Cat Tech

Social media and the antisocial

The Simon Wiesenthal Center for Tolerance released a report that found a 20% increase in the use of social media sites (such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter) by hate groups. A FoxNews article summarizes:

The report, based on some 11,500 problematic Web sites, social networks , chat forums, twitter posts, other Internet postings, found that hate-filled language is increasingly filling social networks. In compiling it, researchers for the Wiesenthal center found such disturbing online content as video footage showing bomb-making instructions and hate games — including one about bombing Haitian earthquake victims.

In the wake of our own recent tragedy, we have already had one example of this antisocial behavior hit our community this year. The world will not go back to a time before the internet, and so we will never again be free of this particular type of behavior. All we can do is give our students the skills and attitudes necessary to, as one teacher puts it, "do good and avoid evil." Few parents have the time or expertise to teach their students how to successfully navigate these potentially dangerous digital landscapes; we either take on that responsibility ourselves, or we let students fend for themselves. Few teachers anywhere would opt for the latter; so what do we do?

[via @BreakingNews]

Getting the most out of Twitter

I know that very few teachers are using Twitter, and, as Claire Cain Miller writes in a recent New York Times article, the primary reason is probably: "I have nothing to say."

"The truth is," she continues, "you don't have to post a message to get the most out of Twitter."

Miller offers three concrete ways in which Twitter can be used without ever sending a message.

• Use it as a custom RSS aggregator
  Find people that share ideas and links that interest you, and just follow them. Let them bring ideas and resources to you.
• Use the List feature to organize your interests
  Group individuals and group accounts into categories to focus your attention.
• Virtually attend a conference
  Many conference-goers Tweet links and key points from lectures, panels, and presentations that they are attending.

One thing that bothers me about Twitter is that I have to go to the website to read what those that I follow have posted, and I know that is another deterrent to teachers using the service. Two things have allowed me to overcome this minor annoyance. First, I can easily read through tweets on an iPod Touch, which enables me to read some news in whatever downtime I have, even when away from my laptop. Second, as helpful and interesting as things are that come across my feed, I know that in terms of relative importance, they rate quite low on the scale. As such, if I don't check in for a few days and miss some tweets ... that's just fine.

If you are interested in learning more, over the summer (which is rapidly approaching), I'll have another workshop on social media, and part of that will focus on Twitter.

From the monolithic instructional mode

The Power of Labels

One of Po Bronson's primary pieces of advice in "NurtureShock" is that parents and teachers alike should direct praise at effort, not some innate talent of ability. Reinforcing the same argument, David Shenck, author of "The Genius in All of Us: Why everything you've been told about genetics, talent, and IQ is wrong," summarizes his findings in a recent post to the New York Times' Learning Network.

In "Does the ‘Gifted’ Label Get In the Way of Developing Real Potential?" Shenck begins with a story about Lewis Terman, one of the 20th centuries experts on Intelligence.

In the early 1920s, psychologist Lewis Terman began tracking nearly fifteen hundred California schoolkids identified as “exceptionally superior” in what he called “Genetic Studies of Genius.” Alas, as Terman’s exceptional kids matured, they seemed less and less exceptional. They did grow up to be healthier and more successful than the average American, but very few ultimately emerged as geniuses or superachievers. None went on to earn the Nobel Prize— as two children rejected from Terman’s original group did. None became world-class musicians— as two other Terman rejects, Isaac Stern and Yehudi Menuhin, did.

At the end of a long list of more recent studies on students who would have been rejected from Terman's studies, Shenck concludes that "even very ordinary brains are capable of extraordinary things when provoked." More interesting however is the last sentence of Shenck's article:

"How do you maintain the ambition of those showing early promise while simultaneously trying to tap into the hidden potential of everyone else?"

That will keep a good parent or teacher awake at night.

The Jobs of Yesteryear

NPR recently ran an interesting story in its Business section on "The Jobs of Yesteryear: Obsolete Occupations." You can click through the dozen jobs that they have chosen to highlight that have become either endangered or outright extinct in the last century.

The Jobs of Yesteryear: Obsolete Occupations

Now, certainly jobs such as a lector (someone hired to read newspapers or other writings aloud to workers on an assembly line) are unsurprisingly on the list. The world has moved on in so many ways that many of these jobs (such as an elevator operator) are no longer necessary. The larger questions for Education to consider are:

"What jobs are next to become obsolete?" and

"Are we adequately preparing our students for the types of jobs that they will occupy?"

Considering the fact that my freshmen will not hit the job market (assuming four years of high school, four of undergrad, and two for a Masters Degree) until 2019, even I admit that it is hard to conceptualize — let alone plan an education that prepares them for — the careers that they will have.

