A recent addition to the capabilities of Instagram prompted this post. Instagram has long been what I would describe as a photo blog. You post pictures from your phone and can add text. A couple of my kids are good photographers and we enjoy exchanging photos. Over the years, I have added a few other friends.
The addition to Instagram is an opportunity to create what are called “stories”. You can markup you photos and string a few photos together. What is weird about this new capability is that it disappears after a day (if I remember correctly). I don’t get the disappearing message SnapChat thing.
I can understand how tech types are fascinated with new services. We enjoy exploring all things tech. However, when tech types begin to promote one of these new services for education I become more cautious. I have already observed the promotion of Instagram Stories. Could I possibly imagine an application or two? Probably. That is not exactly my point.
I propose that promoters (and teachers) consider a sort of tool to tactic ratio. When it comes to promotional posts, this would represent the frequency of services to the number of posts regarding classroom applications and learning topics. You can observe a similar issue as most edtech conferences. What is the ratio of “new services and new gadgets” to interesting applications of existing services and gadgets. For teachers, this would represent the number of services taught to the number of projects or activities involving these services.
There is an issue of efficiency I think should be considered. This would be represented in the tool to tactic ratio. There is a learning curve for any new gadget or service. Try figuring out how to use Instagram Stories to see what I mean. You will have to locate an explanation and read carefully before you get the thing about swiping down after selecting the + icon to understand the difference between a regular post and a story. Tech types do not mind the spending more time learning than they do applying. Perhaps no one else does either, but a poor ratio takes away from the time available to teachers, students, and perhaps parents who might be expected or encouraged to view what their kids have created.
We are getting to the point where only an occasional new tool or service is really different. As an edtech educator and author, I have taken to developing categorization systems with lists of examples to try to improve efficiency. I tend to emphasize a few tools that are flexible and can be used in a variety of projects.
Instagram stories might make an example. I don’t like the disappearing thing, but even if I thought this was not an issue, I would likely promote “Explain Everything” or “Book Creator” as a more versatile tool that would overlap with the functionality of Instagram Stories.
