Rethinking Lectures, Learning, and Engagement
I have, for quite a long time, not been a big fan of lectures as a primary way of fostering learning and the positive transformations that accompany learning at its best—particularly when the learning is centered around training sessions for adults in workplace settings. Within the learning environments onsite and online in which I most frequently work, learning is doing and doing is learning—which leaves lengthy formal lectures near the bottom of my learning toolkit in most situations. And I can’t say that I have changed my mind substantially. But reading an article—“Good Riddance to Boring Lectures? Technology Isn’t the Answer—Understanding Good Teaching Is,” by Christopher Charles Deneen and Michael Cowling for TheConversation.com—brought to my attention by ShapingEDU colleague Kim Flintoff, has inspired some rethinking on the subject—particularly after engaging in an unexpected set of asynchronous exchanges with colleagues via Facebook.
The article by Deneen and Cowling is thoughtful, balanced, and inspiring. The writers begin by describing how a vice chancellor at an Australian university is suggesting that as students return to onsite learning this year, lectures “would be much less common and not a ‘crutch for poor pedagogy.’” They deftly dive into an exploration of the idea that lectures will “be replaced by superior, technology-enhanced substitutes.” And after exploring our long-standing love-hate relationship with lectures in learning, they circle back to what is, for me, a perfect, well-reasoned conclusion: “We need to reject the notion that lectures will sink our students and technology will save them. Instead, let’s dig deeply and critically into both, reflect upon how to improve our practices, and apply sound teaching methods and practices to create learning engagements that are captivating and profound.”
Kim Flintoff
Kim, in posting (on Facebook) a link to the article, offered the briefest of comments: “I think the issue is engagement. Some lecturers can be very engaging. Many are not. Creating space for the learner is one of the criteria for engagement.” And that’s where the fun starts, for Barry Altland, a cherished ATD (Association for Talent Development) colleague here in the United States, responded to Kim’s comment with this opening salvo: “This [comment] states the ‘lecturers can be engaging.’ By their very definition, they are not. Facilitators are. But lecturers, presenters, speakers and instructors are not. Nor are teachers. For those are all movements that one does ‘at’ another, not ‘with’ another. Only a Facilitator invites the voices of many others into the learning conversation.”
My response did little to hide my surprise: “I’m seeing the ‘lecture’ format evolve in engaging ways, and don’t sense that an appreciation for what first-rate facilitators inspire and accomplish precludes an appreciation for what a first-rate lecturer inspires and accomplishes. 2) I wouldn’t trade memories of lectures I have attended by Stephen Jay Gould, David Halberstam, Ann Patchett, Eric Whitacre, Jeremy Gutsche, R. David Lankes, and numerous others for anything. Furthermore, TED talks I’ve seen or attended suggest how vibrant, engaging, and transformative a lecture can be when the lecturer uses the power of storytelling to draw us into powerful communal experiences. And the best of the teacher-lecturers I’ve found in formal academic settings have had a lifelong impact on my approach to work, learning, and play. Really sorry if you haven’t had experiences along those lines. As Lankes would say: Expect More!”
Barry Altland
Dave himself, tagged in my response on Facebook, almost immediately joined the conversation: “The best lectures stimulate a dialog within the individual. A good book can be engaging, a song can change a life.” Which drew a response from Barry: “Books and songs are inanimate. When human beings come together, they both have something to offer the learning moment.”
R. David Lankes
With the ball back in Dave’s court, the exchange continued: “You used the word ‘engagement.’ A good lecture spawns conversations, internal and between people. Also, a lecture can absolutely be interactive one to many and many to one. I absolutely know the power of facilitated learning and workshops. Mastery requires going beyond lectures to practice. But to dismiss lectures as a simple broadcast of inherently less value I find problematic.”
Jill Hurst-Wahl
Other colleagues contributed to the exchange. My T is for Training colleague Jill Hurst-Wahl, in a series of posts, began by saying “I would add Larry Lessig as a person who gives engaging lectures. From what I’ve seen of her, I think Rep. Katie Porter would be a very engaging lecturer.”
Quoting from the original article, Jill continued: “‘Instead, let’s dig deeply and critically into both, reflect upon how to improve our practices, and apply sound teaching methods and practices to create learning engagements that are captivating and profound.’ I like the phrase ‘how to improve our practices.’ We are not taught as teachers how to improve our lectures. I remember when I joined my academic institution, I asked for advice on how to prepare for three-hour class and was told that what I did was up to me. I would have welcomed advice and training! Over the years, I have learned from workshops, by watching others, and by doing. Imagine if all teachers—no matter how they got into the profession—were taught on how to be engaging when they needed to lecture?”
And directing her final contribution to Dave, she added the following: “Like a lecture, if a book, song, video, etc. causes me to think deeply and have a conversation with myself, I will learn.”
Laura Fothergill
The final contribution (at least up to this moment) comes from long-time ATD (Association for Talent Development) South Florida Chapter colleague Laura Fothergill: “Loved the article, really dislike the title and perpetuation of us vs them (lecture vs technology). Can we stop even putting this into the ethos? Why not title it ‘Be critical, be reflective, be better’ or ‘Lose your Assumptions.’ By spinning the concepts into either or and inviting that conversation we are not helping individual faculty with their own personal professional development.” So, in a relatively brief period of time, we went from lectures and learning to whether lectures and lecturers (and presenters, speakers, instructors, and teachers) could even be engaging or whether engagement was exclusive to facilitators. And, just for good measure, Dave and Jill took us down the intriguing path of what learning is and how we learn, with Laura advocating for elimination of the us vs. them element of our explorations.
Although the obvious starting point for me is a preference for a “learners as co-conspirators in the learning process” approach to learning (as compared to the boringly passive approach to learning that is obvious in the worst of lectures and lecturers) in the settings in which I work, I was intrigued by the fond memories of what I had learned from the best lecturers I have heard—and I also thought about how my own approach to “lectures” has continued to evolve. When I work synchronously face-to-face onsite, online, or in blended environments (combining onsite and online learning into a cohesive, seamless package), I play with and combine numerous approaches. I find it rewarding, for example, to follow a Flipped Classroom model approach by providing learners with pre-session prep work (videos or short articles) so that our time together “face to face” onsite or online focuses on application of what we have learned—with a strong emphasis on what the learners will do with their newly-acquired knowledge/skills the minute our time together comes to an end. In asynchronous settings (e.g., through the four-week online courses I design and facilitate for the American Library Association), I start with weekly “typed lectures” that provide my own content interspersed with plenty of links to other people’s videos, articles, and online, easily accessible resources to support the learners’ explorations. I also include focused exercises that encourage the learners to apply what they are learning, interact with other learners, and even adapt the assignments in ways that produce something they can use in their own workplaces while and after the course is underway. The emphasis is always on having learners define what they need to know and encouraging them to focus on what addresses their learning needs as quickly as possible.
Just as participation in a creative online learning opportunity exploring The Innovator’s Mindset (led by George Couros in 2017) made me rethink my perceptions about what “reading” is in the early 21st century, the exchanges via Facebook have inspired me to further rethink my perceptions about what a great “lecture” is in contemporary times. It is focused. It is engaging. It inspires inquisitiveness by serving as an invitation to explore a topic further. It can—but doesn’t necessarily have to—be creative in its use of tools available to the lecturer and the people sharing in that learning experience. (I often think, for example, of how Jonathan Haidt so effectively turned the TED Talk lecture format on its head by doing a formal lecture that “ended” a few minutes early so he could offer an entirely different version, during the final few minutes of his allotted time, by seamlessly and in the most stunningly successful of ways completely integrating video into the live presentation. I also think of how effectively Eric Whitacre incorporated a demonstration of a virtual choir into a live lecture on virtual choirs at a conference I attended a few years ago.) The learning, in each of these cases, was effective, engaging, inspirational, and transformative—because of, not in spite of, the “lecture” format. The rethinking continued over the weekend when I finally made time to watch the first couple of lectures in The Great Courses’ series on “The Learning Brain”—a series of 24 30-minute lectures captured on a CD and accompanied by a course guidebook. As I sat there in the comfort of my own home with the book in hand and the first few minutes of the video playing, an obvious revelation struck: The lecture can very much be a like a part of a spoken (audio) book, and the book can very much be like a set of printed lectures–even if it isn’t actually one of those lovely books providing the text of lectures. Both, when produced effectively, can be and are engaging. Dropping them completely from our learning toolkits makes no sense to me, and arguing against them in absolute, non-nuanced terms, seems counterproductive. The important decision to be made is when each is the best tool for a particular learning situation, and then to produce the best version of the learning resource that we possibly can produce. So we learn. With our learners. To inspire the best results possible.
