Using social media technologies to support learning
Introduction
Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Examples of different types of social media applications include forums, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social curation and wikis.
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# Forums, also be described as online bulletin boards, discussion groups or message boards, is a place where message can be left, read or responded to.
# With Microblogging the subscriber can broadcast short, max. 140-200 characters post or messages to other subscribers of the same web service through an instant desktop message or an SMS text message on a mobile device. With Twitter being one of the most popular microblogging services, more traditional media organisations such as newspapers and tv networks, have realised this form of social media as an alternative broadcast platform.
# ThroughSocial Networking individuals establish personal, business or social networks and connect with people they may not have connected with
otherwise.
# Social bookmarking ‘is a user-defined taxonomy’ (or folksonomy) system where favourite Webpages can be bookmarked or tagged and then stored,
categorised, commented on and shared. Delicious.com is one such site.
# Social Curation (or sometimes termed ‘content aggregation’) provides a platform for users to get a sense of the ‘most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet’ (digg.com) through suggesting and collaboratively sharing links which can be either approved (thumbs up) or disapproved, not commented on. Another example is reddit.com.
# A Wiki (adapted from the Hawaiian term wikiwiki which means ‘fast’) is a simplified interface that allows users to collaborate in creating and editing the content of a Web site. Some wikis work on trust (Wikipedia.org); others have a designated person accepting or rejecting changes (Weebly.com).
Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Examples of different types of social media applications include forums, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social curation and wikis.
·
# Forums, also be described as online bulletin boards, discussion groups or message boards, is a place where message can be left, read or responded to.
# With Microblogging the subscriber can broadcast short, max. 140-200 characters post or messages to other subscribers of the same web service through an instant desktop message or an SMS text message on a mobile device. With Twitter being one of the most popular microblogging services, more traditional media organisations such as newspapers and tv networks, have realised this form of social media as an alternative broadcast platform.
# ThroughSocial Networking individuals establish personal, business or social networks and connect with people they may not have connected with
otherwise.
# Social bookmarking ‘is a user-defined taxonomy’ (or folksonomy) system where favourite Webpages can be bookmarked or tagged and then stored,
categorised, commented on and shared. Delicious.com is one such site.
# Social Curation (or sometimes termed ‘content aggregation’) provides a platform for users to get a sense of the ‘most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet’ (digg.com) through suggesting and collaboratively sharing links which can be either approved (thumbs up) or disapproved, not commented on. Another example is reddit.com.
# A Wiki (adapted from the Hawaiian term wikiwiki which means ‘fast’) is a simplified interface that allows users to collaborate in creating and editing the content of a Web site. Some wikis work on trust (Wikipedia.org); others have a designated person accepting or rejecting changes (Weebly.com).
Reflection
With the development and growth of digital media, opportunities arose for both students and teachers alike; from on-line resources accessible where and when ever the student had a computer and internet to the teacher facilitated virtual classrooms. We may have only just scratched the tip of the iceberg and are slowly but steadily becoming familiar and confident with the many possible applications. The use of social media is embraced by some and shunted by others and it may not be until you are forced to use it that you realise the advantages, opportunities and the pitfalls. Such was the case when I choose the module ‘using social media technologies to support learning’ even
though both Facebook and Twitter were quire foreign to me and certainly not my first choice to support my teaching.
Twitter and Facebook are sometimes seen as synonymous, but although they function as a social networking service and try to implement some of the same features they are still fairly different. Facebook, with the ability of being able to upload anything from photos, videos to posting calendar
events in smaller or larger message , seems to be more of a two-way communication, whilst Twitter is has been referred to as ‘an asymmetric microblogging service’(Cann, 2012). Personal contact on Twitter can be completely absent as people can be followed whilst not having to follow their followers back. I am still amazed of that fact I have eight followers, 80% I have never met or heard of, whilst I have only tweeted twice in three months. Hence my surprise when I received an email from Twitter stating that someone ‘favorited a Tweet I was mentioned in!’; I still have no idea what it was related to.
