Free tools and their role in learning...or not?
After listening to Bud Hunt's most recent blogcast (thanks my eyes were killing me I needed sound...) I was spinning with questions and few answers...even the answers were just ramblings in my mind. What followed was a response to his post and a copy and paste to mine. :)
Do you get what you pay for? Where is the concrete content from our learning? How do we build our own infrastructure?Where does the obligation come in? Does the collection of data really equate to digital footprints in the concrete or in the snow?
Your posts makes me think for sure...
I view my job as a K-6 educator as a cookie crumb visual. I'm setting the stage for questioning and creating as the students grows into adulthood. It'd be great for my students to follow the trail back in their learning and build on their own schema in a concrete way like you mention. However, If I can spark creativity, or thirst for knowledge or answers with a "free" disposable tool , than more times than not I feel that I've done a great job. Using Dvolver won't make my students the best movie makers, and you're right, it'd be awesome if they could look back at a 3 minute dialogue driven animation a few years from now and build off of it, but the lesson wasn't driven by the tool, the lesson was the writing, or the brainstorm, and the tool was the inspiration or carrot. (We are missing it as teachers, or facilitators of knowledge, if we let the tool drive the instruction) The memory will be the carrot or the video, and the lesson ideally made them enjoy writing at a time when most boys in particular bow out. You are definitely on to something...how concrete is our digital footprint; but I wouldn't be as quick to say that some of these "throwaways" are truly "throwaways". I have asked "lifelines" to come back and wiki-blog with the next year's 6th graders, for support and reflection, and their sites are still good three years later. And I think they're okay with it going away, maybe even expect it because the products were "then" and they're in the "now". There's learning taking place in their reflective posts, and theirs learning gleaned form the students today. Are we feeding the "now" with these tools and is this part of the makeup of todays digital learner? I have no idea!
I do know that I don't have the product from great assignments I completed as a kid, but I do have the memories and passion from teachers that were outside the box or thinking beyond the rest of my teachers. Did they save my work? I don't know, would it be cool if they did, maybe, but more importantly to me today and in my college years was that I gained a passion for the question and a drive to learn what I didn't "have to."
No wonder Karl asks so many questions listening to you all the time. :)
Thanks for making me think
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Open Ed and Microblogging...Tweet Tweet
Unit Structures Using Twitter as Course Management
Just the idea that we can have open discussions inviting feedback from everyone is great selling point for me. Think of the great discussions your class has that could be beneficial to other teachers or classes in your building much less the world. The more we protect the more we inhibit in my opinion, we must open the doors of education and information to anyone who wants it. I love the open culture idea, but there are a lot of fears that some people will have to get past before we can use this. I think that once we begin to share and open those closed course discussions authentic learning will spread like wild fire. I've been asking this question a lot lately, but why do we all have to have the same conversations behind closed doors sharing spilling out only drops of the value onto the web and culture? Open it up let's discuss and learn with and from each other, there's some brilliance being blocked behind antiquated models of learning.
Just the idea that we can have open discussions inviting feedback from everyone is great selling point for me. Think of the great discussions your class has that could be beneficial to other teachers or classes in your building much less the world. The more we protect the more we inhibit in my opinion, we must open the doors of education and information to anyone who wants it. I love the open culture idea, but there are a lot of fears that some people will have to get past before we can use this. I think that once we begin to share and open those closed course discussions authentic learning will spread like wild fire. I've been asking this question a lot lately, but why do we all have to have the same conversations behind closed doors sharing spilling out only drops of the value onto the web and culture? Open it up let's discuss and learn with and from each other, there's some brilliance being blocked behind antiquated models of learning.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Stand up against "Guilt Upon Accusation" for New Zealand
Just read this...Stand up against "Guilt Upon Accusation" for New Zealand I love silent protests that get louder...first person I saw do this was Tim O'Reilly then slowly my tweet deck started looking like a malfunctioning blackout. It's simple it's painless and I support it. No one's following me and I'm not changing the world one tweet at a time, but it feels good to BLACKOUT this am.
Looking forward to COLEARNING today..great minds form various districts coming together to share ideas and teach better...can't beat it!
Looking forward to COLEARNING today..great minds form various districts coming together to share ideas and teach better...can't beat it!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Innovation and Passion
I recently read Bill Buxton's article on How To Keep Innovating and came away enthused and refreshed. I won't summarize the whole article here, but two big things I came away with was Life is too short to waste on bad teachers and inefficient learning, and Always be bad at something you are passionate about.
I love the idea that life is too short to be inundated with bad teaching and this isn't a critique of teachers in general, but more of learning styles and immediate needs. If I can learn something form someone then it would benefit me to absorb as much as I can from them, but if that learning is coming at me in convoluted and inefficient ways I need to seek out a better source and not be afraid to ask. I'm in the minority on this one, but I don't want 500 followers on twitter or to follow 500 people, so I sought out advice (or teaching) from someone with 2500 followers Alec Couros, and asked "what's up, am I crazy?" I didn't expect to hear back immediately or maybe even at all, but when I did I was glad I asked and I appreciated the information, the answer was not whatI expected, but it gave me insight and perspective when I needed it. This is what learning is to me, seek out the advice or information form a source you deem credible and absorb the knowledge gained. Even if that knowledge is from a source that you don't think has the time, energy or resources to help, try, you may be surprised with the result. People in general want to help This was a tiny example but it spoke to me.