Leave a Comment » | technology, training | Tagged: ann patchett, christopher charles deneen, co-conspirators, david halberstam, engagement, eric whitacre, good riddance to boring lectures, great courses, innovator's mindset, jeremy gutsche, jill hurst-wahl, jonathan haidt, katie porter, kim flintoff, laura fothergill, lawrence lessig, learning, learning brain, lectures, michael cowling, paul signorelli, r. david lankes, reading, stephen jay gould, ted talks, the conversation, training | Permalink
Changing the World Using YouTube and Podcasting
If the thought of reaching your current or prospective community of activists and other collaborators via YouTube or podcasts feels daunting, start simply, openly, and honestly—with something you know—as Phillip “Brail” Watson does. Watson, on his Facebook “Our Story” page, describes himself as “a classically trained vocalist, cellist, songwriter, rapper, clinician, producer and Berklee College of Music graduate” who wants to “change the world through music.” His extensive, well-developed, engaging presence on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms fully integrates his commitment to music, spirituality, and social change in ways that make it seem like the easiest thing in the world to do. And it can be for you, too, if you pursue it as diligently and purposefully as he does.
If you spend time with Watson online by exploring his use of social media, you begin to see and appreciative the possibilities available through the effective use of a platform like YouTube. His stunningly moving TEDxTopeka talk “Giving Back” on YouTube begins with a brief, beautiful, sung prayer—obviously an element of his work that flows from the core of all he is. He then quickly pulls you in by admitting “I’m going to do this all wrong”—an admission that challenges and begs you to stay with him to see where he is going in the 18 minutes he has under the standard TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk format. He asks you—just as he asks the live audience he is addressing in that recorded talk—to walk with him; to see what he sees, from his perspective; and to “feel the places” where he has been—in the hope that you, as he has, will come to understand the value of giving something back to the community you cherish. It’s an invitation to be part of something positive, something greater than you already are or might ever be—and it is an effective call to action because Watson draws upon his highly-developed use of language, poetry, musicianship, and inspirational skills to integrate all of those elements into the wonderfully moving video that documents his TEDxTopeka talk in 2015.
This is about far more than making and placing content on a social media site; it is about using everything you have developed and will continue to develop to effectively reach audiences and inspire positive action. It is about developing a body of work that weaves through everything else you do. It is about integrating that work in unexpectedly creative ways with other work you do and other opportunities you pursue. It is about transforming the (sometimes) simple act of recording and sharing your thoughts on YouTube and through podcasts into an act of inviting engagement with people you may never actually meet—and recognizing that you don’t have to physically meet someone to very much be drawn into their causes and being inspired to action by them, or inspiring them and drawing them into yours.
Describing the unexpected sequence of events that led to me finding and being inspired by Watson provides some lessons worth learning:
Although you want to have a specific audience in mind as you prepare a YouTube video or podcast, you will have no idea initially of how broad and diverse an audience you will eventually reach and inspire.
A presentation given in one venue, e.g., the TEDxTopeka talk, that is recorded, posted, and shared online, gains an extended life far beyond anything you could have provided if you had simply given that presentation and then moved on to something else.
The efforts you make to reach your audience produce only a small part of what is accomplished when others see and share your work; those efforts offer the same expansion you see when others retweet your tweets or share your Facebook posts in ways that produce rhizomatic expansion of what you thought might be little more than a moment lived and then forgotten.
My initial unplanned step toward finding Watson online was taken when my Topeka-based colleague David Lee King and I were doing another in our series of interviews for Change the World Using Social Media, my book-in-progress for Rowman & Littlefield. I had asked David for examples he had seen of how YouTube was part of the process of promoting positive change within a community. He did not mention Watson; instead, he responded with a description of a magnificent activist’s-dream initiative, Go Topeka’s Momentum 2022, which is described on the project’s website as “a comprehensive, actionable, and consensus-based plan…to make Topeka-Shawnee County a better place to live, work, play, and do business.” King pointed me toward a two-minute video that very much impressed me: “Topeka & Shawnee County Have Momentum,” posted on YouTube by the citizen-activists in the Greater Topeka Partnership. It seemed to have everything that a video call-to-action should have: high production values, a clear message (that Topeka has lots to offer and can become even better if community partners work together to build upon its existing strengths to chip away at its weaknesses), and an obvious call to action—until I heard from Jill Hurst-Wahl during separate conversations for part of the book.
There is no gentle way to express what Jill noted after viewing the video I had so enthusiastically shared: it didn’t have many images of people, but the images included in the video did little to hint that nearly 25 percent of Topeka’s population is African-American or Hispanic. That’s when Jill found and offered a different video version of the topic: Watson’s “Topeka Proud” video, posted on Vimeo. Same city, much different viewpoint—and one that aligns with parts of the Momentum 2022 initiative calling for efforts to foster and promote greater diversity and inclusivity in Topeka. And seeing what Watson had produced led me to seek out much more of what he was doing—on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.
This provides another opportunity for a reminder worth repeating: you can certainly choose one specific social media platform that best suits your goals as someone attempting to foster positive change in your community, but creating an integrated presence over multiple platforms tremendously increases the chances that you will reach the largest possible group of community partners to help you reach those goals.
As you move into a more complete exploration of YouTube and podcasts as tools you can use in your efforts, it’s worth noting that there is at least one more encouraging piece to the Go Topeka/Topeka Proud story: a second video, posted on YouTube by the Greater Topeka Partnership eight months after the first one appeared, pushes the story forward with a much broader cast of characters featured: the ethnic diversity that is obvious through the inclusion of Enimini Ekong (Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Site), Leo Espinoza (College and Career Advocate, Topeka USD 501 Schools), Marcus Clark (senior pastor, Love Fellowship Church, East Topeka), Angel Zimmerman (Zimmerman & Zimmerman, PA), and others. This is clearly a community that is effectively and creatively working to promote the most positive results it can imagine.
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020. This is the fifteenth in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress.
Leave a Comment » | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: activism, angel zimmerman, brail watson, change the world, change the world using social media, david lee king, engagement, enimini ekong, go topeka, jill hurst-wahl, leo espinoza, marcus clark, momentum 2022, paul signorelli, phillip brail watson, rowman & littlefield, social change, social media, tedxtopeka, topeka proud, youtube | Permalink
Changing the World Through #NeverAgain
When we look at what has happened in the five months that have passed since the shooting of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took place in Parkland, Florida on Valentine’s Day earlier this year, we’re left with a clear-cut vision of the difference a few people can make in promoting positive change out of the worst of circumstances.
If the situation had played out differently, David Hogg and his sister Lauren would not have survived the shooting, and we would not have the short, gripping first-hand account of the shooting and its aftermath they provide though #Never Again: A New Generation Draws the Line, recently published by Random House.
The basic details have been abundantly covered: 17 students and others on campus that day were killed by a former student. An Instagram video taken and posted by a student and numerous text messages provided some of the earliest, most graphic images and descriptions of what was taking place. The survivors immediately began asking what they could do to help stop the cycle of violence involving shootings on school campuses, followed by meaningless expressions of sorrow and prayer, followed by inaction, and then followed by more shootings. David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, and other Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) students began meeting within days to create a plan of action, which led to their formation of Never Again MSD (also known as #NeverAgain and #EnoughIsEnough); spawned the global March for Our Lives movement that helped organize events in more than 850 cities worldwide the following month; and has also spawned the Vote for Our Lives movement currently mobilizing young (prospective) voters across the United States in an effort to respond positively to a situation that they—and many of us—feel is completely intolerable and could more effectively be addressed than it has up to this point.
The human part of the story comes through loudly and clearly in the book, as this excerpt (written by Lauren) shows: On the night of the day that the Parkland shooting took place, “I basically passed out. I couldn’t physically stay awake. The same thing happened the next night and the next night and on like that for weeks. During the day I’d have to take naps, then I’d pass out at eight or nine every night and wake up in the middle of the night, so I’d start the next day exhausted again. It’s still hard for me to get a normal night’s sleep. So many of the kids at my school are like that. I never thought trauma could take that kind of toll, but it does” (p. 68).
