Earlier this morning while reading Wes Fryer's blog, I was prompted to watch a video of a Clay Shirky presentation. One of the "related videos" generated by YouTube led me to watch this video of Clay Shirky talking about hierarchy and leadership. In the middle segment of the video, Shirky shares the story of a student protest organized entirely on Myspace and with text messaging. The point of video is demonstrate how social media is changing the hierarchy of leadership. These changes are real. Teachers and school administrators need to adapt to the changes if they are to be successful educators and school leaders in the future.
Monday, October 5, 2009
School Administrators Never Saw It Coming
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Richard-
Thank you so much for sharing this video. I remember sitting in a session at Edubloggercon in DC and listening to Scott McLeod talk about how we need to teach students that they can have a powerful impact if we teach them how to use their online voice responsibly. I cannot think of a better lesson that using this video clip to show how students have used social media to organize themselves so they can make a statement. As a social studies teacher I feel part of my job is to teach my students how to exercise their voice in a responsible manner. I will let you know how my lesson goes. I will probably invite other teachers and classes to interact with us on our blog.
I think that John McCain and his campaign organizers could say the same thing in regards to the use of social media. How much longer will aby of us be able to plead ignorance when it comes to the power of social media as an agent for change. In education, in politics, in business...
I believe that John McCain's loss was less about social media and more about running a backward-looking campaign.
The election was McCain's to loose and Obama's to win. McCain should have run against George W. Bush and not agaist Obama.
McCain saw the social "writing on the wall" and chose a running mate to pander to the "religious right," thereby destroying his credibility with independent and moderate voters.
A social media blitz was unnecessary once the prospect of the super-old McCain not finishing a term and elevating Palin to the presidency was understood by moderate and independent voters.
Count the broadcast media, Saturday Night Live, for capturing and sharing the scary reality of Palin as President with the American electorate. Of course, YouTube replays of Palin spoofs made her selection "McCain's folly." Selecting the prettiest running mate ever grace (no pun intended) a presidential ticket proved no substitute for attacking G.W. and disavowing the War in Iraq.
Obama's use of the Internet and social media may have been astute, but is was McCain's reading of the polls and choosing "a backward compatible" solution that lost the election.
Post a Comment