Synthesis Journal Entry

When thinking about the role that social media plays in the lives of 21st century learners, a common question that educators find themselves pondering is to what level this revolution effects their students. I personally feel that an easier question to answer is what level it doesn’t. Children and adolescents of today’s generation have been surrounded by social media since conception.  For me personally though, even growing up in a world where computers were more of a commonplace household item and the internet was accessible, it is hard to consider the concept of elementary aged children sharing information and communicating via the web.  I like to believe that I will be their introduction into this vast realm of learning about social media, but I know that is a naive hope.  The reality is that even if I teach children as young as kindergarten, they’re going to be capable of interacting with this field at levels. I can only imagine the Facebook pages of my potential 3rd graders and the blogs of my 8 year olds.  As was stated in the article Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, written by Jenkins et al,  

“The media landscape will be reshaped by the bottom up energy of media created by amateurs and hobbyists as a matter of course.” (Jenkins et al, 2006, 9)

This should prove to us that no longer do you have to be skilled or qualified in any specific field to create content for postage on the internet.  You now only need the access, which children of today have.  It is illogical to think they aren’t creating pages, posting pictures, and interacting with one another.  

Personally, I love the challenge of incorporating this movement into the classroom environment.  I am a huge proponent of engaging and interactive lessons that limit the “bore” factor that is all too prevalent in schools.  I feel that social media is one of those many facets that can make learning FUN!  Having students interact with one another, share thoughts with kids around the world and digitally publish their experiences is something that they want to do. Isn’t it a novel idea to let them do something they like, all while being learning directed? 

When reading both the 2010 K12 Horizon Report and the Dragonfly Effect, I was instantly inspired to get started on learning more and more about social media.  The notion of Collaborative Environments and knowing that they are a mere one year (or less!) away from integration into the classroom according to NMC drives home the reality that getting kids to work together is a good idea.  Also, the Dragonfly Effect by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith proves that social networking can not only lead to better learning, but a better world.  When thinking about the possibilities of social media in the classroom, rather than thinking of it in terms of “What can we do?,” I think a better question is “What can’t we do?” I’m excited and ready for it to become more of a part of the educational environment.  

Thinking about the technology project that I will be helping to design at P.K. Yonge Developmental School this semester, one word really comes to mind: excitement.  I’m not only excited about the actual designs we are going to be creating, but also about working with my team.  I was fortunate enough in this project to be placed with three students that I have worked with in previous classes.  We know each other pretty well and I think that this gives us a huge advantage.  We are able to communicate in any number of ways and are knowledgeable of each other’s unique personalities.  I envision that we will meet face to face for a lot of our time, but will also use a wiki that we created to communicate.  We want to all ensure that we are able to contribute equally, sharing responsibilities whenever needed. The goals that I personally hold for this project are pretty basic but of limitless importance, I think.  I want the students we work with to be capable of creating their own information on the internet, to be confident in their ideas, and to care about something, anything.  In more tangible terms, our ideas thus far have been for the students to either independently or in groups create a website about something they care about.   Whether it is saving bottle nose dolphins, promoting cultural awareness or getting people to use biodegradable cups in place of styrofoam, they will create a site and connect with others passionate about the same thing.  While this is still a rough draft, having not met with the teacher yet, we like to think that the basic core principles will remain the same.  Also, as inspired by the text from another technology class that I am currently taking, EME5405, I want the students to learn how to navigate the internet independently and perform efficient and effective searches for information.  My goal would be for them to be educated and versed in navigating the internet by being able to distinguish reliable websites, creating blogs/podcasts, and finding relevant resources.  The text Web Literacy for Educators by Allan November gives concise examples for creating student friendly navigation on the internet and is a great resource for this project.  It has helped made the idea of teaching internet skills much easier to tackle.  Overall, we want our students in this project to simply realize that social media can cause change and that they can actively make a difference wherever they see fit. 

I envision my role in the team as, the main contact with the teacher and the organizer.  We all have different strengths and putting things into place is kind of mine.  Raihan is great with technology, Abbey is very creative and Sam is great at saying what needs to be said.  We will all be working actively in the classroom and contributing to assignments due.  I really feel that it is going to be a great experience and we will all ensure that things are taken care of.  Being equal partners is a very important aspect of our team.  

Resources 

Aaker, J, & Smith, A. (2010). The dragonfly effect. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2011, 31-35

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2010). 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium

Jenkins, et al. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: media education for the 21st century . Mass: MacArthur.

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Corwin Pr.