Sunday, September 6, 2009

My Shocking discovery of students take on Social Networking in the Classroom

So, it's Friday morning...maybe about ten minutes or so before the end of class. A few of my stellar students have finished with their assignment and as much as they try to hide them I still manage to see their cell phones out! As I walk over to them, they notice that I see their phone so they prepare to lose their phone for the rest of the day (I taught these students last year, so they already know that I take phones). To there surprise, I come over and say "Let me see your phone?" I told them that I don't want to take it, I just want to see it. I asked them if they could get on to the Internet, and they were like "Of course!" I told the young lady to get on to Twitter.com for me, as she was doing that I was explaining to what became a small group of students about what we were doing and trying to accomplish in my Paperless Class at Johns Hopkins University. I was explaining that we could use this tool for participating in class so that students that usually don't participate can put their ideas out there without the fear of "being wrong..." And the kids immediately chimed in on that. When I logged in to twitter from my students phone I was able to show them what I was talking about exactly, and they began to see the reality of the idea and I wasn't just "bluffing" them. With what I was able to explain to and show them it opened to a class discussion. So the first thing that a student mention was that what if everybody doesn't have a phone that can get on the Internet, so one of my other students shouted out, "well if enough people have Internet phones, we could share, type on to the screen: then what they have to say after." I was very surprised to hear that and even more so everybody agreeing with the idea. Then another student took it to another level with another suggestion, she said that we could twitter questions and comments for students while they were doing presentations to be asked and as a form of participation & notes. I was very impressed with scholarship and maturity of that comment. With the district's filtering system on the school's Internet and the administration's choke hold on cell phone being on school property, I don't know what the next step is for these students and the use of a Social Network in the classroom. What I do know is that when we do get to that next step I have a good amount of students that will be ready!

22 comments:

  1. Bryan, what a revelation!! As a teacher myself, one of the most rewarding experiences is when you see that proverbial "light" turning on. Is Twitter currently blocked in your district? This year in my World Geography class, students are using their own blogs, wikis, Twitter and I have special permission from my principal to use mobile technology in my classroom even though my district, as yours, has a strict policy against cell phones and other mobile tech. Sometimes it's just a matter of asking. Create examples of how this is going to help engage your students and allow them to be "thinkers." Please keep us updated, I'd love to hear how this turns out.

    Jerry Swiatek
    World Geography Teacher
    Citrus High School, Inverness, FL
    http://twitter.com/jswiatek

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  2. Hi Bryan -
    This is great - you are opening up young minds. I am not a teacher, but work with teachers and schools and continue to be frustrated by those who focus on the problem instead of the solution. You are helping your students to SOLVE problems, not let them be barriers. Keep us posted!

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  3. Alright!!! There is a passion and fire in your classroom. You have connected with the students.

    I hope that you are able to get permission to start this type of project in your classroom. These type of things make me want to jump to high school.

    The age limit of 13 on my web apps is limiting with what we can do in class.

    Keep up the good work.

    twitter.com/learnteachtech

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  4. I love my board.. cell phones are 'banned' in our schools although all principals and vice principals carry blackberries that interrupt all meetings, classes, conversations, etc. Cooperative Education teachers are also permitted to carry cells if they have one (it is expected) so they can be reached in case of emergency. (I have even had my principal call me in class to discuss a student) If a student pulls out a phone we are expected to take it until the end of the day. I refuse... everyone in the board knows my feelings and I am on a committee and push for full access and mobile technology. Things will be much better when we decide to catch up and move with the times and show our students what can be done wiht all this tech stuff.

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  5. That is very cool! I hope you are able to continue with this and get permission to use it in your classroom. Or maybe you should just do it without permission and beg for forgiveness afterwards ;-).

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  6. Hello Bryan,
    I really enjoyed your post. I teach in a school district that is a little more progressive in that students are allowed cell phones in the class with the permission of the teacher. Many teachers, however, are reluctant to give that permission.
    I agree with what WASP said in that we will be better off when districts etc. get with the times and teach our students to use this technology appropriately. We have to stop being so protectionist about all this new technology that the students have full access to outside of school anyways.

