Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Fingers Do the Walking on Teacher Appreciation Day

Tonight I had the most amazing experience.  For an hour, I got to walk in the shoes of my students by emulating their social media habit.

What?

Well, let's try it another way.

7:15
My computer froze, and upon reboot, my personal firewall locked access to Twitter.  I had 10 minutes until I was to help moderate a Twitter chat on what #teachingis (in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week).  My efforts to unlock the firewall failed.

7:28
I text my partner-in-crime to tell her that I was having internet issues.

7:30
I see a message pop up on Google Hangouts, asking from another co-leader, very nicely,  what the hold up was.

7:32
I open my Twitter app on my phone, and blindly introduce myself to the chat, tagging the chat with our #hashtag.

7:34
My computer unlocks enough to allow me to open my Google Chat script of questions and I hand-type the first question on my cell phone app.   The app also has a search feature that allows me to reply to questions.

7:44
I realize that each time I have a new question, my search window disappears.  And so more multitasking ensures.  A few spelling errors as well.

But the tweets fly, fast and furious.

8:05 We are all having a great time, and new people join our chat.
Welcoming them back knocks me out of the saved topic chat on my phone.

**EPIPHANY**

In the middle of the chat, I realize that this is how my students do most of their typing and communicating.   Most of them can knock a paper out on their phones as easily as I can type on a traditional keyboard.   I was raised on Smith and Wesson, they are part of the Samsung Galaxy or Apple-verse.  It appears to work well enough for then.

8:07  Back to the chat, and ideas are flying.  Humor and a surge of information moves the conversation and splits it several ways.

8:09 #thankateacher crosses over to #teachingis, which is a great fusion.  #thankateacher reflects the impact of the profession and #teachingis crosses over to visioning new ways to leverage the complex work that is being done.

8:30  The chat is almost done.   Everyone one looks at what we have accomplished.   I realize that a Storify is going to need to be pulled from the tweets, but I will do that in the morning.

With my computer.  Not a smart phone app.   At least for now.

And I am left with a nagging question.  What happens when we let the user decide the technology?  Perhaps what I see as a concession (yes, you can use the phone) is really a necessity (I can do it faster with my phone)

For me, I have fingers that are unaccustomed to rapid-fire texting.   At the end of the hour, my fingers felt stiff.  For others, that feeling of exhilaration and synergy may flow better from a phone than a keyboard.

But the great thing is that both of us, whoever we are, are right.  That's part of why #teachingis complex, rewarding, and worth pursuing.

photo credit: Johan Larsson via photopin cc