Two weeks, two years, same cornerstone
Posted on: August 9, 2012
As I think about my GAFE presentation, I also reflect on the social media experiment that I am trying out with CeL (see tweet below). While the two do not seem connected, they are built on the same cornerstone of social, open, and mobile learning.
I will be presenting a topic at GAFE later this afternoon and hope to create meaningful conversation before, during, and after the talk with the help of Google Apps (an open tool suite) and Twitter (a social and mobile platform).
I am sacrificing a public holiday in Singapore and time with my family because I believe in leveraging on tools that enable open education and alternative modes of evaluation. I only hope to be rewarded with contacts who are working on the same cause.
CeL's social media experiment is for each staff member to take turns being @cel_nie. Inspired by @sweden, nyti.ms/RWjSxd #edsg—
Ashley Tan (@ashley) August 07, 2012
Earlier this week, we had a lively #edsg session on CeL’s social media experiment (see Storified version). Two CeL colleagues, @kartini_ishak and @SallyLoan, joined me on Tuesday evening to help answer queries and clarify issues.
I had a little over two weeks to prepare for the GAFE presentation. But the start of the CeL’s social media experiment was two years in the making. Why try this experiment only now? I have been training, monitoring, and pushing CeL over the last two years and it felt like we had reached a state of cultural readiness.
I had a three-year plan to see some results, but I am very happy that we have made progress within two years in the three areas of promoting learning that is
- Social: We established a social media presence in Facebook and Twitter within the first year of CeL, and we promote the use of social platforms like Edmodo.
- Open: We are now listed in iTunes U, our e-portfolio system relies on Google Apps, and we have an alternative LMS in the open source Moodle. We also promote the use of free-to-use or Creative Commons-licensed material.
- Mobile: We already have four mobile learning apps [1] [2] with one more coming soon and all to be available on Android by the end of the year.
Going mobile has actually been a key driver of the other missions and an opportunity to push pedagogy. Our apps are based on social and open learning principles, and one app in particular, mVideo, was developed with the flipped classroom in mind.
Along the way, we have not only extended our services to non-academic staff but also to organizations outside NIE with workshops on Evernote, social media, Google Apps, etc. Our staff are also working towards Google Apps certification.
All this is part of my five-year plan to see the CeL turn into a proper centre (more reflections on that later).
I reflect on what we have achieved so far in order to keep moving forward. I also remind myself to stay true to the framework I developed for MLS118/125: Planning, Articulating, Leading, and Sustaining (PALS) for change. If I did not use and test my own framework, I would be a hypocrite!
