Week 10 - Blog 12; Twitter

Section I: Learning from hashtags

The educational hashtag from the links that were provided in week 10, that I found very interesting is #mlearning. #mlearning is about M-learning technologies which includes tablets, MP3 players, notebooks, and mobile phones. M-learning focuses on the learners’ mobility, and how they interact with portable technologies. Using mobile tools for creating learning aids and materials becomes an important part of informal learning. M-learning is widely used in schools, workplaces, museums, cities and rural areas around the world. Mobile learning allows widened opportunities for timing, location, accessibility and context of learning, which is very different than traditional classroom pedagogical approaches. The Mobile learning is the learning delivery of education or learning support through mobile phones and/or tablets. Students have the ability learn through E-learning, therefore breaking out from the traditional learning and break out of the classroom setting and for students to learn at home. Students are able to learn virtually anywhere a mobile signal is available through e-learning. Mobile technology is playing a large role in redefining how people receive information. Recent mobile technology advances are changing the primary purpose of mobile devices from making or receiving calls to retrieving the latest information on any subject. Agencies such as the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Intelligence community, and law enforcement are utilizing mobile technology for information management. Psychological research suggests that university students who download podcast lectures achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person (only in cases in which students take notes) (Callaway & Ewen 2009). I know that in the use of mobile learning in the military is becoming increasingly common due to low cost and high portability. Mobile devices in the classroom can be used to enhance student-centered learning, group collaboration among students through communication applications, interactive displays, and video features. Existing mobile technology can replace cumbersome resources such as textbooks, visual aids, and presentation technology. Interactive and multi-mode technology allows students to engage and manipulate information. Mobile Device features with WIFI capabilities allow for on-demand access to information. Access to classroom activities and information on mobile devices provides a continuum for learning inside and outside the classroom. Mobile devices facilitate online interaction between instructor and student, and student to student.

Section II: Ideas for using Twitter for teaching and learning

Based on the readings in this week, and my own experience in using Twitter, I learned how to it can enhance the learning with tools that have changed the nature of learning. First, Twitter makes tasks simple and possible by two simple tasks possible, since students and teachers can post short, 140-character messages known as tweets and with the Web, where students can automatically follow the messages being posted by the teachers and their peers. Second, Twitter can be the perfect tool for building networks of peers engaged in anytime, anyplace communication with the use of Twitter streams, which can be organized to track messages posted by teachers to share their interests in educational technology. Teachers and students can add messages in Twitter by logging on to the Internet or by using an application on their cell phone. Teachers can post links to new resources, asking and answering questions, making observations, drawing conclusions, and sharing exciting news as it happens, with their students. Lastly, teachers and students can “retweet.”, which are posts that are made by users that were considered important enough to be shared again by someone else. This links can include links to valuable websites, particularly stimulating questions, or ideas that can be share. Retweeting a message in Twitter will allow students to quickly spread the ideas of their peers. The use of hashtags makes it possible for Twitter posts to be easily categorized and searched. It can make every message that could be valuable to the other teachers, so that we can share experiences, ideas and resources with each other. With the use of hashtags, fellow teachers could search in Twitter and get an instant list of any message that included the hashtag. While most tweets won’t include a hashtag because they count against your 140-character quota, this would facilitate specific use of Twitter by groups to study specific topics.