IT Lesson

If you are interested to understand the power of social media and mobile devices to facilitate learning and teaching, I cant think of a more appropriate expert than Steve Wheeler to inspire us to the next level. Here we go!

We are witnessing an exponential rise in the use of social media and mobile technology. We have recently seen widespread use of blogging and social networks, use of Twitter and social tagging, wikis and collaborative filtering, recommender systems. All of these and more, are impacting upon the world of education and training, and there is now a need for concerted research into the effectiveness of these applications. Coupled with the rise in use of mobile phones, handheld computing and the soon to arrive wearable computing and augmented reality tools, we are on the crest of a new wave of learning. Using examples from recent research this presentation will explore the new ways students are learning, and provide some examples of how education might adapt to these new trends.

Steve Wheeler is Associate Professor of Learning Technologies at Plymouth University, in South West England. Originally trained as a psychologist, he has spent his entire career working in media, technology and learning, predominantly in nurse education (NHS 1981-1995) and teacher education and training (1976-1981 and 1995-present). He is now in the Faculty of Health, Education and Society. A trained educator, he teaches on a number of undergraduate and post-graduate teacher education programmes. He specialises in research on e-learning and distance education, with particular emphasis on social media and Web 2.0 tools. He is regularly invited to speak about his work and has given keynotes and invited lectures to audiences in over 20 countries across 5 continents. He is currently involved in several research programmes related to e-learning, social media and handheld technologies. Steve is the author of more than 150 scholarly articles and is an active and prolific edublogger. His blog Learning with ‘e’s is a regular online commentary on the social and cultural impact of disruptive technologies, and the application of digital media in education and training...More.

According to one survey only 8% of students use social sites to contact their teachers. Most seem to use e-mail (91%) to seek extra help from teachers. Well, if that is the case (here, too!), then e-mail is certainly still an important e-learning tool.  

Interestingly, 38% said they (students) couldn’t even go 10 minutes without switching on some sort of electronic device. That does not surprise me as I am typing this post! Also, I am surprised to learn based on this infographic that students spend more time texting messages and searching compared to Facebooking. I suppose Google will be happy with that (For now!).

3 out of 4 students say they wouldnt be able to study without technology. I would like to know how those other 1 out of 4 students are able to study effectively without technology. We could certainly learn some creative techniques from them. Check out the rest (infographic above)!

Well, that is how students in the USA use technology! What about in your country (or institution)? Any input to share? Need to do a survey on this soon... :)