Implications of #IranElection for Social Media in the Classroom

For the last several days, I've been consumed by this Iran story. I apologize if any of you think I've just been wasting blog space. I realize that in the heat of the moment I have not always been the most discrete concerning my statements on the media, but regular readers of this blog will long have since recognized that shortness of tact is just part and parcel of my prose.

Getting to the matter at hand: I just want to state for the record that I believe that two things have happened this week, give or take whatever the end result is in Tehran.

First, the Iranian people have protested their government in ways that seem unimaginable not so very long ago.

Their lives have changed.

Second, the use of Twitter to get information into and out of Iran -- being so important that the US State Department even got involved -- has demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt the legitimate importance of social media to societies.

All of our lives have changed.

As a teacher, my thoughts rest on what this all means for my students. And in thinking about it over the last few days, I see this as possibly a watershed moment in terms of what it means for the blocking/access debate.

I've posted in the sidebar to teachpaperless.com a section compiling all of my posts on #IranElection and what that feed means for the future of social media in education.

Read through; digest; and comment back with ideas, suggestions, and criticisms. As with most things these days, this blog depends on your continued generous sharing of ideas.