Technology Inundation: Diigo, Google Reader, RSS, and Flipboard

This day’s challenge was the most overwhelming for me so far in the Connected Journey.  Whereas the other days’ activities engaged and challenged my thinking by presenting ideas (Will Richardson, Seth Godin), this day’s exploration of Diigo, RSS feeds, Google Reader, and Flipboard challenged my ability to manage technology inundation.  My overall reaction to these tools? To put it simply, I find them all to be beneficial, “slick,” as Andrew Sams calls them, and time-saving; however, I wonder how, again, as Andrew says, to “mash-up” all of these technologies along with those I already know and use to gain the most meaningful technology experience.  I’m starting to feel that many of these technologies overlap and serve the same function and that many of the devices I own also serve the same functions.  For example, I am a runner, as stated in a previous blog post.  In order to continue to educate myself about my sport, I access information in the following ways/places: I read the magazine Runner’s World on my Kindle Fire; I like the magazine and other running resources on facebook; I follow running related people/sources on Twitter; I added Runner’s World to my Flipboard; I receive e-mails from running sources to my iPhone.  As much as I love running, do I really, in the fifteen hours I am awake each day, need to access this much information about it?? Personally, I would rather spend some of those hours having dinner with a friend or walking on a trail than staring at a screen reading the information that was tweeted/posted/blogged etc. fifteen seconds ago about how to improve my running form.  Ultimately, I appreciate being exposed to this technology, but some of my questions and frustrations that come along with it have not dissipated. 

To more directly address my experiences exploring the four technologies mentioned earlier, I found three of the four of them to be relatively or completely new to me, and I found them all beneficial.   In terms of Diigo, I have been using another social bookmarking site, Delicious, for a few years after hearing Andrew present about it during a professional development day, so I wasn’t as interested in it.  I would like to know, however, what the differences are between Diigo and Delicious and which is preferred by most.  It seems to me that they serve the same function, so I don’t foresee myself transferring all my bookmarks to Diigo.   What I learned about Diigo that could be powerful is the connection with other users.  I have only used Delicious to store my favorite links, but how many more awesome sources could I have if I explored other English teachers’ Diigo accounts?  RSS feeds and Google Reader seem to be technologies that could streamline my accessing of information, and therefore save me time and effort.  I got very intrigued by Mind/Shift and added it to my Google Reader; in fact, I got rather sidetracked by reading articles on Mind/Shift and therefore didn’t get to add too many RSS feeds; I’ll have to go back and add more!  This leads me to another issue I was having with this challenge: feeling as though my attention span had dwindled and that I was getting “lost” in some of the technologies.  Perhaps because I am not a “digital native” my brain is not wired to be comfortable with using numerous technologies simultaneously.  During my exploration, I would see a source, article, etc. and go to check it out, meanwhile straying from my original task/purpose.  This was frustrating at times.  Also, especially in Flipboard, I was finding myself way, way down the rabbit hole of technology as I flipped through so many sources in a matter of seconds, which led me to sources within those sources and sources within THOSE sources.  Beneficial though these technologies may be, one of the drawbacks for me and certainly for some of my students is that you can get easily distracted.  I have many interests aside from teaching English, and now that multiple technologies exist to connect me to these interests, it concerns me that I might be tempted to waste time that I should be grading essays searching my vegetarian Flipboard for new recipes.  However, I guess that this is all part of the challenge for me and for my students of being a learner in the twenty-first century. 

Exploring Twitter

Prior to "The Connected Journey," I had never used Twitter; in fact, I had never even seen a Twitter page or a Tweet.  Being an avid Facebook user, I assumed everything I wanted to gain from social media could be attained from a scroll through my newsfeed.  I also assumed that Twitter was mostly for celebrities and teenagers.  In truth, being someone who updates my status on Facebook about twice a week, I thought posting play-by-play updates of my rather routine daily life to be completely unnecessary and narcissistic.  However, my opinion about Twitter and what it has to offer has recently changed.

My best anecdote that demonstrates one of Twitter’s greatest perks occurred recently and involved a tragedy that, as a runner, really shook me.  Having created a Twitter account and compiled a list of other Twitter users/organizations I follow, many of which are related to running, I used Twitter to get the most recent, up-to-date information about the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15^th.  With a colleague and two of my favorite professional female athletes running, I wanted to be able to follow race updates throughout the day.  By a brief scroll through my Twitter feed, I was able to read a variety of perspectives on the unfolding events of race day and feel the buzz of the country’s most prestigious race.  NPR, Runner’s World, and Kara Goucher’s Tweets kept me connected.  The school day ended, and around three o’clock, I got in my car to head home, noticing text messages from my mom and my best friend: “Did you hear there was a bombing at the Boston marathon?” I immediately turned my car radio to NPR and opened the Twitter app on my phone.  I was surprised to realize that Twitter was providing a more up-to-date and varied picture of the tragedy that was transpiring.  When I arrived home, although I was glued to CNN for some time, I continuously refreshed my Twitter feed and found it to offer as much information as one of the country’s biggest television news networks.  This occurrence radically altered my views about the purpose and power of Twitter.

