In the Social Networking we've taken on a difficult issue in Assignment 20.
Social media has threaded itself into our society. For many, it's amplified struggles with long standing battles: our penchant to entertain ourselves, struggles in how we communicate, relevancy, learning, connecting, peer pressure, social cliques, harassment, stalking... you name it. People get scared, and in many cases, justly so.
With all those issues per se, Social Media has also opened up incredible opportunities in our world to make connections and to learn.
Each student in the class has been asked to dig deep and explore the feelings of the older generation, an adult on campus and also one (or both) of their parents and / or guardians on this issue.
These tools didn't exist 10 years ago... but every generation has had it's issues, it's distractions with gadgets, and struggled with the social issues around them. Here are a few to refresh the memory!
Just ask someone who's over the age of 30 now what their parents thought of them 'spending so much time on that ridiculous telephone,' or how they 'could spend so much time watching television!'
We were receivers back then primarily... we watched and listened for the most part. Now it's about creating, publishing and group conversations. With the advancement of technology though, computers, the internet, mobile technology, the transition from what we term web 1.0 to web 2.0 (and 3.0 on the horizon)... all those old traditional conversations are accelerated, they get magnified. If things are accelerating, than so must our resolve to teach communication and collaboration skills students need.
What does that mean for our future? Gaining some perspective of the past, present and future... we're hoping... will help ; )
I think an interesting extension of this assignment, would be to think about what the NEXT generation (your future children) might adopt that would make you uncomfortable. For example, Adam might be horrified if Baseball died off to be completely replaced by eSports. EA World Series 2025?
ReplyDeleteWhere is the threshold of comfort for the current generation, and what would unsettle them if their children adopted it as the "norm."
It's also interesting the rate at which things are changing. For example during my highschool years "IM" like AIM, ICQ, Jabber, were all the rage, long before social media existed. It quickly got supplanted, although still exists and is used.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it's odd to me that 10 years ago signing onto AIM was a daily ritual and how the primary method of communication for many youths. Now, it's all SMS, Twitter, etc. While I use all of those tools and find them useful. I already find myself saying "I wish more people still used IM."
Good point, Friar Nick. Thanks for chiming in.
ReplyDeleteI remember you using aim, being distracted... ; )
nice one
ReplyDelete