Join the conversation

The news has been getting me down recently. And not just the news itself (depressing enough to those who share my views on a number of issues), but what people are saying about it.

Like most people these days, I get most of my news online. And as you know, most newspapers allow comments on the articles they post. In theory, this is great. It allows those who read them to gauge public opinion on the issue at hand. But too often these comments seem counterproductive to me. So many essentially tell the author or another commenter that he or she wrong, dumb, and a terrible, awful person who (in the case of education news) cares only about adults and not about children. I miss productive conversations between people who disagree respectfully and then work to see the other’s position and find common ground.

So I was delighted to see Bill Ferriter’s post on The Tempered Radical yesterday. It appears he shares my views on the potential of this type of web-based communication. As he pointed out:

Web 2.0 tools have given us the opportunity to join together in public forums----electronic versions of the ancient Roman marketplaces----and to think across borders. We've got amazing opportunities to stand at the intersection of ideas with one another, constantly revising and polishing what we know. Our own thoughts can be challenged and refined by peers we may never meet.

But instead, we've reverted to using Web 2.0 tools to shout at one another----to push our own thinking down the throats of innocent electronic bystanders who inadvertantly click their way to our digital homes.

His post discussed this digital shouting, “characterized by a complete refusal to even consider the thinking of anyone else who is adding to the electronic conversation that you’re a part of.”

He recognized that for some (including self-centered politicians, overly-confident middle aged blowhards and 12-year-olds), reading through what others have contributed to the conversation seems like a waste of time. But maybe we can change that.

Bill actually teaches his students about digital conversations. What they can look can like, and what they should not look like. The post links to some of the handouts that he uses in doing so.

I love this. We often speak of the importance of technology and the ways it can be used to engage students and improve their learning. But too rarely do we teach students how to use it effectively, and courteously. I wish that some of the commenters on the Washington Post, New York Times and other online publications I read would take Mr. Ferriter’s class.