Selfie Pedagogy I-IV

     When I first saw that Miriam Posner had a class that looked to be dedicated to selfies, I was a bit skeptical. How could an entire semester be devoted to taking pictures of yourself? But Posner uses it as an entry point into discussing "the experience of being a young adult in the digital age." Unfortunately, many of us who consider ourselves separate from this generation see it as a culture of vanity. That's not always the case, as Elizabeth Losh aims to reveal.

     Something that struck me about the first blog was the seeming negative connotation of the term "millennial." Posner and her students don't wish for a generic term to lump the entire generation together. This indicates a distinct difference between the youth who value the ways in which the digital age can help to develop a meaningful depiction of themselves, versus those who just love to take pictures of themselves. Perhaps the one of the main indicators of the millennial generation, pervasive use of the internet and social media, has perpetuated the notion that they are all the same, more so than any other generation.

www.dohiyimir.org

     Terri Senft's work is very intriguing to me because it touches on the permanence of what is posted on the internet. It's unfortunate that stories like that of Amanda Todd, a young girl who committed suicide after relentless cyber-bullying, are a reality. The danger of the internet is that spontaneous actions, such as Amanda flashing a stranger, live on and can be used for nefarious purposes. That the boy whose sexual involvement with Amanda, leading to more ridicule, was not seen negatively is incredibly deplorable and highlights the double standard that still exists.

     This slut-shaming accentuates the importance of educating our youth on how to treat one another, as well as showing young girls how to maneuver social media in a safe way. The anonymity of the internet makes it incredibly easy to get away with malicious acts that might not otherwise occur. It can be simple, and possibly even inviting, to dump on a kid when everyone else is already doing it.

     The odd thing about this is that one of the alluring aspects of the internet is how it joins people together. Whenever I hear of someone being bullied to the point of taking his or her own life, I wonder if they had a support system they could reach out to online. The sheer number of students who are being bullied should be enough to build a community to ensure they always have a safe place to turn.

     Sandra Bland's situation was highly unfortunate. Her presence on social media makes it difficult to see her as the kind of person who should be placed in such a situation. As the link further explains, she had many things going for her professionally and it seems unlikely someone in her situation should want to commit suicide.

     I watched the video of her arrest when it was first made available. I've always told my students that if you get stopped by the cops, just comply, even if you think they are in the wrong. In fact, experts say the best thing to do is to let them bring you in and let it play out. No one was ever dragged out of his or her car and handcuffed, only to be let go after they put up enough of a fuss. Also, you might be in the right, but that won't do you much good if you get shot or killed. That does not mean what happened to Sandra Bland was justified. For many people, the lasting image of her is from her arrest. Her digital identity helped others see her a person and allow her loved ones to remember her as more than someone face down and handcuffed.

     Our ability to choose how we are represented on online allows us to determine how others view us. Look back at your last few selfies. Were they posed? Were they taken because you thought others would be impressed? Or were they sneak peeks into the honest you? Do you agree with Calvin's idea of what an ideal picture is?

www.pinterest.com

Howard Rheingold's Net Smart (Chapter 5 & 6)

     Rheingold introduces the idea of networked individualism by explaining how a parent complained of not knowing who his/her friends were anymore. Plans are made through text message and friends don't have to come to the door anymore. This thought scares me as a parent. I can't wrap my head around not knowing who has 24/7 access to my child.

     One of the weirdest experiences I had recently was to be the class parent in my daughter's preschool class. It was the first time I observed my daughter as a member of a group. I saw who she chose to play with and what her role within each interaction was. I was extremely proud to see that she didn't interact with the "bad kids" (those of the create-a-mess-and-don't-clean-it-up ilk).

     I started to think about my own social interactions. Anyone who has spent more than just our class time with me will tell you that I'm socially awkward. I could be in the middle of a conversation with someone and then I will have a moment where I think to myself, "You're doing it. You're having an adult conversation!" Then that's all I can think about and I look for an exit strategy.

     But this oddness has helped me to build quite a diverse network. I don't have many close friendships but I have many people who kinda-sorta know me. What they know of me, they like. At work, I'm generally regarded as a hard-working, dependable guy with a good sense of humor. Because of this, I have good relationships with my vice principal, instructional leader, and several colleagues who served various committees in the district. Their opinion of me (which is right, by the way) is why I get a lot of inside information about what's going on in my school. It's also why Michael Quan used to hook me up with extra cheese on my McDonald's in high school.

www.mcmcapital.com

     Managing my boundaries at work have helped to build this trust and therefore my social capital.  
I remember the first time I hun gout with co-workers outside of work. It was like I was shedding the old me, who had certain friends because that's who I had gone to school with. Now I was choosing adult friends, some of whom were 10-20 years older than me. Seven of us were hired in the English department at the same time, so we have deep relationships that continue to this day.

