Social networking – what’s it all about?

This paper discusses the role that online social networks and online personal learning networks can play to enhance learning and to influence the public perception of community college education across NSW. I will describe the circumstances leading to the need for change, provide some background on what has happened to date and conclude with a strategy which I believe will enhance the success of the ACE sector and embed e-learning practices within our culture.

The need  for change

The Adaptive ACE Report describes community colleges as “highly adaptive survivors” (2007, p.36) “where half of all providers break even [financially] which means there are little reserves to meet any unanticipated downturn in business, and where the other half operate on a loss, or profit of less than 5% of income.” (2007,p.4). This is evidenced by the many colleges who have survived declining government funding, changes to government policy and now face the global economic crisis.  The ACE sector’s primary marketing strategies are web sites and printed course guides.  Other methods are local networks, some newspaper advertising and word of mouth.  Each college promotes its services independently to the local market.

Professional development opportunities in e-learning are available within the sector and we have learned collaboratively for some time.  However, on the whole, colleges operate as independent entities and do not collaboratively produce e-learning programs for our students. I believe there is an opportunity for the sector to develop a state-wide e-learning program from which all colleges could benefit and to take a collective approach to promotion by introducing the notion of Personal Learning Networks to tutors.

In this paper I will argue that Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s) offer:

• a cost effective and time efficient means of promotion
• opportunities for our highly skilled but geographically dispersed tutor base to  connect
  
• an opportunity to develop inter-college programs online.

My strategy to effect these changes is informed by the Impact of e-learning champions on embedding e-learning report (2009), Siemen’s theory of Teaching as transparent learning (2009) and Attwell‘s ideas about personal learning environments (2007).

Where we are today

The process of embedding e-learning within the ACE sector has been ongoing since 2006 through various government funded projects.  However it relies on early adopters of technology assuming an additional workload and is not considered a core business activity in many colleges.  We have developed communities of practice and I will describe two which are currently in operation: the VET Quality Network, a successful and robust community and the Sydney Community College Tutors Corner which is likely to fail.  I will describe the development of the networks and the reasons for their success or failure below.

VET Quality Network

The VET Quality Network was established in 2006 as part of a Learnscope project called E-Learning Champions.  The network provided an online space where managers, trainers and assessors of vocational education and training could connect, collaborate and share knowledge.  It has become an essential part of our daily lives providing easy access to our collective knowledge and experience.  Community colleges in NSW are divided into clusters.  The strategy employed to develop the network was to select a champion from each cluster who would facilitate the forum for one month each year.  The champions would promote discussion through topical subjects, ongoing issues or information about professional development opportunities.  Each champion would disperse the information throughout their own networks and encourage trainers and assessor to join.  Each year we ask for volunteers to facilitate the network for a month and each year we attract new facilitators who invite newcomers to the network and so on.  The network has been sustained with minimal funding from a variety of sources since its inception.  Key factors to the sustainability of the network have been a dedicated driver and the support of senior management in our peak body Community Colleges NSW and the Board of Adult and Community Education.

SCC Tutors Corner

VET is only part of the core business of community colleges which means that only a small percentage of our tutors are connected through the VET Quality Network.   I was interested in engaging non-VET tutors in e-learning practices at Sydney Community College where I was employed.  Consequently, in 2008 I designed and delivered Teaching and  Learning Online, a ten week professional development program which trialled the implementation of an e-learning model called the 4E’s.  The 4E model (depicted below) takes an exploratory approach to learning. My intention was that the learning would occur through independent exploration and engagement with real-life experiences which would then be shared with the group and ultimately embedded within the participant’s practice.  Another intention was that the program would produce e-learning champions for Sydney Community College. Four of the eight participants who completed the program were willing to take on this role and the SCC Tutors Corner social network was created.  Within 3 months it had 35 members and although only a small number were active in the community, it appeared to have the potential to become an active social network.

However at this point I left my position at the college and since my resignation participation has all but stopped.  It is unlikely that my replacement will pursue this endeavour as the primary focus of the position is the management of the VET program.  This further highlights the importance of buy-in from senior management and the necessity for a driver to sustain an online network.

