Tonight I heard a great story on Marketplace about using Peer Pressure to affect social change.

The interviewee, Tina Rosenberg, explained how some groups, rather than focusing only on education used, essentially, Personal Learning Networks to promote social change. She sums it up below:

"...by connecting them to other people, by having them be a member of this close group, and by giving them a sense of a more positive future, and by using peers who had been in the same situation and were telling them, 'Here's what I was then and here's what I am now, and you too can change,' they found that this was very effective." 

I couldn't help but make the connection between these programs and what goes on in the tight-knit group of educators using social media.  We learn about tools and practices and we get ideas from other educators by being part of a like-minded community of educator with whom we can share our experiences.

We can also take this idea to heart when trying to figure out the best way to get other teachers on board with social media and technology integration. Education isn't enough. Perhaps they need some old fashioned peer pressure.

You can listen to the story here: