Though I've somewhat covered this in another post, I'll also say it here ... and try to concentrate more on my personal learning, than what I encourage students to do.
Over the past few years, I have found Twitter more and more useful; initially i didn't see the point of it; I set up my account when I first heard about it, in March 2007, it wasn't really until about November 2008 that I really saw the point of it - when I was at a conference (about Second Life) and it was being used as a back channel. Now I'm using it a lot - the vast majority of my contacts are work related & I use it to both ask questions and to keep abreast of new ideas, recent research etc. (And very occasionally to discuss coffee!)
I've used Google Docs (and Zoho, which I think is technically superior) with colleagues over the years to collaborate on conference proposals etc., though it's a bit of a fiddle, because they often have quite strict formatting requirements - so often it's good to get the ideas, even if then we just download it as plain text & reformat.
I've used SecondLife with students - though don't really like it myself, but I know that a lot of students find it useful; however, that's 'teaching' rather than learning, as I'd far rather not use it myself!
I also think that some tools that are branded 'social' can be very useful as personal tools - not connecting with anyone, but using their features. For example, I've got two blogs - one that I share the URL of, and one that I keep primarily for myself; I've similarly put a server/wiki on a USB stick so that I can keep structured notes - and have access to it from multiple computers. (A bit like OneNote)
Emma
thanks for sharing with us!
I use Google docs for many projects, both school projects and work projects for my own personal notes or collaborative notes.. I have never use Zoho before but I will definitely check it out (great info, thanks!). I like to use Google docs because I can access my notes from any computer anywhere and have others to look and collaborate in one file.
In one of the group project however, we use Google docs to create draft for our group report and for some reason, Google docs crashed and we cannot retrieve the copy of our report.
Even after this experience, I still use Google docs for its efficiency, but I try to back up as much as possible and try to be less dependant to only one tools just for safety reason.
I have never use SecondLife before though I learn from one of my courses about collaborative concert from various artists done in SecondLife. Can you elaborate more how you use SecondLife for teaching and why it's more into teaching rather than learning?
Hilda
Isn't SecondLife a video game similar to Sims? Do you see any complications of using SecondLife such as breach of privacy between yourself and the students?
I'm very curious because its a concept I have never heard of. Perhaps this differs from institution to institution.
Hello Hilda,
I haven't used social media when instructing, but I have used various social applications when working on group projects with colleagues located in different cities, and also when involved in team projects when studying.
Googledocs was useful in both of the above instances to asynchronously update portions of the project that had been assigned to me. I seem to recall that content could get overwritten or lost when a group of us were working on the same document synchronously. There was another application, similar to Googledocs, that a group of us used for a team study project and I seem to recall that the 'free' application was changed or withdrawn part way through our project, which caused some consternation. I have also used Basecamp for group project work amongst peers.
I have dabbled with blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but feel I would like to know more about controlling how much of my information goes 'public'.
Second Life is an application that I have also spent some time exploring, but did not do much socializing with other avatars. I can certainly see its potential for students participating in trades and applied applications where it would be difficult for an activity to be carried out in a classroom. I also enjoyed attending conferences in this environment.
Finally, I was involved in a project to develop a handbook for faculty to help students consider their responsibility when using social 3rd party web-based applications, and also for faculty to remain in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the handbook is available from the BCcampus SOL*R repository). I think there might be an element of concern and fear amongst faculty about being in compliance and that this may detract from their more widely using 3rd party applications for teaching and learning activities.
Judy
http://www.penn-olson.com/2009/08/01/5-google-docs-surprises/
There are other cool items you can do with googledocs as well.
I thought I'd share the link for an article on a recent survey conducted by Pearson. It has some interesting points that include:
- "More than three-quarters of all faculty visited a social media site within the past month for personal use, and nearly one-half posted some content during that period.
- Faculty with more than 20 years of teaching experience are less likely to visit and less likely to post than are faculty with less than five years of teaching experience.
- Just over 90 percent of faculty use social media either for professional purposes or in their classes—or both, although in some cases the frequency is only monthly (20 percent) or rarely (19 percent).
- Nearly two-thirds of faculty have used social media in their courses— either during class or as part of an assignment— and those who teach online are more likely to do so." ...
...However, despite the broad awareness and varied use of social media, many faculty are unconvinced it has a place in the college classroom and have concerns regarding its instructional value, privacy, and the time commitment. " (Bart, M., "Survey Says 80 Percent of Faculty Use Social Media in Their Teaching", Faculty Focus: Trends in Higher Education, April 22, 2011, downloaded from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/trends-in-higher-education/survey-says-80-percent-of-faculty-use-social-media-in-their-teaching/).
It would be great to hear your thoughts.
Judy