A recent assignment in my INTE 5665 Social Media and Digital Cultures class led me to exploring new social media tools. I've used Facebook for years, Linked In only marginally, and Pinterest for collecting recipes, so there were plenty of social media tools I hadn't yet tried.
At first blush I found Instagram interesting. I soon learned I would only use it for sharing with friends and family, so it wouldn't be a tool I'd use often. That said, however, I've suggested it to friends who work in historic preservation: it's a super-tool for sharing images of buildings and landscapes and I can see it being used to expand the reach of historic preservation activities and to build advocacy for individual projects. Instagram makes sharing photos easy, and I can think of several ways to use it in course design and especially for group activities
I moved on to another highly visual social media tool, Learnist. Learnist is similar to Pinterest in that you create learning boards onto which you pin content. The audience is a bit different, though: Learnist is designed for teaching and learning. Board curators can structure content to initiate and build learning. I'm quite interested in digital storytelling, and so I began a Learnist Digital Storytelling Board (click on link below to take a look). I've been collecting resources on the topic, and my Learnist board helps me visually organize the resources. I've found I remember the content of an article or website more easily if I have an image associated with it. Creating the board has been fun! Knowing I have a way to share what I find valuable has provided me with a goal of sorts. Soon I'll create a social media board. I've also started following a couple of other Learnist boards and have many more to explore.
I've enjoyed using Learnist so much that I'm moved to create more boards, but not all on Learnist. I'm working on a Pinterest board for humane education resources. I chose Pinterest for this topic because of the audience I want to reach. I feel Learnist reaches a professional audience and Pinertest reaches everyone, as evidenced by content from how to build a garage to Halloween treats for kids. The content for my humane education board will be designed to reach people, most likely volunteers, who present local animal shelter outreach programs, and I feel they are more apt to find my board on Pinterest than Learnist. Then again, I have so many professional-level humane education resources, I should create another Learnist board!
If you haven't tried Learnist yet, I encourage you to give it a go. If you're a visual person who wants to share content from websites to videos to PDF's and original work, you'll probably become as hooked on Learnist as I am.
At first blush I found Instagram interesting. I soon learned I would only use it for sharing with friends and family, so it wouldn't be a tool I'd use often. That said, however, I've suggested it to friends who work in historic preservation: it's a super-tool for sharing images of buildings and landscapes and I can see it being used to expand the reach of historic preservation activities and to build advocacy for individual projects. Instagram makes sharing photos easy, and I can think of several ways to use it in course design and especially for group activities
I moved on to another highly visual social media tool, Learnist. Learnist is similar to Pinterest in that you create learning boards onto which you pin content. The audience is a bit different, though: Learnist is designed for teaching and learning. Board curators can structure content to initiate and build learning. I'm quite interested in digital storytelling, and so I began a Learnist Digital Storytelling Board (click on link below to take a look). I've been collecting resources on the topic, and my Learnist board helps me visually organize the resources. I've found I remember the content of an article or website more easily if I have an image associated with it. Creating the board has been fun! Knowing I have a way to share what I find valuable has provided me with a goal of sorts. Soon I'll create a social media board. I've also started following a couple of other Learnist boards and have many more to explore.
I've enjoyed using Learnist so much that I'm moved to create more boards, but not all on Learnist. I'm working on a Pinterest board for humane education resources. I chose Pinterest for this topic because of the audience I want to reach. I feel Learnist reaches a professional audience and Pinertest reaches everyone, as evidenced by content from how to build a garage to Halloween treats for kids. The content for my humane education board will be designed to reach people, most likely volunteers, who present local animal shelter outreach programs, and I feel they are more apt to find my board on Pinterest than Learnist. Then again, I have so many professional-level humane education resources, I should create another Learnist board!
If you haven't tried Learnist yet, I encourage you to give it a go. If you're a visual person who wants to share content from websites to videos to PDF's and original work, you'll probably become as hooked on Learnist as I am.
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