Chapter 21

Chapter 21
Social Media as a Context for
Connected Learning

Connected Learning
• Theoretical Foundations
• Using the Method
• Potential Problems
• Conclusion

Connected Learning
• Clayton Christensen proposes that bigger,
better and more and more sophisticated
incremental improvement is not good.
• In contrast, institutions that embrace
disruptive change and fundamentally “change
their DNA” by becoming more nimble and
responsive will survive and thrive

Connected Learning
• As we incorporate the newest technologies
into our teaching, how can we know if we are
making a significant difference that improves
learning instead of simply swapping a digital
teaching tool for its analog predecessor?

Connected Learning
• LMSs – Learning Management Systems were
developed in the early 1990s
– Provide faculty and students with a suite of
password-protected tools especially designed for
learning contexts
– Represented a shift in using technology as a
discrete tool to technology as an online place where
learning could happen
– Provides a virtual classroom
– Can be expensive

Connected Learning
• There is a need for more flexibility to
accommodate a wider range of learning
preferences and scenarios, and less complexity
to shorten the learning curve and lower
barriers to entry.
• Web 2.0 brought social media to life with tools
that are visually engaging, elegantly designed
and easy to use.

Connected Learning
• Social media apps open up possibilities for
learning that engage all types of students in
active and collaborative work.
– Have a strong visual component
– Designed to support networking between
users (vs. teacher directed LMS)
– Shift from information to connections

Connected Learning
• “When many of us started in this field we were excited about the
possibilities of e-learning, and we still are, but e-learning may be a
term and a concept that’s limited by history and perception …
Initially e-learning was about the digital dissemination of
information. We were in the information age, and e-learning
allowed us to get more information faster and more conveniently.
However, we’ve moved beyond the information age; we are in the
connected age. Everyone and everything is connected. Anyone can
participate, and it isn’t just about being face-to-face or online, it’s
a continuum … What does e-learning look like when it shifts from
being about information to being about connections? The next
step in next generation learning is connected learning. (Oblinger,
2013)

Theoretical Foundations
• How can educators avail themselves of
emerging technologies without sacrificing
precious learning time with their students?
– Many want to select a tool and determine its
educational use, this is inefficient and
ineffective
– Need to develop courses and assignments
in response to and as an investigation of
students’ learning needs and developing
abilities.

• A problem-based approach helps faculty select
emerging technologies that disrupt or
transcend the confines of course-based
learning in a way that is both meaningful and
productive

• The disruptive use of emerging technology in
education is grounded in a vision for learning
that:
– Is responsive to learners’ intellectual and
social needs.
– Fosters connections between the course at
hand and students’ life experiences (e.g.,
friends, family, regional, ethnic, and cultural
affinity groups).

that:
– Creates a bridge between the course and
students’ larger learning contexts (e.g., other
courses, internships, service learning, and
co-ops).

that:
– Taps into diverse preferences and
perspectives, allowing students to play to
their strengths as they grapple with course
concepts.
– Helps students achieve deeper conceptual
understanding and develop core capabilities
in relationship to the course topic or
discipline.

• Expanded Approaches to Learning
– Historically, higher education has best
served students who learned best through
reading, listening to lectures, note taking,
and sequential problem solving such as
mathematical calculation.
– Logic dictates that if there is more than one
way to be smart, there should also be more
than one way to learn and be taught.

• Four-part model which is useful in exploring the
relevance of social media for higher education:
1. Reflective and active
• Reflective involves learning by thinking.
• Active involves learning by doing.
2. Sensing and intuitive
• Sensing involves learning by facts and verifiable
experience.
• Intuitive involves learning through innovation
and possibility thinking.

• Four-part model which is useful in exploring
the relevance of social media for higher
education:
3. Verbal and visual
• Verbal involves learning through the
written and spoken word.
• Visual involves learning through images,
diagrams, and timelines.

• Four-part model which is useful in exploring
the relevance of social media for higher
education:
4. Sequential and global
• Sequential involves drawing on details
and facts to construct larger
understanding.
• Global involves starting with the big
picture and then analyzing the whole to
understand the sum of its parts.

Using the Method
• Begin by surveying the needs of users, develop
a spec (specifications document that describes
what the product needs to be able to do)
• Questions to ask
– What should my students know and
understand by the end of the course (or
assignment or module)?
– Which skills or capabilities, academic or
disciplinary, are essential to achieving the
goals for learning?

Using the Method
– What is the problem (à la Randy Bass) that I
am trying to solve—which of the goals for
learning have been difficult for learners to
achieve when I taught this course in the
past?
– What do I want for myself and for my
students? For example, you may want to
obtain a clearer picture of students’ thought
processes, or you may want your students to
connect course concepts to everyday life.

Using the Method
– By the end of the learning sequence, which
evidence will I and my students need to be
confident that learning goals have been
achieved? Along the way, which evidence
would help me and my students identify
trouble spots to address areas of concern
and make adjustments as necessary?

Using the Method
– Which modes of learning are particularly
relevant to the topic or leaning goals? For
example, epidemiology may lend itself to
mapping, clinical decision making to visual
and other data analysis, and cultural
competence or medical ethics to multimedia
storytelling (Matthews-DeNatale, 2008).

Using the Method
• The answers to these question provide a spec that can
be used in seeking out emerging technologies that best
align with the learning scenario.
• Can also be called learning design
• Educase series “7 Things You Should Know About…”
provide info on a variety of tools and practices
• Horizon Report – an annual digest of technologies that
are likely to have a significant impact on teaching and
learning in the near future,

Potential Problems
• The tools can be confusing, intimidating and scary.
• Can also be too easy to use, causing people to post
information that they should not.
• Emerging technologies come with no guarantee of
backups, security, or even ongoing existence
• Unlike learning management systems, social media
tools come unbundled, are rarely supported at the
institutional level, and therefore place the onus for
technical orientation and support on the teacher.

Potential Problems
• When using emerging technologies the
students experience each one as a different
tool
• One strategy is to use the LMS as a portal or
door through which students can access all
other tools used in the class.

Conclusion
• Those who want to incorporate emerging
technologies into their teaching are cautioned
to focus on pedagogy first

Chapter 21

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