What happens then is when students sneak through our firewall via proxies, or have their own independent connection to the internet through a USB modem from the local cell phone company that they plug into their laptop, the blocking becomes useless. The times a teacher catches someone then the issue is brought up, and we the IT department have to again explain that however much we block the chance is that some student will find a hole. This is the flaw, we are focusing on the blocking and the events where students get around it and not on the more important issue what, how, why and when are they using this. We avoid the  opportunity to leverage this tool to engage both student and teacher into a conversation on the pros and cons of using this, and how and what might be responsible use of such tools in a school setting. This whole dialogue and dynamics is completely swept under the carpet.

Most educators would argue I assume that the issue of Facebook (Social Networks) as a teachable moment has no place in the classroom, and blocking it is good, as this allows us then to focus on the important task of teaching the lesson at hand. I challenge this perception and view. There are about 500 million plus folks on this planet involved on a regular basis in social networks in different shapes and forms. Attached to this is a huge industry developing to take advantage of this new form of communication. With this dynamic there are big economic opportunities for individuals, companies, organizations and institutions to generate incomes. This is something that will continue to develop and the reality is it will become more and more part of our own social communication fabric both on a personal and institutional level. Some would say it has already happened.

So……I think with this shift there is now a critical role for educators to start exploring how to integrate social networks into school curriculum.  We have a responsibility to share, educate and develop an understanding of the intricacies and options of using such communication mediums in our day to day lives. If Grade 2-3 students are setting up Facebook profile you cannot expect them to clearly understand the privacy setting tools on their own, you cannot expect them to read the fine print of an agreement. It has come to the point where instead of blocking this, and letting them work things out on their own undercover, we as educational institutions need to develop a robust set of learner outcomes for our students on the dynamics of social networks. It needs to be not the responsibility of some IT department technician or counselor but part of  the day to day fabric of each teachers tool kit: sharing, exploring, facilitating, and mentoring our students how to be responsible users of social networks. We need to let them explore these mediums with a critical mind unblocked, as we would expect them for the ~French Revolution, Plate-tectonics, a perspective on Macbeth or the Israeli- Palestinian situation.

The world changed yesterday! Today we need to engage ourselves in a clear understanding that social networks, youtube, chat, texting, virtual worlds, and the current digital landscape are now an integral part of our day to day fabric both socially and professionally. With this there are a whole host of issues, learning, understanding and perspectives that we need to equip our students with to be able to survive effectively with balance and as critical learners.  In today’s world, we as educators,  have an important ethical responsibility to take charge of this, and engage throughout our day within our own lessons what this all means, and how to develop a critical understanding of how best to use these: when, where, and appropriately….. if we do not, basically we are ignoring today’s world that we all live in. I would find it hard to believe that any of us would want this as part of our own educator’s philosophy.

Quickly in the last few months suddenly we are seeing a more aggressive shift of engaging users on a variety of social networks, and portals like Google and Yahoo, to expand their presence and information to a large audience in real time. The idea is if I do a profile update in Facebook then my twitter feed picks this up, as would my blog, and my cell phone or even maybe my own web site. A one stop shop update for all about me!

There is no doubt this is kind of cool, and cuts down on having to post multiple times information or updates on my various Web 2.0 tools. The more I reflect on this, and with the framework that social networks default to public and you have to go and tweek the settings and parameters to make them private, I am realizing that we are entering a new dynamic where there is a push to be public as much as possible to as many of people as possible with our own information, updates, musing and more….. I am not going to be a judge on this, because to be honest I am still trying to work out what are my various options in the settings with these different tools. I am definitely spending more time trying to understand this and getting better at understanding my options to be private, and move from some of the public default settings these mediums start you off with.

…….so it is clear Web 2.0 and social networks are eagerly aggregating all our information for us in one place, thus allowing to socialize at many different levels through different mediums through one single interface available on multiple devices.

With this the question in my mind is the dynamic of privacy and public changing to the point we are moving to  a world, culture and expectation that within my social network, I will want to be able to find out where folks are, what they are doing, with whom, and when, to the point this is available to me on my mobile phone, my console at home, my laptop or some other device still to come all at once. Will this become an expectation and the norm?

For someonee who grew up where you could still be stupid and do rideculous things with friends and have no video, pictures, social network feed, update or public medium to share this….the new aggregate public profile on all my web venues is something I will need to get used and restle in finding a balance…..

The one aspect that jumps out, is the issue of privacy, and how my concept of privacy and sharing information is based on complete different assumptions than my own children and many teenagers. What fascinates me is the concept of “friend” in the context of social networks. You might be like me of a generation where a “friend” is someone you have a long common experience together, someone who is comfortable witnessing your worst and best moments. It is a human relationship that gets better with time, and something that you have to work at. You tend to have a few but we are talking between maybe 5-10 at most. Then you have acquaintances people you know, you spend time with, socialize with in the context of work, or school, but in the long run maybe have no vested interest, and then maybe more guarded about sharing all aspects of yourself with them.