Theories in practice

To date we have followed the principles described by Jasinski of taking small manageable steps to promote incremental change (2007, pp. 2, 10-11, 104-118). We focused on VET because funding was available and is likely to be available in the future.  We have had some success in influencing the uptake of e-learning in the ACE sector and have established of a group of approximately twenty champions across the state. Although the SCC Tutors Corner will not sustain, the process of creating the network and working closely with tutors reminded me of the great volume and variety of  expertise that exists within our tutor base across NSW. It seems logical at this time to broaden our network and draw on the skills of our tutors to develop a collective approach to e-learning in community colleges and to use personal learning networks as the vehicle to implement this change.

The recently documented strategy of engaging champions demonstrates the success of this method and is supported by our experience  described above. Our strategy moving forward will continue this work by requesting expressions of interest from non-VET tutors to become champions for their cluster.  In accordance with the Flexible Learning Framework’s E-Learning Champions report we would seek the following characteristics in our champions:

• Desire to share
• Passion and enthusiasm for e-learning
• Tenacity
• The ability to influence
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of people
• Autonomous
• A problem solver
• Flexible
• Demonstrated commitment to change
• Credibility (2009, p.11)

The report focussed on the interviews of three champions one of whom said that “ ….casting oneself in the role of the e-learner was important.” (2009, p.15). This concurs with Siemens Teaching as transparent learning theory (2009) where the roles of teacher and learner are interchangeable.  I regard this as a key feature in the design of this project, that is to acknowledge the expertise of those who will become our partners in the integration  of online tools for learning and promotion, and to acknowledge that we will all learn from the process.  The Champions report goes on to suggest the following series of steps:

1. Listen to what people want.
2. Show them examples.
3. Let them explore.
4. Let them share with their peers.
5. Look at some small projects.” (2009, 9.15).

A simple, logical, respectful, collaborative and powerful strategy which is likely to generate the beginning of a sustainable social network.  Participants will be encouraged to evaluate and select tools which will enable them to connect with and learn from other like-minded tutors and use those tools to actively promote their work and their college.

The tools and the people

Attwell’s work on Personal Learning Environments (PLE) tells us that “the context in which learning takes place becomes the context in which the learning is to be applied and the nature of the learning interface – or the learning materials become the occupational tools with which the (work process) knowledge is carried out. (2007, p.3).  We will  situate our learning within  a social network such as Ning and, aligning with points 1-5 above, begin with some preliminary discussion about the project objectives (see The need for change above), and then show some examples of  different environments such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Ning.  During this part of the process we would draw on the experience of our existing champions and other community college educators who already engage in online activities and ask them to showcase their work.   Exploration of PLE’s, sharing and collaborative knowledge building will follow in a discussion forum, leading to an individual project based on personal interest and/or need.

Projects may take the following forms:

• Creating a Facebook group or Twibe for students or for tutors who teach similar subjects
• Creating a professional presence using LinkedIn
• Creating and evaluating a PLN using a variety of tools
  
• Blogging to connect and/or promote
• Promotional activities using Twitter or other PLE’s

It is prudent however to take the advice  of Drexler who says we should “Beware of focusing too much on the tools because they are going to change so fast we won’t know what hit us!”(2009).  Our project group may select emerging technologies such as Google Wave, Cloudworks or something that doesn’t exist at this point in time!  Our learning, then, must focus on what the tools enable us to do rather than the tools themselves and we must distinguish between a PLE (the tools which exist independently of the user) and a PLN (the people who use the tools).   Maynard in Couros described it well.

“PLN is organic; PLE is mechanic. You can use ‘tools’ like Twitter within your PLE to access your network, but the tool isn’t the network”.  (2008).

In fact, the discussion from which this quote was sourced is a perfect example of a blog and a micro blog enabling people to share opinions and construct knowledge. Attwell believes that PLE’s enable us to take control of our learning (2007, p.6), that they facilitate participation in dispersed communities of practice (2007, p.3) and that they “offer considerable potential for knowledge development and sharing” (2007, p.2). An earlier example of this thinking is McLuhan’s The Medium is the Message (1964) which, when aligned with our project, explains that the PLE (the medium) extends our capacity to communicate, to collaborate, to learn, and to teach/facilitate/guide.  He warns us to consider carefully both the positive and negative effects of this change (the message), (in Federman, 2004). Social media brings a cultural change to our communication habits. Information overload, issues about privacy, identity and time management need to be considered along with new ways of teaching (Bartlett-Bragg, 2009).  The management and selection  of information and connections will become a necessary skill. This takes me back to Jasinski who wrote that “consistent leadership, ongoing professional development, support – both technical and organisational, and to start small are key factors to successful implementation of e-learning (2007, p.28).  I believe these factors are equally relevant to the development of a PLN.

