Jing Me Screencast!

First picture...sorry Pavel!


Maggie Smith Rules!

Philosophy for Non-Philosophers

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Ning...Oh my!

               I first joined Facebook in 2009. After about 35 years of avoiding my 8^th grade class, I finally heeded the advice of a classmate’s parent. Since I was the technology type, I should be the one to track down all 72 graduates. I will say that I hesitated about joining Facebook; I knew of Facebook through students and my children. For my son, he joined in college; my daughter joined while still in high school. Students tried to invite me, but I declined. All social networks were frowned upon by my administration. It took the sudden surge in on-line bullying for them to change their tune. At a Faculty meeting, our Assistant Principal dove in. He tried to friend his own son, who quickly declined him.

                I have seen Facebook on many levels. I have found about 45 of my former schoolmates. What I forgot to consider is that we’re all grown up, and with that came the maturity we all lacked. I started an alumni page, which led to pictures being posted, and stories being shared. From there, I found high school alumni: more stories, more pictures, and from them, more about what they do for a living. As for former students, my rule is that they must be out of high school for a full year. Many have friends that still go to the school, so I ask them to wait. I discovered that, at least for me, that they look upon “friending” teachers much as I collected baseball cards. They seem to be interested in reaching levels: 500 friends, 1000 friends, or more.

                While many of my current students continue to use Facebook, their interest is waning. While they are not rushing to Twitter, they do mention Tumblr. I am sure that in five years, Facebook will not be the #1 Social Media Website it is today (E-biz MBA: http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites) . It is a sign of the times, and new generations reach college, they do not follow the likes of the previous age groups. What will save Facebook is the explosion of adults (especially baby boomers and Gen-Xers) who joined over the last few years. This group exchanges photos, run alumni and other events, and give advice. Some people exchange too much: 15 single photos at one sitting, or constant political views, force many to turn off (or unfriend) these individuals.

                LinkedIn is treated as Facebook’s more serious sibling. I joined LinkedIn about a year after Facebook. I find it to be perfect for those in the business world: those making contacts, and cultivating working relationships. Here, people don’t share photos of their children or videos of cats doing tricks. Here, we don’t “like,” we recommend. The people we meet are not matching up by school, but by job description. There a greater chance in LinkedIn that a request will come from someone you have never met (but who may know someone you know).

                I check my LinkedIn account much less than my Facebook account. Most of those on LinkedIn are also on Facebook, so I tend to think that there’s not much they’ll add to their LinkedIn account. LinkedIn allows another side of my contacts to show through.

                I do not use Ning. I look at Ning like a Honda driver looks at Toyota: I already have a vehicle, why do I need another. I did feel that way about my AOL account about 10 years ago. Today, I have 4 e-mails I monitor. They all have a specific use, and the AOL account has become my e-commerce account. It is inundated with spam and offers for all sorts of products. Maybe one day I will join Ning, but Facebook and LinkedIn both cover the uses I need for social networking.

                We still have a phone book that we use for all of our contacts. We have made an excel file of it, and use it for Christmas card labels. What social networking allows is to keep in touch more with those individuals you would only contact in December. People remain in your life that would normally disappear. Perhaps the next paper will ask if hanging on to these people is wise. Anyway, I have almost 200 Facebook Friends and 35 LinkedIn contacts. That, plus $2.25, will get me on the subway!

Video Killed the Podcast Star

Podcasts

 

                I was leaving my faculty room, carrying my decaf with skim milk, when I noticed a copy of Educational Leadership in the magazine rack. On the cover was an iPhone with the title “Teaching Screenagers.” Noting that the publication date was February of 2011, I thought this was some sort of divine message meant for me. I tend to think that no one in the class is funneling information to my principal.

                Of all of the technology trends we have spoken about, podcasting was the one most familiar to me. The first thing I thought of was that it seemed to be the oldest. Reading WEB 2.0: How-To for Educators confirmed that. Nine years is extremely long for technology to last. I also thought of podcasts as audio only. Definitions in both Web 2.0 sources say that podcasts both are audio and video. While I don’t see podcasts disappearing in the near future, I feel that the video capability is very important. Much like what radio is to television, the podcast may soon be displaced by vodcasts.

                I understand what podcasts could do for my class. I could record my class for those students who are absent. The school library would start to look like an old language lab: students sitting in carols with headsets on, listening to classes they missed. Harris and Park (2008) refer to this as “Teaching Driven.” Podcasts can be assigned to students for homework. If The Chronic Rift had a podcast of robots or androids, I could ask them a question based on the interview, and have them write about what their thoughts are. The Chronic Rift once had an interview with Isaac Asimov (it has been around for a long time) which I shared (with mixed results).  

