06 June 2012

the uses of blogs, tweets, chat, and discussion boards

As I scurry from one tool to another these last days, I wonder if there isn't a better way, or a more unified way to interact, at the cost of the uniqueness of each tool.  For example, what are appropriate discussions to initiate on twitter? on the course discussion board? in our personal blogs?

What is an appropriate use of twitter, for example?  I write this 11 min. into the Campustech twitter session (https://twitter.com/search/NextGenLearn) that seems to be nothing more than a venue for us to preach to the choir
  • Where do you think most education will take place over the next 3 to 5 years? Brick and mortar? Online?
Engaging in any fora? probably not.  But a "webinar" might make the hour's content a little more visible.  i.e. will this twitter get any more substantive?  are they trying to sell us something.

There's supposed to be a study back in here somewhere.  I see a lot of assertions by the audience and anecdotal comments, and some scattered comments from McGraw-Hill HigherEd and CampusTech.  But nothing coherent so far.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousSunday, June 10, 2012 at 1:13:00 PM EDT

    I have the same types of questions, as I am new to all of these types of tools. I'm just starting to reply to classmates blogs and I'm not comfortable posting material for everyone to read. And I certainly have no idea how to handle twitter, but I'm going to try to send and respond to some tweets.

    In answer to your question about where most education will take place in the next few years. I believe we are heading towards more and more on-line education. In today's world time is very limited so an on-line course provides a student with an opportunity to take a course that may only be available during their work hours. This is one of the reason's I am taking on-line-courses, otherwise I would not be able to take course work towards my Master's degree.

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    1. Eric SmithSunday, June 10, 2012 at 1:47:00 PM EDT

      That question came from Campus Technology, the people who were running the tweet discussion. My concern was whether twitter was the best tool for a discussion that hoped to move beyond generalities.

      The other part of the where's ed going to happen (as you suggest, most likely not all in one place), is what's it going to be for. The college degree that we know is relatively new and gained a lot of push from the soldiers on the GI Bill after WW2. State schools are only about 100 years old. So for the first time we are investigating the purposes and needs of advanced training beyond high school. Is the diploma model necessary, especially when certificates and now badges may serve the purposes of employers? Does the bearer know what we need them to know to hire them? not whether they have a liberal education and have the skills to be life-long learners. I like the older model, but, as you write, we may not be able to include the 4-year degree into our lives ... and it is a fitting in, not a putting aside the non-college life for four years to become a scholar.

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  2. Aaron HanlinMonday, June 11, 2012 at 1:15:00 PM EDT

    I share your same sentiment. I'm bouncing between course discussions and the blog, and, while I appreciate the experience blogging, I find it hard to balance all of the different venues.

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