Skip to main content

Leading With Digital and Social Media Tools in the Classroom

 




Class is in session! I enjoyed week 7's tools and readings because I can see many of them in my work as an instructor for various undergraduate leadership courses. I explored Dr. Dennen's manuscript about Instructional Design and Development for Social Media Lessons. This was related to increasing my pedagogical knowledge and practices. This course has allowed me to re-imagine how I am creating a learning environment that includes technology-based tools that can reach the students I teach. Many of my students are part of a generation that relies heavily on digital and social media, so it is essential to incorporate aspects of technology into the classroom. I liked how Dr. Dennen defined instructors as designers, further confirming the concept of an instructional designer, which is pivotal in fostering a learning community best suited for the students in that environment. One class I teach that is an in-person course is Leadership and Change, and an aspect of the course that could be implemented/designed is social media as a way to understand leadership and change. The strategies outlined by Dennen center on incorporating a practical and value-based approach to using social media in lessons. It can be intimidating, but there are factors to consider, including the development process, content collections, target artifacts, use of an anchor platform, and limiting new tools but encouraging exploration. I will continue to reference this manuscript as I go into adding and/or adjusting aspects of my teaching to introduce new digital and social media tools to my students. There is a benefit to using social media as a means of learning. I find that evident in my experience through this course and how it has guided and shaped my thinking lens when critically critiquing other courses. Is it essential for instructors to reevaluate their pedagogical approaches to keep up with digital and social media/technology? 

Reference: 

Dennen, V. P. (manuscript in progress). Instructional design and development for social media lessons.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Am I missing SOMETHING? Trying to be in all spaces at once

  Class pulse check! I have been wondering if others have felt similar feelings that I have when it comes to missing some of the challenge opportunities or missing commenting and exploring other classmates' blogs, etc. I often reflect at the end of each week and think about ways to improve for the following week. Some weeks have improved, but I still need to overcome the obstacle of missing something! I offer myself grace in this situation as I engage a lot and in multiple contexts, but I am still missing something. I don't know if that ever goes away because it is not humanly possible to be at all places (even online spaces) at once. What do you do when you feel you have "missed" something? Do you set new goals for the following week? Do you have accountable partners? Do you have reminders? In addition to these probing questions, how do you handle the moments when you don't meet the goals you had set for the week?  I am all for wanting to engage and engage in sev...
3 comments
Read more

Keeping up With Technology—Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

       Before this week's readings, I only partially thought about generational differences when it comes to technology. Yes, I know there have been distinct differences between how I grew up as a child compared to my parents and now my nieces and nephew with using technology. I did not always have the latest technology growing up, but when I did, it felt like I "had" to have it to stay connected to what my peers were experiencing. My nieces and nephew are now growing up with all types of technology (tablets, school laptops, YouTube, TikTok, etc.) because it is so prevalent in their experiences and upbringing. While reflecting on the readings, the part that shocked me the most would have to be the terms digital natives and digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001). I knew that these specific "identities" regarding technology usage existed, but I did not know there was a term that classified it all together until the Prensky (2001) article. As described in the article, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Challenges of Online Learning in Developing Countries

 One aspect I wanted to focus on for this week's topic regarding international perspectives is the impact of online learning in developing countries. I decided to explore Google Scholar and came across a very interesting article by Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih and colleagues (2020) titled Responses to Covid-19 in Higher Education: Social Media Usage for Sustaining Formal Academic Communication in Developing Countries . This article highlighted many other challenges I should have considered during the pandemic, especially regarding international perspectives and experiences with online learning. I knew that the experiences in the United States were highly challenging. Still, we had far more resources than developing countries to transition to online learning and instruction because of the access to learning management systems. However, most developing countries did not know how to continue learning and teaching safely, with no alternative resources and solutions like online learning systems...
Post a Comment
Read more