Technology Meets Socrates

It's ironic that progressive teachers are "teaching the younger generation to use Twitter" and to join social networks. After all, they are the Digital Youth.

Think about these teens. Parents of these kids went to seminars where they were taught about "internet safety". Remember Net Nanny? People used it. All of us (mothers) did. I have teens - to this day (they are between 16 and 19) none of them use their real names online. I taught them to do that, in fact most all of the mothers of my generation made it a rule. My oldest son is now a sophomore in college - in a digital media and animation program - and he still remains anonymous, aside from the walled garden (Jonathan Zittrain term) of Facebook. It is safe there. He is beginning to build a portfolio online, but it is still on the school server and hasn't made the jump from there yet.

We assume the 16 - 24 year olds are early adopters but they are not. Research shows it is people in the next age bracket who adopt technology first. Why don't my kids use Twitter? "It's pointless". They have text messaging, why Twitter? I've also been told "It's for old people who want to talk about themselves" - their way of saying it is about personal branding. I am not sure this is such a bad thing, as anonymity is not hindering anything. They still seek out niche communities, they still learn, they still share. In fact I believe the anonymity enhances the experience (I talked about this in other posts - watch Michael Wesch's videos about fighting anonymity by using it for teen's self definition - all on You Tube). I know my kids are bolder and in a very good way that gives them confidence in real life.

So when is the right time to transition to a "life in public"? What's the rush until they have a profession and are ready to show their work. With a blog or Twitter account, maybe it is a good idea to keep the Twitter account non-public (within their own community) as a transition. Twitter is not being adopted rapidly by teens - all studies show that. They post back and forth on Facebook. It is a great tool -but unless we build a community for them they will not come. Facebook does that automatically with their friends in school, etc. If they link to one friend, Facebook automatically knows others they are friends with. Community comes to them, they don't need to go find or build one.

I have no definitive answers to anything, I am really posing more questions than I am answering. We are at a generational inflection point. There was a great article being passed around (via Twitter) last night that hopefully many saw - "What would Socrates Say?"

I think it is the most well written piece I have seen about combining the benefits of technology and social networks with the principles of Socratic Inquiry. As a self directed learner myself, I support open source education and curriculum, open text books, social communities and all the wonderful ways they can be used to enhance learning. But as an adult student in a classroom, I see it from the viewpoint of different generations simultaneously. There are tremendous benefits to technology, but we have to be careful not to focus so hard on the shiny new toys that we forget the foundations of learning and what being a well rounded, educated person is all about. We need the discussion, the discourse, and the technology. As the article points out, convergence of new technology/social networks with the Socratic principles of the "purposeful conversation" will be an instrumental part of the much needed redesign of our educational system.