It has been almost a week since I went to EduCon 2.3 in Philadelphia, and I am still going over many things in my head that I discussed, or experienced in that atmosphere of educational collaboration. “What is EduCon?” you may ask. “It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools.” The “in person” attendance was limited to 300 educators who came from all over the country. Many of the attendees were educators who were connected to each other through Social Media. Many, although maybe meeting face to face for the first time, were very familiar with the beliefs and attributes of their fellow attendees long before this conference.
Social Media is the new factor in educational conferences that is changing the way many educators interact. Its effect is not only taking hold on educators at conferences, but on the population of countries as well. Social Media is having a profound effect on the revolution going on in the Middle East. The first reaction of repressive governments used to be to control the TV and Radio stations. Today, their first reaction to revolt is to block the internet, specifically Twitter and Facebook. This control of social Media has become a prime directive in China. The idea of keeping entire populations without access to technology of any kind, with the possible exception of weapons, may be a goal of many Middle Eastern countries
I have said enough about international conflict, so back to Philly and EduCon 2.3. I really enjoyed going out with so many people after a day of conferring on Education. At my hotel we gathered a group of about 30 people for dinner. It was great meeting in the hotel lobby. The energy level was high with everyone recapping the events of the day. We were expanding and exploring much of day’s topics, while interspersing jokes and personal anecdotes. After traveling to two restaurants and realizing that no one was going to host a group of 30 people we broke down into two groups. My group of about a dozen people went to a really nice pub that took us in and seated us in an isolated alcove at the back of the pub.
As we were seated, we resembled any group of close friends out for a night of celebration and frivolity. That appearance belied the fact that many of us, although familiar with each other through social media, were together face to face for the first time. It mattered not because of our strong connections developed virtually through social media over the past year. We had a great time talking about the day, the people we met and the things we had learned.
The Waiter brought the menus and we all perused the fare to decide on our meals. After the orders were given and the waiter went off with his order pad and something happened. Everyone at the table, I think it was twelve total, pulled out their mobile learning devices to check-in, tweet out or catch-up. Some even texted the other half of the original group from our hotel. My immediate reaction was to ask the group, would you do this at a restaurant with your families? Of course the response was a resounding NO. “They do not understand” was in the majority of responses. The smart phones, or mobile learning devices, were then used to share with each of the dinners family photos, links to educational sites, blogs, and sites stored from the day’s encounters. It was a collaboration fest. The sight that grabbed me was that a dozen people, all seated at a long combination of tables, were all looking at their individual mobile learning devices all at the same time. It took about ten minutes until the first round of drinks arrived and the devices disappeared and the face to face socializing began.
The encounter stuck with me through the next day. The idea of how mobile learning devices have crept into our interaction and collaboration began to implant itself in my head. I knew how it affected me, but now I observed its effect on many educator/learners who I have come to know and respect. The next day at the conference I continued my observation of mobile learning devices. In every session I attended, I observed a great majority of the attendees using Laptops, I Pads, or Smart Phones during each of the sessions. These learner educators were recording and back channeling information from each of the sessions. (Back Channeling is sending out comments, quotes, or reactions to a session or a speaker through social media.) These people represented some of the best informed educator learners in education today all using mobile technology to learn and collaborate.
Now for my reflection: It was obvious to me that some of the most avid learners that I have ever known have embraced mobile devices in their learning. They use it in their formal learning environments as well as personal lives. For these learners, learning technology is ubiquitous. (ubiquitous existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time; omnipresent.) Laptops, I Pads, and mobile phones were everywhere in this conference of über learners.
Now, I need to present my long-awaited reflection. I wonder, given the two examples offered, where should American education fall with a policy on Mobile Learning Devices. Should it follow the model of outstanding educators who are proven learners? That would involve the ubiquitous use of learning technologies. The other option: Should it follow the model of Middle Eastern countries attempting to keep their populations in the centuries of the past? Blocking the internet and controlling the use of Mobile Learning Devices. Should American Educators resist the advent of learning technologies, or should they embrace it. Embracing it will require Professional Development. Rejecting it requires absolutely nothing.
My Island View 
Devices are not the problem. Connectivity is. My school has been open to my students using laptops, but not phones and texting.
This post brings up lots of important considerations, Tom–not just in the field of education but for many other industry professionals as well. The fact is that technology allows lifelong learners to connect with other like-minded learners in ways that were previously impossible.
Until recently, it was either extremely difficult to interface with people in the same field (separated by geography) or prohibitively expensive. But now with technologically-facilitated education tools like Personal Learning Networks and Twitter, thought leaders and other engaged professionals can brainstorm, collaborate, and tackle tough issues in realtime. While it’s true that technology can always be (and sadly, is) used for utterly inane pursuits, we shouldn’t throw the educational baby out with the bathwater.
Yup! Mobile devices and connected learning have become nearly omnipresent. I was reading this contemplating how the interaction will be at our Board – Admin team retreat tomorrow that our small district in SE Nebraska is having. We are meeting off-site at a more remote locale which does not offer wi-fi and for which our team will not be able to access the e-meetings site we have all grown accustomed to and quite comfortable using for our meetings. The point of us selecting an alternate location for our discussion/work session tomorrow was to put the emphasis on face-to-face exchange and just have good candid talk. After reading your post, I will definitely be monitoring our interactions doing an informal tally each time one of us pulls out the Droid or the Blackberry to reference something. I would hypothesize it will be quite frequent. It will also feel like a bit of an anachronism to distribute hard copies of materials – something almost quaint / nostalgic about it! Thanks for reminder of necessity of PD to incorporate social networking tools for educators. We assume some will just come to it or naturally evolve into embracing it. We need to provide support for all to leverage its potential.
