Assignment 2

A2: Learning Blog

Social Media Theme: Reflect/Aggregate, Feedback

General Description

The learning blog will primarily consist of your reflection on the readings and assignments. Overall, our class blog serves two specific purposes: (1) a friendly, informal space that allows you to document the evolution of your thoughts and experiences regarding social media and learning, and (2) as an opportunity to learn from other students by asking questions about what they are likewise sharing and thinking. The content for your blog posts will generally come from three different sources:

1. Reflections on the readings
2. Reflections on the assignments
3. Reflections on community interactions (e.g., write a comment on another educators blog)

In advance of each posting assignment, I will announce the specific topic or option that you will use for your post (i.e., "Specific Requirements" below).

Specific Requirements

1. Write a post by selecting any one of the options below
   1. Explain how the reading expanded your understanding of the relationship between participatory technologies and learning
   2. Describe your experience in trying a new social media tool (e.g., What was it? Which features seemed to be most supportive to the learners/students you work with? Which features seemed least helpful? Which one or more of the ISTE NETS standards would it help you meet? Would you recommend this tool to other teachers?)
   3. Explain how one of your recently completed assignments expanded your understanding of the relationship between participatory technologies and learning
   4. Describe how another reading, blog post, or similar resource sparked an idea for an instructional design or lesson for your own classroom or learning environment
2. Post a minimum of two comments (i.e., two different students' posts)
   1. Where does the post raise a point or issue that has not yet been raised by another student?
   2. What connections do you see being made that haven't yet been made by another student?
   3. What helpful question(s) does the post generate?
   4. Does the post seem to push your thinking in a different direction or encourage you to reconsider a previously held belief or assumption?
   5. Are there certain details in the post that seem a little fuzzy to you, or describe something that isn't very familiar to you?

Points: 10

Due: Weekly

Resources:

• Tutorial information for setting up a PSU blog - Getting Started
• Sue Waters (EduBlogger) - Five Tips for Writing Better Blog Posts
• Chris Brogan - Writing Effective Blog Posts

Questions?

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me (ptietjen@psu.edu)