Ponderings from Periwinkle

Teachers are passionate about being the best educators they can be for their students. Most teachers would probably also consider themselves “rule followers.” Combine these ideas with the traditional programs still in place for teacher preparation  (in the 2013 National Council on Teacher Quality review of Teacher Preparation Programs, technology integration is barely mentioned: "It takes about two years of research to develop a new standard. Among the areas in which we continue to search for consensus are: ... Use of technology in instruction, including blended learning") and traditional curriculum mandates, and we have frustrated teachers following a failing recipe for students’ futures. In order to meet their given job descriptions, teachers are unable to design appropriate learning experiences. At best, many are painfully aware they are failing their students. At worst, some blame technology and “society” for making their jobs impossible. The educational system needs to be turned on its head, à la the “upside down” in Stranger Things.  

  

The world has drastically changed in the past few decades, and yet we still rely on a system meant to shuttle obedient factory workers into 9 -5 jobs. Students cannot understand why they utilize technology throughout each moment of their daily lives, yet when they are in the classroom it’s regarded as a bad thing, surrounded by fear and rules and sometimes even forbidden. Students consume and create information online as a natural part of their day outside of school, and must be quite confused as to why teachers have so many issues with utilizing these tools.  Consider these comments from Will Richardson ‘s book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. He is a highly regarded international leader in the field of educational technology,  and he states: “To our kids, making their lives come alive online is a part of the way they live,” “By and large, they are ‘out there’ using a wide variety of technologies that they are told they can’t use when they come to school.” If school were a place where students could be taught to assess information appropriately, become informed about topics of their choice, and given the opportunity to create answers for authentic problems, they would certainly choose to utilize countless technology tools and be quite appropriately engaged while doing so. Some perfectly suited tools to use in a classroom could be blogs, wikis, podcasts, and/or video.  

  

As typical rule followers in this changing world, it is true that some teachers are frozen in place out of fear as stated above.  For some teachers, one issue with regards to facilitating these collaborative, reflective, publishable tools in their classrooms is student safety and parental and legal backlash.  While there are true safety concerns, these concerns shouldn’t be deterring factors for implementing meaningful, beneficial learning. Teachers coordinating with administration and parents can create guidelines and expectations for student usage of these online tools. Teachers can insist on proper name usage, control the audience with access to student work, and vet potential outside contributors to help ensure the safety of students.  Additionally teachers must commit to monitoring these blogs, wikis, podcasts, and videos.  Though possibly time consuming, there is great value in being able to share model student work with others in real-world context.  When published and available for commenting, research shows that most comments are positive as well as powerful to all involved; self-publishing grants purpose, authenticity, and learning opportunities for all who participate.  The few inappropriate or negative comments lend themselves to excellent authentic learning moments and discussions that in reality, could have just as easily been warranted in a face to face traditional classroom. Teaching students to navigate the “negative” is a valued skill.  “Safety is about responsibility, appropriateness, and common sense.” (Richardson 2010) In this day and age, teachers must teach these skills for the online environment too. What better place to teach these skills than through an authentic format students are already familiar with: social media? 

  

Consider the fact that most children old enough to comprehend the world of social media will willingly share their lives through various forms of social media. If teachers are passionate about preparing their students for the future, these teachers must factor social media into the equation. Additionally, understanding how to use social media effectively can be a skill that students could use in a potential career. Social media is here to stay and there are many compelling reasons to use social media directly in the classroom. For one, students frequently have more social media literacy than their teachers do (RIchardson, P7). In some environments, it may not be possible to use social media directly; the good news is that the skills needed to use social media responsibly are the same skills that can be cultivated by wikis, blogs, podcasts and videos in the classroom (more on that in a moment). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and videos are like social media in that they represent a product that has been generated by a student that expresses a viewpoint, analyzes an event, or shares something personal. For our students, it is only a matter of time before these tools begin to play a role in their lives. Why not use blogs, wikis, podcasts and videos to introduce them to the concept of a public sharing platform?  

 What are the skills the “social media skills” that students can learn by using wikis, blogs, podcasts and videos? First, students can learn to become collaborators and contributors of information (Richardson, p27). The Wiki platform is well suited to construct a knowledge base with pieces of information from many authors. When using a blog, it is possible to facilitate a discussion. Both of these opportunities are also available on social media. In fact, maintaining a blog would be a perfect way to learn how to manage an online presence and hold a respectful conversation online. Frequently, social media contributors will use the “distance” created by social media as well as its ubiquity to say things that are unkind. Learning how to engage in proper discourse as well as exercising good digital citizenship are two topics that should be covered in the classroom regardless of one’s opinion about the dual nature of social media. Second, students can learn how to use online tools to enact a positive change. Using a podcast or video series to highlight the problem of bullying in one’s school is an example of effective tool use. Last, but not least, wikis, podcasts, blogs and videos can help students learn to find reliable sources of information. Just because something is online does not automatically make it true. Learning how to produce worthwhile content is a useful lesson in and of itself. Essentially, the skills that are taught by using blogs, wikis, podcasts and videos are the skills that our students will use when they begin using social media. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to give them a proper introduction before the inevitable?