“We don’t think a modern messaging system is going to be e-mail” says Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook and Time Magazine Person of the Year. In 2008, I heard a talk by Lee Rainie, the founder and director of the Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project. One of his comments based on a recently conducted survey was that 15-20 year olds thought that e-mail was for “old people”. I am not sure what the fact that I have 3 different e-mail accounts says about me.
From my observations, it does indeed seem that students are moving away from email as their main method of written communication. What does that mean for us as faculty? Take a look at this news report from the January 6, 2011 edition of Inside Higher Ed.
I think that one thing we can learn is that we may need to use a variety of technologies to communicate with our students. There are probably many different student preferences in a class for linking with others or receiving information. This is really no different than a class filled with students with different learning styles, is it.
How we need to communicate also probably depends on our objective. If it involves reflection, then e-mail or a wiki or a blog may best serve the need. If the goal is to rapidly get information to the entire class, maybe a Facebook page is the best way to do that.
We need to assess what we are trying to do and then select the best technology to do that. Always remember, however, to use the technology that is effective and that assists in the learning process. Don’t use technology just because you can.
I look forward to your comments.
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Friday, January 7, 2011
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Facebook in Teaching and Learning
We recently created a Group on Facebook for the Cecil B. Day Campus Habitat for Humanity Chapter. Within one week, there were 118 members.
Facebook is generally considered to be the leading social networking site among college students. With Facebook, individuals can create profiles that include personal interests, affiliations, pictures, and basically anything else that they want to post. The profile links the user to other people who have posted similar information. For example, you can find and display all users who list the same favorite movie that you did. Since a social networking site provides a number of ways for users to interact and constantly creates connections among users, the appeal is obviously broad.
A technology like Facebook that can captivate so many students who can spend large amounts of time using it, I think, offers us an opportunity to incorporate it into teaching and learning. One of the first things that we need to do, I believe, is to try to understand the components of social networking that students find so compelling. Obviously in Facebook, there are a lot of distractions and not everything is relevant or pedagogically useful. Remember also, that we should not incorporate technology into teaching and learning efforts just because it is uber-cool. The technology needs to aid learning.
I have begun to think about ways that we may use Facebook and social networking to assist with learning and teaching. Facebook certainly emphasizes to students the importance of creating content. The student user is encouraged to formulate profiles that communicate and express who they are and that highlight their talents and experience. The reflective side of it may be the most important part.
There are many questions that come to mind about incorporating this technology into teaching and learning. For example, how is the information flow in social networking best managed. Many of us who are Facebook users find that it can become overwhelming very quickly. Much of the information seems like “noise.” In the F2F classroom, we and students generally know how to deal with that. But is it different in the online environment?
Here are a few other questions.
How do people now use Facebook in their professional lives? Do we need to help student pharmacists begin to learn how it will be able to help them to grow once they graduate?
How might social networks relate to personal learning and to formal learning?
Will the ease of surrounding oneself with only those who have similar interests potentially limit the exposure to new ideas and experiences for a student?
It seems to me that since Facebook (and other social networking) is used and accepted by students, then we need to find ways to develop innovative pedagogical uses and encourage students to become engaged participants in learning through their online connections.
I would like to hear your thoughts about the possibility of using social networking systems like Facebook in teaching situations. How would you respond to these first questions that I pose? What additional questions should we be thinking about? I look forward to a conversation about this.
Facebook is generally considered to be the leading social networking site among college students. With Facebook, individuals can create profiles that include personal interests, affiliations, pictures, and basically anything else that they want to post. The profile links the user to other people who have posted similar information. For example, you can find and display all users who list the same favorite movie that you did. Since a social networking site provides a number of ways for users to interact and constantly creates connections among users, the appeal is obviously broad.
A technology like Facebook that can captivate so many students who can spend large amounts of time using it, I think, offers us an opportunity to incorporate it into teaching and learning. One of the first things that we need to do, I believe, is to try to understand the components of social networking that students find so compelling. Obviously in Facebook, there are a lot of distractions and not everything is relevant or pedagogically useful. Remember also, that we should not incorporate technology into teaching and learning efforts just because it is uber-cool. The technology needs to aid learning.
I have begun to think about ways that we may use Facebook and social networking to assist with learning and teaching. Facebook certainly emphasizes to students the importance of creating content. The student user is encouraged to formulate profiles that communicate and express who they are and that highlight their talents and experience. The reflective side of it may be the most important part.
There are many questions that come to mind about incorporating this technology into teaching and learning. For example, how is the information flow in social networking best managed. Many of us who are Facebook users find that it can become overwhelming very quickly. Much of the information seems like “noise.” In the F2F classroom, we and students generally know how to deal with that. But is it different in the online environment?
Here are a few other questions.
How do people now use Facebook in their professional lives? Do we need to help student pharmacists begin to learn how it will be able to help them to grow once they graduate?
How might social networks relate to personal learning and to formal learning?
Will the ease of surrounding oneself with only those who have similar interests potentially limit the exposure to new ideas and experiences for a student?
It seems to me that since Facebook (and other social networking) is used and accepted by students, then we need to find ways to develop innovative pedagogical uses and encourage students to become engaged participants in learning through their online connections.
I would like to hear your thoughts about the possibility of using social networking systems like Facebook in teaching situations. How would you respond to these first questions that I pose? What additional questions should we be thinking about? I look forward to a conversation about this.
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