The Filter Bubble Conundrum

Between our gadgets, social media, the 24 hour news cycle and Google, we have access to more information than ever before.  But do we really?  In Eli Pariser's book and TED talk, The Filter Bubble, he describes how algorithms that power search engines use all kinds of gathered information to customize our online searches.  Two people searching using identical key words may come up with vastly different search results based on their internet browsing history and what the search engine "thinks" they are looking for.



Isn't this the antithesis of what the internet is supposed to do for us?  How do we keep this filtering from happening?  In his recent blog post, Gideon Rosenblatt shared,  "When we only follow people who look and think the way we do, we limit our exposure to different types of information. In this way, of course, our online social networks are no different than the physical
world.  The failure to surround ourselves with a diverse group of friends and acquaintances narrows our worldview, it filters out our experience of the world." 

It is disconcerting to think about being surrounded with only the sources of information that Google calculates are right for me.  I would not want to hear only from parents, staff and colleagues who agree with all of my thoughts and ideas.  If we are listening solely to those who are simply echoing back what we already think and know, we will never experience the true synergy necessary in order to work together effectively on the challenging issues we are facing in this so-called Age of Information. We need to hear from all of the various voices in order to make the best decisions for our students.

So it makes sense that we need to proactively seek out diversity in our tweets, likes, pins and who we follow.  Just as good research looks at questions from multiple perspectives, good online searching and curating should do the same.  We have a world of information at our fingertips, but if we are not careful it will be mathematically reduced to the equivalent of sitting alone in a room with one volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The conundrum is that we also need to be careful about what we are putting out into the blogosphere.  We have professional reputations to maintain and employer messages to support and deliver.  If I retweet an article that provides a well-articulated, thought-provoking, interesting, but perhaps alternative POV about something that is being considered in my district will that be accepted as additional information to the decision-making process or am I creating the perception of not being a team player?  Where exactly is that line?

The way we gather and process information is changing so fast and we never seem to have the luxury of taking the time to carefully sort these issues out.  Here are some ways that we can perhaps attempt to keep our information stream wide, varied and informed and also use our best professional judgement in the messages we are sending out:

• Provide information to students, parents and staff members about digital citizenship responsibilities and safe practices.
• Broaden our own perspectives; train ourselves to not assume that if someone retweets an article that it means they wholeheartedly support that opinion only.
• State up front that we are actively seeking diverse information.  In my Twitter bio, I have recently changed it to state just that.  As a leader, I feel that I have an obligation to try to share balanced information whenever possible, but it may not always be the company line.
• Make clear distinctions in organizations about when initiatives are in an information gathering phase and when a decision has been made and it is time as leaders, staff or employees to "sell"or accept and embrace the selected initiative. 
• Be generous in our thinking, our practice and in our conversations.  We can always leave room for other points of view.  It costs us nothing, and we will likely be the better for it.

What other ways have you found to navigate the filter bubble conundrum?

Remember, It's About Them

I've just recently moved to a new position and office and had to pretty much hit the ground running. The five boxes I brought with me have been starring at me as though to say, "Well, we aren't going to unpack ourselves, you know!". So I went in over the weekend to unpack, organize and as it turned out, do a little reflecting.

I spent 15 years as an elementary teacher and as such saw the transitions from weekly spelling lists to invented spelling to word walls. I never really minded changing grade levels, consequently it seemed like every year for the last few that I was in the classroom, I always ended up spending a full day in August cutting out a new set of word wall words!

One particular year, I had done just that, cut out a new set of words, in addition to the 500+ other things that teachers do in order to get ready for a new school year. I had a lot of ideas that year about organizing the classroom and spent much of the first few weeks of school teaching procedures so that our room would function seamlessly.

One day my second graders were putting away some supplies and instead of lining up and filing them neatly in the Harry Wong-esque way that I had demonstrated and practiced with them, there was a big pile-up of both kids and materials. As I assisted in the untangling I found that one of the new word wall words had been pulled off the wall and was ripped and wrinkled.

I am not proud to admit this, but for some reason, I lost it a little.  I'm not at all a screamer, but they knew I was unhappy with the situation.  Why weren't they more careful? Why didn't they respect the property of our classroom? Didn't they know how much time I had invested in getting everything just right?

After my little rant, as I recall, they began reading silently while I began to meet with individual students. At the end of the session, one of quietest, sweetest students in the class, Elizabeth, handed me a purple rectangle of cardboard and said, "I made this for you."




I found Elizabeth's card among my other belongings as I was unpacking today. The irony of which word wall word it happened to be has never been lost on me. Nor were all of the opportunities I realized I had squandered in that moment; to model how to cope with a minuscule problem, to demonstrate that the classroom was not mine, but ours and most important, to act in ways every day, all the time, that put students first.

We all have moments when we are not functioning as our best selves, but it's important to remember that the time we have with the students in our classrooms is finite. It can take a great many of our best moments to undo the impact of just a few of our worst. Strive every day, like the FISH! philosophy, to "Make Their Day," because really, it is all about them.

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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Jackdaw, You Say?

Strictly speaking, a jackdaw is a crow, but this blog is not about my bird. I don't have a bird, or even a pet for that matter. At the very beginning of my teaching career, I attended a workshop about whole language approaches to reading instruction. Although I know I came away from that workshop with many wonderful ideas, there is really only one that I remember now; an activity the presenter called Jackdaws.

Crows, or jackdaws, it was explained, are known for collecting things and bringing them back to their nests. After reading their books, instead of the traditional book report, students were asked to gather a collection of objects that represented various aspects of the book and prepare presentations that explained their relevance and connections. The presenter called this a Book Jackdaw.

I realize that we (the now nameless presenter and I) have now applied the word jackdaw to the collection rather than the bird, but nonetheless, this was an activity that I went back to many times. It worked as a literature extension, but it was also a great way for students to introduce themselves to the rest of the class. Over the years, I can recall having students bring a small collection of objects the first week of school or gather a collection to display and tell visitors about at Open House.

If I still had my own classroom (sniff, sniff), today I would do jackdaws using computers or tablets and having students search for images that represent them or a piece of literature. At the beginning of the year it could be combined with instruction about how to search efficiently and appropriately or how to clip and edit images.








So I hope the technology connection above qualifies this post to be included for Leadership Day 11, which is the event that got me to finally start blogging. I plan to bring my ever-evolving collection, or jackdaw, of thoughts and ideas about technology use and leadership in schools to this venue. I love my iPad, and I have recently discovered that Twitter is not just for tracking the dubious whereabouts of celebrities, but is perhaps one of the richest sources for what Steven W. Anderson or @web20classroom calls "reflective professional development." Any time that I am thinking about my practice, there is a world of educators waiting to engage with me. I no longer have to wait until the next conference, but rather have on-going, daily opportunities to learn, grow and share. I look forward to sharing My Jackdaw with whomever might pause a moment to engage with me.

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