A Broad New World...

I am a skeptical person by nature, and when I first heard of Twitter, I cringed. I thought that it was just another way for athletes and actors to complain about what is wrong with what they have to deal with. Then I was told to look a little deeper by a teacher mentor of mine. She happens to be one of the most conservative teachers I have ever encountered, but she said something I will never forget. When I was complaining about how the students just weren't getting it, she said, "It's about them..." As simple as it sounds, it has become iconic in my teaching strategies. If the students don't want to learn, they will find ways not to.

Twitter is another avenue to explore growing potential in a shrinking world. Technology has made it possible for one to be connected to whatever or whomever they wish... and Twitter is one such way of doing so. Now, what better forum is there to start showing off this new avenue than in the classroom? Students already know and use the medium; it should be incorporated into how they learn. A fellow teacher, when talking about using Twitter as a "hook," said that even the simplest "tweets" can do incredible things in the classroom. He argues that "we're living in a world where even throw-away questions can produce stunning by-products." to see more, click here TeachPaperless

Another article discussed the potential of Twitter in teaching foreign languages. Much like asking and answering questions in one's own language, Twitter can open a whole new realm for those seeking to learn more about other cultures or languages. to see more, click here ICT into the MFL

Getting the conversation started in the classroom is half the battle. If students come to class having already "tweeted" and texted each other about a topic, a much stronger discussion or debate can occur in the classroom. Instead of establishing a text, it can be experienced.

Shelly, on his blog, also says:
"For we are living in an age in which questions themselves -- questions of all varieties and supposed levels -- are capable of tapping into links far beyond whatever our initial thought or intention of the question originally was."

Getting students to ask questions and not just find answers is paramount to effective teaching and learning. Take a chance; be creative; be daring!

Educational Wherewithal: Our Current Crisis

I was reading an article called "I'm Just Asking... Is Our Education Plan The Best We Can Do?" and was struck by how poignant the author portrayed his argument. We continue to look back into the past instead of looking toward the future. We teach in the same ways we always have... and seem to fear finding innovative ways to educate. The author asks the President to research new ways of creating a fresh perspective about the classroom environment.

This is extremely important. While America is still considered the only remaining superpower, our status in the world community is slipping due to archaic standards and subpar administration. Multiple choice exams are supposed to sum up the knowledge and synthesis of a student and proclaim whether or not he or she is proficient in a given task. This asinine way of running a classroom is quickly bankrupting our society, both monetarily and mentally. Our students are not challenged to think for themselves, but rather regurgitate information that has been placed before them. It is an appalling breach of the ethical trust handed down to us by those who taught us. We will be judged by how we leave society, and must instill a brighter future with limitless possiblities. This can be accomplished through shucking yesterday's methodologies and donning new technological strategies wrapped in creativity.

Ning: An Opportunity for Exploration

Ning is a great way to share your thoughts and get ideas from other people on a subject you are familiar with, or that you might be interested in. One can look up other people's research, or respond to what others have said.

As a teacher, there are many opportunities to explore the eduactional field and find out new methods, tools, and thoughts about what to do in the classroom. School 2.0 is such a site. It allows you to look at current topics faced on the national level, but also explore educational theory in an ever-changing political environment. Adaptability is essential to the learner's growth, and this is a site that fosters both.

click here to go to School 2.0

A Learner is Like a Virus...

Now many may associate a virus has something negative, but it has the ability to spread beyond itself with amazing speed and ferocity. A learner has the capability to be a wildfire in the dried out forest of tediousness. The individual cannot be undervalued for what he or she can achieve. Each person's hopes and dreams can drive a society in innovative and creative ways. Society cannot flourish without individuals and the talents they possess.

"Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories" (The Changing Nature of Knowledge) cannot be more evident than when talking about a virus. There is an organization, a flow to the chaotic process of infecting at an exponential rate. This is the hope of educational theory: that an idea of an individual will explode beyond him or herself and change the surrounding social context.

It is true that a virus is ineffective without spreading throughout the body. An individual is also useless to the educational process if he or she does not comprehend for him or herself, and then share in the process of productivity.

Individual should spur collectivity, and the collective society should encourage individuality.

Socialism in Education

One of the reasons I became a teacher was to help the individual. The individual student exists to better himself or herself through means of productivity. Now, this productivity can be measured in many different ways, but it is fundamental to the learning paradigm that the individual remain central.

"The Changing Nature of Knowledge" video discusses the idea that there are two kinds of learning going on today: internal and external. There are "networks" within the individual's head and within his or her sphere of influence. The video emphasized that since the external network is more able to be "learner controlled," it should be the focus of education in the future. This is absurd. Both are extremely relevant, but the individual is of paramount importance. There is no society without the unique qualities and traits the individual relays to those around him or her.

Socialism in School

On paper, there is no reason to doubt ideologies of pluralism over the singular; however, there is cause for concern. When one seeks to downplay the role of the individual, there is a potential infection brewing in society. Since society is made up of individuals, it is important to put the "pieces" of the puzzle as primary to the "puzzle" as a whole. The picture may be a beautiful work of art, but with missing pieces, it ceases to be what it aspires towards, and becomes just a burden and blemish of incompleteness.

This idea of "collectivism" is not new... and it has not achieved more than mixed success in the past. In fact, a burden that is unseen until it is too great to effectively handle causes a cancer to fester where a process leading to productivity should be.

The following quotations identify pause for thought:
"Collectivism means the subjugation of the individual to a group -- whether to a race, class or state does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called 'the common good'." -- Ayn Rand click here for more on collective thought

"collectivism ... treats society as if it were a super-organism existing over and above its individual members, and which takes the collective in some form (e.g., tribe, race, or state) to be the primary unit of reality and standard of value." -- Prof. Fred D. Miller click here for more on collectivism

Can we in the educational community reject our oaths as inspirational mentors to those students who need us for their personal success, in order to follow a business model of modernity which has failed?

The article on Connectivism says that "the pipe is more important than the content within the pipe." There is no argument that the construct for learning is more important and long-lasting than the information being learned at any given time. However, without the individual pieces, a pipeline cannot be formed. Each section of pipe is fundamental to the survival of the whole. click here to read more on "Connectivism"

Let us hold to what is sacred. If we cherish our students, there will be societal rewards. Allowing the individual to "melt" into the stew of uniformity does not and will not help a society built on the crucial characteristics of bravery and nobility inherently found in individuality.