At the end of the video Eric Whitacre talks about the desire and ability to connect and build community using social media. This video is a dramatic example of that

Here is the completed video of Sleep

As part of the baby boomer generation, I have been brought up to believe that whether there is the teacher  or a speaker speaking at the front of the room, that it is the polite and proper thing to do to listen and not to be distracted by anything else.

In recent years, I have been increasingly aware that audiences and students do not follow this example. I frequently see people using their mobile technology to check e-mails, text others, and use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook while I or others are speaking or teaching.

My instinctive reaction to this is to feel that the listener’s attention is divided, and long for the full attention that I normally have been accustomed to and appreciate.. Although for many years I was a teacher and Principal, in the school system, for the last 5 to 6 years I have been speaking to adult audiences. With adults, I cannot respond as I might have done in the school environment by requesting that technology be put away during my classes. I also can relate to the drain of energy that enforcing such a policy takes

All schools now face this challenge as most students own mobile phones. Many schools have declared war on mobile devices, banning their use in the classroom. Today is generation of students use their mobile phone to text their friends far more they use it to have verbal conversations. An average teenager can text quicker than they can write and they text prolifically to their friends. It is not uncommon for this age group to text  5000 messages a month. Whereas the baby-boomer generation would pick up the phone and talk with friends for hours, digital savvy kids today believe it is far easier to communicate through SMS.

When I look back in my teaching career I recognize increasingly difficult  challenges developed over years for a classroom teacher to engage all students in a classroom.. Budget cuts meant larger classes compounded with fact that  the type and attitude of learners has significantly changed over the years also. Yes there always was a certain percentage of the class that was highly motivated and love to learn. This group would enjoy taking extra time, completing homework to high standards and put every effort into their learning and achieving good grades. I believe that there are students in today’s classrooms that still work well in the classroom/school environment. However, the number of children in the classroom who do not work well in a classroom environment has increased dramatically.

These students were often diagnosed as having certain conditions that stop them performing well in school. Allergies to food coloring in drinks, high sugar intake, ADHD, different home environment, working parents, and upbringing have all been cited as reasons for this increase of learning challenges for students in school. After studying about personality styles I realized that 50% of the personality type combinations struggle in the school environment as education structure has been built and designed around the other 50% of learning styles and personality types. At least half of the school population do not easily fit into school systems. The system cannot cater for their style of learning. When you add to that other challenges such as learning difficulties, multicultural challenges and English as a second language  students I am amazed the number of  students managing to get through schooling at all.

Technology has compounded this. We have a new generation of students who have grown up with Internet, mobile phones, and video games. They are multi taskers ,adapt to changing technology easily, and have a totally different world perspective from that of older generations.

I am not so sure that today’s students can be taught using the same the methods as they did 15 or even 10 years ago. Technology development means that educators need to challenge the older beliefs and methods and use innovative ways to incorporate technology into learning for the digitally competent generations of students now in the educational system.

For example, many schools have declared all out war on mobile devices. I read a Mashable post  today about a school that took a different approach to the mobile device battle. Wiregrass High School decided to integrate cell phones into the educational experience of students. Students are encouraged to ask questions and give answers interacting with their teachers via texting and SMS. Classroom blogs are available for extra instruction. Students are also encouraged to use their mobile devices as a collaboration tool taking picture of the blackboard to use the study and trading notes. The school policy allows students to use their cell phones socially between classes which gives them the needed digital fix throughout the day.

Interestingly this also can be compared to studies in the workplace environment where productivity has increased when employees are given down time on the Internet

I acknowledge that schools and educators recognize the need for the use of technology to be part of the learning experience, and do implement it to some extent.

In another Mashable post I read about similar challenges are also faced at the university level. Professors find it extremely difficult to to engage 200+ students during a 90 minute lecture. Not only does the lecture format. plus a large number of students make interaction and participation in the learning experience very difficult, it also can be challenging for students to speak their opinions in such an intimidating session. Typically in this kind of setting only a small handful of students speak up to ask questions and participate.

Some educators have found using the social media tool, Twitter, as a way to encourage participation during the lectures. Most students in a lecture have their laptop open or their smart phone available anyway. Incorporating technology and social media rather than fighting it has shown some positive results.

Dr. Monaco Rankin of the University of Texas in Dallas was surprised when she experimented with Twitter as it began pulling more students into discussions.

During a lecture students tweet comments and ask questions and Dr. Rankin and her assistant are able to respond in real time to the Twitter feed that’s displayed at the front of the room. Those students whose questions are not addressed are encouraged to hand their questions on paper to the TA to tweet after class.

Students in another Twitter friendly environment at Perdue University agree that using digital communication helps overcome shyness and unnecessary embarrassment caused by raising a hand speaking out in a big lecture environment.. Not only that, but the learning continues after the lecture as discussions continue outside of the classroom. Students check the feed outside of class time and the Twitter chatter doubles up as a study tool. Also it has been found that using Twitter help build relationships and community through participation far more that listening to the person at the front of the room style of learning.

The recession has hit education hard. Twitter and other social media tools used creatively can be an inexpensive way to engage students and increase the learning using the digital communication that they are already so familiar with.

Social media and mobile technology have developed at an extraordinary pace over the last 18 months and will continue to do so.

Instead of meeting these developments with hesitation and resistance- what can be done to accommodate these changes and create a more relevant, interactive learning environment and experience?

Well I feel as if I am on a journey toward something different which is unfolding a little bit at a time. In my last blog post I shared some insights that  I discovered when listening to a presentation by Julien Smith. At this point I feel I have traveled a little further in my journey but have not yet reached a destination.

