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Sharing  Is  Caring. ..But  What  If  It's  A  ONe-Way  Street?

10/22/2017

3 Comments

 
The internet is an amazing marvel of modern technology.  Within seconds you can be video conferencing with someone from halfway across the world while simultaneously browsing an online shopping site with the hopes of purchasing something you’ve had your eye on for a while.  The internet has no doubt changed the way we live our lives forever.  Every industry/career on the planet has been influenced by it in some way, and education is no exception.
 
Thanks to the internet, we as teachers can share resources online, both for free and/or for purchase utilizing a variety of apps and websites.  Apps, such as Google Drive, are great for sharing resources with other teachers across the globe for free.  I know I personally have multiple shared folders to share some of the electronic resources that I have created over the years with others, free of charge.  There are a lot of great resources that I have created in said folders for anyone to access at anytime (http://bit.ly/2iv7gqr, http://bit.ly/2x4KThe). 
 
Websites such as Teachers Pay Teachers have used the internet as a means to connect educators with one another through more of a capitalistic approach; giving educators a chance to make some extra money from their ideas by giving them a designated place to sell their creations to other teachers for a fee.  In addition to my multiple free to access shared folders on Google Drive/Dropbox, I also have a sales page on Teachers Pay Teachers.  There are a lot of great resources that I have created over the years which have been uploaded to my Teachers Pay Teachers site for reasonable prices (http://bit.ly/2w9Bvcc).
 
I recently read a blog by Chris Hersl (@MDPhysEd on Twitter…blog link: http://bit.ly/2gA1p2D) which I thought was very interesting.  It is a well written piece that got me thinking.  Through my reflection, I came realize that I agreed with some of the points that Chris made while also disagreeing with others.  Chris’ main point was that charging fellow PE teachers for resources on sites such as Teachers Pay Teachers was having a negative impact on the collegiality and community of our profession.  While I respect Chris as a person, leader and great advocate for our profession, I tend to disagree with him on this.  I tend to think there might be a bigger threat to the collegiality and community feel of our profession…
 
As I thought more about his blog and my reactions to it, I came to realize that most PE teachers that are on social media can fall into one of two categories when it comes to electronic resources: “producers” or “consumers”.  When I think of “producer” colleagues, I think of the people on Twitter/Facebook that are constantly creating AMAZING electronic resources that for the most part, are being shared to the masses free of charge.  When I think of “consumer” colleagues, I think of the people on Twitter/Facebook that are constantly asking for these resources created by the “producer” teachers to be shared/sent to them for nothing in return.  Sure there may be some instances where a “producer” type teacher might be looking for a resource in more of a “consumer” type role, and vice versa, but for the most part, if you are reading this blog, you know which category you fit into most of the time.

The resources that the “producer” type of PE teachers make take A LOT of time/energy/effort to create and to me, they are free to make the decision to either post it/share it for free or upload it to a site such as Teachers Pay Teachers, where it can be downloaded for what I think is usually a very reasonable price.  Some people will say that by posting a resource for sale is in direct opposition to the “sharing” spirit that we should have more of in our profession.  My questions to the people that think this way would be:
  1. Are we enabling the "consumer" teachers by constantly giving them things for free?
  2. Are the types of resources that the "producer" teachers are sharing something that the "consumers" could create on their own if they had put in that same time/energy/effort?
 
Most interactions I see on Twitter/Facebook centered around electronic resources are more so a one-way street (i.e. “consumers” commenting on the “producer’s” post of the electronic resource about how they would like to have said resource shared/sent to them).  Like I mentioned earlier, these electronic resources usually take A LOT of time/energy/effort to make…time/energy/effort that could have been put into things unrelated to their teaching job.  Time/energy/effort that could have been spent with family, friends, on hobbies/other interests, etc.  For a “consumer” to just expect that an electronic resource created by a “producer” for hours on end to be shared with them instantaneously, for free, having invested no time/energy/effort of their own into it, is increasingly rubbing me the wrong way the more and more I think about it.
 
Keeping the idea of improving the status of our profession in mind, would our time be better spent trying to encourage/help those "consumer" PE teachers to play around with/learn computer programs used to make electronic resources (Comic Life, Google Sheets/Docs/Slides, PowerPoint, various Apps, etc.) rather than just constantly having those teachers to expect something that took time and effort on behalf of someone else for free?  Would this type of approach foster more appreciation for the hard work/dedication that goes into creating electronic resources?  Would this type of approach help a once labeled “consumer” type teacher to invest in themselves in such a way that they now have a new skill set to develop their own electronic resources to become more of a "producer"?  The old adage “give a man a fish, he eats for a day…teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime” might possibly ring true here.
 
