Student+Centered+Learning+Using+Blogs+and+Twitter

Fostering Student-Centered Learning Using Twitter and Blogs = = Sabah Ahmad, Tommy Gober, Karri Martin, Linda Scott, and Sherry Wood  In order to foster student-centered learning we must understand what it is! Student-centered learning shifts the classroom focus from the teacher to the student, and gives the student more control in acquiring knowledge by creating a partnership in which the instructor helps the student find the way that works best for him to acquire knowledge. We have come up with several ways instructors might use Twitter or Blogs to foster student-centered learning.

Keeping in mind that the role of the instructor changes from knowledge conveyor to learning facilitator in student-centered learning, a blog could easily be used for a think-pair-share activity - Twitter could also be incorporated into the activity. An instructor might use a blog to ask an initial question generating the "thought" process. Prior to asking the question, pairs could be assigned - in the event of an odd number of students one of the groups would have three students. Once the question was asked, the pairs could then use twitter for exchange of ideas and discussion - this would give them more privacy for their discussions - and come up with a written response to share. Finally, the groups could share their answers and results with everyone in writing by responding to the original blog post.

 Since a blog is an excellent way of fostering student-centered learning, students could be told to write short stories, comment on other student's blogs and respond with their own opinions. This would enforce creativity and writing skills students would need. Blogs are not only a good way of teaching students how to become creative writers but also keep track of their stories and responses. They can go back to any blog and reread any post, whether it's a few days after its been written or a few years. Blogging also comes in handy for other works, for example, if you blog about sports and your sources are reputable, others will follow because if your sources are valid, your blogs become more popular and also the work can become more valuable.  Twitter is another great tool to assist with student-centered learning. It is all too easy for students to forget yesterday's lecture. Having the students use Twitter to discuss the lecture prior to returning to class is a great way to keep them thinking. Think about a scenario like this:  English class meets Monday from 9-11


 * Monday 1:00 pm students report to Twitter and discuss what they learned, compare notes and share questions.
 * Wednesday at 1:00 pm students report to the Twitter page to discuss any other questions about Mondays lecture. At this time, they would also discuss the homework that is due for the next class. Students could also ask questions about something they didn't understand. This might prevent them from being behind when the next class starts. Students would also be able to discuss any homework questions they may have. They could also share study ideas between each other.
 * Friday at 1:00pm students report to Twitter to follow up on any questions about the lecture and homework. Students can also discuss what they expect at the next lecture.

Using Twitter in this way fosters student-centered learning in that will help the students to discover their own learning styles.  Another way to use Twitter begins with the instructor. In this example, the instructor posts a bit of information for the students to read and think about. After the students have had time to process the information, they would then Tweet their response to the instructor. After responding to the instructor the students would then be require to post a trivia question for the other students to respond to. To keep this chain going the first student to with the correct answer to this question would then ask the next question, and so forth. This would force the students to continue to think about what is coming next and how it all relates. The instructor would keep up with the responses enabling her to discover what piques their interest.

Finally, student-created blogs can be a new, easy-to-track way for students to keep a learning journal. Students would create a blog from one of many, free blog sites available on the web or via a hosted blogging solution provided by the school. Ideally, students would create a blog entry to reflect on their in-class learning for the day or week. By having students reflect on their learning and put it in their own words, students will retain the lessons learned by assimilating it into their lives. Research has shown that when students reflect on the lessons they learn, they retain the information better and can more easily apply the learning to their life. Over time, as students learn new lessons, older lesson can be forgotten. By blogging about the lessons, they can later go back to review lessons that may have been buried with other content learned. At the end of a course, students can reflect on all they accomplished in the course and see a marked improvement from beginning to end. This satisfaction in mastery of a particular subject will help instill in the student the skills to become a life-long learner.

 Keeping students involved and allowing, yes - allowing, them to take responsibility for their learning, makes them accountable to themselves and gives them the incentive to succeed.