Tis a wee diss this unworkshop is - points and issues relating to the unworkshop on Teaching With Social Software Unworkshop

Here below are issues I was thinking about during (or even after) the unworkshop:

• "Social" (why is it social?) networking may be a great tool for learning but the learning can go beyond any parameters that are set by the learners themselves or by any mentor/facilitator.
• Learners will decide themselves whether they want to participate or not and this may be discouraging. However, it may draw out those who are really interested in the topic or issue at hand.
• Social network learning may not actually produce quality because it is limited to participant experience, expertise, personal world view, etc... and the process also does not go through the academic rigourous washing machine.
• The technology itself can act as a barrier to participation and therefore disempower those left out of the loop i.e. the poor, the technologically challenged.

To support the above points I leave you to enjoy this very short video file that some friends back home in Aotearoa/New Zealand made. It is aimed at Maori youth primarily those who want to learn their own culture and language. Can you guess the drawbacks of such an approach as this?