Social Media in the School environment

When you say social media, Facebook is normally the first site that comes to mind. With all the publicity received where social media has "ruined" peoples lives because of a post made that went viral, it is understandable that teachers (and parents) will be skeptical about the utilisation of social media in a school environment.

However, there are already a significant number of schools that have a social media presence as these schools use Facebook to promote the school as well as providing information to parents regarding school events. To therefore say that social media for school use is dangerous, is somewhat superfluous in that it is already happening. We should then rather look at the usage of social media in a classroom environment.

Teachers have an obligation to prepare learners for the world at large after school. As such, social media plays an important role in society and there are few people in the world with internet access who do not have / or previously had a social media account or accounts. Used correctly, it can be a powerful tool that is used to gain knowledge, keep current with world affairs and even find out what you need to know about that applicant who wants to be employed.

For this reason, we are all hyper aware of the dangers of posting opinions on a world platform that can go viral instantaneously. This year alone in SA we had the debacle between Gareth Cliff and MNet, which resulted directly out of an opinion posted on a social media site.

If teachers are to prepare learners for the harsh realities of life online, surely it is imperative to teach learners about the environments within which they will find themselves and in so doing, ensure their successful participation in the global society.
The fact that it happens online does not distract from the fact that it is a social interaction which is governed by socially acceptable practices within the society. Because the social interaction is online, it should therefore be our responsibility to ensure that the social interactions are socially acceptable. Whatever is posted, is instantaneous and is there to view for the whole world. The consequences of irresponsible social media participation therefore has far greater consequences than what a unsocial action would have had before social media. There is also no hearsay in social media and any posts therefore are directly from the horses mouth and is there to stay and for all to see.

The question in my mind is therefore not whether social media should be allowed to be used within a teaching and learning context, but rather why it is not obligatory to teach responsible online social interactions within the curriculum.

When you consider the context referred to in the learning triangle and the objective of the Department of Education to ensure that we follow a learner-centered based methodology, then it becomes clear that teachers should focus on utilising tools and concepts familiar to the learners. Although not all learners might have access to social media at present, the analogy can be drawn that not all learners had access to computers 20 years ago, yet computer literacy is a highly sought after skill in the job marked today.
It is therefore only logical to consider that social media as a familiar tool already in use by the population at large, is a good means of ensuring that the teacher work from a basis that the learner is familiar with. Teaching the socially responsible way in which to partake in social media would not only safeguard learners from the pitfalls awaiting them, but will also uplift their social standing within the global environment as the learner will possess the skills and confidence to be an active member in the digital society.

To build on the previous articles relating to digital pedagogy, social media is just a tool that can be used. Tools are neither good or bad, but the person(s) using them and the ultimate result of their actions is what determines whether the outcome of the tools usage by the specific person is good or bad. Furthermore, I believe that the phobia of making social media accessible in a classroom environment is mainly because the method of successfully using social media is not yet clear to all authority figures within the education system.
In my previous post, I was adamant that Digital Pedagogues find ways to adapt and make things work for them. Before one therefore can make a decision on whether or not social media can be used as a tool or not, we need to investigate all the bundled and mostly unknown applications and uses that is developed by/with social media sites. After all, social media is for the people by the people, to a certain extent.

It is true that social media can be abused, is dangerous and can have lasting impacts. A textbook can be used to burn down a school, yet we do not ban the use of textbooks in schools. The dangers of social media is therefore a shared responsibility between all the role players as well as ensuring that learners are taught the correct ways of using social media responsibly.

Social media was born from a need for people to connect effortlessly in this digital age. Coupled with the fact that the social media phenomena has proliferated, it is impossible to imagine a world where this new tool is not successfully used within the teaching and learning environment. In my mind, social media can be a powerful LSM (learner support material) if we adapt it, or its usages, to suit our educational needs.

The onus will thus be on the digital pedagogues to ensure that social media is used correctly and responsibly within a classroom environment.

Nerds & Geeks, digital pedagogues by nature?

