Comments on: How to turn ‘Me Vision’ into ‘We Vision’ http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/ Thinking about technology and education Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:25:41 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Jeremy http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-57 Jeremy Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:50:16 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-57 At four-and-a-half years old, I didn't expect many of the links from that post to still be alive, but most are. I imagine there are probably dozens of networks of loosely joined educational blogs by now, likely with some overlap and probably focused in specific areas (classroom teaching, ed.tech, k-12, post-secondary, school 2.0, etc...). Five years ago, there were certainly fewer, so the best bubbled up to the top pretty easily. At four-and-a-half years old, I didn’t expect many of the links from that post to still be alive, but most are. I imagine there are probably dozens of networks of loosely joined educational blogs by now, likely with some overlap and probably focused in specific areas (classroom teaching, ed.tech, k-12, post-secondary, school 2.0, etc…). Five years ago, there were certainly fewer, so the best bubbled up to the top pretty easily.

]]> By: cthompson http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-56 cthompson Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:20:46 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-56 Jeremy, thanks for dropping by! Your <a href="http://headspacej.blogspot.com/2003/10/joanne-jacobs-and-parallel-universe.html" rel="nofollow"> october post</a> is really along a similar line to what I'm getting at here. I'm definitely going to check out some of the blogs you mentioned to see what the "other" learning networks are talking about! Jeremy, thanks for dropping by! Your october post is really along a similar line to what I’m getting at here. I’m definitely going to check out some of the blogs you mentioned to see what the “other” learning networks are talking about!

]]> By: cthompson http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-55 cthompson Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:07:57 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-55 Amy, thanks for your comments. I guess it is largely part of the human condition to align with people who have similar viewpoints. Giving voice to 'knee jerk' reactions seems to be so common these days. I try not to comment or post right away if something gets my blood boiling; I know that I need a bit of perspective and a chance to check out all sides of the story. Alison, I'd love to read the Salon article. I certainly noticed a similar scenario in the media I was listening to during that last election. Amy, thanks for your comments. I guess it is largely part of the human condition to align with people who have similar viewpoints. Giving voice to ‘knee jerk’ reactions seems to be so common these days. I try not to comment or post right away if something gets my blood boiling; I know that I need a bit of perspective and a chance to check out all sides of the story.

Alison, I’d love to read the Salon article. I certainly noticed a similar scenario in the media I was listening to during that last election.

]]> By: Shaping Youth http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Shaping Youth Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:52:56 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-54 Excellent...that's a great one for deconstruction...Perfect example. Excellent…that’s a great one for deconstruction…Perfect example.

]]> By: Jeremy http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-53 Jeremy Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:50:42 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-53 Hey, noticed in OLDaily yesterday that you're just down the road in Penticton. I guess I'm a lapsed edublogger at best, but I've been pondering educational technology and design here from Summerland for years, and I was <a href="http://headspacej.blogspot.com/2003/10/joanne-jacobs-and-parallel-universe.html" rel="nofollow">pondering this very issue</a> way back when. Never did come up with any good answers to those questions -- I've found that I go through periods where I expand the numbers and types of voices I'm listening to, and other times when I pare it right back down to the essentials, which are usually ones I'm agreeing with (down to six ed.feeds right now). Also noticed that you said you were on Flickr -- feel free to join the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/okanaganvalley/pool/" rel="nofollow">I Love the Okanagan</a> group if you have photos of the region you'd like to share. Hey, noticed in OLDaily yesterday that you’re just down the road in Penticton. I guess I’m a lapsed edublogger at best, but I’ve been pondering educational technology and design here from Summerland for years, and I was pondering this very issue way back when. Never did come up with any good answers to those questions — I’ve found that I go through periods where I expand the numbers and types of voices I’m listening to, and other times when I pare it right back down to the essentials, which are usually ones I’m agreeing with (down to six ed.feeds right now).

Also noticed that you said you were on Flickr — feel free to join the I Love the Okanagan group if you have photos of the region you’d like to share.

]]> By: Alison http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Alison Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:07:59 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-52 Salon.com had an interesting article after the last US election touching on this topic. The Salon writers were following a lot of pro-Democrat and anti-Bush blogs in the run-up to the election. They effectively created a house of mirrors where everywhere they looked they saw the same idea reflected - that Bush and the Republicans had to go and would not be elected again. They took this as a reflection of the opinions of all voters, needless to say the election results were a bit of a shock. I'll try to track down the article for you. Salon.com had an interesting article after the last US election touching on this topic.

The Salon writers were following a lot of pro-Democrat and anti-Bush blogs in the run-up to the election. They effectively created a house of mirrors where everywhere they looked they saw the same idea reflected – that Bush and the Republicans had to go and would not be elected again. They took this as a reflection of the opinions of all voters, needless to say the election results were a bit of a shock. I’ll try to track down the article for you.