Many have expressed shocking cruel and brutal disbelief in online posts that students as young as these writer-activists are could help mobilize and inspire the level of action they have already inspired through social media platforms and other resources—boycotts that caused “big companies from Delta Airlines to Hertz” to distance themselves from the NRA; gun-control legislation in New York, Vermont, (Deerfield) Illinois, Florida, and Maryland; and those marches themselves (pp. 124-126): “Then we left Dr. Phil and went home with friends to our old neighborhood, and I had to go to sleep again because I was falling asleep even in the car. The next morning, really early, something like four a.m., my phone started buzzing and buzzing,” Lauren writes (p. 81). “I finally got up and looked at Instagram to see why people were on there, and I saw all these white supremacists and neo-Nazis saying horrible stuff on my Instagram account, like You’re going to hell, you’re an actress, your whole family is going to hell. There was one that read, Your whole school is not real, you’re all actors. I thought that was just so bizarre that someone would even think that. My whole school?”
The narrative throughout the book responds to that disbelief. David describe how what they learned at home from their father (a retired FBI agent) about remaining as calm as possible under the most trying of circumstances helped carry them through the moments during which the shooting was occurring. David also writes about how his experience gathering and posting news reports through coursework he was completing led him to actually take videos of himself describing what was occurring and sending those for posting before that initial day of horror was over. Both acknowledge the positive impact their instructors and coursework had in preparing them for their transition from learner to activist—a much-needed tribute to what is good in our educational system at a time when so many critics complain bitterly about how ineffectual that system is. And they explicitly acknowledge how that magnificent community of learning pulled together in ways that brought friends together to apply what they had learned so they could attempt to change a world that so clearly is far from the world of their dreams.
March for Our Lives, San Francisco (3/24/18)
The #NeverForget chapter at the end of the book provides a resource we would do well to read and reread on a regular basis if we do not want to lose sight of the human tragedy at the heart of this political movement: a list of some of the people who “have been killed in gun violence” since 1999, along with brief, often-poignant descriptions of those who are no longer with us. It’s difficult to imagine being able to read those descriptions without feeling a tremendous sense of loss and a desire to be part of the community attempting to respond positively to those losses with more than expressions of sorrow and prayer.
What we’re left with at the end of the final chapter is an inspiring call to action that again circles back to the importance of a well-functioning educational system that prepares our learners/youngest citizens to use all the resources available to them to not surrender to despair: “We learned to love people for what they are instead of hating them for what they’re not. And like the namesake of our high school—Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who changed her world by a full-on engagement with it, every day, as a journalist, a suffragette, and conservationist—we are learning to change the world by presuming that we can” (p. 141).
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020. This is the thirteenth in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress.
1 Comment | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: #marchforourlives, #voteforourlives, activism, change the world, change the world using social media, david hogg, emma gonzalez, engagement, gun control, instagram, lauren hogg, march for our lives, marjory stoneman douglas high school, paul signorelli, rowman & littlefield, social change, social media, vote for our lives | Permalink
Changing the World Through Imagery: Snapchat, Instagram, and Flickr
Ephemeral moments, briefly captured and briefly shared through imagery, are at the heart of Snapchat—a social media platform used by nearly 75 percent of teens in America, a Pew Research Center report released in May 2018 suggests; it is a tool that is designed to playfully combine text captions and imagery through a here today, gone tomorrow approach. What you post there is generally meant to last no longer than 24 hours before disappearing. The tremendously world-changing impact a Snapchat post can have, however, became clear in early 2018, when a teenaged Snapchat user captured the horrendous moments of the mass shooting of students, by a former student, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
This was a snap that did not—and will not—disappear. Copied and reposted online and included in mainstream media coverage of the tragedy, it has taken on a life of its own; was part of a student-driven online social media presence that helped spur the March for Our Lives (#MarchForOurLives) protest movement that has attracted participation from students and adults in more than 800 cities worldwide and its companion initiative, Vote for Our Lives (#VoteForOurLives); and, within one month of the shooting, had produced gun-control legislation in Oregon and Florida unlike any that previously came out of years of fruitless conversations between those in favor of somehow limiting access to guns and those who firmly believe that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides absolute, uncontrolled access to guns.
Watching that snap or looking at March for Our Lives images on the Instagram and Flickr photo-sharing sites takes you to the heart of one of the most divisive debates in America today. You don’t just see people affected by an issue seeking some sort of positive resolution: you see the debate itself playing out in sometimes spiteful, vicious comments between those who find themselves on opposite sides of a debate that was producing few concrete results—until that snap went viral, the students became advocates with often very sophisticated approaches to the social (and mainstream) media tools available to them, and those students joined the voices of those insisting that “enough is enough” and that a positive response to the most awful of situations had to come sooner than later.
The fact that Snapchat was the initial vehicle for providing painfully jarringly intimate glimpses into another tragedy unfolding was probably something that those creating Snapchat could never have predicted when they created a platform for capturing and briefly disseminating ephemeral moments.
“I don’t think [Facebook Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer] Mark Zuckerberg ever dreamed that Facebook would be involved in presidential election scandals and the fake-news cycle. Nor do I think that Snapchat leadership pictured teens snapping violent and traumatic injury in the midst of a horrific crisis,” Samantha Becker, the independent consultant and President of SAB Creative & Consulting, says. “It’s not necessarily something you envision from the get-go, but it makes sense that social networks would be effective vehicles for spreading news, exposing real-life events in progress, etc. But there can definitely be backlash. I’m thinking about the Logan Paul YouTube scandal from a couple months ago, where he showed footage from a suicide. People are rightfully concerned that social media can glamorize the tragic. It’s a very delicate balance and there is a fine line between sharing something that spurs positive action vs. negative reactions. The in-situ experience of social media means that people aren’t always thinking before they post—and they can be greatly penalized for that or end up inspiring the wrong kind of action.
“I don’t have a solution for how and where to draw the line, but we could use more guidance around that and more ways to educate forthcoming generations and provide proper digital literacy training.”
Briefly tracing the early, rapid growth of #MarchForOurLives provides a strong reminder that specific social media platforms do not operate in a vacuum; they are part of an overall combination of traditional and relatively new media formats available to those who want to take the small- and large-scale steps that can lead to changing the world. #MarchForOurLives at least in part grew rapidly because those Snapchat images inspired action in a variety of ways: through mainstream and cable news programs; postings on other social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, and YouTube; fundraising efforts coordinated by the nonprofit March for Our Lives Action Fund and others; and the personalization of the story through Parkland student-activists including Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg. In fact, it is the personalization of that message through the voices of Gonzalez, Hogg, and others that draw us and inspire us to action through the power of storytelling—through Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and book-length explorations that bring these stories to people who might otherwise be overwhelmed and be unable to see that the road from observer to activist can be traveled in many different ways and in relatively short periods of time. Hogg and his sister Lauren appear to understand this implicitly: less than six months after the shooting in Parkland, they were able to publish #NeverAgain, a call to action published by Random House Trade Paperbacks.
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020. This is the twelfth in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress.
2 Comments | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: #marchforourlives, #voteforourlives, activism, change the world, change the world using social media, david hogg, emma gonzalez, engagement, flickr, gun control, instagram, logan paul, march for our lives, marjory stoneman douglas high school, paul signorelli, pew research center, rowman & littlefield, samantha adams becker, samantha becker, snapchat, social change, social media, vote for our lives | Permalink
Changing the World With Jeff Merrell (Part 2 of 2)
This is the second part of a two-part interview conducted with Jeff Merrell, Associate Director of Northwestern University’s Master’s Program in Learning & Organizational Change, for my book Change the World Using Social Media (Rowman & Littlefield; projected publication date is autumn 2018). The interview was conducted online using a shared Google Doc, and has been lightly edited.
In a world where employers encourage employees to be available around the clock via the use of mobile devices, is the old rule of thumb “don’t talk politics at work” even a realistic approach anymore, given that lines between personal and professional activities are being inadvertently erased–through actions rather than by design?
Ah. There’s the $1,000,000,000 question.
Look, for me, it starts and ends with the organizational culture. I would not attempt to have “let’s talk social issues” discussions on a large scale if my company or organization did not do that naturally, in other forms. I am going back to my blog post rant a bit here, but I think some things like #MeToo, news around things like Charlottesville, can inspire some short-term discussions of topics within an organization’s online spaces. Maybe it allows people to—in a tiny way—share something that they’ve wanted to say. I’ve heard examples of this. But, for longer term impact, I think organizations need to think about how they “talk” about these issues routinely, in hybrid ways, where the online conversations are extensions or variations of what happens in other ways.
If your organizational culture isn’t strong enough to handle that, or your organizational philosophy does not incorporate some strong element of social impact, then you are not going to get very far.
It’s. Not. About. Social media.
Thanks. That’s really helping me to clarify something I’ve been exploring through these interviews: the impact that social activism through efforts including #MeToo have in settings far beyond what those involved may have originally thought would occur. I’m finding that few people are looking at the professional social media tools, e.g., LinkedIn, Slack, and Yammer, as means to foster social change. Thoughts on how those might fit in to what you just said in terms of conversations among our professional colleagues onsite as well as online?
