February 2011 | Volume 68 | Number 5

Teaching Screenagers Pages 22-26

Publishers, Participants All

Will Richardson

The "publish" button isn't the end of the process. Now it's time to talk to—
and learn from—strangers.

I remember way back in high school, when we still used typewriters,

writing up my résumé of experiences and hoping that college admissions
officers or local employers might find them compelling enough to consider
me. My résumé glowed with initiative and industriousness: newspaper deliverer when I was 12,
local church locker-upper when I was 14, food runner at the hospital when I was 17, and more. I
tried really hard to make myself sound impressive; dare to say, I might even have fudged a few
lines here and there in the effort. I mean, who was going to check, right?

Well, today everyone checks. This is a world in which public is the new default. Thought leader
Michael Schrage (2010) notes that "the traditional two-page résumé has been turned into a
'personal productivity portal' that empowers prospective employers to quite literally interact with
their candidate's work." The rules for building your personal brand are changing at light speed.
It's not enough to suggest that we have those admirable skills of creativity, initiative, and
entrepreneurship; now we have to show them in action online.

In short, our résumé is becoming a Google search result, one that we build with the help of others
and that requires our participation. Most students are beginning to face this reality without much
assistance from the schools charged with preparing them for the world beyond school. That has
to change. We need to help students understand more than just the safety and ethics of
participating online; we also have to give them opportunities throughout the curriculum to find
and follow their passions and publish meaningful, quality work for real global audiences to
interact with.

Creating a Brand
A student's "branding" effort may take many forms. Students may have blogs in which they write
about the things that most engage them, making connections with others who share those
interests and deepening their knowledge in the dialogue. Or they may create a Facebook group
around a change-the-world idea, a YouTube video that shows off their musical talent, or even a
live-streamed radio or TV show that builds an audience around a particular topic. Regardless of
the tool, the result is the same—the creation of a portfolio of work that is both public and
interactive, that reflects the potential of the online world and that serves as a solid foundation for
a lifetime of participation online.

Not that the "screenagers" in our schools aren't already publishing. The Pew Research Center's
Internet and American Life Project study last year showed that almost 75 percent of teens
regularly use social-networking sites and that the vast majority publish updates, photos, videos,
and more (Lenhart, 2010). However, these postings are primarily "friendship-based" (MacArthur
Foundation, 2008); such content is intended for a known audience, not for global consumption,
and that's an important distinction. As the National Council of Teachers of English (2008) states
in its revamped Definition of 21st Century Literacies, students need to be able to "design and
share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes." That suggests
something far more complex than simply updating one's status on a Facebook page.

Yes, You Can Talk to Strangers

No question, we need to take pains to keep students safe and to teach them to keep themselves
safe as well. By putting ourselves out there, whether as students or adults, we do expose
ourselves to different risks.

But research strongly suggests that the web is a safer place than most think (Stone, 2009). In
addition to teaching safe publishing habits, we must also teach connection, the idea that the
"publish" button is no longer the end of the process but a midpoint, an opportunity to learn from
those who take the time to read and respond. In essence, we want students to talk to strangers, to
have the wherewithal not only to discern good strangers from bad ones, but also to appreciate the
huge learning opportunity that online strangers represent. As author Steven Johnson (2010) put it
in a blog post, "We have to learn how to break with that most elemental of parental [read:
educational] commandments: Don't talk to strangers. It turns out that strangers have a lot to give
us that's worthwhile, and we to them."

At the end of the day, high school graduates need a clear sense of both the potentials and the
pitfalls of interacting online. They should be able to create their own connections in safe,
effective, and ethical ways. For schools, this means far more than just doing an information
literacy unit. Rather, we must envision a K–12 curriculum that seamlessly integrates these new
skills and literacies in age-appropriate ways and gradually moves students into more public
interactions online. Not doing so would be akin to handing teenagers the keys to the car without
having taught them to drive.

What Schools Can Do

What might those interactions look like? It starts with a school and classroom philosophy of
sharing, with the idea that without sharing, there is no education (Wiley, 2010). A culture of
sharing doesn't mean just providing content for others to read and learn from; it means sharing to
connect with other people with whom we can learn as well. (See "Moving Students Online: First
Steps for Teachers.")

In this kind of culture, teachers regularly share lesson plans, thoughts, and experiences with the
world and serve as models for how to interact with others online. Thousands of teachers now
blog regularly to audiences large and small; others create wiki pages, podcasts, or bookmark lists
to share resources and links. On the basis of their own experiences as participants, these teachers
encourage students to publish the best of what they create, be it blog posts, VoiceThread stories,
YouTube videos, or photo montages.
But the purpose of posting these artifacts online is not just to publish—it's to connect with others
who might be interested in and learning about the same topic. At the outset, teachers might vet
and create these connections, bringing in other classrooms from around the world to do book
discussions through Skype or coordinating "blog buddies" to facilitate conversation on the topics
students are working on and writing about in class. As students progress, teachers can give them
more ownership over the process, allowing them to create other pieces for their "online
portfolios" and share around their own interests. By the time they leave high school, students
should be "Googleable"—that is, able to find themselves online—associating their full names
with their best work for a global audience to see.

