Is there an aisle in the Anytime/Anyplace online learning supermarket that is reserved for the gourmet delicacy of sustained, deep thinking?
Yes there is!
Digital Innovations: This week’s Borrow & Blog’s innovation is Sylvia Ellison’s Twitter Slow Chats!
The Concept:
Sylvia Ellison @SylviaEllison perfects anytime/anyplace engagement through an affinity space called “Slow Chats.”
A Twitter “slow chat” invites an extension of informal learning and Sylvia Ellison at #HackLearning is a particularly effective connecting spark for learning because it conforms to learner’s engagement preferences (Tsai & Men, 2013). Ellison’s Monday/Thursday question response time segments promote reflection. Slow chats veer away from “vexatious issues over which people are in and which are out of the group” (Gee, 2004, p.215). Extroverts are plentiful online (Cho & Auger, 2017), yet in the social engagement supermarket not all affinity spaces are pressed from the same cookie cutter.
Slow chats encourage extended contemplation. They promote active engagement over frenetic response or the passive lurking of learners overwhelmed by rapid-fire tweets.
That a contemplative practice can occur on Twitter is a promising (and welcome) irony. Check out slow chats here!
How-focused implementation:
- Every Monday and Thursday, Sylvia creates and posts a new question.
2. Sylvia begins with an introduction followed by the question.
3. During the intervening days, Sylvia responds to participants.
Why It Works:
Twitter in educational contexts has research-based support. Research indicates that affinity spaces are necessary for student-led inquiry and learning engagement (Gee, 2004, 2017, Lammers, et al., 2017). Why? Because affinity spaces connect shared interest and engagement with activity (Gee, 2004, 2017).
Engagement on social media follows a continuum (Tsai & Men, 2013).
References
Cho, M., & Auger, G. A. (2017). Extrovert and engaged? Exploring the connection between personality and involvement of stakeholders and the perceived relationship investment of nonprofit organizations. Public Relations Review, 43(4), 729-737.
Gee, J. P. (2004). Affinity spaces. Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. London: Routledge
Gee, J. P. (2017). Affinity spaces and 21st century learning. Educational Technology, 27-31.
Tsai, W. H. S., & Men, L. R. (2013). Motivations and antecedents of consumer engagement with brand pages on social networking sites. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 13(2), 76-87.
