Student-Teacher Trust and Web 2.0

One of my favorite psychology professors once said, "Trust isn't earned. It's given." In my personal experience, this is especially true when it comes to kids and teens. They want to be trusted first, before they decide how they will approach a relationship.

In a study on teen use of Web resources in school by Charles Crook (2012), the students expressed frustration with being expected to use the internet for certain school assignments, but then not being able to access the very websites they needed in order to complete those assignments. Their relationships with their teachers were eroded because of the lack of trust on the part of the adults. Teens want to be trusted, and will most often rise to the occasion when trust is extended.

Access to the web and all its resources isn't going away, nor is the widespread access that teens have to the devices that connect them to the web. As much as we may think we can control their access and use with blocks and restrictions, this is not an adequate or appropriate way to serve our teens.

What we, the adults who serve teens, need to do when it comes to student internet use is:
1) teach them about appropriate and safe use of technology,
2) have open dialogue about its pros and cons, its pitfalls and dangers, and its many benefits, and
3) to extend our trust when it comes to their use of the internet both inside and outside of school.

When it comes to relationships between teens and adults, it is always the responsibility of the adult to set the tone of the relationship. I say, let's give them our support and our trust (within reason) and let them fly.



Here's the reference for the article mentioned above:

Crook, C. (2012). The 'digital native' in context: tensions associated with importing Web 2.0 practices into the school setting. Oxford Review of Education, 38(1), 63-80. doi:10.1080/03054985.2011.577946 

Drinking from the Firehose: Web 2.0 and Cognitive Overload

I can literally feel my brain approaching the threshold of cognitive overload--like it might explode at any moment, pulled in so many different directions and trying to hang on to way too much information.

It's not just the fact that I'm currently taking a course on Web 2.0, learning about all kinds of online tools, formats, philosophies, etc. and trying to keep up with actually engaging in online communities. The rest of my life has continued to go on.

My son will be leaving for a year-long study abroad in about three weeks and we are dashing around constantly trying to get things done for that, as well as trying to squeeze in quality time together. I have a research assistantship to keep up with. I have rewrites to do for my annual review, proposals to get in this week for a conference, and a presentation to for an upcoming conference that I need to get done . . .
Trying to get exercise in.
Spend time with my partner.
The dang dogs have to be fed.
Oh great, now they want a walk.
Yikes! Have to call my mom back. It's been two days.
Oh shoot! I need to get that Facebook invite done for my son's going away party!
Uh, oh. Need to sit down and pay those bills.
Wait. Have I spent any time on that paper today?
On, and on, and on . . . . . .

I know I'm not the only one who is experiencing this. I am absolutely certain that one of the cons of Web 2.0 and the exponential increase in the amount of information available to us is the increased cognitive load. I am realizing that making good use of the tools available to sift through and organize our online resources, is vital to our sanity, as is the self-discipline to turn off the screens once in a while.

My big take-away from my Web 2.0 course this week is that if I want to take full advantage of all that the wonderful world-wide web has to offer, I must make use to the tools that will allow me to do so . . . and allow me to maintain my sanity at the same time. Filters, collection and curation tools are now my friends.

Kaboom!!!!!


To learn more about cognitive load theory, explore the research of John Sweller, Slava Kalyuga, and Fred Paas.

To share or not to share. That is the question.

I misquoted Shakespeare in the title of this blog. (Can you name the play? The character who I misquoted?) But I can do that--take a Shakespeare quote and change it around however I want to without obtaining any permissions--because Shakespeare is in the public domain. His work can be freely used and changed around by anyone without fear of being sued. If I decided to put on one of Shakespeare's plays, I could find it online and just print out as many copies as I needed for my cast.

On the other hand, I couldn't do that with the work of some of my other favorite authors like Brene Brown or Madeline L'Engle. Someone owns the rights to their work. If I do decide to use any of it I have to quote it appropriately and give the credit where it's due. I can't just copy and redistribute one of their books for a book club or a class. Each copy must be purchased.

When it comes to my own work, I need to make careful decisions about what I want to share freely and openly with others on the web, and what I want to set up so that others have to make some kind of purchase in order to use it. I do have to make a living after all. How do I decide which of my products should be made available to others under a Creative Commons license, and which should be used to help put food on the table?

I don't think these are clear and/or easy decisions, and the more I learn about it, frankly, the more confused I become. All kinds of questions come up in me about the value of my own contributions and creations. I don't ever want to make the decision to make my work available for free because I don't think anyone will pay for it. I want to make that decision because it is the right and appropriate thing to do.

I believe in the open sharing of information on the world-wide web, and the power for social change that is inherent in the free sharing of information. Hopefully I will be able to find a comfortable and workable balance between freely sharing and setting value on my work. I don't believe that the two are contradictory, but it can sure feel that way on the surface.

What do you think? How do you set a value on your own work? Do you think that ideas and words that are of particular value and interest should be those that also come with a price tag? What kind decision making process do you have when it comes to the sharing of your own work?

Buying the Letters Behind the Name

Is a college degree really about knowledge, skills, and information anymore, or just about paying for a credential?

