The good old essential questions...Are we preparing students for a world of mass collaboration? How do we prepare students for a world of mass collaboration?
Short answer 1: It depends on your definition of 'we'.
Short answer 2: Collaborate early and often, connecting with others in an ever larger and more substantive ways..
The more pressing issue is: how do we get students to see the power of mass collaboration? I always come back to this point - call me Johnny One Note - but there is no inherent power in the internet/digital tools. Like an atom waiting to be split, there is huge potential power in a digitally connected world. If all our students use facebook, youtube and flickr they aren't necessarily harnessing the power of anything. They may just be entertaining themselves in a modern format.
Robin unearthed some amazing examples of the real power of a digitally connected populace. These are the things we need to model for our students. These are the examples they need to see. Let's face it, we live on one tremendously despoiled planet with social problems on a scale that, it would seem, defies the possibility of solution. Mass collaboration can unleash the potential energy of human beings acting in concert.
I don't mean those facebook groups to save Darfur...I mean the potential to actually participate through your voice and your words. Mass collaboration is in its infancy but if our students see examples like those Robin found (taking part in a governmental budgeting process, running a complex organization, protesting) they will begin to see that they have the ability to join/lead/change.
Without this kind of education, students will be what the corporations who dominate the digital world want them to be - consumers and, occasionally, creators of content that can be marketed to others.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The Web...Powerful?
The web is potentially powerful because it constantly changes. It seems to do everything we want AND there seems to be an army of people out there inventing new things we didn't yet know we wanted it to do. Once they are there, though, we can't imagine life without them. To talk old school, most people never thought there was anything wrong with music stores, but now we don't need them and don't really want them. To be a little more modern, I don't personally know anyone who had an overwhelming desire for facebook, but now that it's here I know quite a few people who can't imagine life without it.
I stressed potentially above because it all depends on how it is used. Cheap video cameras had the potential to be hugely powerful because they enabled people of all ages and classes around the world to tell their own stories. In the end, most people made boring home movies that no one ever wanted to watch. Facebook isn't powerful just because people use it to communicate with their friends. The last US presidential campaign, however, showed that, harnessed with a goal and a vision, it can be HUGE. When giant corporations own the major digital tools, you know they don't have societal change in mind for their offerings. They see a market and a profit.
To continue the above example, displacing video stores and music stores isn't powerul in and of itself - it's disruptive. It changes the way people shop but it isn't necessarily a societal change. Of course I am playing devil's advocate to some extent here, but the real power of the web is in the change it can generate - not in modifications to people's habits. People spend a lot of time sitting watching videos on youtube but that's really a modification to how people spend time. Creating videos for youtube, however, begins to unlock the power of the web.
My reason for embracing technology in the classroom, is to help students figure out how to use the power of the web. As I mentioned in a previous post, I want our students to go beyond the Cumbio's of the world.
We have to see the web the way some people have seen the printed word. If the ultimate achievement of printing presses had been Archie comics, it wouldn't have been much of a force for change. But we have seen great literature, drama, political treatises, speeches and ideas immortalized in print. Most of the words out there may be long forgotten memories (or drivel) but the others have sparked debate and change. The web can go far beyond that because it can harness almost every media form.
That's why technology needs to be in schools.
I stressed potentially above because it all depends on how it is used. Cheap video cameras had the potential to be hugely powerful because they enabled people of all ages and classes around the world to tell their own stories. In the end, most people made boring home movies that no one ever wanted to watch. Facebook isn't powerful just because people use it to communicate with their friends. The last US presidential campaign, however, showed that, harnessed with a goal and a vision, it can be HUGE. When giant corporations own the major digital tools, you know they don't have societal change in mind for their offerings. They see a market and a profit.
To continue the above example, displacing video stores and music stores isn't powerul in and of itself - it's disruptive. It changes the way people shop but it isn't necessarily a societal change. Of course I am playing devil's advocate to some extent here, but the real power of the web is in the change it can generate - not in modifications to people's habits. People spend a lot of time sitting watching videos on youtube but that's really a modification to how people spend time. Creating videos for youtube, however, begins to unlock the power of the web.