I grew up in the times when distribution of digital content (games and programs) were in the form of a floppy and later a stiffy. Being a gamer that looked to play with other like-minded peers, forced our generation to learn not only how to play the games, but also how to get them to work. There was no help file, google or even access to internet. If you wanted to know how it worked, you had to get someone to show you (and then remember or write it down) or figure it out. Rarely did you just give up and go on to the next thing. One of the advantages those days were that you hardly ever got your hands on something that someone else had not already figured out. Being labelled a Geek or Nerd because of our love of both hardware and software, was at the time meant as a derogatory term, even though the most successful businesses are now owned by "those nerds". The reason these experiences were crucial to move humanity into the digital age is two fold.

Firstly, the old saying "men don't grow up, their toys just become more expensive". Moore's law necessitated that any geek worth his salt and whom thus had a true interest in computers, absolutely and unequivocally needed to stay on top of technological advancements to be able to admire the jump in processing power from the XT to the 286 to the 386 to the 486 to the ... or the jump in transfer rates when you first used a coaxial cable compared to a serial cable.

Secondly, it required persistence to become a nerd. You needed to overcome public ridicule. As previously mentioned, there was no Google, instructional YouTube videos, email access to a help desk or even access to an Indian call center agent. It required trial and error over extended periods, especially if you wanted or needed to figure it out by yourself. Just getting the computer to load a program, required you to set various variables in the old DOS language. No click and go stuff. You were forced to try every alternative that you could (or could not) think of. Although it was complicated and frustrating, we slugged through hours and hours of failing and when you do eventually get it to do what you wanted, you were told that your eyes are going to go square and you need to go play outside.

How does this relate to the articles? Simply put, being a digital pedagogue requires that one keeps on learning as technology, systems and even information evolves in order to evolve with it and then be able to relay that information by means of a method that enables the learner to absorb the information. The critical thinking aspect of a pedagogue requires that the person keeps an open mind and not necessarily asks "What is this supposed to be doing" but rather "How can I make this work". Most "hard core (gamer) geeks" have had experiences like it.

As an example just look at the 19-year-old that built a Skyrim expansion as an Interview for Bathesda. It took a lot of time, learning, effort, creativity and definitely determination on the part of Velicky to create his work of art. There was no guarantee that he will be successful in the ultimate goal of the endeavor, yet he persevered. In my mind, it epitomizes the essence of Geekdom or Nerdhood and underlines the basis, in part, of what the authors refer to as the requirements for a digital pedagogue. The case is further strengthened by the fact that, in my experience, all geeks simply cannot help themselves to keep on doing it.

The biggest hurdle in years past and probably the reason that no non-geek thought about asking geeks to become digital pedagogues to society can probably be prescribed to the fact that most non-geeks found geek speak extremely boring. However, there are very few people living today that has not heard and/or used the words Megapixel, Resolution, Ram or Megabyte. Ask them what it is, and you will receive a myriad of answers as to what it could possibly be, but mostly they just heard someone talk about it and they know its important. The point is that in order to be a true digital pedagogue, it is not only required to be inquisitive, keep on learning and adapting your environment to suit your needs, but you need to be able to transfer what you know to someone else.

Considering Moore's Law and the statement in my opening paragraph that "you had to get someone to show you", it is therefore a clear indication that Geeks were digital pedagogues to one another but the world simply could not translate their language into human and they were therefore not recognized in their roles as digital pedagogues by the population at large.

The articles lists the inherent traits of constantly questing for knowledge, an ongoing obsession with technology, an urge to share said knowledge between peers and if it does not work for you to change it so that it does.

By this definition, all Geeks and Nerds are therefore
Digital Pedagogues.

Teaching a Star Trek Civilisation

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2077162-revolution-in-physics-as-gravitational-waves-seen-for-first-time/

Humanity has entered a new era in exploration. We have made 2 extremely exciting discoveries in recent history that was predicted in thought exercises long before their discovery and acceptance by physicists. Coincidentally, both have to do with gravity.

