Information Futures » social media

23 things and an avatar

Margaret L Ruwoldt — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:22:37 +0000

Staff of the University Library are participating in a “23 things” program this month, learning about social media and online teaching by completing a series of self-paced modules.

This week’s topic is blogging, and this post is my demonstration that I know how to blog ;-)

It’s also the debut appearance of my new avatar:

The “23 things” program is based on a concept developed Helene Blowers in the US. The program became the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County’s “Learning 2.0″ project and inspired the activity-based concept of ‘23 things’ which has been successfully implemented in libraries worldwide.

The Melbourne University Library program will run over a 6 week period in which participants will use free web and LMS-based applications in order to complete the 23 activities. Weeks 1-3 will run from 24 November until the Christmas closedown, and then weeks 4-6 will run from late January for completion by early February 2009.

Social media and education

Margaret L Ruwoldt — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:30:42 +0000

During the Information Futures Commission’s consultation process we found anthropology lecturer Michael Wesch’s short videos were a terrific way to introduce the topics we were trying to tackle, about how digital technology is changing the scholarly communication process and the way people interact with each other in broader society. I blogged about the videos in January.

Wesch gave an hour-long illustrated talk at the US Library of Congress in June, an anthropological introduction to YouTube. It’s packed with challenging ideas about identity, authenticity, social cohesion — and joy, lots of joy. Two examples of the joy: Blimvisible’s “Us“ and Gary Brolsma’s “New Numa” dance. (Wesch video found via Laurel Papworth’s silkcharm blog)

There’s yet more Wesch goodness from the University of Manitoba, which has streaming video of his lecture about using social media for teaching. If anybody could make Twitter, Google Apps or Facebook into a useful part of the learning process, you’d think it would be Wesch and his students. In fact, some social media work well and some don’t work at all (in an educational context).

Good writing essential, but email doesn’t count

Margaret L Ruwoldt — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:53:18 +0000

Introducing a new research report, the Pew Internet and American Life Project observes that:

“Teens write a lot, but they do not think of their emails, instant and text messages as writing. This disconnect matters because teens believe good writing is an essential skill for success and that more writing instruction at school would help them.”

The report is based on a national phone survey of 700 Americans aged 12-17 and their parents. It was conducted by Pew and the National Commission on Writing.

Co-author Amanda Lenhart comments in a media release that “There is a raging national debate about the state of writing and how high-tech communication by teens might be affecting their ability to think and write… Those on both sides of the issue will see supporting data here.”

Richard Sterling, executive director emeritus of the National Writing Project, said “We think these findings point to a critical strategy question for all educators: How can we connect the enthusiasm of young people for informal, technology-based writing with classroom experiences that illuminate the power of well-organized, well-reasoned writing?”

Full text of the Writing, Technology and Teens report is available online.