My reason for embracing technology in the classroom, is to help students figure out how to use the power of the web. As I mentioned in a previous post, I want our students to go beyond the Cumbio's of the world.
We have to see the web the way some people have seen the printed word. If the ultimate achievement of printing presses had been Archie comics, it wouldn't have been much of a force for change. But we have seen great literature, drama, political treatises, speeches and ideas immortalized in print. Most of the words out there may be long forgotten memories (or drivel) but the others have sparked debate and change. The web can go far beyond that because it can harness almost every media form.
That's why technology needs to be in schools.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Media Behaviour/Online Safety
This one is a pretty straight forward answer for me.
If we encourage students to use technology that connects them to people electronically, we have a responsibility to teach them both about online safety and appropriate behaviour. We also have a responsibility to create rules and policies that clearly explain to students and parents what our expectations. As an institution we need to have clear and consistent consequences for behaviour that does not meet our expectations. As the media for communication are in flux, we need to regularly revisit our policies to ensure that they are relevant.
If parents make computers or text messaging available to their children, they have the same responsibility. If they send their child to a school that makes use these media, they have the same responsibility. Parents also have a responsibility to attempt to monitor their children's online behaviour, just as they would with their real-world actions.
Most importantly, education about media behaviour needs to be an ongoing aspect of students' lives. At school it cannot be confined to a single class or meeting. At home, parents cannot expect that one conversation will be sufficient. We would not expect a one-off conversation to be enough to teach students about sharing or listening to others. As digital media become a larger part of students' lives, we must view media behaviour as being analagous to other very basic concepts of socialization.
If we encourage students to use technology that connects them to people electronically, we have a responsibility to teach them both about online safety and appropriate behaviour. We also have a responsibility to create rules and policies that clearly explain to students and parents what our expectations. As an institution we need to have clear and consistent consequences for behaviour that does not meet our expectations. As the media for communication are in flux, we need to regularly revisit our policies to ensure that they are relevant.
If parents make computers or text messaging available to their children, they have the same responsibility. If they send their child to a school that makes use these media, they have the same responsibility. Parents also have a responsibility to attempt to monitor their children's online behaviour, just as they would with their real-world actions.
Most importantly, education about media behaviour needs to be an ongoing aspect of students' lives. At school it cannot be confined to a single class or meeting. At home, parents cannot expect that one conversation will be sufficient. We would not expect a one-off conversation to be enough to teach students about sharing or listening to others. As digital media become a larger part of students' lives, we must view media behaviour as being analagous to other very basic concepts of socialization.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Copyright...
Copyright in society
No matter what we teach our students, we must know that many of them will download, copy and distribute copyrighted work. Do we need to rethink copyright? We definitely need to rethink how copyright is applied. The proliferation of technology that allows copying and sharing means that millions instead of dozens may violate copyright.
Having laws that cannot be enforced, or, conversely, laws that are broken frequently and openly by people who very few would deem criminal is not good for society. Few people question the right of an individual to own his/her work. Few question that if it is worth seeing/watching/reading/listening that person should reap the rewards of its popularity. The contradiction is that so many of us will download music or films we like because we can get them easily and cheaply. Maybe it's because we don't see it as the product of an individual but of a corporation. Or maybe it's because we are unethical, thieving hypocrites. Maybe we will only stop if we get caught.
Sweden's internet traffic dropped by almost a third after it's new piracy law went into effect. Sweden's law still goes after sharers, however, and not those who facilitate the sharing. It seems that they only real way to stop massive violation of copyright (and it is the massive violations that copyright holders really worry about) is to pursue the companies that facilitate violation. The prosecution of sites like the pirate bay and the lawsuits against google (for the videos that become available through youtube) may be the only effective ways to curb copyright violation.
But back to the key question - do we need to rethink copyright? Can we? We know how much people will do for attention/popularity/fame for FREE. But we also know that our society is richer when people have the opportunity to have a career creating and entertaining. If we undermine copyright we undermine that possibility.
Should we return to a dying doctrine? Should those who entertain and create be employees of the state? They would be guaranteed an income and the fruits of their labour can then be shared by anyone and everyone without fear of reprisal and without guilt.
