A keynote presentation given at the University of Delaware for the Summer Faculty Institute. More information about the event can be found here: http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2009/may/sfi051309.html The source slides for the presentation are available for download in Keynote format. Please contact alec.couros@uregina.ca for the link. See full video of the presentation here: http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/1611

1. Harnessing the Power of
Social Networks in
Teaching & Learning
Dr. Alec Couros
2009 Summer Faculty Institute
at the University of Delaware
June 5, 2009

2. @courosa

3. Who is this guy?

4. Open Courses

6. Knowledge

7. Knowledge & Computing

8. Shifts in Edtech
Group growth
Individual growth
Objectivism
Cognitivism
Constructivism
(Leinonen) (Schwier) Social Learning

10. Key Questions
• what is k?
• how is k acquired?
• how do we know what
we know?
• why do we know what
we know?
• what do humans know?
• who controls k?
• how is k controlled?

11. Forms of Openness
open education
free software
open source software
open educational resources
open content
open access publication
open access courses open teaching
open accreditation

12. Influences

13. Available Tools

14. open content, access, Accessible Knowledge
publication, accreditation
how we view learning -
institutional & informal

15. Social Reading

16. Toward Web 3.0

17. Social Networks

18. Social Networks
• redefine communities,
friends, citizenship,
identity, presence, privacy,
publics, geography.
• enable learning,
communication, sharing,
connections, collaboration,
community.
• networks formed around
shared interests & objects.

20. Human Network

21. Netbooks - 1:1

22. Microblogging

23. Nearly Now

25. Personal Learning Networks

26. Daily Connections

27. My Blog, My Hub

28. Photo Sharing

29. Video Sharing

30. Musical Connections

31. Spontaneous PD

32. Social Network Services

33. Slide Decks

34. Copyleft

39. Media Literacy

40. Media Literacy
• Accessing, analyzing,
evaluating, and creating
messages in a variety of
forms.
• Enable skillful creators,
consumers, and
disseminators of media.
• Facilitate an
understanding of
strengths, weaknesses,
and influences of media
forms.

41. Each technology
creates a new
environment.
The old environment
becomes content for
the new environment.
The effects of media
come from their form
not their content.

42. Spread of Media

43. Viral Videos

44. Sociality

45. Disruptive Forms

46. Surveillance Society

47. In Practice

48. Grade One - Expert Visits

49. Grade Five - Choir on Youtube

50. Grade Seven/Eight - Classroom Studio

51. High School Math - Scribe Posts

52. University History - Twitter

53. Virtual Office Hours

54. Mindsets, Skills, Perspectives

55. lightbulb
vs.
ipod
Understanding Media

56. Impact of Learning Environment

57. Small Tools, Loosely Joined

58. Open Invitations

59. Distributed Conversations

60. Sharing by Default

61. Expert Visits

62. Support
Private Public
Closed Open

63. Professional Learning

64. New Roles for Educators

65. Community asIdentities
Digital Curriculum

66. Outreach

67. sustained community Benefits
transformative experiences
gained technical skills
media literacies
move toward openness
empathy toward new literacies
greater community

68. “I was able to go out and learn
throughout the entire week,
the entire year, and I’m still
learning with everyone.”
“The best part of the course
is that it’s not ending. With
the connections we’ve built,
it never has to end.”

69. “The course ... has been the most profound pd experience
I’ve ever had. It forced me to critique & review my
practice. I never knew how important social networks
were. Now, I couldn’t be a teacher without being
connected. It’s drastically changed my view of education.”

70. Don’t limit a child to your
own learning, for he was born
in another time. ~Tagore
web: couros.ca
twitter: courosa
google: couros
alec.couros@uregina.ca