Knowledgeable v. Knowledge-Able

6/6/2015

As I watched Dr. Michael Wesch discuss the power of mass media conversations, especially the video segment with the gentleman giving away free hugs as an example of changing the traditional media paradigm (Wesch, 2010), I was reminded of another video I watched on Youtube. This one is called "How to start a movement? Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy" It humorously talks about the stages of starting a trend or doing something new. From the single person changing his behavior, to the first follower, to the avalanch of copy cats who emerge after the first few join (Huang, 2010).
If you watch the video it describes the process of creating a new movement. From being a lone nut, to the first follower, to embracing others who join as equals.

Television revolutionized the world. People were able to bring the conversation into their living rooms every evening, albeit it was a one way conversation. Walter Cronkite would talk to us about the events of the day around the country and the world. This made Walter one of the most powerful people in the country. What he said was recieved as the absolute truth. He, and other news reporters, had the voices in the conversation. People were disenfranchised from having a significant contribution to the dialogue.

When I first got a twitter account a few years ago, a fellow teacher of mine asked me why I wanted to be a pretentious human being. Tweeting out every though, idea, and letting people know what you are up to was considered to be a bit narcissistic by my colleagues. After watching this video, I have been thinking about my students and how often the instagram images of their world around them, they tweet every minor detail of their lives, they send pictures of their food to let the world know what they eat, they worry about college acceptance, and occasionally send out tweets for help out of ackward situations. This is the first time that the mass populace has been able to contribute to the national conversation, or any large conversation, in a real significant way, as you no longer need to be on telvision to have a voice. So are my students narcissistic (as my former colleague tried to label me), or are they merely grasping at relevance? Personally, I think they are looking for a way to be relevant and contribute something meaningful.

Here are some examples of tweets by teenagers about various situations they experience.

Huang, G. (2010, October 8). How to start a Movement? Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy [video file]. retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbaemWIljeQ

Vagianos, A. (Ed.). (2015). Best Tweets. Retrieved June 6, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/best-tweets/

Wesch, M (2010, October 12). From Knowlegable to Knowlege-Able [video file]. retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8.

4 Comments

Andrea Jacobs link

6/7/2015 09:23:46 am

This is a great sentence: "This is the first time that the mass populace has been able to contribute to the national conversation, or any large conversation, in a real significant way, as you no longer need to be on television to have a voice." You are absolutely right. We have seen so many instances recently of change occurring due to people taking to social media that never would have happened before. If we had a really poor experience at a hotel, for example, what could we do prior to social media? We could complain. We could write a letter to the manager. Now, if someone tweets about a poor experience or posts a negative review on yelp, the hotel can respond. This probably would never have happened prior to social media. The average person is able to make something happen because everyone's opinion is posted in a forum where each post is recognized. I also agree that people tweet and post various things not out of narcissism but because they want to contribute something meaningful. Now it's our turn to do that through this program. Let's see what we can do!

Jake Bowker link

6/7/2015 09:33:01 am

Michael,

Great post! It's funny you mentioned the word narcissist, as I had a similar experience with a colleague of mine this year. And I completely agree that your students (and all people, for that matter) are just exercising the fact that they do now have a voice and can be heard. Technology allows for that potential in powerful ways, across all demographics and issues. I think your examples of tweets by teenagers are amazing in that they show how creatively students are able to express themselves these days. We no longer live in a world perceived as a one-way street of information flow, but now live in a thriving freeway with hundreds of overpasses.

I'd never seen that movement video before! It's so true. I think the first follower is so crucial to any movement. I feel like when I started teaching, only a few students would buy into the work ethic I required of them. But this year, for example, I had a student transfer into my class from another one, not because of the fact that he only had 39% in the class, but because he was a minority in that class for wanting to try and was sabotaging his grade in order to fit in. I feel honored that the culture in our school is beginning shift toward a positive environment for learning.

I appreciate your interpretation of Dr. Wesch's video. As he mentions in the end, we should all strive to push our students to make meaning rather than to seek meaning (Wesch, 2010). Technology is a good vehicle to get this started!

Reference:

Wesch, M (2010, October 12). From Knowlegable to Knowlege-Able [video file]. retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8.

Natalie Priester link

6/13/2015 11:08:26 am

First of all, I also pictured “How to start a movement? Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy” as I watched Welsh’s video! On another note, it is disheartening to hear your colleagues’ view of social media. I wonder if their opinions have shifted over time. In my district, San Diego County Office of Education’s Juvenile Court and Community Schools, we held introduction to educational technology trainings a few years ago and helped diverse groups of teachers experience using social media to support their teaching. They created Twitter accounts, but many have abandoned them. Our hashtag, #sdjccs, is currently used by approximately five educators. However, I hope that a basic understanding of the usefulness of social media has helped my colleagues to see it as a tool instead of as a vice of a “pretentious human being.”

Amanda Wallace link

6/15/2015 02:48:57 am

I love the example of your student's tweet. I think it follows in the spirit of Twitter, short thoughts to be shared. The social networking train has left the station, and colleagues, (I have them too), that disparage all things in the twittersphere and beyond as completely narcissistic are not only shutting themselves from their students, they are closing themselves off from a large network of like minded teachers. Thanks for sharing.

Knowledgeable v. Knowledge-Able

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