Copyright in school
Since we now work so often with our students on the process of creating work that could be accessed by potentially HUGE audiences, we need to teach our students about copyright. We need to teach them in order to help them protect/nurture their own creations and to help them create safely. By safely, I mean that they should learn how to create truly original work that both honours the creativity of others and does not run afoul of any legal statutes.
Many of our students may create through sampling of images, sound and ideas, but for them to be respected as creators, they need to be original (not derivative). Learning the difference is a process that we have the luxury of being part of. In all the disciplines of school life, art/music/language/analysis you name it, our students will be encouraged to follow models or emulate styles as they find their own voices and styles.
In school we have a responsibility to set a good example of how copyrights can and should be respected while also creating original work. There is fairly wide latitude for us as individuals and as educators to make use of copyrighted material while fostering creativity and learning.
No matter what we teach our students, we must know that many of them will download, copy and distribute copyrighted work. Do we need to rethink copyright? We definitely need to rethink how copyright is applied. The proliferation of technology that allows copying and sharing means that millions instead of dozens may violate copyright.
Having laws that cannot be enforced, or, conversely, laws that are broken frequently and openly by people who very few would deem criminal is not good for society. Few people question the right of an individual to own his/her work. Few question that if it is worth seeing/watching/reading/listening that person should reap the rewards of its popularity. The contradiction is that so many of us will download music or films we like because we can get them easily and cheaply. Maybe it's because we don't see it as the product of an individual but of a corporation. Or maybe it's because we are unethical, thieving hypocrites. Maybe we will only stop if we get caught.
Sweden's internet traffic dropped by almost a third after it's new piracy law went into effect. Sweden's law still goes after sharers, however, and not those who facilitate the sharing. It seems that they only real way to stop massive violation of copyright (and it is the massive violations that copyright holders really worry about) is to pursue the companies that facilitate violation. The prosecution of sites like the pirate bay and the lawsuits against google (for the videos that become available through youtube) may be the only effective ways to curb copyright violation.
But back to the key question - do we need to rethink copyright? Can we? We know how much people will do for attention/popularity/fame for FREE. But we also know that our society is richer when people have the opportunity to have a career creating and entertaining. If we undermine copyright we undermine that possibility.
Should we return to a dying doctrine? Should those who entertain and create be employees of the state? They would be guaranteed an income and the fruits of their labour can then be shared by anyone and everyone without fear of reprisal and without guilt.
Copyright in school
Since we now work so often with our students on the process of creating work that could be accessed by potentially HUGE audiences, we need to teach our students about copyright. We need to teach them in order to help them protect/nurture their own creations and to help them create safely. By safely, I mean that they should learn how to create truly original work that both honours the creativity of others and does not run afoul of any legal statutes.
Many of our students may create through sampling of images, sound and ideas, but for them to be respected as creators, they need to be original (not derivative). Learning the difference is a process that we have the luxury of being part of. In all the disciplines of school life, art/music/language/analysis you name it, our students will be encouraged to follow models or emulate styles as they find their own voices and styles.
In school we have a responsibility to set a good example of how copyrights can and should be respected while also creating original work. There is fairly wide latitude for us as individuals and as educators to make use of copyrighted material while fostering creativity and learning.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Such a Thing as Privacy
In our tremendously public lives, it seems impossible to assume that anything can really be totally private. There is such a thing as privacy (but no guarantee of it), but we have ceded much of it through active and passive choices.
I am most shocked by the active choices of so many people, of all ages, to share anything and everything they do, think and say. This occurs in almost every form of media we now have and the trend seems to be increasing. From reality television to blogs, more and more people display what would have been considered private a generation ago with the world. Actually, I take that back, some of it would have been considered shameful.
A less active choice that affects privacy is our desire to partake of the conveniences of modern society. I want to be able to use an ATM (but when and where I take money out is now collectible information), I want to use a credit card (but all my purchases are now recorded and the patterns of what and when I buy is now interpretable information), I want to collect airline miles (but now my travel patterns are further analyzed), I want to bank online (but now there is a possibility that someone on another continent could access my information), I want to share photos with friends and family in North America (but now candid photos of me could be accessed) and I want to communicate by email (but this could also be accessed and my private communication shared). I take many steps to protect my very valued privacy but I am not willing at this point to forgo any of the above.
