In week five of EDU 651, Collaboration and Learning in a Virtual Environment, at Ashford I have further explored the use of social networking programs that may be used in education. William Derrick published an article in the Distance Learning Journal and he states “considering the growing number of individuals who are members of the online social networking community, it stands to reason that this avenue could be pursued for educational purposes. A new trend for education is to embrace these new and innovative technologies while educating young people on how to be responsible when using them. The premise is that the students will likely use these sites regardless of the school’s approach to the subject” (2008). Furthermore, a study presented in the Journal of College Student Development revealed that “instructors might need to develop more opportunities for collaboration in order to foster students’ sense of both social and academic integration” (Yazedjian, Toews, Sevin and Purswell, 2008).
It is recognized that the “professional discourse within higher education about online social networking focuses on potential problems such as addiction, cyber stalking, or harassment” (Alemán and Wartman, 2009). I think that educators should not ignore the fact that students will likely use online social networking programs. Therefore, educators should harness the opportunity to use these frequently utilized tools for instruction and additionally, educators must take the opportunity to teach students about the potential danger of social networking sites so they will be in a better position to recognize and avoid them. Educators should make it their responsibility to seize the opportunity and to promote safety and proper use of Internet resources.
Although social networking sites have generated a number of concerns, the potential positive opportunities that they present should not be overlooked. Using social networking programs in the classroom will allow not only the opportunity to present instruction via a frequently used tool, but it will be an opportunity to teach safe use of social networking tools that students will use regardless of an educational institutions policies.
In week five I also examined the effects of extensive use of digital technology. In the article “Scientists ask: Is technology rewiring our brains?” Small proposes that excessive exposure to digital technologies leads to “social awkwardness, an inability to interpret nonverbal message, isolation and less interest in traditional classroom learning” (2008). I think it is all how you look at it. If you evaluate social competency based on the traditional standards of verbal and facial cues, then yes one would view an individuals’ excessive exposure and use of digital technologies as socially awkward, incompetent and isolating. If, on the other hand, digital technology is recognized as the “communication of now and future” then, engaging in digital technologies is an adept means/method of social interaction and is quite socially competent. In a new age of digital technology, engaging in technological activities is not isolating and anti-social, to the contrary, it is the social “participation” and the “social” activity of the time.
Communication! The used (and abused) means of communicating used to be written and the letter/mail - and then there was the phone. Used to be the phone, now it is texting! I remember being on the phone all the time when I was younger and my parents had to have rules and limits regarding my "use of communication!" I think that all that changes is the means of communication.
Technology develops different tools that can be used to communicate. Texting is talking if you think about it! It is just digital versus spoken, but the same things are said/conveyed. None of these methods of communicating; written, phone or text ever require face-to-face interaction. I believe the importance of interacting with people on a face to face level is a skill that must be taught, regardless of the communication technology of the time. We all need to learn to develop proper social skills and etiquette because face to face communication is an obligatory communication that will always preside beside the many more modern means of communication that are used. Always!
As adults we maybe were taught differently, but the basics remain the same... regardless of how we were taught. I think that communicating using the “vehicles” of the time is fine as long as we all remember that it is still important to observe accomplished reading, writing, etc. as well as social skills. If accomplished reading, writing, etc. and social skills are observed and developed via these more modern communicating “vehicles” then there is no harm and the tools may actually be beneficial in promoting important skills. Some skills may have to be learned outside of the realm technology, such as social skills. Although the method used to teach and develop basic skills may be different, as long as young people (and old!) still learn these basic skills, all is good! As long as social skills are observed in conjunction with the communication that may use modern methods, all is good!
Individuals that engage in digital technology often continue to engage in a “social” environment. Often, participation in digital technology is a group event. Events such as gaming where they have a partner or team as they meet the opponent that is online promotes the social and “people” contact that is traditionally observed as healthy.
If I think that all industries; business, education, health, finance, etc. are moving in the direction of digital technology and use. Exposure in this realm is becoming so prominent that it will be more important and more the norm to be able to interpret digital technology as opposed to reading facial expressions. I think that interpretation of nonverbal message will no longer be the reading of facial expressions, but the interpretation of the “digital expression”. Digital technology is becoming the language and expression of nonverbal message. Individuals adept in the digital technologies are quite the opposite of socially awkward, they will be socially proficient in this new age of digital expression.
I do not think that those adept at “digital technology” lack social skills. They are only engaging in the medium accepted and recognized for social interaction. These individuals are therefore, social in a “different” manner and possibly more social if we look at the progression of social interaction. If we acknowledge and accept the more popular, although less traditional, means of social interaction of digital expression as the “acceptable” measure of social integration, then individuals that utilize digital technology are quite socially advanced!
I don’t think younger people struggle to communicate face-to-face, I just don’t think they communicate face-to-face as much anymore. They communicate with digital technology, and most are good at it!
