PIDP 3240 Assignment #2--Tech and Trends Articles and Web 2.0 Tool

PIDP 3240 Assignment #2—October 22/2012

Technology and Trends in Education

Article #1

How social media can and should impact higher education

Social Media is in use like never before, and shows no signs of relenting.  Since their inception, online tools such as Skype, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs and wikis have become part of our daily lives and as such a fundamental partner in the classroom.  When a survey of almost 1000 colleges and university members across the nation (US) was completed, more than 80% of those questioned used social media in some form, with half of those again using it in their classrooms.  Using social networks to communicate with students or wikis and blogs during actual class time was the most common form. Not limited to being used by the newest generation of teachers, those with over 20 years of teaching experience were shown to use social media just as much as their younger peers. 

Advantages to social media in the classroom could include; higher levels of student interest; more student engagement; students being responsible to a greater extent for their own education.   

Disadvantages may be students who do not have access to the latest technology; incurring further costs to education with faster computers.  Will using social media by the instructor be on his or her own time, resulting in more work without pay?  What about the line between personal and professional relationships in the class?  While social media may be here to stay, do we want to further distance ourselves in the classroom and the personal relationship of teaching? 

Article #2

Learning 2.0- The Impact of Social Media on Learning in Europe

This article or Policy Brief was quite in-depth and focuses on the use of the internet in Europe, its usage in households and for what purpose.  The findings of the study showed that only 5% of Europeans used the internet for education, with the exception of Finland and Belgium being as high as 18%. While the study showed the internet was being used to educate informally for purposes such as banking, ordering goods or dealing with public authorities, its use in formal education was lagging far behind.  With an average of 57% of the population using the internet for sending and receiving e-mail, its usefulness has been established but not fully exploited.  With social media being rapidly adopted by the population this study set out to pinpoint how to encourage institutions in their support of social media and its vast potential. Benefits pinpointed included;

1)            Access to a huge variety of learning content, often free, that encourages lifelong learning and contributes to equality and inclusion of the people;

2)            Users can create their own content and publish it on-line giving rise to a huge resource of user generated content; 

3)            Social media connects learners with each other, along with experts, teachers and peers; 

4)            Collaboration between users with respect to areas of interest, projects and common objectives.

These factors then help to create;

1)            Technological innovation

2)            Pedagogical innovation

3)            Organizational innovation

Web 2.0 Tool

The web 2.0 tool I found to be quite helpful was called Quizlet.  Quizlet uses the principle of electronic flashcards to help students study.  A term may be on one side, with the explanation/definition on the other.  I have been a big fan of flashcards since my college years, moving through university and encourage my students to use them in the courses I teach.  Due to the sheer amount of terminology, acronyms and new subject matter discussed weekly, flashcards are a simple and effective way to learn a variety of information.  Available on your computer or iPhone, Quizlet is useful for teachers and students.  It covers topics from elementary, through high school and into college and university.  Topics range from vocabulary, languages, history, art, computers, banking, medicine, biology, math and more.  Teachers and students can also create and make their own customized electronic flashcards.

References

Blankenship, M., (2011). Article Title. How social media can and should impact higher education, Education Digest, v. 76, no. 7, pp. 39.             

Ala-Mutka, K., Punie, Y., Redecker, C., (2010). Article Title. The Impact of Social Media on Learning in Europe, Joint Research Center —Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, JRC 56958.

http://quizlet.com/