We also live in a society that has tacitly accepted a world in which almost anything we do in a public space could be watched and recorded. Surveillance cameras exist in almost every country to varying degrees. Satellites take images of what we do. Google drives around taking pictures of streetscapes. Anything I may be doing in these public spaces (or in front of the window when google drives by) may be captured for posterity. We could protest these potential intrusions into our privacy but as a society we have accepted that they are part and parcel of the modern world. In some cases we believe that our security is worth the loss of privacy and make the passive choice to go along with it.
To guarantee our privacy we would have to remove ourselves from the modern world and live a very circumscribed existence. As educators I believe we need to start early with our students to talk about the concept of privacy and the potential risks of losing it. We need to be particularly clear about what happens when one throws privacy out the window and shares it all. The consequences can be damaging to our mental/physical health, our academic and professional careers and to our relationships. If we engage in this dialogue with our students they will, if we are lucky, have a plan or intent about what they share online. They will avoid the oh-but-i-didn't-think-EVERYONE-would-see-that at least some of the repercussions of sharing.
For the apocalyptic view of privacy's future, check out this article from our very own Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This kind of surveillance seems straight out of the classic Sandra Bullock film, The Net.
I am most shocked by the active choices of so many people, of all ages, to share anything and everything they do, think and say. This occurs in almost every form of media we now have and the trend seems to be increasing. From reality television to blogs, more and more people display what would have been considered private a generation ago with the world. Actually, I take that back, some of it would have been considered shameful.
A less active choice that affects privacy is our desire to partake of the conveniences of modern society. I want to be able to use an ATM (but when and where I take money out is now collectible information), I want to use a credit card (but all my purchases are now recorded and the patterns of what and when I buy is now interpretable information), I want to collect airline miles (but now my travel patterns are further analyzed), I want to bank online (but now there is a possibility that someone on another continent could access my information), I want to share photos with friends and family in North America (but now candid photos of me could be accessed) and I want to communicate by email (but this could also be accessed and my private communication shared). I take many steps to protect my very valued privacy but I am not willing at this point to forgo any of the above.
We also live in a society that has tacitly accepted a world in which almost anything we do in a public space could be watched and recorded. Surveillance cameras exist in almost every country to varying degrees. Satellites take images of what we do. Google drives around taking pictures of streetscapes. Anything I may be doing in these public spaces (or in front of the window when google drives by) may be captured for posterity. We could protest these potential intrusions into our privacy but as a society we have accepted that they are part and parcel of the modern world. In some cases we believe that our security is worth the loss of privacy and make the passive choice to go along with it.
To guarantee our privacy we would have to remove ourselves from the modern world and live a very circumscribed existence. As educators I believe we need to start early with our students to talk about the concept of privacy and the potential risks of losing it. We need to be particularly clear about what happens when one throws privacy out the window and shares it all. The consequences can be damaging to our mental/physical health, our academic and professional careers and to our relationships. If we engage in this dialogue with our students they will, if we are lucky, have a plan or intent about what they share online. They will avoid the oh-but-i-didn't-think-EVERYONE-would-see-that at least some of the repercussions of sharing.
For the apocalyptic view of privacy's future, check out this article from our very own Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This kind of surveillance seems straight out of the classic Sandra Bullock film, The Net.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Digital footprints in an age of very large feet
As educators we have generally accepted a great deal of responsibility for the education of our young people in areas that have little to do directly with academia. We teach our youngest how to actually function as part of a group. It has little to do with math or reading but we accept that without our contribution to their socialization none of that would be much good anyway.
With older students we have taken a huge share of the responsibility for teaching about sex, how to use them responsibly and safely, what substances are good and bad for health and welfare, legal rights and responsibilities and, in many cases, how to drive. None of this is meant to be an exhaustive list; it's just intended to show that as a profession we have realized that it is to everyone's benefit (our students' and our society's) to help guide the young people under our care in areas that, strictly speaking, aren't academic.
