The majority of the universities heavily follow the 'tutor contact' and 'independent study' teaching methods that can be seen in the venn diagram above. More universities and colleges are starting to take on the 'practical' learning application as well, although only a select few of my classes here at Berkeley have fallen under that category. Out of those select few, they have actually been some of my favorite courses. However, IEOR 190G has been the only course to follow the 'social networking' category.
If we observe the diagram above carefully, you can see that Social Networking falls under all 3 core teaching methods: tutor contact, independent study, and practical. What's so great about the Social Networking platform to learning is that it creates a space for the students to collaborate, learn from each other, and offer support to one another. In addition to learning we are able to create a closer community and make friends. Unfortunately, when courses lack collaboration, relationship-building is consequently not encouraged and students will take away much less at the end of the term.
The other great thing that the Social Networking approach to learning offers to students is creativity. We have TIME to think and compose our thoughts and then further develop them. Due to social media's relative informal context, we can express ourselves and our thoughts in our own unique, individual ways.
I enjoyed the social media aspect of this course because it felt far more hands-on than any course I have taken. Assignments involved researching current events in the patent world: I was able to become aware of tech news that I never would have thought of keeping up-to-date with. Because of this class, I realized how easy it is to look up patent-related news! Google has a page under their 'News' section. I've become interested in keeping up with the Economist to stay ahead of market news and changes. Lastly, I have come out of this course with friends and that has been wonderful!
No comments:
Post a Comment