Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have become an important tool of the "Millennials" quest for social connectios and community. As educators wrestle with how to tap into where this digital generation is coming from, questions arise about whether these tools have any true educational value. I would argue 
there is another question that we digital immigrants need to be asking -- how these tools have changed the way in which the digital natives think, learn, and interact with one another. I've come across a number of blog posts looking at Web2.0 tools and the endless list of gadgets that have been developed to promote this connectivity.
Sue Waters from Australia writes about Twitter as a micro-blogging tool and provides more evidence about the importance of these tools in connecting people in a community as well as pushing the edge of the envelope about blogging. See this post from her blog at :
http://aquaculturepda.edublogs.org/2007/08/06/is-twitter-shifting-blogging-to-a-new-phase/
For a number of semesters I've been thinking about the importance of interactivity in instructional technology applications that foster a learning community. Perhaps Twitter and other micro-blogging tools are the first step in building an interactive learning community.
there is another question that we digital immigrants need to be asking -- how these tools have changed the way in which the digital natives think, learn, and interact with one another. I've come across a number of blog posts looking at Web2.0 tools and the endless list of gadgets that have been developed to promote this connectivity. 
Sue Waters from Australia writes about Twitter as a micro-blogging tool and provides more evidence about the importance of these tools in connecting people in a community as well as pushing the edge of the envelope about blogging. See this post from her blog at :http://aquaculturepda.edublogs.org/2007/08/06/is-twitter-shifting-blogging-to-a-new-phase/
For a number of semesters I've been thinking about the importance of interactivity in instructional technology applications that foster a learning community. Perhaps Twitter and other micro-blogging tools are the first step in building an interactive learning community.
Let me know what you think....still the digital immigrant...Lois
Notes: Logos from Facebook at http://www.facebook.com, MySpace at http://www.myspace.com, and Twitter at http://twitter.com
2 comments:
Hi Lois
I am glad you like my blog.
Twitter is incredible and funnily enough I would be surprised if any of our students are actually using it.
I am often into these sites several months ahead of my students. Facebook was slow to take off in Australia -- and when I first joined only a couple of my students were using it and the rest hadn't heard of it. Now quite a few in the class have and are really into it.
I showed them Twitter the other day and they didn't get it. But I really think you need to be in the right place to get twitter to realise how powerful it truly is. The other night the other educators had an informal get together of educators from around the world, where they all discussed heaps.
All started by first inviting each other in Twitter (I missed out because I was not following those that sent the invite :( ).
Right now they are working on a title for a presentation for me hopefully it is good -- if I am lucky they will write the presentation for me :)
Sue
Mobile Technology in TAFE
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