Evaluation of Social Media Learning

Evaluation of Social Media Learning

Social media learning refers to using various forms of social media – whether it is YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook, to learn the material of a class. In our class IEOR 190g, we were instructed to post YouTube videos every week, and discuss various topics from guest lecturer speeches to finding news articles on patents that interested us.

This class is very different than the other classes that I have taken at Haas in a very nice way. Some of the advantages of taking IEOR 190g and learning through social media are outlined below:

Benefits of Social Media Learning

-          Easier to remember the lessons – At the end of the day, I am going to remember an interesting video I watched about the patent on making a cat move with a laser pointer, probably not an obscure date from history like the birthday of a famous inventor.

-          Improvement in Speaking – Talking in Youtube blogs made me more comfortable with recording myself talking. This might come in handy if ever I get video interviews for companies or business schools.

-          Updated on new technology – This class allowed me to start using social media that I don’t have and social media that I have in a different way. I never had a twitter account and made one for this class.

Overall, I thought that our Professor’s way of teaching was very unique and creative. It is not often that you get to post Youtube videos or even use social media for classes.

Value of What I learned in this class

Value of What I learned in this class

This class, IEOR 190G, patent engineering, has been very valuable to me. Some of the key concepts and lessons that I learned are outlined below

-          Knowing how to file for a patent and how the criteria for patents work: I think knowing the criteria for patents such as non-obviousness and novelty really helps me understand what it takes to be able to file for a patent.

-          Value of repetition in discussions and homework: Even though making the blogs and commenting on videos can be very tiring, I do appreciate what it teaches us. We can see what other people did well and see where we can improve on for our future blogs. Hearing a lot of people say the same thing also really drills concepts into your head and hopefully I can remember them 10 years from now.

-          Understanding different perspectives: Different people have different opinions on the topics we discussed. For example some people think patent trolls can be good while others do not. Some people think software should be patented bit others do not. Just hearing about the diversity of opinions was very eye opening.

Other than what I learned above, I also enjoyed how there were guest lecturers, who gave us insight on the patent landscape in the US, and the businesses opportunities that arise in the technology sector.

Given the opportunity, I would have taken more classes like this because it is very interactive and very focused in terms of subject matter. Looking back on my 4 years at Cal this has been one of the most memorable classes that i have taken.