It's the final week of '23 things' and I am blogging about my experiences during this journey. This journey has been a wonderful one, exposing me to so many new ideas, thoughts and digital experiences. I think my journey has just began though for I now need to explore innovative ways with which to use some of these technologies. When I started, I had Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and ResearchGate accounts. While I feel very comfortable with Facebook and ResearchGate, I can't say that I like the other two or see much value in them within my industry. The course did push me to explore Twitter a little more but, by and large, my response is still the same - and so are my students'!!!

I loved some of the other tools we learned about such as Pinterest. I linked Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to my courses this semester and noted that students were totally disinterested in tweeting or posting on Facebook. By contrast, I had quite a number of students follow my Pinterest boards; which was great. What's more, I enjoyed being able to pin information for my students as I undertook research for my workshops. The next challenge is to get students to pin and share too. One of the problems with this step is that Moodle is not set up for links to Pinterest and so adding students to Pinterest becomes a spamming issue. There are tedious ways around this problem but hey, who has the time to play around as an academic... One thing is for sure: Pinterest is here to stay with my students and with me. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

I also love Blogger. As an extrovert, I can ramble on without worrying about the normal academic rigour and perfection. Blogger allows my mind to roam in a more creative domain and become inspired by my own thoughts as they float from the subconscious to the conscious. This blog is an example of my free writing process without the imposition of academic writing orthodoxy.

The other technology that I was most interested in was developing my own Youtube video. Unfortunately, I have not yet had the chance to take on this task, but it is a top priority on my list of 'to-dos'. I intent to become competent at this technology and to use it for my future social projects and as a teaching tool (instead of Camtasia Studio) if possible???

I loved the structure of '23 things'. The course was short, informative and required that you complete a basic task that was doable. I wish I could build on these skills now in a second level of this course which takes you from novice to more challenging tasks.

I believe the hardest part of undertaking this course was the time factor. I found it almost impossible to juggle my more-than full-teaching, research publication deadlines and other activities. But this semester is an exception to the norm and will pass. I would be great if the course could be offered over two semesters a year to provide more flexibility in taking on the course.

So that's it from me for now.

This week's task is about facebook... am at home with this one for a change... woohoow... still thinking how to usw Fb for my classes... hmmm must search around

Here is a great article about how to incorporate Twitter into class activities. I particularly like digital role playing example.
Gao, F., Luo, T., & Zhang, K. (2012). Tweeting for learning: A critical analysis of research on microblogging in education published in 2008–2011. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(5), 783-801.

It's week three of '23 things'. This week we are to learn about Twitter and engage in Tweeting. I must say that my previous experiences with Twitter leave me unmoved. I can't seem to find many academics online. It is great for industry stuff though. I much rather use Research Gate as it is more suited to my purpose.
I am going to go in search of Twitter based engagement in education. Maybe I can find something of interest.
Will post up if I come across something. In the meanwhile, if anyone has any resources then please share...
Hoda

Engaging students online

Ok, I'm ready to do this ...  yikes!!!! 

Not sure where to start so I will try for the emotional slant first... So far, I have had a mixture of feelings ranging from excitement to trepidation through to being overwhelmed. Fortunately, neither of the latter two feelings have lasted long and I am back on track... 

My thoughts so far: I started this e-learning process to understand how to engage the younger generation better in classes. I loved the 'Dale Pobega's Free ESL Club' blog. His blog made me realise the eclectic range of resources one can integrate into a blog: online magazines, picture, videos, Facebook pages (and others), files and so on.

Just wondering though: 

1. can we use blogger in our courses through Moodle or what is the best way to get students to get to our blog?

2. Does anyone use social media in their lectures/workshops? If so, how, for what and how has the response been? What about access issues?

I guess I would love to start doing some social media stuff with students but how willing are they to engage and in what type of activities?

Love to hear your comments ...

Hoda