     I had seen examples of close-knit co-workers in the past. When one of my math teachers in high school was diagnosed with cancer, other faculty members helped her out by donating days off when she ran out of her own or by driving her to doctor appointments when necessary. Such banding together of co-workers is a beautiful thing, and makes me think about those I work with. Would we do that for one another? Would I?

     Just this past Saturday one colleague lost her mother-in-law suddenly to a heart attack. Within an hour of finding out, another co-worker was at her house, watching over the kids so she could take care of arrangements. Perhaps Johanek would argue that it's merely a natural response from a female humanities teacher.

     I almost forgot to add meaningful outcomes that I would like to see from the course. I know this isn't something everyone is necessarily interested in, but I want more tools that I can use in the classroom. What can I use to engage the students that will also help with the learning outcomes that have been established for them? Also, since I teach a lot of writing, what can help students discover their own style while building confidence? This is very vague, but it's what is floating around in my head.

Web Literacy- Mozilla Learning

     I grew up with a very poor understanding of what the Internet was. My pop-pop (dad's dad) was really into computers and technology for as long as I could remember. I had to go to his house to experience computers, Betamax, and VCR's. I have fond memories of booting up his computer and playing B.C.'s Quest for Tires. It's a far cry from the stereotype of today's older generation knowing nothing about technology.

                            

                               en.wikipedia.org

www.iretron.com

     Fast forward to high school, when I still didn't have a computer at my house. Any report that needed to be typed up had to be done on our stylish Brother WP-80 word processor. I had the fantastic options of using the behemoth as a typewriter (fat chance) or typing it out on the screen to be printed. Please note the high-tech A drive, used exclusively for the (hard) floppy disks that kids today know as the save icon. So my pop-pop, who had been deceased for a decade by that point, was more technologically advanced than I was.

     This all helped form my understanding (or lack thereof) of computers and the Internet. My friend Brian asked me if I had America Online one day. I responded that I didn't even have a computer, but left confused. If you weren't using America Online, what were you using? I had no idea that there were multiple service providers. I thought it was AOL that developed the Internet, not Al Gore's initiative.

     So my limited understanding led me to think there were only two players in the game: Windows and Mac OS. Forget about Linux or even Linux kernel-based operating systems. The full access to the source code that Linux provides makes it customizable, and a better option for users who don't like how Windows and Mac keep the source code hidden and therefore dictate and limit use. Only users with experience with open-source software can get full use of such an operating system. This customization is what Mozilla is looking to teach students how to do.

writinpixels.wordpress.com

     Looking through some of the activities took me back to a class I took at Kean during my undergraduate studies. It was the early 2000s and my first exposure to Macs. We had to create very basic websites by writing code. Let's just say I have quite an appreciation for website developers.

     I've often complained that too many kids use technology, but don't really acknowledge how it works. I have a vague understanding of it that has been slightly reinforced by playing around on Mozilla's site, but I feel like students don't fully appreciate what goes into every status they post. The ideas found on the website do a great job of explaining and showing kids how these magical devices really work.

     Activities such as "Ping Kong" show students exactly how information goes from one place to another by having them role play as packets of information. I know a couple of kids who would benefit from this activity, thinking that information just falls from the sky. Other activities introduce students to coding, allowing them to create a customized site or cartoon.

     I would agree that schools need to offer a class in web literacy that covers writing code, just so that students get a deeper understanding and appreciation for how to do it. If faced with two mechanics, I would prefer the one who not only knows what is wrong with my car, but can diagnose it himself. I would be hesitant to pick the mechanic who only fixes what a computer tells him to.

     Until next time, behold my newest creation...

Made using Mozilla Thimble

Howard Rheingold's Net Smart (Chapter 4)

     I've always been told that using Wikipedia for research is a big no-no. Anyone can alter the information on the page so therefore it can't be trusted. As I've come to realize, it's not the evil I've been led to believe. Some even claim that Wikipedia works just as well as Encyclopedia Britannica. Cooperation Theory enforces punishment for cheaters; in this case, resulting in deletion of incorrect information. If you post nonsense and someone notices, your contribution goes bye-bye. Those people trying to troll others by purposefully posting false information would be rooted out by triangulation anyway.

     Collective intelligence is great when people contribute. Like most group work, there is always someone who is going to sit back while others do all of the work. When it comes to using the Internet, that's the group I was a part of. I had no twitter account or blogs, and the Facebook account I had was really only used "lurk". Not until this past September did I have a viable online presence that contributed in a positive way. I used the information that was freely given to me without any reciprocity. I consumed.

chquotes.synthasite.com

     I still don't initiate much by way of social media. I won't really reach out to someone and friend request them. I guess I fear them rejecting me, effectively telling me they don't have time for new friends like Matthew Broderick in Cable Guy. I find "Dunbar's number" to be quite accurate for me. He claims 147.8 people to be the mean for a socially stable group of people. My friends list on Facebook consists of 151 people. Looks like my anti-social habits have finally placed me in the norm for something.

