“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
And so, before I've even finished my Wakelet project from #eci831, (and yes, thanks for asking, this is actually the week where it all comes together--my class is working so hard--so I hope to have it complete by next weekend!) I'm embarking on another journey, YAY! I hope there is good candy and snacks along the way.
I started with a review of what my more prepared peers have already posted. Brad, for example, is doing a social media awareness campaign, which already puts his project on way higher ground than mine! Or Melinda, who is also doing an app I plan to cover, and others that I have never even heard of! Nancy is actually looking at seniors and their use of social media, and is going to develop a resource around that and digital citizenship. Others, like Daniel, are just looking forward to another great adventure learning from everyone in the class, and from our great professor, Alec Couros. I do feel blessed to be amongst so many great and talented educators. THE DRAINING POWERS OF SOCIAL MEDIA I began my personal journey with a quick reflection of my own interactions with social media. Just a few days ago, I opened the TikTok app, and marveled at how I literally drained 35 minutes of my life. Granted, this behavior is one I struggle with--I was procrastinating this post, among other things. I could have gone for a nice run in 35 minutes, I could have cleared my mind, found some peace--but TikTok is addicting. There are Memes about it. I did a lot of reading. I even bloody Googled about it, and found that there is a movement of Silicon tech people--from Bill Gates to Steve Jobs--who limit their own kids use of social media and technology. Head scratching, but enlightening? “Those devices in our pockets, are so psychologically powerful, that they don't only change what we do, they change who we are.”
Potter's book on Media Literacy talks about "automatic processing, information problems, media exposure, programming, automatic routines, gluts of information that aggressively pursue us" and other things. What is this social media beast?
And if we discover that the new medium brings along effects that might be detrimental to our society or culture, we have the opportunity to influence the development and evolution of the new innovation before the effects becomes pervasive.
SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE ME?
The hardest hitting quote from Mark Federman for me was the above. It is up to us to decide the value of something, and whether or not we are going to interact with it. Students can't help but be affected by their teachers, they spend so much time with us. That is why we have such a sacred job. So if something is detrimental, perhaps we can get ahead of it before much damage is done. Many social media platforms favor brevity over many other things. TikTok is a short 60 second or less video, with the default video being 15 seconds. Twitter is 280 characters. Do we lose anything when this is the case? Does it matter? I don't know, I just teach math and computer science. But I can think about it. And that's what I hope to do on my personal journey.
THE PLAN
So, in light all all this, my plan is to review a few social media platforms/apps, and see what their utility might be in the classroom, but I also plan to look at their utility for us in general in our lives. If I am going to use them with students, I would hope that they have the potential to be good for their development and growth long term. I plan to examine the educational uses, life uses, drawbacks, and controversies around.... -Wakelet (well, I'm already doing a bunch of stuff with this already, so probably time for a nice review of it? I also happen to think it's the best thing since sliced bread!) -TikTok (can it be useful in the classroom? Or is it just something everyone looks at? I've just recently started using this app) -Twitter (this one seems obvious to review, both for educational purposes and just general life purposes) -YouTube (and it's potential both in and out of the class) -Something else (yes, mystery! This is a maybe, as time permits ... it will all become clear!) Alrighty. I'd like to leave off with one last article... I found it interesting, and I do believe the picture actually got shared in our last class...
I found a good thought piece about it, so I'll leave you with a quote for thought. Thanks for sticking with it...
Stay Curious, Matteo But the most important difference is what happens after the newspaper was done: people talked to each other about what they’d just read. They could engage in a civic discourse about the news of the day, because they were all reading the same basic material.
8 Comments
Dean Vendramin
1/20/2020 05:15:14 am
Great review. The social media drain is real. Maybe for the mystery app you could make one or at least do up a mock up. You have the skills and are creative for sure. Thanks
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Matteo Di Muro
1/20/2020 10:44:11 pm
Thanks Dean. Something I'll have to consider! I value the feedback! Thank you very much! I am looking forward to your post, and your project!! Cheers!
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Victoria Parisien
1/20/2020 10:32:47 am
Somehow your synopsis of Federman's writing was clearer to me than re-reading it four times! So thanks!
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Matteo Di Muro
1/20/2020 10:49:23 pm
Victoria, thank you so much for your kind words! I am going to do my best in keeping everyone updated, and hopefully, it will be useful! :) I look forward to reading about your journey!
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Brad Raes
1/20/2020 10:40:33 am
Glad to see you doing this project. I want to see the utility of these apps... but don't really want to dive in to them personally. This will be a great third person exploration!
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Matteo Di Muro
1/20/2020 10:50:16 pm
Brad, I am more than happy to do the "dirty work" on these ones. I am strangely excited for TikTok, because I think it'll be a blood bath so to speak. I plan to get some of my most vocal students involved on that one, so we'll see what THEY think, haha.
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Nancy
1/20/2020 08:31:48 pm
I have had to navigate how I don't get sucked down the rabbit hole of spending too much time on social media. I try to manage my time by allowing it at times like when I commute to and from work via the C train. This gives me a set time I can browse.
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Matteo,
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AuthorMy name is Matteo Di Muro, the original Prairie Boy, and I've been teaching since I was 14. I currently teach mathematics and computer science in Brandon. I try to keep on learning things, and I'm getting onboard with sharing with others, hence this site! Archives
March 2020
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