Already, student work using global publishing tools in schools is taking many forms, from blog
posts to video how-tos to presentations to online photo books. All too often, however, these
efforts lack the coordination necessary to ensure that all students enter college or the workforce
with a healthy presence online. Whether it's because of fear of putting students out there, lack of
teacher publishing experience, or parents' desire to keep their children's privacy intact, most
students receive little instruction on how to do this well.

In schools that are intentional about having students share work online, teachers play an
important role. As kids begin to use social learning tools in class, teachers need to show them the
value of an audience—not just in a social sense but in a participatory learning sense. As Chris
Lehmann (2008), principal of Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, wrote on his blog,

We need to help them see their audience. … Whether it is using a blogging platform for an art
classroom exhibition that other students will critique or bringing in a group of math majors from
a college to work with our math students, kids need to understand why they should share their
work with the world.

In other words, early on, we need to create these connections for students to build a foundation
for their own future sharing online.

How soon is too soon? These types of interactions can begin taking place in measured ways in
elementary school. Paula White, a resource teacher in Virginia's Albemarle County Public
Schools, uses online publishing tools as a way to introduce the complexities of connecting, even
if it means initially using a pseudonym. She notes,

As an elementary teacher, I believe having kids create a "safe" pseudonym allows me an

opportunity to teach even more about safety. They will join websites with their real names
anyway, so when that happens, I can then teach [them] or at least set them up to learn [how to do
that]. (personal communication, June 21, 2010)

For example, last fall, one of Paula's students, Nicolas Gutkowski, presented to the K12 Online
Conference 2010 on the topic "Learning on My Own," which discussed how he used his own
personal wiki space (http://nicolascres.wikispaces.com) to create and share reviews of books that
he has read, post his creative writing, and collect links to resources relevant to his various
interests, such as Lego Mindstorms (a line of programmable robotics and construction toys) and
online games.
Students as Passionate Participators
In some cases, students take those initial forays in the classroom and use them as starting points
to pursue things they really care about. Last year, 7th grader Michael Kinley from Van Meter
Community School in Van Meter, Iowa, created his Mike's Tech News blog
(http://mikestechnews.blogspot.com) as a part of a student technology group—the Computer
Efficiency Workers League (CEWL)— which helps integrate technology and troubleshoot
problems that students and teachers have. His blog covers such topics as the Xbox 360, 3-D TVs,
and Apple-related news. Mike also created a YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/mike398100)
that has dozens of tech-related videos, many of which have been viewed thousands of times, as
well as a Facebook Internet safety video that he created for school.

According to Van Meter teacher librarian Shannon Miller (personal communication, September
14, 2010), the school wants to make sure every student not only understands how to safely and
ethically publish online, but also sees the learning connections and communities that can happen
as a result. Students need to "show through their online presence that they are creative,
collaborative, and self-directed." In other words, students need to see the web not just as a place
to socialize with friends, but also as a place to learn in profound ways—and where many others
"out there" will create important first impressions about them on the basis of what they choose to
share.

However, it's not just about creating and sharing with the intention of impressing people or
building a brand. The work needs to convey a passion for learning, participating, and being part
of the conversation. In other words, the brand is a by-product, not the end goal. It's not
uncommon to hear stories of parents searching for available web domains before naming their
children (Jesdanun, 2007), but no amount of marketing or brand preparation can be an effective
substitute for quality, passionate participation.

Students as Change Agents

Aside from passion and participation, what other qualities and skill sets can online compilations
show? Many so-called 21st century skills come to mind, things like problem solving, reflective
thinking, collaboration, and creativity. But there is also room for leadership and initiative—not
just posting a well-done assignment online but starting a movement, creating change, or showing
an entrepreneurial bent.

Take, for example, Ryan Hreljac, who, after learning in 1st grade that millions of people around
the world were without clean drinking water, raised $70 as a 7-year-old. Now, 12 years later, he
heads Ryan's Well, which has raised millions of dollars and brought clean water to hundreds of
thousands of people primarily through the fundraising done on his website (www.ryanswell.ca)
and Facebook pages (www.facebook.com/pages/Ryans-Well-Foundation/233569828371).

Or take 14-year-old Monik Pamecha from Mumbai, India, who, according to his "about" line on
his Twitter page (http://twitter.com/monikkinom) is "Trying to change the world, starting with
the Internet. Bring it on!" Monik has over 17,000 followers on Twitter at this writing, and his
website (www.etiole.com) is filled with timely articles and posts about his passion, technology.

And check out Tavi Gevinson, who started blogging at The Style Rookie
(http://thestylerookie.com) at 11 years old; at 14, she now has a huge following of 50,000 daily
readers around her passion for fashion.

