Gunhold ryan chapter submission final

Gunhold ryan chapter submission final

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  1 Ryan Gunhold Principal Faculty CityUniversity of Seattle 2015 Faculty Conference Paper & Chapter Final “A Kaleidoscope of Learning – Improving Student Engagement through Social Innovation”
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  2 Abstract: The nature andface of the educational landscape continues to change and one of the ongoing challenges remains - how to best integrate social technologies as a tool for engaging learners in meaningful ways. Additionally, with a growing population of Generation X and Y students, the traditional forms of learning in the classroom have taken a backseat to the more engaging means of online, community, and “social learning”. This chapter will introduce the emergence of social learning, and will provide a list of innovative tools which can be used to improve student engagement, enhance instructional strategies, and encourage new learning heading into the future. Introduction – Technology provides a view into the Future Remember when it was once noted, “Isn’t that new LMS great?” Or when the realization of online learning became a reality? Well, that future is now here and the key benefits abound. The ability to reach a global audience and to engage in using technology provides more avenues to success than ever before. Thankfully, many of the resources provided from schools now include technical choices which can be quite influential with instruction, but can also be a hindrance if faculty and instructors are not well versed in how to use them. For example, faculty members at City University of Seattle, work to provide learning success early on through the use of a progressive Learning Model, templated course shells, and a personal online learning environment where faculty can experiment
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  3 with new learningstrategies and have them critiqued by a faculty community. Furthermore, at a university where learning innovation is encouraged, faculty can have a dramatic impact on student engagement using many of these online learning tools, approaches, and strategies. Thankfully, this is the nature of online learning that is emerging globally. As faculty look forth into the future with these dynamic learning tools, what does the future of learning look like? What key actions can faculty focus on to push the borders of what’s possible to even greater heights? Without question, this is one of the most exciting times in education; social learning can help set the stage better in learning environments to ensure the technical use of instruction is making a strong impact. The following are some of the most successful social tools instructors are using in online learning environments. Why have Social Technologies become the new Wave of Learning? It has become common place to note that there have been several evolutions that have happened in learning over the course of the past few decades. In Josh Bersin’s noted diagram below we see an evolution of learning dating back to the 1980s and 1990s where we saw the rise of computer based training – one of the first forms of technology integration using formal instruction. At the turn of the century the e-Learning era emerged, and today we see the rise of blended and informal learning making great advancements in academic and business realms (Bersin, 2009). With so many technical advancements it has become harder than ever to determine a good prescription for knowing, “When is the right time to introduce new technologies?” In the classroom there is great consideration occurring that focuses on improving ways to engage
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  4 students in meaningfulways while encouraging the use of those new technologies – especially in a work world that is now demanding those components within an employee’s learning plan. To take advantage of key technologies, several educators like Edudemic’s Pulkit have prepared a list of simple social tools that have had the strongest success (Pulkit, 2014). The following section will review those options. Using Social Tools to Benefit Learning Why does social learning work? Or does it work? Studies show that bringing social learning into the classroom can greatly improve academic achievement (Fewkes & McCabe, 2012). There is considerable evidence that shows that the Learning Continuum can greatly be enhanced using social learning when early, ongoing, and simple knowledge sharing tools are established early on in the course (Kabilan et al., 2010). Additionally, social learning allows for a greater depth of resources to be introduced into the course curriculum and for use with online instruction.
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  5 Social learning alsobrings strong consideration for the workplace as it follows a global trend that uses social learning as a key component in helping to encourage knowledge and information sharing across organizations (2020 Workplace, 2010). The following is a list of the most successful social tools used within online learning environments or integrated into formal instruction as described below: • Integrated Use of Videos – use of videos during instruction, or as an alternative to written and/or visual diagrams; • SlideShare and other Doc sharing tools – use of templates and previous models of learning to create an improved framework of understanding for the learner and increased collaboration within a team, or to share publically; • Group Collaboration on Skype and Google Hangouts - group sharing and activities are greatly improved through simple collaboration tools, and; • Community Learning Integration – setting up a community to establish ongoing learning throughout a learning path, or during the exploration of various business or learning processes. These innovative social tools and the technologies that make up a new dynamic form of learning will be explored further in the following section along with considerations for the right time to introduce and implement them. What Makes this Social Learning Thing Work? Social learning works for many students for a number of reasons. First, the demographic of students is becoming “more diverse”. As a result, “Social media can bridge the diversity that exists
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  6 in classrooms byestablishing a neutral zone in which students can interact with one another” (Junco et al., 2011). Of all of these methods one that has been highly impactful for students is the inclusion of video into formal instruction. True, the use of video can be integrated into course resources as they are now used on learning management systems like BlackBoard, or provided as an additional resource to post within Discussion Boards. Regardless of the use, the ability to demonstrate concepts, share animated demonstrations, or to inspire a class has been greatly enhanced through the creation of “playlists” that demonstrate learning through the eyes of the student. Additionally, the use of SlideShare or other document sharing tools has greatly increased presentation sharing in its ease of use, its capacity to share knowledge share across the web, and its ability remove security barriers that might arise due to “conflicting technologies”. The ability for students to share resources has hit an all-time high evident in a recent Social Network Analysis Report noting the increase of users (60 million) are concentrated to college level students (2012). Having teams online, more and more students are doing “meetups” by way of Skype or Google Hangouts. There are numerous other tools available to accomplish this task, but due to the low cost (free) for the basic use of this product, it makes for faster adoption along with its integrated use in other social platforms (Skype with Facebook, and Hangouts with Google +). Finally, though students are asked to use technology to retrieve and look for additional references, resources, or in the creation of project based work, perhaps the most overlooked aspect of social learning is the use of community groups. These can be quite vast, but some of the most popular ones can be found within social platforms like “LinkedIn Groups” or “Yammer Groups”, and can serve to gain critical “insider knowledge” through experienced professionals already in the field.