To me, true “sharing” is a two-way street, to ensure that everyone has some “skin in the game” so that no one is taken advantage of.  At the very least, I think we should see more trading of resources via social media instead of just giving them away for free.  If you see something you like and would like to use it yourself, offer the person that posted it something you have created in return.  This type of bartering could go a long way in our profession to ensure that the time/energy/effort put into the creation of an electronic resource is never taken for granted by others.   

Food for thought…

3 Comments
Pete Charrette
10/22/2017 05:47:35 pm

Love your article Ross. You bring up some GREAT points about the time commitment that "producers" have to put in to make something worthwhile for "consumers" to use and for it to be a quality educational resource that is helpful for both the teacher and the students they serve. I certainly understand the arguments on both sides of the selling/sharing issue and I definitely do not want to start any kind of post battle here on this valuable PE Central Facebook Page. People are entitled to their opinions and I respect what they have to say. It is, as I'm sure you are aware, not an easy task to sell PE resources successfully on the internet and there are a lot of moving parts involved in making it happen. It is much easier to give it away than it is to make a sale...that is for sure. Some of us invest a good bit money into making quality resources purchasing artwork, apps and programs that are needed to design our creations. Despite some people's displeasure, educational exchanges such as TPT or TES are very much on the rise and in the very near future you will start to see teachers getting accounts in their schools where PTA's and other school affiliated groups can help teachers purchase items that fit their schools/districts guidelines. I want to also point out that we can be isolated as PE teachers but if you talk to classroom teachers and see if they are using sites like TPT to boost their curriculum, the answer is a resounding YES...big time!! My question to you and your readers is...do we want Physical Education to be left behind (again) or is it important that some of us, that do have the ability to be "producers", put on some quality resources on there so that physical education is NOT left behind once again! This is why I am so glad to see people like you, Kevin Tiller, Mike Ginicola, Ben Landers and others are uploading quality resources on TPT because it really BOOSTS the physical education section of the site. Thanks for writing your article Ross; I respect all you do, and regardless of whether you sell or share your great stuff, I am a big FAN!!

Reply
Mike Graham link
10/22/2017 08:02:20 pm

Hey, Ross - great blog post! I've wrestled with the decision to share things I create or sell them. I've had numerous people tell me I should sell them and I've had the pleasure of developming some very "reciprocal" relationships with other #PhysEd professionals sharing some of their things for free. Are there people out there who are nothing more than "takers" and "expect" to get everything free, yes, but I believe there are many more who find value in a free resource and use it to improve their teaching and ultimately benefit their students. I choose to believe that whether they thank me or not, that deep down they really appreciate the work that went into it and value the resource as something they probably don't have the capacity to create for themselves.

As you know, the content I produce is posted free on my website to hopefully inspire others to create something similar or simply take and use as a stand alone resource. I enjoy creating and even more, I enjoy GIVING to others! I feel that quality, free resources (like OPEN PhysEd) and other quality content that people share really help push our profession forward and level the playing field to make those resources accessible to the masses.

I have supported several #PhysEd teachers on TpT in the past and will continue to do so. There are some really good ones out there, and like anything, there are others that I know I could do better, so I do. I like to get ideas and create my own resources that fit my needs. It can get frustrating when activities or ideas are "stolen" and credit isn't given or sources even mentioned. I know that happens in the profession and hopefully we as a #PhysEd community can help hold each other accountable when we see it.

I've also been the recipient of some very generous people who have sent me great ideas, activities and even sent me gift cards to Amazon, iTunes, etc... because they valued something I created and gave them for free. It's been an amazing journey being a connected educator. I continue to learn new things all the time and really appreciate the friendships I've formed within the profession from all over the world! Keep up the good work. I love having you in my #PLN!!

Reply
Mike Burke link
1/8/2018 02:58:00 pm

Hey Ross,

I read this post a while ago and it was pulled to the front of my mind recently by a new Facebook group I was added to. The group has almost 20,000 teachers in it and the feed it nothing but teachers asking for tests, lessons, or explanations of the content.

This scripted curriculum is also all about making students self-sufficient and this Facebook group is packed with teachers who want even more done for them (while bemoaning students who copy and paste answers off the internet). It is frustrating to say the least.

My struggle with this Facebook group reminded me of your post and I wanted to let you know that it is not just PE. Your consumer vs producer paradigm also applies to CTE/Science.

Hope all is well.

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    By: Ross Chakrian (@Mr_C_PE)

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