Teaching crowds : [electronic resource] learning and social media / Jon Dron; Terry Anderson.

On the nature and value of social software for learning -- Social learning theories -- A typology of social forms for learning -- Learning in groups -- Learning in networks -- Learning in sets -- Learning with collectives -- Stories from the field -- Issues and challenges in educational uses of social software -- The shape of things and of things to come.

"[Authors] introduce a new model for understanding and exploiting the pedagogical potential of Web-based technologies, one that rests on connections - on networks and collectives - rather than on separations. Recognizing that online learning both demands and affords new models of teaching and learning, the authors show how learners can engage with social media platforms to create an unbounded field of emergent connections. These connections empower learners, allowing them to draw from one another's expertise to formulate and fulfill their own educational goals. In an increasingly networked world, developing such skills will, they argue, better prepare students to become self-directed, lifelong learners"--Publisher