John,
I’m not sure you caught the latest clip from Lady Gaga and Google highlighting the way Gaga interacts with her fans in large part due to the social nature of the Web 2.0. It’s one of the few times when a celebrity’s called a group of people monsters and gotten away with it. The discussion over the quality of her music has been divisive, but her undeniable musical talent is only surpassed by her ability to market that in such a way where people feel like they, too, are an actual part of her success.
When people look at her Soundscan numbers and digital copies, no one ever wonders where the fans come from. They’re the ones covering her on YouTube, tweeting about her to the point where every song of hers becomes a trending topic in an instant, and flooding her fan page with pictures of themselves inspired by her. They’re not just fans of her because she’s cool in her eyes; they’re part of a fan base that not only believes she’s watching every one of their interactions, but that everyone else in that network is, too. I wonder, then, what lessons we can glean about the future of teaching from this curious phenomena.
Some might say she’s a product of social engineering, but if anything, she’s the engineer. In the same way, we already have come to the conclusion that learning can’t just happen in class. Much of the mantra these days is still centered on teacher-directed instruction. While I do believe there’s room for that, especially in more technical arenas, there has to be a sense that learning comes 24 / 7. It happens even when our students least expect it. We just need to present them with a set of tools that they’ll always need and give them applicable situations, whether in context or otherwise.
For instance, I wonder how many students can take a lesson they saw in class and remix it to their liking instead of the usual reiteration we ask the kids to do with the material. I wonder how often students find a context where they used the math they had just learned in class, drop it as a picture on a teacher’s fan page, and had the teacher reply back to ask them another question on it. I wonder how many of us actually do a reflection after a lesson, publicly post it for teachers and students to comment, and let students use that as a reference along with any other reference they choose.
As adults, we like to adhere to certain rules about social media and how to interact with one another, yet our students don’t know these boundaries yet. In a relatively small percentage of incidents, these have deleterious effects. More often than not, this quasi-anarchy pushes our students towards innovating because the rules aren’t set. Some of the things adults do, like having a focus, doesn’t matter to kids, because it’s as much about the way you make the connect as the content that you have.
Lady Gaga gets this. Why don’t we?
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There are many out of the box ways to engage students today. As a physical educator I look to inspire my students and if it is useful, moral and legal I am down for the experience and the challenge.
Thanks for the piece. I found it thought provoking. I usually teach science material to large lecture halls but this summer I get to teach a basic chemistry course for under 20. I’ve been considering just what you suggest – incorporate a blog with accompanying video of each class and open it up to feedback, reflection, remixing and general critiquing. I’ve been using facebook and texting for the past couple years to create instant interaction and openness in question creation but this is one big step beyond. My fears are the usual – I have many demands on my time in the summer and the course is daily for two hours. I will have the occasional (I hope) bad day. Can I trust the participants to accept that as part of a normal work process? Will this help learning or get in the way? Time spent on making things available and public is time away from the teaching process. And on and on. Perhaps time to swallow a little Nike. Thanks again for the post.
Hi! I am a stay-at-home mom these days, working on the fascinating and heartbreaking world of raising a child with autism. However, I am also an experienced teacher, and right now I am putting together a presentation for a local community college to help instructors use differentiated instruction.
I think this Lady Gaga idea qualifies as an one that works to both tier instruction and to empower students of different intelligences. For example, students who are social learners, students who respond well to technology — as opposed to in-class discussion where they can feel intimidated by the crowd around them as they speak — and for students who need some additional support to understand and/or integrate a concept could use twitter and/or facebook to inform and expand their learning.
My presentation on differentiated instruction is for World Languages teachers, and I’m wondering how easy or difficult (challenging?) it is to use different languages in twitter and facebook.
Any ideas or tips out there?
Thanks, merci, gracias,
Jenny
momofzoe.com
Jose, While the thought of patterning educational opportunities after Lady Gaga, makes me a bit gaga, I do heartily endorse your suggestion that we encourage students to make a lesson or experience their own, by “remixing it” and applying it to their own experience and finding current ways to share with others. This would make the concepts/ideas more meaningful to them and this is what we need–ways for students to make the contents of any lesson personally meaningful. Just about anything goes.
Perhaps also encourage them during and after class to pose substantive questions about ideas on Twitter, Googledocs, FB and share with classmates and teachers. For it is their questions that can and should drive our educational enterprises.
Their inquiries can lead to meaningful engagement, purposeful research, problem solving and critical thinking.
Congratulations on awakening the 21st century in some of us!
John Barell
http://www.morecuriousminds.com
http://morecuriousminds.blogspot.com
Love the idea!!! I have been teaching for 26 years. For the past 4 years I have been at a science focused project based school on a lava field on the pacific ocean. We are totally outside, as the history teacher we only meet once a week for 90 minutes. Art and AP art history which I also teach is done outside the school day. I believe you have a brilliant idea. And am going to pursue it!!! Thanks so
I’s in too. Let’s get that party started. I’ve used youtube clips almost as often as a literature book or text this year. Kids connect to that in a big way. It is speaking their language.
Great article! I agree that we must use the power of technology to inspire our students and provide them with additional ways of learning outside of the school day. I started to use Edmodo this year as a simple way to update homework and provided different sites that I have found for the students. However, next year will be a full explosion of goodies on that site. We will eb communicating and learning like no other! Thanks for the great insight!
Great article! I love that you were able to “remix” pop culture and see an application for it in education. What a great way to model exactly what we want our students to do! I LOVED your idea of “remixing” lessons by students so that they can show and engage in what they understood to be the essential points of a lesson in school. We try to do this in the school where I work but your article puts another good perspective on that point. I will share this with my teachers and hopefully they’ll be inspired by this new perspective as well! I’m gaga for “gaga in education”!
Saw Lady Gaga on Long Island and was amazed at how
she connected w/her fans. Felt like everything was choreographed w/
the crowd. They were so connected to her. So talented and
smart. We hav a lot to learn from her. When kids listen like.
that they r so more ready to learn. Been trying to sell that
for them for years but think everyone else knows what’s
better. We need to make connections w/kids. Then the learning
happens. When we listen better we actually hear. That’s
what Lady Gaga does that we hav forgotten how to do or just
get stuck in what we think. Thank u Lady Gaga!! Now let’s
listen and learn right along w/em.
I appreciate this perspective, but I would hope that you also encourage your students to explore Lady Gaga’s creative process. Her creative output is incredible, as is her work ethic. Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who contributed their comments to this article! First, Lady Gaga’s creative process is rather interesting. I haven’t actually seen her at work, but listening to the music, I’m pretty sure I know her influences; she’s got a serious mastery of the music.
Secondly, hopefully this remix culture catches on in education. We’re no longer in the business of “counter-narrative,” but creating a new narrative. We must adapt, right?
Thanks for this great article. I think that Lady Gaga is an incredible artist and a wonderful person. Your article helped me to put together all the things that I admire about this talented, caring artist and think about incorporating what she does for her fans with my students. I am committed to trying out your suggestions. The best to you, take care.