With the development and growth of digital media, opportunities arose for both students and teachers alike; from on-line resources accessible where and when ever the student had a computer and internet to the teacher facilitated virtual classrooms. We may have only just scratched the tip of the iceberg and are slowly but steadily becoming familiar and confident with the many possible applications. The use of social media is embraced by some and shunted by others and it may not be until you are forced to use it that you realise the advantages, opportunities and the pitfalls. Such was the case when I choose the module ‘using social media technologies to support learning’ even
though both Facebook and Twitter were quire foreign to me and certainly not my first choice to support my teaching.
Twitter and Facebook are sometimes seen as synonymous, but although they function as a social networking service and try to implement some of the same features they are still fairly different. Facebook, with the ability of being able to upload anything from photos, videos to posting calendar
events in smaller or larger message , seems to be more of a two-way communication, whilst Twitter is has been referred to as ‘an asymmetric microblogging service’(Cann, 2012). Personal contact on Twitter can be completely absent as people can be followed whilst not having to follow their followers back. I am still amazed of that fact I have eight followers, 80% I have never met or heard of, whilst I have only tweeted twice in three months. Hence my surprise when I received an email from Twitter stating that someone ‘favorited a Tweet I was mentioned in!’; I still have no idea what it was related to.
In a radio interview I have heard Social Media being referred to as “instant unfiltered media without little to no control” which, for a person who is inherently private, sounds dangerous and uninviting. I have a hard time sharing my life with friends, let alone with the whole world. And who will guarantee that what I write is interpreted the way I want it to be interpreted. It has been stated that “Facebook gives you friends, while Twitter gives you followers” (Tagtmeier, 2010); I am not interested in either and only want to subscribe to either one if it is useful to my life, either for work or study purposes or to actively stay in touch with friends with whom I would otherwise have no contact. I am not one to advertise what I do with my life and as such I have my privacy settings with Facebook as high as possible (I hope).
Although my two kids had embraced social media with open arms, I willingly shunned away from this monster with too many heads and tentacles trying to claw me into its web over the past few years. As such it was somewhat of a surprise I felt a little excited to open my own Facebook account, followed not long after by my Twitter account for this Social Media module. Facebook has been classified by some as a passive way of communicating (Tagtmeier, 2010), but I actually found myself being actively involved in a couple different discussions at the same time. With Twitter on the other side though, I found it difficult to just follow one conversation, wondering who said what, which statement was an original or what was a repeat of a repeat.
Accessing Facebook and/or Twitter on my phone still went against the grain and I could feel the enthusiasm slip away. However, accessing either
platform on the computer, reading lots of information which was more at the level of “Facebook and Twitter for dummies”, and with a little bit of time I
started to warm up to the idea of using social media. Especially when I“found” a very good friend on Facebook and started communicating with him I was almost hooked and it almost became a distraction. However, this use of Facebook was still mainly on a social level and not as much on an educational level. Having the separate “5009 Social Media group” was great, being able to focus on like-minded posts instead of reading about the life of people you have never met purely because they are friends of friends. If I was to use Facebook as a learning tool in my teaching I would do it through an invitation only special group with a special goal/function and I feel this option would have been a great choice whilst delivering workshops across the State. I still receive the occasional email from workshop participants with a specific question and to be able to provide an answer for all to read would have been great. Instead I have constructed a Weebly which did not function as hoped (see Negotiated Task reflection).
Although my two kids had embraced social media with open arms, I willingly shunned away from this monster with too many heads and tentacles trying to claw me into its web over the past few years. As such it was somewhat of a surprise I felt a little excited to open my own Facebook account, followed not long after by my Twitter account for this Social Media module. Facebook has been classified by some as a passive way of communicating (Tagtmeier, 2010), but I actually found myself being actively involved in a couple different discussions at the same time. With Twitter on the other side though, I found it difficult to just follow one conversation, wondering who said what, which statement was an original or what was a repeat of a repeat.