]]> By: Shaping Youth http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-51 Shaping Youth Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:42:39 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-51 Great topic! Hi, Amy Jussel here, just reported a bit on the kids' version of 'group think' (peer to peer, parent parroting, etc.) writing about the need for critical thinking skills universally, so THANKS for this post. As a former journalist, I purposely read news from different countries to get a surround sound snapshot of any one story I'm following to prevent myopia and narrow point of view. We're all entitled to our opinions, but in order to attach strength to any conviction, I strongly feel being well-informed on the given topic is essential. Sadly...few do. In fact if you want to see an example of 'differing opinions,' on one post, and how VERY lightly formed they tend to be (most are leaving a 'kneejerk reaction' comment based on a narrowcast 'one ad' focus vs. taking the time to see the context of the post overall on a much larger conversation) Shaping Youth's post about the Target billboard blogosphere media madness is indicative of how narrowcasting can create distortions sans critical thinking skills and dilute and derail an entire conversation into a brouhaha out of proper context. Here's the original post http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=969 Now...make note of how the commentary doesn't refer to the post itself as much as the narrowcast 'sound-bite' framing/coverage by the NYT here: http://tinyurl.com/2k5uga Then notice that even when I posted the full NYT e-interview to clarify context on Shaping Youth, most commentary reflects that people were still 'reacting' to what they 'thought' was the story in 'narrowcast' me vs. we synapses firing... My point? Even if you TRY to get people to look beyond their narrow horizons to see the much bigger picture, the mass majority tends to stay comfy with their own views and vehemence, even when it's not close to accurate truth. (goes to the old 'lead a horse to water' adage...) ;-) Still, as educators, it's our job to TRY to instill those critical thinking skills, imho...so I applaud you for even opening the dialog and looking at your own media choices... p.s. Just wrote a similar piece on critical thinking skills re: Nickelodeon's kids' election coverage here: http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=1078 Great topic! Hi, Amy Jussel here, just reported a bit on the kids’ version of ‘group think’ (peer to peer, parent parroting, etc.) writing about the need for critical thinking skills universally, so THANKS for this post.

As a former journalist, I purposely read news from different countries to get a surround sound snapshot of any one story I’m following to prevent myopia and narrow point of view.

We’re all entitled to our opinions, but in order to attach strength to any conviction, I strongly feel being well-informed on the given topic is essential. Sadly…few do.

In fact if you want to see an example of ‘differing opinions,’ on one post, and how VERY lightly formed they tend to be (most are leaving a ‘kneejerk reaction’ comment based on a narrowcast ‘one ad’ focus vs. taking the time to see the context of the post overall on a much larger conversation) Shaping Youth’s post about the Target billboard blogosphere media madness is indicative of how narrowcasting can create distortions sans critical thinking skills and dilute and derail an entire conversation into a brouhaha out of proper context.

Here’s the original post http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=969
Now…make note of how the commentary doesn’t refer to the post itself as much as the narrowcast ’sound-bite’ framing/coverage by the NYT here: http://tinyurl.com/2k5uga

Then notice that even when I posted the full NYT e-interview to clarify context on Shaping Youth, most commentary reflects that people were still ‘reacting’ to what they ‘thought’ was the story in ‘narrowcast’ me vs. we synapses firing…

My point? Even if you TRY to get people to look beyond their narrow horizons to see the much bigger picture, the mass majority tends to stay comfy with their own views and vehemence, even when it’s not close to accurate truth.

(goes to the old ‘lead a horse to water’ adage…) ;-)

Still, as educators, it’s our job to TRY to instill those critical thinking skills, imho…so I applaud you for even opening the dialog and looking at your own media choices…

p.s. Just wrote a similar piece on critical thinking skills re: Nickelodeon’s kids’ election coverage here: http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=1078

]]> By: cthompson http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-49 cthompson Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:27:48 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-49 Sue, thanks for your suggestion to use Google Blog Search tags. I've used the search before, but have never subscribed to the tags--I wasn't really sure what it was about. Your post today, <a href="http://aquaculturepda.edublogs.org/2008/02/04/tips-for-diversifying/" rel="nofollow">Tips for Minimising Group Think</a> helped me to understand how to use this tool. Sue, thanks for your suggestion to use Google Blog Search tags. I’ve used the search before, but have never subscribed to the tags–I wasn’t really sure what it was about. Your post today, Tips for Minimising Group Think helped me to understand how to use this tool.

]]> By: » Tips for Minimising Group Think Mobile Technology in TAFE http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-48 » Tips for Minimising Group Think Mobile Technology in TAFE Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:52:51 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-48 [...] Claire Thompson “How to turn “Me Vision Into We Vision” post where she discusses the need to ensure we don’t limit our learning by getting sucked [...] [...] Claire Thompson “How to turn “Me Vision Into We Vision” post where she discusses the need to ensure we don’t limit our learning by getting sucked [...]

]]> By: » Tips for Diversifying Blog Subscriptions! Mobile Technology in TAFE http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/comment-page-1/#comment-47 » Tips for Diversifying Blog Subscriptions! Mobile Technology in TAFE Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:18:18 +0000 http://cthompson.edublogs.org/2008/02/02/how-to-turn-me-vision-into-we-vision/#comment-47 [...] Claire Thompson “How to turn “Me Vision Into We Vision” post where she discusses the need to ensure we don’t limit our learning by getting sucked [...] [...] Claire Thompson “How to turn “Me Vision Into We Vision” post where she discusses the need to ensure we don’t limit our learning by getting sucked [...]

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