Connected Learning + Social Media + Higher Education

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This week’s readings gave me something to think about.  Its a pipe dream. The thing about pipe dreams though is that we all have them and sometimes if shared other’s can help tweak it to make it into something that may actually be worth trying.
The connected learning article made me think about my student’s responses to the question that I posed on Monday about social media and their academic life.  The answers were actually split three ways. Many admitted to having problems with social media because it prevents them from devoting time to getting work done (I found this same distraction myself this week, unfortunately), another group stated that they use social media to make professional and educational connections while another group (about 3) don’t use social media during the semester because it is too much of a distraction.

They all use GroupMe though, because many of their advisors and some professors use GroupMe to communicate about assignments and changes that may be made to the class.  How does this related to connected learning and my pipe dream? When reading the article, “Online content creation: looking at students’ social media practices through a Connected Learning lens” (Brown, et al. 2016), this thought came to mind, “What if we presented social media to students in a way that encouraged them to connect their learning as opposed to trying to fit into their connections.”
The students in the article were learning from social media  because they had not been exposed to much of it prior to coming to college.  This allowed them to integrate what they were learning into their higher ed world.  The beauty of that is the were able to create a network that gave them the connected learning contents- peer support, interest-powered and academically oriented. They were learning how to create networks while learning the technology.
Unfortunately, many of our  students come to us already connected socially through technology and we try to move into their social world, which isn’t always a great fit.  
I like LinkedIn because it provides me with a social community that is professional (even though some of the comments can at times seem absurd), offers learning opportunities (Lynda.com), and I can connect to some of my other social media friends in a different capacity.  Professors who use GroupMe, are able to connect to their students, with a simple text message, but without having to scroll through the student’s highlight reel of the day. Edmodo and Google Classroom are two ways that K-12 educators connect with their parents and students.  They are closed to only the group and are presented in a format much other social media platforms.



So,what I am saying is that we should encourage the connections.  They are network builders and everyone needs to connect. But maybe we need to consider how we are connecting to get the best from our students.

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