In Slideshare This Week: Science 2.0 & Education Trends

I’ve been under the weather this week, which makes me a bit behind in my blogging. I do have a number of exciting posts forthcoming, but in the meantime, here are some recent slidedecks from people I know on topics that are distracting me from the aforementioned blogposts.

Science 2.0 (social media adoption and use in science processes and communication) is something I’ve been tracking for years. Monday this week Cornelius Puschmann posted a very interesting analysis of metrics, trends, and relationships among science blogging communities. I must say I’m delighted, especially since he was looking at this from the perspective of libraries and challenges in selecting, curating, and archiving this new form of academic scholarship.

Puschmann, Cornelius. A Tale of Two Platforms: Emerging communicative patterns in two scientific blog networks: http://www.slideshare.net/coffee001/emerging-communicative-patterns-in-two-scientific-blog-networks-oxford

Cornelius also posted a slidedeck from a presentation he did late last year on the related topic of Twitter as big data for research purposes. Very nice.

Puschmann, Cornelius. Twitter as a data source for (socio)linguistic research. http://www.slideshare.net/coffee001/twitter-as-a-data-source-for-sociolinguistic-research

Jean-Claude Bradley is one of my Science 2.0 idols. The day after my post arguing for a different approach to Science 2.0, JC posted a new slide deck illustrating in detail how he integrates social media tools, processes, and apps into virtually every nook and cranny of the science teaching and research processes. Wow.

The Value of Openness in Research and Teaching: http://www.slideshare.net/jcbradley/delaware2013

By the way, since we’re looking at JC’s slides anyway, and since I’m working on a post about open access, here is another slide deck from JC on that topic.

Open Notebook Science: Transparency in Research: http://www.slideshare.net/jcbradley/bradley-open-notebook-science-georgia-tech-oa-week

Already mentioned in the Cool Toys blog earlier this week, but repeated in the UM Trends and Tech Team conversations, is this report mentioning an important shift in teen communication patterns, away from texting and SMS toward apps such as WhatsApp and Kik.

(mobileyouth) Download – ‘I’m so over SMS’: 2013 is the year youth abandon SMS in favor of Twitter, WhatsApp and Kik: http://www.slideshare.net/mobileyouth/web-3-imsooversms2013istheyearyouthabandonsmsinfavoroftwitterwhats-appandkik

Last but not least, storytelling is another topic I usually have on my mind, both for science communication as well as through the lens of how it shapes almost everything else we do in the world. Alan Levine is a real powerhouse of collection strategies, tools, and approaches to integrating storytelling in education. He’s done it again! Here is his newest slidedeck on the topic, “What mean ye, storytelling?” Wow. And I really mean, Wow.

Levine, Alan (Cogdog). What mean ye storytelling- the #etmooc version: http://www.slideshare.net/cogdog/what-mean-ye-storytelling-16476711

Bubble, Blur, Flip, Spin, Hoard, Hug. Part Three: Bubble

Original version published at: Life of an emerging technologies librarian in the health sciences: http://monthly.si.umich.edu/2013/01/17/life-of-an-emerging-technologies-librarian-in-the-health-sciences/ or on this blog: Part One: Then; Part Two: Now

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The Bubble: http://prezi.com/usxsqmpip_ro/the-bubble/

Bubble

Trend: The dot-com bubble burst. The real estate bubble burst. Now they say the higher ed bubble is bursting. Somewhere in between real world economies and the “graying of America,” people have been figuring out that lifelong learning means they can learn on their own through community colleges, MOOCs and digitally curated collections, and that they can learn and teach with others in online social learning spaces. It’s harder to get a formal degree, but with questions about if degrees pay off and a shifting hiring emphasis on skills and competencies, new approaches like badges may take the place of degrees.

Impact: Resources for learning are shifting to new spaces. Students will come from those learning environments, which will present new learning and outreach opportunities for patients and public. How do we position ourselves and our institutions in these new learning and teaching spaces in order to market our expertise, to engage our public, and to provide outreach and community support?

Further Thoughts:

I’ve been deeply focused on observing the “bubble” movement and conversations, as well as concepts, resources, movements, and organizations that are spinning off from that central theme. I have almost two hundred bookmarks that I’ve tagged simply “bubble” as being relevant to these thoughts, a few of which are shared here. Last Spring I did a workshop called “Online Social Learning Spaces” that focused on the range and diversity of spaces that are evolving online as alternatives to formal higher education.

