Thursday, April 8, 2010

When Do I Stop Being a Teacher? Weisure and the Digital Age

Many of us are aware of the positive and negative impact that the rapid expansion of social technologies such as Facebook, MySpace, SMS and IM has had on our personal connectedness and in our student’s lives. As professionals, many of us have expressed excitement about the collaborative possibilities that come with working ‘in the cloud’ and concern over the seeming lack of guidance over conduct. What are the rules? Who is going to decide what is the accountability standard?


I am a 46 year old just made it into Gen X’er who lives in a small town located on the coast of Georgia. I am a registered user on Facebook, Skype, and have joined several professional learning circles that connect me via Twitter and RSS feeds. Most of my connectedness revolves around my professional life, but just like many of the teachers now entering into the profession, I started my Facebook profile as a personal entity.

Because I am not a new teacher, many of my ‘friends’ are fellow teachers. Initially, we used Facebook as a mass messaging tool to set up beach Fridays and to share vacation pictures. Eventually, as school got rolling again, we moved to discussing the latest snag in implementing a district initiative and other school related issues. As professionals, we have had abstract discussions about whether or not we should have students as friends and appropriate profile settings. My daughters’ teachers were ‘friends’ before they became their teachers and I confess I am guilty of using the personal messaging feature to discuss my children’s progress and address areas of concern. For me, my relationships on Facebook have blurred the line between parent, professional, and friend. In an article for NPR, Joshua Brockman identified Dalton Conley, a New York University professor who has even coined a name for it, weisure, the blurring between work and leisure.

Nevertheless, there are definitely warning signs on the horizon. Today, more and more Generation Next, sometimes called Millennial, or Generation Y learners are entering our classrooms as teachers. Born between 1980 and 2000, they are characterized by their use of technology and their ability to adapt and integrate it into their personal and professional lives. While Boomers and X’ers continue to struggle with how to effectively, safely, and with etiquette incorporate emerging technologies into our personal/ instructional/professional lives, perhaps the bigger and more immediate dilemma rising is - How do we proactively put policy in place to protect our teachers and provide guidance on how to separate their existing personal technologies from their professional identities? Can we answer the question – “When do I stop being a teacher?” Or “How did I find myself in Weisure World and do I need to find the exit?”

Although well documented in the business world, the culture clash between generational technology users in education has never more evident. In 2009, a young Georgia teacher was asked to resign from her position at a public high school because of a curse word and pictures which depicted her holding alcoholic beverages while on vacation in Europe. This did not take place at school; the pictures and use of the curse word were posted on her Facebook page and reported to her administrator. While the teacher has maintained that the page was a private entity and that neither students nor parents had access to it, the administrator stated that he found her “online conduct to be unacceptable” and warranted her immediate suspension and possible termination (Civil Case No. 09CV-3083X). He advised her that she could prevent further disciplinary action by tending her immediate resignation (WSB Article).

The rapid deployment of new wireless technologies such as smart phones, IPhones, wireless enabled eReaders, and the new, and much anticipated, IPad, have made needing to connect to the armor protected school networks almost obsolete. According to data from the CTIA – The Wireless Association, there were over 257 million data-capable devices in consumer’s hands by the end of 2009. In addition, over 1.5 trillion SMS messages were sent, most by Gen Next users who average 1472 per month. State, district, local, and individual teacher web pages are now the norm. Whether done well or not, it is expected by industry professionals and parents that each school has a dedicated website that enables them to post information for parents and interested perusers.

More and more, local and state agencies are encouraging the use of existing technologies and social networking sites such as Google, Moodle, Facebook, Skype, and Twitter. From the main page on my state Department of Education website, I can become a Facebook fan of our state school superintendent and follow the happenings on Twitter. My local school district also has a Twitter account for dispersing information to the community and parents. However, there are conflicting guideposts for technology use which may or may not be determined by socio economic or rural/ urban status settings.

Some districts have truly embraced technology as a formative and creative tool used to encourage collaboration and higher order thinking. On the other hand, more often than not, the majority of Gen X and Baby Boomer teachers and administrators have never had opportunities to explore technology as anything other than a new way to do the old work. They may or may not be aware of the extent that technology is being used in their school, district, or by Gen Next teachers and millennial learners and therefore have no way to proactively deal with issues until there is a perceived problem.

One working example involves a rural, low socio economic district in SE Georgia where I have observed teachers and students accessing information blocked by the school’s network on cell phones in order to answer questions brought up during a discussion. Yet, this same district still has to hold basic computer application courses for teachers who have not figured out how to take attendance using the school’s student information system. It is not uncommon for other area teachers to use personal air cards and wireless hubs at school to access streaming video and YouTube so that students can create projects in Prezi and Google WAVE using imbedded video. I have used my phone to post to a social networking site while conducting a teacher observation because of the joy I felt in watching two teachers who are truly artisans at their craft.

Much to my mother’s horror, I have thrown the established policy manual out the door and have decided to swim in the deep-end of uncharted waters. So too are the thousands of Gen Next teachers who are entering into our profession with a backpack full of connection habits and no idea how to meld their new professional identifies with their ‘backstage selves.'

My personal philosophy of teaching revolves around putting students in situations where they can be successful; giving them full access to the tools that they will need to meet my expectations and goals I have set for them. As I have moved into administration, my students have become less middle-school aged and more just plain old middle aged, however, my philosophy has not changed – I still need to put those who depend on me in positions where they have the tools they need so that they can be successful. This means ensuring that we all have a working understanding of not only the expected dress code, but the possible professional and personal consequences and ramifications of how we incorporate technology into our lives and our classrooms.

Mike Simpson has written an excellent piece for NEA Today entiltled Social Networking Nightmares. The article encompases both horror stories as well as some practical advice and is well worth checking out. But for those of you not wishing to burst the bubble, appear to be tattling, or looking to avoid the 'permission' question but are afraid 'forgiveness' might not be on the table... Here are four questions designed to start a discussion about weisure and networking technologies:

1. How do the emerging new technologies and 21st Century Learning Skills fit with our current mission statement?

2. Do our current school policies and course offerings incorporate these new technologies and skills to meet the needs of our teachers and learners or do we need to make some changes?

3. Do we see ourselves using Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites to engage and communicate with parents and the community at large? How will these technologies affect teachers? Students?

4. What training and professional learning do we need to ensure due diligence on the part of our district towards teachers incorporating technology into the classroom?

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