Gerardo Lazaro is hyperthinking...

It has been a great ride since I started using technology in teaching in 2008. After a few months, I introduced myself to the universe of technology and its potentisal uses for education, communications and life in general.
However, something that I didn't realize until a few months ago, is that while I speak to friends and people in general, one of those moments that usually happen in your living room, and we're discussing about any topic, I constantly have hyperthoughts. What is hyperthinking? I'm not sure that's a valid word, but it's the best I can use to explain that everytime I'm thinking I'm having a series of hyperlink activity in my brain. I hear something about Peru, and I imagine the latest YouTube video about it. If I hear about psychology, then I share that there's a great course in iTunes that is free and available to anybody, and so on, and so on.
Is that a consequence? Or, is it part of the phenomenon that prompted me to use media and internet resources in general?
Is our brain getting used to think in terms of hyperlinks?
help me answer these questions and let me know if you go thorugh the same process, or is it about time to call the nearest psychiatrist?

People and Devices: Online 24/7

Every single day, 350+ million users access Facebook, a slightly less number of users communicate by 140-character messages via Twitter, and others exchange info, feelings and messages via hi5, MySpace, MSN Messenger, etc.

It is easy to understand the explosion in Social Media in the last few years, Communication is innate and inherent to humans, and language is its highest expression, and humans have perfected it.

I started on Twitter last year, and ever since I’ve tweeted over a thousand times, and for sure I’ve read over 100,000 tweets already. Growing in Social Media is as exponential as bacterial growth, unstoppable.

Demographics depend on the type of Social Media you are inquiring about, but in general terms most internet users have experienced it in one way or another.

However, one thing is certain, kids love social media, and they are the fastest growing demographic group showing presence in these websites. So, how does that translate into something to be used in education?

Well, it is necessary to be able to get into Social Media as well, as teachers and administrators, we must be facilitators (unintended rhyme) and not scared away from it, and less of all…forbid it.

Digital Natives are anew generation, and as much as we want to categorize them as ADD or ADHD kids, they are multitaskers. I’m sure there will be a significant change in appreciation in the still valid idea that women are true and efficient multi-taskers, and men aren’t. In the near future, kids and teens will have to be occupying that perception.

How’s the behavior of our kids’ and teens’ right now? We can certainly verify it by watching this video and identifying our son, daughter, niece or nephew:

M(2) Video

The report published by the Kaiser Family Foundation, indicates numbers that are completely true. Usage of media has increased to 10 hours and 29 minutes in 2009, discounting the multi-tasking time (29%) we reach to 7 hours and 38 minutes a day.

So, kids are “working” a whole shift in total media (Tv, internet, music, games, etc.) Wouldn’t it be productive for teachers to insert knowledge acquisition and learning enhancement activities in such shift?

What does that indicate? We have to adapt! Adaptation is a human characteristic, and one that we need to use a lot in this case.

How will be the Web of Tomorrow? Simple answers: more portable, smaller, easier to use, ubiquitous, and easier to integrate to any of our daily devices and appliances.

I always go back to Sir Ken Robinson and his TED conference when dealing with questions about Education, and this time is not the exception. Creativity in Education is something we must constantly go back to as a reference point, but also as a stimulus for learners and teachers.

Videos as a powerful educational tool - July 30th

Videos have been in our lives for a few decades already. But it wasn't until the explosion of electronics and the low pricing of video cameras that the regular citizen was able to really grab this technology. Even better, the internet has offered a global distribution platform without limits, literally. Anyone that has access to the internet is able to search, upload, or download videos 24/7/365. But that's not all, videos are a powerful tool in the classroom too. My Science classes would be empty without videos. My video search is a constant in my weekly duties. I'm sure my students appreciate videos too, although sometimes they don't show it. You know, things are never cool enough for them. I was born with cable tv and computers in my adolescent years, they were born with broadband connection, Youtube and web 2.0.

The following video is the presentation that Professor Michael Wesch recently did at the US Library of Congress. An interesting compilation and testimony about the use of videos and its transcendence in our daily life. Enjoy!

Internet and Education - May 18th, 2008

Are you familiar with the Internet? That sounds like a rhetorical question nowadays. Regardless of their age, children are becoming more and more familiar with the use of computers in the world wide web. The level of interaction and the amount of current information is practically unlimited.
We have to be careful though to control that the reight information is delivered to the right person, at all times.
But the internet doesn´t only "help" you finish yoiur homework providing the information and or pictures for your assignment. There is an in creasing tendency to do classes online. E-learning, 0nline classes or webeducation are a few of terms used to indicate that your classes are carried out online. Why not? It is cheap, reliable, affordable and interesting. The graphic and audiovisual interface helps capturing the attention of students.
Take a look at this article that indicates that in a few years, up to 50% of classes will be online.
Report: Half of High School Classes Could Be Online by 2019