While watching television last night, happened to accidentially see a promo for a new series on ABC, called “Flashforward:”

I say that I accidentially discovered this, because it just caught my eye while I was fast forwarding over it on the DVR.

These days, television is populated with reality TV programming of questionable quality. This is because many critically acclaimed shows are often canceled because; a) people are never aware of them, b) they are moved to new schedules, and people have no way of knowing that or c) people are increasingly using DVRs, and not seeing promos for shows that could be relevant to their interestes. What television is missing is an effective way of bringing these new shows and changes to existing ones to the eyes of their current and potential audiances. As master of the obvious, I’d like to point out that the networks are not using the Internet properly to connect with their audiences. Of course, they still can.

Just as an example, of how they can leverage Twitter (there are MANY other options of course), each network should:

• Have separate Twitter accounts for:
  • The entire network
  • Information on new shows
  • Changes to existing shows
  • Individual shows
  • Each character of the individual shows

• Each Twitter page should allow users to discover the Twitter pages/accounts of their favorite shows, that show’s characters, and teh actual actors if they should have their own accounts

If this simple strategy were in place, imagine how immersed you could become in a show. Some shows, like Lost, have been able to harness the power of the Internet at creating immersion in their programming. But, it doesn’t have to be as complicated as the alternate reality games (ARGs) used by Lost. There’s a world of possibilities to extend the progrmming beyond the television, and for the networks to save themselves from become wastelands of reality television programming. The question is, why aren’t they doing it, and if they start, will they be able to keep it up in a consistent manner where the online immersion is an integral part of the viewing experience?

1. It can’t be stopped. Students are going to use Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. whether educators tell them to or not.
2. In the past, the sharing of information in the classroom was considered cheating. Now, the Information Age is all about sharing and collaboration. Should the idea of sharing knowledge in the classroom between students change? It seems a little foolish to not utilize every resource you have in the information age.
3. Most young students are into mobile communication and social networking much more so than older educators. As devices like the iPhone eventually become the free phones we get with cell phone contracts, it will become increasingly important to integrate this technology into our education.
4. Many students may not have the finances or regular access to social media and tools such as the iPhone. Our education system will need to work on making these technologies and capabilities available, and not just too the elite few.
5. Students will be sharing information and looking for answers with students well outside the classroom and sphere of influence of educators. Who’s going to stop a student from Twittering with someone across the country to get help on a complex essay or homework assignment?

Do you think that our education system is ready to tackle the implementation of social media in the classroom? What other challenges can you see out there for schools as social media becomes more prevalent?