This article shows how to engage students and improve learning and comprehension of subject material, without the traditional lecture.  I will need a little latitude with this article and the assignment of social media in the classroom. This article does not focus on the use of social media but explains how systems can be used to prime students prior to coming to class and at the same time inform the instructor what areas students are having difficulties with at the time.  This is great because instructors and students do not have to go over information that has already been learned. Social media can be the vehicles used for this type of communication. 

This post is from a student perspective about how using social media while studying abroad help keep them connected with students at the home institution. The article does not touch on the possibility of these tools acting as an insulator, keeping the student from interacting with the culture they are visiting. The assumption has to be that while they are in country, they are actively seeking out these interactions. A little focus from the study abroad program could help achieve both objectives. 

This article gives one professors experiences on their successful use of Facebook in their British Literary History course. Facebook subsisted for the discussion forum common to a good many course management systems. Students use it because they were already there (on Facebook) and they found the use interesting.

This page has many case studies that point to successful use of Facebook with college students. This is a page from a company so you can have some idea as to the motivation. To put this into perspective this is the only company that is financially supported by the Gates foundation. In my opinion they are motivated by more than profit but by helping schools and students make connections. 

"Studies have concluded that social engagement can benefit retention efforts, and schools and teachers are successfully pursuing this tactic with the help of social media applications." This is an article that points to studies indicating that just as social interaction can help with student retention, both in the field of study and at the school, so to can social media fill this need. 

#EdTechSN An example of how one instructor uses social media to keep students engaged outside of the classroom. 

This post talks about a project where graduate students at John Carroll University were asked to use social media while learning about gender in modern Africa. The students created a public awareness campaign around an activism project. They were then charged with using social media to get the word out about their campaign. 

DS106 is a class built around social media. Students learn how to create and distribute their contents using social media. The coursework is by definition open and public. Students find that when they engage with the world at large, their work becomes more meaningful to them. 

This article talks about a class where an instructor challenged her students to make a difference in a field of their choice using social media. 

This is an article that talks about student engagement and the use of Twitter with college students

Project oriented search tool community contributed content

Here is a link to my plan for improving my digital footprint and reputation.

Please comment on the voicethread. It is quite fun and I would love to see and hear what you have to say.

This article is a good definition of what a community of practice (CoP) is and how they are used. It is not specific to online/social networks but offers good background on how communities are formed and what they are used for. With this general knowledge can be applied to many specific domains such as a personal learning network, a google circle or an anime club.

The authors have endeavored to find the motivations involved with professionals in the creation of Personal Learning Networks (PLN). The concluded that there are four common factors that for why people choose to use a PLN. These factors are : enhancing professional communication, remaining in touch with people in the network, positioning an individual in a network, and finding new people and expertise within the network. They point out that these factors are not necessarily the determining influences that comprise an individual successfully becoming a member of a network. They point out that there is metacognitive level, that of the attitude of the practitioner that is a determining factor for the success or failure of an individuals PLN.

The authors state the the use of blogs as aggregators for student Personal Learning Networks (PLN) is an effective tool to help organize the many fascists of unique environments. They point out that in order for students to successfully create and use their own PLNs there must first be a successful example by an instructor for the students to model. They point out that although students may be using several of the tools that will ultimately comprise their PLNs, it is a fallacy to assume that students inherently understand the power and connectedness of these environments.

This paper looks at the use of specific communities of practice (CoP) created at McMaster University designed to promote informal teacher professional development (TPD). They found that the CoP's that were specifically created to foster teacher interaction affective, were not only effective but that several additional CoPs were organically created by the faculty during the writing of the paper. They use this as evidence of the effectiveness of CoPs for TPD.

The authors of the paper postulate that traditional learning theories do not adequately cover the use of mobile technologies, particularly phones in a learning context. This paper looks at a class of native Arabic speaking students learning English as a second language through the use of mobile phones and facebook. They conclude that in this context, connectivism fully accounts for the interactions that their students naturally gravitated towards when interacting in english thus furthering their study of interest.

The authors look at connectivism through the lens of a literature review and a qualitative interview session with educators. With these sources the paper examines the pros and cons of connectivism including its limitations as a postulated theory. The conclusions drawn are that behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism fall short to fully explain modern learning realities, but that it is unclear if connectivism can be seen as the next stage of learning theory evolution for several reasons.

The authors point out that today's learners are different from learners previous generations and as such, have different needs. Connectivist theory helps to serve as a roadmap for these learners needs. The authors offer a framework to the reader in which to to help build student's personalized learning environments (PLE). They conclude that it is the role of the educator to select the tools and resources that best enable students to maximize their learning potential.