Professional networking or cheap trick?

I have been a LinkedIn user for about four years, I think. I’ve not been terribly active, but keeping my profile up-to-date has been useful, and I’ve even received two job invitations via the network. However, I noticed today that LinkedIn has a brave new feature that allows me the option of ‘endorsing’ the skills claimed by the people on my connections list. I discovered this after receiving a notification that one of my connections had endorsed my ‘teaching’ skills. I do mention on my profile that I was once a teacher, but apart from running the odd professional development workshop, (and I’m pretty certain my endorser never attended any of those)  I haven’t actually taught for a very long time, and it’s not a skill that I actively market, so why would I want someone to endorse it?

All of which begs the question, how reliable is an endorsement, and is this really a good idea for LinkedIn? I can’t help but feel that there’s an expectation of reciprocity in all of this: If you endorse my skills in x, I’ll endorse yours in y. Am I expected to endorse the people with whom I work? What happens to my working relationships if I don’t? Many of these endorsements are no better than children who, on the first day of school, offer sweet bribes to make friends and secure that tenuous popularity that might just give them a lift in the social pecking order.

Whilst I am happy to support the claims of many of my connections, I’d like that endorsement to have some validity. If I endorse Donna Thompson’s skills as a Moodle Administrator, for example, it’s because I worked with her for three years and I know she’s damn good at what she does. The endorsement of my teaching skills by someone who has never seen me teach, no matter how well intentioned, has no validity whatsoever. LinkedIn has always allowed recommendations, and I have done those, when requested, for people whose skills I know and respect. The endorsement process is too quick and facile, and I fear it undermines everything useful about LinkedIn.

If the network is determined to continue with this process of unsolicited endorsement, I’d like to suggest a ‘hell no’ button, so that I can respond appropriately to the rather inane endorsement question, “Does [insert person’s name] know about [insert random skill]?” Without that, LinkedIn is simply undermining the reliability of the professional network.

The flattery of social networking

Yesterday, as a backup, I uploaded a couple of powerpoints that I use infrequently to Slideshare. They're slides I use in presentations to students, and would be of little interest of relevance to anyone else. Imagine my astonishment then to receive this in my email this morning:

How exciting, thought I. Fame at last! Recognition from the international community of Slideshare! And, because I am vain, I went straight to the Slideshare site to see how many views my apparently wonderful presentation had had in the 14 or so hours since I had uploaded it. The result:

So what does this mean? It was rather flattering for a moment, but 0 views does rather burst the bubble! Is this a cunning ploy designed to encourage us all to upload more slideshows? Is there simply a lag between their view counter and their email system, and in fact, this trivial and visually unappealing presentation, last updated in January 2010 (unlike Facebook!) really is one of the most popular uploads of the day?

And just in case this isn't enough to make you cynical about Slideshare, I received a SECOND email:

Two uploads; two of the most popular presentations of the day. If only that actually meant something.

21st century skills from a 21st century classroom

A year ago I blogged about 21st century literacy skills, asking whether we were still using definitions of literacy that are out of sync with our new, technological world. Since then, I have had the privilege of watching my son negotiate his first year of intermediate school in a laptop class. Make no mistake, he is in an innovative and challenging school, and observing his learning, both planned and accidental, has been fascinating, but it leaves me with more questions than answers.

I have no doubt that the experience of being connected to his peers on a more or less continuous basis has enabled him to develop relationships. The school uses Adium as the social networking tool (students are banned from accessing Facebook at school or on their school laptops) and my son seems to spend an inordinate amount of time chatting online. So in that way, I suppose he is improving his skill at building relationships with others. Or is he? When I browse his chat history (and I do, because I'm a parent and I believe that is my responsibility) I am overwhelmed (and relieved, I admit) by the superficiality of the communications that take place. Is a relationship based on a dialogue such as:

son: wuu2

friend: nm u

son: nm. brb

friend: k kewl - g2g, etc., etc. (find translations here) really a valuable or meaningful relationship? Certainly, it is cross-cultural - in fact it is an entire sub-culture of its own and it gives me a headache to read it, but how far is it going towards that wonderful goal of solving problems collaboratively? Certainly he and his friends are very proficient in the use of these tools, but for what purpose? nm?

There have also been some tough lessons for him this year around the ethical responsibilities of the online environment. These lessons have been the products of chance rather than planned, and have probably been much more powerful as a result. Learning about the dangers of posting criticisms and gossiping online is invaluable, but the lessons can only be taught if there is someone monitoring the discussions. More often than not, there is no one. And so instead of students being helped to address those ethical considerations, bad, even dangerous, habits are entrenched.

Having said all that, I have recently been watching my son engage with his first virtual world, Minecraft. This challenges him on a whole range of levels. He interacts with a group of friends all building in the same world, he has to share ideas and collaborate online, and, he tells me, all in a context that has taught him all about architecture! It certainly has engaged his interest and his creativity, and would devour hours of his time if allowed. And it has provided him with a place to apply other forms of learning. Yesterday we watched some of the 9/11 memorial coverage. Somehow, despite living almost his entire life in the post 9/11 world, he'd never really been aware of the specifics of that day, and it made for some sombre conversation. What has interested me however is the outcome of that conversation: his new build in Minecraft is a tower that will be more resistant to terrorism. Sad, but a really concrete example of engaging with the responsibilities of the new and complex environments we live in.

Social networking

Another infographic this one by Jess3...

I was surprised to see that Skype is so much bigger than Facebook. People certainly are connecting.