I've been thinking about the role that social media plays in my day-to-day life. In some respects, the distraction is debilitating. Even when my phone is out of sight entirely, my phone's radiating presence and the universe that it beholds is still occupying space in the back of my mind. As Nicholas Carr points out
in this disturbing piece for the WSJ, our brains are extraordinarily sensitive to triggers.
A 2015 Journal of Experimental Psychology study,
involving 166 subjects, found that when people’s phones beep or buzz
while they’re in the middle of a challenging task, their focus wavers,
and their work gets sloppier—whether they check the phone or not.
Another 2015 study, which involved 41 iPhone users and appeared in the
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, showed that when people hear
their phone ring but are unable to answer it, their blood pressure
spikes, their pulse quickens, and their problem-solving skills decline.
Given that our minds are so sensitive–we are constantly tuned into what's happening in our pockets (phones on or off)–many worry about how that impacts students' abilities to learn and to stay focused in the classroom. In
this week's post on TeachThought, writer Terry Heick expresses this worry in an articulate way. Heick posits that students have an "identity problem": they are able to dictate when, how, where, and by whom they are seen by of way of a series of social media channels (bios, status updates, avatars) and feedback loops (likes, comments, shares, favs). Through a mutual process of assimilation and affirmation, students create a carefully-curated facsimile of themselves online. This is distracting even when they're not using their phones. Heick argues that these online identities are far beyond the students' control, for they exist on the platform's terms:
the priorities in terms of what's important to share, what characteristics to value in oneself, what constitutes as success or failure, is not decided by the students–it is decided by the tech companies that curate and design these social media platforms. Heick suggests that it is now the teachers' role to help the students forge an identity that's "whole".
But what constitutes "whole"? I think the teacher's role in the classroom is different–it's up to parents and guardians to raise their children to be confident and tenacious thinkers. Further, social
media can be an incredible tool. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have served as an excellent framework for me to establish myself
professionally. The "identity" that I have construed for myself online is real. I have used it to engage with clients, students,
professors, coworkers, friends, and it's even helped me land a job. There's
plenty of autonomy to be had online for students and users alike.
I believe that social media
can also function as a productive tool for learning. For example, the teaching
blog Technology Tailgate
suggests something called FlipGrid to use in the classroom. FlipGrid is
a
"social learning platform" that mimics the layout of Instragram, where users
can "like" and comment on picture and video-based posts, but it is
designed for student engagement. FlipGrid seeks to captivate students
who are enthralled with the social media universe. Students are encouraged to engage with each other's content (via likes, emoji reactions, and comments) based upon qualities of
merit, as opposed to pretense. I think this is an amazing way for teachers to adapt to students' changing learning habits.
When does the application of technology in the classroom stop being effective? Steve Wheeler, author of
Learning with 'e's, vehemently denies a world where technological advancement outsources the key roles of a teacher. Although there are always advancements toward machine learning, cognitive computing, and even
emotional modelling, Wheeler believes, passionately, that teaching will remain the preserve of humans. 'Any computer that can be replaced with a teacher, should be' is the title of his post.
Teachers can do a lot more than even the most sophisticated computer or
the most agile robot. And artificial intelligence may be a great tool
for high level computation, and even such rich human activities such as
interaction, but has little benefits when it comes to emotional
intelligence. ...Teachers won't be replaced by computers because it is nigh on impossible
to describe accurately what teachers do. Much is intuitive, creative, or
unpredictable, and cannot be made into neat algorithms.
Of course, there is clearly room to incorporate the use of technology in the classroom.
I think that it falls short when the tech replaces or limits the emotional, interpersonal role of the educator in the classroom.
