The search for relevance.

A friend alerted me to a post on another blog that referenced something I tweeted. The person commented, apparently about my blogging or tweeting, that I am “desperately trying to stay relevant.” And then they said it was “sad.”

My first thought was, Isn’t that what we all want? To be relevant? To matter? Whether it’s feeling like we are valued by the people in our lives, or by vast numbers of strangers in our community, our state, our nation or the planet, I’d say the quest to feel like one matters is one of the primary pursuits of mankind. My excellent high school English teacher, Louis Hill, would have said it was part of the “hooman condition.” (For some reason that’s always how he pronounced it…hoooooman condition.)

People all over the world are participating regularly in online communities, from Facebook and Twitter to blogs, message boards, and various other social media. What’s driving this explosion of communication and creativity? A big part is the search for relevance…the quest to belong…the need to matter. People who, prior to this digital revolution, felt disenfranchised and disconnected from each other, from their government, and from their future, now have a chance to join in the conversation. To participate in the debate. To share their unique perspective and opinions, even if it’s as simple as clicking “Like.”

In Ridgewood, the reach for relevance can be seen in some of our local blogs as well as online news sources like the Ridgewood Patch or NorthJersey.com. Patch and North Jersey are legitimate news sources, with the addition of a comment capability, which is where local residents can find their connection, their relevance. Local blogs, like my own, are pet projects (NOT news sources), with posts reflecting our personal opinions, our individual interests. In the comments section of our blogs is where you can see certain residents grab for their share of relevance. But is there a catch?

I wonder…How much are we participating, how much do we matter, if we only participate anonymously? If we don’t use our name or any other recognizable identifier, are our comments relevant? Are we relevant? Is there a difference? Does anonymous posting only allow us to feel relevant?

I certainly understand that some people are naturally comfortable speaking up publicly and others may be shy. I also know that the “cloak of invisibility” gives some people license to A) say things they don’t actually believe, for the fun of “stirring the pot;” B) say things that are socially or politically “incorrect;” C) use hate speech, bully others and just generally be mean in ways they never would to someone’s face; D) lie. Basically, all these behaviors stem from the lack of accountability that comes with anonymous posting.

And herein lies the monkey wrench. Can we be relevant and avoid accountability? Or when we communicate anonymously, are we simply being relevant-ish? What do you think?

(And, really, I’m not calling you out and demanding only named comments (not yet haha). I’m just thinking out loud and exploring a concept. If you have a thought on this topic, please feel free to comment, by name or by nom de plume or by anonymous…I know that old habits die hard!)

The pitfalls and promises of Facebook, social media, and kids.

Great article on social media and kids and schools at the Mindshift website*. Click here for the full article.

A couple of key excerpts:

“Parents have to give kids the opportunities to figure out what it means to be digital citizens.”

“We can’t fault kids for doing something wrong on Facebook or Twitter because we’re not teaching them.”

Ridgewood's Tony Orsini (BF Middle School Principal) and New Milford's Eric Sheninger (New Milford High School Principal) are both quoted in the story.

I found this to be a refreshing and thoughtful essay on digital citizenship and tech literacy -- without the fear-mongering and sensationalism we usually see in the mainstream media.

*I love the Mindshift site. It's presented by KQED, which is the NPR affiliate in San Francisco. According to the site, Mindshift is for anyone interested in the ways that "technology is revolutionizing the world of education – replacing familiar classroom tools and changing the way we learn. MindShift explores the future of learning in all its dimensions – covering cultural and technology trends, groundbreaking research, education policy and more."

Mindshift devotes an entire section of its website to children and social media, with lots more intriguing articles.

Ridgewood Public Schools' Facebook page is live.

If you're on Facebook, check out the District's new Facebook page (click here). If you "like" it, you'll get updates in your Facebook news feed. And you can share interesting posts with your own Facebook friends.

Don't expect to see a ton activity on the page at first. Mostly it will be links to news on the District website. But eventually you should find photos, links to interesting articles and news, posts from parents or community members...as I've mentioned before, it's an organic process and we'll see where it goes together.