So let us look at today. Maybe you are 13. You hang on a social network, let us pick Facebook, and you are active and social.

This is what I find interesting the term “friend” in the context of Facebook in many ways has changed the physiology of the word. Now friend is actually a confirmation that yes you can come into my facebook, and sit there looking at my own private life with the label friend. I do this exercise with kids I teach Digital Citizenship, and ask them if we put all their Facebook “friends” in a room could they name them, and share one common experience they have had. The thing is often many of these kids have from 200- 500 friends and some even more, I have seen a case of over 1,000. Kids will claim they can, but actually the reality I think would be a little different.

When you post a lot of your private thoughts, reflections and musings, and open this to a few hundred folks there is so much potential for mis-interpretation, and potential abuse or sharing of information to a wider scope of people you quickly loose control of. The important thing to realize, is that many of the social networks and social web 2.0 tools default to public so often without your own knowledge. You are immediately in a very public setting with your information. Kids getting onto these social networks do not have a point of reference often, coach or mentor, or aware of the specific dynamics of their privacy settings, which is understandable. It is not like this is advertised or pushed as a key component of the joys of joining Facebook or many other social networks.

The shift, I think is as educators and parents we need to be that mentor, point of reference to high light the unique variables of social networks, and act as a resource to frame what lies ahead when kids begin their journey with Web 2.0 tools and social networks . Not a resource on social networks but a resource and mentor on the dynamics of privacy in social settings be it online or off line. Easier said than done… I will come back to this in another post, the issue of trust and children in the age of social networks and Web 2.0.

I enclose this excellent link which for me is something anyone and everyone on Facebook needs to go through and understand, as a parent, spending time on this was a wonderful way to connect and engage in conversations about what is a “friend” what is privacy, what do I want the world to know and what do I want to keep myself. 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know

We are doing our children, students and young generation a huge dis-service if we do not share and frame to them concretely the importance of private profile or public profile in a social network and/or the online/offline world, and what it means and implications it has long term in their digital context.

A perfect place for my 13 year old son, to get a taste of the learning and collaboration which he will face in the real world. A setting with humor, marvel and a lovely edge to ideas. ~a reminder that throughout history change has always been embraced by men and women not scared to be a little crazy, out of sink and comfortable forgetting a box exists ……a good way to transition back to work on Monday.

Nice show!

John @ISETS

~Change, something new, moving in a different direction, adding something, enhancing, streamlining, consolidating, creating, starting a new, embellishing, undoing, redoing, unlearning, and relearning. All cause a tension, a stress, generate questions, suspicion, curiosity, fear, disagreement, dispute, anxiety, animosity, and a feeling of loss of control at some level.
Whatever part of the process, the stage you are involved with the change, the implementation………it is a matter of balance, timing, patience, and persistence with a soft glove………….and bridging from one understanding to another…..balancing perceptions and lenses, and trying to find the middle ground.

The crazy thing, in the global perspective …….the feelings that school change brings about is a pin drop of change compared to the horrors, pain, suffering, and sheer inhumanity that unfortunately populates so many of our media stories. Yes an obvious observation, but if maybe next time when one of us is experiencing change, or perception of…..we stopped and switched our lens to the reality outside. In that moment we took the time to stop and just allow ourselves to breath, feel, and think. The fraction of time for us to do this providing us maybe with the missing balance and perspective we so often forget in the emotion of our bubble.

So as 2008 bumps out, looking for a moment of global calm and balance for all.

Peace
John @ISTES

John @ISETS

Jeff U. http://www.thethinkingstick.com/ has got me to participate in a podcast this week with David C. http://lessonslearned.edublogs.org the question is How to shift when administrators are not on board? For me if the administrators are not on board, then engaging in a shift is going to be an upward battle, and unfortunately too often frustrating, and the impact of the shift dissipated. If you are going to make a shift in implementing, initiating, or developing a new IT pedagogy in an international school, I feel you have to start with the Administrators first. It is a non negotiable for making the shift “happen“, Why? School Administrators in International Schools are the decision makers, and the stakeholder group that has the ability to implement and generate clear accountability for implementation. They have the capacity to create systems, procedures, and process that will engage different stakeholder groups with the shift, and provide the financial, and institutional support for this to take place and become part of the culture of the school.
BUT what most often happens is that many IT initiatives start at a grass roots level, with a teacher or two piloting an idea, and then through a system of osmosis more people get interested. Then a needs develops where people feel they want this department wide or section wide. This is then most often pushed up to the Administration. This then competes with a whole load of other initiatives, and often is then pushed back, or gets lost in the shuffle. I believe that if you are going to start any IT initiative the first group to work with is your administration.
A case study: In my current school we wanted to start a laptop program, the first group we targeted was the Administration. We all got them laptops and made the school wireless. We had a 4 month period for them to start working with the laptops and wireless, and also developed an understanding that these laptops would be used at all Admin meetings and that each administrator would model the use of these within their respective section of the school in staff meetings. The process allowed each administrator to quickly appreciate the flexibility of the laptop for planning , collaboration, and giving them creative ways to share and present. This quickly become indispensable tools. The conversation now switched to how each of the administrators started seeing how this could benefit the teachers. So we got a group of volunteers from the teaching staff to pilot the use of the laptops plus a projector. This group of faculty quickly adopted these, and there was within a few weeks a marked difference was evident with the way they delivered the lessons and engaged the kids in a learning process. From there we then expanded this to include all faculty, and in tandem introduced wireless laptop carts. Within months the laptop cart had such a high demand, and with the teachers integrating these within their curriculum, saw a transition where technology tools became a critical resources in the learning process of the students. The demand outstripped the supply, this was a perfect time then to transition to a 1 to 1 model where we are today with our Middle School and now going to our High School.

