Building Effective Social Networks

Week 4 – Social Networking

Response to Steve Hargadon's article, Some things I've Larning about Building Effective Social Networks.

Very good article! You know, some of the best things come out of conversations! I have a couple of comments:

#1 - ... don’t know what social networking sites...will take off or succeed.

One theme I have read and heard over and over is “risk”. Take a risk and the rewards can be great – or not, but take the risk anyway. Last week, we heard about taking risks with the UNSW instructor, Richard Buckland, setting up a wiki for note taking in his engineering class. It was a true risk, but it succeeded.

I think an instructor has to try, at least, to take the risk. A huge part of learning for me is taking risks – trying something new – reading about new subjects – it’s all a risk.

#3 Hargadon’s paragraph about participation and our primary role as , “being that of encouraging and providing an environment for others to participate and lead. We manage the process instead of trying to manage the outcome... you can't do this without being authentic.”

I truly believe teachers should be managers, not dictators, or ‘sages on stages’. Allowing students / others to step up and participate and lead is the best part. We need to monitor, guide, mentor and manage. Oh, and yes, we need to be authentic – students see right through this if you are not authentic, unprepared, and/or unwilling to stop talking and allow learning to occur.