Monday, May 20, 2013

4.3 Social and Professional Networks Change how we Learn


The Internet has changed the way I access information and therefore it has affected the way I learn and communicate with the world.   For example, search engines allow me to be curious and follow my curiosity to an answer within minutes.  Via the extensive availability of resources like Google Scholar, online White Papers, YouTube and online university courses, I can go as deep into a topic as I want.  I can keep up with trends in education via LinkedIn, Edutopia and EducationWeek



I can stretch my technical know-how, build 21st Century skills and establish a web presence by accessing free online resources like Picktochart, GradeCam, Collaborize Classroom, Google Sites, Blogger, wikkis, SlideShare and more.  In the New Media Age, learning and doing do not have to cost much more than your time and the cost of a device for online access. 

The Internet can distract me from focused learning, too.  I think in multiple directions at once.  As a result, I end up with 8 – 10 tabs open in multiple browsers on a daily basis.  That is just how I process.  I tend to want to extensively investigate and explore options before taking action or creating new content.  I may be writing a blog post and come to a thought that I want to explore further.  I could zip around the web for an hour or more before returning to the writing process.  And then, of course, I’ve left up five more tabs that I resist closing . . . I just don’t want to say goodbye to the content I’m holding in my mind.

Last week, I popped my computer onto the LCD projector to show some high school students the type of information available through Ancestry.com.  Sure enough, I heard gasps and laughs and “Oh my gosh, look at all the tabs she has open!”  High schoolers aren’t as likely to have “multi-tab browser disorder” like me, but they have other vices that slow them down in an online environment. 

Based on my observations and conversations with students, adolescents and young adults get distracted mostly by social media, music sites and online gaming.  When I walk the classroom supervising an online activity, I often see students attempting to hide their AngryBirds and drop down Pandora before I arrive at their desk.  This tells me that I need to keep working on creating engaging online activities that will keep a majority of the students focused on the task at hand. 

While high school students do get distracted in an online environment, that distraction can help them discover resources that can actually assist them in their learning.  One high school student I know stumbled across YahooAnswers when looking for help with a physics problem.  Now she uses the site regularly to check her work in physics and advanced math. 

When students come across an online tool that really helps them, they often share it with me.  Then I share the “new discovery” with all of my students.  In this way, I can support my students in using the Internet as their own personal learning space.  

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