My dad was laid off as a result of Prop 13 and he could not get another job for more than eight years because he did not have an academic background, being an icthyologist, that had many job opportunities in the '80s. I want every one of my students to have every skill that they might possibly ever need to avoid a similar fate as my dad or a lector at an early-1900s cigar factory.

What we can do to spare our students this fate and arm them against the vagaries of future job markets is keep ever vigilant, adapting new tools, new technologies, new skills into our own repertoire (to a lesser extent) and (most importantly) into the work and education of our students. Web2.0 is not for us; our time has passed. The skills around the Web2.0 movement (such as Learning & Innovation skills, and digital literacies) and core subjects are what will lay the foundation for what our students will need in 2019 and beyond.

Job Hunting in the 21st Century

As a thought experiment, imagine that you were suddenly no longer a teacher and could no longer be employed in a school. You have years of experience and might consider getting a job with a consulting firm or an HR department or a company that handles employee training; that would actually be a good use of your skills and experience, and it would be a fairly lucrative position. If you could get hired.

The world has changed rather dramatically. To distinguish oneself in the 21st century, it is necessary to demonstrate certain capabilities from this millennium.

A copywriter in England, Ed Hamilton, found himself unemployed and had to begin the process of finding a new job. Of course he has a blog that highlighted some of his work — but everyone has a blog these days; that just doesn't distinguish you in any way. How do you show that you you have actually kept up with the times and have the relevant skills to communicate in 2010? If you have had a variety of jobs in different parts of the world you could put your curriculum vitae on a map . . . if only there were some kind of digital map that people could edit and then share . . .

Copywriter - Google Maps

As of this writing, Hamilton is still unemployed — but his Google Maps curriculum vitae did get 5,000 views in a single day. That is far more than a paper resume would ever have gotten. (I expect him to receive any number of job offers in the next few days as this story continues to spread across the internet.)

Really, this raises two questions for me.

Could you do this?

And, more importantly, could your students do this as a result of your teaching?

If not, why not?

[via Gizmodo]

Nation Shudders at Large Block of Uninterrupted Text [Humor]

 

WASHINGTON—Unable to rest their eyes on a colorful photograph or boldface heading that could be easily skimmed and forgotten about, Americans collectively recoiled Monday when confronted with a solid block of uninterrupted text…

It is every teacher's nightmare: an illiterate society. You just need to go read the whole piece; those folks at The Onion are just so very clever. Be forewarned: it is several paragraphs in length…

[via @TheOnion]

10 Big Questions for Education

I was asked in a recent interview what I thought some of the big issues or questions facing Education are. Unfortunately the Ten Big Questions for Education project hadn't started yet, and I hadn't yet read through their wiki. If you want to know what some of the real thinkers in and around secondary education are considering, here are the questions as of this writing:

1. What is the purpose of school?
2. What is the changing role of the teacher, and how do we support the new role?
3. How do we help students discover their passions?
4. What is the essential learning that schools impart to students?
5. How do we adapt our curriculum to the technologies that kids are already using?
6. What does an educated person look like today?
7. How do we change policy to support more flexible time and place learning?
8. What are the essential practices of teachers in a system where students are learning outside of school?
9. How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity?
10. How do we evaluate and validate the informal, self-directed learning that happens outside of a classroom?

You should look in at the Ten Big Questions for Education to see a discussion of each.

Readability

I was about to read an article on research that indicates a fundamental flaw in "learning styles" when I was annoyed by the formatting of the website; the article was smashed into a narrow column, in a font that was too small to comfortably read, and it was surrounded by annoying advertisements. Below is the famous Before picture:

And the same website After:

How was this amazing transformation effected? By clicking on a single button that I'd placed in my bookmark bar:

The bookmark bar is called different things in different internet browsers, but in general, you should be able to turn it on under the View menu if it isn't already visible.

To get this "bookmarklet," as they are called, simply go to the Readability website, select your desired settings, and drag the "Readability" button to your bookmark bar. Now, whenever you are on a webpage that is difficult or annoying to read, simply click the bookmarklet, and the page will be redrawn.

This is a great trick that can really save your eyes and your sanity.

Building a Better Teacher

The New York Times Magazine recently ran a lengthy article on "Building a Better Teacher" that summarized a variety of plans that have been and are being tried across the country to improve education in America. The part that I found far more interesting than the discussions around exit exams and No Child Left Behind was the operational definition of what makes a good teacher. Elizabeth Green writes:

There have been many quests for the one essential trait, and they have all come up empty-handed. Among the factors that do not predict whether a teacher will succeed: a graduate-school degree, a high score on the SAT, an extroverted personality, politeness, confidence, warmth, enthusiasm and having passed the teacher-certification exam on the first try.

I won't ruin the great article by pulling out the answer to what makes a good teacher, but I will point out to the ED Hirsch detractors that Doug Lemov's work further highlights the need for a common language, and all that entails, among teachers and learners.

[via NYTimes Magazine feed]