Changes that Throw Us...

It is interesting how the human psyche can ignore obvious truths to increase our comfort level.  When tooling along in life, it is easy to think that everything is ok and will remain that way into oblivion.  Not so. Yet somehow we feel like we got punched in the gut when reality slaps our happy denial in the face.

Friends move.  Sometimes clear across the country, or even clear across the ocean.  We want to be happy for those people, but still understand that we are sad for ourselves.  Family gets separated for a variety of different reasons.  Sometimes we want to be happy for them too, but are deeply saddened in our hearts.  Marriages end.  People die.  And we become aware of our own potential for break down.

Suddenly our ignoring human psyche can't find the portal back into denial.  Then we begin to ask ourselves all sorts of questions.  What if my sister or child or best friend wants to move a world away?  What if my best friend dies unexpectedly?  Could my marriage be in trouble without me knowing it?  What if I lose my job?  Is my health in jeopardy?  What would I do if a loved one got the big C diagnosis?  And there we are tossed about on a tempest sea with no direction home and at a loss for comforting thoughts to guide us through the darkness.

A truly difficult question is how we support the ones we love while taking care of our wounds.  When we mature we know we can't say, "I know you have a really great opportunity for a job, but I really don't want you to move 13 hours away from me."  And yet that may be the lingering thought we battle with when the details of a plan are laid out in front of us.  Another great difficulty is when someone close to someone we love passes onto the next leg of the journey.  We all know from a very young age that people die.  Everyone will.  And yet, comforting loved ones who are mourning a loss is very difficult.  We hurt, perhaps very deeply for them and the loss they are grieving, and they hurt, and we are at a loss to bring genuine comfort.

There is probably a grand answer for this question of how to comfort, when we need comfort ourselves, or how to celebrate when the celebration brings us greif.  Today, the answer eludes me and the juxtaposition of emotion simply exists in the dissonance of the moment in which we live.  The only thing that I know for certain is that it is best to fully experience whatever you may be feeling, because then at some point it will dissipate.  If stuffed, avoided, neglected or denied, you can count on it growing and causing more problems, difficult problems as you sail back to that portal of ignorant bliss where we hide from ourselves the difficult truths that we must face in our lives.  Joyful surprises come often, miracles happen, love abounds AND grief and loss are inevitable as well.

Ramblings of Technology in Education

Lessons 2.0

This summer I have a wonderful class on using 21st Century Tools.  Yes, I thought the title was a little cheesy and that I probably knew most of what the class taught because many look to me as their tech guru.  Granted I have always said that you just have to know a little more than the general populous to be considered an "expert".  Over the years though I have let my image of techie-ness go to seed a bit.

Now I know that there is much that is unknown and many more lessons to be learned!  Some of the concepts have been brewing in the back of my mind, however, the vocabulary and deeper understanding have been missing.  This week's topic is 2.0, which is a term that is used often around technology, but I can't say I exactly know what it means.  I can say it though!

Previously we have studied online collaboration, technology readiness, digital learning structures, social bookmarking, and online formats such as multimedia presentations, treasure hunts, hotlists, and subject samplers.  Digging further I have found there are more online flow activities.  One of the places I looked for this information was Six Web-and-Flow Activity Formats .  When creating a Subject Sampler I came across the idea that you are not going in depth on a topic, but that you ask essential questions to help the learner form an opinion of the subject based on their personal reactions to the sites they visit.  However, an example of the essential questions was not given.  So again, I had to go digging and I landed Plugging into the Web, Webquests and More, and at this helpful wiki Internetstrategies.  

To better understand a process, creating or utilizing the material, strengthens the learning.  That is why I did the previous digging and then decided to create my own subject sampler on a topic that my son told me is the next trendy movement in food.  The catchy topic line will certainly get students reacting, "Insects for Food?".  The question for the first site is, "Are insects food?" Insects Are Food Next learners are asked to think about how appetizing insects are when they visit Gourmet Insects and see images of insect speciality dishes.  In preparing my subject sampler I found that many who are promoting the trend are reciting benefits of consuming insects in the diet.  This video shows some ways that insects can be prepared and covers some of the benefits nutritionally and environmentally.

Learners can also visit Food Insect Newsletter when answering the question of how eating insects is beneficial. Finally, learners can read the following article on changing the distasteful image that eating insects has long held Insects Are Not Yucky. In the example created for my learning, students were then asked to reflect on their learning in the following directions:

Reaction Please! Share your reaction to the idea that insects are useful as food by writing a short reflection, creating a multimedia presentation or making a poster or brochure. Make sure you include the information you discovered exploring the sampler list and how you feel about each aspect presented on the sites.

Perhaps you have explored the topic as you have read through this post. If so, it would be awesome to have your feedback! Any brave souls want to do the reflection and post it?

Reflection

Now getting down to the business of the day, social networking!  Is social networking useful in an educational environment?  One of the things that it seems we miss in education is the benefits of collaboration.  Kagan talks about the need for collaboration in developing skills that are valuable for both learning and being ready for a modern work environment.  From Lessons to Structures  This is one fo the key ways that I think social networking could be used in education.  One advantage to collaborating online is being able to link sites, articles, photos, diagrams and videos to team mates.  Another advantage would be the ability to work at ones own pace and at whatever time works best for the individual learner.  It is plausible that social networking could be used to gain information from others outside the group or being able to take polls on the topic being studied.  If learners are working at the same time there is a chat feature as well for discussion and collaboration.  Whole classes could share information or final products through social networking as well.

While there are many uses, and surely many more than I mention here, there are also some pitfalls to consider.  One has to make sure that all students have access to the technology to use online tools.  In addition, depending on the site and the age of the students, parents may have some adversity to students accessing social networking sites.  Speaking from experience, the online environment can be very distracting.  As I was preparing to answer this question I went on a site to search for groups that are related to technology and education.  While there I noticed a message from a friend and read that message before delving into the reason I was visiting the site.  This type of distraction is certain to happen to many, if not all, learners using social networking for educational purposes. 

Dependent on the age of the students, the structure around using social networking may need to be different.  Younger or more distractible students may need to use the structure in a staffed computer lab where adults can observe, guide the learning, and redirect when distraction occurs.   Educators would also need to give clear directions on how to use the networking site and the expectations of the assignment.  Technology difficulties happen from time to time under the best circumstance, however, when using technology in a assigned task the educator needs to be well versed in the format  How to Use Social Media and prepared to overcome any difficulties that may arise.  In the beginning, this may be a daunting task for the educator.  However, this would reduce over time.  

There are definitely positives and negatives to social networking in education.  Some are illuminated here, but certainly many more exist on each side of the argument.  In the end, whether or not it is used is dependent on the educator's comfort level and knowledge, what technology is available and how the district either supports or discourages technology use, specifically social networking, for the learning process.