A Literacy for the Times

Not every student needs to aspire to become a Ryan, a Monik, or a Tavi. The point is that the
potential to do so exists. Social media afford the opportunity for all children with online access
to contribute to the world in meaningful ways, do real work for real audiences for real purposes,
find great teachers and collaborators from around the world, and become great teachers in their
own right. That should be our most important motivation for helping students build their résumés
on the Web.

At the same time, we need to help students understand the ramifications of participation, both
good and bad. In organized ways throughout their K–12 experience, our kids need to learn how
to make great choices about what they share, act ethically in their interactions and connections,
and continually review and manage their online reputations in light of others' ability to contribute
to that reputation either positively or negatively with a few clicks of the mouse.

You'll find any number of services online that are willing to do "reputation management" for any
one of us and create our "online portfolio websites" should we be unable to do so for ourselves
(Indvik, 2010). But these modern ghostwriting services are surely not the answer, either for us or
for our students. Building and maintaining a compelling, creative, connected, positive online
presence is a literacy for the times, one that we teachers must model and help students develop.

Moving Students Online: First Steps for Teachers

1. Become "Googleable" yourself. To fully understand the implications for

students, teachers need to have some personal context for sharing and
interacting online. As a first step, start a Twitter account or a blog and begin
exploring your own interests with others with whom you can learn and
collaborate.
2. Model connections. Share your own online interactions with students. When
relevant and appropriate, talk about how you're learning from others and how
and why you choose to participate online. Use Skype or shared blog spaces to
introduce students to learners who are passionate about the subjects they're
 studying. Use the learning connections you've established in Step 1 to begin to
share your work with the world.
3. Share student work. Create a classroom portal online where you can regularly
share student work. As much as possible, make sharing a natural part of the
learning process, publishing interesting student blog posts, videos, or other
quality artifacts that students create. Find ways to encourage discussion and
interactions from readers online. See, for instance, how to use the hash tag
#comments4kids (http://comments4kids.blogspot.com) on Twitter to find blogs
to comment on and to get student posts commented on.
With younger students, moderate those interactions. With older students, share
strategies for moderating and vetting to help them become responsible for
monitoring and responding to comments on their own. Have discussions on
what appropriate interactions look like, how to make sure commenters are who
they say they are, and how to respond to a comment appropriately.
4. Practice and teach "reputation management." Help students hone strategies
for the continual monitoring of their lives online—not just in what they
produce but in what others publish and share about them. This might include
setting up e-mail alerts or RSS feeds that deliver links when they are
mentioned online or tagged in photos or learning simple strategies for
searching for themselves online.

References

Indvik, L. (2010, May 5). University to provide online reputation management to graduates [blog
post]. Retrieved from Mashable at http://mashable.com/2010/05/05/brand-yourself/

Jesdanun, A. (2007, August 21). Parents pick baby names with available URLs. Retrieved from
Today Money at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/20378395/

Johnson, S. (2010, May 20). Web privacy: In praise of oversharing. Retrieved from Time at
www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1990586-4,00.html

Lehmann, C. (2008, February 1). When to publish [blog post]. Retrieved from Practical Theory
at http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/932-When-to-Publish.html

Lenhart, A. (2010, June 10). How do [they] even do that? A Pew Internet guide to teens, young
adults, mobile phones, and social media. Retrieved from Pew Internet and American Life Project
at How-do-they-even-do-that-A-Pew-Internet-guide-to-teens-cell-phones-and-social-
media.aspx">http://pewinternet.org/Presentations/2010/Jun/How-do-they-even-do-that-A-Pew-
Internet-guide-to-teens-cell-phones-and-social-media.aspx
MacArthur Foundation. (2008, November 20). New study shows time spent online important for
teen development. Retrieved from
k.3CE6/New_Study_Shows_Time_Spent_Online_Important_for_Teen_Development.htm">ww
w.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4773437/k.3CE6/New_Study_Shows_Time_Spent_Onl
ine_Important_for_Teen_Development.htm

National Council of Teachers of English. (2008, February 15). The definition of 21st century
literacies. Retrieved from www.ncte.org/governance/literacies

Schrage, M. (2010, July 29). Higher education is overrated; skills aren't [blog post]. Retrieved
from Harvard Business Review at http://blogs.hbr.org/schrage/2010/07/higher-education-is-
highly-ove.html

Stone, B. (2009, January 13). Report calls online threats to children overblown. Retrieved from
The New York Times at www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/technology/internet/14cyberweb.html

Wiley, D. (2010, March 8). My TEDxNYED talk. Iterating toward openness [blog post].
Retrieved from Iterating Toward Openness at http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/1270

Will Richardson is the author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Tools for
Classrooms (Corwin Press, 2006) and cofounder of Powerful Learning Practice
(http://plpnetwork.com). He blogs at http://weblogg-ed.com and can be reached at
weblogged@gmail.com.