The Disconnected Educator

The Disconnected Educator

When I was in my final year of study for my undergrad degree, I remember Facebook was just taking off. Many of my friends had joined, and were spending increasing amounts of time “socializing” with others via the platform. Fast forward 14 years, and much of our society spends countless hours connected to social media in various ways throughout much of their day. Indeed, there has recently been discussions around how such sites are now attempting to keep people addicted to their smart phones. Needless to say, I have always been a bit of a social media luddite, and have viewed participation in such forms of socialization with some skepticism, preferring in-person interactions. As someone who has never belonged to any social media platforms, and as a non-participant in this realm of our society, I suppose I have been a bit of a social media loner…… but don’t worry! This blog is not about the doom and gloom of a citizenry addicted to their phones as mindless consumers of social media. It is about a teacher who has come to realize the importance of being mindfully connected, and who is now making strides to do so.

Over the past few years, I have been making incremental changes to the way that I incorporate edutech into my pedagogy by employing the use of gamified quizzes, GAFE, and shifting away from static web pages to collaborative spaces where students can learn from and with each other (ex: Parlay , Global Teenager Project). I am even conducting preliminary educational research into the effects of gamified quizzes (Kahoot!) on teaching and learning. However, it is in the realm of connected learning that I am still really just beginning to find my way. In general, connected learning integrates personal interest, peer relationships, and achievement in academic, civic, or career-relevant areas by leveraging social media to broaden access to opportunity and meaningful learning experiences. My “aha” moment came during our first Cohort 21 face-to face session: I have been trying to facilitate connected learning, without being a connected learner myself. Although I value and depend upon technology for teaching and learning, I have not benefited from the learning potential of the wider connected community of educators. It was refreshing at the first face-to-face session to be introduced to a wide variety of tools that can be used to facilitate such connections. Indeed, Cohort 21 is modeling the facilitation of learning that I am hoping to promote within my own classroom. Although I am still learning  how to use and navigate twitter, Google + and Hangouts, the seed has been sown. I must now begin to practice what I preach to my students, and lead by example. A potential goal for this year is to facilitate meaningful connected learning experiences for myself, and my students, using tools already at my disposal (although branching out may be necessary).

Here is a simplified/generalized view of a potential idea I had after our first face-to-face session for a student project that is observation/conversation based for my World Issues course:

1. Students select an area of inquiry (within curriculum guidelines)
2. Students locate an expert in that field and conduct a Google Hangout/Skype interview.
3. Students post a Youtube recording of the interview to a Parlay Roundtable (online discussion forum), fostering further class discussion and analysis.

However, before developing and refining such a project, perhaps I should seek guidance and support using the very connected learning community that Cohort 21 is facilitating. I have several questions that need answering with respect to such a project: Where should students find these “experts”? Should I provide an approved list or have students attempt to locate their own sources? Which approach promotes deeper learning?  I have Skyped in speakers to classrooms before, but what about finding 20 experts to speak individually to students? Perhaps there is a better alternative or different iteration of this idea?

There is an ironic shift in my view from telling students not to talk to strangers online, to…… “go ahead and talk to strangers” (whom you have verified are OK to talk with online for the purposes of an assignment)! I suppose I will have to take the first step by seeking out answers to these questions in our connected community of educators.