 My New Year’s Resolution for 2013 is to develop a truly high quality network utilizing social media. I am not talking about seeing how many connections I can get on LinkedIn or other networks, but selectively choosing high quality networks/groups, and within those, the people with whom a quality relationship can be established and maintained. I have been exploring social networking for about two years now, My impression at first was not a good one. I found most of he blogs I encountered, published both by students and by teachers, were of such poor quality that I had no desire or need to read them. I also felt that many of the so-called “networks”, “groups” and “discussions” were not actually discussions or networks at all. People were, and for he most part, continue to post comments or questions, but in many of these groups no one is really talking to each other. In other words, there is little actual, meaningful conversation. I am sure you have had the experience of being in a face-to-face or telephone “conversation” with a person, and you suddenly realize that the other person is not really listening; they are merely waiting for a chance for you to pause so they can jump in with what’s on their mind, whether it connects to the topic of the conversation or not. Sometimes, (frequently) they don’t even wait for a pause, they simply interrupt. Those are not people with whom you can build networks or relationships based upon meaningful, reflective, and sometimes humorous, discussions. Those are the “groups” with whom I do not want to waste my time. Blogging and contributing to discussions online can be quite time-consuming, and sometimes overwhelming and stressful. So if you desire a quality experience pick and choose your groups carefully. Blogging and participating meaningfully in other forms of social media are hard work; they require energy, reflection, etiquette and excellent writing skills. Maybe it’s just a “pet peeve” of mine, but I really do not like to see a web post full of grammatical and spelling errors. And, no. I am not a high school English teacher; I was just brought up in a home where correct speech was emphasized. I'm not referring to the occasional typo or overlooked auto correction - that is incorrect. For example, I am in the process of writing a newsletter, but I keep running into a problem with the program I am using. I am trying to write something about the Tuskegee Airmen, but it keeps coming up as Tuskogee or Tuskeegee. So I am not going to "lose it" over a couple of simple errors. However, if a post is obviously written by an educator, and it is full of errors, it's upsetting to me, and it certainly does not reflect well upon our educational system. No, we aren’t writing novels, but we should make the effort to present ourselves at least as competent communicators. Writing and using social media correctly is something we must be teaching our students. As Michael Wesch, Ph.D., at Kansas State University said in his address to the Library of Congress, “Just because the kids have the knowledge to use these tools, to get around in them, does not make them media literate.” I have seen more than enough student blogs which make it clear that the students have no idea of their purpose or possibilities. I have seen strings of comments from various students in a class that look something like this: C: l like your blog. X: Whazzup? C: I’m so tired! B: What is this? A: This is so cool! OR, I have seen class blogs in which it appears that every single student copied, word for word, the same page or sentence out of the same textbook, worksheet, or repeats the same fact that was told to them by the teacher (word for word). These approaches to blogging to not demonstrate higher level thinking, reflection, questioning, wonderment, discovery or LEARNING! We know that the students are already plugged in and blogging everywhere except at school. So why not at school? During the next few days I will be posting more thoughts about blogging, about what it means to be "plugged in", and why we should allow and enable students to use these tools to become truly 21st century thinkers. The use of these tools provide the ways and means for student to develop skills such as collaboration, creativity, methodologies of inquiry, evaluation, and many other of the "21st century skills". Online safety and etiquette are crucial literacies for 21st century students/everyone. I will also share with you great suggestions from teachers around the world for teaching your students to blog. As you can see from the sample comments listed above, students today are a long way from being blog-literate. They are not alone in this predicament. I have seen plenty of teacher-written blogs that are just as bad. You cannot just hand someone a computer and then walk away expecting them to automatically know how to blog in a reflective, meaningful, clear and succinct manner. That goes for everyone. I am not saying that students cannot learn in a completely self-directed and interdependent mode; that has been proven by many, including the well-known Sugata Mitra, PhD., known most of all for his famous "Hole in the Wall" experiment in India. He did just that - he set up a computer in a hole in the wall, similar to an ATM, and just observed the children of the village teach themselves how to read, write, collaborate, and learn new languages. It was truly amazing!
As you saw on the photo at the top of this post, "Blogging is a Journey" - as is learning - and life. My personal journey has taken me on amazing adventures, including some explorations of the blogosphere, and I am not ashamed to admit that I am NO digital native which contributed to what I call a minor case of "technophobia". More and more, I have experienced delight when I "figure something out", and then I am bit more courageous about trying something else new (to me).
Hopefully, we remember Lev Vygotsky and his "zone of proximity"? (No, I didn't know him personally.) Then, somehow, all of a sudden we get it right, or maybe have an "aha!" experience, and we are filled with renewed energy, hope and self-expectations which will take us to the next step. And on it goes. I hope that you will join me on this journey, not only discovering but creating a better life for our Planet Earth and it's globalized inhabitants. Anne
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