Well, let’s start with LinkedIn. LinkedIn is about your “brand.” So right there, you are screwed unless you as an individual are seeking to be branded as social activist. But I would suspect—maybe I am wrong—that someone with that mindset would find LinkedIn just not a fit. It’s about people trying to create professional brand in the traditional corporate model.
Slack and Yammer, and similar, allow more co-construction of “space.” A group of social activists, within an organization, could easily start up a Slack community of trusted peers etc., set norms for participation, and maybe have a go of it.
But again, if the organizational culture is not accepting, respecting of that kind of conversation, then it will likely just be some dark secret thread. Where there is hope is when these spaces become places where people might be able to explore difficult topics and the organization is OK with that.
About halfway through the “There is hope in pushing a conversation” section of your “Revisiting: A critical pedagogy for organizational learning?” post, you talk about a “kind of collision between the ‘outside’ social world and internal organizational world…” Have you seen positive change result among those with whom you work as a result of the interactions taking place in the layered communities you mentioned earlier in this conversation?
Let me start over with a couple of examples.
Two of the most powerful “open” discussions we’ve had within our community (so…open to the entire community, but not open to the public) have been about 1) Being a Muslim—visiting student—in the U.S. and 2) the challenges of being a female in tech.
In both cases, these are very strong, female leaders who opened these discussions. And each was spurred by some outside event. Each also said—they would not write what they wrote anywhere else than within the community we created. And each, also, were very savvy social media users—blogging, on Twitter, etc.
And the discussion threads—and related conversations outside of the online space—I found productive for the community as a whole. That was also the general sense of the leaders in this program, and from what I could gather, the community itself,
Positive change coming from it? Not sure I can point to the lives of Muslim students being any “safer” or that women in tech are better off now. But there is a history here that now proves and demonstrates that our [learning] community—MSLOC—can take on these topics and explore them and learn from them.
That sort of takes us into the area of the same blog post that discusses “intentionally subverting the norm” as a way of fostering change. Any additional guidance you would offer readers in terms of the impacts that approach can have within organizations as well as onsite and online communities?
Yes, this is an interesting question. I recognize that there is some “power” at play here in what I am about to write, but I think a key is calling out (in a positive way) when “subverting the norm” happens. So, say I am a community manager or a leader and recognize that some set of voices are challenging our assumptions, but the challenge is productive in some way. For me, a key is just calling that out: Hey, this is great! We may not agree on all of it, but we love the critical thinking. And maybe engage in some true active listening—online or off—that results in some change in practices or routines.
I see those moments in facilitating classes. So, my perspective comes from that. If I am doing my job well, I am recognizing and encouraging multiple voices to be heard and to challenge assumptions.
How can you foster trust and safety in online environments when incivility is rampant?
Within organizations, don’t hire people who are incivil. 🙂
I say that half-jokingly. But it gets to my culture bit. If you bring in people who want to be civil participants, and you create a culture that allows for all voices to be heard and respected, then you’ve got a chance. But if all you are about is brand, making as much profit as possible by taking advantage of employees or customers, and beating the competition by any means possible, you’re hosed.
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in Winter/Spring 2020. This is the eleventh in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress.
Leave a Comment » | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: #metoo, activism, change the world, change the world using social media, critical pedagogy for organizational learning, engagement, jeff merrell, linkedin, me too, msloc 430, northwestern university, paul signorelli, rowman & littlefield, slack, social change, social media, unite the right rally, writing, yammer | Permalink
This is the first of a two-part interview conducted with Jeff Merrell, Associate Director of Northwestern University’s Master’s Program in Learning & Organizational Change, for my book Change the World Using Social Media (Rowman & Littlefield; projected publication date is autumn 2018). The interview was conducted online using a shared Google Doc, and has been lightly edited.
Let’s start with an attempt to set context: can you provide a brief summary of the enterprise technology and organizational learning course you’re currently facilitating or simply cut and paste the course description into this document here?
Let me do both.
http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/masters-learning-and-organizational-change/designing-for-organizational-effectiveness-certification/creating-and-sharing-knowledge.html
This course explores enterprise social networking technology and its impact on organizational knowledge and organizational learning in the workplace. The course will introduce theory, concepts and frameworks to help you understand knowledge sharing and learning within communities and networks of practitioners, the unique attributes of social networking technology as it applies to organizations, and current uses of network technology to change the way people work or learn (i.e., crowdsourcing and personal learning networks). Finally, you will learn to apply course concepts through prototyping, class projects and business cases.
Social-practice perspectives of organizational knowledge and learning
Enterprise social networking technologies
Communities and networks in organizations
Innovative models (MOOCs, communities, personal learning networks, crowdsourcing, narrating-your-work)
Prototyping new models
Assessing opportunities for new digital solutions to organizational challenges
Aligning digital solutions to strategic organizational challenges
My own words here:
Our M.S. program, for the past 6+ years, has used Jive as our “learning” platform. We intentionally tried to create more of a workplace feel for our program, rather than using an academic LMS [learning management system]. Jive is an enterprise social network platform that allow us to have dialogue and interactions within courses—privately—and across our entire community of learners, faculty, staff, and alumni. All within one space—and it very much looks like a corporate social intranet.
So, in my course, I have the advantage of leveraging our platform to talk about the issues of enterprise social media. But we also look at things like Yammer, Slack, and, sometimes, other platforms—Chatter—to get a sense of what the field looks like.
But at the end of the day, the course focuses on how enterprise social media and people co-construct/co-constitute the environment. We’re not techno-determinists.
A phrase you just used—“across our entire community of learners, faculty, staff and alum”–perfectly captures what has been so attractive to me in all the work I’ve seen you do since we first met in a MOOC several years ago. Is there a strong sense in your course community that the classroom is the entire world since you so frequently engage participation that encourages collaboration between those enrolled in a course and those who are practitioners, participating with you and your learners through social media?
I think what student come away with, appreciating—I hope!!—are the “layers” of community and networks created by different levels of privacy. So, our class group—community—of maybe 25 to 30 people is only visible to those enrolled in the course. We work hard to create a safe learning space there. The next layer above that is the MS Learning and Organizational Change “community”—some 250 to 300 people. And then, finally, the outside world—Twitter, etc.
What we look at is: What does it feel like to exist across those communities? And why is that important to understand?
The conversation tend to get at safety, trust—“knowing people,” as in close social ties. Keep in mind that all of our students meet face to face as well, so they do know each other.
But for anyone leading in today’s organizations, my bias is that it is important to understand these layers of privacy and community and how that impacts experience.
Remembering that readers of this book are people interested in better understanding how to use social media to foster social change, what specific guidance would you offer them in the following areas: What does it feel like to exist across those communities? And why is that important to understand?
Persistence and visibility—two of the affordances of enterprise social media—scare people, especially in a professional setting. In smaller-scale communities, with a community manager or facilitator who maybe speaks the professional language of the community, you can begin to create a safe place to share. You can create norms that—hopefully—prevent and mitigate the risk of unproductive comments.
But that does not mean that the culture you create in that smaller community necessarily translates to something more public. The more visibility, the more people just freak out, or self-monitor what they do or do not say.
So, if my goal is to have open discussions about critical, tough issues—and I want a variety of voices to be truly heard—don’t assume that because people are open in one tight community that they would be willing to say the same elsewhere. We have amazing, sensitive conversations in our class groups. They rarely “leak out” to the larger community, even when we nudge students to do so. It’s a difficult trick.
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020. This is the tenth in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress.
Leave a Comment » | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: activism, change the world, change the world using social media, chatter, engagement, jeff merrell, jive, linkedin, msloc 430, northwestern university, paul signorelli, rowman & littlefield, slack, social change, social media, writing, yammer | Permalink
Changing the World Through LinkedIn and Collaborative Online Tools
Shortly before the devastating recession of 2008 began, I accepted invitations from two business associates to join LinkedIn—the social media tool designed to help business colleagues stay in touch with each other and with those who might be able to provide job and other business opportunities. As the recession deepened in 2009 and my work and flow of income diminished to a trickle, I became more committed to staying in touch with a variety of colleagues and potential clients through updates I posted on LinkedIn—which, at the time, was the only social media tool I was exploring and using.