Conclusion

The regularity with which the ACE sector are required to adapt and change has been identified and social  media technologies which can collectively form a personal  learning environment would seem to be a cost effective and efficient way to increase the public profile of community colleges in  NSW.  I have described the successful use of the champions strategy in our development of communities of practice for VET and our intention to continue with this approach as we expose our broad tutor base to e-learning generally and personal learning networks specifically.   We will provide a social network such as Ning as our learning platform  and encouage participants to explore a range of social media tools in a context of their choice while being mindful that the tools may change and that it is the strategies which are of greatest importance.

We look forward to a connected and collaborative community of tutors across the state who will benefit from sharing knowledge and  ideas, incorporate these principles within their practice, and who will promote community colleges by simply being visible.

Bibliography

Attwell, G. (2007). The Personal Learning Environments – the future of eLearning?  eLearning Papers, vol. 2 no. 1. ISSN 1887-1542.  Source:  http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media11561.pdf.  Accessed:  7 June 2009.

Bartlett-Bragg, A. (2009).  Professional Development Presentation.  HR Futures Conference, Melbourne.  Source:http://www.slideshare.net/AnneBB/hr-futures-conference-feb09 .  Accessed 8 June 2009.

Brown, T., Chodkiewicz, A., Harke, G., Yasukawa K. (2007) ADAPTIVE ACE Organisations: Responding to uncertainty. Oval Research Centre of the University of Technology, Sydney. NSW Board of Adult and Community Education. Source: http://www.bace.nsw.gov.au/images/files/stats/Publications/Board%20Research%20Papers/Adaptive%20ACE%20report%20final_2.pdf. Accessed 30 May 2009

Bowman, K., McCulloch, C., Jolly, M., Shaw, B. (2009) The impact of e-learning champions on embedding e-learning: final report. Source: http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/webdav/site/flxsite/shared/Benchmarking%20and%20Research/E-learning_Champions_Final_Report.pdf. Accessed 30 May 2009.

Couros,A. (2008).  Open Thinking. What is a PLN? Or, PLE vs. PLN?    Source: http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/1156. Accessed 7 June 2009.

Drexler, W. (2009)  Teach Web 2.0.  Google Wave, Networked Learning and PLE’s.  Source:  http://teachweb2.blogspot.com/2009/05/google-wave-networked-learning-and-ples.html.  Accessed 7 June 2009.

Federman, M. (2004). What is the Meaning of the Medium is the Message? Source: http://individual.utoronto.ca/markfederman/article_mediumisthemessage.htm .  Accessed 31 May 2009

Jasinski, M. (2007).  Innovate and Integrate.  Embedding Innovative Practices.  Source: http://innovateandintegrate.flexiblelearning.net.au/docs/Innovate_and_Integrate_Final_26Jun07.pdf.  Accessed 7 June 2009.

McLuhan, M. (1964).  Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Edition 4.  Taylor & Francis 1987.  ISBN 0744800609, 9780744800609

SCC Tutors Corner, http://scctutor.ning.com/.  Accessed 7 June 2009

Siemens, G. (2009).  Teaching as transparent learning.  Connectivism, Networked and social learning.  Source:  http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=122.  Accessed 6 June 2009.

VET Quality Network http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=282.  Accessed 7  June 2009.

Here are the slides from the presentation at UTS on 24 May 2009

What fascinates me about personal learning networks, social learning and/or open learning is the huge shift in our thinking and behaviours.  We talk to, share with and learn from complete strangers.  Alec Couros gives a hilarious demonstration of talking to strangers through Omegle in his presentation, A Tweet and a Poke: How Educators Harness the Power of Social Networks. The presentation is streamed live to the internet and then posted online for anyone who missed the event.  So he’s breaking a long established social rule and maximising its impact(!):

• talk to strangers
• talk to strangers while giving a lecture
• then share the lecture with the world!!

