Activity 6: Using social online networks in teaching or professional development
As a school, we use social media in a variety of ways - to connect to others, to find out information from experts, and to share our learning and understandings. When considering the benefits of social media, I think that it depends on the purpose. Firstly, social media has provided opportunities for us, as West Coasters, to connect to others within New Zealand and beyond. Twitter and edmodo have been used as part of Chapterchat and NZreadalound projects that our classes have been part of. In agreement with Sharples and others (2016) in Innovating Pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5 , this social media has provided opportunities for our learners to draw on the experiences of others. Furthermore, we have found this an effective way to collaborate with classes within New Zealand and across the world. Learners find this highly engaging. This was particularly evident when learners took part in a global project through edmo...