Is social media something to fight against or fight to improve and master? Take a look http://tinyurl.com/23jzu3g

I am identifying a lot with this book and really liking the concept and more importantly how it was created: by collaboration. So far here are my highlights:
1-"Digital media and networks have become embedded in our
everyday lives and are part of broad-based changes to how we engage in
knowledge production, communication, and creative expression." I could not agree more
2-They also talk about the digital divide which in this country happens to be from age differences but in underdeveloped areas of the world the issue of age is potentiated with issues of lack or outdated technology.
3-"Generational identity and technology identity" so true. There is a big gap about what the current generation has grown up accustomed to and what we in my generation did. We have to bring this gap to a minimum in order to talk the current generation's lingo. Challenging but exciting stuff.
3-Another issue that I like is the concept of the connected generation. We cannot IMO allow our youth to be fully engaged with technology at home and then come to school and prohibiting their use of electronics. Sure they used it for inappropriate activities sometimes, but Imo this is because we are not engaging them or challenging them enough. I would like to hear what teachers say about this ; I am obviously privileged about the fact that teach more mature students. But i am also a parent of two teenagers.
4-Regarding this question (I will continue with my read tomorrow since I have other issues to attend) "How are
new media being taken up by youth practices and agendas? And how do these practices change the dynamics of youth-adult negotiations over literacy, learning, and authoritative knowledge?" I guess it is too early to tell because our generation had to learn all of these new skills before we could use them in the classroom of the generation X'ers that had this handed to them naturally.
Young people are definitely early adopters to technology and actually technology seems more natural to them. They did not grow at a time when technology and computers were not as widespread as they are now. My generation and above did and this makes for an interesting mix and population clashes.
I like the concept and this is a new way for me to see technology that it is not a external force but rather something that becomes embedded in society and if I understand it correctly there it shapes the way we interact with one another.
Another new concept for me is that learning is much broadly defined; it is not just learning content but also how technology shapes young people social status (friendship, intimacy, family, gaming, creative production, and
work)
This sociology-of-youth-and-children approach is new to me and I respect them for doing and using this method. But I am a bit skeptic because after all childhood is temporary and the actually chose young adults for their observation. They describe it as an ethnographic view of youth; with attention to both the focal object of
their culture and to the relationships with adults. (They keep "introducing" and talking in future tense but I am getting tired of this description. I want to get to the meat and potatoes of their findings)
They finally say something interesting and is about not just youth technology consumption but also about the
participation and production of "user-generated" content. I see this as a potential key to enter into their world.
I totally agree with this "the most engaged and active forms of learning with digital media happen in youth-driven settings that are focused on social communication and recreation" I am a believer in active rather than passive learning and use engaging methods in all my educational activities.
I like the concept of wide ecology of education. It is talking about children but imagine this translated into my field of medical education.
Then it introduces 21st century skills and talks about social interaction as friendship driven practices and interest driven practices. I honestly do not like to consider the latter as geeky activities but I understand that society does so they used that term.

Media Ecologies:

Young kids in this country are growing up in a media
environment where digital and networked media are playing an increasingly
prominent role. It is a technical, social, cultural, and place-based system. Even those without access to "gadgets" are members of a shared culture where new social
media, sharing, media production are the way to go. It is a highly technologically oriented world. What for example my generation did person to person to interact to each other this generation is doing electronically and so we have an interesting mix of what i will call traditional methods with what I will call the modern 21st century way. This environment or as the book calls it "ecology" affects young people's practices, learning, and identity formation.
I am finding that I am thinking more about my two kids growing up than I guess I am supposed to, but this is inevitable. My two kids grew up with a geeky parent and they learned how to use a computer before they learned to ride a bike. I do identify with what they say that when it comes time about social media participation my oldest son has a FB account but not my daughter. I agree that kids at different times possess varying levels of technology- and media-related expertise, interests and motivations. I like the concept of technologically identity fluidity. We and for that matter they do not have stable media identities but rather a context driven identity. For youngsters or kids and I do men this generically this is important to understand and discuss.
Flexibly in mobilizing different communications capabilities, kids overcome some of the limits that prevent them from hanging out with friends. Do we think kids and adults use the internet for sharing, collaborating and socializing in general? Take a look at this Prism that puts this in context:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/2735401175/
Students in schools with technology resources frequently give their students permission to access to the Internet in certain classrooms but there is a constant tug of war between the use and no use of technology specially smartphones in school. We now see a disconnect between the amount of technology kids use at home compared to what they are allowed to use in school, due to various concerns such as safety, privacy, distraction.
Bottom line of this chapter is that we multitask and play different roles and simply speaking we do not have just one identity or are uni-dimensional. The same said for our kids. The difference lies on the fact the we and once again and despite the fact that the chapter talks only about kids but IMO we adults are in the same boat, there are different ways in which modern humans (whom I will refer from now on as Homo-techno-Nexus) engage with new media and how their engagement relates to social participation and identity and the beat goes on and social media and technology continues to permeate every aspect of our existence including of course education.