First it was the Higgs Boson like particle detected at the LHC and now we have detected Gravitational Waves with LIGO. The Higgs Boson explains how gravity takes place, due to the fact that it explains how mass is obtained by particles, while Einsteins' theory of space-time and resultant gravity waves (now fact) explains how gravity works. (Forgive the lamens version)

What I found extremely interesting in the discovery is that the black holes gave up mass in order to generate the gravitational waves. This in my opinion would revolutionise our understanding of space-time and gravity as well as the relationship between them. However, with the amount of mass that was converted into gravitational waves, the question begs whether or not this also occurs outside of a black hole. Why is this important? Well, if the conversion of mass is required for the creation of gravitational waves and by extend gravity, does that mean that everything that has mass therefore looses mass because it has mass? Obviously there is a lot of experimentation that needs to happen to clarify all the new questions that has now risen. In order to do this, we will need energy. Cheap, clean and abundant energy.

Scientifically, our biggest hurdle in technological advancement is ultimately insufficient energy. With all the previous particle accelerators that was built, the experimentation in nuclear fusion and even space exploration, the problem always seems to boil down to energy requirements. Popular Sci-fi like Start Trek, Stargate and Star Wars suggests we need to look at alternative sources of energy as fossil fuels will not be sufficient to advance ourselves, or be there in the long run. Like the bronze age, it definitely was required to get where we are today but has it served its purpose? What I am advocating is that we need a new source of energy that is accessible to all and abundant enough so that we can access it wherever we go.

How did we get to energy, you might ask? Thank Einstein. E=MCC. Since we already run nuclear reactors to generate bucket loads of our daily energy requirements, we know there is a lot of energy contained in mass. If gravitational waves, and by extend gravity, is due to conversion of mass into gravity, then it stands to reason that we should be able to utilise gravity in order to generate usable energy. Since we now have scientific proof of gravitational waves and that they are generated by the conversion of mass, we are thus well on our way to have access to energy wherever there is gravity.

Considering the article I posted previously on Twitter relating to the development of technology in the form of artificial intelligence, I cannot help but imagine that we are well on our way to a Star Trek society as it is simply a matter of time before AI brings the solutions to the scientific questions, as it did for the experiment. Artificial intelligence can be used to provide to everyone in abundance and humans can focus on what it means to be human. We have not yet alleviated the concerns faced in the third world economies where clean water, basic medical care, simple housing, not to mention internet connectivity and schooling is concerned. It is still not accessible to all the people on our planet and we want to colonise Mars? Somehow, the disconnect of our whirlwind lives makes it easy to ignore those that are not as fortunate. 

I saw the movie Home recently, again. What we portray to our children by means of movie is that, one of the main things that separate humans from the Boove is that we care about each other in a way that not even the Boove does. But do we really? Society, in my opinion, has a long way to go before humanity is humanitarian and able to work together for the greater good of everyone rather than self promotion. I am firmly of the opinion that we as a global society will not be able to evolve to the next age without becoming completely human.

Being on the verge of energy independence and abundance for all, the only part missing to become a Star Trek like civilisation is to teach everyone to get back in touch with their humanity. I therefore think that teachers will be more important than ever to help our society and future humans to be human. To quote our famous pointy eared friend ... "Its logical".

Having a Private & Public(#PGCEmix) Blog

So I've started blogging since the day of introduction to PGCE in order to document my trials and tribulations during my "becoming a teacher".

In yesterday's computer class, it turned out that we will need to blog about certain articles and then post them to Twitter for the whole world (fellow students #PCCEmix) to see and comment on.

MY CONUNDRUM: I only want to share certain blogs.

In using blogger.com, it is not possible to allow only certain blogs to be viewed as there is a global privacy setting for your blog profile.

Playing around, I stumbled on the fact that it is possible to create multiple blogging areas(profiles), with which you can control the privacy settings individually.

If you are therefore in the same boat as me and prefer to have both a private and a public blog, it is possible with blogger.com.

Secondly, since blogger.com is part of the google domains, it is completely free on the USB network. Just get your device signed up on the network if its not already done.

I therefore recommend that if you don't know where to start (or have already started),
1. Use blogger,

2.1. Create a main profile,
2.2. Create a second profile,
2.3 Ensure that all your settings are as you would want them, ie. public is set to public and that only I'm invited to the private blog. (Not required, but would be interesting, yes?)

When you log in to blogger.com to post something, just make sure that you enter it into the correct profile.

VIOLA!