Online Social Learning Spaces: http://www.mindmeister.com/161977476/online-social-learning-spaces

I am very fortunate to be working at an institution of higher learning that has been aware of these trends for a very long time, and which has planned and prepared for them. While rank and file faculty may not have this in the front of their minds, the administrators do, and many students are asking the same questions that are being asked nationally. Is it worth it to spend this much money on education? Can I make a living with this degree or working in higher ed? Are there other (perhaps better) ways to make a living, or to learn what I want to learn? Is the structure of higher education fair to both teachers and students? And many more.

Here, administration has been staging changes that will help us position ourselves in this new and emerging educational market. Gradually, we are shifting toward more openness and transparency in what we teach and how we teach it. Open Michigan is a big part of this, as is Deep Blue, our institutional repository. Engaging the students in the process of creating online content, through programs like DScribe is a great way of making the initiatives sustainable. Consolidating our institutional brand (the Block-M) across all units on campus gives us a more unified identity for our online spaces, and this gives us more clout and power and reputation when it comes to the point of trying to teach online-only courses internationally, with a fee for the actual credits or credentials. Joining programs with national presence and local prestige, such as Coursera helps to encourage more of our own faculty to start building the skills they need to teach effectively in the online environment, thus broadening the base of faculty able to work in these new spaces.

Just to give you an idea of how long Michigan has been thinking about this and preparing for it, here is a 2008 video of John L King, then Vice Provost, in which he describes why we needed to be preparing for this — where education has come from, and where it is going. (Don’t worry, the title says “librarianship” but it really is a much broader thinkpiece.)

Librarianship, Now and in the Future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwAAUFFD6js

So, we aren’t there yet, not everyone has bought into this vision, not all students are independent enough to manage themselves taking an online course, not all faculty are able to make the transition. But. If I was a new young faculty member, a recent graduate of a teaching programs, a student, I would most definitely be practicing the skills to survive in the online educational environment. You don’t need to do everything there, but chances are very high that sooner or later you will be doing something there, and that “something” will be more and more of what you do. It isn’t just higher education, either. All those parents homeschooling their young kids? You just bet they are exploring online options to fill in where their skills are a little weak. This is a growing space, and it is expanding to fill blended spaces that combine face to face instruction with online resources in coffeeshops and church basements. It isn’t all about the ivory towers, not any more, not if it ever was.

(To be continued …)

Hashtags of the Week (HOTW): Health Education (Week of December 10, 2012)

First posted at THL Blog: http://wp.me/p1v84h-Yz

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With this being finals week, and friends who just passed their doctoral dissertation defense, I have education on the brain. Here is a sampling of tweets and hashtags used in Twitter to discuss matters related to higher education, especially in healthcare.

Pretty much every #premed student right now. #finals week @premedprincess_ @premeddiva @drcannabliss @pre_medprobz twitter.com/eightwm/status…

— Joshua Acosta (@eightwm) December 11, 2012

The Future of Medical Education: Very Real Simulation of Procedures and Teamwork bit.ly/UUrBAP via @docweighsin #meded #hcsm

— AAMC (@AAMCtoday) December 12, 2012

Today’s the one day a month that our class gets together during 3rd year to talk about ethics, quality improvement, etc #medschool

— Mania Kupershtok (@kupersht) December 14, 2012

During crossing over, the two chromatids from the mother and the two chromatids from the father align tog… wisr.co/12oHaCW #premed

— QuizMeBio (@QuizMeBio) December 14, 2012

New blog post this morning on how to be productive and awesome tools I used to do so! goingtomedschool.com/2012/12/12/how… #premed #productivity

— goingtomedschool (@going2medschool) December 12, 2012

Considering I was reviewing the criteria for multiple myeloma in my dreams, I’m pretty sure I didn’t sleep last night. #meded #Medschool

— Jennifer Anyaegbunam (@JenniferAdaeze) December 14, 2012

New NNT Post: NY Times “Tackling the Problem of #MedStudent Debt” misses the point tmblr.co/Z9rgOyZJI9rp #meded #medsm

— Josh Herigon, MPH (@JoshHerigon) December 14, 2012

Professor Sabrina McCormick released a study on a new form of citizen science – ordinary ppl recording research! bit.ly/UymQur #PubHT

