One More on Social Media

Type in to Google: #NALSPD . Then click on "options" then click on "latest". You will see everyone on Twitter talking about this conference on Social Media. Or click here: http://www.google.com/search?q=%23nalspd&hl=en&safe=active&tbo=1&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS355US355&output=search&tbs=rltm:1&ei=Ym2aS4LAJ5KaMpCYxLoC&sa=X&oi=tool&resnum=1&ct=tlink&ved=0CBQQpwU


One of the biggest points made: "Social Media is not a fad. It is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate." So don't just take it from me, but our language is evolving. When we cut Social Media out of our schools, we cripple our students from being able to communicate with the rest of the world. And how does that change their experience in society when they leave our schools? How does that affect how they handle college and the workforce? 


Prediction: In five years email will be dead. It already is for your students - just ask how many times they check email. Then ask how much they communicate on Social Media. Ask how much they talk on the phone to friends as opposed to how much they FaceBook each other.


How long will it take teachers and administrators to see that Textbooks are dead? That even PowerPoint slides are dead?


Currently we are facing two dilemmas in schools. Budget cuts, and Technology cuts by those who don't understand the media, the proper use, and the ramifications. And both could be solved by proper training in technology. (Have you looked at what's available to you with a FREE Google Account?


Just today I was told by someone that his son was stuck on a homework problem and he was able to Facebook his teacher and get feedback. Right then. Imagine if it was a more comprehensive question. And instead of this student getting some straightforward answer, he was directed correctly to a subject matter expert who was also on Facebook. Imagine how much richer that learning experience suddenly is. And it also sets a precedent that learning is happening all around.


Now, what happens when we just block this type of communication? Students are still left on their own, their Social Media is for socializing, no one is monitoring, and they don't make the very real connection between their online "socializing" and the real world. For examples just start using Twitter search terms like "need a job" or "got to get this homework done". You will find kids with racy pictures and unprofessional junk littered all over their online profile. And guess who is out there googling these student's names? College Entry Boards, Scholarship Advisory Boards, Employers, etc.


Our students are NOT mature enough to handle the ramifications of their online activity. And no one is teaching them to use it to their advantage in the real world. We are choosing to ignore it because we think Twitter is for telling the world what type of sandwich we are eating. And that Facebook is for stalking. They are both COMPLETELY false - though they've fallen in to that because no one is teaching or willing to learn.


Here's another point: We trust our teachers to take students into a small learning environment, we trust them to coach them, ride the bus, punish, and pull them out into the hall for one-on-one discussion. We trust them to pull a student over to their desk and whisper to them about their work while others take a test. We trust them to have students as officers of organizations for extra-curricular activities. We trust our teachers behind closed classroom doors. But we don't want them to have a public conversation?


And how many realize that I can message anyone on Facebook? Does anyone realize that a student can use the @ tag in front of my name and call me out on Twitter? I've had full conversations with people who were not followers or who I wasn't following. So what are we protecting students or even school districts from exactly?


As someone famous once infamously said, "No other generation has ever been better prepared for the Industrial Revolution."

TextBook Terminator: The T100 Model

Problem: Textbooks

Solution: The Internet

So, I'm anti textbook. We don't have to get into the specificities of being green because I'm okay with supporting the tree harvest industry. But the problem really is that our society is moving away from reading from a book. And this is where the traditionalist (and maybe my wife who's the best reading specialist around) will say "You have to be able to read from a book." Well, I agree, and I'm not against reading the printed word.

So what's my problem? Like I briefly mentioned, we don't communicate and we don't get our entertainment from typed/printed material anymore - so what happens? Evolution my friends. As we continue to move more on line with communication, we are beginning to lose the need for something to be printed - it takes too long to travel (and frankly, printers have yet to catch up to the "it just works" side of the computer age). Making a choice between writing a letter and typing a message into Facebook becomes a decision that works exactly like how my high school biology teacher explained "Natural Selection". It's just a better choice - like a giraffe picking a mate by the longest neck, that one's going to get the most food at the top of the tree, so maybe your kids will too. And the simple genetics of the giraffe gradually lengthens the neck over time.

