Baiting the Digital Hook
Teachers and trainers are consistently challenged by the limitations that time and distance place on their ability to connect and engage with learners, peers and their wider industry. Sue Waters is widely known for her role in supporting teachers and trainers in their use of mobile and web 2.0 technologies to break through these barriers and create connections to help them learn together as part of a global community.
At last month’s Getting Connected 09 conference, the Community Facilitator for Edublogs.org (The Edublogger) and aquaculture lecturer from WA-based Challenger TAFE, provided practical examples of how online social networking tools such as Facebook, Ning and Twitter have created powerful professional learning networks (PLNs) of aquaculture teachers, trainers, learners and the wider fish farming industry.“Traditionally, knowledge is held in ‘vaults’— in the minds of solitary experts and individuals, often unavailable due to distance and time constraints and collected in places that may be inaccessible to all.“PLNs allow teachers, trainers and learners to harness the collective intelligence of others in the same field to help them solve problems and reflect on ideas instantly and without the need for face-to-face interaction,” she said.
Conference participant, Jo Hart, who is a literacy and numeracy lecturer from CY O’Connor TAFE in regional WA, cited geographic isolation and distance as her reason for actively maintaining her Twitter PLN. “Canada and the US are the incubators of literacy and numeracy thought and research. My Twitter PLN gives me instant access to that breeding ground of information and support, which I would never have in regional WA,” she said.Sue outlined the main online social networking tools and the ways in which she uses them to support her role as an aquaculture lecturer:
Facebook – Used to engage and connect with learners, who are given the option to add her to their Facebook account, knowing that they can use the chat function, email or leave comments on her wall. Sue said that while her learners seemed reluctant to contact her via email, they regularly engaged with her through Facebook.
Ning – Uses AquaEd, a global online community providing opportunities for collaboration between aquaculture teachers and trainers and industry. Members of AquaEd engage in regular industry-related discussions and share photos, videos and other useful materials to enhance their learning experience. Sue used AquaEd to source training material and images for an aquaculture e-learning unit that she couldn’t have sourced through traditional methods.
Twitter – Uses the instant messaging medium of Twitter to exchange ideas, information and views relating to teaching and training in the aquaculture industry. She said she can receive near instantaneous responses to questions and validation of her ideas.
With all of the benefits of using online networking tools and connecting with a PLN, Sue urged conference participants to take ‘baby steps’ when getting started with online networking.Her wiki, PLN Yourself! provides a one-stop-shop of practical, easy-to-navigate instructions for those seeking to build a PLN, including her top five steps:
· Set up your own Twitter account
· Start your own blog
· Subscribe to blogs
· Start using a social bookmarking tool
· Join a Ning community
For further information about Sue Waters, visit The Edublogger, her personal blog or the AquaEd Ning.Sue’s Baiting the Digital Hook presentation at Getting Connected 09 is now available online. Getting Connected 09 is a free online conference hosted by the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework), aimed at fostering online connections between vocational education and training (VET) practitioners and engaging learners in e-learning options within the VET system.
At last month’s Getting Connected 09 conference, the Community Facilitator for Edublogs.org (The Edublogger) and aquaculture lecturer from WA-based Challenger TAFE, provided practical examples of how online social networking tools such as Facebook, Ning and Twitter have created powerful professional learning networks (PLNs) of aquaculture teachers, trainers, learners and the wider fish farming industry.“Traditionally, knowledge is held in ‘vaults’— in the minds of solitary experts and individuals, often unavailable due to distance and time constraints and collected in places that may be inaccessible to all.“PLNs allow teachers, trainers and learners to harness the collective intelligence of others in the same field to help them solve problems and reflect on ideas instantly and without the need for face-to-face interaction,” she said.
Conference participant, Jo Hart, who is a literacy and numeracy lecturer from CY O’Connor TAFE in regional WA, cited geographic isolation and distance as her reason for actively maintaining her Twitter PLN. “Canada and the US are the incubators of literacy and numeracy thought and research. My Twitter PLN gives me instant access to that breeding ground of information and support, which I would never have in regional WA,” she said.Sue outlined the main online social networking tools and the ways in which she uses them to support her role as an aquaculture lecturer:
Facebook – Used to engage and connect with learners, who are given the option to add her to their Facebook account, knowing that they can use the chat function, email or leave comments on her wall. Sue said that while her learners seemed reluctant to contact her via email, they regularly engaged with her through Facebook.
Ning – Uses AquaEd, a global online community providing opportunities for collaboration between aquaculture teachers and trainers and industry. Members of AquaEd engage in regular industry-related discussions and share photos, videos and other useful materials to enhance their learning experience. Sue used AquaEd to source training material and images for an aquaculture e-learning unit that she couldn’t have sourced through traditional methods.
Twitter – Uses the instant messaging medium of Twitter to exchange ideas, information and views relating to teaching and training in the aquaculture industry. She said she can receive near instantaneous responses to questions and validation of her ideas.
With all of the benefits of using online networking tools and connecting with a PLN, Sue urged conference participants to take ‘baby steps’ when getting started with online networking.Her wiki, PLN Yourself! provides a one-stop-shop of practical, easy-to-navigate instructions for those seeking to build a PLN, including her top five steps:
· Set up your own Twitter account
· Start your own blog
· Subscribe to blogs
· Start using a social bookmarking tool
· Join a Ning community
For further information about Sue Waters, visit The Edublogger, her personal blog or the AquaEd Ning.Sue’s Baiting the Digital Hook presentation at Getting Connected 09 is now available online. Getting Connected 09 is a free online conference hosted by the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework), aimed at fostering online connections between vocational education and training (VET) practitioners and engaging learners in e-learning options within the VET system.
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