Tweeting about Lord of the Flies: Social Media in Education

My name is JD...and I like social media.

I tweet...a lot. I post on Facebook; I'm one of the thirteen or so people on G+, and I agonized over giving up my foursquare account (until I did...whew. that was nice). I post pics and reviews to Yelp. I like social media.

So it is not surprising that my avocation for social media and my vocation for teaching were going to meet. What remains surprising to me is that there are so few teachers who are doing the same. Ok, to be honest, it is not surprising. Schools are disallowing it as a matter of policy, a number of technology admins are under the impression that it is disallowed under CIPA (it's not), and we are living in an age where politicians and lawyers are able to determine educational policy based on the potential of something to go wrong (and the lawsuits, besmirched reputations, and bad press that would ensue).

But educators and parents have a role in social media:

HAVE YOU READ LORD OF THE FLIES?
The @40ishoracle and I have been talking about the "Lord of the Flies" effect for a couple of years now. There is enough difference (lack of immediate facial feedback, lack of immediate physical harm, biochemical response differences between being alone and being in groups, psychological responses to the same....you get the idea) between communication through social media and live interaction that the normal rules of behavior do not cross over for teenagers. I could give you lots of examples but you can Google this or talk to any teenager to find this to be true.

At the point that the normal rules do not transfer, adults have two choices. 1. Either provide boundaries, rules, guidelines, etc. for the new medium or 2. Let kids set their own rules. I would argue that for the better part of a decade, adults have defaulted to the latter. Thus the online behavior that minors demonstrate in public (or semi-public) space which would be abhorrent in the real world is a variation of normal in the cyber-social sphere. Need to test this? Print out the transcripts of two students who are being mean to each other on social networks and have them read their comments out loud to each other across a table. As the social-network rhetoric is confronted in the context of real-world norms, the impact is embarrassing, tense, sometimes even filled with shame.

At the point that we decide to embrace option one (boundaries and rules, guidelines and examples) then normal educational practice takes over. What is the best way to teach? Draw upon the context of the student, give them hands-on experience, reflect on those experiences with experts and peers, and assess the new knowledge in the context of decisions the students will now make.

But we can't draw upon the context if we are unaware how students are actually behaving in social media.

But we can't give them formalized experiences when every social network is blocked at the school.

Ironically, e-rate federal guidelines now require schools to have a unit on cyber-bullying, but most schools block the forums and venues on which the cyber-bullying occurs. My child is taught to control her mouth (and hands and feet) by being corrected by adults, at home and in the classroom. Yet we are shocked when students, left on their own in Cyberland, perform actions which, while bad, we have never corrected -- isn't that what immaturity is all about?

ISN'T THIS ABOUT FORMING RELATIONSHIPS?
As we have been discussing for the last few blogs, the key to education, educational technology purchases and policies, and maybe life in general is forming relationships. It is in the context of the relationship that learning happens. It is in the context of the relationship change in behavior can occur.

I received a tweet last night from a student immediately after he had sent a typical-teen-venting tweet that said something along the lines of "i sometimes forget @jdferries reads these". It was an opportunity (a small one) to open the door of self-reflection and analyze behavior. It is in the context of the social media relationships that I have with students that we discuss online identity, good choices, and bad ones.

In a practical sense, the relationship that is enhanced by social media gives credibility and leverage to change real-world as well as cyber-world behavior for the better. It meets students where they are. It encourages them, through example, to apply the norms that we demonstrate to their online activity.

ARE THERE RISKS?
Yes. Adults have to be more cognizant of relationships with young people than they do with their peers. It's true in the hallways, the grocery stores, and online. Relational Power plays a huge factor in determining how this works. Being able to keep a personal life and a public life separate is a consideration (and, not to tip my hand, but ALL student-adult relationship are PUBLIC). Keeping records to protect yourself is a necessity in this day and age. Schools should develop policies along with parents and students and educators and administrators that take all of this into consideration.

WON'T THE LAWYERS SAY "NO"?
I don't have an answer to the lawyers beyond this: a lawyer is paid to help you make money (sue someone) or prevent you from losing money (suit proofing). If you ask the question, "Should a school do X?", the lawyer will likely answer in the negative. Nothing schools do make money (we generally don't sue), so the lawyer only advises you to avoid things that could be litigated -- Which, in America, is EVERYTHING.

To school administrators: Ask yourself if the above arguments make sense. Talk to your teachers. Talk to your students. Talk to your families. If, in the final analysis, there are valid educational and developmental reasons for teachers and students to use social media together, then the question to ask the lawyers is "Since we are going to do this, what advice do you have to best protect ourselves?" -- Everything else is just asking to be shot down.