Any comments? Let me know what you think here, or add a comment to the District's Facebook wall.

District considers a Facebook page.

At the last Board of Ed meeting on February 7, we spoke a bit about the District creating a Facebook page. It's something we've been discussing in the Communications Committee and I've personally been advocating for it for over a year. We brought it up at the BOE meeting to just let the community know we're thinking about it. So far, the response has been very positive. I've heard from several people who think it's a great idea to get information out to the community -- as well as offering the potential for comments and/or questions from community members.

The Ridgewood News featured an op-ed piece supporting the idea of a Facebook page for Ridgewood Public Schools.

Many, many Ridgewood residents are on Facebook, with a large percentage of them interacting with Facebook in some way, several times each day. Having a page for the District just gives us one more way to communicate with people where they are...in a way that they may choose to communicate. The viral nature of Facebook allows us to spread information in an organic and easy fashion -- friend to friend to friend.

The intention would be for the Facebook page to augment our other communications channels, including the District website, eNews, the press and the occasional District "Newsline." The page could feature announcements of upcoming school events, reminders, snow day announcements, photos from construction projects, links to interesting stories about education or teaching, and links to news about legislation impacting schools.

The main concern expressed at the meeting last week was in establishing responsibility for the page. Our administrative staff is already stretched thin...does updating and monitoring a Facebook page add too much? Personally, I know from my own Facebook use that it shouldn't take but a few minutes each day. But we don't know for sure, and it is smart to think it through before we start down some path we can't sustain.

The idea of adding the Facebook page is somewhat of a big deal...and yet not really a big deal. It's just one more communication tool. But it does represent the District working to engage with the community on the community's terms. It also helps us model good digital citizenship for our students and their parents.

We'll continue discussing the Facebook page in the coming weeks and I'll post an update here (and on Facebook!) when there's news to report.

What’s going on with the Board of Education this week?

Here's a snapshot of some of the things going on with the BOE this week.

Regular Public Meeting Monday at 7:30. Some highlights from the agenda (click here for full agenda):

• Discussion of RHS partnership with Stevens Institute through the National Science Foundations GK12 program.

• Reps from the Joint Village-BOE Fields Committee will present the draft revision of the Fields Use Policy. This policy will specify hours of use and conduct of users, among other things, at athletic fields throughout the Village. (You can read the draft policy as part of the agenda -- click here.)

• Discussion of the Board's new Legislative Committee, which will involve BOE members and interested residents to follow legislative activities and inform and advise the Board and public about opportunities for advocacy on issues that affect Ridgewood students.

• Discussion of a possible page for Ridgewood Public Schools on Facebook.

I'll visit a couple of HSA meetings on Tuesday.

The Board's Negotiating Team will begin meeting with the REA regarding the teachers' and secretaries' contract.

Board members will make our annual cameo appearance in Jamboree, Wednesday-Saturday nights.

In other words, another busy week. Any questions or comments, please let me know.

Fun today: Tri-State Education Technology Conference.

updated 10/12/10

I’m blogging live from the first annual Tri-State Education Technology Conference, being held at New Milford High School. What a cool event. Considering this conference was conceived just a few months ago, it is amazing to see 400 educators here, attending approx. 40 different sessions on technology and education. There’s quite a lot of focus on social media technologies in the classroom – for example Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, wikis, and mobile tech (cell phones, etc.). Also a lot of focus on all the amazing (and FREE) professional development that’s available today.

Speaking of social media, the keynote session by Lisa Nielsen, Professional Development Manager for New York City Public Schools, opened with a video commentary on Ridgewood's own BF Principal Tony Orsini’s interview last spring on Good Morning America. Awkward! Haha not really, I mean, I have seen Ms. Nielsen’s video response before and I’ve corresponded with her over Twitter, so it was nice to meet her face to face. I just wasn’t expecting to sit today with 400 people who probably think differently than Mr. Orsini...it makes sense, I was just caught off guard. No worries.

