Transformation and inspiration through social media: Meeting the needs of the

21st Century Learner

Steve WheelerUniversity of Plymouth, UK

Keynote Speech for Ulearn 2010, Christchurch, New Zealand, 6-8 October 2010

Some connections

http://www.mayflowersteps.co.uk

http://news.sportsinteraction.com/

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Some connections

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HMNZS AchillesDecember 1939

Auckland1965

Digital Tribes and the Social Web:

How Web 2.0 will Transform Learning in

Higher Education

Steve WheelerUniversity of Plymouth

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Engaging the Digital Generation Conference: University of Middlesex, London, 29 June 2010

http://www.sessionmagazine.com/

In the available time....

• The Nature of Change• Change in Education• Social Media• Digital Literacies• Personalised Learning• Questions

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http://farm3.static.flickr.com

New York c 1920

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Transformation

Does education need transformation?

Source: Chambers English Dictionary

"In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad."

~ Nietzsche

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http://www.swissinfo.ch/media

Transformation…• …to change

people or things completely, especially improving their appearance or usefulness

• …to convert one form of energy to another

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http:

//ka

tmau

nd.b

logs

pot.c

om/

Source: Banksy

Education is changing for young people as they experience self-directed learning, (mostly outside school) about things that

interest them.Source: http://community.learningobjects.com

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http://flickr.com/photos/thomcochrane/416206133/

Young people’s out-of-school

experiences with technology can

mean that students find the presentation of school curriculum less challenging, less

relevant and less engaging.

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Source: http://community.learningobjects.com

http://encefalus.com

/

“For the first time we are preparing students for a future we cannot clearly describe.” – David Warlick

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http://communications.nottingham.ac.uk/podcasts/

Education certainly needs inspiration...

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The pace of change is

accelerating

How will we keep up with it?

http://www.objectlessons.org

“Students today can’t prepare bark to

calculate their problems. They depend on slate which is more

expensive. What will they do when they

drop the slate and it breaks? They will be

unable to write!”(Anon – 1709)

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“Students today depend on paper too

much. They don’t know how to write

without getting chalk dust all over

them. What will they do when they run

out of paper?”(Anon – 1815)

http://www.nikkikatz.com

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“Students today depend too much on ink. They don’t know how to use a penknife to

sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the pencil.” (Anon – 1907)

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http:

//w

ww

.pen

soft

hefo

rest

.co.

uk

“Students today depend on expensive fountain pens. They can no longer write

with a straight pen and knib!”(Anon – 1941)

http://w

ww

.gadgettastic.com

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www.abebooks.com

“One day every town in America

will have a telephone!”

- U.S. Mayor, (c 1880)

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"In the times of rapid change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."

~ Eric Hoffer

washingtonrebel.typepad.com

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All learning begins when our comfortable ideas turn out to be inadequate. - John Dewey

http://www.dancinghearts.org

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Step outside your comfort zone

Get a vision

“It’s not easy being blind, but it must be tragic when you can see, but you have no vision.”

- Helen Keller

http://www.aph.org/hall_fame/images/keller4.jpg

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http://stufffromthelab.wordpress.com

There will be casualties...

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“We are in the middle of a revolution in how knowledge is created, transmitted and organised that is of similar significance to that which followed the invention of printing.”

~ Seb Schmoller

http://www.fenews.co.uk

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M

www.cs-exhibitions.uni-klu.ac.at

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Mass produced

universal text (Disruptive

Technology)

Gutenberg

What is the disruptive technology in schools today?

Clue: 99.8% of students own one or more

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Trends in mobile phone use

27%

38%

49%

Feb 09 Oct 09 Jun 10

Student ownership of smart mobile phones.

97% of students now use text messages as their main form of communication.

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, June 17, 2010.

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The ‘Brick’

When Martin Cooper invented the mobile phone 35 years ago, he envisioned a world with people so wedded to wireless connections that they would walk around with devices embedded in their bodies.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au

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Daily text messaging among American teens shot up in 18 months, from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February of 2008 to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009. cc

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Source: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx

http://www.babble.com

txting

Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. (2009 statistics)

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Source: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx

http://blog.roadandtravel.com

http://i.dailymail.co.uk

Objections from educators

...they are distracting and disruptive. The phone becomes

the focus of attention,inappropriate images/videos can

be taken and sent, leading to invasion of privacy and loss of

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Mobile phones are banned in most schools because...

What is this?

dad@hvn ur spshl. we want wot u want & urth 2b like hvn. giv us food & 4giv r sins lyk we 4giv uvaz. don't test us! save us! bcos we kno ur boss. ur tuf & ur cool 4 eva! ok?

