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Transforming learning through social media
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Transforming learning through social media
EDUCATION is always evolving to find the most efficient and culturally relevant ways to enlighten students. The power and versatility of social media has prompted many educators to experiment with its usefulness. It has been proved in the fields of psychology and linguistics that the process of storing information or vocabulary in human mind is determined by the nature of the psychological state of the recipient. This idea is also supported by the Greek philosophy of Aristotle in the theory of knowledge, which emphasises on the need to use some form of entertainment during the process of giving lessons. Hence, social media sites will be useful tools that can start a revolution in the field of education if we have the ability to control them to suit our requirements. Social network tools support educational activities by making interaction, collaboration, active participation, information and resource sharing and critical thinking possible. Social media has certainly provided the educators a new way to communicate with the students and the faculty. As it has become a staple hobby of our young generation, there is a wide scope to use the space within these sites to communicate with students in a more innovative and interactive way. Social networking has spread around the world with remarkable speed. In countries such as Britain, the US, Russia, the Czech Republic and Spain, about half of the adults now use Facebook and similar websites. According to a recent survey by the Internet and Mobile Association of India, about 84 per cent of all young men (2.4 crore) and 82 per cent of college-going students (1.5 crore) and 68 per cent of school-going (1.5 crore) kids in our country have access to social media. The survey indicates that there are 224 million computer literate people in our country. Further, there are 150 million Internet users. Among the total Internet users, 72 per cent have access to social networking. Facebook virtually dwarfs all other social networking sites in India, with 97 per cent (5 crore) of active Internet users accessing the site. This is followed by Google Plus (34 per cent), LinkedIn (17 per cent) and Twitter (14 per cent). The dramatic growth of social media like Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and Wikis opens new opportunities to engage students. The educational potential of online social learning networks is mind-boggling. Facebook groups, fan pages, discussion boards, tweets, etc., can be used to illustrate concepts, answer questions, share lesson plans, create polls, publish announcements, coordinate due dates, post links to extra learning resources, upload demonstration videos and motivate discussions so as to facilitate active and deeper learning. Other applications such as Notes, Wikimono, Share Homework, Courses, Podclass, etc., provide highly engaging and fun-filled learning experiences that reflect real-world skills. Then there are education-oriented social networking sites like Edmodo, Schoology and Ning, where educators can even create their personal learning networks. Educators can upscale their teaching skills on the sites like Classroom 2.0, 4Teachers,EDU4DRR, Promethean Planet, ProTeacher Community, TeacherLingo, We the Teachers and Ning. Simultaneously, there are sites like Blackboard, Box.net, Cramster, Del.icio.us, Ecto, Edu2.0, Edublogs, Google Docs, WikiEducator, Zumeo, Social Media Classroom and TeacherTube, etc., where a teacher can connect with students to give lessons or for interaction. Sites like Piazza and OpenStudy have taken educational social networks into the 21st century, but social networks for K-12 classrooms have been much trickier to implement. Edmodo is one company that’s coming up with solutions. It has developed a platform that allows teachers to create closed networks for their classroom by giving students a private invitation code. In countries like the US and the UK, colleges and universities using these modern tools have found that social media enhances the learning experience by enabling students and teachers to connect and interact in new ways beyond the classroom. Social media can also provide students some degree of informal learning through informal communication, support for collaboration, feedback on thoughts and collaboration independent of space and time. Similarly, it can help teachers in gaining feedback from students and keep constant communication with them. In the beginning, its role may be restricted to higher education as social media has more penetration in urban areas. The social networking is easy and quick in term of accessibility of academic resources and further its reviewing, updating and editing at anytime and anywhere. In addition, it allows for option to select learning materials from large quantity of courses offered online which the learner needs, and it also makes easier distribution of syllabi of a particular course. Social networking helps to reduce stress and increase satisfaction among students. It allows each student to study at his own pace and speed (self-pacing). Furthermore, it is easy to join bulletin board discussion anytime, or visiting classmates and instructors remotely in a chat room. It can help increase retention of subject contents, as social media sites provide many elements which exist under e-learning, e.g., multimedia, quizzes, interaction, etc. Students can use social media to create a strong personal brand to further his career prospects but, sadly, most youngsters limit their accounts for personal use. As human resource professionals are increasingly turning to social networking websites to scout for the talent, it is vitally important for a person to create a better personal brand. Apart from teaching, social media has also a great role in the admission process. In the US, approximately 10 per cent of the top 500 schools use social media accounts of the candidates to make decisions on selections. There are some obstacles also which one can encounter while using the social networking as an educational tool. In our country, computer literacy is very low, as only 3 per cent of our homes own personal computer. However, the Union Government plans to provide broadband Internet connectivity to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in our country by mid-2014. Privacy and ethics while using the Net and miscommunication are some other challenges. But social media is just a way of communication and educators need to be the role models while using this innovative communication tool.
