Worker’s Playtime!

Michael Wesh’s video ethnography “A Vision of Students Today” has made the rounds in the ed tech circles for some time but an explanation of how it came to fruition is detailed in his 2008 lecture given at the University of Manitoba. If you’re interested in media literacy, student learning, web 2.0, or education, please, please take the time to watch (it’s 66 fascinating minutes).

One of the more poignant moments for those interested in media literacy comes when Wesch comments on the assumption that students “get” web 2.0 technology:

“…they (students) may know all about how to navigate these things (YouTube and Facebook) and to entertain themselves but but they know nothing about how to use these things to learn and for critical thought and, more then anything, they rarely know how to use these things to create something interesting and new…..and because there are no natives here we cannot assume that our students are media literate and know how to navigate this world….we need to create platforms for participation that allow students to realize and leverage the emerging media environment…”.

Wesch goes on to to discuss in detail how he embeds bakes media literacy and web 2.0 into his curriculum. He ends up sharing a link to his media literacy portal located here: http://www.netvibes.com/wesch#Social_Media_Research_Resources

It’s fascinating stuff!

161 days.

That’s how much time has elapsed between my last post on March 6th and today. I’ve felt the pull back to this space but at times it felt like, well, work. Writing isn’t a fluid activity for me so the thought of sitting down to compose my thoughts into a coherent post became more and more of a barrier. The rewards though, when I did hit the “publish” button were tremendous. Blogging is a mental and tactile exercise that forces me to slow down and think a little more deeply about a subject that I would otherwise skate over. There is really something to the link between a tactile activity such as writing, understanding and memory.

So why tweet? I’ll tell you. It’s the 140 characters and the quick interplay between and among *my network. It’s fast, relevant, and oh so rewarding. The gems that are uncovered are rich and have led me to the danah boyd’s (aka zephoria on Twitter) dissertation on social networking and teen behavior, Scott McLeod’s insightful posts about leadership and his work in the trenches, and let’s not forget StephenAtHome ( aka Stephen Colbert) for a little levity.  I’ve even sent out an S.O.S. tweet pleading for assistance with a klugy Word Press plugin. My network didn’t let me down - within 5 minutes I had help and within 10 minutes the problem was solved.

So now that I can say with absolute conviction that Twitter is a powerful and necessary tool, I’ll revisit this blog and the exercise of writing. It seems though that I’m not the only one who’s trending back to their blog. Check out these posts about this very topic:

http://siliconangle.com/ver2/2009/08/12/blogs-are-back

http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2009/07/is-there-a-trend-back-to-blogging-how-will-it-impact-twitter.html

* My network is 90% educational technology and education professionals.

I admit it. My last post was rather cranky (see “I’m not your Information Butler“). I was frustrated by the dependence on ‘old’ methods of information sharing. The reliance on face-to-face contact and targeted phone calls to get information out is understandable given that it’s familiar. My frustration, however, is that we are not using the tools that can help filter, organize and pull news. Given the absolute tidal wave of information why aren’t we skilled at using “rss” to identify and bring valuable news updates to our desktop? Referring to a tool as “rss” is half of the problem and keeps it inaccessible and mysterious to those who could benefit most (rss = really simple syndication; aka, the orange button you see on many sites that allows you to subscribe to all site updates). To confuse matters even more “rss” is sometimes referred to as “feeds”, “XML”, or “subscriptions”. Whatever it’s called it’s clear to me that many aren’t using it.

So I’m offering an iGoogle workshop in November that will show people how to subscribe to site updates and the difference between Google Reader and using tabs to organize rss updates. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t pretend this is the answer but at least it gives people a tool to surf the information tidal wave.

Check out Robin Good’s blog for an interesting post on “Information Overload: What it is and How You Can Avoid It”

http://www.masternewmedia.org/information_overload_what_it_is_and_how/

Warning: Rant Below

“Do you have some time tomorrow to swing by my office for some Blackboard training? I’m interested in posting my syllabus and learning how to manage my roster”.

“Sure, is 10AM okay with you?”

“Yep, see you at 10″

This is an example of the type of conversation that I have everyday. Pretty banal, eh? The problem is that my group just offered 2 training sessions on this very topic. And in response to specific requests and being sensitive to people’s time we offered them in condensed 60-minute sessions. We advertised via email, and on two (two)! web sites (one with RSS), and took advantage of plenty of face-to-face opportunities to remind people about the date, time, and location of the workshop.

The response?

“Sorry I missed it but I didn’t know. I wish you had told me.”

This is just a tiny example but I find it rather ironic that in the age of information overload there are people who claim they didn’t know. Don’t get me wrong. I know how emails can get buried and I understand that dates and times can be forgotten. What I can’t understand is how it’s become an expectation that information is distilled, synthesized, and labeled for individuals to use. I can’t do that. I’m not your information butler.