The incredible growth of the ice bucket challenge for ALS has caused me to reflect a lot about how we use social media. Before I go any further in this post, I would be remiss not to plug the challenge.
If you have not been nominated to take part, I hereby nominate you. I challenge you to donate via www.als.ca or www.alsa.org then, film and post your own video of you dumping ice and water over your head. Much inspiration can be found just searching youtube or your own Facebook newsfeed. My own challenge video can be viewed at the bottom of my post.
The purpose of this challenge is not necessarily to teach people. However, when I think about what I have learned the past few weeks I think about what I have learned at a deep level, and that is, people really DO care. Secondary to that, after watching the many videos posted by my friends, colleagues and family I actually learned the following that I did not already know:
The challenge has gone "viral" and from when the challenge started the American ALS society has earned over $40 million and the Canadian contingent has brought in over $1.7 million.
Why has this happened? and what caused this campaign to take off the way it has?
I believe that we are so connected via social media that this has migrated to our news feeds and subscriptions and because it is so simple that we pay attention.
What does this tell us about learning and social media? I think that the genius within social media is that learning can happen without even realizing it. Also, social media learning is very experiential, one post on Facebook can involve reading, videos, and commenting or discussion.
How can we leverage these benefits further? in our classrooms and within our eLearning blogs? I know that I am going to try more within my learning design. Stay tuned.
Good luck in your ALS ice bucket challenges
Jeff
If you have not been nominated to take part, I hereby nominate you. I challenge you to donate via www.als.ca or www.alsa.org then, film and post your own video of you dumping ice and water over your head. Much inspiration can be found just searching youtube or your own Facebook newsfeed. My own challenge video can be viewed at the bottom of my post.
The purpose of this challenge is not necessarily to teach people. However, when I think about what I have learned the past few weeks I think about what I have learned at a deep level, and that is, people really DO care. Secondary to that, after watching the many videos posted by my friends, colleagues and family I actually learned the following that I did not already know:
- The challenge was started by Pete Frates
- The purpose of pouring ice into the water is to simulate the sensation that those with ALS feel all of the time. Numbness and tingling all over their bodies
The challenge has gone "viral" and from when the challenge started the American ALS society has earned over $40 million and the Canadian contingent has brought in over $1.7 million.
Why has this happened? and what caused this campaign to take off the way it has?
I believe that we are so connected via social media that this has migrated to our news feeds and subscriptions and because it is so simple that we pay attention.
What does this tell us about learning and social media? I think that the genius within social media is that learning can happen without even realizing it. Also, social media learning is very experiential, one post on Facebook can involve reading, videos, and commenting or discussion.
How can we leverage these benefits further? in our classrooms and within our eLearning blogs? I know that I am going to try more within my learning design. Stay tuned.
Good luck in your ALS ice bucket challenges
Jeff
RSS Feed