Organization-Centric or Network-Centric?

I am current a Fellow at University of Maryland College of Pharmacy. From the short period of time I have been at the University, I have noticed that the Institution supports creativity, implementation of innovative ideas, and encourages employees to be in the “cutting edge” of pharmacy education, research and patient care.

I believe the Institution is in the process of transition from “organization-centric” to “network-centric”, as the concept of “interprofessional education” is being promoted by our new president and supported by various departments. I envision the Institution creating an interprofessional education center to facilitate sharing and connection among different professions.

I really like the idea of having an interprofessional portal for the institution, where employees from various professions (pharmacy, medicine, nursing, social work, law, dentistry, graduate school) can share resources, best practices, post questions/answers, and learn with, from and about each other.

Screen Recording Tools: Jing and Screenr

JIng (Photo credit: blogpocket)

This week I learned about two new tools Jing and Screenr. Jing is great for free screen recordings and capture! Download here http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html  I also learned about Screenr, this tool is similar to Jing. http://www.screenr.com/

Both tools have a limit of 5 min for recordings, which is great for short videos. If you use Jing and desire to record a video longer than 5 min, you can upgrade to a tool called “Snagit 11”, which is also very simple to use and there is no time limit for your video. Although, there is a cost associated with it. You may get the free 30-day trial. Here you go: http://www.techsmith.com/snagit-gslp.html?gclid=COTsv_rA8bcCFVGi4AodCA8APg

Image via CrunchBase

My blog image capture with Jing http://screencast.com/t/Wc5Eqqvlb 

Related articles

• How to use Jing (extraordinaryvaralph.wordpress.com)

Working Smart and Learn How to Use Twitter

Working Smart Through Workscaping by Jay Cross, 2010

“If you set high expectations of people, they usually live up to them. If you have low expectations of people, they live down to them.” It is important to nurture your network within and outside your workspace. I like the tips to workscaping provided by Jay Cross such as apply the 80/20 rule to critical functions and avoiding duplication of effort in keeping up with news.

How to Use Twitter for Social Learning by Jane Hart, 2010

I learned how to create a background for my twitter account by using Free Twitter Designer found on: http://freetwitterdesigner.com/ Very cool tool! Check out at @lmacedopharmd

How Networks Are Changing Social Change

Citation: Kasper G, Scearce D. Working Wikily: How Networks Are Changing Social Change. http://www.workingwikily.net/Working_Wikily.pdf

Category: Social Media, Education, #EDUC689

Commentary Written By: Livia Macedo

I thought it was interesting the comment about “blur the line between amateurs and experts”. Amateurs are now able to publish their opinions on the internet alongside those of experts via various social media tools (e.g. YouTube, Blog).

I also agree with regards to privacy and security, users must be careful with what they share publicly online as it may come back to haunt them. The concept of “privacy” and “security” will need to be redefined in the world of social media.

One thing I learned this past week is that this new generation of students are losing or not learning the ability to read non-verbal expressions and participating in face-to-face interactions, because they are so used to using technology!

English: Blended learning methodology graphic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I think there should be a balance between face-to-face interactions and social media networking interactions in education, and that can be achieved via a blended learning environment.

Can Twitter Enhance Active and Informal Learning?

Citation: Kassens-Noor E. Twitter as a teaching practice to enhance active and informal learning in higher education: the case of sustainable tweets. Active Learning in Higher Education 2012; 13:9-21.

Category: Social Media and Education

Commentary Written By: Livia Macedo, PharmD

Twitter can be a powerful collaboration tool.  It can also excite learners and enable critical thinking, rather than a mere distraction in education. Twitter has been used by several educators in the classroom. It can enhance student learning, by facilitating discussions live during the classroom by using “live-tweeting”. It can also be a tool for the student to communicate with the professor and other students outside the classroom setting.

Kassens-Noor, et al. describes Twitter used in the classroom.  Students in one group used Twitter, while the students in another group opted to use traditional diaries. The author mentions that tweets might have been a barrier for reflective thinking. While traditional teaching practices allowed for more in-depth thinking and self-reflective learning. Space limitation might have been a barrier to reflective writing with Twitter. The study found that tweeting fosters team communication and prolonged interactive engagement in the learning process. However, Twitter can constrain critical thinking and self-reflection because of the tweets’ character limit. Limitations with this study included a small sample size and short duration.

Twitter has potential to be a powerful tool in education to engage students in a particular subject matter and to share knowledge among peers by building a network, however, it may not be applicable to every course or assignment.  The instructor needs to use their own judgment of when to incorporate this tool in their course.

Macedo’s first Blog!

Where to begin? I created this blog as part of an informal learning course in my Instructional Systems Development Masters Program. I will share in this blog my interests, which are interprofessional education and practice, instructional design, pharmacy education, ambulatory care and social media technologies.

I am originally from Brazil and currently the Instructional Design and Evaluation Fellow at University of Maryland. I have learned so much during my current fellowship and masters and look forward to continue in the journey of life long learning!

Thank you for visiting my Blog!

Livia