Social Learning by Teens: Increased motivation, dopamine release, social media, and informal learning spaces.

Author David Price, @DavidPriceOBE in Six Powerful Motivations Driving Social Learning by Teens, writes because of the social media space, there has been a profound shift in how knowledge travels. Students' personal learning networks of friends, forum users, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram followers allows for a "lateral spread" (vs. traditional vertical, trickle down) of knowledge and learning socially.

The social space has removed entry barriers and democratized learning, making learning more about "taking action" than "knowing about" (Price, 2015). Tweets and videos that go viral have a scientific reason and the reward of dopamine release which helps increase motivation and "stamp in" memories (Lilian Kantz).

"Do it yourself, do it now, do it with friends, do it for fun, do unto others and do it for the world to see" dominates the social space style of learning according to futurist David Price.

In her article How to Integrate Live Tweets into Your Presentation author Pamela DeLoatch (@pameladel) references  social media research from the Pew Research Center report:

• 95% of teens aged 12-17 are online
• 78% of teens have a cell phone and nearly half of those are smart phones
• 74% of teens access the Internet through a phone or tablet
• 81% of teens use social media (facebook or Instagram)
• 24% of teens have a Twitter account. 

Social Media in the classroom: 

Instagram

If 81% of teens are using social media; Instagram and Facebook (Pew Research Center), a picture is worth a thousand words for educators to tap into a student-centered resource.


Niclole Long @MRSLongFCPS in her blog writes of The Benefits of Instagram for Teachers

Share Pictures of Notes and Work: post a homework board, reminders and assignments. Students can favorite (to save). This is a fast way to get homework out to students with the added attraction of "photos".

Post Photos of Student Work and Accolades: taking photos of student work, activities and projects is a great way to give acknowledgement of student achievement and creating a student-centered Social media sphere in your classroom.

Make Connections and Stay in Touch With Educational Figures: By following other educators and posting "real time" photos of school events like baseball games, this is a great time to slip in reminders of projects or homework.

Twitter

Research reports that 24% of teens have a Twitter account (Pew Research Center) and this student familarity with technology and social media outside of class makes it easier to integrate and use as a tool in the classroom.

The reward of "dopamine release" that is created in response to social media requests and activity, increases motivation and help "stamp in" memories in the social media learning style ( Lilian Kantz).

In her article How to Integrate Live Tweets into Your Presentation author Pamela DeLoatch, @pameladel recommends creating a general class Twitter account and has put together a guide , The Ultimate Twitter Guidebook for Teachers for the basics of getting started on Twitter.

DeLoatch recommends Tweeting your students before the presentation and let them know of expectations and how to participate.

• To test for understanding during the lecture, students can send out direct messages with questions and the teacher can set up a simple yes or not Twitter poll. 
• By encouraging a real-time backchannel using Twitter encourages student to collaborate with their questions and thoughts. 
• By Tweeting it forward, students share with the whole Twitterspheare and establish a journal of the presentation for future reference. 

Other uses of Twitter in the classroom include:

• Tweet upcoming due dates and use Twitter as a virtual bulletin board. 
•  Carroll ISD teacher, Judy Leddy @questdragons at Walnut Grove Elementary uses Twitter to engage with the community and Tweet live projects. 
• Network with other educators and connect with other classrooms.
• Ask questions and post supplementary materials. 
• Provide your class with a live news feed and post videos. 

Related Posts: 

9 Awesome Gamification Examples In The Classroom

Inspiring Q&A with Technology 

Alternate Book Reports for 21st Century Learning

Teaching Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship is a hot topic as students are using technology more and more in the classroom and at home. Formal lessons, such as those from Common Sense Media, are a great way for students to learn about digital citizenship, but often it is the teachable moments that really make an impact. Nancy White, of Innovations in Education, created a great infographic that illustrates real world ways to model and discuss the themes of digital citizenship. Take a look and think about how this applies to your classroom. In what ways are you already using teachable moments to address digital citizenship in your classroom? Tell us in the comments below.

(Click to view larger)

InstaGrok – Funny Name, Great Tool!

Have you heard about InstaGrok?

 

Grok means to understand thoroughly and intuitively. InstaGrok is a powerful, interactive search engine designed specifically for the classroom. A "grok" can be created by simply entering a topic in the search box. Answers are returned in six different categories: key facts, websites, videos, images, quizzes and a glossary instead of a static list of links.  Please understand, a blog post does not do it justice. You have to experience it for yourself. Try a quiz. Find a video. Review terms.

