According to the Oxford Dictionary to communicate is ‘To share or exchange information, news, or ideas.’
The evolution of communication has been a fascinating journey over the past 5000 years. From papyrus, stone tablets and smoke signals to postal systems, newspapers and telephones. Humans find ingenious ways to communicate. The last 50 years in particular has seen an incredible adjustment in how we communicate with the invention of the internet.
Some initial discussions of the ‘Network Working Group’ in 1968 indicate the internet’s purpose was to increase communication systems. In a meeting with the Stanford Research Insistute ‘the group discussed solving issues related to getting hosts to communicate with each other.”
The initial impact that the internet had on me personally was contact by email when I attended University in the mid 1990’s. Being able to use the college library computers to contact friends and family around the world, for free, was mind blowing. Then in the noughties came the increased availability of content and information that gradually changed the way I researched information. As the internet became increasingly accessible, a wide range of instant information became easily within our reach. As Will Richardson explains in his article ‘Collaboration Age Technology’ “Experts are at our fingertips, through our keyboards or cell phones, if we know how to find and connect to them. Content and information are everywhere, not just in textbooks.”
As a teacher this access to information has made an immense difference to how I can plan, research, prepare and deliver my lessons. However,we have now moved beyond just seeking information conveniently. The web 2.0 revolution has altered the way we can use the internet drastically. As Jeff Utecht describes in Reach “Web 2.0 allows anyone to create content. No longer are there consumers and producers. We have all become prosumers (Wikipedia, 2009): Creating knowledge as we consume.”
This idea of creating knowledge as we consume is an exciting development in education. To successfully utilise this potential a successful network becomes increasingly important. Identifying what a network is and the need for a network has to be the first step. Jeff Utecht describes these in ‘Reach’ as “What makes it a network is when you start using the collective intelligence of others to find information, resources, and collaboration on projects.”
As an educator this concept of a collective intelligence is an exciting development. The wealth of information can be overwhelming to the point where some educators are unsure of how or if to proceed. I had an interesting discussion recently with a colleague who is a high school maths teacher. They felt it was irrelevant to progress with technology in the classroom as students have to prepare for written formal examinations. I argued however that whilst formal examinations are taking a while to catch up, the personal experience of our students is quickly advancing.
Students are using the internet to learn, discuss, create, inspire, reflect, publish and progress. As outlined below in a study of US internet usage over a third of 12-17 year olds are considered creators on the internet who publish and share their work.
As a primary educator of year 3 students I have the challenge of finding practical ways of engaging students in successful networks that enhance their learning. This mass of connections has incredible potential that most educators are only just beginning to tap into. As I develop my own personal learning network I am hoping to extend myself as an educator, and to discover how to find the tools and skills necessary to help my students connect and create on-line. Hopefully from learning and sharing with other like-minded educators I can help my students to reach their potential as creators.
It could be argued that our role as educators of communication has changed because communication itself has evolved. I believe we are now preparing our students to share or exchange information, news, or ideas and to contribute, reflect on and create new ideas.
I love the infograph about what people are doing online. I think this mirrors my use as well. My question is how do we build the confidence to help people (students and ourselves) to step into the creation side of online usage. It is comfortable and easy to hide as a joiner and spectator. Creating new ideas takes confidence.
Thanks Heidi, I agree that we need the confidence to transition from spectators to creative contributors. I believe this is especially important for educators as it is our responsibility to help prepare students for the future.
I agree. I too liked the infographic. It carries over a lot of data in a very visual, easy to read manner. It scared me also to see how the older generations are the least creative. Is it not so that in that in Blooms digital taxonomy creativity is now placed above all the other skills? So many times I have been amazed by the digital (and analogue) creativity by students it is not a surprise anymore. I sometimes wish that I was in the younger age bracket for that natural flare and willingness to spend the time, adapt to new projects and produce something that is truly useful and inspiring. No reason not to start (or to encourage others).
It is interesting how the older generations are the least creative on-line. We can learn a lot from how younger students are more confident publishing and creating on-line. The obvious difference is it is all they have known so are more accepting, whereas my generation remember the ‘time before internet’ and are more cautious. Thanks to this COETAIL course I am ‘creating and contributing’ more.
Hi @amandamccloskey – I think you may soon find value in using the Groups feature (I’ll note this in a future blog post) to also seek out those teaching elementary years, etc. There will likely be some more focused conversations happening there in addition to the broader topics covered in our blog posts.
The PLN you’re developing will pay dividends!
And I think you’re absolutely right that communication has been morphing at an astounding rate. Twitter is only 8 years old. Facebook a bit more than that, but some of the most widely used tools now are even newer than that (whatsapp, Instagram, snapchat, etc). The exponential rate of change we’re experiencing is exciting but daunting, especially when trying to keep up.