As you know, since I started blogging about it when Mr. Orsini’s message first hit the media, I totally support and appreciate the intent of Mr. Orsini's message. He was focusing first and foremost on the safety and well-being of the children in his school. I do believe, however, that on another level, his thoughts and comments represent a good starting point for some much-needed dialogue in Ridgewood, among parents and educators.

Lunch break is over, I’m going to get back to the conference now. In the meantime, why don’t you watch Ms. Nielsen's video response to Mr. Orsini, and share your comments if you like. You can see Ms Nielsen's video by clicking here.

Find out more about the Tri-State Education Technology Conference, click here.

This is part of the Tri-State Education Technology Conference (TSETC) Blogger Café Contest sponsored by edSocialMedia. TSETC is brought to you by Schoology.

If you're reading this blog, are you out of middle school?

Toward the end of Monday’s Board of Ed meeting, I raised a topic during “other business” that I would describe as having been “hot” over the past week or so. That would be the issue of technology and our students’ access to it. Perhaps you saw the letter that BF Middle School Principal Tony Orsini sent to parents, where he urged them to block their children’s access to all social networking sites, such as Facebook. Or maybe you received GW Middle School Principal Katie Kashmanian’s email in (semi) response, where she took a slightly different approach to internet safety for tweens and teens. Or maybe you saw one of the sound bites online or in the newspaper, since, in the space of 2-3 days, Mr. Orsini was interviewed or quoted by CBS News, Good Morning America, CNN, ABC Radio, Bergen Record, BBC Fox News…and was quoted, re-quoted, tweeted and retweeted among bloggers and others online around the country.

Obviously, Mr. Orsini’s email struck a chord. It’s gotten a lot of attention, and started people talking, which is (mostly) a good thing. It’s definitely gratifying to know that Ridgewood Public Schools have staff that truly care about our students – care enough to reach out to parents and go out on a limb with an important message.

As I said, a conversation has been sparked, and it’s a conversation we clearly need to have in Ridgewood.

To start with, it’s definitely not the school district’s job to tell people how to parent their children. At the same time, we can all recognize that the fallout from some online activities – bullying, harassment, gossip – comes into the schools and can affect both our teachers’ ability to educate and our students’ ability to learn. According to Mr. Orsini and one of the BF guidance counselors who was interviewed, they have been spending an inordinate – and growing – amount of time helping kids who are upset by online bullying, etc. The counselor said on CBS News that recently she has been spending 75% of her time on issues related to Facebook! That’s amazing! I can certainly see how that would prompt Mr. Orsini to act. I do understand his intent – to protect kids.

On the other hand, I don’t want Ridgewood to be the district that’s afraid of technology. Technology such as social networking is here to stay. It has taken hold. It has a lot of benefits and some risk, too. But, in my opinion, circling the wagons and locking the doors is not the answer.

What interests me more, right now, is how this incident has brought out into the light some issues...some mixed messages...and many opportunities for improvement.

Some questions I think we need to consider:

What is our “technology belief system?” What are our “guiding principles?” What is our vision?

How do we reconcile the different approaches of Mr. Orsini, who wants to limit (ban) students’ access to Facebook (for example) and Dr. Kashmanian, who has her own Facebook profile and a “Principals’ Blog” on the GW website?

How do we as a district balance the principles of Alan November, whom the District brought in last Fall, and who advocates teaching students to use technology wisely, with an educator's statement that seems to devalue technology because “90% of student homework doesn’t require going online?”

How do we as a community keep our children safe, protect them from bullies, stop aggressive online behavior, manage anonymous environments and help our kids to be good digital citizens?

How can schools partner with parents to address these issues and together...to create a vision for technology in our children’s lives?

I think these are good, legitimate questions…the basis for a conversation I’d love to have – and have it with gusto.

Hopefully in the coming weeks we can strike while the issue is hot.

I’d love to hear what you think.