Gold mines

One of the most persuasive affordances of social media is that it encourages users to generate their own content. Potentially, this is a pedagogical gold mine for teachers if they choose to dig a little deeper. Teachers know that active forms of learning are better than passive forms. One result is deeper learning. Active learning is encouraged when students need to do something, solve a problem or produce something related to the content they are studying. Teachers who recognise this and see the potential of social media to promote active learning are in for an exciting time. Learning through digital media, says US educator Douglas Thomas, means that children are not only critical consumers of knowledge, but also producers of new knowledge. For too long, schools have been promoting the exclusive consumption of knowledge, some of which goes out of date very quickly. Schools (along with other educational institutions) should also be knowledge production centres. Our society needs new knowledge to supplement the established knowledge that already exists. Why leave it until university before students get to do research? Why not start them off on a lifelong journey of inquiry while they are still young?

Several recent schools based projects have shown the value of active learning, through knowledge production using digital media. The Quadblogging project which first began life in a small school in Bolton, North West England, is now a global phenomenon, with children in many countries blogging their stories, conversing across continents and sharing their imagination. A similar effect is seen in the 100 Word Challenge, and in other similar school related blog projects. Some schools are also promoting the idea of radio stations, which provide children with a chance to be a newsreader, DJ or station presenter. Children really learn a lot from presenting live on air - you really have to do your homework if you are summarising today's news, or interviewing a local politician.

Designer Micky McManus points out that the volume of knowledge production is unprecedented, and thanks to the Internet, anyone can publish content or perform their ideas to a potentially worldwide audience. This is exactly what the Quadblogging kids are doing. They are gaining an audience for their ideas, and in so doing, are cultivating a love of the written word. Blogging is just one of the many social media tools teachers have available to promote user generated content. There are many others, all of which have their own affordances. Before any of these tools can be used effectively however, two things need to happen. Firstly, teachers need to accept that active learning can be supported through the use of social media. And secondly, schools need to stop blocking these services so teachers can use them effectively. The gold mine is there for the taking.

Photo by Kris Olin


Gold mines by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.