💬 Are Your Students Sharing and Amplifying Their Learning?

Replied to Are Your Students Sharing and Amplifying Their Learning? by Kathleen Morris (Primary Tech)

Silvia and Janet have provided a helpful framework in their book that demonstrates degrees of amplification: sharing with oneself, sharing face to face, sharing strategically online and sharing globally

I have not gotten to Silvia and Janet’s book, although I have read a number of posts associated with it. On a side note, I recently came upon an interesting discussion associated with the idea of sharing from Adam Grant. It takes a different approach to the problem and argues that what often matters is the culture we create around sharing and sharers. The question I was left wondering is whether everyone has to share? What is the place of the elegant lurker?

2 responses on “💬 Are Your Students Sharing and Amplifying Their Learning?”

  1. Hi Aaron!
    I appreciate your wonderment and will begin by saying I have no problem with lurkers who are doing so at the onset of trying to “make sense of it all” when first exposed to a new social media platform. With that said, to truly grow as a learner–and contributor–the lurker needs to become a risk-taker and share his or her voice. And that is the key–everyone does have a voice!
    In our book we mention the following:

    ‘I do not have any learning worth sharing or amplifying.’
    A producer-consumer culture, which is foundational for a documenting environment to thrive, is built on sharing and amplifying. This culture is the norm for many students (and adults) when not in school. Connecting with others is ubiquitous in their everyday lives. Updating one’s status on Facebook; adding a book review on Amazon or reviewing a product purchased online; sharing photographs on Instagram; posting videos on Snapchat and YouTube, sending out #hashtag tweets, and tagging photos are just a few ways active online participants choose to connect with peers to express their moments, milestones, and memories.

    Educational systems need to acknowledge this reality and create or enhance the sharing and amplifying taking place from within a classroom, school, or district. Doing so takes advantage of behaviors and mindsets that students naturally embrace. Likewise, they relate better to their academic environments when they observe their teachers and administrators sharing and amplifying as well.
    Learning is social now more than ever.

    Educationally speaking, teachers and administrators are establishing and growing their professional learning networks (PLNs) to leverage their students’ and their own authentic learning experiences. Networking is built on a concept of sharing. As previously mentioned, the Internet was developed so people could connect in purposeful and meaningful ways.

    Students need to see their teachers modeling that their voices have value as they share their thoughts, opinions, and perspectives; which in turn, conveys the message to those in our care that students’ voices matter too!

    Originally posted on Primary Tech

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  2. Hi Aaron,

    I enjoy the way you’re always questioning and always looking at issues from all sides.

    The Elegant Lurker article was very interesting. I like this quote,
    “Supporting students to move towards this transition should be central to the overall trajectory of our pedagogy in more nuanced ways than simply assigning marks to the act of blog posting. Elegant Lurking is an important ingredient in the subtle business of becoming a member of a community.”

    You know that old “1% rule” (or variations) that say that only 1% of people actively contribute to an online community/site? Perhaps it’s human nature and I guess typically someone might be a part of a lot of communities and share/amplify in some and just listen/lurk in others? This is probably okay too. It’s definitely a complex subject but I can definitely see the benefits of some amplification and sharing.

    Originally posted on Primary Tech

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