A new generation of learners is emerging. These students are equipped with complex skills and have expectations that can sometimes be challenging to match. I recently did a talk where I explored how Social Media can help schools bridge the gap between students’ expectations and the reality of 21st Century eduction. I also examined how new technologies like Augmented Reality and QR-Codes can help connect the real world with the virtual world and provide opportunity to engage this new generation of students and perhaps provide at least a move towards immersive learning.
These are some of the resources that were showcased:
Social Networking/Social Media Tools for Learning
Ushahidi
CrowdMap
Diaspora
Elgg
Create a Facebook Page for Education
Twitter
Other tools for Learning
PollEveryWhere – student response system for schools (free option!)
Zooburst – digital story-telling with an Augmented Reality twist.
Examples of Using Facebook in the Classroom
Post from Lisa Velmer Nielsen (on the Innovative Educator)
Comprehensive Primary school examples of using Facebook in class (Prezi presentation)
Luss Primary Facebook Page – superb example of using Facebook pages for your school. Simple and effective.
If you are tired of hearing the end of the book is nigh take a look at IDEO’s vision of the Future of the Book, another possibility for immersive learning?
It is crucial that teachers and educators give students the right skills to be able to use these new online tools. They are already using them at home, why not make use of them in the classroom?
Would appreciate knowing what presentation software you used at the John Innes centre today and where do you source your clipart
rgds
bob
Hi Bob,
Thank you for contributing. I use Keynote on Mac and source most of my images from (Royalty free) http://www.sxc.hu or (pay) at http://www.iStock.com .
Hope you found the session useful.
Johannes
Thanks for the session today, it was really enjoyable.
I’m running a series of CPD workshops myself over the next couple of weeks and there’s things in there that really made me think.
Thank you for kind comments. It’s great to hear that some of the issues raised in the session made you consider aspects of using Social Media (SM) in the classroom/school. It’s clearly a ‘hot’ topic but one we need to solve/get used to as soon as we can. SM is a great communication tool and benefit to us as educators; if students are already using it then we have an available audience which is already engaged. It would certainly be a shame if we did not capitalise on this opportunity. Even if we focused on on the e-safety aspect of e.g. FB then that dialogue with students would also be worthwhile.
Johannes