Social Media

One of my classmates raised the question: If nobody comments on her blog, can you consider her blog a form of social media?

Her question influenced my definition of social media, which is now:

social media is the technology which, when used as designed, connects people and ideas, and gives ordinary people a platform on which to speak to the world

In the article we read, I thought the word "context" was important. Of utmost importance is our "ability to speak into the context others have created". I've been learning a lot about the context of Twitter and analyzing how microblogging can actually help my students. It turns out, I just may be getting sold on it. I love (and hate!) the 140-character limit. I can't believe how quickly I am cut off when I try to make a grammar point. If I use it within the context it was designed, I am forced to get straight to the point rather than padding it with all kinds of jargon and preamble. This has been a good exercise for me and I would imagine that it is more beneficial to my students that way.

Because I am teaching communication skills within a Canadian context to nurses who are non-native English speakers, interaction is the most important technological affordance for our program. This can be tricky since we deal with resistance to the online format for this interaction. I was excited to find a link to an article in our readings on how to successfully teach medical professionals through simulated reality in Second Life: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/15-can-medical-students-learn-to-save-real-lives-in-second-life.

The other affordance that is crucial is access. Our students need a place where they can access the content of the program and get information relevant to their field.

A Confession about Wikipedia

This week's task was to create an account and go into Wikipedia as an editor for the first time. I noticed my classmates had made some excellent additions to the existing explanation on what it means to be a lifelong learner. While checking things out, I got a bit obsessed with correcting little typos and punctuation/capitalization errors (not necessarily to any of my classmates' work specifically, but just as I saw things in the first couple sections before needing to shift my focus). As a result, I didn't end up contributing much in the way of content, and had to confess this fact to my classmates, admitting that it had been a tricky exercise for someone like me who can't get past some of those little pesky details.

Although my focus was a bit off, my confession opened up an interesting discussion among us as to the different roles we all can play as contributors and how user-generated content can be full of distracting grammar and usage errors. So, does that mean that the little editors like me are also worthy? Several of them responded with a hearty "yes" and my classmate, Anas, even stated "I worship those who correct my typos" because he enjoys contributing the content in his mind without interrupting his flow of thoughts by considering the syntax. He stated it was "magical" to find it all corrected the next day, citing the fable The Elves and the Shoemaker. As he was imagining elves, I was imagining little grammar fairies. Another classmate, Robyn, said she heard a speaker refer to "wiki gnomes" or "wiki gardeners" (those who tend to the wiki by cleaning it up so it can grow and be healthy).

So, considering Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia, we decided that the presentation of the information is equally as important as content. And so it was that, like the elves in the fable, I "laughed and danced for joy" today.

All I Want for Christmas

I admit it. I use search engines to look myself up online. I search my own name and I’ll possibly search your name too.

Last week, I mentioned that I had to shut my blog down. Because I used it as a fun journal of reflections, I started to feel invaded and violated when friends would read my thoughts or stories before I could tell them myself. Although I quickly secured it for invited guests only, certain lines from it still appear.

So, how exactly do I marry my professional presence with my opinions about Jeanne’s cakes and cilantro?

Secondly, I once entered a contest called “Secrets to a Happy Marriage” and was determined to win the weekend get-away they advertised. What I wrote was true, but it was also personal…and was intended for their magazine (hard copy). Apparently, they put it online too, and authorized a variety of other online magazines to use it as well. Although there is nothing shocking or crazy in the smug little nuggets I shared about my wonderful marriage (note the sarcasm), I am mortified that THIS is what a potential employer, new colleague, or new friend will read about me in a search.  The context is removed, and now I am one of the people Fred Stutzman refers to when he states “the technology everyone wants is the laser to remove bad results from Google.” (Digital Footprints, p5). Yes, it’s true – I’ve put the laser-removal technology on my Christmas wish list…but will Santa do a Google search and find I’ve been naughty?

My passive digital footprint includes some guides I wrote to help internationally-educated nurses succeed here in Canada. I would like my students to find those, but not to have to navigate through all the silliness first. I don’t want my students to know about my personal preferences, my marriage or my read my blogged anecdotes about the dailyness of my life.  I’m not a fan of tools which make my activities at the moment known, but will allow for that only when I host Skype classes or send the occasional tweet about a grammar issue that is plaguing me right then.

The question arises as to privacy and identity being based on “west-world views”. Many of my students are new Canadians, coming from cultures where privacy is highly valued (despite their tight-knit living arrangements).  Posting their picture on our website and answering my questions about their likes and dislikes in their self-introductions is a challenge for many of them.  The younger the student is, the more likely they are to post their picture and introduce themselves beyond what their career path has been.  It can be hard for those of other cultural backgrounds to understand the confident self-promotion we preach when it comes to finding a job in North America (interview preparation required), particularly when you come from a culture where you are better off NOT singing your own praises. So, to develop a deliberate or active digital footprint is likely a big challenge if you don’t embrace our west-world views of tasteful self-promotion.

The tools I am interested in learning better are the web-conferencing/classroom tool called WiZiQ (which I’ve been asked to pilot with my nursing students) as well as discover how Twitter can contribute to my students’ learning. I’m not sold on either WiZiQ or Twitter so it will be a challenge for me.