Social Media Learning Design

Social Media ButterfliesCreative Commons LicenseBlogtrepreneur via Compfight

I am continuing with my professional development. This week’s topic is learning design. Here is a draft of an activity that I would like to implement using the social media tool VoiceThread.

Course Name: School Librarianship

Audience: Graduate Students

Course Type: Online

Social Media Tool:

  • VoiceThread: A tool that will allow students have conversations in the cloud.

Activity Description:

  • In the activity, students will discuss trends in school librarianship.

Assessment:

  • The instructor will provide the students with a rubric that will be used to grade the assignment.
  • Peer review will be included to provide each student with feedback on their comments.
  • The student will be asked to provide a self-assessment of their performance on the activity.

Learning Objective:

  • At the end of this activity, students should be able to identify current trends in school librarianship.

Situational Factors:

  • 20 students
  • Students will need to set up an account.
  • The tool is fairly easy to use.
  • Prior knowledge needs include how to use a microphone or webcam.

Course Goal/Outcome:

  • Voicethread affords the opportunity for an asynchronous discussion with an audio conversation. Students will be able to leave messages for each other and hear their classmate’s voices. This will make the conversation seem more authentic for the students.
  • This activity will support course goals by encouraging discussion on trends, facilitating the development of communication skills, and helping students to use a variety of formats to communicate information.

Materials/Resources:

  • This assignment requires Internet access, a VoiceThread account and a web camera or microphone.
  • The link will be embedded in the course website. However, an app is available if students wish to download it.

Instructional Strategy:

  • Direct instruction will be used at the beginning of the VoiceThread presentation to provide students of an example of a topic that is a current trend and to let them see the expectations for the assignment.
  • A discussion format will be used. Each student will answer individually.
  • This activity meets all learning styles. Based on their learning style, students may decide to choose the type of resource that they share with the class during the discussion.

Implementation:

  • While the instructor will set up the initial VoiceThread, the students will be responsible for adding content to the presentation and discussion.
  • Beyond the instructor’s initial comments on the first slide, students will provife the content. Students will be responsible for identifying a trend, sharing a resource, and making a comment about why the identified trend is relevant.

Support/Technical:

  • VoiceThread works with all operating systems for computers and tablets.
  • The content will reside on the VoiceThread website until it is complete. A link will be added to the course and the VoiceThread presentation will be embedded in the course so that students can easily find it.
  • When the discussion is over, the VoiceThread presentation will be shared on the course website. Students will be able to download the presentation using a private Vimeo.

 

2 Comments on Social Media Learning Design

  1. Daniella Smith
    June 21, 2017 at 12:53 am (7 years ago)

    I think that adding a checklist to help students structure their work will enhance the assignment. I also like the idea of asking students for feedback on the assignment using a survey. These ideas came from http://storify.com/rreo/homo-bloggus .

  2. Carlos Morales
    June 21, 2017 at 12:20 pm (7 years ago)

    Rebecca,

    I like the use of Voicethread as a tool to teach this course, as a fan of asynchronous learning the use of the tool for this course is an excellent choice. I also like the strategy of the instructor modeling to students the first use/activity with the Voicethread tool.

    Carlos