Alan Cann
School of Biological Sciences
University of Leicester
Find me here: bit.ly/AJCann
This talk: www.slideshare.net/AJCann
Social Media and
Microbiology Education
MicrobiologyBytes.com
What is “social media” ?
• The part of the Internet where the content
is generated by users of the service.
• It's not about tools - it's about
conversations.
Is using social media in
education a terrible idea?
• Time
• Authority ("quality")
• Just not needed - traditional tools have
proved their worth?
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What do students want?
• Guidance and leadership through the
maze
• Compete with professional media
(Facebook, games, television)
• Value for money
What do we give them?
• By and large, we give them what we
experienced in education.
• Where technology makes it easy for
us to increase the pressure on them,
we do so (email, online assessment).
What do we want?
• Engaged, self-motivated, lifelong
learners
• And ... ?
So how do we get there?
• Invest time & effort in not just doing
it but in understanding how new
media work.
• Manage expectations - in particular
that education is active not passive.
• Give them clear targets and
something to aim for.
Digital Natives versus
Visitors and Residents
?
Pedagogies of Online Education
PLE versus PLN
• Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
- a collection of tools
• Personal Learning Network (PLN)
- a collection of people
It’s not about tools, it’s about
creating the right network
Bad networks!
Good networks!
Peer networks
- professional development?
• Facebook but not Facebook
• Minimalist guidance
• Reflection
• Feedback
• Discussion (object centred)
1. Content
3. Network
2. Context
More?
• bit.ly/AJCann
• microbiologybytes.com/blog/tag/edu
cation
• scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.com