So what happened? As the administrators were the ones who first hand dealt and used the new tools they developed an understanding within their culture of the potential impact on learning. They as a group quickly through experience and integrating the laptops in their own day, realized in a very concrete manner the potential for these in a classroom setting. Their understanding and buy-in framed the next steps of the process with a clear strategic decision to move forward. They as a stakeholder group came to understand the importance of the use of laptops, and were then able to support, facilitate and buy into setting up time, monies, and a procedure for this to be implemented school wide. In the process building both social and political capital with the faculty and IT Department. The conversations that occurred with the different groups became more meaningful.

If you are going to put an effort and time with an IT initiative the first stakeholder group to get on board not just with the idea, but actually have them “do it” “use it” “implement it” ! This process alone will expose them to issues, understandings, and experiences that will have them better equipped to move forward in any decision. They point for me, is the bumps, frustrations, and problems they will experience will give them clear talking points to include in the system, process and procedure they will adopt for further buy in by other stakeholder groups.

okay it is top down, but for a good reason

John @ISETS

It has been a crazy month, weeks, launched the 1 to 1 laptop in the Middle School, then followed up with the transition to letting the students take them home….. juggling the options and needs of a new Student Information System…. and making sure the process and procedure allows us to make a good choice, with a clear understanding that nothing is perfect and everything has a learning curve……

sprinkled in between this, was a trip to Beijing China. It had been 8 years, and the change, and face lift the city has had with the push of the Olympics was mind boggling… I did not recognize it. It was evident, that there is a shift in the world and the Chinese are the new big players. The days actually where spent doing an IT Audit for an International School there…the visit, conversations, observations, and collective discussions brought about a lot of points of reflection on my own role as an IT Director. It is always so much easier going into a school and looking from the outside inside, and then coming up with talking points, frameworks and observations for improvement, or enhancements. It is interesting how this whole area of having IT Audit done by other International School IT folks is still new. I think the exchange and collaboration bring a lot to both parties. I left after a busy busy three days, with greater clarity on my own goals, and direction, strategy and belief about the school I work in, and the people I collaborate with. In return I from the outside was able to restate, re-frame many understanding about the IT systems, process and procedures which where in place that need to be looked at, and enhanced AND that the staff and faculty themselves already had highlighted. As Jamie McKenzie always says ” there are no prophets in your own back yard.”

Next today I head out to Jakarta to help out with the http://www.learningdigital.org/ conference, which I will be facilitating workshops and co-presenting the Sunday Keynote….

it is often amazing how as an IT Director and part of a collaborative group of people in my school how often we get eaten up by the day, and almost are blinded by the day to day grudge of our responsibilities, variables and tasks, that there is little time to reflect, sit back, and get into the academic aspects of our work, and the impact and connections with the world outside. For me these trips are a unique opportunity to sit back, and connect and start remembering why I love this field and work… and how important that we understand we all are facilitators of an understanding of the Digital World out there around us. The pace, tempo and stress of International Schools tends to prevent us too often from reflecting and digging deeper into the meaning of our work, ideas, actions and plans. So as I head out, and get to spend a few days with other educators, and Jeff Utecht: http://www.thethinkingstick.com/ and David Elliot as co-faciliators of the keynotes…. my mind is ready for the academic juggle, exchange and sharing. This allowing again to frame my own day, and busyness with critical moments of refleciton on what this is all about…. Information Technology in International Schools.

John @ISTES

John@ISTES

So maybe if you cannot hang face to face, get online, get a Facebook, chat etc…. and go to them have them mentor you, and in the moments when you are both sitting next to each other let yourself listen, hear, nothing more, let them share their world, let them bring you in….from there it is still the same, it is about hanging out together, spending time…. in maybe a new paradigm but the basics are the same… human interaction.

John@ISETS