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  7. Very inspiring to see students coming up with such great uses for technology, and especialy in coming up with ideas to make sure that everyone can have access. I'm impressed!

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  8. If you have ever been to any form of conference where a twitterstream is facilitated you know the power of this as a tool. Its anohter example of double standards isn't it? When are we going to take away everyone's cars because sometimes they have accidents?

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  9. Have you considered using Ning? It's a controlled environment, but allows students to post comments, ask questions and work together.

    Trixi DeRosa-Davis
    Spanish Teacher

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  10. This blog post has several grammar/spelling errors. Enthusiasm is much needed but so are fundamentals. Poor spelling and grammar detract from your post. If students don't have proper control over language they'll never get anywhere in social networking b/c they will come off as unreliable.

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  11. I started using cell phones in a limited way last school year. It seems that because I teach geography and history, reference materials are not necessary (those are for the english classrooms!). So, in frustration, I had my students start sending SMS messages to Google for quick bits of information. My administration seems relatively supportive though cell phones are banned during school hours.

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  12. How fabulous! The key to connecting and engaging the kiddos in our schools right now is technology - I am so glad you found that. And in such an organic way! If more teachers and parents and adults would just allow themselves to learn from the kiddos, we would all be enriched...
    I look forward to reading about your 'process' into the abyss! **smiless**

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  13. #1 I disagree with m. I was not distracted by any errors. #2- I have begun to think that if there had been that kind of "backchanneling" of tweeting questions to the presenter that I would have NOT interrupted with my mouth quite as much. That kind of questioning is what I expect in an interactive website that does presentations. If it doesn't allow me to chat with participants, it is not worth my time.
    #3 I think you should be up front and ask and NOT just do it and ask for forgiveness. I think the more people that move forward and make the effort to use the mobile technology, the better it will be for all of us.

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  14. What an awesome story. I am continually looking for ways to create rich, real-world learning experiences with my students. Glad that you're on the same team!

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  15. M, focus on the topic. The writer is pushing the limits at school, teaching kids skills that will help them in all of their other classes, and getting them to think. Their other teachers will continue to teach spelling and grammer, let the writer do his thing.

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  16. This is a great example of cell phones could be used in tandem with computers to enhance the classroom. Too many administrators think of cell phones as *phones* that they fail to realize the simple insight your students instantly had: that these are powerful communication devices that store, report, and aggregate data. Natalie's comment about txting Google is a prime example of this. Not all phones have the internet, sure, but there's a lot that can be done with SMS txting, which all phones have....

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  17. Web 2.0 and all the ways we access it (cell phones included)is not about the information available, but about how you use that information. It is all about the interactivity and collaborative power inherent in blogging and social networking. School administrators fear this access to knowledge by all. They fear that the students may have access to the test answers, allowing them to text or cheat through school. If, however, we devised better assessments in the first place that don't just include one answer (fill in the blank, multiple choice)and rote recall of information, but instead focus on problem solving and critical thinking then the access to information that web 2.0 provides is our ally. It allows students to take the knowledge and apply it to their lives and their situation, making it real and allowing assessment to become collaborative and authentic. The 21st century isn't about the tools and gadgets...it's about what are you going to do with them. How will you use them to change and better your teaching. I love what you've suggested with Twitter. I am using nings and wikis to talk to my kids on a computer and i also use facebook, but I like the idea of literally texting and tweeting directly. Great stuff here!

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  18. Thank you all for your comments, it is very inspiring for me to communicate even more because my students are so interesting and really drive me to do what I do. So I will try to blog more and share my experiences and hopefully you guys can share yours to make me better. That's why I'm not offended by "m," I am actually very appreciative because this is a "professional" communication site so I would like to work on those skills. With that said, thanks for calling me on that! Stay tuned for more...

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  19. Hi Bryan, I have found your post really interesting. Currently I am working on a project for my Masters in which I am discussing the use of blogs and Social networking in learning. Is it ok if I reference your post please?

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  20. Kijt, it would be my honor to have you reference my post in your project. Good luck with your goals!

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  21. Thanks Bryan. If possible I'd need your surname to properly reference you.

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  22. My "surname" is Mr. Thanks again

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