I have been involved in education for a long time now. As I work ever closer to my final degree and think about what I want to study more, I am enthralled with the work of Dr. Wesch at Kansas State University. He is an anthropologist and is using technology in exciting ways and challenging the status quo of traditional educational models. He has given several talks over the past few years to different groups on the topic of social media and how it is changing education. This video shows what I am talking about.
I think that many people only see social media and the internet for entertainment, but I think that is quickly changing. I think it is important in the new technological environment that we utilize these tools to do exactly as Dr. Wesch points out, Create Knowledge-able students. Students that can use resources to critically think about the issues before them and to act in a more meaningful way.
My question(s) for you are why isn't education or instructors utilizing tools to create an engaging classroom? Is it fear? Time involvement? or lack of ability/resources? I understand that it may be all of these and more, but we have got to try better. If we truly want to promote positive change, we need to utilize our resources and opportunities to do so. Let me know what you think and comment below.
SO THIS was a post I wrote several months ago on another blog of mine and now as I embark on a new semester, and my FIRST time teaching, I am thinking of how to use technology and social media in the classroom. I am teaching a communications class and I plan on incorporating a lot of YouTube videos to demonstrate communication skills and patterns. The book will be a valuable resource for students, but I am augmenting these materials with a guest speaker. Matt Hodson is actively invovled in social media and writes about using social media for marketing and in buisiness in general over on his blog. He has over 500 followers on twitter and constantly participates in many twitter chats. I think having some of his insight on how students can use social media effectively will enhance this class greatly.
What do you think? Is there anything else a basic communications course should entail? Let me know in the comments.