My posts on that account—generally no more than five each week, and sometimes none at all because I didn’t post anything unless I thought it would be of interest or use to those in my slowly growing LinkedIn network—were always very focused. I would share links to articles and other resources my colleagues and prospective clients might not otherwise see. I posted brief (Twitter-length) updates documenting the efforts I was making with colleagues on a board of directors engaged in what was ultimately a successful effort to help a struggling chapter of what was then ASTD (the American Society for Training and Development) and later became ATD (the Association for Talent Development) survive and once again begin to thrive. I occasionally posted summaries of what I was learning and doing as a volunteer in the marketing department of the Asian Art Museum here in San Francisco. There were also posts leading to articles and other resources I was devouring while completing work on my Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree through an online program at the University of North Texas.
About halfway through 2009—a period of time when my income had dwindled to a trickle and prospects for new contract work were non-existent—I started hearing comments from friends and colleagues who, with the words “You seem to be everywhere these days,” made me realize I still very much had a presence in my business communities even though I wasn’t seeing much in the way of cash flow or new contract work. Curious about the disparity between the reality of my situation and the comments I was hearing, I started asking people to define what “being everywhere” meant to them. The unanticipated answer, of course, was that those LinkedIn posts about the volunteer work I was doing to support major local community groups and the consistent sharing of resources my friends and business colleagues valued left them with the (incorrect) impression that I was weathering the recession well.
Recognizing the value of being actively, positively present on LinkedIn and continuing to contribute to my various overlapping and increasingly well-integrated communities—business, volunteer, learning, and social—helped me to focus even more on remaining engaged at a time when engagement felt almost completely futile. I spent at least an hour each week looking for ways to make my own LinkedIn account a valuable resource to anyone who spent time looking at it—beefing up sections with links to articles I was writing; reviews of books of interest to those to whom I was connected in LinkedIn; and links to slide decks others could use or adapt in their own work.
The combination of remaining tremendously active as a community volunteer throughout 2009, completing work on that MLIS degree, and sharing highlights of what I was doing led, unexpectedly, to an entirely new (paid) business opportunity in early 2010: becoming part of a team of trainers who, for six months, traveled throughout Northern California helping hospice workers learn to use software on mobile devices to more efficiently serve their patients. This, in turn, led to projects that introduced me to collaborative social media tools including Yammer and, more recently, Slack (Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge) and Trello—tools designed to facilitate blended conversations that help bring projects to fruition.
In thinking about how LinkedIn can be an important, productive, and often-overlooked element in our toolkits to foster positive social change, I keep returning to the idea that LinkedIn as well as Yammer, Slack, and many other social media collaboration/project-management tools are seen primarily as business resources—tools that can be and occasionally are used by activists, but seldom seem to be to the full extent possible. A fabulous comprehensive paper written in 2012 by Andrew M. Calkins and published in 2013 as a Julie Belle White-Newman MAOL Leadership Award winner at St. Catherine University, “LinkedIn: Key Principles and Best Practices for Online Networking Advocacy by Nonprofit Organizations,” leads me to believe that little has changed over the past six years in terms of LinkedIn making the transition from being a potentially rewarding resource to becoming a resource widely used by those committed to fostering positive change in their communities.
With a bit of creativity and effort, I suspect we can better take advantage of the potential of LinkedIn, combined with many other social media collaboration/project-management tools, to better reach and engage members of our professional/business communities into our efforts to help change the world.
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020. This is the ninth in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress.
Leave a Comment » | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: activism, andrew calkins, association for talent development, atd, change the world, change the world using social media, engagement, key principles and best practices, linkedin, paul signorelli, rowman & littlefield, slack, social change, social media, trello, writing, yammer | Permalink
Changing the World With Samantha Adams Becker (Part 2 of 2)
This is the second half of an interview conducted with Samantha Adams Becker, President at SAB Creative & Consulting and former New Media Consortium Publications & Communications Senior Director, for my book Change the World Using Social Media (Rowman & Littlefield; projected publication date is autumn 2018). Part 1 of this interview is accessible on “Building Creative Bridges” through this link. The entire interview was conducted online using a shared Google Doc, and has been lightly edited.
What major differences (positive and negative)—if any—do you see between your use of Twitter and Facebook?
I think I’m far more liberal in terms of what I share on Twitter. I view it as more of platform for experiments and iteration of thoughts. That’s interesting because my twitter profile is public while my Facebook one is private. You’d think I’d be more discerning about sharing in a public platform but that’s the exact principle that makes me more prone to share on Twitter. It’s a public, come-as-you-are community. Things move so fast that typos are par for the course.
[#covfefe]
On Facebook, because it’s private, I’m specifically friends with people who have requested a friendship or whose friendship I have requested. It’s more personal in that regard, so my posts are generally about my personal life—photos of my baby, my dog, my vacation. And I try not to post too many times per day out of fear of saturating people’s newsfeeds. Social media politeness! On Twitter, as I mentioned above, it’s not uncommon to tweet five times in a row in the span of a couple minutes—which makes it far more conversational.
And I think that’s the gist—to me, Facebook is more of a one-way street for personal use whereas Twitter is a vibrant continuous conversation!
What is one strikingly positive example of a way that you’ve used or seen Twitter used to promote social change?
The #MeToo movement is an obvious, but powerful, one. Suddenly, people who were scared to share something deeply personal were empowered to tell their stories because other people were doing it. I don’t think that movement could have spread as rapidly on any other platform because of continuous conversation factor. There’s Snapchat, Instagram, and new social platforms emerging all the time, but Twitter has remained loyal to the idea of words. And in spite of the growth of videos and infographics, etc. words. Are. Still. Powerful currency.
Tips to readers of this book who are interested in knowing how to most effectively use Twitter to facilitate social change?
Start by following people you are genuinely interested in. Some percentage of those people will follow you back and become part of your community.
Don’t just tweet how you are feeling, what you believe, etc.—pay attention to what other people are saying and doing. It’s a two-way street. You’d never have a conversation with a friend that’s just you sharing about your life; you’d ask questions and you’d listen to their responses thoughtfully.
If you’re interested in a subject, a simple Internet search of what related hashtags are popular will open up a whole world to you to learn more on that subject. And, if you use those hashtags in your own tweets, they (and you!) become more discoverable.
Anything else I haven’t asked that you think we should be discussing in terms of introducing Twitter for social change to the readers of this book?
Nobody likes an egghead. [The egg icon is the default image accompanying a new account until a user provides a customized image, so the egg suggests a new, inexperienced user to those familiar with Twitter.] Add a real profile photo!
Also, if you’re just starting out on Twitter as an individual or a business, do not purchase followers. You may get a lot of followers, but will they really be interested and prone to act on your calls to action? Relevance is key. You want to surround yourself with people relevant to your work life/personal life etc. Authenticity! Quality over quantity, every time.
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020. This is the eighth in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress.
Leave a Comment » | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: #metoo, activism, backchannels, change the world, change the world using social media, continuous conversation, covfefe, engagement, me too, paul signorelli, rowman & littlefield, samantha adams, samantha becker adams, social change, social media, twitter, writing | Permalink
This is the first half of an interview conducted with Samantha Adams Becker, President at SAB Creative & Consulting and former New Media Consortium Publications & Communications Senior Director, for my book Change the World Using Social Media (Rowman & Littlefield; projected publication date is autumn 2018). The interview was conducted online using a shared Google Doc, and has been lightly edited. The interview began with an exercise that involved jotting down as many words that came to mind after hearing the word “Twitter.”
Obvious things I see as I have all three [of our interview] transcripts in front of me: “sharing” and “networking” came up in all three—no surprises there. Anything stand out to you as you look at your responses to “Twitter?”
I think the idea of continuous conversation and PD [personal development] jump out the most—plus the “unedited” version of Twitter, because it’s a very “respond in the moment” platform.
Let’s go with three themes you mentioned, one at a time: “heart,” “continuous conversation,” and “professional development.” How does Twitter suggest “heart” to you?
Twitter features the heart button, which is the equivalent of “like” on Facebook and LinkedIn. However, in Facebook it seems more common to “like” something rather than share it; whereas on Twitter, sharing (or re-tweeting) appears to be more common. It’s an important distinction that a user makes deciding whether to simply “heart” something vs. re-tweet it. Re-tweeting essentially means you are agreeing with it or find enough merit in it to share it with your own community (unless you add a comment clarifying your own stance). So, offering up a “heart” is like saying, “I like your idea enough to say that I do, but not enough to expose my whole following to it.” It’s very interesting social-psychologically.
Thanks; sort of like second-class social, isn’t it…As for “continuous conversation”: initial thoughts behind that one?
Yes, I think Twitter—more so than any other social media platform—allows for continuous conversation. If one of your Facebook friends made 10 posts per day, you might find that a bit excessive. However, you may find it completely acceptable that a friend tweets 10 times in a day. That reaction alone points to Twitter as a much more embraced conversation/sharing platform. Not only can a discussion continue between multiple users, but you can continue your own conversation. That is to say, if you tweet an article about artificial intelligence in education, and then you go to a workshop on that subject the next day, you’re able to follow up with your reactions and opinions using a specific hashtag.