                Podcasts can also be used for professional development. Some podcast sites release their podcasts as a series. Here, anyone could listen to a series of podcasts on one particular subject (such as how to use podcasts in the classroom).

                I can’t help to shake the notion of podcasts being analogous to radio. WEB 2.0: How-To for Educators describes one negative of podcasts as “sounding adolescent.” As Smart devices and tablets improve their video capabilities, students may move more towards video and less towards audio. Why attach a podcast to your school site when you can attach a virtual tour? If I had Skype available, why limit me to an audio file? One analogy here in listening to the Imus in the Morning show.  This radio show is simulcast on TV. Many instances on this program focus on its television audience, rather than its radio audience. While an audio podcast is good, the vodcast would be better.

                For those schools with limited budgets, podcasting is still appealing. Podcasting’s  ability to be accessed by any computer gives  it the flexibility to be used in any school at any time. It also gives students an audience larger than a classroom: it allows worldwide access.

                I believe that students would rather put together a short video than put a radio show together. My list of podcasts are as follows:

1. Stuff You Should Know (http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/) Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant originally started as podcasters, but have expanded to television. This site is a version of the How Things Work books that most people I know have on their bookshelves.
2. Nova Vodcast (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/index.html) Nova’s own series of podcasts; contains podcasts on numerous topics.
3. Wall Street Journal Tech News Briefing (http://feeds.wsjonline.com/wsj/podcast_wall_street_journal_tech_news_briefing) Offered twice a day, The Wall Street Journal provides top stories about the tech world.
4. This Week in Tech (http://twit.tv/twit) Mostly a panel commentary, This Week in Tech discusses some of the issues in technology.
5. The Chronic Rift (http://chronicrift.com/) I was connected to this site by a former student and D & D party member, The Chronic Rift will feature podcasts about robots, androids, cyborgs, and other topics found in my Artificial Intelligence class

Falling Through the Generational Cracks

Being a baby Boomer, I’m supposed to enjoy what the kids call “old school Technology.” Well, I do. My old world technology was (and still is) radio and television. I go to trivia contests at resorts, and emcees usually wonder if I ever left my house as a child, or, if one of my former jobs was that of an emcee of a similar trivia contest.

I’m going to share a secret with everyone: I am not a reader. Reading is something that I have to do. Goodness knows, one only has to look at the assignment page for each week to see that. Reading is not what I do for pleasure. My brother bought me a Tolkien box set of books when I was in eighth grade (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy). I tried to read them, but I couldn’t. I had to see the movie to understand it. Much like Generation X and their Cliff Notes, television and movies were my cheat tactics. Had the VCR and PC been inverted ten years earlier, I might have breezed through high school.

I know I’m dancing a fine line here. It’s been a tough two weeks. I have overseen both pre-registration and formal registration for courses. This is the fourth time I’ve used Google Docs (well, now it’s called Drive) to reserve seats for registration. Super Bowl Sunday was entirely spent on comparing the two lists, and bouncing those students out who decided to ignore pre-registration. My school has 1400 seniors and juniors, so the task is rather daunting.

Please let me assure you, I am not at the point of a breakdown. My language has not turned, well, salty. I’ve done what you’ve asked. I have clicked on all the links. I have seen the suggested readings. Looking at all of this makes my head feel like it’s about to explode. Seeing Ben Rimes’ video, I wished I could grab a remote and change the channel. My wife is in a book club. Her circle has husbands who get together for their own book club. I really never had the urge to join them. It’s not my thing. For me to order Mindstorms or Switch will lead to the same outcome faced by Mark Bauerlein’s The Dumbest Generation, Douglas Watts’ Everything is Obvious: Once You Know the Answer, or Will Richardson’s Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts: they will sit on the shelf, collecting dust. I read a chapter, or two, and then life gets in the way. The books drop deeper and deeper on the to-do list, until their shelved.

I realize what you may be thinking: I’m an educator! I should be using any time I have reading. Much like finding people who hate chocolate ice cream, you’ve found the person who hates reading. You’ve found the person who doesn’t enjoy reading, and who thinks it ranks up there with cleaning the bathroom. I already belong to a number of professional societies which send a number of professional magazines. They sit on a pile on a table in my office.

So, no, I will not be setting up a book club in Mightbell. I will not be joining Ben Rimes or his Book Club 106. Perhaps after 30 years, the thought of coming home from school and reading about education just doesn’t interest me. Piaget speaks of the four levels of Cognitive Development.  Perhaps I am stuck at a lower level when it comes to reading. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss:

I would not like to read
here or there.
I would not like to read
anywhere.
I do not like
to read a book.
I do not like them,
I won’t look