Social Media and Collaboration
Today's technology tools also support what experts understand about the social nature of learning. "Technology resources for education . . . function in a social environment mediated by learning conversations with peers and teachers," explain Bransford and his colleagues.
Social media opens new possibilities for connecting learners and taking education in new directions. Digital gaming, simulations, and social networking, for example, offer opportunities "to convey concepts in new ways that would otherwise not be possible, efficient, or effective with other instructional methods. In other words, these technologies don't just help us teach the old stuff in new ways -- they can also help us teach new stuff in new ways," report MIT researchers Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, Jennifer Groff, and Jason Haas in their paper "Using the Technology of Today, in the Classroom Today."
Although schools have been slow to bring social media into the classroom, many students are using digital tools on their own to create and publish content, connect with acquaintances, and pursue their own interests. The book Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out summarizes three years of study about kids' informal learning with digital media. The authors found that kids use these tools to extend friendships, navigate the challenges of adolescence, and pursue self-directed learning, sometimes in great depth.