Social Media: The New Disruption

No Man is an Island by neotint

Social media is all about shifting power relationships.   With new channels of communication opening up and old certainties changing some may react with fear.  None of us are quite sure how things are going to evolve but there is obviously as much potential for good, collaboration, co-operation and transparency, as for bad.  It will depend on attention and intention.

The risks and rewards of social  media obviously extend to professional development.

The reward of a wide and varied Personal Learning Network is balanced against the risk of being poorer in terms of time.
The reward of overcoming the barriers of cost and geography are balanced against the risk of decreased physical contact.
The reward of instant, quick information against the risk of shallow, transitory  links which fall short of knowledge.

I guess as I progress with my use of social media I need to ensure that I keep assessing how to get the best from the tools in terms of connectivity, efficiency and knowledge sharing.  

I feel strongly that social media helps to foster a sense of community.   I guess community covers things like satisfaction, loyalty and contribution; feeling at home, interest in what is going on within the community, and similar values and beliefs.   Virtual or online communites can provide all of these things.  Seems to boil down to the quality of interactions and relationships.  Also depends on need and what an individual wants out of the experience.  I don't see " lurking" in a negative light if that is what an individual wants to do, could be a really valuable learning experience.

Bradley Kreit's encouraging post highlights the emphasis that we should be putting on creating "trusting and connected societies" because being connected greatly increases our wellbeing.   So lets use social media for the good.

Influences Along the Way

Thing 7 requires us to think about face-to-face networks, our experiences with professional organisations, how our careers have been affected and what we have learnt.   So, after false starts and long ponderings, here are my experiences.

Signpost by JMC Photos

My involvement with professional organizations has ebbed and flowed according to the development of my library career.  I have been a member of CILIP for about six years.  As a new member in the profession I found the information and publications invaluable and the special interest groups good for introducing me to other people in the library world.   At this time, working within the wonderfully supportive network of Cambridge University librarians, I met many different library workers and observed the individuality of the various academic libraries.  I was in awe of the size of the stacks at the University Library and took every opportunity I could to tour within Cambridge and further afield.  This was a time of steep learning and I absorbed everything with an eye to planning where I wanted to end up.  

Having qualified and begun working as a school librarian ( a real culture shock to go from the University sector with a large number of library professionals to being the sole worker in a school)  I attended an incredibly energising and inspiring weekend by the School Library Association in Glasgow.  It was refreshing to be amongst so many other librarians who, despite all working in very different schools, understood the nature of the job.   I also joined ISLEC (Independent School Librarians Eastern Counties) to make local contacts and visit other school libraries.  I still dip into events by the Cambridge Library Group and take advantage of the diverse topics covered by the Arcadia seminars which explore the role of academic libraries in the digital age.

More recently I've been able, on an informal basis, to share my knowledge to newer professionals, with those who are thinking about joining the profession and those who have been deciding whether or not to take LIS qualifications.  Somewhere along the line I have gone from being the newbie to someone who can guide and inform.  But I can't finish this post without mentioning a few people who have influenced me along my way.

Firstly Chris RobertsLewis whom I worked with at Sidney Sussex College, a good mix of boss and friend, supported my aspirations and went out of her way to enable me to progress.  She also had a wicked way of  incentivising staff by supplying chocolate and almond croissants!  

Next John Crawford.  He opened my eyes to the history of librarianship by enabling me to attend a seminar on library automation and see my name in print in the Library History journal.  An enriching opportunity to meet real experts in the field with such collective wisdom.

Lastly Jane Henfrey, an almost scarily insightful and open person who helps me to understand the psychology of teachers and of myself.  A progressive voice who believes in putting the heart into education and a great lover of books.

Plugged, unplugged

Image by SocialGrow

The two current online learning courses that I'm participating in are becoming mutually beneficial.
Thing 6 of 23 Things for CPD is online networks.  Week 3 of EduMooc 2011 is Online Learning Technologies.   Some overlap here, although from very different angles, so I've been researching and giving quite a bit of thought to online networks.

I've seen the latest statistics on the Social Media Revolution.  I've learnt that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) encourage Bethany Bovard to run amok.  I now know 7 Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn, including using status updates and getting recommendations.  For the LinkedIn neophyte I found Viveka von Rosen's 12 Most Useful Tips I've Found to Use LinkedIn Effectively.  I've listened to leading gurus in networking and relationships at the Global Networking Council.  In a similar vein to Helen's post I know which  Winnie the Pooh character I'm most like and just to stop that inflated sense of ego, that all this networking might engender, I discovered that Some Grey Bloke believes Twitter to be an insignificance awareness engine!

Here, in no particular order, are my experiences with some of the networks:

Facebook-not really a contender for me as the school where I work advises against using it.

LinkedIn - joined sometime ago and this " thing" did make me feel guilty enough to  revisit, which I am grateful for.  Can see its value for job hunting.  Also think the groups are good for professional discussions BUT I need to put more effort in.  Must try harder!

LIS New Professionals Network -  joined sometime ago and this " thing" did make me feel guilty enough to  revisit!! Was rather embarrassed to see that I had a new friend request from January (SO sorry Lisa)  I'm dropping out of this one.

Google+ - just getting started.  If she works hard she should get some good results.

School Librarian Network Yahoo Group - this has been invaluable to me for encouragement, inspiration and practical ideas.

I think the potential of online networks is huge.  It's still a learning curve for me which means that I will try some things and move on to others.  More and more I'm appreciating the way that online negates the barriers of time and space and choosing it as my preferred way of learning.

Have you heard of Howard Rheingold?

Image by Jacob Bøtter

I'm just planning some information for the sixth form induction for September, trying to highlight the importance of the library to them now that they are supposed to be independent learners reading widely and motivated to research beyond set texts. etc.etc. I know that I have to work harder to keep sixth formers using the library to really support their studies.

This year, for the first time, I'm going to conduct individual sessions with students starting in the sixth form as a tailored introduction to library services. Difficult to know where to pitch this as I expect levels of familiarity with libraries and information literacy skills will vary widely. This was the reasoning behind the personalised interview format. With a dedicated time slot I should be able to get to know the student and point them in the direction of a few tailored resources. I'll report back on how successful this was later!

So trawling the web to find ways to speak to them about what they need to know I found this video of Howard Rheingold from the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) 2010 Conference called Crap Detection 101: Educator Call to Action.

I hadn't heard of him before. He talks about the critical consumption of information, how we can teach this to students and is involved with a developing wiki for teaching critical thinking and internet literacies. A really important point that stood out for me from his talk was the importance of having Personal Learning Networks whether online or otherwise, personal networks where we learn from other informed people about the things that interest us. (OK so another reason why I really should be using Twitter!)

Looked like there were several other good presentations from ISTE 2010 including Google: 25 Things You Didn't Know It Could Do by Howie DiBlasi.

Also useful Critical Thinking in the Classroom e-book from Microsoft and visual literacy teaching tips by Jamie McKenzie