26 Jan-1 Feb Learning Networks and Bias

Learning Networks

Personal learning networks have the potential to be revolutionary tools both in how we teach and in terms of the opportunities/potential students see in them. In and of themselves, personal networks are not revolutionary. Millions of people around the world saying, "What's up?" and "Nice photo," are just new ways to communicate about the mundane parts of our lives. The amount of electricity required (and the resulting environmental consequences) to power the servers and computers necessary to enable all of these comments is worth far more than the 'communication' it enables.

The potential, however, for this type of network is tremendous. The ability to share information and ideas to organize projects, tasks, political campaigns, rallies etc. has changed and will continue to change with way people take part in their own educations and in their societies.

As teachers, we have both a tremendous opportunity and a responsibility to explore the limits of personal networks with our students. We value collaboration and have a whole new way in which we can encourage students to share and work together. Almost any task in which we would ask students to work together has potential to be enhanced by a learning network.

Our responsibility is to help students see the potential of this new form of education. For every student who, like the student from the reading, organizes community service projects through Facebook, there are millions who trade variations on what's up and post photos of themselves in glamour shot poses. We can't fully anticipate the direction of the technologies or all their future uses, but if we can get students to see that there is a lot more to Facebook than poking people, we are unleashing the creative potential both of students and technology itself.

The video camera was seen as a way for people to tell their own stories and up-end the traditional dominance of film studios (and profit) as the tellers of stories. Instead, the world got even more porn. If we incorporate tools like learning networks into the routines of school, students are bound to both see that they can be used in an academic context and discover new applications for them.

Personally, I think learning networks are best when there is a greater ability to control access. Ning, for example, allows me to decide who can participate and to see if communication is taking place around a class related topic. Facebook is too open to ensure that only students or participants are taking part in the 'conversation'.

BIAS
Discovering or recognizing bias has to be one of the primary analytical skills we teach. It has always been an important skill, but with so many sources of information available today, it is an essential skill.

Too many of our students believe that research is a google search followed by a few minutes of cutting and pasting. Sifting through information, sources of information and recognizing points of view are even more important within this context. If students actually look for bias they will be more likely to read/research and understand their topic. Content is important; understanding perspective and recognizing points of view buried in the content is a significant intellectual leap. All our students will be better off for taking this step.