The Utopia of Mass Collaboration

The potential utopia of the future of mass collaboration seems to have layers of benefits I can only imagine. What if right now the leading scientists of the world all decided to ban together to end swine flu, cancer, or juvenile diabetes? The power of many voices with one common cause is fascinating to say the least.

I have recently worked on an amazing new project called the Connected World with three colleagues. We have never worked better together, and when you combine the skill set of the four of us, you have one powerhouse of a teacher. Together we have created a curriculum that is so engaging to teach. I love going to work and learning as much as my students every day. I could teach this curriculum for the next 10 years and continue to learn. Isn't that what we all strive for as educators? I love it and enjoy every facet of the process with my colleagues.

But in the past, at the end of the day with mass collaboration, ego always seems to come into play. As a teacher, I have trouble understanding other people's agendas. And no matter where I work and what I do, I find that so many people have agendas I don't understand. Some want to hoard everything for themselves with the hopes that they will be seen as the best. Some never wish to share with the hopes that they will someday be published. And some are so insecure that they hurt those they most could use in their life because they are afraid to let anyone in. The utopia of mass collaboration may work incredibly well on the surface, but I find it almost impossible that individual egos and agendas will not eventually get in the way. Although I tend to be an optimist, I am not so sure how this one will pan out.

For mass collaboration to really succeed, the end result has to be incredibly important for all of those involved. In the case of searching for a cure for a deadly disease, the end result is astronomical. In education, the success of our students is paramount to what we do on a daily basis. I may not be able to cure cancer, but the joy I receive when I see a light bulb moment in a student's face is an end result I will always be willing to strive for as an educator. I have high hopes for the future of mass collaboration, but the future remains to be seen.

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Confusing New for Good

As we all know, the power of the web is constantly shifting and changing. What has made it so powerful? Is it the new gadgets? The new themes? The possibility of an easier, more accessible life? As we think about all these layers, perhaps one of the most important aspects of the power of the internet comes from so many people confusing new for good. I find that as soon as a new technology is introduced, so many of us blindly follow the new thing without taking a step back to look at whether the next new thing is actually any good.


Case in point, I recently learned about a new site called blip.fm. It was perfect timing. The very next day, I was working with my students on their Connected World project as they researched music from their region in the world. We had spent previous class time researching classic and popular artists from their region, and it was the perfect way to integrate their research with modern day technology. I immediately introduced approximately 40 students to blip.fm, and each one of my students became DJ's for their specific region. They invited me to become their friend, and now I can listen to their music selections from all over the world. They have shared their information with everyone else that is studying the same region, and the project is almost complete.

In retrospect, I wish I had given it more time. Some students were completely frustrated by the process and the internet was incredibly slow the day of the introduction. The students are unable to upload the songs to their iPod or onto a MP3 file. I wish I had spent at least one more day having the students research music in their region before setting them lose on blip.fm. I have students that currently believe Taylor Swift and Maroon 5 are from South America. Even with the appropriate amount of research under their belts, some of my best students could not find the artist or song they were looking for because blip.fm is still evolving. At this moment, numerous songs do not exist on the site, or a song may exist today and be gone tomorrow due to licensing issues.


The problem is not the site at all. I am quite sure it will succeed and continue to expand in ways I can't even imagine. Blip.fm is currently doubling their number of DJ's every ten weeks. With that kind of growth, the site will mature and all the little glitches will fade over time. The problem was a user interface situation. I jumped before I knew how deep the water really was going to be. I was so excited about introducing something new, I neglected to really see if the site would be good for our project. As a teacher, student, parent, and individual, I know I leap before I look. I love and embrace the excitement that goes hand in hand with new things. I want to try any and every thing because I now all too well that our time is too short. How can I expect my students to be any better in their decision making? They have even less barriers in their way before they leap.

My concern lies in whether we are confusing new facets of education for good ones. My father-in-law's house is filled to the rim with antiques. There is a lot of value in his treasures that others have discarded because they were old. As an educator, I have to make sure I walk the fine line between embracing the newness of technology in education and yet hold on to the treasures my predecessors have developed and proven stand the test of time. Hopefully the world of academia will do the same.

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Responsibility is on the Line

When I ponder the question of who's responsibility is it to teach students to be safe online, I fall back on the saying by Hillary Clinton, "It takes a village to raise a child". I am not sure how this is any different than any other aspect of learning. As a society, we have an obligation to teach children to respect themselves and protect themselves in all aspects of their lives. Whether it is a Pre-K school posting pictures of students on their website, a third grade teacher posting a student's reading of a story on their class blog, a seventh grade teacher quoting a student's reflection about a project on their personal blog, a tenth grade teacher sharing a beautiful poem created about a student that lost his life, . . . everyone has a responsibility to keep our children safe.



As a parent of three elementary children, I have a responsibility to teach my children how to protect themselves online. I have recently allowed my two boys to join clubpenguin, and I have restricted them from having conversations with other penguins. Yet within a few weeks, I noticed my boys had multiple penguins they could sign in as . . . without my knowledge. They had shared with their friends their "private" passwords and their friends had shared their "private" passwords with my children. Immediately their online safety was in question, and they had only had their accounts for a few weeks. These children are my neighbors and they do not have an agenda to throw my kids to the wolves, but even after many discussions with my children, they did not understand the basic concept of online privacy.