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‘Squeeze’ text

The competition was for re-writing the Lord's Prayer for the mobile phone, using just 160 characters or less. It was judged for Ship of Fools by the Churches' Broadcasting Conference. The task itself was not easy. The traditional version of the Lord's Prayer is 372 characters long, so whittling it down to 160 characters meant cutting the prayer by more than half but without losing anything important.

http://www.canada.com

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...and in second place…

r pa in evan, respect 2 u, may u rain ear as in evan. giv us r needs, 4giv r sin as we 4giv r nmes. resq us from the evil 1. 4 ur always the most xlent dude. yo

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http://aproposofnothing.files.wordpress.com

Introducing computers into schools

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http://aproposofnothing.files.wordpress.com

“Any teacher who can be replaced by a computer....

.... should be”.

- Arthur C. Clarke cc S

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“A computer once beat me at chess...

...but was no match for me at kickboxing.”

http://woodforthetrees.files.wordpress.com

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Teachable moments

http://www.candyapplecostumes.com

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Doctors save lives

Teachers make lives

http://w

ww

.taranakicareers.co.nz

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http://tatango.com

What does this generation of learners want?

Digital Natives?

anytime

personalised

anyplace

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http://ithalas.com

Source: Maria Webster - http://www.ntdaily.com/

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Intuitive devices

Natural gesturingInteractiveMobileCreativeParticipatory

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http://tatango.com

What does this generation of learners need?

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Digital Literacies

Engaging and fun

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Serious gamesInteractive narratives

Role play simulations

Personalised Learning?

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http://www.delasallewaterford.com

Personalised Learning?

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http://www.hseb.utah.edu

Trends in Education

Just for me Apprenticeship model

Just in case Standard Curriculum

Just in timeBespoke Curriculum

Just for mePersonalised Learning

Personal Learning Environment

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We are family

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http://pro.corbis.com

Wii are family!

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http://wiifitnessdepot.com

Personalised Learning...

Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.

- Dr Suesshttp://images.fanpop.com/images

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Generating Content

Sharing Content Organising Content

Blog Mashup

Wiki

Tagging

Personal Web Tools

E-portfolio

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Personal Learning Environments

PersonalLearning Environment

Personal Learning Network

PersonalWeb Tools

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Source: http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2010/07/anatomy-of-ple.html

PLEs are not only personal web tools and personal learning networks. PLEs

are much wider than this, taking in experiences and realia, as well as learning through TV, music, paper based materials, radio &

more formal contexts.

Learning content is not as important now as where (or who) to connect to, to

find it.

PWTs are any web tools, (usually Web 2.0) chosen

by learners to support their lifelong learning.

http://www.eastone.co.uk/

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You are your own ‘VLE’

Services Tools

Formats Content

Channels Networks

Aggregation of Social Media

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http://www.uksmallbusinesswebsites.co.uk

With access to Social Media everyone has a voice

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The ‘Architecture of Participation’

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Learning 2.0

ToolsCollaborating

Sharing

Voting

Networking

User generated

content

Why Social Media?

Tagging

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Digital wisdom

e-safety

http://www.saltash.net

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Is a webcam in a pig sty leading edge?

Positive Deviance“Somewhere in your organization, groups of people are already doing things differently and better. To create lasting change, find areas of positive deviance and fan their flames.”

- Pascale & Sternin (Harvard Business Review)

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk

“The goal of education is to enrich the lives of students while producing articulate, expressive thinkers and lifelong learners that are socially responsible, resilient, and active citizens of the world. Education is about teaching students, not subjects.”

Dave Truss

Blended learning?

Formal Learning Informal Learning

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20% 80%Source: Cofer, D. (2000). Informal Workplace Learning.

Funnels or Webs?

Ivan Illich cc S

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http://zumu.com

Wa

http://www.prlog.org

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Need some inspiration?

http://benpeterson.files.wordpress.com

http://www.prlog.org

Robben Island, Cape Town

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Lifelong learning against all the odds

“All too often today we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.”

- John W Gardner

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http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/image/s_flowers-lost-gardens-of-heligan.jpg

http://www.newcastle.edu.au

The future?

www.etsu.edu/math

Thank you for listening

Questions?http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com

@timbuckteeth

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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK:

International Licence.

Steve Wheeler swheeler@plymouth.ac.uk University of Plymouth, United Kingdom

Keynote Speech for Ulearn 2010, Christchurch, New Zealand, 6-8 October 2010