Twitter: Twit or not to twit?

Twitter scares me. For all its popularity, I thought I need to explore and have a look at it for myself satisfaction.
I think, I am in a minority on this one – ‘The feeling of connectedness’ Twitterers can get trick of the brain into thinking of having a meaningful interaction, while another part of the brain knows something crucial to human survival is missing. (I have to find the theory).
Compare to having coffee with your next-door neighbour could do more for your brain than a thousand Twitter updates. This doesn’t mean there isn’t important issues and news that can be source from twitter. While in the same argument has been going around forever, and is the same claim made about television, that doesn't make it untrue.
Again, this doesn't mean that it's not worth it and highly valuable for people to stay connected to distant family and friends, I'm just saying that it's worth a look at whether that might be lulling some folks into a false sense of "I'm connected" at the expense of real-life connections.

Ironically, services like Twitter are simultaneously leaving some people with a feeling of not being connected, by feeding the fear of not being in the loop. By elevating the importance of being "constantly updated," it amplifies the feeling of missing something if you're not checking Twitter (or Twittering) with enough frequency.

Seimen’s connectivism stated some significant trends in learning.
Many of the processes previously handled by learning theories (especially in cognitive information processing) can now be off-loaded to, or supported by, technology.
Know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of where to find knowledge needed).

I like to see twitter and its effectiveness in the classroom. I can use it as a hook- What is on twitter today or let say what people say about this??? If you are also wondering you can also twit me neth967

Cheers Mary-Ann

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retreived November 7, 2009, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Mahara another E Tool concept? or more

Mahara is a fully featured electronic portfolio, weblog, resume builder and social networking system, connecting users and creating online communities. Mahara provides you with the tools to set up a personal learning and development environment. It has fa
Useful for students for the following reasons:
· Write diary entries online (Blogs) for assessment purposes.
· Upload documents and link them to certain blog entries.
· Join Groups and change privacy settings to suit student’s preference.
· Have this e-portfolio through your entire course and create different blogs with different views.
My Files:
· Allows file uploads (PDF, Word Documents, Excel Documents, Images, etc)
· This is a central place for ALL your files on your Mahara page.
· If you create a blog you can pull in different files from this repository.
My Views:
· Allows the user to made "VIEW groups". This allows them to set certain groups to certain VIEWS and blocking out others from seeing particular files/blogs.
· You may create as many different Views as you like and reuse your Artifacts, even giving them different titles for different audiences.
· Views can also be used to submit work for feedback or assessment to a Controlled Group.
My Blogs:
· Allows the user to create an 'online diary' or 'blog'.
· Each Blog can include a title, description, tags.
· You can split the blog up and create a number of POSTS in each blog OR made it one large blog There are many overlapping technologies which can be classed under different areas of learning and teaching.
There are many E tools that student can use to collaborate and communicate through the use Google sites and Google docs.
Google Sites – Can be use as Wiki or a place to organise group assignments and add comments. Google Docs - For Online collaboration can use spreadsheets and documents

In the past, I was involved in an asignment discussing and exploring the effectiveness of E Porfolio (see SlideShare Posting for more details). I understood it very well on how (older)students can create thier own and stakeholders are able to access student progress etc. By using Mahara it make it simplier because students are able to use other e tools to suit thier needs.
I was lucky enough to log in to "my Mahara" and chat to someone about it. He was just logging off . So - for group projects and assignments Mahara or Moodle its another dicision on which is better to use...posting I have to make.
This E- Tools are very much intertwine with one another. Come along with me in this thingking... dare you to get it!

Early Childhood Thinking:
Like.... dust + more dust= dirt + water =mud and more!!! mud x2 + sunlight = ?? you guess a mud brick (with careful nurturing and science with it) Then the 3 little pigs made a nice brick house... and more! Just let your childlike imagination go...
E tools in 21st century I get it I get it!!!
Cheers
Mary-Ann

Mahara an Open souce Porfolio: Retrived December 6, 2009. from:http://mahara.org/features

More on Learning Theory Connectivism VS Constructivsm.

I will take you in a journey.

Seimen’s says:

Most learning needs today are becoming too complex to be addressed in "our heads". We need to rely on a network of people (and increasingly, technology) to store, access, and retrieve knowledge and motivate its use. The network itself becomes the learning.
Connectivism is different to the other learning theories in that the knowledge is now outside the individual due to advances in technology whereas in the past knowledge has had to be learn and retained by the individual. Gonzalez (2004), (cited in Siemens, 2005) states that knowledge has a ‘half-life’, that it is soon obsolete and superseded. ( It happen to me the other day I made a comment then an hour later I read something and I had to unlearn). Knowledge is growing rapidly and it is estimated that “half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago”. Therefore it is now not possible to ‘know’ knowledge as other theories have suggested and not necessary as it is held ‘online’.
On the other hand… ( I love this phrase)
Constructivism suggests learners are always attempting to create meaning from knowledge and experiences, however this does not account for knowledge and learning that is gained through organisations, through ‘communities of practice and networks’ and not just within the individual. Each of us generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences.
Constructivism is the closest of the other theories in that learning still has to be personalized to the individuals personal, social and cultural experiences, however the skills that are required are more about creating, problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making, and evaluation (Kearsley and Shneiderman, ND), rather than learning content knowledge.

How Constructivism Impacts Learning?

Curriculum–Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardized curriculum. Instead, it promotes using curricula tailored to the students’ prior knowledge. Also, it emphasizes hands-on problem solving.
Instruction–Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Educators/Learning Manager can tailor their teaching strategies to student responses and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information. Educators also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive discussion among students.
Assessment–Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own progress.

There are countless learning theories out there…but both theory make so much sense to me. In this course I keep asking myself which theory am I applying now? Maybe both must of the time..Something to ponder about (*sigh*) someone enlighten me...connect with me? Aha!

Cheers
Mary-Ann

Keirsley, G. & Shneiderman, B (1999) Engagment Theory: A framework for technology based teaching and learning. Retrieved November 10, 2009.from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Gonzalez, C., (2004). The Role of Blended Learning in the World of Technology. Retrieved December 10, 2004. from http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/2004/september04/eis.htm.
McInerney, D & McInerney V (2006) Educational Psychology. Constructing Learning. (Edition 4) Australia: Pearson Education Australia.
Siemens, G., (2004) Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved November 7,2009. from: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Queensland Studies Authority. (2007). The QCAR Framework — aligning curriculum, assessment and reporting. Queensland: Queensland Studies Authority