How am I to explain the concept of highly complex online relationships to my children when they have trouble grasping the simple concept of protecting their password? I will do it as I do everything else; I will tell them again and again until I am blue in the face. Hopefully, other parents, teachers, family and friends will continue to bring this message into their lives, and eventually it will sink in. But only if we all work as a village, will any child be safe online.

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Is There Such a Thing as Privacy?

We are all kidding ourselves if we even entertain the idea of privacy that once existed before the age of technology. I know many people that believe they have some sort of privacy in today's world. I do not believe privacy, as we have known it in the past, will ever exist again. It has died and its rebirth seems next to impossible. People are creating a digital footprint whether they like it or not. Here are three searches I conducted on people I know who value their privacy far more than myself.

I thought I would do a quick online search for a professor that I used to teach with at Buffalo State College. This professor was so anti-technology, he would only use a pencil, not even a pen to solve mathematical equations that I had never even dreamed about. I found him, Bob Stalder, within two clicks on the school website. I am willing to bet money that he has no clue how easy it is to access information about someone online. I am more intrigued to know whether it is his picture showcased on the website home page for academic support. If that is not him, I would be surprised.

Then I decided to look for another professor, Dennis Gaffin, that I used to teach with also at Buffalo State. He was one of the professors that was so good, people used to go and just watch him in action in a classroom, whether they were enrolled in the course or not. As part of my job, I was lucky enough to be paid to attend his course, and then take the high risk students (the students on academic probation) back to my classroom and help them decipher the course content in meaningful ways to their lives. He inspired me to want to lead a better life and a more contentious life without the outside world watching my every move. He valued privacy so much that he built a home that was completely self reliant. He didn't need electricity, gas, or anything from the outside world.

I found Professor Gaffin within one search. Since I am terrible with names, even the ones I hope to remember, I could only type what I remembered about him into Google: anthropology professor at Buffalo State with book about Faeroe islands and immediately found his name, his book (which is a great read and can be purchased at amazon.com), his email address, and discovered that he is now chair of the entire Anthropology department. I have thought about emailing him, but now I am intimidated by his online presence alone. It has been 10 years since I taught at Buffalo State. Technology has changed education more than I think we ever dreamed. At that time, I didn't email my students, have a class blog, personal blog, a cell phone or even a computer in my home. Did he envision this future when he built his self-sustaining home? Remember how scared we all were about what would happen when the year turned from 1999 to 2000? I do because I was 8 months pregnant with my first child, and I kept thinking that I wished I had stayed in touch with Dennis. I still wish I had because there is still a lot I could learn from him now.

Lastly I decided to google my husband's best friend and the best man from my wedding. I thought John Gargrave would be a good search because unlike the last two people, he has no connections to present day education and his professional life has little presence on the web. This man is so contentious about his online presence, he will not sign up for Skype. John has one email address, and only recently updated his computer from one of those terrible old PC's from the early 90's, to a Dell. He still writes beautiful letters and his penmanship is the finest I have ever seen. John takes pictures with a camera that actually needs film and then he takes it to a store to have it developed. He is an excellent photographer, but it is near impossible to ever see his photos. John is also a phenomenal writer, yet he guards his novel (that he has been working on for since I first met him in 1989) with his life. I am hoping he now has at least one more copy of it, because in the past he never did. I found him in one search. I also found where he graduated from high school and what year (which will send him over the edge), his ex-wife's full name, and the address of his current apartment in Toronto. I also found his name mentioned in numerous blogs about people's encounters with him throughout the years. He will be mortified this summer when I see him. I can't tell him over the phone because since we left the states to move overseas, he worries about who may be listening to our phone calls.

So honestly, is there such a thing as privacy at all?

No . . . and you are kidding yourself if you think there ever will be again.

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Has Copyright Become Obsolete?

Our essential question to ponder this week asks: "Do we as a global society need to rethink our copyright laws?" Honestly, I have always felt that copyright, in a traditional sense under US law, stifles creativity. What do copyright laws essentially protect us from? A world without copyright enables an artist to share their work with the world. As a starving artist, poet, musician or writer, the way one goes from obscurity to fame is through exposure and accessibility. The more main stream society has access to a creation of any kind, the better chance it has for survival. If a true artist is out to put something into the world that has not previously existed, the internet allows the exposure so many artists crave and desire.


The U.S. Copyright Office states that "There is no such thing as an 'international copyright' that will automatically protect an author’s writings throughout the world. Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country basically depends on the national laws of that country." These laws have not been updated since 2006. The internet has changed and continues to change every day, much less every year. In a cut and paste world, the internet may essentially make copyright laws obsolete.


Like everything in life, balance is the key. Somehow intellectual property should be protected yet promote creativity at the same time. Copyright laws, as they currently exist, do not adequately protect artists today. There is an entire job market waiting in the mist that has yet to come into fruition. The time is now for international copyright laws to take the lead and protect artists under a general umbrella that applies no matter what country or region of the world you operate under. Career opportunities exist for someone to write, teach and enforce the international copyright laws. The concept of fair-use is being challenged more and more each day. International copyright laws need to keep up with the changing times. The world looks far different in 2009 than it did in 2006. We are moving from a cut and paste society to a click, share and create world which will create endless opportunities for everyone involved.

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