Top 5 Reasons Why Educators Should Learn About Social Media

Just this morning I saw an excellent SlideShare presentation by +Jennifer Legarde that was shared by +Linda Lindsay on Google+.  The theme of the narrative is about making sure that curriculum and pedagogy are considered before choosing technology to enhance learning.

Technology is NOT Transforming Education. YOU ARE! from Jennifer LaGarde

I loved the presentation as I often begin my presentations with a quote like, "Content is King" or "Pedagogy eats technology for lunch".  This slide deck is replete with great quotes that I have used or will quite likely use myself.  Alvin Toffler's gem on Slide 54 hangs on my office wall.  

The message for the the technophile is to look before you leap and remember that technology is only a tool.  On the flip side, there are many educators who are either waiting for evidence that technology actually enhances learning, or late adopters, or technophobes or anxious or uncomfortable about or too busy to learn new tools.  There may be many possibly valid reasons for an educator to keep doing what "works" for him or her.  But there education is all about curiosity, about simulating, motivating and exploring.  So educators of all people should be eager to learn about new methods, tools and techniques.  

Social Media is an amazing force that allows for creativity and collaboration.  If educators are still wondering about the need to learn about this medium, here are 5 top reasons to wait no more!

Top 5 Reasons Educators Need to Use Social Media

Sure there are potential hazards to using social media but only by exploring these tools can educators get comfortable with them and help guide their learners in making the most of these in a safe manner.

Will "Digital textbook" be the "MOOC" of 2014?

MOOC was the buzzword of the year 2013.  MOOCs can potentially replace some of the redundancy in higher education and thus save money.  Clearly there are problems with MOOCs but used appropriately they have value.

Another area in education that is ripe for disruption is the textbook market.  The publishers charge exorbitant prices for content that may not change much over many years and many editions.

Take an example of a pretty expensive textbook:

http://www.amazon.com/College-Algebra-4th-Edition-ebook/dp/B005H8DB1K/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

This book costs over $100 on Amazon and even the Kindle eBook version costs over $80.  There are other options e.g. renting the book, getting a used book or a loose leaf version of the book.  I just selected this book at random so I can compare its price across various platforms, there are many similar very expensive books covering other topics like history which don't change very much.  So why do these books cost so much?

There are so many free online resources that could be used instead of these books.  The problem is that teachers would have to spend a lot of time reviewing the content for appropriateness and accuracy and then monitor that this content as it changes.  In addition, one would assume that the book organizes the content in some pedagogically appropriate manner which is worth something.

Enter Boundless - this is potentially a disruptive innovation that overcomes this problem.  Boundless provides alternative textbooks that match the content of these traditional books but uses open source material for the content.  Boundless has been reviewed at several places like TIME and INSIDE HIGER ED.
The alternative to this same textbook costs a flat $20 on Boundless.  There are also other books on Algebra that are free if you do not want flashcards and quizzes.

https://www.boundless.com/algebra/college-algebra-books-a-la-carte-edition-4th-beecher-penna-bittinger-0321725603/?utm_campaign=gnome-content&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=concept-page

The challenge that this model needs to overcome:

1. Getting students and teachers comfortable with eBooks
2. Ensuring the quality/accuracy of the content
3. Legal issues - Boundless is currently being sued by some publishers over copyrights - schools and colleges would not like to adopt this while there is uncertainty about this.

We wish Boundless all the best in overcoming these challenges.  The commercial textbook market is ripe for disruption and it should happen sooner rather than later.

First chromecast experience - problems with Corporate WiFi.

I got the Chromecast finally and was eager to try it out.  If you saw my previous post, I was hoping to test it in our small-group learning rooms to share content from each student's mobile device.

The directions are so simple that you can read them upside down!  The monitor I was trying it on has the HDMI and USB ports co-located and thus made it easy to plug in the stick and its USB powered supply cord.  Once you change the monitor input to the HDMI port, it shows the set up screen.

Next you use your smart mobile device to navigate to google.com/chromecast/setup.  On my Win 7 laptop it downloaded an app to help me connect to Chromecast and configure it.  Right now there is no app for iOS and so on my iPhone I could connect to it via my Chrome browser.  Chromecast sets up a hotspot around it that lets your mobile device connect to it to set up the WiFi.

My problem was that Chromecast was not able to connect to either our secure corporate WiFi (LEAP).  I then tried our Public WiFi but it requires users to accept a boilerplate agreement.  Unfortunately there is no way to accept this agreement on a monitor with Chromecast.  

So my last attempt was to try a Verizon MiFi.  This worked reasonably well and I was able to test the system.  The best news is that I was able to project a tab from Chrome to the monitor.  There was a bit of lag with scrolling.  The most disconcerting thing was that you don't see the cursor on the monitor.  So you have to look at your mobile device to use the mouse but the entire audience can see the content on your screen.  

So overall I am happy with the ability to cast content from a Chrome tab though the lag and the absence of the cursor are small drawbacks.

The inability to connect to even a public WiFi due to inability to accept an agreement needs to be fixed.  This may be a problem with other entertainment devices like Roku but is a clear handicap when trying to use Chromecast at work or in a hotel for example.