 Key Features

• It is free and specifically made for education. (Creating a login/free account gives you more options and of course there is a paid version with even more options.)
• It is interactive and it is NOT flash-based so it works on the iPad.
• The Quiz tool provides classroom-ready questions on your search term. Have the students take the quiz or use the questions to add to your own quizzes.
• Results can be customized using a “difficulty slider” in the upper right-hand corner. The difficulty slider ranges from Elementary Level to Einstein level.
• Results are filtered and safe.
• Groks can be shared and embedded into your blog, website, etc.

Ideas for Classroom Use

• Create an interactive mind-mapping tool
• Curate information
• Really learn vocabulary words
• Explore complicated ideas
• Find images and videos in one click
• Allow for self-assessment through the quiz feature
• Teach students how to narrow down search results

For More Information

To read more about InstaGrok, click here or try it out and let us know what you think. Finally, a big shout out to Angie Bakke... thanks for sharing!

Mobile Learning: It's About the Learning, not the App

My colleague Kristie Johnson and I had the opportunity to attend the iPad Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. This conference was not about the iPad, however. It was about student learning and and using new methodologies with mobile tools to develop new ways of teaching. It totally changed my way of thinking and understanding about the use of mobile technology in the classroom. If you are already using mobile technology in your classroom or if you are a new adopter, rethinking and redesigning lesson plans and strategies to promote creation, collaboration, communication and critical thinking can ensure students in achieve their learning goals.

It's not about the apps 

Too often teachers find an app they love and then try to design a lesson around the app. A successful lesson design will first set clear intentions, outcomes, and objectives with appropriate tools in mind.  The iPad is just one of many tools available. Start here first: What should the students know and be able to do? How will that be assessed? Once the plan is in place, then determine the apps that will fit the needs of your students. EdTech Teacher's resource, The iPad As A... provides a list of apps based on specific learning objectives

It's about the learning

The SAMR Model

Successful technology integration is achieved when it is used without a second thought. The SAMR Model is a system which you can use to design  your lessons, moving from using technology as a mere enhancement to allowing the technological tools to transform the lesson.  

Substitution is the first and lowest level. Technology is used as a direct tool which substitutes for something previously used. For example, having students use a computer for word processing instead of writing out the assignment is just direct substitution for paper and pen. 

Augmentation is the second level. The main difference between augmentation and substitution is that the same tool has functional improvements. For example, grammar and spell check functions in word processing or the cutting pasting of text or images allows for enhancement. This stage allows the learner to perform at a much higher level of productivity. 

Modification is the third level. This level allows for significant redesign but doesn't necessarily change the task but incorporates additional tools to change the assignment to meet the learning goals. For example, the word processed document could be redesigned into a brochure or made into an infographic. This could be posted on a website or emailed. Once again, productivity is increased. 

Redefinition involves looking beyond the lesson and redesigning it to include using technology tools for tasks that would not be possible without them. For example, a students could collaborate and design a project online through the use of  Google apps.  The project could include photographs, graphics, even video, added from many different devices to the shared document. Learning is the top priority. The technology is the invisible tool that makes the tasks, the collaboration and critical thinking happen. 

To find out more about the SAMR model,visit www.hippasus.com to find out more. 

Tip of the Week: Download YouTube Videos

Looking for a quick, easy way to download YouTube Videos? Here are two sites that are easy to use and will allow conversion of YouTube Videos into most formats. Just remember to abide by copyright and fair use laws. Not sure about copyright as it applies to schools? Find out more here: 

Keep-Tube

Clip-Converter

 

Are you a 21st Century Teacher?

Do you encourage collaboration? Are you a risk-taker and early-adopter? A life-long learner? Does this sound like your classroom?

1.     You ask your students to do a historical person study… and they create mock social media profiles for their person.
2.     Your students create a study guide…working together on a group wiki.
3.     You visit the Louvre with your students… and never leave the classroom.
4.     You share your lesson plans with your teacher friends… from around the globe.
5.     You prepare subsitutes with detailed directions… via podcasts.
6.     You are reading this!

Whether you consider yourself a technology “beginner” or a tech-savvy leader, we would love to hear from you. How are you integrating technology in your classroom? What activities have you created to encourage 21st century skills? Please post a comment and share your ideas. And, let us know if you would like us to address a technology topic. Thanks for reading! See you next week.
Click here... to read the complete, FREE list from Simple K-12’s, 21 Signs You’re a 21ST Century Teacher.