"Fellow kids" has become shorthand for quite a few cringe-worthy attempts to appeal to the younger demographics. Reddit has an entire subreddit decided to it with over 100k subscribers. #FellowKid and #FellowKids are both popular hashtags on Twitter. It is on an overall upward trend according to GoogleTrends.
I think we should be conscious of this when designing instruction for younger people. There is definitely benefit to appealing to our students in ways related to them, but let's always be conscious of the #fellowkid effect.
I can't speak for the best ways to address this, but I try to learn what's trendy with my students so I can joke about it in class. I fully embrace being a #fellowkid and my students seem to appreciate my sense of humor.
Bruce, I identify with this. I used Snapchat for the EME 6414 class. Looked around and played with some features. I came to the conclusion that I was too old for Snapchat. I just felt "out of place." I'm certainly looking for new and innovative ways to use these 2.0 tools but I don't expect that Snapchat will be a fixture in my repertoire. I need to find that balance between what students find interesting and what I feel non "Fellow Kids" with doing. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think you're on to something here Bruce. I've had many conversations with my mom (the long-time English teacher) about her trips to educational product expos and training seminars, and the fact that most of the stuff she encounters plays up the "wow, shiny" aspects of technology, but doesn't fundamentally change much about actual educational methods. Kids see through that stuff fast enough, and then it's back to square one. Just my opinion here, but I think the key to incorporating more tech into the classroom (be it physical or digital) is in using it to make possible that which previously was not, rather than using it as a means to appeal to "what kids like". I like things that allow for a hands on educational experience that lets learners play with the material they are supposed to learn, but much of the curriculum that integrates technology (that I've seen at least) is basically just a flashier way to do traditional lecture and writing assignments.
ReplyDeleteI think the topic is really complicated. There are pros and cons to both sides. There is so much variety.
DeleteWhen I have taught in an EFL context, I have had both success and failure. One of my assignments was to explain how to use a popular subway map app to get from our school to a popular destination in Seoul. My students really seemed to connect with this and this is a relatively plausible way they would use their phones.
I tried to get students to use Twitter in another class and that didn't work at all.
I think your "make possible that which previously was not" seems like a pretty plausible explanation.
Bruce,
ReplyDeleteAs someone who recently found out they were no longer young and hip, this topic has been on my mind a lot lately. Most instances of going out of the way to appeal to this demographic that I have seen do come off as cringeworthy and insincere at best.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/dont-kill-your-companys-buzz-stop-using-outdated-buzzwords
While this specific example is geared toward marketing, I think it can still be applied to situations where we're working with young adult learners, or anyone slightly younger than us for that matter. I think it's my only defense in most cases where I'm talking to my #fellowkids .
Thanks for sharing the link!
DeleteOne phrase that seemed cute was the idea of "binging" on tv shows. I remember having binged on shows when I first cut cable 9 years ago. (I have since reconnected it and cut a few times). The phrase really seemed to fit my media watching habits and described a new attitude towards media consumption.
Now, I cringe every time I see this phrase used in marketing. When TV shows are advertised as "binge worthy," it just makes my skin crawl. I think the exclusive nature of slang is part of its appeal. When markets start using your phrase, it loses the exclusive "cool factor" that it once had. It is extremely difficult to stay on top of trends and not be a #fellowkid!
I cringe every time I go to a conference and hear people saying we should all adopt (insert social media tool here) because all of the kids are using it. It's a novelty effect, at best, if we integrate it into the classroom for that purpose. I do think it's worth exploring the tool and learning how it works and what people do with it, but attempts to be cool with it will never really work.
ReplyDeleteI perhaps should thank my sisters for learning this lesson early on. I'm the oldest. The youngest is 19 years younger than me. Because we're close, I learn about the things that they do -- the trends in music, fashion, language, and technology. However, just because I know and understand their trends doesn't mean that I should adopt them. Not even because #yolo! (<-- sorry, that is truly cringeworthy but I couldn't help myself given the context, ha!)