PGDEL/DECP02/Unit2/01

 Unit 2.2 Blogs Social Learning Tools: Blogs, Social Networking and RSS

Dear learners in previous unit you learned about the learning management system and its various features. These features provide the learner with a virtual classroom environment.

You might have observed that beside the classroom, learning occurs at ‘Out of the classroom environment’ as well. This learning includes peer to peer interaction. In this peer to peer interaction, learners enrich their learning by interacting and discussing with each other. They receive feedback, comments and share knowledge with each other (including the teacher). They also communicate with the teacher to clarify their queries, which were not resolved during classroom. They connect with each other for knowledge sharing, develop collaborative projects and completion of the assignments.

With the advancement of technology this ‘Out of the classroom environment’ has taken place in the virtual world. There are many tools, helping the learning community to perform these tasks on web based platform. These tools include emails, instant messaging, blogs social and networking websites. These tools have provided (besides their traditional uses) enormous opportunity and freedom to explore the new ways of teaching and learning.

Click on following link to learn how social media is giving a new dimension to teaching and learning: Social Media in Education - Teaching Digital Natives

This unit shall discuss the uses of Blogs, Social Networking and RSS tools in the teaching and learning process. We will also discuss the some popular web sites and their features.