand on a deeper and more meaningful level. As Thornburg (2008b) states these technologies, and many others, are doing what we as educators should be doing, “facilitating what we ought to have facilitated all along, which is, given a body of information, what conclusions can you draw from that information that truly advance your understanding of a topic?” Is this not the goal of teaching and learning in the first place?

References

CDW. (2012). Bring your own device. Retrieved from http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/sites/edtechmagazine.com.higher/files/108532-wp-hied-byod-df.pdf

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008b). The impact of technology on learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.

https://www.quora.com/

Technology is ubiquitous in this day and age and yet, it is an ever growing, ever changing tool that many use on a daily basis for any number of reasons including education. There are so many options when looking at emerging educational technologies that it can be very overwhelming just to look into what is out there. There is everything from incorporating smartphones to tablet PCs to blogs to social media to virtual reality and game-based learning to massive open online courses (MOOCs). While all of these areas have significant uses in education when used correctly and productively the two I am most interested in are game-based learning and MOOCs.

Game-based learning is intriguing to me because I am a strong proponent of having fun while you learn. This comes, in part, from a childhood steeped in educational games and toys including computer games and the pure joy they brought me as I learned (often without thinking about it). It is also due to the knowledge and skills I gained as I grew older and could see the educational impact that gaming could have for students. As the Horizon Report (2012) discusses game-based learning has the potential to teach and improve upon many important skills such as “collaboration, problem solving, communication, critical thinking, and digital literacy” (pg. 19). These are all skills that are highly important today both in education and in the workforce. Another important plus I see with game-based learning is for those students with physical and/or mental impairments that can be improved or helped with the increased hand-eye coordination that comes with the use of game controllers for many of the current gaming systems such as the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Wii. While there can also be a certain amount of frustration surrounding gaming when things do not go as planned, another perhaps unintended consequence I see is an increase in patience and diligence as students/gamers work through problems both within the  game and with the technology itself thus using and improving their problem solving skills. Games make learning fun and allow the learner to step outside of his or her generally prescribed role and learning location. Video games allow students to be transported to ancient sites, work on medical issues and/or step into roles they never imagined they could be in from the relative comfort of the classroom or their own homes. This allows them to engage in the activity and make mistakes and course corrections without fatal consequences. As James Gee (2011) discusses it allows them to design their own learning and teaching in a way that works for them. I personally love playing video games and would incorporate them into a classroom setting as a way to improve my students’ problem solving and critical thinking skills especially as they relate to social and historical problems. In so doing I can also help them improve their collaboration and communication skills by requiring them to work in teams to solve problems in order to reach the next game level. As I discussed earlier I would also incorporate gaming as a way to improve hand-eye coordination for students who would benefit in that arena.

Another emerging technology that intrigues me is the growth in massive open online courses (MOOCs). MOOCs are online courses that are often maintained through a major university or school but are free and open to anyone with interest and access to the course. While there is the underlying structure of the course being taught, MOOCs allow for a level of flexibility, openness and collaboration that is not necessarily available in a typical classroom setting with the limited number of students involved. “A MOOC throws open the doors of a course and invites anyone to enter, resulting in a new learning dynamic, one that offers remarkable collaborative and conversational opportunities for students to gather and discuss the course content” (Educause, 2011, pg. 2). While the sheer number of students, ideas and conversations that can be involved in such an open course can be overwhelming and off-putting to some students and teachers, MOOCs offer any number of intriguing and useful opportunities for the growth and continuation of education itself into the future not the least of which is reducing barriers and opening education to any all who seek it. At this point I am not sure how I would incorporate the opportunity to open a specific course to any and every one. This takes online and distance learning to a whole new level. However, I do see the benefits to all students, faculty and educational institutions of reducing the barriers to a decent education and opening institutions to a new student population they may not have thought of reaching.

References

Educause Learning Initiative. (2011). 7 things you should know about MOOCs. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7078.pdf

Gee, J. (2011, April 21). Games and learning: teaching as designing. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-gee/games-and-learning-teachi_b_851581.html

Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M. (2012). The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2012-horizon-report-HE.pdf

Walsh, K. (2012, April 25). How will MOOCs impact the future of college education?. [Blog posting]. Retrieved from http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/04/how-will-moocs-impact-the-future-of-college-education/