My routine is pretty simple. Each afternoon as I enter the house, I walk to the kitchen with my lunchbox, iPhone and coffee mug in hand, set them on the counter, check for phone messages with a glance at the phone, stand in the crooked corner of the kitchen by the fruitbowl, grab my iPhone and … get onto Facebook. I have to do it.
While some could probably make a good argument that I suffer from Facebook addiction, I prefer to see it as me participating in Social Constructivism which, according to Dr. Orey, says that “meaningful learning occurs when individuals are engaged in social activities” (Orey, 2001). I know when I get onto Facebook I am learning not only what my “friends” are doing, but I also find out which part of the country seems to have a lot of flu, how various sports teams are doing, and a myriad of other informational tidbits, dropped into posts by other Facebook users. My mother, aunt and I also used Facebook to plan our trip around Alaska last summer, since we could post links and share conversations between all of us easily.
Checking out the King Salmon caught during our summer vacation.
I don’t think my use of social learning tools stops at Facebook. No, I would also have to put Twitter on that list. I have already sung the praises of Twitter as a professional development tool in a previous post, but I have to say again that it is an important learning tool. Our world today is filled with so much information that it can be overwhelming, and, as George Siemens noted, people need help sorting through all of that information (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Twitter allows people to gain new information, debate it, comment upon it, and eventually decide if they like it, don’t like it, or need to change their minds. If Connectivism says that people create meaning through networks of information, and use other people to help make sense of that information (Orey, 2001), then Twitter seems to be the ultimate Connectivism tool.
There is no doubt that I could go on and on about how I use social networking tools as a teacher/learner, but it is also important to look at these types of tools from a student perspective. How can we help our students engage each other and learn from one another?
At my district, students will not be using Facebook, Twitter, or many other popular social networking sites in the near future, since those sites are currently blocked. Yet there are other methods I can use as a teacher. Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski note that students can benefit from cooperative learning (Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Simply having students work in groups gives them a chance to engage with each other through debating, explaining, questioning, and eventually learning, which are the foundations of Social Constructivism (Orey, 2001). At the same time, those debates, explanations, and questions allow students to take in new information and decide if it is still important. They allow students to change their minds, which is a hallmark of Connectivism (Orey, 2001).
Even setting Facebook and Twitter off to the side, there are other technology resources available to help students make connections between others and information. Of course there are the tried and true wikis and blogs, which have been discussed so often, but there are also some other tools. Webquests can allow students to work together while exploring information on the Internet. Second Life, while seeming a bit over the top for my 4th grade students, allows students to create alternate personas which can then interact on Second Life in educational ways.
Our world is changing quickly, and I know there will be new tools available to use to make connections, sift through information, and learn. I also know that not all of those tools will be available to my students, but as long as I give my students opportunities to work with others, I will be helping them make sense of the world and learn.
In the meantime, I will also be exploring these tools as a teacher, mother and general member of society. I will continue to learn from others, laugh, cry, get angry, change my mind, and try to make sense of all that is out there. Maybe I’ll need to build a seat in my corner of the kitchen.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