Accessing Facebook and/or Twitter on my phone still went against the grain and I could feel the enthusiasm slip away. However, accessing either
platform on the computer, reading lots of information which was more at the level of “Facebook and Twitter for dummies”, and with a little bit of time I
started to warm up to the idea of using social media. Especially when I“found” a very good friend on Facebook and started communicating with him I was almost hooked and it almost became a distraction. However, this use of Facebook was still mainly on a social level and not as much on an educational level. Having the separate “5009 Social Media group” was great, being able to focus on like-minded posts instead of reading about the life of people you have never met purely because they are friends of friends. If I was to use Facebook as a learning tool in my teaching I would do it through an invitation only special group with a special goal/function and I feel this option would have been a great choice whilst delivering workshops across the State. I still receive the occasional email from workshop participants with a specific question and to be able to provide an answer for all to read would have been great. Instead I have constructed a Weebly which did not function as hoped (see Negotiated Task reflection).
Twitter on the other side was a different story. I just did not get it. It was almost enough to drive me around the “tweet”. I tried, read twitter instructions for dummies, spoke to Twitter converts and tried a little more, but still I did not seem to get the hang of this popular phenomenon called Twitter. Although Twitter is an online social networking service just like Facebook, I have found that the limitation of 140 characters in the text-based microblogging tweets as well as the many hash tags and other symbols made it difficult to understand the message. Amongst a few I followed Sir Ken Robinson in the hope to learn more from this very inspirational man at the same time as getting the hang of Twitter. Instead I found myself becoming more frustrated and developing a dislike towards Twitter. Even though I discovered the occasional interesting article I found it difficult to distinguish between a message with interesting content or just a comment on a comment on a comment. Following Sir Ken Robinson on Facebook provided me with the same comments but with more substance and as such enjoyment to it. Reading the tweets of #edgct5009 I wondered what exactly the difference was with the messages on Facebook, except for shorter posts. Links, diagrams and pictures were shared; I retweeted a tweet by Andrew Davis containing a great diagram and responded to a Tweet by Justine Rofe. However, both were done with little enthusiasm and I did not sent out an interesting fact about microblogging for fear of looking quite dumb. For me an interesting fact was that SMS/texting, something I do do, is a form of
microblogging; where have I been all this time? Although Jeff Dunn has stated there are many ways Twitter can become part of the classroom (Examtime, 2013), being a teacher who needs to feel either passion or a good understanding of a subject and/or a teaching and learning platform, it may be some time before Twitter is going to be part of my social life let alone my teaching tool box.
microblogging; where have I been all this time? Although Jeff Dunn has stated there are many ways Twitter can become part of the classroom (Examtime, 2013), being a teacher who needs to feel either passion or a good understanding of a subject and/or a teaching and learning platform, it may be some time before Twitter is going to be part of my social life let alone my teaching tool box.
References:
Cann, A.J. (2012, March 21). Twitter as an Imagined Community. [Science of the Invisible]. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from: http://scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.com.au/2012_03_01_archive.html
Tagtmeier, C. (2010). Facebook vs. Twitter: Battle of the Social Network Stars. Information Today Inc. Retrieved April 2014 from: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep10/Tagtmeier.shtml
Tappin, S. (2014). Facebook vs. Twitter: Who wins the battle for our social attention? PandoDaily Retrieved April 2014 from: http://pando.com/2014/02/06/facebook-vs-twitter-who-wins-the-battle-for-our-social-attention/
Examtime (2013, August 26) Teacher’s Guide to Using Twitter in the Classroom [online forum post] Retrieved from https://www.examtime.com/blog/using-twitter-in-the-classroom/
Cann, A.J. (2012, March 21). Twitter as an Imagined Community. [Science of the Invisible]. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from: http://scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.com.au/2012_03_01_archive.html
Tagtmeier, C. (2010). Facebook vs. Twitter: Battle of the Social Network Stars. Information Today Inc. Retrieved April 2014 from: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep10/Tagtmeier.shtml
Tappin, S. (2014). Facebook vs. Twitter: Who wins the battle for our social attention? PandoDaily Retrieved April 2014 from: http://pando.com/2014/02/06/facebook-vs-twitter-who-wins-the-battle-for-our-social-attention/
Examtime (2013, August 26) Teacher’s Guide to Using Twitter in the Classroom [online forum post] Retrieved from https://www.examtime.com/blog/using-twitter-in-the-classroom/