To engage youth, get on their wavelength

Survival depends upon us jumping onto that information super highway, writes KHYIAH ANGEL.

Remember when a phone was a unit attached to a wall with a cord and you had to stand or sit in one place to use it? You had to stick your finger in a little plastic hole and drag a dial around six or seven times? And once connected you could only talk to one person at a time? Remember when the phone rang and you had to pick it up to find out who it was calling? Or perhaps you remember walking to the letterbox and pulling out an envelope personally addressed to you? Gone are the days when it was common practice to use a pen and paper to write a letter to someone to share information or keep in touch with. 'Snailmail', as it has become known, is almost a thing of the past. The home telephone, aka 'landline' is also on the verge of extinction. Both are currently being superseded by the convenience of pocket sized mobile technology.

In an increasingly technology based society, those who are unable or unwilling to merge onto the information 'super-highway' are at risk of losing touch with issues of the 21st century.

Mobile phones that slip into a pocket and can connect the user with anyone, anywhere at anytime have become a necessary accessory. Email has become a preferred means of communicating at length, its immediacy unrivalled by the old fashioned postal service.

Long distance conversations can be held with many people simultaneously in different parts of the city, country and even world via computer messenger programs for minimal cost.

PDAs [personal digital assistants] are developing at such a rapid rate that mobile phone and portable computer technology is merging to create hand held devices that act as a phone, mail centre, camera, video and sound recorder, game console, radio, music player and search engine all in one.

Information sharing within our society has changed dramatically over the past 20 years, and much more rapidly over the past five. Access to knowledge has become more widespread and the sharing of such spans both country and class in the western world.

Word-of-mouth has been replaced by world-wide-web and messages move from state to state and continent to continent with the click of a mouse or the touch of a keypad.

One might wonder what this technological transition may mean for teacher unionists, particularly at a time when our existence is vulnerable. As unionists, we can no longer be observers to this revolution. Our survival depends upon us jumping onto that information super highway and keeping up with the traffic.

There are many 'onramps' we can take to access and utilise the technology, but to begin with we need to look at what is already out there.

Technologies such as email and mobile phones are common and well used by a majority. The SMS [short messaging system] phenomenon is gathering power and influence with its expediency, but perhaps a little lesser known amongst our members although becoming increasingly popular, is the web-based concept of Blogs.

A Blog is a web log -- an online diary. It is a means of expressing an opinion, generating a conversation or developing an analysis on anything of interest. The Blog had its beginnings in 1998 in the United States when a couple of young guns began a web log to initiate discussion on a favourite topic.

The concept soon made its way Down Under and has been embraced with gusto, particularly by those in the 16-35 year age group. There are now 50 million blogs on the web, with tens of thousands added daily. According to Technorati (a search engine that uses the number of hits a blog receives as a measure of influence), between October last year and March this year, the number of blogs on the web has doubled.

There are those who believe the power of blogs is yet to reach its potential. The traffic some blogs are generating is phenomenal; enough to spark interest from government and policy makers. Opinion is a highly underestimated entity, and spread widely and strongly enough can and does influence those at the highest levels.

Once upon a time standing on a street corner handing out pamphlets to bored commuters was a means of disseminating information about a particular topic. Now, in the 21st century millions can be reached in far less time than it takes to create the pamphlet, with far less cost involved.

Hardcopy has almost become obsolete. It is not cost effective and the young consider it a clumsy, inconvenient way of sharing information, with negative environmental consequences. And you can't interact with a piece of paper!

A blog provides a forum to share information that draws people in to respond. As an awareness raising exercise or a means of circulating information, the interactive nature of a blog is what gives it its power.

Originally, Federation association meetings were the prime means of getting information out to members via Organisers. Word of mouth and 'snailmail' were vital in information sharing on important issues. About 15 years ago a new piece of technology called a facsimile machine changed the way information was passed on; some time after which came the email announce system via the web.

All these means of information sharing remain relevant and important, but are rapidly being superseded. To continue to engage more technologically savvy young people, we need to now consider new means of communicating with them.

Khyiah Angel is Relieving Administration Officer (Media and Communications).

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