Role of Social Media in Learning13 - 14 November 2013Dr. Venkat V S S SastryHead of Applied Mathematics & Scientific Computingv.v.s.s.sastry@cranfield.ac.uk@venkat_sastry

Times of India, 28 April 2013

• Learning is conversational• Facilitates conversation

• Informal learning• Collaboration• Peer-to-peer learning

• Powerful tool to disseminate information

• Helps leaners acclimatize better in their new environment

• Types of learning content• Procedural knowledge• Declarative knowledge

Media per se does not enhance learning, it facilitates learning

Horizon Reports

2012 2013

Over year or Less Mobile Apps Massively Open Online Courses

Tablet Computing Tablet Computing

Two to Three Years Game-Based Learning Games and Gamification

Learning Analytics Learning Analytics

Four to Five Years Gesture-Based Computing

3D Printing

Internet of Things Wearable Technology

Tools current students are using now

wikis

SNS

video

-shari

ng

web-base

d calen

darsblogs

micro-blogs

socia

l book-m

arking

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

courseworkgeneral

Source: Dabbagh and Kitsantas (2012)

The Challenge

How best to design learning content that exploits multi-channels that encourages conversation, collaboration and information aggregation?

Strategy

Integrate informal and formal learning using PLEs, social media, and self-regulated learning

Plan

Self-Monitor

Evaluate

Reflect

Self-regulated learner (Zimmerman, 2008)

PLE

(EDUCAUSE, 2009)

Learning Content32,321,309 afh1.pdf

4,460,346 JSCET.pdf3,795,986 back1405.pdf

492,900 Military%20Harassment.pdf361,601 student-en.pdf274,415 dd2285.pdf267,919 ecl_sample_test.pdf127,628 IMS Pre-Departure Briefing Script.pdf115,614 ProhibitedandPermittedItems.pdf100,083 ABCs of auto insurance.pdf

64,051 ATF.pdf45,599 RS_IMS_Guide.pdf38,224 International_Military_Student_Checklist.pdf32,522 JSCET_176.pdf30,161 Auto insurance terms and definitions.pdf29,813 Saving money on auto insurance.pdf29,533 SAMM_C10_T3.pdf26,175 Understanding no-fault insurance.pdf25,439 How credit scores affect your insurance costs.pdf

42,661,116, 62%

14072; 0%

4435267; 6%

22200644; 32%

PDFsHTMLMP3SWF

Proposed design should include

• Make the content learner centric• Make the content shareable across different channels• Provide opportunities for the learner to engage with

the content • Enable collaboration and conversation• Enable learners to cite from attached material

• Define some simple tasks they need to complete; Reward them with some “badges”

• Provide opportunities to test themselves to make sure they understood/completed the key pieces of information

• Engage with alumni in facebook-style community who can support the new students

• Make full use of pedagogical affordances offered by social media

Cultural aspects

Source: http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html

A community page on Facebook

These discussions need to be moderated for any factual inaccuracies.

A conversation in Facebook

#preDISAM