by John Dennett
Just because something is getting a sudden burst of attention, does not mean it’s a passing fad. And that’s what we’ve tried to prove about social learning over the past few weeks. (Ex: Myth 1 – Social learning isn’t new!)
So, what gives social learning this broad appeal and staying power? Multiple studies and stories confirm students’ increased immersion in technology gives them the experiences, relationships, and stimulation that helps them stay better engaged in their learning experience, plus these technologies are something they are increasingly unable to live without.
Social learning is not going away, and in fact, it will continue to be bolstered by technology and students’ adoption of it.
Our fourth and final myth busted here: Social Learning Doesn’t Have Broad Appeal
by John Dennett
Playgrounds and roller coasters are just for fun. Social Learning is fun too, but it serves multiple educational purposes and has tangible benefits for both the students and the institutions involved. In today’s classrooms, the idea of social learning is taking hold in a variety of ways. Educators are seeing that social learning may include external elements that could be regarded as ‘just for fun,’ like Facebook, Twitter and blogging, but that really these are beneficial to the learning experience. Experiencing it firsthand demonstrates how the interconnected, interactive nature of social learning amplifies the rate at which content can be shared and digested.
Take a look and see how social learning plays a significant role in the serious endeavor of educating today’s students for Duke University professor, Cathy Davidson. Are her techniques just ‘fun’ or important enhancements to the educational experience?
We’re myth-busting. Click here to read on: Social Learning Is Just for Fun
by John Dennett
Are French fries the same as French toast? Is chocolate milk the same as chocolate cake? Just because two items share similar names (and are delicious), does not make them the same.
Such is the case with Social Learning and Social Media.
I agree with @dpeter who tweeted:
Why does this matter in the classroom? Social learning and social media can exist separately in the educational setting, or can co-exist in support of social learning, but they are not one in the same. Want to dig a bit deeper into the world of Social Learning? Here are some good resources to get you started.
We’re myth-busting. Click here to read on: Social Media Is the Same as Social Learning
by John Dennett
Twitter, Facebook, and Google Hangout – all are new in the last few years. What’s not new, though? Social learning. For centuries, connections have been facilitated through a variety of means, and the aforementioned social tools are nothing more than another way for educators and students to make these connections happen.
Long before hashtags, likes, circles and all the other familiar trappings of social media, there was psychologist Albert Bandura. In the 1970s he established the most widely-recognized theory of social learning, observing three key variables in the social learning context – the learner, the behavior, and the environment – all influencing each other. There have been and continue to be many advantages to social learning. Given the connectedness of today’s learner in a 21st century learning environment, there’s a new direction for social learning. Does Bandura’s definition of social learning still cut it?
We’re myth-busting. Click here to read on.
John Dennett, Director, Product Management, Blackboard Mobile, has spent more than fifteen years as an educational technology professional. Prior to joining the Mobile team in 2011, John worked as a Blackboard Learn Solutions Engineer for more than five years and spent most of those years managing the North American Higher Ed team. Before joining Blackboard in 2005, he worked as a charter team member on MIT’s pivotal OpenCourseWare initiative and previously managed web services and courseware for the University of Colorado at Boulder. Tweet John @jgd3.
by John Dennett
Even as instructors create increasingly rich, deep and comprehensive learning experiences in their online environments, there is a growing challenge to keep students focused on the information and activities key to ensuring their success. With the distractions and noise surrounding their busy off- and online lives bombarding them from all angles, educators are facing a crisis in student engagement. Blackboard is working to help meet this challenge and simplify access to information through Project NG.
Through Project NG we are working on providing students (and instructors, too) an aggregated view of the important activities and deadlines across all the courses they are involved in, making their Blackboard experience more efficient and helping users to be more successful.
Further, this information should be available to students and instructors in channels beyond the Backboard application. Students may check Blackboard once or twice per day, but they may check their smartphones every few minutes and their Facebook pages every hour.