Collaboration in education is not a new concept, but the idea of using social media for collaboration in education is relatively new considering the age of our education system. Technology has only recently provided the tools to make this possible on a large, even global, scale. In order to successfully engage in this most recent form of collaboration two things need to be understood; the use of technology, and its applications designed for collaboration, and the culture of collaboration among those using that technology. Our most effective education collaborators and thought leaders seem to have a thorough understanding of both.
Although sharing is the key element to collaboration there is more to it than just that. Feedback is important for additions and subtractions for improving ideas. If one is to be a successful collaborator then responding in some way to other educators becomes essential. Without responding, there is no collaboration.
Discussion of ideas is made possible on several applications; the most used source for professional exchanges is probably Twitter, followed by Facebook, LinkedIn, and then any number of Ning Communities for educators with their Blog and Discussion Pages. Commenting on Education Blogs is also another way to extend the collaboration, often in much more detail. Engaging in these practices will broaden the discussion of education among those who need the answers the most, the educators. Many education thought leaders are passionate about education and that passion is both needed and infectious. If educators just shared those passionate ideas with the people that they were connected with, we could have a movement. Never answer for the knowledge of another. You have no idea who knows what. Never assume everyone has heard about one subject, or another, or that they understand it in detail. Just pass along the information for them to decide.
What information is important? Certainly any specific information pertaining to your field of endeavor would be important especially to those who follow you from the same field. Additionally, you should share general information pertaining to Education, methodology, pedagogy, the brain, research and any innovative education ideas. These would come in the form of links to websites, articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts, graphs, and also any other tweets educators may be sharing. A most important contribution is the sharing of successes in the classroom. Your successes may spark enlightenment in a number of other educators. Your successful everyday practices may be innovative to others.
If we as educators made collaboration a common practice among all educators there might not be a need for a common core. Collectively we are all smarter than we are individually. Our common core would be developed by the connection and collaboration of educators. Educators could address their own concerns and professional development without interference by politicians and profiteers. It does require that we become involved in connecting with other educators in a supportive, respectful, collaborative way. Better education for students will be the direct result of better education for our educators.
My Island View 
Great article and I agree wholeheartedly. The only thing I would add is that it’s also important to share and reflect on things we tried in our classes and schools that failed. Lots to be learned from this, and helps drive innovation if we are not afraid to try and fail.
I agree with the need for educators to connect and use social media to engage with other educators. However, I wonder about how to use social media mindfully: that is, with all of these various ways to remain connected, and with all of this wonderful information coming to us now, how is there actually time to meaningfully process it all, much less respond to it?
Twitter is a magnificent example in my mind of (valuable) information overload. I follow roughly 300 people on Twitter, most of whom are educators or social commentators whose focus is often germane to education. If I tried to keep up with everything that was being said by those 300 people, I’d be looking at it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And that is with following a relatively small number of people! I am not sure that this is a sustainable path to follow.
I think part of the issue is that for so long, educators have been isolated within their own schools, or within their own departments. Most of us never really had opportunities to genuinely connect with fellow educators in other towns, states, or countries. Now that social media has come along and become established, teachers now have an embarrassment of riches, in terms of the interesting people we can follow, read, and engage with, and it’s very simple to immediately connect with lots and lots of different people in a variety of ways. We need to learn how to be mindful about how frequently and how deeply we dive into the social media ocean – we have an amazing set of tools at our disposal, but I’m not convinced we have the requisite wisdom needed to use them well yet.
It’s often pleasantly surprising to read a fresh perspective on something I thought I already ‘know’.
@gfrblxt,
I think the waterfall analogy of becoming inundated with Twitter can be quite accurate! However, that is why there are things like structured educational chats lead by a moderator on a specific topic, and usually lasting less than one hour.
It’s not that you need to respond (or even read!) every post- it’s that you take away what you can, when you can.
Just my thoughts 🙂
@kcalderw, we missed you being in person today at #TMNash! Hope to bump into you again sometime. Excellent blog post!
Sorry Tom- I wasn’t paying attention to who wrote this! It was shared by Kyle and I wasn’t paying attention.
Summer Brain!
[…] Collaboration in education is not a new concept, but the idea of using social media for collaboration in education is relatively new considering the age of our education system. Technology has only… […]
[…] The cost of being a collaborative, connected educator | My Island View […]