As an online marketing and social media consultant I have struggled with my genuine desire to help people learn online strategies that will help them build their business, and at the same time, building my own business. I love helping people, and gladly will do it for free. The conflict is that it is also my business, and the purpose and function of the business is to make money. For me, information is what I have to offer, combined with my experience of what works and doesn’t work when marketing online. I have spent thousands of dollars  investing in my learning, and many hours of “doing it” for myself, often learning by trial and error and expensive mistakes.

When meeting with potential new clients, I find myself giving my valuable information away, before I have made a sale or collected a check for my time and advice. The same thing has happened when I have been asked to speak pro bono, with the goal of making new clients for my business.

Social media has affected the way people do business. The concept of keeping certain information a closely guarded secret in order for a business to have an edge on their competitors, is changing. In its place there is a growing sense of working not as a one-person business, but building alliances and working together even with immediate competitors. When people get together and help one another, everyone succeeds. In order to do this I think you have to change your mindset from ‘there is not enough business for everyone to have a share,’ to’ there is more than enough to go around.’  2009 for me was a year when I really got to understand the importance of mindset and how self sabotaging it can be, and began a process of a 180 degree turn around in my mindset and thinking.

Yesterday I was on a weekly mastermind group call. Everyone on the call had participated in a course on social media in the summer, and had kept in touch with weekly calls to support and help one another. In recent weeks a suggestion of having a contest has been discussed, with  points awarded for various levels of participation in helping and supporting one another. Due to our different personalities the thought of a contest spurred and motivated some people into action, however those in the group who are not motivated by competition, were reluctant to be involved in a contest which involved one person being a winner or contributing toward a financial reward.

On the call last night a totally different slant was put on this proposition. If you take away the word “contest” and think rather of it in the light of a way of being kept accountable in achieving goals and taking action, and at the same time helping and supporting other people in their goals, a totally different dynamic  comes into play. In this ‘contest’ you can earn points for writing a blog post for your blog, however if you write a blog post about someone else’s blog you get far more points. Points can be earned by commenting and promoting other people’s content and online projects, as well as doing things for other members of the group in terms of helping and supporting them.

This morning I followed a link from Facebook that led to a site called Third Tribe Marketing. The concept of a tribe first came from  the book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin. A tribe works together to support others in the tribe and so contribute to their success. Then 2 hours I then discovered a different mention of this concept in my Facebook Inbox with an invitation to a TribeMastermindforum webinar call where building a tribe and participating in a community while at the same time being taught valuable information was being sold.

An epiphany is percolating! I see the power of helping one another and I’m curious to explore the tribe concept further. I decided to become a member of the Third Tribe site because I want to learn more. Interestingly since our mastermind call yesterday I’ve been contacted by two members who need my help. Normally the information that I have shared with them would be something that would generate revenue for my business, but it didn’t matter as something larger is happening within me. It seems that when you give to others inevitably you will receive in some way, but at the same time this should not be a motivation for giving. I’m reminded of the quote  by Zig Ziglar

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. ”

So I’m going to read Seth Godin’s book( yes it was published in 2008 and so maybe I’m a bit behind), and follow on this journey that I’ve started, to make real connections with great people and support them in whatever way I can.

If you’ve learned something about the ‘Tribe” concept, please comment on this post and give us all more insight .

This one looks at how media convergence has and will affect communication in the world. Technology is bring such change that three of these videos have been released within months of each other

Are you embracing this change?

Social media is changing communication globally. Traditional media is losing it’s dominance as  social media allows ordinary people to spread information quickly across the Internet. The death of Michael Jackson illustrates this fact.

On June 25, 2009 the death of Michael Jackson’s sent ripples of shock and disbelief across the world. This tragic event revealed a very significant change in worldwide communication. Traditionally news such as this has been broadcast on television and radio. In June 22th social media led the way in informing the world of the news. Michael Jackson’s name appeared in the third and sixth positions on Google’s list of top 100 trending topics 55 minutes after the first tweet on Twitter trended the same topic.

It was a social media site that broke the news of his death when up till then CNN and the LA Times were citing stories of his hospitalization. It was 40 minutes later before main media sites caught up with the story and most media used two blogs as a source of information. 4.2 million global visitors per minute visited online news sites. I first heard the news on on Facebook. How many of you first heard the news through some form of Social Media?

On the day of Michael Jackson’s Memorial the social Web was prepared. Facebook partnered with CNN, Ustream partnered with CBC. offering live streams combined with the ability for viewers to post their comments and responses to the event in live time. 1 million Facebook users posted status updates related to that online broadcast.. CNN received 72 million page views ,14 million viewers watched the event through live streaming video,People inside the Staples Center shared recorded video and tweets to the world from their iPhone’s.

Social media unlike TV allows people to connect and see the story from multiple perspectives.

Facebook has a Michael Jackson page. In one week the fans grew from 800,000 to over 8 million due to the popularity of Michael Jackson and the viral nature of Facebook. Michael Jackson’s heirs and Sony who produces his music now have a highly targeted list of over 8 million fans to market and sell to in the future.

The Obama presidential campaign is a highly successful example of how planned social marketing strategies can create massive exposure and engagement. This was different from the results created by Michael Jackson’s death, as it was planned out and built up over time. The inaugural ceremony has  set the record so far for the largest Web event in terms of numbers and exposures there were almost 27,000,000 live video streams on that day. Barack Obama’s Facebook page drew millions of supporters that are now regularly connected with updates by the Obama  administration. The president keeps his followers updated on what he is doing via Twitter.

For the younger generations who have grown up with technology, communicating through social media channels seems as natural as breathing. However, what about the Baby Boomers and older?

Can we catch this wave or we will be left behind?

Sites such as Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter have all been used to advertise and fill positions. Career Fairs actively encourage job search through social media

Has anyone got an example to share of getting a job through Social Media or being hired to use Social Media to market an organization? Please let us know.