Why We Teach: the 50,000 ft view of accountability in education

This may just be a shorter or bigger picture rehash of the last blog. But it also might be important

In the last blog, I drew a distinction between the different ways of measuring efficiency when thinking about EDUCATIONAL technology. Namely that, since we don't produce widgets, it is difficult to use the usual "X widgets produced per Y man-hours" formula. I proposed that instead we focus on how much the technology contributed to building relationships between students and teachers.

Wow. That was short sighted.

This is not just about Educational Technology.

It is the heart of Catholic education. And maybe education as a whole...but i'm going to premise off the Catholic part.

Yesterday while eating lunch with Alan Mensel, religion teacher extraordinaire, and Michael Christiana, SJ we were discussing a the concept of the "the classroom as hallowed ground" (40ishoracle blogged about the inspiring article a few weeks ago). In that discussion, we started discussing the teachings of Jesus.

• He never said "convert this many souls"
• He never worried about the profit margin of the ministry
• He never counted the sins

He asked people to love one another. And to love God. He told people to give to the poor and encourage those least fortunate among us. Jesus figured if we were to do all of those things, the whole "getting to heaven" things would take care of itself.

Flash forward a few thousand years.

In my last blog, I talked about those special teachers that we all remembered.

• They didn't worry about solving 56 math problems in two minutes.
• They didn't keep value-add averages of their students on high-stakes test scores
• They didn't peg their evaluation rating and payscale to tests or grades

What great teachers did back then, and continue to do today, is cared about students and their education. They struggled to make a subject that they cared about come alive fore the students. They crafted lessons that would provide experiences that students could reflect upon and gain knowledge from. Those great teachers figured if they did all of those things, the whole "good test scores" thing would take care of itself.

In asking educators to take more time to pay attention to the numerical goals (test scores, college entrance rates, etc. -- which may or may not be a reflection of the ultimate goal), we are asking them to take away from the process of building relationships, caring for students, and creating amazing learning experiences...the very pathways that have to be opened to get us to the promised land.

This has been coming up in a lot of different venues. I think @40ishoracle is tackling some of this from a different perspective here. I would invite your comments and thoughts.

Note: let @40ishoracle know that not all of my blogs are 4pgs long.

Learning and Leading - February 2012 - Page 22-23

The @40ishoracle is famous! Before BYOT got off the ground, she integrated the school's teaching method and the NETS. Mission based decision making at its finest!

(now if only we could cut 250 more words from the Book Chapter That Wouldn't End!)

Learning and Leading - February 2012 - Page 22-23:

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Relationships: Rethinking Efficiency in the #edtech paradigm

Imagine a school where the decisions about technology were not justified by claims to increase test scores?

Last night I was invited to a supper club sponsored by Ice Miller about the topic of "Technology in Education." There was a phenomenal mix of vendors, technology software producers ranging from App developers to major players in the LMS game, foundations, and even some educators. It was a great night with fantastic food and conversation.

While a few topics seemed blog-worthy and might get some time later (I am gearing up a MathNinja rant), I think it would be more useful to start at the conclusion. One of the challenges that was identified early on was the need for EFFICIENCY. Efficiency and Technology are like peanut butter and...well, peanuts. Sure you can do other things with them, but why would you want to? We all know that peanuts exist to make peanut butter. Ask my three year old.

If Technology does not yield efficiency, it is not worth the investment. This has been true in almost all areas of business. And yet, for the most part, it is not true in education. While there have been incremental time savers such as electronic gradebooks (no more calculators and pencil scratches) and longer term time-savers (Make a PowerPoint and revise rather than constantly writing on the board), none of these have led to the great hallmark of business efficiency: a reduction in labor. No principal ever made the connection "now that our teachers have saved so much time on grade entry, we can increase class size and reduce one teacher."

(Rant Drumroll)

So, it should not be surprising that movements like robo-graders and distance learning lectures to virtual lecture halls full of plugged-in students get traction. If one teacher can lecture one time and that lecture can be broadcast to thousands of students over the next five years, you can start to see less need for a lecturer in-building. If that lecture can be assessed, scored, and recorded through an automatic test, than you reduce the need for a in-building grader as well.

But (and its a big one)

School aren't factories. Students aren't widgets. Teachers aren't cogs in the industrial wheel.

And (this too, large)

Everybody knows this.

Take away the politics that has warped the image of teachers into summer-lazing fat cats in an effort to reduce the strength of the union vote and every politician will call to mind that one special teacher, the one who did not grade by rote, who did not stand at the front of the room and lecture all the time. That one teacher who cared. Inevitably this is a teacher with whom the student had a strong connection.

