Category: K-12

Collaboration, Higher Education, K-12, Learning Community, Social Media

Social Media is Here to Stay

Laura Pasquini

Just a reminder that social media is here to stay.  Pretty impressive clip about how social media and online use has evolved in the UK. It would be interesting to see how much social media is being consumed in North America. [REMOVE NOW]

And another classic Social Media Revolution video from 2009…

And recently from 2010…


Hey Educators – how are YOU taking advantage of social media in your learning environments? It’s just not for branding, advertising & selling. We need to utilize this form of media for education NOW.

Collaboration, Higher Education, K-12, Open Education

Get Creative (Commons)

Laura Pasquini

cclogolarge

is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

[They] provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof.

Creative Commons (CC) is quite relevant for all faculty & instructors who put together online course materials for students. It allows for content, such as images, videos, writing and music, to be shared freely and some access rights to the intellectual property. As classrooms expand and more material is shared openly, it is important for educators to be aware of how to use Creative Commons, and the implications for teaching & learning. Here are a few videos that best explain CC.

If you look at the Content Directories of CC is utilized by many companies, and even educational institutions. Some faculty started to challenge the traditional methods of research collection and how intellectual property is shared with others. One faculty shares how to encourage this open education movement in a publication called –  Open Doors and Open Minds.

The recent development and contribution from Creative Commons is the DiscoverEd search engine,  which provides accessible searches for open educational resources. This allows educators to access and share teaching and learning materials in an effective, easy way.

The question is… Wanna Work Together?

K-12, Learning Technologies

Tech Savvy Students Mentor Teachers

Laura Pasquini

How much technology should be in K-12 classrooms?

This was today’s topic on CBC Radio One’s Get Talking this afternoon. Much of this discussion evolved from the Ontario Public School Board Association discussion paper What If?: Technology in the 21st Century Classroom.  This paper reviewed how technology can support and contribute to learning in school.  Many callers shared concerns and questions about the increase of technology in the classroom, with respects to relevance, budget priorities, curriculum needs and instructor knowledge of resources.

Not all listeners  approached the topic from a negative perspective.  It was apparent that technology is thought to be an excellent instructional tool.  One  current example is the “adopt-a-teacher” program at Don Mills Collegiate in the GTA. This program supports the idea of how to utilize knowledge from the digital natives – the students.  Students are able to share their experience with various emerging technologies that can incorporate into the learning experience.

donmills

Walls are coming down between teacher and learner.  The idea of fostering learning from both ends brings learning communities to the forefront of education.

Students find the classroom more ‘relevant’ when they have opportunities to interact with real world experiences and practical learning means. Lets engage our students in the entire learning process.

K-12, Learning Community, Learning Technologies

Social Networks Are for the Kids.

Laura Pasquini

Silly adults. Social networks are for kids (too)!

Although my interests lie in technology use in higher education, I stumbled upon an interesting article, Child-friendly social networking tools, in the eSchool News.

Many child-friendly applications have been created for students in the K-12 realm, which include various security and privacy features to keep educators at ease.  These arenas allow schools to develop online learning communities within their classroom, schools and/or school districts.

compkid

The article describes more specifics about the following tools:

I think an introduction to these types of technologies in school at an early age is excellent. This provides  a great classroom model and hands-on experience for the instruction with various tools, i.e. wikis, blogs, and more! Students learn to design, create, share and interact with their peers online for learning.

Most students in higher education are VERY aware of social networking tools.  The only issue is that many college students would not think to utilize these online technologies to support learning and academic success (unless their current faculty is ‘hip’ to the technology jive).   To best support academic learning in the later years, instructors need to use these online resources during formative, educational years.