Making Connections
Take a look at this short video. So I saw this video on Twitter yesterday (thanks to Alec Couros and Steve Ransom). It really spoke to me. Connections are so important. Watch the video again and look at the different emotions on the faces of the folks. Now take the idea of connecting and turn it virtual. The point is social networking is less about networking and more about social. Twitter isn't the only way that happens. The point is, we can't go through our professional careers alone. So take a risk like the folks in the video. Go out and hug the bear.
The role of Twitter in Personal Learning Networks
My Masters thesis (the full title is The Twitter experience : the role of Twitter in the formation and maintenance of personal learning networks) is now public in the DSpace archives at Royal Roads University. Here is the abstract: This qualitative phenomenological study involving in-depth interviews with seven educators in K-12 and higher education examines the role that the microblogging service Twitter plays in the formation and development of Personal Learning Networks (PLN) among educators. A double hermeneutic data analysis shows that Twitter plays a role in the formation and development of PLNs by allowing educators to; engage in consistent and sustained dialogue with their PLN, access the collective knowledge of their PLN, amplify and promote more complex thoughts and ideas to a large audience, and expand their PLN using features unique to Twitter. First, to the 7 participants in the study, thank you for your time, your voices and your stories.
Logo & Brand
Social Collaboration…
The Collaboration Pyramid by oscarberg, on Flickr The Collaboration Pyramid offers a great visual to dive deeper into the nature of authentic collaboration and optimized production. In traditional team-based collaborative models we experience the “form, storm, norm and perform” process, and it has proved to be very useful in the context of team effectiveness, but perhaps leaves a bit of a void in the area of personal responsibility, or individual motivation to make a meaningful contribution to the team. The Collaboration Pyramid displays a broader platform to support a different context for collaboration that may eventually lead to more authentic and meaningful personal investment in the team process. I think social collaboration as framed in the diagram is closely related to the concept of morphic resonance. morphic resonance [ˈmɔːfɪk] n This act of becoming visible and participating as a receiver creates possibility in teaching and learning.
Dear Email, it’s over: A breakup letter for the Digital Age
Dear Email, We made it through the holidays together, but I think we both know that our relationship just isn’t working. As hard as this is to say—it’s over—we have to break up. First let me just say, E, I will always have feelings for you, and you know you’ll always have a special place in my heart. It was such an exciting time. Once I graduated, you even helped me get my first job. Then things started to change between us. Also—and I know I said I forgave you for this—but remember the time you sent me that really bad virus and I lost everything on my computer? These days, at work and at home, you’ve become really hard to control. There are some things about you I can never change. Although you’re not harming trees, you’re costly in other ways. You should also know that I become involved with someone new. I know this is painful for you. I wish you all the best. Sincerely, Andrea A version of this letter first appeared on the author’s blog Brie Moon.
The best Presentation on Social Learning and the New Role for Educators | Trends in eLearning & mLearning
I’m fascinated by the impact Social Media has had on just about everything we do, including how we learn and how we share knowledge with our peers. It’s no exaggeration to say that we are now learning something new all the time, from just about anywhere there’s a connection, and through just about any mobile device. I can’t think of a better time in history to be alive than now. Some people may call this Social Learning, or Informal Learning, I just call it Learning. Last week I was on SlideShare.net looking for a good presentation on Social Learning that would inspire me and I came across this one by TribalCafe and I was extremely impressed with it. There is one slide in particular that caught my eye, entitled ‘The New Role in Education.’ Social Media changes everything for Educators, it’s a revolution that takes us from being passive content consumers, who sit on the sidelines, to being passionate producers of information we share with our learners.
keynotetweet - A simple Applescript Application for automatically sending tweets from Apple Keynote during a presentation
This simple piece provides the capacity for speaker or presenter to to participate in the backchannel of a talk or conference session by integrating live 'tweets' into an Apple Keynote presentation. Simply add text inside the tags [twitter] and [/twitter] in the presenter notes section of a slide and when that slide comes up in the presentation the script will grab that text and send it to Twitter on your behalf. Here are the details: The software works with Keynote (on a Mac) but not with Powerpoint.
A New Pedagogy is Emerging...And Online Learning is a Key Contributing Factor
In all the discussion about learning management systems, open educational resources (OERs), massive open online courses (MOOCs), and the benefits and challenges of online learning, perhaps the most important issues concern how technology is changing the way we teach and - more importantly - the way students learn. For want of a better term, we call this “pedagogy.” What is clear is that major changes in the way we teach post-secondary students are being triggered by online learning and the new technologies that increase flexibility in, and access to, post-secondary education. In looking at what these pedagogical changes are and their implications for students, faculty, staff, and institutions, we consider: What drives the development of this new pedagogy? Changes in society, student expectations, and technology are motivating innovative university and college faculty and instructors to re-think pedagogy and teaching methods. New Demands of a Knowledge-Based Society New Student Expectations
