Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Johnson, Johnson, and Stanne state in "Cooperative Learning Methods: A meta-analysis," “when students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others” (as citied in Pitler et al, 2007).  Many students are uncomfortable with sharing their thoughts and opinions with others while in the classroom, yet they don’t hesitate to do so when online.  While it is important to teach students about the dangers of posting personal information online, the online forum itself could be a useful cooperative learning tool.  Students are not only familiar with social networking sites, they a comfortable with using them.  Teachers can use this to their advantage to encourage online collaboration with their peers and other members of the community.

Most social networking sites are blocked at our school.   In the past, I’ve had students use templates to create MySpace or Facebook pages historical figures like Gandhi.   They were required to post information about his life, choose friends that Gandhi would approve on based on morals and values, and write blogs or posts about non-violence and India’s fight for independence, and select a song that would represent him.  Students worked in groups to complete this assignment.  They were engaged in the assignment and seemed to learn a great deal about him.  They were also able to make comparisons between Gandhi’s life and their own by comparing the site they created for him with their own personal site. 

While I would say that the assignment was successful, I know it would be even more so if students were actually able to use the real social networking sites to do this.  Unfortunately, most school districts don’t allow students to access these sites.  Like many other forms of technology, the use of social networking sites comes with the possibility that students may misuse them.  Schools should use the technology as an opportunity to teach students how to use the sites appropriately rather than banning them altogether.  Not only could students then use them as learning tools, but they would also be less likely to post sensitive personal information when outside of school.  While these tools can sometimes be a distraction to learning, there are plenty of things in the school environment that can do that.  It doesn’t mean that we should prevent the technology from being used.  School administrators should understand this, as they are often checking their Blackberries or iPhones during meetings. 

Though many schools have yet to welcome them with open arms, social networking tools have the potential to provide students with a familiar forum in which they can collaborate. 

The links and videos below are ideas and strategies for using Facebook in the classroom:

http://www.collegedegree.com/library/college-life/15-facebook-apps-perfect-for-online-education

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/05/100-inspiring-ways-to-use-social-media-in-the-classroom/

 

Resources:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.R., Kuhn, M., & Malenowski, K. . (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.