I was thinking today about how social media leads to more time of procrastination and that it can be a big problem for many students. But then instead I started thinking of all school-related stuff that you also use social media for and that is actually a lot when you come to think of it. For example in this course we use this blog to share news and opinions about things that are relevant to the content of the course. In another course I’m studying at the moment, which is about XML, we use the discussion forum on bilda to ask for help to other students or to the lab assistants. The lections are also uploaded to http://www.slideshare.net/ so that you can listen to them again or skip the lecture and only listen to the presentation at home. I’m often using Wikipedia to check out some concept that I don’t understand, if Wikipedia is good or bad can be discussed. Even Facebook can be used, there is a friend of mine who always start a group for every course and it is always a great forum to share some tips or ask for help. Also if you are doing a group project then starting a group on Facebook is also a great way of staying in touch and discuss things. https://docs.google.com is another great tool for group project where you can collectively write documents.
So I think it is very interesting how the education system revolutionizes through the use of social media. I have a cousin who is fourteen so he goes in lower secondary school and they get a macbook. I remember when I was in that age, only 8 years ago, we got three pencils and a rubber. So it seems the times are changing or that my school was really poor and my cousins school is really rich, I’m not sure which. What do you think of social media for learning? What social media tools are you using for your education?
Those are really interesting comments of yours, Filip, and the last seminar will in fact treat exactly those issues (social media for educational purposes) - so we will come back to this topic in a few weeks.
SvaraRaderaOther students' opinions on this topic are welcome - perhaps a lively discussion here might even influence the topic and the direction of the seminar!
Well, more and more course material are being put up on the internet and even lectures in some courses are being recorded, either with a videocamera or just a microphone. Lots of these are being uploaded to i.e. Youtube where any one can watch them, wheather you are in the course or not. I, for example, used some of the MIT lectures posted on Youtube a while ago when studying a math course. With the new use of digital technology and social media I believe the courses will be more decentralized and taught on distance, since all of the material will be available online.
SvaraRaderaI also find this topic incredibly interesting - especially services that offer live interactivity. It’s a very up-to-date topic and we know that people have been researching within this field for a while now. It's just a matter of time until we'll start using social media for education on a really wide scale. But who will pay for theses services: the schools themselves, the municipalities or private companies? Who's system will “succeed”?
SvaraRaderaWhat may be lacking in todays services are interfaces that are more practical and adapted to different school subjects, and perhaps even more important, in the context of live interactivity between e.g. teachers and students based on different needs of individual students.