Perhaps most essentially, a conversation you may have started in person can continue on Twitter. This seems to be very popular at conferences where you may have a brief encounter with a person who winds up being a lifelong friend because you’re able to transition your connection to Twitter and respond to each other’s Tweets.
That very much parallels a theme I’m already exploring in the first-draft-in-progress: the value and inherently unique nature of conversation online—what has become a “moment” that extends over days, weeks, months, even years as a strange variation of a “moment.” You seeing extended conversations like those and, if so, how is that changing the way you view the concepts of time and conversation?
I love the way you are interpreting a “moment.” Twitter now has a moments feature that allows you to add a series of tweets or photos that represents a moment in your life.
Now, a conversation doesn’t have to take place in real-time to be considered deep and meaningful; it can stretch on for our entire lives. I think about the “moment” I met my husband—online. Granted, it was a specific online dating platform, but our correspondence was through a series of messages before we met in person. I’d say that’s a 21st-century way to describe the “moment” you meet someone, but I also liken it to earlier centuries where people wrote to each other via snail-mail back and forth, and maybe saw each other once [a year] or every few years. Twitter is like that, but responses can instantaneous—if the user sees fit. A user can be inspired by a tweet and meditate on it for an evening or a few days before responding, and that is perfectly acceptable within the frame of a conversation.
I see extended conversations take place all the time, oftentimes organized by hashtags. I think this is what Tweet-Ups are essentially—scheduled conversations (or unscheduled) that are continued once a week, once a month, etc.
[here’s a link to the article that initiated that thought process a few years ago among a few of us in #etmooc [the Educational Technology & Media massive open online course in early 2013]: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1023/2022]
And it actually initiated an ongoing conversation I’ve had in bits and pieces with the authors over the past few years; I was just in touch again with one of them in November—just before I was doing a blended-learning presentation in Los Angeles. A very long, wonderfully extended moment that hasn’t yet ended!
Going back to what you said in the penultimate full paragraph you wrote: what does that suggest in terms of how we can use Twitter (and other social media tools) to promote positive social change? [the one that starts with “Now, a conversation doesn’t have to take place in real-time to be considered deep and meaningful”]
Twitter enables positive social changes by transcending the necessity of a specific time and place. A conversation about climate change, for example, may begin between two people. Another person sees the tweet and then joins. And then another. And then another. The people are geographically dispersed and may not be using Twitter at the exact same time but, because Twitter sparks continuous conversation, people can join on their own time whenever they have something to contribute. And the asynchronous nature of it doesn’t detract from the subject matter or substance of it. In fact, pausing to think deeply about something before joining in is an important part of change.
When Paolo Gerbaudo wrote his wonderful book Tweets and the Streets in 2012, he pretty much saw social media (Facebook and Twitter, in particular) as prequels to social change—that’s where the organizing took place—but the real action was on the streets. Your last comments make me think you and I are on the same page in thinking that social change can actually take place as much online as in the streets—say, through the NMC [New Media Consortium] and #etmooc, for example, where we have spread ideas that filter into online as well as online learning spaces. Thoughts?
It’s not just the concept of a conversation that has evolved, but also the concept of the streets. Think about it—if conference organizers are savvy enough to encourage Twitter backchannels as an essential part of conference participation to extend organic hallway conversations, than that’s the concept of an online hallway.
A street may not be a private or more intimate conversation the way a hallway one may be, but, instead, a giant public space for conversation and action.
At the NMC [which closed upon entering bankruptcy proceedings in December 2017], we were good at carrying forward conversations from face-to-face and virtual events on Twitter. Our goal was to always extend the rich discussions that took place at a set event and ensure that they did not exist within a vacuum. You didn’t have to be physically present to “be present.”
We came up with the Horizon hashtag (#NMChz) as a way for people to respond to Horizon Reports—but also share articles, stories, projects, etc. that were Horizon-worthy. Twitter can take a static report and allow the related discussions to continue year-round. Horizon Street! Population: Whoever wants to be there.
“Horizon Street” is gorgeous! And I agree that the hashtag was part of the experience. Instead of leaving conferences and feeling depressed by impending separations, I always left with a sense of anticipation that the conversations were continuing. I’m struggling to train myself, at this point, that #NMChz is no longer open to through traffic and continuing conversation—but appreciation that #BeyondTheHorizon is a wonderful replacement road that is well on its way to bridging the gap. OK, enough with the road metaphors…for a moment. Let’s hit the third of the three topics you mentioned earlier: professional development. Care to pick up right where you left off and wrap together social media, Twitter, “moments,” and professional development into an operatic grand finale?
It’s true—all these features are connected, and they can add up to one hell of a professional development experience. I think some people may still envision professional development as something that takes place in a room—workshop or boot-camp style—that you or the institution has to invest in. But the integration of formal and informal learning has opened up the idea of personal development to be much more fluid and open to each user’s interpretation. If you feel an experience has enriched your professional life and given you new tools, skills, or knowledge to improve your own work and work environment, then why not call it professional development?
Twitter conversations and moments are ripe for professional development opportunities—the hard part is often the lack of organization and ability to archive. We’re even seeing helpful tools like Storify—that helped create something linear and meaningful from tweets—disappear.
That being said, following specific users, hashtags, lists, etc can be part of a user’s professional development strategy. It’s very much connected with the notion of a personal learning network (PLN) where there is a fixed or expanding community of peers and leaders where you teach other things.
I, for example, love to see what articles my Twitter friends in #edtech share. Just clicking on the links to three to five articles per day and reading them helps expand my own vision and ideas. Even if I don’t agree with an article or a theme, it generates new ideas and new knowledge in me. It seems so basic, but it’s like show and tell. I’m learning something new about a subject as well as how the sharer views it.
N.B. — Paul is currently writing Change the World Using Social Media, scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020. This is the seventh in a continuing series of excerpts from and interviews for the manuscript in progress. The next post will include the second half of this interview.
Leave a Comment » | change the world, change the world using social media, technology, writing | Tagged: activism, backchannels, change the world, change the world using social media, continuous conversation, engagement, paolo gerbaudo, paul signorelli, rowman & littlefield, samantha adams, samantha becker adams, social change, social media, tweets and the streeets, twitter, writing | Permalink


The risk for myocarditis among people with COVID-19 is 16 times higher than among those without the infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jeudy and his colleagues said that myocarditis has been linked to up to 20% of sudden deaths in young athletes.
Concern had been raised that myocarditis can occur after being vaccinated for COVID-19, especially among young males like those in this study. According to the CDC, however, there are approximately 50 cases of myocarditis for every 1 million young men vaccinated, far below the risk of myocarditis from COVID-19 itself. Based on its data, the CDC says the benefit from the vaccine far outweighs the risk of getting myocarditis.
"We know that COVID can affect the heart, and we know there's no reason to risk the potential for the kind of long-term effects of COVID," Jeudy said.
"So getting vaccinated is probably the No. 1 thing to think about," he stressed.
For this study, Jeudy's team took advantage of the Big Ten Athletic Conference's ability to get data on the frequency of myocarditis in student athletes recovering from COVID-19.
The conference required all athletes who had COVID to get a series of heart tests before returning to play. Tests included cardiac MRIs, echocardiograms, ECGs and blood tests.
Jeudy reviewed the results of nearly 1,600 cardiac MRIs from 13 participating universities. Thirty-seven of these athletes (2.3%) had myocarditis related to COVID-19. What was surprising, however, was that few had symptoms.
Twenty of these patients with COVID-19 myocarditis (54%) had no cardiac symptoms or heart abnormalities seen on other tests. Only MRIs found the problem.
For some of the athletes studied, myocarditis was limited and went away within a month, but others continued to show abnormalities on MRIs, Jeudy said.
MRIs are expensive, and most patients hospitalized for COVID-19 don't get them, so it's likely that many cases of myocarditis go undiagnosed, he said.
The long-term consequence of myocarditis among those infected with COVID-19 will only become clear over time, Jeudy said. He noted that persistent inflammation or heart scarring can increase the risk of an irregular heartbeat known as arrhythmia.
When can athletes resume play?
"At the very least, this athlete is going to be out for six months, with evaluation, making sure that they have a gradual return to play," Jeudy said. "It's largely connected with symptoms. If there are signs of decreased function or underlying arrhythmia, that would be a concern for that particular athlete."
The findings were released Monday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Dr. Marc Siegel, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said COVID-19 can affect many parts of the body.
