Twitter as Phatic Monologue/Dialogue

Image via CrunchBase

Just recently I was at a learning conference where Twitter came up at our table; we were attempting to generate forms of expressive language activities and microblogging made the list. Not really knowing much about it, the others turned to me and asked what I thought of Twitter. As you know, I'm still a bit undecided on the real usefulness of this web app and have really tried to analyze how this all might be related to personality type.

What I then shared with the group was a comment (see below) I'd found a few days earlier at a post regarding Twitter in the classroom. Of most interest was the term "phatic", meaning "an expression whose only function is to perform a social task, as opposed to conveying information". Additionally, think of phatic expressions as "words used to convey any kind of social relationship e.g polite mood, rather than meaning; for example, "How are you?"

Twitter makes me paranoid. I've always thought of it as a form of phatic monologue/dialogue - most posts are speech acts which contain little informative substance, and simply prolong the act of communication. Instead of having a specific, utility-based purpose, they reaffirm that the "channel" (in this case, the Internet) works as a medium. Naturally, there's a level of addictiveness that arises as the user continually seeks confirmation that his/her Twittering is "heard" ... comment left by Jess

It is a very interesting thought. I can attest that Twitter can be very "phatic" at times and I thought the resulting addictiveness cycle worthy of some thought. Had never heard anyone put it quite this way.

I'd best not send out a Tweet of this new post. ;)

Fotopedia - Mashing up Flickr, Wikipedia and Google Maps

Turtle on Fotopedia

It's new and hot, and the sneak peak is promising. Introducing Fotopedia! Think of mixing Flickr, Wikipedia and Google Maps and you've got the basic idea of this new Web 2.0 app. While it's not fully functional yet, in just days you'll be able to do the following:

TAKE ANY PHOTO ALBUM AT THE SITE AND TURN IT INTO A WEB PAGE WITH TAGS, ASSOCIATED WIKI INFO, AND IF AVAILABLE, A GOOGLE MAP!

Plus you can comment and vote on the relevance of the picture in regards to the wiki article it is paired with. Once a submitted image receives five positive votes, it becomes a part of the Fotopedia encyclopedia. If it's inappropriate, you can flag it. Sporting high quality images and a clean and simple layout, user-friendliness is evidently a high priority. Those teachers wanting to have students appropriately use web images will be glad to see creative commons licensing pictorially represented on each image (attribution, share-alike, etc.). Additionally, as seen in the above slideshow on turtles, any album can be widgetized and used in blogs, websites or wikis. The widget's sleek interface is, indeed, refreshing. Community features also accompany the site.

Once the door opens to Fotopedia in a few days, users will contribute the bulk of the content; you'll be able to directly upload and then organize images via Picasa, Flickr, and more. Obviously, schools/districts who currently block Flickr will not benefit much from this new app. How will it make money? Fotopedia's mission statement mentions that it aims to allow "photographers to promote and monetize their premium content". Guess this is all yet to fully be revealed.

Web 2.0, Education, and Keeping Up With It All (weekly)

• Online University Reviews : 100 Most Inspiring and Innovative Blogs for Educators

  tags: Education, blog, Learning

• Nineteen Interesting Ways to use Google Docs in the Classroom - Google Docs

  tags: education, googledocs, Google, collaboration

• Increasing Student Engagement and Motivation: From Time-on-task to homework: By Request... | October 2000

  tags: motivation, teaching, engagement, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Online Conferences - Awesome, Convenient Professional Development for Educators

Time and money often prevent educators from attending as many conferences as they want, but Web 2.0 is really changing this. Many conferences today have some aspect of online participation either in real-time or via archived sessions. One really great directory to check out is the 2009 T.H.E. Conference Calendar. Set up your search according to month and geographical location. Clicking on a particular conference will give you details such as when and where, a conference description, who should attend, website location/reference and contact information. While not all of these will have a virtual participation component, it certainly is the trend.

First time trying some of these out? Here's one to try on: just recently I attended the FETC virtual conference. You'll find some great archived sessions here . Free registration is required-a.k.a some minor hoop jumping - but once in, go to the Auditorium and select from choices. Topics you'll find include the following:

Keynote: 21st Century Learning: A Necessity for our Students

Crossing the Threshold to the Future of Learning

Emerging Interactive Media: What to Use, When, and How?

