Virtual Communities are Communities
Virtual Communities are Communities
Maybe I need to say that louder.
Listen…I get it. I’ll be the first to bemoan that kids need to play outside. I’m an obsessive reader that has a bad habit of whining, “most people today don’t read a single book a year.”
When I was a kid, we spent time pretending we were in Narnia. We spent weeks pretending were characters in The Bridge to Terabithia. Well minus the death.
Hello, I’m Colan Magill. I’m a Martial Arts Instructor at Dinoto Karate Center. You can learn more about what we are doing and become a student of ours by clicking here
I also grew up on the internet…
Online communities became a central part of who I am. The academic in would say:
Since it is now possible for niche subcultures to reach an audience of like-minded peers, individuals who would be isolated because of their un-ironic enthusiasm of the unpopular are able to find community. The internet allows for groups to form regardless of geographical limits.
Aren’t you glad I don’t always write like that?
I found digital communities before I found any meaningful in person ones.
That mostly happened because the online community shared my values in a way I didn’t often find in person. Also, I was a socially awkward dork who took waaaayyyy too long to learn how to talk to people.
These communities helped me feel connected to the world. Guess what, this diverse internet community thing has been going on for decades and the cat’s never getting back in the bag.
Oh, and I learned way more from being a part of online communities than I did from my Calculus teacher.
P.S. Mr. Q was a great dude. However, I only use Calc to scare my students which may be a waste of time.
Here’s a list of things I learned from the educational YouTube community:
video game design
Basic macroeconomics and financial management
You’d think my High School’s personal finance class would cover budgeting, but nope
Minimalism
Public speaking
How to take notes, learn, and be productive.
Also not covered in literally any of my formal education
That’s what I could remember in five minutes. Online isn’t the problem, it’s the future.
What our kids need to know is that the world is still out there. Do you know how many kids have tearfully told me that they wish they had a way to contact that one friend they missed?
Before anyone talks to me about how virtual activities aren’t worth it, I need them to take a look at what I see everyday.
Every day, I watch kids connect with their peers and their Martial arts Instructor.
I see it happening in our virtual classes. In our group classes and one on one lessons.
I see it when my older students send meme’s about our studio.
You wanna know what a kid’s face looks like when they come to class for the first time since isolation? It’s only a small step removed from those military parent reunion videos we all love.
At Dinoto Karate Center, we had a choice to build a space for our students to train virtually or not. We decided to take the difficult path and innovate our entire curriculum.
The principles remained the same:
Kindness
Courage
Constant Personal Growth
Here’s the thing with community: It isn’t about the what, it’s about the who?
When we talk about playing outside vs video-games vs virtual classes vs book clubs vs…..you get the point. We are focusing on the minutia of conversation. That’s not what community is about. It’s like talking to your crush about their recent job or project.
It's never really about the project, it’s about the person.
We’re building a Virtual Martial Arts Community in the same way we built our brick and mortar studio. It’s about the students first.
Honestly, the only question is which communities are you going to help your child be a part of?
Oh… P.P.S. Do you know what Plato said about the invention of writing and the growing use of written records in Greece? “They will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling thing to remembrance no longer fond within themselves, but by means of external marks.” (Phaedrus)
Maybe we should stop yelling at the new things because they’re scary.
DFTBA
Thank-You
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