Creating a Learning Community Using Social & Mobile ToolsJanet Aiello-Cerio, Sue Epstein, Betty Hurley-Dasgupta, Craig Lamb, Lori Luse, Thalia MacMillan,

Audeliz Matias , Amanda Mickel, Liz Prybylowski , Matt Quinn, Frank VanderValk, David Wolf

Social Learning Tools Task Force - Overview

The ongoing and rapid expanse of emerging technologies and social media provides us with many new tools and approaches for teaching and learning. CDL and the College continue to explore open learning and we are preparing for a conversion to Moodle, which offers much potential for a more dynamic learning environment than Angel (including mobile courses). In addition, the Mobile Learning Task Force has paved the way for mobile learning at CDL and the college with several successful models for innovative mobile studies. Given all of these changes and the emergence of social learning as a significant trend in higher education, how do we make the best choices for our learners based on a careful assessment of tools and resources? This working group will build on the good work of the Mobile Learning Task Force, generating ideas for projects involving emerging tools and sponsoring projects, with a particular emphasis on collaborative social learning. The work of the committee will culminate in presentations at the CDL conference and offer specific recommendations to the Center for moving forward with social and mobile learning.

Project for Open Online Learning (POOL)Investigator: Frank VanderValk

LinkedIn as a Course ActivityInvestigator: Sue Epstein

Learning Green Business the Mobile WayInvestigators: Audeliz Matias, Patrice Torcivia, David Wolf

“MyCDL” Mobile AppInvestigators: Janet Aiello-Cerio, Craig Lamb, Matt Quinn, David Wolf

The majority of higher education institutions have created mobile apps and mobile accessible web sites to better serve their student population. Initial data gathered by the center for distance learning indicates that a large number of students engaged in CDL studies own or have access to smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices. To better support the learners engaged in CDL studies, we created a CDL-specific mobile “service” app. This app provides student-specific and center-specific information that learners can access through mobile channels, thus providing a new modality for student/center connections. • Compatible with iOS and

Android

• HTML5 site allows for easy editing and no need for updates

• Compatible on PC or Mac with Chrome or Safari Browsers

Course InformationInvestigators: Betty Hurley-Dasgupta, Liz Prybylowski, Amanda Mickel

Facebook & Blended LearningInvestigator: Thalia MacMillan

In traditional thinking about courses there is an “iron triangle” formed by prescribed calendar, content, and credit allotments. Courses and learners are maintained in separate spaces so that intellectual and disciplinary cross-fertilization is difficult.

In the POOL format, we break open the iron triangle, and remove the barriers to collaborative, organic, and student-centered learning.

OverviewStudents created and shared LinkedIn pages during the first few weeks of the course. Using the information on the LinkedIn pages, students submitted to the instructor preferences for team members. Students could submit up to three classmates to work with and up to three classmates they would not like to work with on the group assignment. At least one preference for inclusion and exclusion of classmates was honored for each student. The rationale for the preferences had to be based on information from the classmates’ LinkedIn pages. Students will receive feedback from the instructor on classmates’ perceptions of their own LinkedIn pages. Rationale•LinkedIn is increasingly used for professional networking and thus, job possibilities. •Teams, while an important element of coursework, can be a stressful element. This will empower students and enable them to play a more active, informed role.

As part of a blended learning initiative, a course is being created that combines together elements of online and face-to-face learning along with social media. The goal is to create a hybrid community of learning that blends together the best of both modes of learning. My ultimate goal as an instructor is to create a dynamic, rich, and rewarding experience for my students. •The course Disabled in America course will be blended for Fall 2012•The blended course seeks to educate and empower students about the lived experience of individuals with disabilities, their family members, and advocates that exist in the clinical and policy arena. •Facebook will allow for students to create a rich learning experience that allows them to document the learned experience through a PhotoVoice project that utilizes pictures. •The PhotoVoice project will allow students to post their view of disabilities throughout the course – in the beginning, middle, and end – through pictures.

Investigators are working on an interactive page in Mahara(accessible from the iPad and other tablets) about available CDL math courses. The site include videos and downloadable files, as well as places for comments/questions.

Below is a section from that page.

This project utilizes available mobile and social tools in the course Green Business to engage international students with the materials and assignments. Currently, Green Business is designed with an emphasis on team work and uses an online textbook and articles. A survey revealed that a high percentage of the international students access their courses through their mobile devices. In fact, a large number of students own an Apple iPad or similar device.

The course activities are been revised to incorporate: mobile-friendly content and schedule; web 2.0 andsocial media tools for team work and to interact with the instructor; YouTube videos; mobile apps to help students with the assignments as appropriate; apps that will allow the instructor to interact with the students during the face-to-face time; and, field-based case studies where students can gather data using their mobile devices.

Ultimately, the goal is to develop guidelines to help faculty interested in using mobile and social tools in their studies/courses.