Lee Davies

If you overlook the fact that it is grammatically incorrect, this is the title of the lunchtime panel debate at world of learning, a two day conference in 2010 aimed at ‘learning and development professionals’.

Now I don’t profess to be an expert when it comes to social media, but I do know a bit about learning and I get really frustrated when I hear technology enabled learning being described as ‘the new pedagogy’.  It isn’t.  Would you attend a seminar entitled ‘pen and paper: is there a place in learning?’  No, nor would I.

As teachers (trainers, tutors ….. learning and development professionals) it is not for us to decide what extent social media have a place in learning.  If learners are actively engaged in online spaces and are using these to share the experiences we provide, they have made the decision for us.  Our job is to discover how we can harness the technologies our learners own and use.
(more…)

For those of you new to the world of social media and how you or your organisation can add value to the spaces people use ….. Social Media Today is well worth a visit.

Go on, take a look!

OK, so you’ve listened to all that’s being said and read all that’s been written on social networking and reached the inevitable conclusion that your organisation has to add value to the spaces and places your people (members, customers, citizens, etc) use.  You’ve done your research, know where the important conversations are happening and are approaching it strategically and tactically.  You’ve set your objectives, found your champions and things are starting to take off.  What more is there to think about?

Keep it fresh…..

Good content is, arguably, the most important consideration in driving engagement and interaction.  On the down side, the internet is awash with content – good, bad and indifferent - and people are becoming more and more discerning.  Fresh, relevant and original content will keep people coming back for more, particularly if it adds value to professional, working or social lives.  If you are struggling to pitch it right ….. ask the experts.  Yes that’s right, talk to the people who are active in the spaces you are trying to influence and give them what they want.
(more…)

Well, well ….. who might have written this thought provoking piece on the way teachers need to get wise to the importance of social media in teaching and learning.

Well, I did just this at the recent teaching and learning conference when a question was posed from the floor: “how can we incorporate things such as Facebook and YouTube into our teaching, when learners spend time chatting to friends?”

I wonder if the same was said when those early innovative teachers first started to use pencil and paper, rather than slate: “how can we possibly use this new fangled paper, when students can fold it up and pass messages to each other?” (more…)

Congratulations to the brilliant team at Pebble Learning for picking up the 2010 IMS Global Learning Impact Award … not just any award, Pebble only went and made Platinum.  Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch or, indeed, a better personal learning space.

Want to see Pebble’s winning submission … it’s here.

Want to find out more about the IMS awards … look here.

An interview for Policy Review TV in advance of the 2010 Teaching and Learning Conference.

With Sue Crowley and Sue Colquhoun discussing how professional bodies  need to engage with their members and how technology can enable this to happen.

Podcast here

With Dr Jean Kelly and Michelle Jennings, discussing how personal learning spaces can transform a professional body’s approach to continuing professional development.

Podcast here

So this was the year when the whacky world of social media finally matured and made an impact on something that really mattered.  If, like me, you have a number of late teen children, voting for the first time and if, like me, they allow you into that online world they inhabit, the world of Facebook, tweeting and You Tube, you can’t help but be impressed by tens of thousands of young people talking politics.

It’s a scary place to be, one of many hundreds of ‘friends’ of each of my children, but I guess I should be thankful that they allow me into that space where they live their lives in the glare of the social media spotlight.  Yes, I have those cringe-making moments when I shudder to see last night’s status update, but I also involve myself in conversations about the impact technology has had on warfare.  It really is quite extraordinary to watch and join several A Level history students debate the place of the tank in transforming the first world war. (more…)