The social network

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The Social Network: Creating New Contexts for Learning

Mark Silberbergmsilberberg@lrei.org@silberbergmark

TodaysMeet: http://bit.ly/twt13-todaysmeetSpacePlace characters: http://bit.ly/twt13-characters

the world that's here

and the one we're evolving into

the challenge for schools:

not just better, but different

- Will Richardson

125 years?what about

5 years?

in 2008 NCTE adopted a set of

21st century literacies

active, successfulparticipants in this 21st century global

society must be able to:

develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology

build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others

so to pose and solve problems collaboratively

and strengthen independent thought

design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes

manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple

streams of simultaneous information

create, critique, analyze, and

evaluate multimedia texts

attend to the ethical responsibilities

required by these complex

environments.

are our students literate for 2013

and what lies ahead?

or are we still teaching to a 20th century definition

of literacy?

what purposes and what

responsibilities?

Image created by derri_hasm

"What we do online is something quite different: we curate our

private lives for public exposure. . . . We edit out certain bits, and

highlight others. . . . [This] requires that we acknowledge that certain

kinds of sharing can, in fact, advance a wider public good. . . ."

"[We need] to recognize that their increasingly public existence brings more promise than peril. We have to

learn how to break with that most elemental of parental commandments: Don't talk to strangers. It turns out that

strangers have a lot to give us that's worthwhile, and we to them."

- Steven Johnson in Time Magazine

Imagine for a second if we taught our teenagers to drive a car in the same manner we attempt to teach them about social media:

Driving lessons would be taught by adults (teachers or parents) with little or no experience of driving.

Driving lessons would only focus on what not to do.

Driving lessons would NEVER take place in an actual car.

- Dan Haesler

Digital Leadership Continuum for Schoolsfrom George Couros

external vs. internal "threat"avatars, identity and

messagingthe myth of "privacy"my "public" personnacitizenship obligations

Moving the classroom conversation online:

Establishing norms for the conversation:

Creating new spaces and opportunities for engagement:

An unanticipated benefit that allowed us to raise expectation and differentiate to better meet the needs of learners:

Connecting with a wider and more authentic audience:

Using the online space as a community commons:

Connecting with the wider school community:

Letting students

create the conditions

for new community

:

Building and overseeing the scaffolding and then getting out of the way:

Making the technology invisible so that the focus is on the learning:

Students learn letter writing, phone calling, email and interview, Skype skills that they use to identify and work with partner organizations

Groups create web sites on our Elgg social media site to document their work

They blog about their site visits, interviews and their developing understanding of the issues. Peers and partners comment on their posts.

They join in with and initiate actions to support their partner organizations

They plan workshops to teach 5th-7th graders about their issue for our annual Social Justice Teach-In

for our consideration:

how might educators engage with digital technologies so that students can become empowered citizens rather than passive consumers?

what technological innovations will help to create a society where people can flourish within informed, democratic and diverse communities, as opposed to a culture of narcissists that are fragmented by a continuous partial attention?

- Phil McRae

The Social Network: Creating New Contexts for Learning

Mark Silberbergmsilberberg@lrei.org@silberbergmark

TodaysMeet: http://bit.ly/twt13-todaysmeetSpacePlace characters: http://bit.ly/twt13-characters