"I like your font" - Steve Hargadon - Classroom 2.0

Steve Hargadon writes: "topic or content is maybe not as important as the act of engagement. We each have dozens to hundreds of things that we are passionate or care about. In some interesting way, engagement trumps topic--when we find a topic that creates engagement, that engagement changes how we view our lives and sense of learning in all areas we are interested in. It changes how we think about sharing and discussing things with others. So when a network we thought was going to be a big hit isn't, all is not lost. Our job is not as much to define what is talked about, but to help conversation to take place."


What caught my attention in this post is the idea of the role of relationships in education. This is of particular interest because currently my daughter is having a hard time with her 5th grade teacher. The teacher is harsh, and in my opinion, overly strict. My daughter is fearful of her teacher, and her motivation around her academic performance at the moment stems from fear. I am working on my personal concerns with the teacher and the principal, as well as my daughter. The question I am pondering - what is the role of relationships in the educational experience?

This is part of the broader question, which Steve Hargadon raises: does the ability to build relationships through social media energize learners around topics that otherwise might not have engaged the student? And will we all learn more in an environment (online or off) that is truly collaborative and not authoritarian. Perhaps it is the positive social reinforcement - having the chance to express your opinion and formulate ideas, and feel heard by others participating in the online environment. Knowing that your work will be read by peers may inspire learners to be more thoughtful, and thorough in their writing. In addition, interesting and original thinkers/posters will get more responses from their peers. Those with a dearth of responses to their posts might (consciously or not) try harder to engage their classmates with more interesting titles to their posts, and more critical and creative thinking in the content. Even the system of mandatory responses by peers to posts can lead to the altering of behavior of students. If all the comments one receives are "I like your font" etc, one quickly gets the idea that peers aren't responding to the content and ideas of the writer. We all want positive feedback, and to be noticed. And we want to be noticed for more than our font choice. This is likely a far better feedback loop than any grading system. A truly democratic, collaborative experience of learning through the use of social media may be working to shape students behavior, teacher's behavior, and redefining learning, in ways we are just beginning to understand.