The LAB-rynth of Science

At first I considered naming this blog, “Looking for Love in all the wrong places”, but that is really not what is going on in Classroom 2.0.  The participants are examining change, a fundamental change in the manner of communication.  Whether or not my contrarian approach to concept of social networking approves or disapproves, is really irrelevant.  To paraphrase the famous line from Poltergeist, “It’s here!”. 

Let’s address the official view.  From reading the governmental publication, Creating & Connecting, I felt that there are two basic concerns.    First was that the segment of the school populace referred to as the nonconformists were ahead in the application of social networking and this is somehow detrimental of the education establishment.  Nonconformist is a term I don’t particularly care for.  How about the disconnected – disconnected from the belief that the skill sets taught in school are of little real value.  Smart kids, under-achieving grades.  When queried, the only significant thing that Madonna was remembered for in high school by her teachers was that she didn’t shave under her arms.  If you really want a heads up about what the disconnected are evolving into, you need to read Dr. Steven Mizrach article, Technology and the Transformation of Identity.   But I digress.  Being smart kids, they find an outlet for the need to express themselves.  Ta-Da!  The Internet!  We are, of course, as educators, obligated to reconnect the disconnected.  To do so, we must establish communication on their level.  Again, the many facets of the Internet.  The publication continues with recommendations to address the use of social networking in education.

 But publication also states how reluctant administrations are to implement these changes?  Why?  For the same reason that many of my colleagues and myself are not rushing into this brave, new world.  Assessment or rather the lack of valid assessment.  Administrators of education institutions face parents that want grades, government bureaucrats that want measured achievement improvement, admission officials that want a means of comparison.   Assessment!

So I proceeded to do my Ning thing.  And this is where my first blog title came to mind.  After spending more than a hour searching Ning under the topics of science, chemistry and physics, most of the Ning linkages lack two things – relevant content and members.  Yes, I know that Mr. Richardson in the opening session that most bloggers only have five  or six frequent readers, but with most Ning networks in these areas were one, two or three.  And most were looking for assistance, hence the lack of content.  I did see several social groups gather about a particular teacher course or class.  But that specific approach seemed to have a limited appeal.  So for now I do not see a specific application for my course.

However, I personally took the plunge.  I did sign up for Content and Technology group in Classroom 2.0.  Or at least I think I did.  The methodology for registering for a particular group is a little vague.  Oh, yes, Klingon Confederation looked interesting, but I only speak Andorian and Vulcan.

Just in case, a reader may think that this commentator is opposed to social networking, let me assure that is not the case.  I belong to three professional list servers which according to the email administrator at Woodward is constantly over-filling my Inbox.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 10:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.