The writer is Senior Scientist at Dr Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture
and Forestry, Nauni, Solan |
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Campus NoteS
Guru Nanak Dev
University, Amritsar THE teachers of Guru Nanak Dev University have a reason to rejoice. The Punjab Government has released their arrears as per revised pay scales under the Sixth Pay Commission. The teachers called off their 14-day-long hunger strike after instructions were issued on the release of arrears. Dr Inderjit Singh, university Registrar, said these arrears would be paid from January 1, 2006. Several teachers under the banner of the Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers Association (GNDUTA) had been sitting on a hunger strike in protest against the non-payment of their dues and had met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal recently. The Registrar said an amount of Rs 24 crore had been electronically transferred to the university account. "The payments will be transferred to teachers' accounts shortly. Around 400 teachers will benefit. An amount ranging between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 10 lakh each will be paid to the teachers, depending upon their eligibility criteria," he said. While detailing, Professor A.S. Brar, Vice-Chancellor, said the payment got delayed because of technical reasons on part of the government only. "Till the closing of the financial year on March 31, the arrears could not be transferred to teachers' accounts. The issue was taken up in May with the state Finance Department, because the arrears had to be paid in the new financial year 2013-2014 by the DPI office. The amount was further diverted to the Higher Education Department before being finally released."
Data entry operators
The university laid off of its 17 data entry operators hired on ad hoc basis after the later lost their legal battle in a court recently. The ad hoc data entry operators had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court in October last against university's move to hire fresh data entry operators on the regular basis. With the first batch of five data entry operators becoming jobless, it is being viewed that the remaining 43 data entry operators employed in different non-teaching branches of the university for the past five years may also face the same fate, because the university has already hired a fresh batch of data entry operators on the regular basis via an advertisement published in September 2012. It was then that the ad hoc data entry operators had moved the court against the move in October 2012. According to sources, the university had appointed the first batch of 17 data entry operators in May 2009 for three years on a fixed pay package of Rs 10,000. Their contract was renewed for another one year and was due to expire in May 2013. However, the Vice-Chancellor had refused to extend their services further. Likewise, others were hired on different intervals under the identical terms and conditions. Dr Inderjeet Singh Registrar, said these ad hoc employees would be laid off as per the expiry of their term of employment.
Youth leadership camp
Gagandeep Kaur of Guru Nanak Dev University College, Jalandhar, was adjudged the best camper, while Bandana of Guru Nanak Dev University College, Narot Jaimal Singh, was declared the second best camper at a five-day youth leadership camp organised by the Department of Youth Welfare of Guru Nanak Dev University at the University Students Holiday Home, Dalhousie, recently. Guru Nanak Dev University College, Jalandhar, and Guru Nanak Dev University College, Verka, were declared first and second best disciplined teams, respectively, at the hiking and trekking training camp. Sanjay Kumar Dhiman, SDM, Dalhousie, was the chief guest at the valedictory function. Dr G.S. Dhillon, Principal, Dalhousie Public School, Dalhousie, was the guest of honour. Dr Jagjit Kaur, Director, Youth Welfare, said the campers were taken to Panchpula, Kala Top, Dain Kund, Khajjiar and Dalhousie for sightseeing and trekking. Campers also showcased their hidden talent in various competitive events, including extempore, debate, folk song, poetical recitation and dancing.
— Contributed by G. S. Paul |
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Branding gives an edge to colleges and B-schools: Survey
NEW DELHI: Branding has become an important tool for colleges and business schools to stay ahead of the curve by communicating this differentiation to students as their USP, says a survey. According to staffing firm Kelly Services, 57 per cent of respondents believe brand reputation of educational institute play an important role in job placement. It further said there is a significant impact of quality of education in the career growth of an individual. “It’s widely seen that professionals from certain branded institutes have an edge in gaining entry to many marquee companies. Branding has become an important tool for colleges or business schools to stay ahead of the curve by clearly communicating this differentiation to students as their USP,” Kelly Services India MD Kamal Karanth said. College brand plays an important role during initial five years of one’s career, in exploring new opportunities and sustaining in the corporate sector because till then the employers perceive employees to be superior due to one’s college brand, provided the expectation are fulfilled. The report said around 32.7 per cent respondents believe price to be the key factor while considering selection of an education institute/college.
— PTI
British schools to conduct
code-breaking contests
LONDON: Schools in Britain may soon conduct competitions to break secret codes, aimed at developing the next generation of cyber security experts, a report said. Teenagers from 14 to 16 will pit their wits against one another to break secret codes to uncover hidden messages and then write their own, BBC reported. Schools will score points for coming up with the toughest codes and then have a virtual contest, attempting to crack those of other schools. The contest is an extension of what is known as the “Cyber Security Challenge”, currently in its fourth year and designed to find and encourage people to work in computer security. The national contest will end with a face-to-face battle between the top performers, with the winners earning 1,000 pounds for their school. “This latest initiative to introduce children in secondary education to cyber security is an excellent way of bringing talent into this area, helping young people to discover why cyber security matters and inspiring them to take up the profession,” Cabinet Office Minister Chloe Smith told BBC.
— IANS |
