I love Twitter and actively follow a number of edubloggers through it.Through JosieFraser I came upon EwanMcIntosh and the Guardian debate on whether social bookmarking will bring positive chnages to education. WARNING - you have to set up a (free) account with the Guardian to access this and vote on the debate.
McIntosh makes an interesting point about historical timing and the response of the educational system that is as true in Ontario, Canada as in Scotland:
The web turned sixteen last year, just as another generation of sixteen year olds left school with more knowledge of the web from outside formal education than from within it. This trend of learning about the potential of the web from outside the school gates will continue into the future, especially as social networks become ever more portable and mobile, on cell phones and gaming consoles, such as the highly pocketable Nintendo DS or Sony PSP.
Educational methods could continue on their merry, Victorian way, but that's unlikely to engage today's learners, and it's impossible to envisage tomorrow’s parents, the Bebo Boomers, accepting the 9am-4pm, timetabled, do the exams you're told to when you're told to, inflexibility of the 20th Century school. An impact of social networks on educational methods will happen, if not down to parent pressure alone but to kneel at the non-negotiable alter of Inclusion, that is, providing a learning experience that is accessible to all. - http://www.economist.com/debate/index.cfm?action=article&debate_id=3&story_id=10492319
What he says seems both sensible and obvious to me, even if not to all of my fellow teachers, and his conclusion demonstrates his point:
- And, if you need a final point to consider, something practical to show the power of the social network for changing the way teachers learn themselves, just re-read this debate. It was written one Sunday afternoon, with collaboration over Twitter, the mobile phone and web-based social networking tool, with teaching colleagues from the US, Scotland, Canada, England, France, New Zealand and Australia. Has social networking changed the face of educational methods? Almost certainly: yes. - http://www.economist.com/debate/index.cfm?action=article&debate_id=3&story_id=10492319
Keywords: education, Ewan_McIntosh, social_networking, The_Guardian