(Rant Concludes)

Back to the dinner.

One of the most impressive educators around the table is the head of the Oaks Academy here in Indianapolis. He pointed out that his school (an iPad school, but not until the eighth grade) had the same impressive results with the same underserved populations that some newtech schools had reported without the gadgets in the lower levels. His claim was that the relationships between the students and teachers were the key to success.

And the table fell silent, because he had named, at a crowded table full of technologists, the secret to good education and maybe the key to that elusive measure of efficiency.

If we measure efficiency as the most number of widgets (students) produced uniformly by the fewest number of line workers (teachers), we, and i mean the big inclusive social "we", all lose. But if we re-frame efficiency to be that which gives teachers and students more time to build relationships with each other, that could be magic:

• Flipclass increases the one-on-one time between student and teacher. Check
• BYOT creates an environment where students and teachers discover and apply technology and learning together. Check.
• Social Media supplements the live-time relationship and humanizes the teacher while providing another positive influence in a new social environment. Check
• Interactive white boards...never mind.

St. Ignatius, early in the founding of the Jesuit schools, wrote that the connection between the teacher and learner was a fundamental key to the discovery of truth.

If the technology purchase does not fundamentally increase the ability for the teacher and student to form a stronger relationship, and thereby increase the opportunity for real and substantial learning,  it is not directed toward efficiency.

Imagine a world where every technology vendor had to justify the purchase based on improving the Student-Teacher Relationship?

Cross Post "BYOT: Update - Brebeuf Arrow"

You have heard a lot from myself and @40ishoracle about the Brebeuf Jesuit BYOT program. Thought we would give you a chance to read what the students are saying as well. This article was released in this week's THE ARROW. There were also articles about SOPA, the new library design, and Cyber-baiting. It was a good tech issue :)

BYOT: update - Brebeuf Arrow

A #flipclass diary: Adding a little BYOT Goodness

Someone on FB asked me about this line from the #flipclass diary 

blog, so i thought i would make it into an entry: “spent the next day refining skills and learning the practicalities of codecs and embedding video”

I am not sure how to classify this one. It is a little bit of constructivist education, it was made possible by the #flipclass format that allowed students to move at a faster pace in the classroom, and it is a great shot of #BYOT in action.

The students were using the Microsoft Training Courses to learn some of the features of Office 2010. We have started using these as supplemental material since it allows students to self-pace and gives them another learning option. Almost all of the students skipped the first few lessons (create a slide, add text, etc.). At one point, midway through the class, almost every student was working on adding videos.

Student A: Where do I get some videos to add? You Tube?

Student B: No, youtube is different you need a file.

Student A: Mr. Ferries-Rowe, where could we get video?

Me: I don’t know. Where could you get video from? If only there were some device in this classroom that could take video. What a wonderful world that would be.

Student C: (picking up on my sarcasm): Ooh! my phone can capture video!
Student D: Mine too!
Student E: Oh Yeah!
Student F: Siri, can you take video? [editor’s note: there is no student F]

(pause for film goodness)

Student A: ok, now what?

Me: you tell me.

Student A: I have video but it has to be on this computer in order to put it in the PowerPoint.

Me: True.

Student A: I don’t have my cord

Me: If only there were  a convenient way to transfer files from one device to another...as if through a cloud.

Student C: You could email it.
Student G: No, the flip video. He talked about Dropbox

Student A: I have that app on my phone!

Student H: there is an app?
Student I: Yeah, I have it to...

(Pause for App downloading, account registration, etc.)
(Pause for Transferring files to dropbox and retrieving it from the web)
(Pause while student inserts video to power point)

[Editor’s note: see how much pausing there is? it’s awesome]

Student H: it worked!
Student K: mine too!

Student A (poor student A): Mine says there is a codec error

Me: What’s a codec?

Student I-don’t-remember: Instructions. Like a language. (someone watched the flip)

Student C: We need a program to translate it. I use AVI
Me: but the mean techs at school won’t let you install programs. Next?
Student C: is there a web-based translator?

…

By the end of the class, students had real-world problem solving experience. Understood (to some degree) the issues presented by different codecs and (to a greater degree) how to work around them. They had used a variety of tools, cloud-based and personal, to enhance presentations, and worked collaboratively to solve problems.

That’s a good day.

PowerPad 16 USB station charges your iPad and 15 others -- Engadget

A issue in BYOT: once you have technology in the hands of everyone you have to keep the devices powered....check?

PowerPad 16 USB station charges your iPad and 15 others -- Engadget:

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