The New Social Learning -- Don't miss it

The New Social Learning - a review

I found a post about a book review -- The New Social Learning. In this review, the author first mentioned the advantage and importance of social learning. And then, he pointed out one of challenge to social learning the book mentioned, which is e-learning with self-study. In his view, self-study is great for small chunks of learning or as preparation for or follow-up to a more social learning activity. In a word, The New Social Learning presents a highly credible review of the arguments for a new social learning, enhanced by technology with plenty of real-life cases. 

Although I have not read this book, I love it. On one hand, some points in this book strike a chord with me, such as the relationship between e-learning and self-study. That is really a challenge to social learning. What's more, these days, I read lots of articles or posts about social learning, which more or less about how excellent social learning is. However, this book provides readers with some arguments for a new social learning and a great source of practical ideas. As far as I'm concerned, I need some fresh views about social learning to build the "realm" of my future teaching. The New Social learning may bring me these new perspectives. 

EFL Classroom 2.0

    EFL Classroom 2.0

    EFL Classroom 2.0 is a social networking group that provide teachers with so many teaching forums and resources.
    First, what impressed me most in this networking group is its slogan "when one teaches, two learn". Learning is a continual process. Teachers also need to improve their knowledge to adapt our changing world. Or, they may be eliminated by students or societies. EFL Classroom 2.0 provides teachers with a media to communicate with other educators to know the updated knowledge or teaching information. For example, in the part of FORUM, there are lots of educators who share their teaching experience or materials. From their blogs, teachers can know what the best is for students, and then improving their own teaching methods. On the other hand, there are also many teaching resources in this social networking group. For instance, if a teacher wants to find some listening materials, he or she can click TEACH. It has different kinds of listening resources, such as listening quizzes, true stories and more.
    In a word, EFL Classroom 2.0 is an excellent assistance for teachers to keep pace with the development of teaching.

Learning Revolution

    Nowadays, the distances among people are becoming shorter and shorter due to the technology, which results in our global village.  Not only can we chat with our friends no matter when and where, but also we know what happened at the other side of the earth immediately. The change of our life determines the change of learning style. As Siemens (2005) pointed out,  over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn. So in my opinion, a learner of today is like a bee.

    As we all know, bees cannot survive if they live alone, to some extent, which is like our learning today. In the video, Siemens said "our learning today is one of forming networks with each other".  In this network, learners can get more information which they may not acquire in the classroom. I have benefit a lot from that. When I prepared TOEFL test,  I searched a blog which is like a discussion board for those who want to study abroad. From it, many learners showed their learning experience of TOEFL, which provided me with some shortcuts and let me know how to prepare that test. What's more, that blog also gives me some information about how to survive in the abroad. I enjoy this kind of learning. From social network, we can get more than academic knowledge.

    On the other hand, the social network gives us more opportunities to practice our ability to have a dialogue with other individuals. Like bees, which use their ways to tell others where food is, learners of today also need a media to communicate with their peers, teachers or others. As Siemens mentioned (2005), informal learning is a significant aspect of our learning experience. Formal education no longer comprises the majority of our learning. Learning now occurs in a variety of ways - through communities of practice, personal networks, and through completion of work-related tasks. When we communicate with others, we also grow our knowledge, understandings and ideas. Communication is a way to externalize knowledge.

Article: Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age
Video: The Impact of Social Software on Learning

Social Media Revolution

Social Media Revolution

Technology is changing people’s life. No matter when and where, we cannot live without technology in 21st century.

This video is about the importance of social media. First, what impressed me most were some numbers.

• 96% of millennials have  joined a social network.
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the US met via social media. 
• Facebook added over 200 million users in less than a year. 
• If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's 3rd largest.

All these numbers indicate that social network have already infiltrated in people's life. We cannot look down on the power of social network. As this video mentioned, every person is a word of mouth, which is becoming the world of mouth. That means everyone can post his or her opinion or search any information in the Internet. Because of technology, there is no real distance between every people. And because of technology, we have another kind of communication among friends. 

"We no longer search for the news, the news finds us..."

In the 21st century,  teachers should pay attention to this huge resource and make use of it to provide students with more information. Nowadays, students cannot be satisfied with the traditional classrooms, which is boring and outdated. As this video pointed out, social media isn't a fad, and it is a fundamental shift in the we communicate. To be a future teacher, if I still use traditional way to teach students or communicate with them, that would not be feasible. I need to make some changes, keep pace with the development of new era, and take advantage of technology to create students' curiosity and inspire them to study.