Social Network Learning

New Technologies Can Keep You Connected and Help You Manage Information Overload by David Warlick

When I was teaching in the D.C. area, Harry Wong's ideas got me through. Universities really don't teach teachers how to manage an unruly classroom. Studying the ideas of Wong allowed me to exit survival mode and enter teaching mode.

Hi Dennis, curious why you shared this resource in a group called "social network learning?" Do you see a connection somewhere? Thanks.

This website caught my attention when I was searching for a resource to describe social network learning. There were a couple of key points that were addressed on the website. The first was Personal Learning Style (PLS). I think that determining what PLS works best for a student enhances the effectiveness of the instruction. The website suggests that PLS is now being adopted by companies to enhance work performance. Since I have a hearing disability I gravitate towards visual learning so my individual learning is much different than an audio learner. The other key point identified on the website is that social network learning should be inclusive of all generations. The instruction or social mechanism should take into consideration learner autonomy. The learning community for academics is much different than personal. However, because the two may be interrelated, the learner must adopt some control over their learning environment whether it is social academic or social personal.

Thanks to Todd for mentioning this Flickr photo in the Voice Thread. What do you think of this visual of PLE as a subset of PLN? Do you think it is accurate? Any suggestions for expanding the diagram?

This article in the First Coast News is about how the Lee County School District is limiting teachers use of Facebook with current students. It is a very interesting take on how to use a social network site and learning.

There is a neat video in this blog that explains a PLN's in a really simple way. Very creative and informative.

Abigail- I like this simple, concise definition of a PLN- "the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online." Also, the description at the end of a video regarding the role of the instructor in this type of learning- "learning architect, modeler, learning concierge (I especially like this one!), network sherpa" etc.

Abigail, I am a big fan of the Keep it Simple concept. I do not think that social learning is complicated, in fact I think it allows students to individuate and respond to questions more easily than in a classroom setting. The instructor is an important facilitator in this process because they can structure the learning to meet the needs of the learner and class. Thanks for sharing your post. Brenda

I really like this blog because he talks about how much a personal learning network can help teachers. It gives very simple steps on how to begin a personal learning network and a boat load of resources to use.

Knowing the right hashtags can be like knowing a secret password that lets you explore other people's PLNs, while also getting your own content out and in front of some extra eyeballs. I'd never heard of most of these teacher-related hashtags so these should be a useful way to expand a PLN.

Learn more about how to effectively use Facebook as a learning tool. Most importantly, learn what Facebook isn't in terms of educational use.

Eduglu helps learners connect with one another and form learning communities. Eduglu provides online spaces for groups to learn together. Our social learning platform ships with a number of powerful social learning applications including discussion boards with full email integration (like Google Groups), polls, wikis, and many more. And because it's built on the powerful open source CMS Drupal, creating your own custom learning tools is easy. With Eduglu, it will become extremely easy for anyone to share information throughout your organization. Your learners will use it to post insights, point to good content, ask questions, and tell their fellow learners what they're working on, what they're seeing, and what they're learning.

I somewhat facetiously posted in my class introduction that I would not be "tweetered". I felt it only fair that I should begin my study on a topic for which I have distrust. This article did present an interesting and creative use of Twitter. The applicationn provided the means to accurately record data by having subjects record actions in real time (by tweeting). This gives the observer more accurate information, as there is no need for the subject to recall and reconstruct occurrences from memory. This research was directed toward a broader end of understanding the role of informal learning, the authors called these "learnscapes" as opposed to classroom learning. The lingering impression for me is the creativity in which technology is being applied in support of the redefinition and understanding of learning. It's why I believe this is actually one of the most interesting times to be an educator.

Timothy, glad to see you start your study with Twitter :) I agree with you- this is an interesting application of Twitter for educational purposes. I can also see some possible spin offs that could be used in my institutional setting. We have students who are off campus all over the world during their last term of chiropractic school. Perhaps they could Twitter about what patient conditions they treat each day and post links to where they found information supporting evidence-based practice for those conditions.

This site can be used to help students who are looking to attend a 4 year College find the right school. You will find that it has many search features and cool resources to help prospective college students refine their choice(s) of schools. These days researching schools is an educational experience.

Stephen, this looks like a wonderful resource for a student!

This presentation does nothing more employ multi-media to list 18 names of individuals who are associated with the field of education in various manners.It is short and to the point. What is special, however, is that these 18 names are active members of blogs, wikis and a host of connections. Out of the 18 , I Googled 3 and was quickly transported to several presentations, links and information regarding Google Wave and the importance of using "Backchannels" in the classroom. When I was an undergraduate, I had a professor whose name was Robert Peck. He often commented that "like minds ought to form networks so as to be able communicate easily and often…but how do we make this happen?" Were he alive to see the connectedness of the Ed Tech community he would smile.

Hey Dennis- I appreciate your posts. I'm an old basketball coach and, as such, not so cerebral, but I do try. I read the link with the research evaluating exemplary teachers vs their peers. Interesting work. When reading education research, it is the publishing dates I generally find discouraging. In this case, It is ten years later, have we really moved the ball on any of this? (That's a football coach reference, but, whatever). How many generations of students will pass before we begin to ensure they receive the education that might provide them advantage? Or will America be the lagging country-still presuming standardized tests are evidence of.....heck, anything. ts