Digital footprints and all they entail may be a relatively new concept but their (growing) importance is sufficient that we should both teach about it and teach it well.
To teach effectively we need to keep many things in mind, including:
1. how we present ourselves
2. who can read about us
3. how information about ourselves can be used
4. who can use that information
5. the responsibilities we have as participants in a digital society (I hate the term netizen because it somehow differentiates between being a citizen of a 'regular' world and online world. That digital world is integrated enough into society that we can think of them as one.)
6. the potential of what we can do online (making our footprint have weight and meaning)
7. what really counts online (is it how many people looked at site or what I actually have to say)
We are in the best position to teach young people about this so-called digital footprint. Technology is part of our daily lives (both individually and as teachers), we have the opportunity to engage in ongoing dialogue with our students (as the technology evolves and because this needs to be a continuing conversation). Most of us teach because we believe in a bigger picture that goes beyond just learning some skills. We want to participate in the development of people who will contribute something to society - digital tools fit in perfectly.
With older students we have taken a huge share of the responsibility for teaching about sex, how to use them responsibly and safely, what substances are good and bad for health and welfare, legal rights and responsibilities and, in many cases, how to drive. None of this is meant to be an exhaustive list; it's just intended to show that as a profession we have realized that it is to everyone's benefit (our students' and our society's) to help guide the young people under our care in areas that, strictly speaking, aren't academic.
Digital footprints and all they entail may be a relatively new concept but their (growing) importance is sufficient that we should both teach about it and teach it well.
To teach effectively we need to keep many things in mind, including:
1. how we present ourselves
2. who can read about us
3. how information about ourselves can be used
4. who can use that information
5. the responsibilities we have as participants in a digital society (I hate the term netizen because it somehow differentiates between being a citizen of a 'regular' world and online world. That digital world is integrated enough into society that we can think of them as one.)
6. the potential of what we can do online (making our footprint have weight and meaning)
7. what really counts online (is it how many people looked at site or what I actually have to say)
We are in the best position to teach young people about this so-called digital footprint. Technology is part of our daily lives (both individually and as teachers), we have the opportunity to engage in ongoing dialogue with our students (as the technology evolves and because this needs to be a continuing conversation). Most of us teach because we believe in a bigger picture that goes beyond just learning some skills. We want to participate in the development of people who will contribute something to society - digital tools fit in perfectly.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Cumbio, or why we need to teach about digital tools
Reading a New York Times article recently, I discovered the fascinating case of Cumbio, a young flogger from Argentina. She has become a major web celebrity in Argentina as the face of a very large group of young people who flog (photo blog) their lives.
There are wonderful elements to her story - she is an 'out' lesbian teen (and therefore an inspiring symbol to many), she is normal sized (in a culture that values being rail thing) and she is articulate about what and who she represents. She has commercialized her 36 million flog comments and views into mall appearances and advertising endorsements.
But the real reason this article rings a bell for me and reminds me why we need to teach about digital tools lies in one small quote about the movement/phenomenon.
Floggers are not “like hippies or punks, who had ideals of fighting to change the world,” said María José Hooft, who wrote a book, “Tribus Urbanas,” on youth subcultures in Argentina. “Floggers don’t want to change the world. They want to survive, and they want to have the best possible time they can.”
There is obviously a lot more potential for a tool like this and as a teacher, I would like to be part of helping my students find it.
There are wonderful elements to her story - she is an 'out' lesbian teen (and therefore an inspiring symbol to many), she is normal sized (in a culture that values being rail thing) and she is articulate about what and who she represents. She has commercialized her 36 million flog comments and views into mall appearances and advertising endorsements.
But the real reason this article rings a bell for me and reminds me why we need to teach about digital tools lies in one small quote about the movement/phenomenon.
Floggers are not “like hippies or punks, who had ideals of fighting to change the world,” said María José Hooft, who wrote a book, “Tribus Urbanas,” on youth subcultures in Argentina. “Floggers don’t want to change the world. They want to survive, and they want to have the best possible time they can.”
There is obviously a lot more potential for a tool like this and as a teacher, I would like to be part of helping my students find it.
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