The wireless, wireless classroom?

USA Today has an article today about Facebook. Facebook? Yes. College students are spending too much “Classroom time” studying Facebook. Studying Facebook instead of listening to the professor.

Of course some of the suggestions in the article is to take advantage of Facebook and Twitter by sending classroom messages to the students. Fight fire with fire. Put current movie photos on Facebook with captions that support the classroom subject. Maybe a photo of George Clooney from the Defendant with a caption. Caption saying, “You know girls, World War II was started by the Japanese when they bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.” Or, a scene photo from Toy Story 2 showing Mr. Potato Head saying, “French Fries are high in carbohydrates, salt, and vegetable oil.”

My suggestions is to place Mobil jamming devices all over campus. Certainly there would be those crying freedom of expression or unfair usage of electronics. Unfair usage of electronics? Is this the kettle calling the pot black? Yes. You know what I mean. I have no problem with either banning wireless devices or Jam them out of usage. You texters, get a life.

Facebook won't hang on a string.

Now, I want you to stay with me on this because there is a point to be made. During Christmases past many years ago and during a different age, my Okie mom and dad would take an old thick cotton string and hang it high overhead across the living room in our old East L A home. It was strung like a clothe line and hung on it were the many colorful Christmas cards and suspended like fresh washed laundry. Cards actually received in the mail from friends and family. Once opened and read, it would create a banner of holiday greetings for all to gleefully observe after coming into our little adobe house.

You could see various cards depicting Christmas scenes from floating candy canes to the ubiquitous little house on the fluffy snow filled prairie. And several greeting cards showing the baby Jesus lying in the manger. Cards filled with holiday verse and actually hand written greetings by its senders. Some cards even filled with a recent family narrative also hand written. Some included a black and white photo or two of their family. Of course, I loved the wacky cards with cross-eyed reindeer with holly and lights strung up in their horns.

So, Years later and carrying on the tradition, my wife would Scotch tape cards hanging diagonally down across the top of the door facing. The door going from the living room in to the dining area. And the cards would also run down lower on the sides of the facing allowing smaller readers to observe the annual greetings. Creating a holiday gallery of greeting cards. Never the less, fun at Christmas for all our visitors.
“Hmm? What is this one with the hula girl in a grass skirt with a lei made of holly?”

Now here it is. My point. With the recent trend of “E-cards,” how does one easily string E-cards across on an old cotton string or taped to a door facing? Some cards are animated video and cannot be printed off. A few are graphic with text but would look funny printed off on eight and a half by eleven printer paper. How sad.

What I will do is print off a fact sheet referring all observers to my Facebook account. Tape that to the door facing for all to read. “FYI, Go to my Facebook page and see all my lovely cards from my 1792 friends. LOL. Or, you can easily follow me and my clever greetings on Twitter. How cool. How so today. Well. Not really. How so cold and impersonal. Yuck! Hopefully this too shall pass. Now, where’s that card with Santa stuck upside down in the chimney? I’ll sign it now. Take your Facebook and Unfriend it! Or, you can Tweet… THIS!