How do we inform ourselves?
April 18, 1930 

"Today there is no news"
born 2004
born 2006
born 2006
How do we learn? 
Think an important 
learning event in your life...
What motivated 
you to learn?
Who or what 
did you learn from?
How and where 
did it occur?
Learning with social media
I identified a problem that I personally wanted to solve
I drew from my personal learning environment in order to locate people and resources that could help me with my problem
I published to social media as an opportunity for personal reflection and as a way of sharing my learning experience with others
my stimulus
the motivation
people in the flesh
other like-minded people online
involvement in online communities
embracing the chaos of social media
need for some tools
managing the constant flow of information
posting on my personal blog
helped me map out the steps 
wrote up the activity
posted about it on Facebook
consolidated the knowledge gained
shared it with other teachers
Social media 
in education

– finding our way
Strelka, Moscow | September 2011


Ann Foreman
What I got out of it
What my students got out of it
It was a positive learning experience
Why did they learn less than me?
motivated
got them over their initial embarrassment
took pride in sharing their results
reflected a bit 
positive contact with a form of social media
not their initiative
part of my curricula
drew on their current personal learning environments
didn’t consciously extend their PLEs
learning experience remained essentially grounded in the classroom
shared the results of their learning
they didn’t necessarily reach a deeper understanding about how they learn best
What we can get out of Josh's learning experience
impetus came from him
knew how to draw on his personal 
learning environment and how to extend it
he was capable of choosing a range 
of devices to support his investigation
the learning process happened over 
a period of time and in different locations
shaped for himself a learning strategy that worked
Why self-directed learning is important 
it’s a particularly effective
 way of learning
our educational institutions
 find it hard to keep pace 
with change in a digital society
it’s individuals rather 
than institutions who are 
placed to take advantage 
of social media
we are the ones who 
have to make sense of 
what’s happening around us
we need to know how 
we learn best so 
as to become effective 
and lifelong learners
Critical thinkers leading the way
the balls in your court
deciding where to concentrate your energies
lack of boundaries
being prepared to live with chaos
feeling overwhelmed
What’s daunting about this approach to learning
What processes do we need to put in motion?
What skills do we need to develop?     
build up a personal learning environment 
choose the right people, the right resources for each situation
recognise which elements in our personal learning environment serve useful purposes
identify people / mentors / clusters of like-minded associates
ability to –
become a node in other people’s learning networks
navigate the knowledge landscape
a praxis of experimentation, action and reflection
ability to –
empathise with other people
articulate your experiences
know how to reciprocate
handle, select and filter 
information abundance
ability to –


evaluate and authenticate 
information sources
recognise and understand 
the significance of emerging 
patterns and trends
learn from experience
ability to –

identify your best learning strategies
find spaces and opportunities 
to take stock of where you are 
and where you want to go
balance the known 
with the unknown
...to be able to make sense of chaos
...to take time and create space
pay attention and not be distracted
reciprocate not just broadcast
listen not just talk
reflect and critically evaluate
not just sort and filter
we need...
Social media have radically changed the nature of the news
our relation to it
its flavour
its sources
it’s authority
it’s speed of transmission
it’s reach
when we interact with information via social media...
these interventions inform each other
its forms
My story
Josh's story
Next steps – from teacher initiative to student initiative
Ken Robinson
Graham Attwell
Sugata Mitra
Salman Khan
Wendy Drexler
Thanks!
@ann_f
TeachingEnglish – Facebook
References:
Salam Pax (Baghdad blog) Where is Raed? 
http://dear_raed.blogspot.com
Electric Village Online 
http://evosessions.pbworks.com/w/page/10708567/FrontPage
Joe Dale’s blog – Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom http://joedale.typepad.com/integrating_ict_into_the_/2007/10/liam-makes-a-le.html
Encouraging learner autonomy (my blog post) 
– Creating voki characters http://encouraginglearnerautonomy.blogspot.com/2007/09/creating-voki-characters.html
Example class blog – pizza and chips http://pizzachips.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
Voki online site for creating animated, speaking characters http://www.voki.com
Voki official blog for using vokis in the classroom http://blog.voki.com/
TeachingEnglish website (my Voki activity) http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/creating-vokis-%E2%80%93-online-animated-characters-speak
TeachingEnglish Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TeachingEnglish.BritishCouncil
Josh Underwood website http://sites.google.com/site/joshunderwood/
Ken Robinson RSA video: Changing Education Paradigms 
Ken Robinson TED talk: Schools kill creativity http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
Ken Robinson TED talk: Bring on the learning revolution! http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html
Graham Attwell Youtube video: School’s out – Personal Learning Environments 
Graham Attwell – Personal Learning Environments - the future of eLearning? www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media11561.pdf
Graham Attwell blog post on PLEs http://www.pontydysgu.org/2008/12/how-my-personal-learning-environment-is-changing/
Sugata Mitra TED talk: The child-driven education http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html
Salman Khan TED talk: Let's use video to reinvent education http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html
Wendy Drexler – The networked student model for construction of personal learning environments http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet26/drexler.html
Wendy Drexler Youtube video: Networked student
George Siemens – Knowing knowledge www.elearnspace.org/KnowingKnowledge_LowRes.pdf
George Siemens –  Age of External Knowledge http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/01/19/age-of-external-knowledge/
George Siemens – Information foraging and social networks http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2011/09/05/information-foraging-and-social-networks/
George Couros  – Why Social Media Can and Is Changing Education http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/3024
Notes for this presentation 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uUgmnWkAZBd1TqTRH7PjO4gPQ8z2o9NFujUeye_X6C4/edit?hl=en_GB
we = teachers + students
The DNA of learning with social media