"It's a virus that sets off a lot of alarms around the body, inflammatory alarms that go off," said Siegel, who was not involved with the study.
"Those inflammatory alarms occur in organs where the virus isn't even present," he said. "It's the body fighting back against the virus systemically. We're seeing it in the brain. We're seeing it in the heart. We're seeing it in the lungs. It's a multi-system organ risk of inflammation."
Siegel said the best way to prevent getting COVID-19 and its complications is to get vaccinated.
"This study is yet another motivation to get vaccinated before you ever get COVID," he said.
For more on COVID-19, see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SOURCES: Jean Jeudy, MD, professor, radiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; Marc Siegel, MD, clinical professor, medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; presentation, Radiological Society of North America, Nov. 29, 2021


Please feel free to browse our websites and applications. In Touch Ministries (“ITM”) provides these digital assets for your spiritual edification, information, and education.
By accessing websites and digital applications provided by In Touch Ministries (collectively, the “Site”), you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions stated below ("Terms and Conditions") and all applicable laws. Moreover, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms and Conditions and acknowledge that these Terms and Conditions are the only agreement between you and In Touch Ministries (“ITM”) that applies to your use of our Site. We reserve the right to make any modifications we believe are necessary at any time, so feel free to review this site and these Terms and Conditions at any time. Each time you use the Site, you agree to these Terms and Conditions in the version then current at the time you access the Site. The current version of these Terms and Conditions will always be available for your review.
Unless expressly stated to the contrary, everything you see, hear, read, or access in any way on the Site is and shall remain the copyrighted intellectual property of ITM. ITM authorizes the download of material displayed on the Site solely and exclusively for non-commercial, personal use. Your authorized use of ITM materials, including the text, images, audio, video, blog posts, comments, forums, and any other content created with extant or future tools (“the materials”), means (1) the materials must not be modified in any way, (2) the materials must not be used in a way that indicates or implies a representative association of any kind between the user and ITM, 3) your use of the materials must abide by these Terms and Conditions, the In Touch Ministries Reprint Permission Guide, and express statements regarding use of the materials in the text of the Site. Any other use requires express written authorization and permission from ITM. ITM neither warrants nor represents that your use of materials displayed on the Site will not infringe rights of third parties not owned by or affiliated with ITM or infringe the laws of any jurisdiction outside the United States of America.
To the best of our ability ITM includes accurate and up to date information in the Site, ITM makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy. ITM assumes no liability to you or to any third party for any errors or omissions in any content that may be made available to you through the site.
Your use of and browsing of the Site are entirely at your own risk. Neither ITM nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the site is liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, special, or punitive damages arising out of your access to, or use of, the site, or your inability to do so. Even if an exception were to apply which might allow such damages, your recovery will not be greater than the amount you paid to ITM to access the site. Without limiting the foregoing, everything on the Site is provided to you "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Please note that some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you. Check your local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding the exclusion of implied warranties.
To the best of our ability ITM ensures that any content that may be made available to you through your access to the Site will not deleteriously affect any computer system or systems that you may use to access the Site, and continuously works to maintain the highest possible standards of information security and integrity throughout all ITM computer systems, including the Site. Notwithstanding, ITM assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any software or content (commonly called “malware”) that may damage your computer equipment or other property consequent on your access to, use of, or browsing in the site or your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video, or audio from the site.
Because ITM cannot guarantee the security of any device you may use to access the Site, nor the security of the public Internet, ITM cannot guarantee the confidentiality or integrity of any material you transmit publicly or privately to the Site by electronic mail or otherwise, including but not limited to any data, text, software, music, sound, videos, messages, tags, blogs or forum postings, questions, comments, suggestions, or the like. While ITM uses reasonable efforts to preserve your privacy, ITM reserves the right to use, at ITM’s sole discretion, anything you transmit or post for any purpose, including, but not limited to, reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast, and posting, provided that such use does not include your personally identifiable information. Please see the current version of the ITM Privacy Policy.
Images displayed on the Site are either the property of, or used with permission by, ITM. Your use of these images, or use by anyone else authorized by you, is prohibited unless specifically permitted by these Terms and Conditions, or specific permission provided elsewhere on the Site. Your use of these images may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes.
The trademarks, logos, service marks and product and service names related to ITM (collectively the "Trademarks") displayed on the Site are registered and unregistered Trademarks of ITM and others. Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the Site without the written permission of ITM or such third party that may own the Trademarks displayed on the Site. Your use of the Trademarks displayed on the Site, or any other content on the Site, except as provided in these Terms and Conditions, is strictly prohibited. You are also advised that ITM will enforce its intellectual property rights to the full extent of the law, including the seeking of criminal prosecution where appropriate.
While ITM continuously reviews sites and services that may be available to you through links on the Site, ITM may not have reviewed all of the sites linked to the Site at any given time, and is neither responsible for nor liable to you or any third party for the content of any off-site pages or any other sites linked to the Site. Your use of any link on the Site to browse to any other off-site pages or other sites is entirely at your own risk.
ITM may at its discretion provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to these Terms of Use, including but not limited to email, regular mail, SMA, MMS, text message, postings on In Touch Sites, or other reasonable means now known or hereafter developed.
Member Conduct
Although ITM may from time to time monitor or review discussions, chats, postings, transmissions, bulletin boards, and the like on the Site, ITM is under no obligation to do so and assumes no responsibility or liability arising from the content of any such resources nor for any error, defamation, libel, slander, omission, falsehood, impersonation of any person or entity obscenity, pornography, profanity, danger, or inaccuracy contained in any information within such locations on the Site. You may not use the Site to post, to transmit, or to upload any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, invasive of another’s privacy, discriminatory, harmful to minors or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
ITM will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing ITM to disclose the identity of anyone posting any such information or materials.
ITM is organized under the laws of the state of Georgia in the United States of America, and these Terms of Use and Terms and Conditions are governed by Georgia law. If any provision of this agreement is unlawful, void or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. This is the entire agreement regarding the matters discussed on this page.
Software and content from this Site is further subject to United States Export Controls. No software from this Site may be downloaded or exported intentionally or unintentionally (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Syria or any other country to which the United States has embargoed goods; or (ii) anyone on the United States Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department’s Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or organization(s) designated by the United States government as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act or on any such list.
Storage of information regarding your activities on the Site
Logging Information: intouch.org (apps) logs and stores anonymous information each time you visit the site. This information includes: Time and Date of visit, IP address, host, client (browser type) and the referrer by which you came to intouch.org. This information is used strictly for statistical analysis. This information is NOT shared or sold to any unaffiliated third parties under any circumstances, the only exception being inquiries by local, state, federal, and international authorities.
Upon completing ITM’s registration process, you will receive a password and account designation. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account, and you are fully responsible for any activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to notify ITM of an unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security and ensure you exit from your account at the end of each session.
ITM can for any reason or not reason without prior notice, at its sole discretion, immediately terminate your Site account and access to Your account at any time and for any reason, and shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your account or access to ITM. ITM also reserves the right to log off and completely remove accounts that remain inactive for an extended period of time.
SMS communications
In Touch Ministries (hereinafter, “We,” “Us,” “Our”) is offering a mobile messaging program (the “Program”), which you agree to use and participate in subject to the Mobile Messaging Terms and Conditions and this Privacy Policy (the Terms and Privacy Policy are referred to collectively as the “Agreement”). In Touch Ministries respects your privacy. We will only use information you provide through the Program to transmit your mobile messages and respond to you, if necessary. This includes, but is not limited to, sharing information with platform providers, phone companies, and other vendors who assist us in the delivery of mobile messages. WE DO NOT SELL, RENT, LOAN, TRADE, LEASE, OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER FOR PROFIT ANY PHONE NUMBERS OR CUSTOMER INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THE PROGRAM TO ANY THIRD PARTY. Nonetheless, We reserve the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any legal, regulatory or governmental request, to avoid liability, or to protect Our rights or property. When you complete forms online or otherwise provide Us information in connection with the Program, you agree to provide accurate, complete, and true information. You agree not to use a false or misleading name or a name that you are not authorized to use. If, in Our sole discretion, We believe that any such information is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete, or you have opted into the Program for an ulterior purpose, We may refuse you access to the Program and pursue any appropriate legal remedies.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits Users of the Program that are California consumers or residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of the information you provide through the Program to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
To make such a request, please contact us at the following address:
partnerrelations@intouch.org
This Privacy Policy is strictly limited to the Program and has no effect on any other privacy policy(ies) that may govern the relationship between you and In Touch Ministries in other contexts.
