my nonlinear - Latest Comments

Re: Educational Tool: Twitter

Emeri Gent [Em] — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:52:51 -0000

I prefer to look at social media as an educational tool because I am mostly distracted by the mumbo-jumbo of social media experts. Sure they understand their target audience but when it comes to being non-linear in approach, I am as non-linear as one can get. The distraction of this mumbo jumbo as it pertains to Twitter are the various studies, one showing teens don't warm to it, another showing that teens are now flocking to it and then another which shows Twitter's growth stats levelling off.

As an educational tool, since I am no longer able to view the world through the eyes of a 19 year old, I am 49 year old "Silver Surfer" operating adhoc as an online exploration. What I have come to understand is a growing premise I hold that young people do not need to be taught "social media" such as Twitter, or Disqus or whatever 2.0 is out there.

What they DO need to be taught (and I am trying to learn this myself) is how to be a teacher !

I believe that when teachers reverse the educational process and ask kids to show others the "How to" of social media, they will surprise us both with how they collaborate with each other and the depth of understanding of navigating this. This I believe involves both viewing social media as a challenge and a game. As a game, I think kids do want the rules laid out but in terms of the challenge.

As "teachers" however there is "teacher training" in terms of using social media wisely, of having a network of peers who are trust marks because there are "rules of the road" online which are just as important as "rules of the road" offline.

The fact that I found this site is only because I have taken the non-linear approach of exploring the web and even at my age, one does need to factor in some street smarts. The positives of discovery do outweigh the negatives of the web, but that is where "smart" becomes a collaboration and team work. Most of these smarts involves emotional intelligence as well as street smarts in terms of the unexpected.

If the folks at Twitter have not noted this educational outcomes with students, they IMHO are sleeping at the wheel. The kids here have given a great market research report about Twitter here. I don't think that I could teach someone how to use social media, just as I was so awful in my Tae-Kwon-Do classes because of my non-linear response to structured routines or training.

So for me the question I leave after my brief visit here is

How do I become a better teacher myself or learn how to teach?

I do not think kids or adults appreciate what is involved in teaching. Parents I often find are among the weakest links in education, especially when meet the teachers day comes around, but they really reveal themselves when they are dropping off their kids at school and trying to drive past other parents (with emotionally heightened road rage).

As a parent I should have learned "how to teach" years ago, but for kids today, and in an age of continuous or lifetime learning, the real deal I believe is how we help each other. The fact that parents and students do not know how to teach is something that needs to change. Then and only when teaching is a subject that people learn at school, that the act of collaboration becomes a brilliant transformation and perhaps a revolution for education.

Anyway I have yapped on enough here. Thank you for leaving open this space. I will be on my way but as usual leaving with plenty of food for thought and of course, with one more additional mission - to try to learn how to be a better or more well groomed "teacher" in my own life.

[Em]

Re: Second Life bringing in College Life

Christine Farion — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:30:49 -0000

Thanks for your comment Mike. I agree about the entry points, but also there has been some bad press about SL and I'm not sure I would want to be the one to introduce my students to it. Can't decide if education is ready for this or not. Curious to see the result of this event,

Re: Second Life bringing in College Life

Mike CJ — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:20:46 -0000

I think SL is a terrific place for this kind of debating and / or meeting. There are a couple of issues - the "entry" points for new people into SL are not that helpful, and new folk can spend too much time learning the technology, sorting out their avatars etc, and by the time they've done that the seminar / meeting is over!
The platform is maturing, but still has a way to go.

Re: Summizer - Review

Christine Farion — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:54:09 -0000

Well all the devices have their merits right? Anyway, its just another something I'm addicted to!

Re: Summizer - Review

Mike CJ — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:09:56 -0000

Oh no! Not another super cool iPhone app! I really regret telling my kids that serious business people use Blackberries - need a strategy for an about face.

Re: 10 Things that surprised me about Twitter.

Mike CJ — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:44:08 -0000

Wow! Like me, you have been captured by the wonder of Twitter! It is simply the most fantastic communication medium ever. As you say, post a geeky or non geeky question and you get instant answers, advice and help. Through hooking up on Twitter, I'm now in daily email (and Twitter) contact with 3 people who are A list celebrities - and not only are we "mates", but I'm doing business with 2 of them. I could never have made those kind of connections before Twitter! But the other thing is the sheer volume of fascinating and interesting stuff that comes your way via Twitter - God, I must be so interesting to be with these days!

Re: 10 Things that surprised me about Twitter.

Christine Farion — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:18:58 -0000

Thanks for the comments, I do agree there can be to much noise, and where I used to try to catch every message, now I find I focus my time more.

Re: 10 Things that surprised me about Twitter.

ActualAl — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:58:45 -0000

On points 4 and 5, I try to keep my twitter account for work only/ elearning/ academia based twits and to that end it is very useful. Otherwise I find that there is too much NOISE and it dilutes why it is useful.

Re: 10 Things that surprised me about Twitter.

Ken Morrill — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:19:43 -0000

Refreshing - yes! I know it is addictive, but it is not draining. Something which draws one in but which adds to energy and ideas - a nice surprise.

I agree with you so much on the number of followers issue. I don't understand how people would want quantity over quality. Of course I am not opposed to a great deal of quality. But to strive to collect followers for the sake of numbers - so sad!

About responsiveness and encouragement, it is so nice to receive. I am always pleasantly surprised when a response comes in.

I like your point about community. I had no idea when starting how excellent that part would be.

Re: A first video post - is this the future?

kovshenin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:38:30 -0000

Christine, that's brilliant! I should try something like that on my blog :) I think it could work! Keep it up ^_^

Re: TwitterFon - Review

Christine Farion — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:56:43 -0000

Thanks for your comment and the mention of the push notification. I hadn't realised this issue and just thought they had not implemented it. That really is such an important point and one that I hope is being addressed.

Re: TwitterFon - Review

Luke — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:56:30 -0000

Nicely done, very accurate. It seems the red dots on the 'outside' of the app is called push notification and is controlled in the settings. However, since iPhone update 2.2 apps with Push notification isn't working as it should for 3rd party apps. It's a problem on Apple's side, not the developers. It's crazy because it's such a great feature. With Twitterfon sometimes I want to just be nosey and read nearby tweets on any topic, and not by specific keyword......

Re: Photos from The Voice and Nothing More

Christine Farion — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:38:58 -0000

Hello, thanks for your question, I will upload a few more images from the performance. Currently I am not sure where else there are images or documentation but I am sure Sam's website will have something.

Re: A first video post - is this the future?

Mike CJ — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:56:45 -0000

I agree that video blogging is one way forward, but I feel strongly that the written word will always form a large part of the most "read" blogs. The answer has to be to mix it up with audio, video and writing.

Re: Photos from The Voice and Nothing More

David — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:21:50 -0000

Hi I really enjoyed the photos of this perfomance. Are there any other images on the web some where that I can have a look at?
All the best.

Re: A first video post - is this the future?

Christine Farion — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 06:49:38 -0000

That comment completely made my day. Thanks a million!

To anyone reading this post, it would be great if you could share your experiences or if you have any ideas for improvement. I really want to develop this, and having taken the first step it seems a little easier.

Re: A first video post - is this the future?

Loic Le Meur — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:58:03 -0000

Thanks for your interest! You won't find many people doing it yet, like all new ways of communicating it will take some time to take off, but the relationships it creates between you and your audience are much deeper you will see your readers will like it. Like blogging, a key is to do it regularly. Let me know if I can help in any way.