Wireless N: WiFi Finally Delivers

Getting the Most Bang For Your Buck: Key Considerations For a Successful Technology Rollout and ROI

Impact of the Federal Stimulus Package on Districts and Schools

The 21st Century Web: Beyond the 2.0 Tools

The Future is Here: STEM, CTE & Academic Mergers

Students "Speak Up" about 21st Century Learning and Education Games

Digital Survival Kit: Empowering the 21st Century Educational Leader

Also, don't forget the awesome learning opportunities via all the archived sessions for the Live Classroom 2.0 webcasts.

Happy professional development!

Pick Me! Pick Me!

Microsoft is offering up NECC '09 scholarships, I've recently read. But you must do the following, so here I go.

How can Microsoft help you teach better? Please respond with a URL to a blog post or online video.

Microsoft - you can help me teach better by continuing your awesome free webcasts for educators! Send me to NECC '09 so that I can bring the most current and effective technological pedagogy back to implement in my classroom. If selected, I promise to do 2 things; blog about all that I learn PLUS I promise to take two other educators from my district to NECC '10! Do I want to go? Heck yes!!! :)

40 Blog Ideas to Promote Social Activism and Awareness in Students

In just a few days, my high school students will start on their second blog for this semester. It is amazing to see their eyes as they begin to understand that their words and actions, through their blogs, have the potential to bring about real awareness and change. But before I give them this list, we spend two days taking virtual field trips to other parts of the world so they can actually "see" what some of these topics are all about. We explore/examine/watch and discuss...

• The Global Rich List
• Satellite image of Earth at Night
  
• Albinos in Tanzania article
• Watch a video on Guinea Worm in Africa
  
• Watch a BBC video on child labor in the Congo's cobalt mines (article here)
• Watch the video Four Generations: Water Buffalo
• Watch a video on how young people can do quite a bit about big issues like AIDS orphans
  
  The Girl Effect - a powerful text based flash video
• Read two articles on Iqbal Mashi and child slavery ( 1 and 2)

Then...I give them some ideas for their second blog topic. I let them know they need to select a topic they really care about, one that needs more attention so lives can change.

"What do you want to change

in the world?"

Choosing a Blog Topic for your Second Blog

*****************************************************************************************

“Man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life.” Victor Frankl

“Our fundamental drive is to seek and find meaning.” Victor Frankl

“We were born for meaning, not pleasure, unless it is pleasure that is steeped in meaning.” Jacob Needleman

“People have enough to live, but nothing to live for; they have the means but no meaning.” Robert William Fogel

*******************************************************************************************

Below are some example issues to give you some ideas...

• The ethicality of “slum tours” (favela tours)
  
  
• The effects child abuse on individuals and our society –definition of, why it occurs, how to prevent/stop it
  
  
• The effects of drinking and driving – explain current concerns, statistics, how to prevent/stop it
  
  
• Uganda’s use of children soldiers
  
  
• The connection between child slavery and the chocolate industry (Ivory Coast)
  
  
• Racism and hate against Hispanic Americans – explain current concerns, effects, how to prevent/stop it
  
  
• Homophobia in our classrooms – explain current concerns, effects, how to prevent/stop it
  
  
• Child labor in Mexico – as Americans is it benefiting us indirectly?
  
  
• Child trafficking in West Africa, India, Pakistan or Indonesia (pick only one country please)
  
  
• Discrimination against those who pray in public schools – problems/ explain current concerns, and what should be done
  
  
• Devastation/deforestation of the rainforest – effects on our world and what should be done
  
  
• Global Warming - effects on our world and what should be done by countries and by individuals
  
  
• The kidnapped children of Pakistan and Camel Racing
  
  
• Canned Hunts – what they are, why they are wrong, and what we can do about them
  
  
• The plight of AIDS orphans in Malawi and other African countries
  
  
• The short and long term effects of Colony Collapse Disorder (the cause of our disappearing bees)- effects on our world and what should be done
  
  
• Osama Bin Laden’s use of trafficked child labor in marijuana fields in Africa
  
  
• The Middle East carpet/rug industry and child slave labor
  
  
• Wal-Mart’s use of child labor – evidence of this, what is being done, what should be done
  
  
• Urban slums - effects on our world and what should be done
  
  
• How poverty can be ended through programs such as Kiva (they give micro-loans)
  
  
• Forms of anti-Semitic acts that are sadly alive and thriving today all over the world
  
  
• Madrassas education of young males in Taliban ruled areas/countries
  
  
• Poverty/world hunger/lack of education - effects on our world and what should be done
  
  
• Use of children soldiers in African Nations – definition of the problems, effects on the children and what should be done
  
  
• The education of Muslim females – its importance, its current state and hinderances
  
  
• The safety and ethical question behind eating/selling genetically modified foods
  
  
• Abortion as a moral and ethical issue - effects on our world, individuals, the unborn and what should be done
  
  
• The plight of orphaned girls in India
  
  
• Laboratory use of animals for medical and cosmetic testing purposes – is it ethical?
  
