Creating Connections

Watch this 5 min video then read on.
(Remember iGen students prefer processing pictures, sounds, colour, and video before text)

Historia de un letrero. (Story of a Sign)

The context in which we experience an event, regardless of whether we are passive views or active participants shapes our connection to that event and those in it. As teachers of the iGen student the challenge is to create a context that takes students beyond the zombie zone where they are desensitised by digital media.

Alonso Álvarez Barreda uses the sign to create different connections to the man and his limitations. "Have compassion, I am blind" gives the viewer permission to distance themselves from the man. To be desensitised. Consider that the word compassion comes from an old french word meaning "suffer with".  It is difficult as an adult to develop a real connection with someone whose suffering is outside our experience. Brain research shows that the tween-agers and teenagers of today are still developing the ability to understand or share the feelings of another. It is even more challenging for students to relate to the man and his limitations than adults who should by adulthood have developed their prefrontal cortex for processing decisions that affect others.

The second sign, "It's a beautiful day and I can't see it" moves the focus from the man's disability to the viewer's ability. To be able to understand and share the feelings of someone who can not enjoy the beauty of the day depicted in the film is within the experience of all those who are viewing the film.  The beginning of the short film, showing the rich tapestry of life in which the man sits creates the context where the viewer connects with the reality of the man's suffering. The viewer is able to suffer with him when they consider what they can see but the man is unable to experience. The context created by the second sign provides the connection that moves the viewer from the zombie zone to empathy.

The vision statement in the New Zealand Curriculum states that young people need to be connected. They need to be able to relate well to others, to have empathy. Digital media is a powerful medium to build connections, to create empathy. The challenge is to carefully craft the context in which digital media is used and not de-sensitise students by bombarding them with digital content.

Give credit where credit is due. Use the original film "Historia de un letrero"
A shortened English version is available as an advert for Purple Feather. Much of the complexity of the five minute short film is lost in this version.

To view the tsunami in Japan from a context that creates empathy to go the following youtube clip. The clip is shot from a school.

Note: If you are over 18 (iGran) you probably read the blog to decide whether you would watch the clip. If you are under 18 (iGen)  you probably watched the clip to decide whether you would read the blog.

Related Resources:
iBrain - Small and Vorgan
Understanding the Digital Generation - Jukes, McCain, Crockett. 2010
NZ Curriculum Document.

Social Networking

The iGen student described in "Understanding the Digital Generation" Juke, McCain, Crockett (2010) prefers to "network simultaneously with many others."

Blocking of social networking sites creates an environment where students use unprotected mobile networks to maintain their social networks at school. I do not advocate the use of FaceBook for students of Primary or Intermediate age students. It has little merit as a communication tool for this age but can provide easy access to images that are relevant to the student. 

Schools today need to create an environment that allows students to choose the correct tool to network for learning and for social interaction within school. Learning to use the right vehicle for getting the message across, along with adapting the content to the audience have always been important skills for both students and adults.

Education needs to realise that social networking sites such as Facebook are used by a large cross-section of society to maintain both social and business networks. More than 500 million Facebook users makes it a mainstream communication tool. Teachers need access to social networking sites. They need to be one of the 500 million so they can engage in those powerful conversations with students around appropriate use of the internet for learning and for participating in society. I need to state again that blocking of social networking sites creates an environment where students will use unprotected mobile networks to maintain their social networks at school.

Explore Facebook for your own development. If you want a social networking solution for your classroom try Twiducate.

In April the staff watched an iGen Presentation that introduced the seven preferences explored in the book mentioned above. A great read. Watch the presentation here. 

Mobile Networks in Schools

When I think back to 2003 and the dangers of searching Bill Clinton on the internet I still break out in a cold sweat. I do not support free access to the internet within schools. A combination of web filtering using such agencies as watchdog and self managing which sites are unblocked has provided an opportunity for schools to teach students digital citizenship within a safe environment and creates many rich learning opportunities. Up until 2009 I was confident that our internet security at school protected students and staff from objectionable material including reducing the number of emails of questionable origins. 

However the network landscape has changed over the last 12 months. A significant number of students have their own mobile phones and now also have internet via the mobile network. The telecom stick, vodafone's mobile modems and 3G enabled computers and iDevices are giving students affordable access anytime, anywhere.  All our security at the network gateway to the school offers no protection to these students and their peers that share their devices.

With this development the focus on digital citizenship gains more importance for the students and teachers of today.