In the communication model, there is send-receive-feedback and back again. So what's the point of writing using envelopes and stamps waiting for the mail, waiting for the mail, waiting for the mail, receive... repeat (and this includes interoffice mail)... you get the picture.

So keeping that in mind, how up to date is your science textbook? How up to date is that info by the time the latest addition gets to you? How much new science is understood every day? How many of you know the model for evolution (monkey to man) is an outdated evolutional model? Yeah, look it up (and by "look it up" - an outdated phrase referring to text books - I mean google it. Or, I don't care, if you want to go to the library and search the Dewey Decimal system for the latest info be my guest. I'll bet you won't do it -first of all- and then you'll never know and how will that shape your thought process as a person? ). I mean, forget the debate to teach the theory evolution as theory - we are even teaching the wrong theory! Because we are using textbooks we haven't elevated our argument yet. This slows our educational process down, it slows our evolution of thought/acceptance down.

How much has forensic science shaped our thoughts on history? Look up (meaning google) the gunfight at OK Corral. You'll be hard pressed to find anything closer to the facts than the accounts that use the latest crime scene investigations. And how has outdated info shaped our thoughts on cowboys - even the word cowboys? How about law enforcement?

And let's not get started on the cutthroat industry of textbook publishing... this means you too super intendants and principals. I mean, *sarcasm* I wonder why the publishing company won't send a representative to you? Oh, why would they want to fly you to Hawaii to meet them when their offices are in Minnesota?"

Take a moment to look at what it costs -just in terms of money- every year per student to buy a textbook. Take a moment then to consider the damage and loss, the amount of updating and how outdated information is. Think about the loss of skills when a student turns a text book in at the end of the year, what does that tell them about History? It told me I was done with History, that the dates and mostly events no longer apply to my life. I won't need the information ever again and if I did how would I look it up anyway? I'd probably not bother. And what was that quote about history and "doomed to repeat"? You get my idea.

Solution Time: Google Search.

"Oh! We can't let our kids search Google! You can't control what they might find!"

-FALSE-

-BESIDES- Wouldn't you and your parents rather the students run across offensive materials in a learning environment where things can be pointed out and corrected immediately? Rather them finding it by themselves, alone in a dark room? And you know they will find it, it may take them being in a college dorm room one day but it will pop up and will they know how to handle it? The stuff that is out there is traumatizing the first time you see it no matter what your age is or how mature you might be.

You can filter what they might find! And still give them the freedom to personalize and thus internalize process more effectively the most up to date information.

"How?"

Why, Google Advanced Search, silly. If you are a science teacher, you can find all the science sites you could ever approve of out there on the interwebs, load them into what is called a Google Custom Search Engine (you can even customize the look and feel of your search engine) and turn your students loose. Having them write an essay using internet sources is much more "trackable". This also eliminates them running into sites where students trade papers on certain topics. It also gives you a way to use the custom search engine to type their best phrases in, and search with quotes to see how badly they may or may not have plagiarized!

Terminate the text book! It's a crutch for the traditionalist living in fear. And you may be a traditionalist, but I've just given you a workout routine that will let you burn the crutch! So get to it. Right now, before you think about it, RIGHT CLICK on http://www.google.com/cse/  and select "Open in New Tab" (or "Window" if you prefer) When you're done reading here you'll have the page to look at so you won't forget or think it's going to be some huge ordeal > Click on "Create Custom Search Engine" on the right > Fill in the blanks > Get searching. (you may need a Google Account and if you don't have one you should get one now. All that is required is an email address from any email provider.)

IDEAS that came to mind while typing this:

If they are able to type, let them take notes on google docs so they can access it at home and/or print their individual notes. Maybe instead of an essay you have them all find different sources and share to the group.You could have them copy and paste notes and pictures and even videos into a google slideshow and then they would be presenting organized thoughts (which is close to the writing process) and using visuals to emphasize that organization (a skill that is above the writing process). It provides a quick solution to stretching an assignment out over a long period of time because you're waiting on them to write / type.

OTHER IDEAS? Please post them!

FEEDBACK? Please comment!

DID YOU TRY THIS OUT? Let me know what happened!