Teachers are told: Use Facebook or Risk Becoming Irrelevant!

 
A wonderful colleague of mine, Julia Cross (who's blog can be viewed by clicking here), posted this article on - ironically enough - her Facebook page. At first glance I thought is was just a silly quiz, but upon further investigation I realized that it was an article entitled: "Use Facebook or risk becoming irrelevant, teachers told at Vancouver Conference." The article appeared in today's Vancouver Sun. [Click here to view article in full]  The article really speaks for itself and I would highly recommend giving it a read - as well, read the comments that people posted to the article.

At this years BC College of Teachers conference, Steve Dotto, a technology guru, gave a key note speech about technology and the classroom. He testified that "social media is changing our world profoundly" and that "understanding this world is our responsibility and we have to provide some form of leadership." The article did not disclose how we, as teachers, provide this leadership, but it did report that "all of our reasons for not being online are not good reasons."


While the article was interesting to read, the comments were more entertaining. The article and comments combined seemed to sum up a lot of what we've been talking about in our EDCI 336 class. Is there a line between technology and teaching? If so, where is drawn? As new teachers are we being forced to push that line further and further beyond our comfort zones? Are there right and wrong reasons for not being online?


In response to the article, one person wrote:

"What's next? Should teacher's begin using Twitter to communicate with students? Should all exams be done through Dropbox? Or, lets take it one step further and just have the teacher in the classroom and the kids at home using Skype. Technology is a tool, not a method. Facebook is a social interaction site, not the classroom. Teachers would be well advised to avoid it."

I really liked this comment and agree with it completely. Technology should be used to compliment the lesson, not become the lesson. As teachers we have a responsibility to educate our students about using the internet and technology safely, consciously, and respectfully. 

I did not agree with a lot of what the article was saying, however it does raise a lot of important issues. Can a teacher become irrelevant if they don't have a Facebook page? How? Is technology so advanced and so important to students that we have to adapt? Even if teachers did have Facebook pages, how do they "friend" their students without crossing certain boundaries?

Overall, I felt like the article was blaming teachers for their technological failures because they refused to give into the hype and media of Facebook. I'll be the first to admit that I not only have a Facebook account, but I'm addicted to it. I check my page anywhere between 20 and 100 times a day. However, my security settings are extremely high, and I check them often; I do not befriend people who I do not know, nor do I add people for the sake of adding them; I try my best to censor what I post on Facebook. I use my Facebook account to stay in touch with my friends, colleagues, and family. My Facebook page is for me and for me to interact with the people who are closest to me. I do not intend to befriend my students because I feel that it would crossing a line. My students will be my students, they are not my "friends"; they have enough friends, and as a teacher I have to be the adult and guide them through a very important and confusing time in their lives, I have to be the role model.

How do you feel about it?


Until Next Time
LC

Vancouver International Writer's Festival at Granville Island

On Friday October 22nd, 2010, fellow education colleagues Julia Cross, and Shamez Virani and I attended the Vancouver International Writer's Festival at Granville Island in Vancouver.

We had talked a lot about which event to go to and looked at all of the events that were being offered. We discussed our schedules and decided to see "37 Darwin's Bastards" at 10:00am Friday morning.

Darwin's Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow, is a collection of short stories written entirely by Canadian authors. Zsuzsi Gartner hand selected each of the 23 stories and in the talk that we attended she joined in conversation with William Gibson, Yann Martel, Anosh Irani, and Adam Lewis Schroeder - all of which have a story in the anthology. These authors "are not normally known for writing about an exploration of future times" but contr

ibuted to the book nonetheless (Darwin's Bastards).

Each author read a selection from the short story they contributed and then talked about their motivations behind the piece, the genesis of their experimental writing and their struggles and successes when it came to "breaking the bounds of realism" (Darwin's Bastards).

Once each author had had a chance to talk about their story, audience members were allowed to pose questions and have the respective authors provide answers.

It was an interesting experience, especially as a teacher-in-training. As I listened to the short story excerpts I couldn't help but think about how I could use the stories in a classroom. Anosh Irani's shorty story, "Notes from the Womb" stood out for me among the other three stories simply because it combined a morbid topic with humour and satire. Using the story in a grade 12 classroom could be super beneficial and would evoke an interesting class discussion.

Overall the experience was enlightening and enriching. I did buy Darwin's Bastards as well as another book by Yann Martel entitled, What is Stephen Harper Reading? I really enjoyed the fact that I was thinking like a teacher and focusing on the elements of a short story and how to integrate this anthology into a classroom.

Until Next Time,

LC