And, in the context of online networks talking to strangers is an excellent way to gather information about shared interests from people you may never meet and from sources you may never otherwise discover.  So we don’t have much to lose by engaging in these discussions.

Another point well made, was that social networks rely on people to exist – not technology.  Technology simply provides the means to connect.  In my experience, this concept is often misunderstood by those who are unfamiliar with the online world.  When I talk to my peers who are curious about e-learning, but not quite ready to dive in, they state that they are uncomfortable with the technology and lack the confidence to investigate and participate.  They talk about privacy issues and about not knowing what to say, or fear of saying something others will think is silly.   The other issue I hear repeatedly is “I don’t have time”.   All of this makes me groan, particularly when I think about the time I have saved by using Twitter instead of going to the library; how I have benefited from feedback to my blogs or my questions in LinkedIn and Facebook; how I have not had to worry about privacy issues because I control what I say about myself; and, how many social networking technologies are easier to use than Word or Excel.

So on one hand I go into Twitter, for example, and it seems that the whole world is in there participating in this new way of learning and connecting.  Then I talk to my curious colleagues, many of whom remain resistant to this new way of teaching and learning.   Couros described an online open education program where fee paying students gain accreditation for their learning and non-paying students do not – but where everyone benefits from the knowledge and experiences of the large group.  I wonder if my colleagues were to experience such a program, would it change their thinking?

Traditionally, when we, the educators, talk about learning we talk about effecting change, students gaining knowledge, or students acquiring a skill – it’s all about what the learners will get.  What is fundamentally different about open learning and the development of personal learning networks is the concept that everyone is giving.  The institution or social network is giving the world the opportunity to participate and the participants are sharing their ideas, knowledge and, importantly, their connections.  It’s the crowd culture described so beautifully as “Crowdsourcing the tutor” by Jon Mott who wrote that

“We need to utilize technology to better connect people, content, and learning communities to facilitate authentic, personal, individualized learning”.

Perhaps what I should do is offer some of the e-learning units from the Diploma of Training and Assessment as an open learning program…..

One of my regrets is that I did not participate in CCK08.  Just the concept of this course is exciting – the idea of people from all of the world connecting and sharing ideas. building knowledge, collaborating, etc.  One day, and that day hasn’t come yet, I will work my way through the resources in this course and try to imagine what it was like to participate.  Maybe when I finish my Masters…..

Teaching as transparent learning

What lead me to think about CCK08 again was George Siemen’s post about Teaching as Transparent Learning.  CCK08 was very much in that vein and our learning in this degree seems also to be premised on those same ideas.  The two most striking points in this post, for me, are firstly, that although he and his colleagues are the experts, he positions them as “only two nodes in multi-node network”, they are learners as well as teachers.  Secondly, he talks about the “varying cognitive architecture” between those with experience and those who are at the beginning of their learning, and the way that these differences can help each individual to support another.  These ideas seem similar to those of Knowles who said that

“Every adult group, of whatever nature, must become a laboratory of democracy………… Attitudes and opinions are formed primarily in the study groups, work groups, and play groups with which adults affiliate voluntarily.”

It could be argued, then, that teaching as transparent learning has always been present in study groups which also position the learner as the teacher.   Study groups, however do not position the teacher as the learner.  So teaching as transparent learning in the context of online learning allows anyone at any time to swap roles or even take on both roles simultaneously to generate understanding.

Today I listened to recording of a live Elluminate session about Personal Learning Networks (PLN) faciliated by Sue Waters.  She was discussing whether or not Twitter was a good way to introduce PLN’s to people who are new to online learning.  Interestingly she demonstrated teaching as transparent learning quite clearly by asking participants to write their opinions on this question on the whiteboard.  She did not position herself as the expert (even though she is) but recognised that other experts and novices were present, and acknowledged all contributions to the discussion.  This tried and trusted method of collaborative knowledge building worked well in this environment – and even better, it’s still there for me to see, to think about and to align with Siemens theory.

Lurking

To some extent I disagree with the comments about lurking.  Lurkers are not necessarily watching discussions by experts and waiting until they have absorbed enough knowledge to participate.  They may also watch discussions between peers, (i.e. other learners) and may still not feel ready to contribute. There are reasons other than lack of confidence for low, or no participation in PLN’s.  I have noticed that my own participation in Twitter, for example, is almost completely restricted to re-tweets.  This is not due to lack of confidence, but to the fact that by the time I have read everything that interests me from the tweets already posted, it’s late, I’m tired and I need to go to bed!  But I do, like Dave Truss, frequently share the information I gather from Twitter with other networks – the SCC Tutor Ning and the VET Quality Network for example.