With the ongoing expansion of open source materials on the world-wide web, including MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) often hosted by the top educational institutions in the world and created by some of the top professors, it seems that a person might be able to acquire almost any skills and/or knowledge they desire. Of course there are some obvious limitations (I wouldn't want a surgeon who had not been trained in an actual medical program to operate on me!) but there is so much learning that can be done over Web 2.0 platforms.

Just yesterday, a friend told me about an online service called VIPKid where qualified instructors teach English to children in China using video conferencing. Here's the link to their Facebook page: VIPKID. She suggested that this might be a good option for part-time, flexible employment. And why not? Who wouldn't want to work from the comfort of their own home and set their own schedule?

I know that personally, I love my online classes. And it's not just the being able to work from home part. I enjoy the on-going interaction with my fellow students and my instructor that an online class affords. In a well-designed online educational environment, the learning can be rich indeed.

With more and more American college students being buried in student load debt, and with companies becoming less concerned with degrees and more concerned with skills, I wonder how long the credential of a college degree will hold much weight. I've even heard talk of the fact that the level of degree that one holds doesn't mean what it used to. (Aka, "A doctorate is the new master's, and a master's is the new bachelor's.") I wonder too, if more people will turn to self-education of marketable skills and away from the mountainous debt and hoop jumping that so often comes with those letters behind the name.

What do you think?

"Sharing is Caring"

"If educational materials can bring people out of poverty, and information can now be copied and shared with greater ease, there is a moral obligation to do so. Information should be shared, because it is the right thing to do." (Caswell, Henson, Jensen, & Wiley, 2008)

Sharing is indeeed caring, as my friend Sara Tours, an early childhood specialist and researcher in the area of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) often reminds those around her. And, as the authors mentioned above point out, it's just the right thing to do. I believe this absolutely.

Human beings are social creatures. We depend on each other, look out for each other in time of need, learn from each other, and get frustrated with each other when we don't agree on what the "right" or "correct" course of action may be. We operate most effectively, safely, and efficiently in groups. Anthropologically speaking, we have survived thanks to our social nature.

Now, more than ever, because of all that Web 2.0 has to offer we have a virtually unlimited capacity to bring education and knowledge to all people. Many believe that education is the ultimate key to world peace. Powerful stuff.

One of the most vocal individuals in this regard is Malala Yousafzai. Malala has fought for the education of woman and girls worldwide after being shot in the head by members of the Taliban at the age of 15 in Pakistan. She was shot because she would not give up what she believed was her right to an education, nor would she stop being vocal about that right, even under mortal threat. She survived, against unimaginable odds. Malala is the youngest recipient in history of the Nobel Peace Prize, having accepted the award at age 16.

Here's a little inspiration for you. (Have the tissues handy.)

What do you think? Is Malala correct? What if the key to world peace is not a stronger military, but a stronger and broader educational structure? Is it really that elegantly simple?

Wanted: A Like-Minded Blog Community

Before reading an article about blogging community norms and practices by Vanessa Dennen, a professor at FSU in Instructional Systems,  I never had even considered the idea of blog "communities." (Access the full article here: Becoming a Blogger: Trajectories, Norms, and Activities in a Community of Practices). I had kept a few blogs informally myself but had conceived of a blog only as a sort of online personal news and/or opinion column, not something around which a community could form.

One of my main areas of interest is the concept of human connection--how human beings connect with each other, why, and what human connection does for mental, emotional, and even physical health. I was fascinated to read about how the bloggers were connecting with each other, often under pseudonyms, in a way that they were not able to outside of the blogging community. They shared common concerns, circumstances, and experiences and were able to assuage feelings of isolation through their blogging activities.

The idea that a person may be able to be more honest about who they truly are (at least in some ways) while using a fake name is fascinating to me. After all, "What's in a name?" A lot, of course. There is a lot that hangs on the name of a person who works in a public arena and has to carefully craft her public reputation. Blogging, I have learned, serves as a vital outlet for many to be able to be authentic and open about subjects that are more off limits in their "real" lives.

Reading this article, learning about blogging communities, and especially reading about the experiences of specific bloggers, has reaffirmed my belief that the human connection that happens in the online world is far more beneficial than it is harmful. Now, with social media, when individuals experience a sense of isolation, they can cast a far wider net in an effort to reach out and find others who can understand and empathize with them. That's a pretty sweet deal in my book.

Well, on that note . . . ttyl! I'm going fishing!

Instagram + Natgeotravel = ahhhhhhhh . . . .

I have found the ultimate online escape! Yes!

Thanks to being "forced" by Vanessa Dennen to play around with Instagram for my EME 6414, Web 2.0 course I have discovered the wonderful world of Natgeotravel.

Travel is something that is very important to me, and I am well aware there are countless places in the world I will never see in person. Because of this, I love seeing pictures from all over and learning about distant lands in other ways. Coming across these photos on Instagram brought up feelings of wonder and adventure--important when day-to-day life can often feel mundane and repetitive.

What was most wonderful about this discovery was the accompanying epiphany that social media platforms can be so much more than a way to connect with and keep in touch with others. They can also be a way to connect with and keep in touch with ourselves--with parts of ourselves that can tend to be neglected or forgotten. They can open up the world. The photos posted by Natgeotravel connected me with my inner wanderer, adventurer, and vagabond.

I share a little taste with you here, and highly recommend following Natgeotravel and Natgeographic to any users of Instagram.

Adventure awaits!