Personal Blogs

How are mobile practices blurring the lines between formal and informal learning?

Twitter

·Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links"These may include text messaging, instant messaging, E-mail, digital audio or digital video (wikipedia) this is perfect for Twitter

·The first microblogs were called tumblelogs

·No restriction of time or place

·Easy exchange of information makes it attractice for informal learning

·You can follow a broad range that covers informal learning (e.g. dalai lama posts)

·Formal learning (e.g. those accounts on twitter focusing on Technology Enhanced Learning)

·Some Twitter accounts (such as the one found by Kate '@EDTECHHULK  where there is a serious aspect of the content but done in a humorous way that can be enjoyed both formally and informally

·Institutional use of Twitter to build dialogue to better understand the needs of their learners and ensure excellent learning experiences that will lead to future recruitment through advocacy

·# allow for learners and teachers to search for particular topics

Examples:

TWITTER - Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them

PLURK - A really snazzy site that allows you to showcase the events that make up your life, and follow the events of the people that matter to you, in deliciously digestible short messages called plurks.March 2012 - 37.1% of Plurk's traffic comes from Taiwan

TUMBLR - Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything.Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos from your browser, phone, desktop, email or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors to your theme's HTML.

IDENTI.CA - A social microblogging service similar to Twitter, built on open source tools and open standards. Allows users to send text-based posts up to 140 characters

A number are no longer around...FRIENDFEED, JAIKU are no longer live - could this be due to the success of other options such as Twitter

Microblogging is an opportunity to be a part of someone else's process by reading, commenting, discussing or simply enhancing it

Microblogging is based on the principle of friends and followers - anyone can be following anyone and all friends' updates (new posts) are displayed in an endless stream. It is easy imaginable that an increasing number of friends makes it almost impossible to read the huge number of posts. Consequently many users unfamiliar with microblogging systems report an unwieldy information flow, known as information overload. Otherwise this kind of information stream can be described as constant murmuring in the background

http://www.cblt.soton.ac.uk/multimedia/PDFs10/micriblogs%20in%20higher%20education%20process%20orientated%20learning.pdf

Is ownership of learning changing?

• Learners connecting to each-others Twitter account without guidance of teacher.This then fits into the view that Mobile 2.0 is best when user-led.The dialogue between learners can enrich their learning experience without the input of the teacher

·Students and teachers alike are living in a continuous partial presence with different roles. Especially when they send a post, nobody knows whether anyone will respond, or even read it. Posts are read by other participants and this therefore is a strong indication of informal learning.

• The Twitter ownership issue gained a lot of media attention in 2011 in the wake of a lawsuit between a blog called PhoneDog and a former employee, Noah Kravitz, who tweeted on behalf of the site while he worked there and then changed his Twitter account handle and took his followers with him when he quit.PhoneDog values each twitter follower as worth $2.50/monthhttp://personalweb.about.com/od/twitterrules/a/Twitter-Ownership-Disputes.htm - Social Media Policy required for Educational Establishments
• A BBC political correspondent, Laura Kuenssberg, also drew attention when she switched employers earlier this year and took her Twitter followers with her to her new job at ITV. Like Sanchez and Kravitz, she just renamed her Twitter account
• Twitter 'Terms of Service' - 5. Your Rights - You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).
• #FollowFriday allows learners to share with other learners useful accounts they think others learners could benefit from