I know your point was about the use of social media and mobile devices within education and I firmly believe that educational institutions need to reflect society and therefore harness the power.
However, I was first struck by the fact that so many people brought out their mobile devices whilst in a social face-to-face situation. You say, that they quickly went away and great conversation occurred, but it made me think about the etiquette in such situations – are the people you are physically with, not more important than those awaiting your tweet or sms? Just another facet of tech use that our society that will sort out over time.
I believe that the most successful students will embrace mobile learning even if the school doesn’t allow it. Fortunately for them, the time the spend in school is a small fraction of their entire life. Certainly some schools will experiment with this type of innovation. The day may came when all schools use it. The question is how long will that take.
Tom….this issue doesn’t fall under netiquette as much as etiquette. But the former is far different from the latter. I’m not sure the latter even exists anymore.
One of my students told me many young people see it as inviting their connected world into all their conversations. The problem is that, unless you are lecturing or informing, you can only have a dialogue with the person you are looking at and talking too.
The solution is to use our tools thoughtfully. A Ming vase is not a hammer. A cellphone can be a scalpel to cut others out of our lives.
Here’s a great link from Wired about the dangers of “Hyper-Connectivity”: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_nicholas_carr/all/1
Cheers,
Tom
Celia writes:
“…are the people you are physically with, not more important than those awaiting your tweet or sms?”
I would suggest that the hierarchy of who is more important in a social situation, present vs. digital/cyber, is flattening into a more lateral relationship. The notion of what makes a social interaction nowadays is ever expanding.
Thanks for the post Tom and for all the comments.
Erin
The difference between students and adults that I notice is that when students pull out devices they do it strictly for play – games, checking out sports scores, text/chatting with friends. Adults use the devices to enhance their professional work.
Kids don’t use devices for work automatically.
Fran
It is difficult to hold kids accountable for things that we do not teach them. If Mobile Learning Devices are to be taken seriously as tools for learning, educators need to really take them seriously. They need to be introduced to kids early and used often.
As a technology teacher as well as an English teacher, I can have the most wonderful, engaging lesson in the computer lab, but a few kids will still prefer to play games or check sports scores if they can get away with it.
It’s the nature of kids. They can learn there are consequences – but they really don’t care and still prefer to play games. I don’t think you can ignore that when considering how to use mobile devices in the classroom – and that reality is one reason some educators don’t want mobile devices in the classroom.
I agree with what you are saying, but think there is a step missing here. Students use their mobile devices for play and chat because they are motivated to do so. I don’t see the same level of motivation to find answers to the big questions coming out of their classrooms. (maybe there are not big questions coming out of their classrooms that they care enough to seek answers for?)
We need to focus on creating learning experiences that are relevant and meaningful to them. Then, perhaps, they will start seeing the power of their mobile devices beyond games and chats.
Hello Tom
I read your thoughts with interest. Perhaps I can use this forum to share some of my frustrations re the way some schools are saying that they are changing, yet remain stuck like the Middle East… (My apologies to those who are not in this situation!)
I am on the verge of leaving education due to the numerous blocks school admin/technicians put in front of people who want to trial new technology. The red tape and struggles with technicians are driving me away. I am one of those who love keeping in touch with others via technology…however, I can only do that out of school. Even though every teacher has his/her own laptop, we are not allowed to access many, many sites (e.g. YouTube) at school, and we are also stopped from using our own internet to access these sites (e.g. if we want to show educational videos to the kids. For the purists out there, I use a tool to cut out undesirable ads from the videos). Our technician was helpful enough to unblock Keepvid so teachers could download videos from Youtube, but since YouTube is blocked nobody can access the videos to download anyway. This is only the beginning of my struggles. I made educational podcasts for my class. I lost these when an eager technician took it upon himself to delete all MP3 recordings from my laptop and from where I uploaded it to the school portal for the students. My laptop’s bluetooth won’t connect to the interactive whiteboards, and since this ‘problem’ does not seem significant enough, it is constantly pushed down to the bottom of the list of stuff to do. Our students have one to one devices, but cannot connect to the internet all at once (in fact, only about twenty percent of the cohort can get onto the net, the rest must wait and face frustration and boredom as the internet cannot facilitate them). ..I could go on and on and on. I am just over it. I want to teach the way I learn: Using technology. Unfortunately our ‘technology rich school’ is very poor in providing reliable access to the web tools and internet. Since teachers cannot use the technology in their classrooms, they are stuck using ‘traditional’ teaching methods (paper, teacher-talk and chalk). I also have to teach using these methods, even though I now know that there are so much more I could share with the kids. I know I could bring the world into the classroom, I know I could connect with my students online, I know I could model appropriate and responsible use of online tools… I know I could do all these things, but I can’t, because somewhere people are forgetting that just having technology but blocking effective use, bluffs only those who do not want to see the truth.
Nations that block technology must work hard at keeping information under wraps. Its very purposeful. Schools seem to have an easier time by just not being active and informed or interested in putting funds towards solving connectivity problems. It appears to be more about not understanding how to handle unlimited access to internet for everyone. Access means more devices, which means less blocking. At that point, it seems to me, is where the real issue is.
Last year I rewrote board policy to ensure that all could use Internet devices of choice in our wireless schools. The BOE possess the revised policies and our schools allow for Internet ready devices of choice to be used by any and all. Teachers have the right and responsibility to set conditions of use inside classrooms. We also launched several 24/7 iPad projects with high school esthetics andw issued iPads to several social needs learners and ELL learners. Just cinducted first survey of iPad users and overwhelmingly students say the device makes differences in how , when where and what they learn.
I expected more push back about the policy but that has not happened to date.
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