[iDC] How does social media educate?

[arsalaan1-idc at yahoo.com]

Thank you, Trebor, for inviting me to lead this month's discussion. 



As you all know, the general theme of the current series of discussions at iDC is education. Over the last weeks, Tiffany Holmes lead a discussion on the challenges and potentials of designing "new media" curricula (I'm simplifying what was obviously a very broad and rich discussion).  I would like to now shift the discussion from a practical to more a philosophical  terrain by asking this intentionally open-ended question: 

How does social media educate? 



It is time we step back and look at social media in a historical and political context, examining where social media comes from, and what kind of educational applications we can expect to see as it becomes part of the mainstream. Even before social media came along, those who are critical of the current role of education in our societies claimed that the system is churning out not free thinkers, but compliant workers and consumers. I am suggesting that without a fundamental shift, social media will eventually end up contributing to that outcome. 



 What is the educational problem in our societies to which social media is said to be the obvious answer? What kind of society requires the emergence of social media as an educational tool in the first place? What are the affordances of social media that can be said to contribute to (or hinder) the educational development of the individual in society? In short: How does social media educate? 



Of course, this question is a bit misleading if we think of technology as an isolated actor with the capacity or agency to educate. But we know that education is a social assemblage in which technology plays but one of the roles in the cast. There are also students, teachers, educational institutions, regulating bodies, market demands, producers of educational materials, local interests, moral codes (secular or religious) that influence curricula, and so on. So by asking 'How does social media educate?', I am hoping that we can collectively begin to paint a picture (each of us contributing a little piece) of the assemblage that revolves around the use of social media as an educational tool. In conducting such an exercise, I expect that our fascination with social media as the latest 'killer app' of education will diminish, but I also hope that we emerge with a better understanding of the educational challenges facing our societies, a more realistic plan of what we need to do to meet those challenges, and a better idea of what role exactly social media can play in meeting those challenges (those are high hopes, I know!). 



To get us started, I've prepared some questions. These are intended only to provoke an initial reaction, and are admittedly leading questions. Feel free to engage them or choose another way of approaching the question of how social media educates. Or you may simply tell us about your experience using social media in an educational context. 







 Questions (and some suggested readings):  



[Note: For an introduction to the theme of social media and education, you may want to check out my article: A Nomad's Guide to Learning and Social Software, http://knowledgetree.flexiblelearning.net.au/edition07/html/la_mejias.html]  





 :: DOES SOCIAL MEDIA FACILITATE STUDY OR INSTRUCTION? 



 Robbie McClintock makes a distinction between instruction (teaching and learning) and study: 



Toward a Place for Study in a World of Instruction, http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/Publications/papers/studyplace/ilt_intro.html  



>Like a number of the ancients, especially the stoical Seneca, Montaigne cautioned against reliance on teachers in the course of education. Passive knowing was less important than the work of finding out, and authoritative instruction simply put the youthful mind to rest. Teaching and learning might impart knowledge, whereas study led to understanding, whereby things known were made one's own and became a part of one's judgment, and "education, labor, and study aim only at forming that." (paragraph #6) In this 1970 paper, McClintock concluded that "digital technologies are now providing educators and students with tools of study, as opposed to tools of instruction" (http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/Publications/papers/studyplace/title.html).  <



Thirty-seven years later, have digital technologies (and social media in particular) fulfilled that promise? 



 

 :: DOES SOCIAL MEDIA ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS OR MENTORS BY BECOMING ITSELF AN 'AGGREGATED TEACHER'?  



If that's the case, what are the implications? 



More from McClintock:  



>Teachers, Plato added, could not fruitfully instruct those who would not teach themselves, who would only respond passively to the most convenient appearance; the most teachers could do was to convert such inert souls to active study. This theory of teaching has sunk deep into our philosophical heritage, but it has not fared well in practice. (paragraph #25)<

 http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/Publications/papers/studyplace/ilt_sec1.html  





:: DOES SOCIAL MEDIA TRAIN CONSUMERS OR EDUCATE CRITICAL THINKERS? 



John Taylor Gatto, enfant terrible of the educational world, asserts:  



>School trains children to be employees and consumers; teach your own to be leaders and adventurers. School trains children to obey reflexively; teach your own to think critically and independently.  <



And:  



>What if there is no "problem" with our schools? What if they are the way they are, so expensively flying in the face of common sense and long experience in how children learn things, not because they are doing something wrong but because they are doing something right? Is it possible that George W. Bush accidentally spoke the truth when he said we would "leave no child behind"? Could it be that our schools are designed to make sure not one of them ever really grows up?  <



Gatto, 2003, How public education cripples our kids, and why http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/hp/frames.htm  



[See also my post: Confinement, Education and the Control Society http://ideant.typepad.com/ideant/2006/08/confinement_edu.html] 



If schooling is simply a means of training workers and buyers, what chances do educational applications of social media have of subverting those goals? Can educational technology, qua modern technology, exist or operate outside the market? 





 :: DOES SOCIAL MEDIA UNDERMINE THE POWER OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN EDUCATIONAL POLICIES? 



For instance, No Child Left Behind has already gone a long way in establishing a national culture of testing. Could social media end up helping to institutionalize a model of education that equates information with knowledge? 



Some links: 



 Many Children Left Behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act Is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1366 



 Technology, the culture of testing, and obstacles to school change http://ideant.typepad.com/ideant/2005/12/technology_the_.html 



 

 :: DOES SOCIAL MEDIA CONTRIBUTE TO THE IRRELEVANCY OF THE LOCAL? 



In the words of Lowell Monke:  



>As the computer has amplified our youths' ability to virtually "go anywhere, at any time," it has eroded their sense of belonging anywhere, at any time, to anybody, or for any reason.   Monke, 2005, Charlotte's Webpage: Why children shouldn't have the world at their fingertips http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/05-5om/Monke.html  Does social media create learning networks that discriminate against the student's immediate surroundings? 
<

 



 :: DOES SOCIAL MEDIA MAKE THE CLASSROOM OBSOLETE?  



Are homeschooling, unschooling, or free schools becoming more tenable alternatives because of new technologies such as social media? 



Links: http://www.albanyfreeschool.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_school http://www.unschooling.com/ http://www.educationrevolution.org/ 



 (source: http://patapata.sourceforge.net/WhyEducationalTechnologyHasFailedSchools.html) 



 

 :: WHAT POWER DO EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS AND LEARNING DESIGNERS HAVE TO EFFECT CHANGE IN EDUCATION?   



Are these 'technocrats' qualified for (or capable of) leading the 'educational revolution' in the first place? What are their biases and agendas? How are they viewed within the educational institution? 



 



**How you can participate in the discussion**



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You must post your piece and send me a link to it (arsalaan1-idc at yahoo.com) by February 11, 2007 in order for your contribution to be mentioned on the iDC list and blog. Links will be posted on February 12. 



 

I am looking forward to our discussion. 



 -Ulises