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

@courosa

Who is this guy?

Open Courses

Knowledge

Knowledge & Computing

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

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?

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

Influences

Available Tools

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

Social Reading

Toward Web 3.0

Social Networks

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

Human Network

Netbooks - 1:1

Microblogging

Nearly Now

Personal Learning Networks

Daily Connections

My Blog, My Hub

Photo Sharing

Video Sharing

Musical Connections

Spontaneous PD

Social Network Services

Slide Decks

Copyleft

Media Literacy

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.

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.

Spread of Media

Viral Videos

Sociality

Disruptive Forms

Surveillance Society

In Practice

Grade One - Expert Visits

Grade Five - Choir on Youtube

Grade Seven/Eight - Classroom Studio

High School Math - Scribe Posts

University History - Twitter

Virtual Office Hours

Mindsets, Skills, Perspectives

lightbulb
vs.
ipod
Understanding Media

Impact of Learning Environment

Small Tools, Loosely Joined

Open Invitations

Distributed Conversations

Sharing by Default

Expert Visits

Support
Private Public
Closed Open

Professional Learning

New Roles for Educators

Community asIdentities
Digital Curriculum

Outreach

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

“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.”

“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.”

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