It was ten past one on a Sunday afternoon in West Hollywood. As I sat inside La Conversation waiting for my friend to arrive, I looked around the room admiring the beautiful décor of a bygone era. I couldn’t help but daydream about what it was like in Paris during the 1920s when all of this design was considered cutting edge. My daydream came to a close as the waiter set down a glass of water with a lemon wedge on my wobbly vintage table. I quickly snapped out of my trance and unwrapped the straw he left by my glass. I peeled off the paper slowly and nearly giggled as if I found a golden ticket. A bendy straw! Oh how I love bendy straws! The simplest things bring me so much joy.
I could go on and on
about how much I love bendy straws. The sheer surprise you experience when you unwrap
the paper and expect to find an ordinary straw. The accordion shape the makes a
funny sound when it expands and contracts. And I must say, bendy straws are the
most courteous straws I’ve ever encountered. They bend any which way to
accommodate the drinker. It’s almost as if they reply with, “Oh, you want to
sip from this direction madam? My pleasure!”
Now you’re probably
thinking, what on earth do bendy straws have to do with social media? Well, it’s
these little things that we take for granted that make our lives so much
easier. Of course there are some days that I curse the Internet for making life
so fast-paced that I feel like I need a vacation by lunchtime. But with all due
respect, the Internet has made my life as a student a heck of a lot easier. I
am so thankful I don’t have to rely on Encyclopedia Britannica copies at the
library in order to research a topic or write a paper. My backpack is a lot
lighter when I have the option of having all my textbooks on the Kindle or
iPad. Not to mention the amount of storage space available on my shelves and
trees still standing.
Social media has made
it possible for the individual to become a journalist, a revolutionary, a writer,
an actor, a collaborator, a virtual assistant and an autonomous student. The Internet has made it so easy to
produce content, network with colleagues and connect with people all over the
world. If I want to read articles from my favorite sources I can subscribe to RSS
feeds. If I want to discover new music, I can go to Pandora. Netflix and Hulu
make it easy to watch documentaries and movies instantly. What about keeping in
touch with friends from Australia? Thanks to Skype, I can make phone calls via
the computer for free and I can see them too. Ehow and YouTube supply me with
endless tutorials and step-by-step instructions on everything from how to put
together a stellar power point presentation to learning the choreography of
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
The information found
on the Internet is helpful, but there’s also a lot of nonsense out there. I
think it’s easy to get distracted or lazy about what we’re reading. It’s
important that students remember that not everything on the Internet is factual
and that it is crucial for educators to teach students the process of
evaluating information critically and effectively. There are a lot of people
out there with ill motives, so it’s important to discuss safety issues with
students so they can avoid getting into dangerous situations.
Ideally, my classroom
would be equipped with computers, WiFi and a webcam with a giant screen in
order to video conference with other classrooms around the world. Coding should
be taught in addition to mathematics and other sciences. Many of these
resources are already available through online services like Codeacademy. I
believe technical literacy will springboard the next generation of web
entrepreneurs and future leaders.
I hope all kids can experience a classroom such as you describe. You've got a vision of what the Internet makes possible, while still being pragmatic about the dangers. Internet safety and information literacy are skills that everyone needs, and it's never too early to start teaching those skills within the context of the power of the web. They will never become self-directed learners unless they get the opportunity to explore the internet in all its wonder and distraction.
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe you can bring in bendy straws to show them another tool that adapts to their whims :)
Your blog post made me laugh out loud. I agree that a bendy straw is a great unexpected surprise that can remind you of when you were a kid. It would be an interesting thing to bring to class as Molly mentions to show kids that even basic items tha are not very technologically advanced can still be fun and cool. Your idea for the perfect classroom sounds great to me. As I mentioned in my own personal blog and some of my comments on others I think we need to embrace the technology because it is coming whether we like it or not and use it to inspire kids. Show them the positive things they can do with it to enrich their lives by making them smarter, saving them time or even making them laugh to provide a mental break from the rigors of life.
ReplyDelete