![\"perspective](\"https:\/\/edtune.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/roseglasses.jpg\")
<\/a><\/td>\n\nIt’s a\u00a0matter of perspective<\/h3>\n
Because\u00a0technology in education moves at such a fast, fractious pace, it is sometimes hard to find the center. Temptations to try new tools and tricks abound, and it is easy to become distracted.<\/p>\n
What is the big picture in education? When confused, I always return my focus to “student learning.”<\/p>\n
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A Collaborative Perspective<\/h3>\n
As much as the institution of schools may attempt to stand apart from the world around it, change is inevitable. School is more than bricks and mortar. It is a societal institution,\u00a0a locus of learning. Indeed, with the rise of distance and blended learning models, one can see that school is gradually becoming less\u00a0defined as a place with four walls\u00a0and more defined as a collaborative space for building knowledge.<\/p>\n
It is not just the technology that has evolved over the past decade, but the culture and social structure in which it is embedded has also developed. We are living in the midst of a major shift in access to information, knowledge creation, and communication. Perhaps it is something analogous to the Cambrian explosion<\/a> , a period in earth evolution in which new life forms exploded onto the scene. Yes, students still come to class; we take attendance; we structure learning; we assess knowledge and needs. But new forms of life\u00a0 – let’s call them “apps<\/strong>” – are emerging at an ever rapid pace.<\/p>\n
In the world of apps, collaboration<\/strong> has evolved to become a more distributed function. Sound too abstract? It’s not. It just means that we are as likely to meaningfully connect with someone across the country as with someone at the desk next to us. The ubiquity of smartphones and tools like Twitter <\/a>and Facebook <\/a>abound as connection media. The use of newer platforms such as Instagram<\/a> and\u00a0Snapchat<\/a>\u00a0with teens is moving at the speed of fashion. What is a teacher or parent to do?<\/p>\n
The Family that Tweets Together Stays Together<\/a>.<\/h4>\n
“Retweeted by Mom? Teenagers might say they’d die of embarrassment. But teenagers who are connected with their parents via Twitter and other social media have better relationships with them, and fewer behavioral problems.”\u00a0That is what a\u00a0new study<\/a> finds about families who embrace new forms of collaborating.<\/p>\n
What about teachers? If students “speak in tech<\/strong>,” then shouldn’t teachers communicate or collaborate with them using\u00a0that language\u00a0as well? After all,\u00a0modern kids live in\u00a0this connected world. We need to teach them to think. We also need to help embed their reality in the context of genuine human relationships. That is both the heart and the art of teaching.<\/p>\n
Does the classroom that tweets together\u00a0also learn better\u00a0together?<\/h4>\n
Think of tweeting as a metaphor of all social networking. Where you land on this question generally reflects your perspective on the role and impact of social networking on who we are. Nicholas Carr offered a very thoughtful exploration of this question in The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains<\/a> (2010; 2011). The book has some excellent research. It\u00a0is a quick read, but it raises many important questions. The New York Times Book Review<\/a> accurately portrays the anxiety – and ambiguity – that Carr feels.\u00a0One thing is clear: thinking itself has changed. Prefer a\u00a0summary in cartoon format<\/a>?<\/p>\n