Twitter has been useful for a variety of other purposes as well: discovering a new recipe or workout, reading interesting articles or interviews, keeping up with current events, seeing what friends are doing, or even getting a good laugh. Although most of the people or organizations I followed at first were related to my personal interests, I have discovered some great educational sources to follow, such as Edutopia or National Council of Teachers of English.  The list feature is my favorite tool on Twitter so far because I don’t care for how much information appears in my Twitter feed and how much of it is Retweets that don’t interest me.  For example, the day of the Boston Marathon tragedy (and the days that followed), I only viewed my “Running” list or my “News” list to get the most pertinent information without all the needless “noise.”  Because I have a variety of interests, some that intersect and some that do not, the list feature allows me to organize the massive amounts of communication/information my Twitter feed offers without feeling overwhelmed or disinterested.  I’m not ready to create a Twitter account for the courses I teach and tweet the daily homework assignments yet, but maybe after Twitter and I have been together for a longer period of time and after we get to know each other better, I’ll consider it!

Response to Seth Godin's Manifesto "Stop Stealing Dreams"

Seth Godin is an individual of whom I’ve never heard.  I felt uncertain about delving into his manifesto without knowing a little bit about who he is, and after reading his bio on his website, I became more assured that he is someone worth reading.  After reading/skimming his entire manifesto, I became completely sure that his ideas are valuable, not only to the world, but to me.

One of the main ideas that influences Godin’s “Stop Stealing Dreams” is that schools were designed to fit into and feed into an industrial economy.  This view of education from an economic standpoint fascinated me because I am not knowledgeable about economics, so I felt the excitement of exposure to new information while reading the manifesto.  I have never thought of schools in this way.  I have seldom asked the extremely broad, philosophical questions Godin poses, such as, “What are schools for?” (#4).  When I think about it, I have become a somewhat passive piece in the gigantic puzzle of education in the twenty-first century; I come to school each day doing what I believe is best for my students but rarely questioning or challenging my practices and philosophies.  This is not to say that I ignore technological innovations or creative methods, but I can’t say I employ them to the fullest extent that I could, or to the extent that Godin or teachers at schools like the Harlem Village Academy would advocate.  Godin, in #54, suggests that we should ask, “Is this class/lecture/program/task/test/policy designed to help our students do the old thing a little more efficiently, or are we opening a new door to enable our students to do something that’s new and different?” Although I can use this question to guide and improve my teaching practice, the portion of this question that concerns me is “this policy.” The policies, laws, standards, and testing schedules are enormous, influential aspects my profession that I have little control over, and I doubt that most of the legislators making these policies have read Godin’s manifesto.  Many of these policies seem to continue to confine schools to industrialized institutions that stifle students’ and teachers’ passions.  The changes Godin proposes would require a massive philosophical shift from the top (the government) down, and I wonder if this shift will occur during my career?

Godin’s manifesto reinforced a quandary I have had since starting the Connected Journey: What does a school, a teacher, a student look like in this new era of technological innovation/connectedness? Though I have some visions of the twenty-first century (and beyond) educational system, my answer to this question still continues to be “I’m not sure.”  It seems that the nouns “school,” “student,” and “teacher” should be renamed: school to place of innovative learning; student to learner; teacher to coach.  Godin certainly convinced me that it is necessary to redefine these concepts.  However, Godin’s writing reassured me that two aspects of teaching that are dear to me will not become obsolete and will perhaps become more valuable: writing (#90) and “emotional labor in the work of teachers” (#76).

 Advocating that a teacher be more of a coach, a motivator, and a fellow learner, Godin writes, in #44, “Defining the role of a teacher”: “What we do need is someone to persuade us that we want to learn those things, and someone to push us or encourage us to create a space where we want to learn to do them better.”  The motivator role is a part of teaching that I don’t think any of us were ever formally taught how to do.  We “motivate” students through extrinsic rewards that have become highly valued in our schools and in our society: test scores, grades, class rank.  We also “motivate” students by threatening them with punishments: detention, summer school, failure.  I always try to express to my students how reading and writing skills will be relevant and necessary in the “real world,” but how do I motivate them to want to be better readers and writers because it’s valuable and important to them?

Godin writes: “Teach a kid to write without fear and you have given her a powerful tool for the rest of her life.  Teach a kid to write boring book reports and standard drivel and you’ve taken something precious away from a student who deserves better” (#90).  Sadly, I would say that most of my students write with a great deal of fear, anxiety, and trepidation, as well as disdain, reluctance, and frustration.  Even students who are naturally gifted in writing have become so concerned with getting it exactly “right” to get the highest grade possible that my students are anything but fearless writers.   Coaching, teaching, and guiding students with writing has led me to many moments of profound, as Godin calls it, “emotional labor”:

“Labor, particularly emotional labor, is the difficult task of digging deep to engage at a personal level. Emotional labor looks like patience and kindness and respect. . . Every great teacher you have ever had the good luck of learning form is doing the irreplaceable labor of real teaching. They are communicating emotion, engaging, and learning from the student in return. Emotional labor is difficult and exhausting, and it cannot be tweaked or commanded by management” (#76).  

