It’s not new to think that education should be relevant to students. The difficulty in doing this can be bringing together vastly varying paradigms. Some may suffer from implicit association bias in that they are inherently biased against various forms of technology. We may feel a level of disconnect from decision making, feel frustrated, want to remove ourselves from being part of the change, part of the process. Even within our class, I have clearly seen signs of blindspots. There’s a certain level of defensiveness, over possibly feeling less valued than technology. I can’t quite put my finger on if it could be separated by generations, or if it simply went to experience. Perhaps it all comes down to experience. We are the sum of our experiences.

It can be difficult to move beyond ourselves and our experiences. We do have the ability to change our minds. Neuroplasticity. Rather an impressive word, I think. There IS the ability to change our minds, to change how we think, to change our functioning.

I think this speaks at the heart of what I’m trying to do with my inquiry project. When looking at social media, it truly is nothing new. A human beings, we’ve communicated for thousands of years. We’ve sought new ways of connecting to each other.

I remember a project I did as a student back in high school. We all wrote letters off to someone famous, and then waited to see if anyone actually got a response. I don’t remember any responses during the school year, although I did eventually get a form letter back. I won’t say who I wrote to, it would be far too revealing of my age and bad taste in music. Through this project, we sought to form a connection, through communication. We can still do this, at a much faster rate. We are able to make connections that would never have been possible. I’ve made someone working at The Globe theatre in London laugh. I’ve inspired a former Dragon for a potential shirt choice. I’ve been moved to tears by the reflections of a Canadian looking down on our country from orbit.

As a child, I never would have had these opportunities. Is it not part of being human, always wishing for more for our children?

Through the process, I’ve found my methods of thinking shifting and changing. I want to actively change my functioning for the benefit of my students. I want others to understand that I’m doing so, and why I’m doing it.

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