— MPH@GW (@GWonlineMPH) December 11, 2012

Agreed! RT @k8ethics: Great post by @westr on how/why to use @twitter in medical education | tinyurl.com/cphhe2n #cmechat #meded #hcsm

— Joel Selzer (@jbselz) December 13, 2012

Nice roundup via @medcitynews on Twitter’s 2012 healthcare highlights ow.ly/g5fKN #hcsm #medsm

— Medical Economics (@MedEconomics) December 13, 2012

Increased Use of Twitter at a Med Conference: A Report & a Review of the Educational Opportunities – bit.ly/UBh8YD #meded #CMEchat

— Brian S. McGowan PhD (@BrianSMcGowan) December 12, 2012

89% of #doctors participate in online #CME, of which 56% participate at least monthly. Download our study for free from bit.ly/PWrFPs

— EPG Health Media (@EPGHealthMedia) December 13, 2012

What motivates #nurses to return to school, pursue higher degrees? #RN Work Project studied factors&barriers rwjf.ws/VCjBki #FutureRN

— RWJF News (@RWJF) December 12, 2012

just browsing the old #GMEP for tips on ultrasound… gmep.org/media/11586 #FOAMed

— Andy Neill (@AndyNeill) December 10, 2012

The #FOAMed revolution (Free Open Access Medical education) goo.gl/fb/a9JIV

— Ves Dimov, M.D. (@DrVes) December 14, 2012

Don’t forget about #meded chat, tonight and every Thurs nite at 9p ET! #hcsm #medsm #medstudent #medschool

— MedEd Chat (@MedEdChat) December 13, 2012

How to … Facebook, YouTube & Twitter for Family Planning

I was logging into our library’s shared Slideshare account this morning and noticed one of my colleagues had uploaded something new on social media. I do a lot of social media classes & workshops, so of course I just HAD to take a closer look! I was impressed, very impressed. I like her slides better than the ones I’ve been doing. Kate spent more time on hers, I think, than I usually have the luxury to do. They are clear, well organized, engaging, use excellent examples for the topic, cover all the most important concepts, and go into tools / resources / strategies / techniques that I rarely use myself since I am not the main manager for our library’s Facebook pages and groups. These are definitely worth a look, even if I am prejudiced.

Education 2.0 – NETP 2010, VWBPE, SL etc.

I have a lot of catching up to do for things I want to share and bring to people’s attention. I’m going to start with this video by Draxtor Depres (which is his Second Life avatar name). Much of the content in this video was filmed around the National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) public forum in Second Life last November.

The final report from the Second Life public forum was made available here first!

This helped feed into the process by which the NETP 2010 report was generated and presented to Obama to help inform the decisionmaking process, management, planning and funding of educational innovation in the United States. They are still inviting comment on the plan, so consider yourself encouraged to provide comments and influence the discussion. Don’t like something? Think it is great? Tell them so.

ED.gov: Draft National Educational Technology Plan: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/

I am seeing conversation about this all over the web, so you can track down what other people are saying. If you want, help aggregate some of that content at the SnapGroups Education group.

SnapGroups: Education: NETP2010: http://www.snapgroups.com/education/1643

Draxtor has been sitting on this for a while, so you can think of this as some of his comments. He also tried to time it for the opening of last weekend’s Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, held in Second Life. Last I heard, they were estimating around 5,000 avatars registered to attend events, and assuming that as a low end for attendance. Big big deal for education. I blogged snippets of the first day of the VWBPE conference, and will be doing a lot more about it here. I could easily blog more than a dozen posts, if I didn’t have anything to do other than blog! Basically, just figure that virtual worlds are a natural extension of simulations and role play as critical immersive & engagement approaches to education and exploration, that this is currently a major activity in Second Life, and that this is likely to get bigger before ultimately shifting into a combined virtual world/real world experience via augmented reality. Does that sound overwhelming? Perhaps, if you aren’t already there. I suspect that for most of the educators in Second Life, it just sounds like a natural next step. Maybe you should check it out. You can start by checking out Drax’s video, and then click through to take a look at some of his other short and sweet introductions to major events and initiatives connecting Second Life and the non-virtual world.

Mobile Education Opps and Apps from UM’s Soloway

I’ve been on a real mobile kick lately. Dusting off Rheingold’s book, reading up on mobile tech for library reference, and much more. I’m not the only one! UM Prof. Soloway has come up with software to help facilitate using cell phones as education technology devices in the classroom. Check it out – he’s a bit of a character.