(Tips on Collegiate student blogging, 2012)
Thinking about my classroom (or lab), what makes it up? It's me and those 24 faces staring at me (or at their smartphones when they think I'm not looking). When they are busily engaged in activity it's still just them....and me.
But occasionally there's little intruders. "The other lab didn't do this activity," " RPH blood transfusion policy doesn't require that...," "you know One direction just landed in Sydney." And this information all came from 'the outside' world. So my opinion now is, if you can't beat them, join them! Social media and technology is in every part of most of our lives now, 80.5% of Australians are internet users (Internet World Stats. Usage and Population Statistics, 2013). It plays a role in how we communicate, seek information, shop and many other facets of our lives.
So why not in learning? Instead of banning smartphones in class, maybe we should embrace them. Isn't that more authentic? Out in the 'real world' professionals access the internet and social media for information exchange, expert advice all the time. So why say no in class? There's always that risk that it will be misused and students will be distracted. But as Caleb Ferguson (2013, 745) points out with view to smart phones in hospital settings, "avenues for idling time away have always been there, but those who work within ethical and clinical standards clearly will not engage in this behaviour." Let's put the ball in their court. You misuse it, you loose it.
Within my practical labs, I encourage the use of devices along with the 'old fashioned' text or lecture notes. If it's going to aid in their learning, I'm all for it. I'd like to even enhance it. Microblogging platform twitter is starting to show a strong presence in research and how people information exchange. A study outlined by Peter Reed (2013) showed students that used twitter for an assessment requiring them to tweet daily on a topic, raise points of concern, offer remedies, also respond to tweets on the original topic/concerns and remedies were far more engaged and offered more discussion points than a control group that were writing journals.
NDU Fremantle Campus Nursing School conducted it's inaugural SMART Care conference (Social Media application for research and teaching) recently. Students there showcased how they have engaged in social media to benefit their learning. And if you were unable to attend the conference, you could follow along on twitter #NPD100. Academics tucked away at universities or nursing experts in their hospital offices are now within reach, exchanging current up to date information with the community the seek to improve. It's an exciting time, not time to put the phone down.
(Social media in education. Is it a good thing? 2012)
References
Ferguson, Caleb. 2013. It's time for the nursing profession to leverage social media. Journal of Advanced Nursing 69 (4): 745-747
Internet World Stats. Usage and Population Statistics, 2013. Accessed Oct 29, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Reed, Peter. 2013. Hashtags and retweets: using Twitter to aid Community,Communication and Casual (informal) learning. Research in Learning Technology 21 :19692 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.19692 Social Media in education is. Is it a good thing? 2012. http://www.iptv.org/medialib/graphics/ed_20120308_socialmedia_classroom.jpg
Tips on Collegiate Student Blogging. 2012. http://profalbrecht.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/social_media_classroom.jpg
Hello Jenni,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post - the start of it got my interest going, and so I was there until the end! I was wondering when you allow students to have devices in the classroom, what do they use them for - apps? taking notes? In the same vein, what plans do you have for getting phone use going for educational purposes in class? Look forward to your ideas! Shannon