  
• How China used child slave labor to get ready for the 2008 Olympics...and continues to use it
  
  
• Organized dog fights and animal cruelty – definition of the problem and what should be done
  
  
• Homeless children in America – statistics, causes, what is being done, should be done
  
  
• Use of steroids in American High Schools
  
  
• Abuse of children in Iraqi orphanages
  
  
• The issue of “conflict diamonds” and Africa
  
  
• Green Teens – how young people can become role models to the world through “green” practices and lifestyles
  
  
• America’s educational “decline” – implications for the 21st century, power, and economic stability
  
  
• The persecution of Tanzanian Albinos
  
  
• America’s obesity issue – the “super-size” me phenomenon – cause and effect on individuals and society over the long haul

More social issues can be found at this site..(you will have to dig a bit and look around)
http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/issues_and_Causes

(HTML copy of the above social issues list can be found here.)

Leadership and Web 2.0: There is no "Arriving", just the Journey

Writing can be intimidating. Writing a blog that the whole world can read, even more. And that's why I applaud all those administrators and teachers who engage in this activity, or any Web 2.0 activity that promotes the sharing of ideas and growth.

In my own attempt to share and grow, I posted the following discussion question on Classroom 2.0, Steve Hargadon's Web 2.0 Ning, back on March 27th.

What types of support/working conditions are a must if progressive, technology-embracing educators are to be productive, creative, innovative and committed to their profession for the long haul? Yes, it's a big question, but I find myself thinking more and more about it. What would our working conditions look like, feel like, sound like? To what degree would teachers themselves be responsible and to what degree administators?

Within moments a quite insightful reply by high school educator Matt T. came back.

Great question! I've been thinking about this a bit, too. A few thoughts that come to mind:

...some sort of sustained professional development/learning - no more "this year's initiative is..." This might be accomplished via professional learning communities, individual personal learning networks, and/or a "knowledge base" of previous PD articles, slides, etc.

...administrators who join in and "do it," too. I went a conference break out a few months ago where the presenters mentioned that their administrators vowed to learn along side everyone else as they rolled out Moodle at the building and eventually district level. The faculty were using it with their students and the administrators used it to get feedback after each PD day as well as to get input from other stakeholders in the district in what would have otherwise been done killing a few trees.

...an emphasis on assessment reform. I personally believe assessment has the potential to spur future change. Once we re-think the "way" and the "why" we "assess" then it's much easier to view how other things such as classroom management might improve, too. It may also help better define technology's role in the big picture.

Looking forward to this discussion. Thanks for starting it up!

What a fantastic response! While all of these points are certainly true, the second one resonated strongly with me. Only a few days later, Will Richardson wrote on this very same issue in his April 6th post Transparency=Leadership.

What two things (and only two) would you tell educational leaders are the most important steps they can take to lead change today? I got that one from a professor at Oakland University last week, and after pausing for what seemed like an excruciatingly long time, I answered “build a learning network online, and make your learning as transparent as possible for those around you.” And while I really think the first part of that answer would make sense to most leaders out there, I think the second would have them running for the hills.

The obvious commonalities? Both Matt T., an in-the-trenches teacher, and Will Richardson, a well-respected educational blogger and consultant, are saying that the two most important endeavors educational leaders (this includes both teachers and admin) can embark upon are as follows:

1. building a DIGITAL ONLINE personal learning network (PLN)

2. learning along side of one another all the while making that learning TRANSPARENT so we can see we're all on this non-stop journey together

Whether administrating or teaching in the classroom, we're to be Learners and Teachers.....and it's a cycle that is non-ending and re-energizes itself. It's contagious and stimulating. Creativity and innovation are the end results because transparent growth is the ultimate admission that we "haven't arrived", heck that "there is no arriving" in this profession, only the journey.

If you want to be motivated, carve out some time and listen to the following Seedlings Bit by Bit podcast if you want to hear an example of a administrator and teacher doing both #1 and #2 above. Susan Phillips is the principal of Chets Creek Elementary in Jacksonville, FL and she is walkin' the talk thanks to the encouragement of Melanie Holtsman, a Chet's Creek teacher who's sharing her knowledge. Both of these ladies are the type of teacher/learner Will Richardson refers to when he says,

A big part of my decision making process in terms of who to believe and who to trust stems from how willing a person is to share her ideas, what level of participation she engages in, how ethical or supportive those interactions are, and how relevant she is to my own learning needs.