OK, today is my day to vent. I’ve waited several days since finding out that the great state of TN has blocked Twitter. Someone finally realized the website was being utilized (after spending all year so far Twitting several times a day…every day). I filled out the appropriate forms to have the site reopened, but it was denied because it is listed as a “social networking” site. Well, duh!
Now, I don’t use Twitter with my students. To my knowledge, none of the students in my classes have even heard of Twitter. I have read of students who utilize Twitter through cell phone updates, thus eliminating the need for computers (and working around computer filters). If this is going on with my kids, I am totally unaware. Being a teacher about to turn 50, totally unaware is often the perfect state of mind.
However, I DO use Twitter to connect with other educators across the country and literally around the world. I follow people from east coast to west coast, north to south, Canada, China, Australia, and more. While much of my Twitter experience has been pleasant and polite banter with people who share similar interests to mine, the real gem of Twitter are the links provided by people who have just discovered something important and want to share it with other teachers who will probably put it to use.
I share a lot of my Web2.0 sites with other teachers on my campus, but so far I’ve had few takers. Four of us use Google Talk to share ideas across campus during the day. Two have signed up for Twitter, but neither of them have updated anything in over two months. No, my pleasure comes from sharing ideas, websites, innovations, videos, pictures, and more with other people who, like me, will probably use these tools for the benefit of their students, their families, or themselves.
Back to my venting.
I thought the idea of education today was primarily based on a constructivist view of learning that states all learning is socially constructed. Notice the key word: socially. I understand the need to do what we can to protect students while online at our schools. I am glad we have filters most of the time.
What I don’t understand is why we can’t find a work around where teachers have a log in that allows them to utilize social networks like Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, and others while still filtering those sites away from kids who might abuse them, or be abused by them, in some way. How hard can that be? Does one filter really fit all?
After all, MTV, MusicJesus, and a host of other video and music sites are readily available to everyone. These sites contain songs with explicit lyrics that we simply do not tolerate on our school campuses. They show men and women in various states of undress and sexually compromising situations. They condone violence against women, police, and anybody else who isn’t like the song’s writer/singer/performer. Yet, we make no attempt to filter these things in order to protect our students.
Filter things? Yes. But don’t throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Don’t hamstring the educational process. Don’t just click a button and say, “Wow, another one bites the dust.” Let’s think about how these systems can be used for educational benefit and try to find a solution that works for all.
OK, my venting is done. There’s nothing else to see here. Everybody get back to work.
(NOTE: I do have a work around for Twitter. Twitbin still works as an aggregator, but the filters do not allow me to click on any names to add someone to my following list, nor do they allow me to access my own account privately).
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