This blog could also be framed as lurking,  I have not share it with anyone but our student group.  However, I have spent some considerable time thinking about what to write in this post.  Writing the post has enable me to really analyse the content of teaching and transparent learning.  So maybe today I am a “teacher to those who are observing” while at the same time expressing “half-formed ideas” and learning as I write.

So today’s the day – no more lurking for this blog – I’m going public!

Here are some examples of useful things I learned today – I could go on and on and on ……..!!

1.  The ultimate Twitter client

2. The Sydney Educators Network

3. Words of warning – the potential downside to social networking!

4.  Will real books die?

5.  Free seminars about Adobe products

6.  Story Telling as a Training Tool – A LinkedIn discussion in the Learning, Education and Training Professional Group

7.  Free Elluminate Virtual Conference Room – from Facebook

8.  Is Twitter useful in Education? – from Facebook

Question:  How do you connect 300 casual sessional tutors?  Answer:  Create a social network!

About six weeks ago I created a Ning network for Sydney Community College (SCC) tutors.   The physical act of setting up the network was easy, that is: to create the look and feel, add the logo, add some videos, feed in links via Delicious and add a personal profile.  It took about an hour.  Then came the hard bit – generating interest, adding members and getting some activity happening.

Having taken advice from my various social networks, my strategy has been to promote the network through the college professional development program and via our quarterly newsletter.  I have noticed that after each communication one or two new members join.  I also recruited some key members and asked them to start discussions and contribute to discussions.  Between us we generated four or five discussion threads thereby creating the illusion of a new but happening network.  Next I invited our 300 casual tutors to join the SCC Innovations Network.  Today we have in our network:

• 33 members
• 8 videos
• 4 blog posts
• 23 discussions
• Numerous links fed via Delicious

So far, I have added all of the videos and links and of the 33 members 11 have contributed to discussions, and of those 11, 7 have initiated discussions.   Although I would, of course, be very happy to see a higher level of participation I am satisfied that approximately 20% of members contribute regularly and 33% of members have contributed something.

There are two areas of frustration with Ning.  One is that the tracking feature indicates where contributions have been made but does not show me when people have viewed the site.  This means I have no idea if the remaining 66% of our membership ever go to the site.  I have discovered, however, that there is an option to add Google Analytics which should help with this issue.  The second issue  is that there is no option to receive a daily or weekly digest of activity by email.  Members are only alerted when there is a response to a discussion they have started or contributed to.  The result is that people who do not regularly participate in social networks or who joined out of curiosity do not remember to go and check the site.  I have begun to  send announcements updating members about new content.  This is time consuming and another job for me to do and the fact that this feature is not inbuilt is affecting senior management perceptions about the value of the network.  They do not want to go the network, the want the network to come to them!  Of course they do, and so do I.

So, today’s job is to make and share a video demonstrating how to set up an aggregator.

This reflective post will analyse my learning about social networks to date. I will briefly outline my professional context and background in e-learning to demonstrate my starting point, after which I describe my journey in the context of Bandura’s Social Learning theory (1977). I go on to explain my current position in social networking within Mike Arauz’ Spectrum of Online Friendship and share some of my incidental learning along the way.

Background

This experience has been undertaken quite deliberately at a critical point in my career. After six years in a vocational education and training management position I have recently decided to reinvent myself as an e-learning consultant. My background in e-learning includes the facilitation of web conferencing, co-facilitation and development of a communities of practice, facilitation of e-learning programs, the development of an online communications model for small business and the development of an online induction program. In accordance with social judgment theory (Saunders, 2008: 20) my anchors, or points of reference, are a positive attitude towards e-learning and an expectation that I will enjoy engaging in social media. I also believe that to gain an understanding of social networking will help me to transition into this new and exciting part of my career.

To begin my explorations I selected what I considered to be the three most well-known social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I am interested in discovering the differences between these three environments and why people might select one or the other, or all three. I wanted to gain personal experience by participating, not just watching or reading or listening to others. I wanted to know what it feels like to be a part of a global social network.

