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Social Networks as Learning Networks

Social Networks as Learning Networks. Garrison Forest School October 8, 2009. Susan Davis (Sulu Dezno in SL) Dean of Faculty The Chinquapin School Highlands, TX. Larry Kahn (Galt Jefferson in SL) Director of Academic and Information Technology The Kinkaid School Houston, TX. Larry’s Story.

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Social Networks as Learning Networks

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  1. Social Networks as Learning Networks Garrison Forest School October 8, 2009

  2. Susan Davis(Sulu Dezno in SL)Dean of FacultyThe Chinquapin SchoolHighlands, TX

  3. Larry Kahn(Galt Jefferson in SL)Director of Academic and Information TechnologyThe Kinkaid SchoolHouston, TX

  4. Larry’s Story • I started as an IT Director. IT Directors are generally VERY conservative. • Posting on ISED (swimming pool analogy) got me thinking… • My responsibilities have become increasingly more academic… • Looked at the research... • Joined Education based networks... Classroom 2.0, NAIS, Independent School Educators network

  5. PLP experience gave me chance to lean into my discomfort… • Joined more general networks...Facebook, LinkedIn, Second Life

  6. Why are social networks valuable as learning environments for teachers?

  7. History • Sociologists have been studying how people network socially since at least the 1930s. • As early as the 1980s social networking began appearing on the Internet. • Sites took off in 2002-2004 with the creation of Friendster, MySpace, Bebo, and Facebook.

  8. Culture • Started as social sites for young people… • Disciplinary actions required by schools impacted response in education… • The media give adults their initial perceptions…

  9. Facebook now has over 300 million users…

  10. > 35 fastest growing demographic…

  11. Things change quickly… • According to Forrester Research, 95% of 1,217 business decision-makers surveyed late last year said they plan to use social networks. • 2009 study of 70,000 educators reveals that they are beginning to embrace SN.

  12. The Case for Education • The world has changed, yet we are preparing children for the world we knew instead of the world they will know. • Dr. Howard Gardiner • Clay Shirky • Dan Pink • Sir Ken Robinson

  13. Clive Thompson on the New Literacy • “From 2001 to 2006, [Andrea Lunsford at Stanford] collected 14,672 student writing samples—everything from in-class assignments, formal essays, and journal entries to emails, blog posts, and chat sessions. Her conclusions are stirring.” • "I think we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization," she says. For Lunsford, technology isn't killing our ability to write. It's reviving it—and pushing our literacy in bold new directions. “

  14. The Skill Shift • Reduced importance on memorization of content. • Increased importance on working with and creating meaning in content. This requires increased creativity, collaboration, analysis, critique, and synthesis.

  15. Some examples… A Professional Learning Community (Ning)

  16. Second Life in the Classroom

  17. My Personal Learning Network (Facebook)

  18. What I learned… • The importance of building a personal learning network. • The importance of taking part in a professional learning community. • The value in taking it to the classroom.

  19. “My classroom has become a window…” Vanessa Riesgo, US Spanish teacher, The Kinkaid School

  20. Susan’s Story • 1999: Saw impact of email on student writing. • 2001: Web-Site-A-Day calendar (from Renee). • 2002: Internet Classroom Assistant – discussion forums change the debate…literally. • 2003: Introduced to Friendster by a former student (“Why would anyone want to do that?”)

  21. 2004: Certificate Educational Technology Leadership from Goucher (by accident); Internet Classroom Assistant shut down due to inappropriate comments; students launched their own ICA in response. • 2005: Began teaching kids considered marginalized as part of the “digital divide” (80% on federal school lunch programs), using donated PCs with Windows 95.

  22. 2006: Student’s first iMovie reached semi-finals in national video contest (submitted online). Began podcasting (“Soundscapes”) with students; began Chinquablog as professional development tool for faculty. (Hardly anyone read it.).

  23. 2007: “Digital-Global” wiki created by students; introduced Ning for social networking in Creative Writing.

  24. 2008: Replaced Creative Writing with Creative Media; used tumblr (photo-blogging); started student blogs: “A Month (Almost) of Self-Reliance”; used cell phones to create podcasts (for vocabulary study); explored Second Life; joined groups in flickr (William Faulkner, Street or Studio – Tate Modern, 100 Strangers); joined Classroom 2.0 and other Ning SNs; joined Goodreads.

  25. 2009: Taught with Glogster (online posters), flickr groups (photo-blogging), VoiceThread (“Glogging and Blogging” --student critiques); personal photo (in flickr) selected for Schmap Guides; started second blog, The Flying Trapeze (with Renee); joined Facebook when invited by troubled student (friended my ex-husband and my new boss); first use of Facebook groups for a class (AP English).

  26. What I learned… • Writing: should be shorter, clearer, tighter • Writing with images: explore the relationships between image and text • Structure: emphasis on organization, storytelling, storyboarding • Providing feedback: learning how to comment and critique • Communicating: how to conduct online discourse in a professional, respectful way • Audience: speaking to multiple audiences, speaking to the world

  27. ?

  28. Resources (Wiki) • http://sociallearningnetworks.wikispaces.com/

  29. Thank You! Peter O’Neill GFS Division Heads: Melinda Bihn, Steve McManus & Zibby Andrews GFS Tech Team: Robert Ammons, Louis Gephardt, Ryan Smink, Diana Gross, Jim Audette & Renee Hawkins

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