Social media have shown us that people are self-motivated to share information with huge audiences when they are presented with casual, informal spaces to share their ideas and opinions. Media like podcasts, videos and photo collections bring that sense of casualness and informality into the classroom. Better than the formal, text-based books and lectures, these media convey feelings and vulnerabilities that make a lecture feel more like a conversation. Conversations invite participation, and participation invites active learning.
After reading his course blog, (http://blogs.tlt.psu.edu/courses/disruptive/), I was curious to hear how Dr. Scott McDonald integrated social media into his “Disruptive Technologies” course and how receptive his students were to the idea of participating “openly” online. Check out what he had to say:
Understandably, the social media added a layer of complexity to his Disruptive Technology course. In the interview, Dr. McDonald explained how he delivered the lecture while a colleague co-taught by monitoring the background chatter on twitter. Interestingly, the instructors were surprised when twitter not only engaged students in background questions and answers but also kept them in touch after class, so they really got to know each other. I also liked Dr. McDonald’s observation that posting opinions “openly” online for “anybody” to see only seemed to become clear to students when “anybody” started answering back.
Based on Dr. McDonald’s observations, I can see myself continuing to consult feeds like #edchat and #edtech on twitter to crowd-source answers to my own questions. Also I look forward to when “anybody” might change the way I interact online, so I would like to continue blogging on my own. Has anyone in this class experienced what it’s like to hear back from “anybody” on a blog or another Web 2.0 tool?
I thought the interview process went smoothly. I sent Dr. McDonald my main questions in advance so he wasn’t surprised when they came up. I also found myself adding follow up questions when he brought up interesting topics. Audacity was easy to download and use on my mac laptop. I did have some difficulty saving the file as an MP3 and uploading it to the blog, but I Google Searched some instructions and it all worked out. Good old Google!
Creating this podcast helped me understand the feelings and personality captured by an audio medium. The discussion was driven by my curiosity and Dr. McDonald’s excitement about his experience. The podcast, (for those who listen to it), will bring a bit of casualness and informality into this otherwise formal, text-based blog. Do you agree that casualness encourages conversation? It seems like that feeling has been a long-time coming for online, but now that it is being facilitated by social media and Web 2.0 tools, more conversations may start happening.
Jessie, I thought your interview with Scott was really nice — informative and indepth in a lot of ways. I liked a lot of what Scott mentioned in terms of actually needing to engage with tools to understand how they affect learning, teaching, privacy, use, openness, etc., — that, to me, is really a pivotal concept. I also enjoyed hearing about the course from his perspective, since I’ve had students who’ve taken the course before and have heard their perspectives, so this provides a nice holistic view. One of the takeaways I got was the notion that different tools can be important in different ways and in unexpected ways — I need to keep that in mind myself. Thanks for a great conversation!
Everyone’s responses have all been so unique and thoughtful. I really appreciate them.
Keith – You mentioned that the disruptive technologies like twitter, youtube and moocs did not entirely overthrow existing systems, but they gave users more choices. Some of us embrace change easier than others, and those who do are able to benefit. I wonder, what benefits could come from the new security & employer privacy laws?
Lindsay – Thanks for sharing your experience of hearing back from “anybody”. I guess I kind of relate when I post images on facebook and people I don’t even know comment on them. That is cool. I imagine being “famous” online will take work and dedication, sort of like being a rock star. It’s a relatively untapped popularity stream, but some people are starting to do it, like TED talks, for example.
Meredith – I always like your comments because they are rooted in practice. Growing up, I also remember it being a faux-pas to “collaborate” on a tests, but going back to a video by John Seely Brown about the one room school house,
… we all used to learn by sharing. What benefits have we found to keeping learning isolated to the individuals?
Rich – You brought up the dynamic impact of a movie compared to a book (about the history of Rome for example). Different users may choose one medium over the other, but when the users are students, I wonder, is choice better or is structure better? For example, an instructor could say watch, listen to, or read the lesson on “Rome”. Would that present too many choices and overwhelm the learner or would it empower them?
Media online presents more opportunities for creating, connecting and learning. The theme seems to be, should we encourage the media sharing or should we limit it to preserve an existing structure?
I like the idea of anyone commenting on a blog and it makes the students realize a sense of potential outside the classroom. I like how you mentioned about podcast teaching being not like that of a book teaching. Just as I believe movies in some cases are better then books because you can truly see the emotion the author puts into a line the same can be said about a teacher on a podcast. What I mean by this is that emotion can be expressed just as you stated putting emphasis on certain subjects more so than others to help the teacher fully emphasis an idea. I really liked the interview and the idea of the co-instructor, were the students made aware of the second instructor? I really liked in your interview how he really seemed to explain a history and growth of web 2.0 tools and the ongoing growth of varying technologies, great interview
.
Hey!
I like how you described these media uses as casual, or informal. Looking at this through a students’ eyes, it takes the pressure off the student to get it perfect the first time around. Great podcast. He seems like he really makes learning with technology engaging and a huge support for learning. I liked learning about his notion of openness. Usually we tell students not to look at the paper next to them in class, to understand this on their own. With the idea of sharing on social media, we are opening ourselves up to criticism and reviews to help us edit our understanding.
Thanks!
Hi Jessie,
I thought I would pop over from Group 3 and see what you’re thinking this week. 🙂 I like your blog format for one!
And two, I’m so glad I picked your blog at random because I was super excited to hear Dr. McDonald’s interview. I really wanted to take his Disruptive Technologies course and was very upset when Cole left Penn State and the course was put on hold for a bit. I do like all this thoughts on social media and “openness.” And I loved his statement about “it’s one thing to build an online class, it’s another to take one and really know what they’re like.” I think this experience of taking an online class (and the others I’ve taken with completely different formats) will prepare me better than anything I could read or study about “efficient online classes.”
To answer your question, I have quasi-experience with “anybody” responding to my blog. I have had several people comment on my blog posts on my personal website. Those people could have been “anybody.” Now in all honesty, they were my friends. But I do know my website has been viewed by “anybodies,” much more than just my friends. I have also had some “anybodies” start following me on Twitter that surprised me and that was pretty cool.
Hi Jessie,
In retrospect, I think it is interesting how the emerging technologies of 2006/2007 (Twitter, YouTube, MOOCs) were all predicted to be major disrupters that would eliminate things like Television; YouTube was going to replace it, and Universities; MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses would replace universities as institutions of higher learning.
It was interesting that you got onto the subject of privacy issues. My interviewee works in the internet security industry and he advised me around 15 states are in the process of passing privacy laws that will limit prospective employers from accessing your profiles on places like LinkedIn. It’s near the end; I’d say near the 9 or 10 minute mark in case you wanted to listen to that portion of my interview.
I think this class is providing an interesting way to look at some of the social media tools and seeing how they are being used in unexpected ways. The example that sticks in my mind is the Maryland school administrator using Twitter to build a learning network of other school administrators to figure out ways of integrating technology into everyday curriculum.
I also found it interesting that students were using Twitter to ask each other questions or ask him and his co-instructor questions in the class that Dr. McDonald was referencing during the interview.
Overall, it certainly sounds like Dr. McDonald has seen quite a few interesting things happening in his class in the context of Web 2.0 tools being used and integrated into the classroom.
Thanks!
Keith