     The Internet has made it possible for niche groups to come together and accomplish a common goal. The crowdfunding site Kickstarter helps to showcase just how collaborative people can be. People can actually fund projects they want to take part in, assuming an active role in the creation of something they want. If you and your on-line community raise enough money to fund a movie version of your script for Showgirls 2, I guess dreams do come true.

    Gofundme.com is another crowdfunding site that allows users to contribute to specific causes. Recently, in my district, a middle-school teacher lost her home due to a fire. This particular teacher housed rescue cats. Because of the fire, it was determined that she had upwards of fifty cats under her care (yikes!). A gofundme page was started, not to help the teacher recover from the fire, but to provide supplies for the cats who have now been twice displaced.

     I was an avid player of World of Warcraft, a game that Rheingold refers to frequently. Oddly enough, I was never interested in the social aspect of it, which is one of the key features that sets it apart from most other games. When it came time to rely on other players for a group challenge, I either did so grudgingly, or I skipped it altogether. And the same goes for Xbox Live. The system comes with a headset which enables the player to communicate with others, but I rarely use them. One of the reasons for this is the community I encounter on games such as Call of Duty are rarely as kind or forgiving as the members of Rheingold's online community. (You wouldn't believe the number of prepubescent boys who have had sexual encounters with my mother.)

www.siliconbeat.com

     Other communities are extremely helpful. There is a subreddit on reddit.com in which the users try to explain difficult concepts to another user who has posed a specific question. ELI5's (Explain Like I'm 5) comment sections are almost always filled with reasonably accessible explanations to questions like: "How do we know that Earth's closest galaxy is 2.5 million lightyears away?" Each additional user who comments lends more to the discussion or clarifies certain elements of the answer that were confusing.

     The Internet has enabled us to communicate people with common interests from all over the globe. In looking at the reports for my last blog, I noticed people from Mexico and Germany accessed it. While I haven't collaborated on anything with them, it's still pretty amazing to think that something I wrote was seen by someone half a world away.

Howard Rheingold’s Net Smart (Chapters 2 & 3)

     I can't ever seem to understand how students in today's classrooms have a hard time finding information. The majority have barely scratched the surface of their cell phone's capabilities; opting instead to play games or check Instagram. As a rational owner of a smart phone, I know that this is the allure of the devices. But as an educator, I see missed opportunities. I'm starting to realize, however, that students are given access to cutting edge technology, but have no direct instruction on how to properly use it.

     Triangulating is a great way to determine the credibility of a source. In all honesty, how long should it take to verify information when connected to the Internet? Unless it's breaking news (which Rheingold says news networks could be an hour behind Twitter in reporting), students should be able to quickly check vetted sources for anything they need. Rosenberg provides a pretty comprehensive list of ways to ensure the site you are using is credible. These methods require some modeling in order to be practiced by students, and therefore effective.

     When left on their own, many students lack the ability to determine what sources are credible. The example Rheingold provides involving his daughter and Stormfront's Martin Luther King Jr. website is one that was used during one of my district's in-service days a few years ago. To combat this, the freshman teachers started providing the students with approved websites for research topics. When researching the Holocaust to prepare for Night, students were given links to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website. Many bellyached about wanting to use Google, but I had to explain the concerns about validity. Perhaps a unit on crap detection is in order for the first asking period next year.

www.searchinfluence.com

     One roadblock in the way of most students is the idea of infotention. Lack of intention when browsing the Internet leads to wandering attention. Many people (a group which students belong to, I'm told) go on their phones with the intention of vegging out and not being productive. That's actually a fine, healthy thing to do; as long as nothing more important needs to get done.

     Full disclosure: my wife and I had an argument the other day. It stemmed from someone's use of a cell phone at an inopportune time. I would come right out and tell you who the offending party was, but I get the sense you already know it was me. To make the situation worse, I had just finished chapter one and resolved to be more mentally present. Easier said than done.

     It was like a scene from a propaganda piece about how chaotic life with kids can be. Toys were spread everywhere, dishes lay dirty in the sink, a pre-schooler and a toddler wrestled on the floor- crying and possibly bleeding. My wife came downstairs from putting laundry away only to find me oblivious to the chaos around me, on my phone. I can't even tell you what I was doing since it wasn't important enough to remember- but it almost started World War 3.

     I had no intention when I checked my phone. I was using it to escape my reality (which is really great and doesn't require escaping) at a really bad time. As a result, my attention ran roughshod and in turn led to a pretty unenjoyable day or two at my house (don't worry guys, I made amends).

     I mention this to highlight the fact that if I can get distracted so easily, then students must definitely find it challenging. Not to sound too much like an old man sitting on his front porch, but back when I was in school, I didn't have the constant distraction that smart phones provide. If I did, based on my story above, I probably wouldn't have graduated.

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