We are surrounded by social media in our technology laden culture. We are no longer worried about keeping in contact with family and friends because we have access to them 24/7 wherever we go. Our computers, tablets and phones are constantly delivering the experiences and opinions through status updates, emails, blogs, texts, videos and of course, the old fashioned phone call. We are social creatures, and we have embraced this Facebook culture in our daily lives.
But, most of these activities serve as distractions. Sure, I want to know how my high school friend from 20 years ago, with whom I have not actually spoken in 19 years, spent their afternoon. But, wouldn't it be great if the same resources could be used to further the educational objectives of my student daughter?
Our class recently discussed how social media could be used for education. There are a many valuable Web 2.0 resources that can be incorporated into an instructional design as part of a sound pedagogy. There are ways to disseminate information through a rss feed, a blog or the very common Facebook group. Discussion boards, or many FB type interactions can be used by students to discuss or debate any topic in both synchronous and asynchronous ways. Students can collaborate in a shared document with live chat features supporting multiple simultaneous writing or in a wiki which can serve as bot document production service and discussion outlet. Students can even discuss, share thoughts and comment on their own and each others' experience through a blog like this one.
Social media is moving learners from being recipients of learning material in a one way path from instructor or source to student to co-creators of a learning experience in which information is created, shared and increased by networks of engaged participants; each bringing their own perspective to the topic.
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