No waiver of terms
Failure to exercise or enforce these Terms of Use or any part or parts of these Terms of Use shall not constitute waiver of any terms or provision incorporated in these Terms of Use
If any provision of these Terms of Use is found by a competent court of jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties (“You” and “ITM”) nevertheless agree that the court shall endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intention as reflected in the provision, and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
You acknowledge, consent and agree that ITM may access, preserve and disclose your account information and content if required to do so by the law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process; Enforce Terms of Use; respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; Respond to your requests for service; or Protect the rights, property or personal safety of ITM, its users and public.
Legal inquiries
Please forward any questions or concerns you may have about these Terms and Conditions to ITM at PartnerRelations@intouch.org or by U.S. Postal Service to P0 Box 7900, Atlanta GA 30357.
©2014 In Touch Ministries. All rights reserved.


SPECIAL FEATURE: ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr....
2015-16 season, Features, Organ, Special
SPECIAL FEATURE: ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’
By: Butch Rigby, Screenland Founder
This year’s Screenland at the Symphony Halloween concert features John Barrymore — patriarch of one of the great American film-acting dynasties — as the protagonist in the silent-film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The story itself is one of great intrigue. Dr. Jekyll, criticized for his dispassionate manner, becomes fascinated with the idea of two personalities residing within one person. He then embarks on a “scientific” journey not only to discover this other side of himself, but to give it a life of its own in the form of an alter ego, Mr. Hyde. Unfortunately, this extreme “evil twin” becomes dominant, leading inevitably to the good Dr. Jekyll’s demise.
While many have attempted to bring this famous character to life on screen over the years, it was Barrymore who most genuinely captured the grotesque spirit of Stevenson’s character. And although he adapted to “talking pictures” quite well, Barrymore always will be remembered for his work in silent films and especially the performance you will see tonight.
John Barrymore was the son of actors and the brother of Lionel Barrymore, who many will recognize as “Mr. Potter” in Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.” His sister, Ethel Barrymore, was considered one of the finest actresses of her time, and he was the grandfather of modern cinema star, Drew Barrymore. Barrymore was often referred to as “The Great Profile” due to his handsome features and incredible popularity. His life — and death — are the stuff of Hollywood legend. It is rumored that after his passing at the age of 60, Barrymore’s buddies Errol Flynn and director Raoul Walsh commandeered his corpse and had a final drink with him at Flynn’s home before his funeral.
Regardless of whether you believe the legend, tonight, we have a rare opportunity to watch a true master of the silent-film era on the big screen. The music, courtesy of Dorothy Papadakos and the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ, will make it once in a lifetime.
To purchase tickets to the Thursday, Oct. 29 Screenland at the Symphony: “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” performance featuring organist Dorothy Papadakos, call the Symphony Box Office at (816) 471-0400 or select your seat online.
Why is Schubert’s No. 9 “The Great” so Great?
Remembering Leonard Bernstein
New Concerts Added for 2017/18 Season


Carden’s Capitol Corner: Remembering Geraldine Ferraro
Andrew Carden March 31, 2011
Looking back, there have been countless people and events which fueled my interest in politics. Among them are the engrossing train wreck that was the 2008 primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and, perhaps first and foremost, my utter bewilderment over how George W. Bush prevailed on election night in 2004.
Also near the top of this list would be Geraldine Ferraro’s televised address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Ferraro, a New York congresswoman running as vice president to presidential candidate Walter Mondale, was the first woman and the first Italian-American to be selected for a major party’s presidential ticket. To date, she is also the last New Yorker to grace a Democratic presidential ticket.
This speech, which I first saw in a high school class, was among the most exciting and well-delivered addresses I’d ever seen. Ferraro came off as the antithesis of your typical boring, safe politician. She was warm and engaging, yet tough and fiery, and it disappointed me to learn that the Mondale/Ferraro ticket lost 49 of 50 states in that election against the incumbent, Ronald Reagan.
On Saturday, March 26, Ferraro, 75, died after a decade-long battle with multiple myeloma.
Having greatly admired Ferraro and hoped for years that she would stage a political comeback, her passing marked a sad end to my spring break. It was, however, a heartening sight to see the likes of figures across the political spectrum, from Sarah Palin, the second-ever female vice presidential candidate, to Hillary Clinton, gush over Ferraro’s impressive career. Despite her progressive credentials, she was admired by figures of all ideologies and political parties; a rarity in today’s hyper-polarized political environment.
Following Ferraro’s 1984 loss, she took eight years off before attempting a political comeback in her home state. The 1992 New York U.S. Senate race found Ferraro pitted against the daunting likes of then-Attorney General Bob Abrams, former Congresswoman and feminist icon Elizabeth Holtzman and Rev. Al Sharpton. After maintaining a lead throughout most of the race, Ferraro lost ground amid negative attack ads from Abrams and Holtzman. Ferraro went onto lose to Abrams by just one percentage point.
She mounted another comeback attempt in 1998, but lost to then-Congressman Chuck Schumer by a margin of 2 to 1. That loss was viewed as the final stake through the heart of Ferraro’s political career. Commentators suggested that Ferraro didn’t have a fresh message and that she was merely riding name recognition from 1984.
Perhaps she ran poor political campaigns, but I couldn’t help but root for Ferraro when former Gov. David Paterson was mulling over a replacement to Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate seat, after Clinton vacated it to join the Obama administration. Though I’m perfectly fine with Paterson’s eventual selection, Kirsten Gillibrand, I thought it would’ve been poignant to see a trailblazer like Ferraro finally get her due.
I don’t think it’s quite hyperbole to think that America has lost one of its most important modern-day political figures.
Posted in OPINIONTagged #1992 New York U.S. Senate Race #Andrew Carden #Attorney General Bob Abrams #Barack Obama #Democratic National Convention #Elizabeth Holtzman #George W. Bush #Geraldine Ferraro #Gov. David Paterson #Hillary Clinton #Kirsten Gillibrand #Rev. Al Sharpton #Ronald Reagan #sarah palin #SUNY New Paltz #Walter Mondale
Andrew Carden
Undiscovered New Paltz: Truss Bridge
Thu Mar 31 , 2011
The Springtown Truss Bridge is an enchanting place. The view of the Wallkill River from the bridge makes you feel like you are in one of those famous Hudson Valley River paintings from the 1800s. The river cuts through the temperate New Paltz forest. Trees curl over the river banks […]
Karen Wallace Visits New Paltz
Well-being with Meaning: Making Finals Week Easier (Continued)
Media Ethics: A Clockwork Media
No Way!… Procrastination Enrichment, Chavez Dies and Rugrats Throwbacks…
No Way!…First Lady’s Moves, Bye-Bye Pope?, Mean Girl Moments and More!
Novel Ideas: Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of A True Story by Chuck Klosterman


Waukegan CUSD #60 » Our District » Student Registration » Forms » Freedom of Information (FOIA) Request Information
{ padding: 5px; text-align: left;vertical-align:top; } th { padding: 2px; text-align: left; }
The current COVID-19 pandemic and State directives have impacted the ability of school staff to comply with the requirements of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. State law has not changed, however. The provisions of 5 ILCS 140 remain in full force and effect, despite the fact that almost all school employees are working from home and ordinary operating resources and working conditions related to document recovery and reproduction are not available to them. Illness may create further complications for key staff. Nonetheless, recognizing the need for transparency in public business matters, WPS60 staff will do their best to fully comply with the letter and spirit of FOIA.
As a reminder, 5 ILCS 140/3(e) allows a public body to extend the time for response by 5 additional days for certain situations, several of which are likely to be present for the near future, and to work with requesters when even more time is needed. On that basis, we request that you allow 30 calendar days for the District's initial response, and if that is unacceptable to you, we ask that you contact the undersigned in writing to establish a mutually agreed reasonable schedule for the District's response to your request. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation as we all face the challenges created by the current public health crisis.
Kayla Wolf
FOIA Officer
Waukegan Community School District #60
Information for Members of the Public
Resolution Concerning Freedom of Information Act Requests - Important, please read
School District FOIA Officer: Ms. Kayla Wolf
FOIA Requests should be submitted to:
Waukegan Community Unit School District #60
1201 North Sheridan Road
Fax to:
Please submit your request in writing and include your name, your address, the date and a daytime phone number so that we can contact you in case we have any questions. Describe the information you are seeking in sufficient detail so that we can find the requested information. Providing as much detail as possible in your request may expedite our search process.
School District Description: The Waukegan Community School District #60 is a public school system providing educational services to students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The School District has an annual Education Fund budget of approximately $149 million dollars. The School District employs approximately 2000 staff.