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  7 Additionally, students whoare actively involved in community groups have a far greater grasp of the professional knowledge needed to be successful in the field and continue to practice collaboration even in their own learning process (Hurt et al., 2012). Challenges with Social Learning Use Instructors who may not be aware of social learning tools, will want to become familiar with them. One of the number one reasons social learning integration fails comes when the instructors does not provide the right resources or encouragement necessary to support student usage and learning (Väljataga & Fiedler, 2009). Simply exploring these tools during a course will not likely help students, but rather, instructors should be well-versed in how to use these tools, and when the best timing for each one is suitable to the learner. Additional studies have shown that social media can provide too much stimulation and therefore can distract students from completing their coursework (Hurt et al., 2012). Therefore, it is important to model the use of these tools during instruction and provide adequate class time for students to explore and better understand the advantage of using these tools. Conclusion There are a lot of technology tools that can be used to enhance the learning experience, but nothing may have as dramatic of an impact as the use of the social learning tools, many of which are described in this chapter. In online instruction and formal classwork, many feel it is essential that groups are moving and learning together through processes and the use of these tools helps to not only integrate improved instructional experiences better, but also provides new approaches that are emerging through all communities across the globe. Guess its time to get social.
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  8 In essence, sociallearning moves instruction into the new classroom of the future – “The Learning Cloud”. On that journey, using some of these basic social tools will help students to be more engaged in the course, help to add greater relevance to instruction, and will better prepare students for the new learning environments of the future.
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  9 References 2012 Social NetworkAnalysis Report – Demographic – Geographic and Search Data Revealed, Retrieved on march 19, 2015., http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media- stats/2012-social-network-analysis-report/#Slideshare Effects of Student Engagement with Social Media on Student Learning: A Review of Literature, retrieved on March 3, 2015, http://www.studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Summer_2013/EffectsOfStudentEngagementWit hSocialMedia.html Fewkes, A. M., & McCabe, M. (2012). Facebook: Learning tool or distraction? Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(3), 92-98. Heafner, T. L., & Friedman, A. M. (2008). Wikis and constructivism in secondary social studies: Fostering a deeper understanding. Computers in the Schools, 25, 288-302. Hurt, N. E., Moss, G. S., Bradley, C. L., Larson, L. R., Lovelace, M. D., Prevost, L. B., … Camus, M. S. (2012). The ‘Facebook’ effect: College students’ perceptions of online discussions in the age of social networking. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(2), 1-24.
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  10 Kabilan, M. K.,Ahmad, N., & Abidin, M. J. Z. (2010). Facebook: An online environment for learning of English in institutions of higher education? Internet and Higher Education, 13, 179-187. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.07.003 Kuh, G. D. (1993). In their own words: What students learn outside the classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 30, 277-304. Pulkit, How to Use Social Media in Education, Retrieved on March 19, 2015., http://www.edudemic.com/social-media-in-education-2/ Shift 2020 – How technology will Impact our Future, retrieved on March 3, 2015, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rudydewaele/shift-2020-how-technology-will- impact-our-future Väljataga, T., & Fiedler, S. (2009). Supporting students to self-direct intentional learning projects with social media. Educational Technology and Society, 12(3), 58-69. Workplace 2020 - How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today, retrieved on March 3, 2015, http://ascendislearning.com/sites/default/files/2020-workplace-meister-e.pdf.
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  11 Yu, A. Y.,Tian, S. W., Vogel, D., & Kwok, R. C. (2010). Can learning be virtually boosted?: An investigation of online social networking impacts. Computers & Education, 55, 1494- 1503.