The Analysis

I am a kinaesthetic learner, so there was only one way for me to approach this project – by jumping right in and seeing where it led! My approach to engaging in each network began by connecting with people I know personally and then connecting with their connections. I also connected with people I have heard speak or people whose work I have read. The communications strategies varied in each network and I felt that to contribute effectively it was important to understand the social norms in each environment. In Twitter it is short, sharp and to the point, only 140 characters are allowed. LinkedIn is a place to present a professional image and the communications are more formal. In Facebook there are avenues in which to engage with like-minded professionals in a similar way to LinkedIn but its primary use seems less formal and more often friendship-based. However, I found that the process of learning to engage is the same in all three networks and social learning theory is a good way to explain my experience.

At the heart of any social learning theory is modelling (Saunders, 2008: 10) and Bandura’s observational learning theory (attentional, retention, reproduction and motivational processes) fits neatly with my behaviour (1977: 22-28). I began by observing what others were saying and how they were saying it. I focussed my attention initially on discussions or comments from people with whom I am familiar (the models) in an effort to understand the codes of conduct in each social network (Cornford, 1999: 77). The attentional process includes the idea that in any social group some individuals are more prominent than others and I have noted that I pay greater attention to some writers. They may have similar interests, or I might be familiar with their work or I might simply enjoy their humour. The attraction is both professional and personal, that is, I am drawn to the whole person and it is interesting to note that most professionals in my networks are sharing some personal information. That said, my learning has conformed to Saunders observation that “adults learn selectively from their chosen models” (2008: 11) and so far I have shared only work related information – only one aspect of myself. I am aware that this may change as time passes. Bandura goes on to describe the retention stage as rehearsing and then enacting modelled behaviours leading to the reproductive processes where the learner is adopting and adapting the learned behaviours. However, my experience was not linear (i.e. attention to retention to production) it was, and still is, cyclical. Every time I consider whether to add a new contact I move back to the attentional part of the process, observe what and how they communicate, and perhaps adopt some of their strategies. This cyclical process may be more prevalent in an online social network than it might be in a face to face network and this may be because of the constant introduction of new and interesting people.

In Mike Arauz‘ Spectrum of Online Friendship I have reached the public dialogue stage. I have selected who to follow in Twitter, who to connect with in LinkedIn and who to become friends with in Facebook. I have responded to others, passed on their comments within my networks and in some cases exchanged a little public dialogue. I also have initiated and responded to private dialogue and have advocated the work of some writers, although this level of interaction has yet to become the norm for me. The spectrum was well received by Mike’s readers but the last sentence of Edward’s comment caught my attention:

“The great thing about social media is that it allows us to express, share, be generous, feel included, be taken seriously, etc. to any degree that we want. “

They key point here, I believe, is “to any degree we want”. The author pointed out that “there’s nothing wrong with the first box or the the third [in the spectrum]. We don’t want to move everyone to the investment stage”. In other words, network members can select their level of interaction based on their level of comfort in the social network; and an individual may choose to interact with some connections at the investment stage and others at the passive interest stage. These ideas make perfect sense when you consider that some networks consist of thousands of people. To engage at the same level with them all would be impossible.

A fourth, and very different network in which I have engaged, was constructed specifically for learning. It is a Ning network created by the University of Technology Sydney for a subject called E-Learning Theories and Models 1. What was strikingly different in this environment was the instant feeling of connectedness to other members of this group. I was invited to join this group as an observer rather than an active participant and I have engaged in a limited way, making occasional contributions to discussions and adding links to websites. However, more recently, as people are forming sub-groups and moving into project work, we have begun to connect in Twitter and there is a familiarity which I have not encountered with new connections in other networks. I did spend a day with this group in a classroom but many of the people I have connected with electronically I did not engage with in the classroom. Nevertheless these online connections have formed more readily than in my other networks. It seems that briefly meeting with people and the fact that we are all learning has a positive impact on our willingness and/or ability to communicate and share information.

