The concept of assigning a selfie in class is to make the learning scenario a more authentic experience through social learning (Bandura & Walters, 1977).

After reading the ‘ECONSelfie’ article (2016), I discovered that creating a selfie assignment for students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic and create original material ranks in the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956). Below was my submission for “Technology in Learning.” Imagine if you designed your curriculum with a demonstration, evaluation, and creation activity assignment like the Selfie in Learning. You might be surprised the submissions you receive.

In 2013, the Clemson University Higher Education, Student Affairs (@CU_HESA) graduate program wanted to find a way for prospective students to make a decision about Clemson before having to travel to South Carolina for face-to-face interviews (@CU_GARS). I, in a recruitment and selection position, was able to train and put a team together to broadcast our first live Google+ Hangout On Air accompanied with live chat on Facebook and Twitter. This was an innovative strategy to connect with a prospective, self-selected community at the time, and I believe still is an innovative technique to promote story from peers to peers. The idea to promote community and to give space for peers to interact and share lessons learned online is one I try to use with the learners I interact with everyday. Currently, I have a Facebook group, a GroupMe chat, and discussion posts within a Learning Management System (LMS) for the L.E.A.R.N. program. In these spaces, students are able to interact in an online community environment, and share their stories when prompted. In the future, I would like to create a more interactive space for the peer mentors, or student leaders, within the scholarship program to recruit, and begin to train, the next cohort of peer mentors. Since the current peer mentors have already been trained in the art of storytelling, I would like to have the peer mentors in the spotlight on a live broadcast to share their stories and leadership development. This way, we would be able to share their stories digitally to spread the impact of their leadership skills, recruit the next cohort of leaders, and use their stories as positive examples of the program.

References

• Al-Bahrani, A., Holder, K., Moryl, R. L., Murphy, P. R., & Patel, D. (2016). Putting yourself in the picture with an ‘ECONSelfie’: Using student-generated photos to enhance introductory economics courses. International Review of Economics Education, 22, 16-22.
• Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1977). Social learning theory(Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-hall.
• Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Vol. 1: Cognitive domain. New York: McKay, 20-24.