This week we were tasked to identify some of the benefits
and challenges of social networking for adult learning. Moreover, we were asked to explain the roles
of the learner and instructor in regards to social networking. Finally, we were assigned to consider a
strategy to incorporate social networking into our particular adult education
setting.
Of the many benefits social networking brings to adult
learning, one of the strongest in my opinion is collaborative learning. George Siemens advances the theory of
Connectivism as a learning theory equal to cognitivism or constructivism
(Siemens, 2005). For me, the jury is
still out on that debate, but I wholeheartedly believe that true knowledge can
reside outside the brain, such as inside a social network. It’s really not a new theory is it? We’ve all heard the old saying that “it’s not
what you know, it’s who you know.” Most
of us think of that as a negative connotation, but when you think of it in a
learning context, it can be very positive.
I don’t know a lot. But I know a
lot of people who know a lot of stuff.
When I need to know something I don’t already know, I know who to ask to
find out. I am a self-proclaimed
connectivist. And the real beauty of it
is, sometimes the first person I ask doesn’t know either, so they ask somebody
they know, and so on, until an answer is found.
The result is everybody in the network between me and the person who
knew the answer learns something new.
Another valuable benefit of social networks in regards to
adult learning is the value of diversity.
Continuing with the scenario above, in the pursuit of new knowledge
there is likely potential of learning several different answers or theories
concerning the original question. The
benefit to the learner is having the option to choose or combine information
that best meets his or her needs at the time.
Along with the numerous benefits come many challenges of
social networks in relation to adult learning.
With the abundance of information available, one of the most significant
challenges for learners and educators is verifying the accuracy of the
information. As Richardson posits, when
it comes to the internet, anyone can publish anything, so we must all be
vigilant enough to be critical of what we read and not just accept information
at face value (Richardson, 2010). As I
type this I am reminded of some long ago watched movie scene where a man is on
the phone with his mother. She is
telling her son about how she’s been researching her ailments on the
internet. His response is, “No Mom, I’m
sure you don’t have testicular cancer.”
Another challenge of social networking on adult learning in
my opinion is the potential distraction of the student while completing the
assignment. Say you need to do some
research on a particular subject to complete a paper for a class. One minute you are researching blogs devoted
to the subject and the next minute you’re on an auction website bidding on a
rare coin for your collection. I'm not saying I'm speaking from experience, as far as you know. I'm just saying it could
happen.
If social networking is integrated into formal learning, the
roles of educators and learners are definitely going to have to change from the
traditional. No longer can teachers just
give out knowledge and students just receive it. Instead, instructors must first become fluent
in the media they want to incorporate into the classroom and students must
actively seek the knowledge they have been assigned to learn. Teachers must now educate students on how to
find and evaluate information. Students
must now learn to navigate networks to find information instead of having it
handed to them via lecture or textbook.
As for me and my adult education practice, I like the ideas
suggested by Richardson to include creating private groups on social network
sites including facebook and twitter. Besides
the obvious benefit of teaching students how to navigate the network, there are
also indirect benefits (Richardson, 2010).
Strong bonds can be formed between class members. Speaking from personal experience, It is not
uncommon for professional relationships between class mates to last well after
the course is complete and the students are no longer connected
academically. These relationships can
benefit the students both personally and professionally indefinitely.
References:
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other
powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Press.
Siemens, G. (2005).
Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International
Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, (2)1. Retrieved
from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm
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