When our principal had us, during a book study this fall, take a strengths finder assessment, one of my greatest strengths was reinforced: empathy. “Emotional labor” requires empathy, and empathy, to a degree, cannot be explicitly taught.  Sometimes I worry that the time I spend engaging in “emotional labor” with my students (consoling a crying student, giving a dejected student a pep talk, persuading an unconfident student that they can be successful) is taking away time I could be doing something more productive, like grading their papers.  Godin assured me that this new age of technology is not going to make these human connections disappear and that the “emotional labor” is always worth it. 

Now I know who Seth Godin is.  Hopefully I can help my students become learners like him.   

Reactions to Will Richardson's Presentation

Curious. Uncomfortable. Amazed. Frustrated.   Will Richardson's "Learning in a Connected World" evoked all of these responses in me.  I straddle two eras of technology usage/knowledge; during the formative years of my life, until I was about 18, technology was a small part of my life.  I used a typewriter for elementary school projects, viewed all my favorite Disney movies on VHS tapes, made my high school best friend a mixed cassette tape, and accessed the Internet through a dial-up America Online connection.  I did not own a cell phone until I went away to college.  Today, I own a lap top, an iPhone, a Kindle Fire, an iPod, an iPad (Thank you, Aurora City Schools), a flat screen T.V., and a GPS running watch. I use multiple additional technologies to teach my students each day.  I can no longer stand in a line waiting without checking e-mail, Facebook, the weather, my bank account, etc. on my iPhone.  The first thing I do when I open my eyes in the morning is look at my phone, and its screen is the last thing I see before I close my eyes at night.  I can understand my dad's lack of interest in using a computer as easily as I can understand my students' inability to separate themselves from one.  I remember life without technology and I currently live a life inundated with it. 

I think my personal history with technology explains my mixed reactions to Richardson's presentation.  I agree with so much of what he has to say, and I recognize the importance of his message.  At the same time, it left me wondering two main things: a) Will I, a teacher, eventually be replaced by technology? and b) How can I, a teacher, provide the kind of learning experiences to my students that Richardson advocates? Richardson mentioned the "education we create for ourselves," and I have successfully learned in the way Richardson shows us many people are learning; I learned how to run marathons without ever taking a class, interacting with a teacher, or setting foot in a classroom. From various online sources, a few books, and conversations with friends, I evolved from a person who had never run more than three miles to someone who has completed five half marathons and two marathons with decent times.  I know through experience that I can learn most anything I want to learn from simply having Internet access.  I don't need to take a cooking class or own a cookbook to prepare a pretty good meal.   But does that mean my students don't need me to teach them how to be better readers, writers, speakers, and researchers?

I believe the answer to this question is NO; they DO need me, need all educators who are passionate, committed, and knowledgeable.  They just need more technologically savvy and creative versions of us.  Richardson discussed the difference between bold vs. old schools, and one of the characteristics of a bold school is that it "embraces failure."  I feel as though ASCD is moreso a "bold" school, but certainly we still have some old ways and some teachers who often rely on old ways.  I'm guilty of this; we all are.  When you teach the same courses year after year, it's often easier to use a unit plan, a lesson plan, an assignment that you have used before rather than devise a new way to teach the same information/concepts.  Learning about new technologies and then coming up with ways to implement their use in your classroom is time consuming and can be difficult and frustrating.  However, being "bold" with technology usage or even just a new method in regards to planning and instruction, though it may not work every time, is essential.  Our students need us to do that.  

One of the things Richardson said that resonated with me is that we need to teach kids how to learn, not just play, with technology.  I can't just hand my students iPads and expect them to figure out how to write an awesome research paper.  They need guidance and instruction about how to best use the technology available to them, about how to find the best technology for a certain purpose, and about how to sort through billions of sources of information and determine which sources are of merit and quality.  A difficulty for many educators is that we were taught how to teach and started teaching in a completely different era and thus were never trained to teach kids how to interact with technology.  That's no excuse, though.  I usually take an approach where I try to learn about and to use as many technologies/technological resources as possible, and then I have my students teach me new things.  I have always viewed myself as another learner in the classroom, not the sole controller of learning, and so when a student shows me a better way or a new way to do something, I appreciate it.  

Overall, I feel that what Richardson advocates is aligned with what our kids need and deserve, but I know that it will take many school districts a long time to fully embrace or to be able to implement this approach to education.  And although technology is here to stay, I believe that teachers are, too.  No device, program, or app can replace the sacredness of the student-teacher interaction/relationship.  That human contact will always have to exist if we want our students to be the most wonderful versions of themselves that we hope they will be.