Technology has spurred the advent of the internet and social networking and texting as well as other communication means that have definitely produced a population that demands instant gratification. I think in this day and age everyone is about speed and also convenience. In week five of EDU 561 I have investigated the use of programs that are used to gratify the users need for speed and convenience. The Web has evolved to a Social Web. No longer are tasks executed in isolation, rather they are collaborative and social in nature and completed with the contributions of others as a joint effort (Richardson, 2009, p. 85). We are definitely a society that demands speed and instant gratification and these demands have led to the development of “micro-blogging” tools in the Social Web. Micro-blogging is social networking tool that is a form of blogging. It allows users to engage in continuous conversation shorter than a blog by sending short, quick updates.
Richardson defines public bookmarking services, such as delicious, as “online bookmarking services where users can save links, annotate them with unique keywords or “tags” to organize them, and then share them with the world” (2009, p.86). Social bookmarking is a useful tool in education because instructors and students can use the social bookmarking site to share links to resources relative to the subject, topic or study that is of mutual interest. In this community of shared resources that are common in topic users will have access to a wealth of information regarding the topic at hand. Del.icio.us approaches social bookmarking differently by using tags. Tags allow the organization of bookmarks into categories, but the bookmark can be allocated to many categories and not just one.
Del.icio.us defines “tags as one-word descriptors that you can assign to your bookmarks on Delicious to help you organize and remember them. Tags are a little bit like keywords, but you choose them yourself and they do not form a hierarchy. You can assign as many tags to a bookmark as you like and you can always rename or delete the tags later. So, tagging can be a lot easier and more flexible than fitting your information into preconceived categories or folders. This is great for organizing and finding personal data, but it goes even further when someone else posts related content using the same tags. You begin building a collaborative repository of related information, driven by personal interests and creative organization. For instance, to view everybody's bookmarks about sweets, visit
delicious.com/tag/sweets. To see the most popular items tagged as sweets, visit
delicious.com/popular/sweets” (http://delicious.com/).
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) allows users to subscribe to content and then the beauty of the subscription is that new content automatically comes to you and you do not have to go to get it. Obviously, a benefit of RSS is that new content, that you want, automatically comes to you and you are not spending the time to track down the relevant information. In addition, feeds are virus-free, unlike the risks in email, and there are no ads and no spam. “RSS allow users to read more content form more sources in less time” (Richardson, 2009, p. 72). A questionable negative of RSS feeds is the legality and concern of infringement of copyright when pages are saved and shared via RSS as opposed to users going to the links and accessing the pages.
According to Richardson, the advent of the Social Web means that we will see “two unstoppable trends in the use of these technologies. First, more and more content new and old will continue to come online. Second, more and more, the creation of that content is collaborative” (2009, p. 129). In the last few years there have been big shifts on the Read/Write Web. As technology develops on the Read/Write Web we find more “collaboratively” written open content. I am concerned about the legitimacy of the content. In addition, as technology develops on the Read/Write Web we find that the breadth and depth of content to be exceptional and it is more current which then renders many textbooks obsolete. Technology is not equitably available to all to be able to access the information and so I am concerned that many students may be “left behind” and at a disadvantage in their education as they are not able to acquire the required resources.
Although there is the risk of the technology not being available to some populations of students, I think that the use of open content will continue to grow. Open content, although it may not at times be accessible to some, it is available to all. As educators face budget cuts they find they can no longer purchase and provide content in libraries or pay to reproduce content for students because of copyright rules. In a world of budget cuts, open content is vital for educators because it allows students to access content for courses that institutions cannot any longer afford to provide. The Read/Write Web provides access to content 24/7, 365 days of the year and I think this will benefit all students because as Richardson points out, “ the ability to interact with content when it’s most convenient to do so, means that learning can take place anytime we’re ready for it” (2009, p. 132). Richardson states that the Read/Write Web is “an age not only of participation but of production” (2009, p. 135). I do agree that mastery of a concept should be evaluated by a product and/or project, not a test, because what matters is the end result, the product or the project, not what the results of a test claim the product or project “might” be.
References
Alemán and Wartman. (2009). Online Social Networking on Campus: Understanding What Matters in Student Culture. Journal of College Student Development, 50(4), 466 - 469. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from Project MUSE Scholarly Journals online.
Derrick, W.. (2008). Online Social Networks: Educational Benefits and Dangers. Distance Learning, 5(1), 43-47. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1668027851).
Dovarganes, D. (2008). Scientists ask: Is technology rewiring our brains?. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2008-12-03-digital-brain_N.htmNing What are the educational uses and benefits? (2007). Center for Instructional Technology & Training. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from Web site:
http://www.citt.ufl.edu/toolbox/toolbox_ning.phpRichardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2nd ed.). United States of America: Corwin Press.
Yazedjian, Toews, Sevin and Purswell. (2008). “It’s a Whole New World”: A Qualitative Exploration of College Students’ Definitions of and Strategies for College Success. Journal of College Student Development, 49(2), 141 - 154. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from Project MUSE Scholarly Journals online.