Another interesting discovery occurred quite soon after my decision to investigate Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. I learned that a colleague, Lance Scoular, had dubbed the process of engagement with all three networks as “Social Media Triangulation” – a means of creating a robust and sustainable web presence. His goal was to reinvent himself professionally through the development a substantial network which would endure even if one of his three networks failed. He has achieved his goal by investing a significant amount of time including dawn Tweeting to catch the Americans and hours of reading and research. In 104 days Lance has acquired 21,900 followers on Twitter, 1,200 connections on LinkedIn and 1,249 Facebook friends. It remains to be seen what benefits his networks will offer his future business ventures but it would seem to me that he will be a well positioned for his launch.

Conclusion

Before I began this project I had preconceived notions of what I would discover. I expected to engage primarily in LinkedIn. After all, I am changing the direction of my career and the online resume format and professional discussion forums in this network seemed the most likely to be useful. However, Twitter has become by far the most advantageous tool for learning and the easiest tool for me to engage with. I can look at a bio (only 160 characters) and see enough information to make a decision to follow, or not to follow the person. Then I can quickly read their short tweets and again I am able to decide whether I want to connect with this person. This investigation takes only one or two minutes. My friends ask what can be said with only 140 characters and are surprised when I elaborate on its incredible value as a research tool. For me, the short and sweet approach is of great advantage.

I also agree with Lance’s Social Media Triangulation theory – it is worthwhile, and perhaps prudent in a business context, to engage in a range of social networks so that you become a familiar face and secure your network.

Bandura states that “people today can observe and learn diverse styles of conduct within the comfort of their own homes through the abundant symbolic modelling provided by the mass media” (1977: 25). Bandura was talking about television, but over thirty years later not only do we have an infinitely wider choice of media to choose from, but our social media talks back! I have learned, and am still learning about these social networks while at the same time learning from them about all kinds of ideas, concepts and resources by simply participating.

Bandura A. (1977) Chapter 2 in Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NH: Prentice Hall

Cornford, I. R. (1999) Social learning. Chapter 4 in J. Athanasou (Ed.), Adult Educational Psychology. Katoomba: Social Science Press

Saunders, S. 2008, ‘Social Psychology of Adult Learning’, in Athanasou, J. (ed.), Adult Educational Psychology, edn 2, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, ch.3

I’ve been stuck on many occasions, on work projects, home renovation projects, making big decisions, the list goes on.  But right now I’m feeling stuck on an independent project which is part of my Master of Arts (E-Learning).   (Large sigh…). My original learning objectives were:

• To develop my understanding of online social networking for the individual in a professional context
• To develop my understanding of the potential of online social networking for an organisation
• To investigate two social networking tools in depth
• To understand how other educators perceive the value of online social networking
• To identify what might attract or deter people from actively participating in an online social network.

Where am I now?

• I’ve engaged in LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and gained some understanding of their value for the individual and for organisations
• I have enagaged a little and observed the activities in the UTS Ning network
• I created a Ning social network for tutors in my workplace.  I regularly add content and discussions, and actively encourage others to participate
• I ran a professional development session for tutors about my social networking adventures – this one was a major learning curve for me!  There’s so much I don’t know!
• I understand what attracts or deters me from active participation in an online social network.

What I have discovered and articulated so far is the big picture, I’ve dented the surface and  “have all these cool ideas in my head”.  It leaves me “feeling like I have so many more ideas about how I could help my  organization or my clients, but that What Clients Want, [and what some teachers want to provide] is just some training”.  (Learning Circuits Blog: The April Big Question).  So what now?

The April Big Question goes on to ask

“Should you attempt to get unstuck? How hard should you push your internal or external clients to get them to see the full range of what is possible? Or should you give them what they ask for?”

I’m inclined to agree with Ignatia who says that “we should get our innovative elearning ideas out there no matter what”!  So yes, you should definitely try to get unstuck, but introducing new ideas or different ways of doing things in my organisation must be done with patience and a smile.  Pushing too hard would result in the proverbial brick wall Ignatia mentions.  Chipping away at the wall has been my strategy and, after eighteen months of hard work, I am pleased to say that I feel I am making a little progress!

“If you are feeling some level of stuck, what should you do to get unstuck? How important is it to get unstuck? Is it okay to learn a lot about all kinds of different solutions, but to primarily work on simple training solutions?”

It’s really important to get unstuck.  For me being stuck is both frustrating and debilitating.  It’s fantastic to think about and propose a small range of different solutions so that the client can make an educated decision about their training.  Integrating innovation into a simple training solution is a great way to allow people to gradually adjust to new ideas.

