On Privacy

There's a lot of talk about the need for privacy, especially online privacy regarding personal information. I would agree that users, regardless of their age, need to be aware of the kind of information about themselves that they are spreading online and who might have access to it. It's not unheard of for companies to collect information as a form of market testing or consumer research without informing visitors to their websites.

Discussions regarding young people and privacy however, also tend to talk about the amount of self-disclosure that young people do on social networks. It's particularly common for older people to be shocked at the photos being shown, or to bring up rumours of applicants being turned down for jobs based on things that are mentioned or shown on their Facebook/Myspace page. This is the kind of notion of privacy that I find interesting because it seems to argue that the idea of "privacy" is a static one - that what constitutes a private moment for baby boomers would be the same as for the so-called net generation or the even more so-called "Greatest Generation" (that pre-dated the boomers). All one as to do is read newspapers from different periods and look at the kinds of activities that are mentioned for prominent citizens and what can see that definitions of privacy have changed over time.

Notions of scandalous behaviour have also changed between generations and so I think that a lot of these pictures on social networks of ill-advised behaviours might not be shocking one day, perhaps once all the baby boomers have retired.

Schooling is a Social Function

Supposedly, Mark Twain once wrote, "Don't let school get in the way of your education," suggesting that there is a difference between "school" and "education" even though most schools and school districts would define themselves as "learning" or "educational" institutions. Perhaps though, the idea that Twain had in mind, was that an education revolved around personal interests and experiences (a la "my education"), whereas a bureaucratic institution such as a school, has always carried with it certain top-down notions (i.e., the increasingly popular and derogatory "You got schooled"). A school, typically, exposes all students to a pre-defined set of experiences and information, while an education is a unique result of the personal reaction to those experiences and information.

As spring break draws to a close and the school year gears up for its final thrust, we have been thinking a lot about the role that social networks can play in "21st Century Learning". In the course of our research, second generation terms like "Web 2.0", "School 2.0" and "Classroom 2.0" have cropped up time and time again. Here are three good links that provide some interesting points on the whole idea:

David Warlick, "I'm getting Diigo"

Working Toward Excellence, "A Glossary of Classroom 2.0 Terms"

Now Is Gone, "The Four C's of Social Engagement"


We would agree with Warlick that the future of the textbook ought to be as some sort of nexus where students could engage with each other over. However, we would extend this idea a little farther, as we personally question the need for a textbook at all. In our opinion, Warlick's key idea is that students engage around the course content, which is usually contained within the textbook. The user experience within a social network, gives emphasis on personal choice to direct, and help co-create experiences, something more in line with Mark Twain's take on schooling and education mentioned above. The article, "The Four C's of Social Engagement" describes some fairly typical ways that businesses and marketing agencies are using social networks, and the question that we find ourselves asking is, what is stopping us as educators from doing the same thing?