“If you are stuck, should you be concerned about your future?”

Web 2.0 is like a great big freight train with all the lights on and the horn honking.  It’s here now, not coming soon, and you can watch it pass, or jump on and join the crowd.  I know what I’m doing

So, back to my uni project on which I am still stuck!  The process of writing this post and acknowledging that I am stuck has opened my mind.  I ask again, what do I want to do with all this new knowledge?

I need to add depth to what I have learned and to position my learning in a context.  What I want to know now is:

• Are there organisations who use social networking strategies for learning?
• If yes, how, and in what contexts? (i.e. contexts which relate specifically to learning as opposed to marketing)
• What benefits have emerged?  Are they measurable?
• What are the pitfalls?  What mistakes have been made?

Now I’m less stuck although not completely free – I still have to figure out how I’m going to do this.  This shift in my thinking has emerged from re-visiting my starting point and evaluating where I am now.

Thanks to Mollybob from my Twitter social network for re-tweeting the Big April Question.  Cheers!

Traditionally, community colleges offer a wide range of face to face learning opportunities in general interest courses such as dancing, painting or cooking, as well as languages and VET.   We have promoted ourselves as providing a social and fun learning environment.  For many of our tutors and students e-learning seems at odds with this idea.    However, it is my belief that if we are to remain competitive, we must incorporate new ideas and practices into our programs.  Consequently, one of my goals is to embed best-practice innovation within our program and it seemed to me that the place to start was with professional development.

Background

Historically, face to face professional development (PD) for tutors was offered two or three times a year.  In addition PD for English language, literacy and numeracy tutors (ELLN) and  Vocational Education and Training tutors (VET) was offered collectively through Sydney metropolitan community colleges.

In recent years the NSW Department of Education and Training have funded e-learning PD and, more recently, fund programs designed to integrate e-learning within industry through industry/Registered Training Organisation (RTO) partnerships.  The funding has led the Adult and Community Education (ACE) sector to utilise e-learning strategies to its advantage.  To date:

• we have formed two online forums, one for VET professionals and the other for ELLN professionals, both are active across NSW
• we offer validation opportunities for VET/ELLN tutors
• both ELLN and VET managers meet regularly in live online conference rooms to discuss current issues (for example,  funding opportunities and training package updates, curriculum changes, etc.)

As well, Sydney Community College offer:

• Online Induction, housed within Moodle,  and structured as self-paced learning
• Simulated validation for Certificate IV in TAA students in a web conference room
• PD programs designed to promote the integration of e-learning practices within the college programs.  (Example here).

2008 PD resulted in two pilot programs, a fashion course which is underway, and a gardening course which is planned for late May.  A more e-experienced tutor has developed a blended Photoshop Extension program for term 2 and our journalism tutor has successfully embedded a discussion forum into her face to face program.

Moving forward in 2009

Drawing on participants from the various e-learning activities in 2008, I formed a small volunteer reference group to support me in my endeavours to interest and involve as many tutors as possible e-learning.   Together we devised a program which consists of: face to face sessions which introduce online concepts and provide opportunities for show and tell; short “how to” sessions, delivered online about various free Web 2.0 tools (example here); a web conference facilitation program; and an asynchronous project-based program.

We also discussed the idea of an SCC social network to provide a safe place for people to become acquainted with the idea of communicating and sharing knowledge online.  Our UTS Ning inspired me to  to create  the SCC Innovations – Tutor’s Corner at the beginning of the semester.

Creating the space was easy.  The difficult part is encouraging activity.  As mentioned in previous posts I asked for help from my online communities, talked to the reference group and drew on my early e-learning experiences in Learnscope projects.  The resulting strategy was to invite twelve people to join the community.  They are the reference group, other tutors who already use e-learning approaches and some staff members.  Then, we spent a couple of weeks in online discussion to create an active community before promoting the community to our three hundred tutors.

That was yesterday, and today there are 21 members.  Three of the new members have posted responses to the discussion forum and I feel very hopeful about the future of the community although I am aware that at this stage we have attracted the early adopters.

My ongoing strategy is to introduce Ning to everyone who attends a PD workshop throughout the year and support those tutors who are less familiar with online environments in any way I can.

So far, so good – I’ll keep you posted! (no pun intended ).