I also took something away from always be bad at something you're passionate about and golf is a great example of this, no matter how awful I am, there I am in April hacking away and setting unrealistic goals of just how good I'm going to get this summer. :) I think teaching can be like this in some ways, whether it's tweaking my Lit block to try something that feels foreign and awkward or if it's learning new programming or HTML tips and codes. I want to be good and i have a passion for it, so =my learning curve is more tolerable. :)
I love the idea that life is too short to be inundated with bad teaching and this isn't a critique of teachers in general, but more of learning styles and immediate needs. If I can learn something form someone then it would benefit me to absorb as much as I can from them, but if that learning is coming at me in convoluted and inefficient ways I need to seek out a better source and not be afraid to ask. I'm in the minority on this one, but I don't want 500 followers on twitter or to follow 500 people, so I sought out advice (or teaching) from someone with 2500 followers Alec Couros, and asked "what's up, am I crazy?" I didn't expect to hear back immediately or maybe even at all, but when I did I was glad I asked and I appreciated the information, the answer was not whatI expected, but it gave me insight and perspective when I needed it. This is what learning is to me, seek out the advice or information form a source you deem credible and absorb the knowledge gained. Even if that knowledge is from a source that you don't think has the time, energy or resources to help, try, you may be surprised with the result. People in general want to help This was a tiny example but it spoke to me.
I also took something away from always be bad at something you're passionate about and golf is a great example of this, no matter how awful I am, there I am in April hacking away and setting unrealistic goals of just how good I'm going to get this summer. :) I think teaching can be like this in some ways, whether it's tweaking my Lit block to try something that feels foreign and awkward or if it's learning new programming or HTML tips and codes. I want to be good and i have a passion for it, so =my learning curve is more tolerable. :)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Educators...too cool for school?
Ben Wilkoff's blog on Elitism in the edublogosphere, or Edublarbification made me think about whether or not I'm one of those guys? Do I talk about technology and the tools or ideas I'm using like I'm smarter than or better than my peers. Gosh, I hope not, but it made me question whether or not I do. I try to make myself accessible to anyone who has questions or wants help whenever possible. I answer emails from teachers that I've never met with the same enthusiasm as I do for my teammates. the following was my reply or response when I initially read it. I have a feeling this may be one of those that stay with me, we'll see. (as an aside, usually you need people reading your blog to be an elitist, so I think I'm safe) :)
I think that for me at least, it’s a lot less about elitism as it is frustration overflown. It hasn’t taken me long into my teaching career to have quite a few teachers tell me that we do it “this way” or “that way” because that’s the way we have been doing it for twenty years. I’m no elitist in fact I’m barely an “edublogger” but I know that it’s broken and that it needs to be fixed. And like you’ve been pointing out for a couple years, change is tough, and some egos will get bruised including our own.
For the most part I want to think that most teachers are doing a great job with limited resources and unlimited expectations. When I see teachers sharing, blogging, and teaching each other through the web I get excited. When I see a slideshow like “Social Learning" from Alec Courosa that changes my outlook on my career path and vision I get pumped up and want to tell the world that we can do it better and faster and with new ideas and a new vision. When I come across 101 tools and resources from some teacher in a district down the street from me, my first reaction is WOW!!!I want some of that!
We use words that are ridiculous sounding, yes, and terms that are outdated and lame almost before we spew them out (web 2.0…really?) We kill terms and speak them to death, like 21st century learner 10 years after the century changed over. But, I’m beginning to see lights and connections around me that are inspiring me in my school, my articulation area, and my district.
I must say though that your post made me think…again and I appreciate that.
I don’t know if I have all the answers, some of the answers, or none of them, but I know that I will try to pour 110% of my knowledge, skills, talents and resources into my class tomorrow and that feels pretty good.
I think that for me at least, it’s a lot less about elitism as it is frustration overflown. It hasn’t taken me long into my teaching career to have quite a few teachers tell me that we do it “this way” or “that way” because that’s the way we have been doing it for twenty years. I’m no elitist in fact I’m barely an “edublogger” but I know that it’s broken and that it needs to be fixed. And like you’ve been pointing out for a couple years, change is tough, and some egos will get bruised including our own.
For the most part I want to think that most teachers are doing a great job with limited resources and unlimited expectations. When I see teachers sharing, blogging, and teaching each other through the web I get excited. When I see a slideshow like “Social Learning" from Alec Courosa that changes my outlook on my career path and vision I get pumped up and want to tell the world that we can do it better and faster and with new ideas and a new vision. When I come across 101 tools and resources from some teacher in a district down the street from me, my first reaction is WOW!!!I want some of that!
We use words that are ridiculous sounding, yes, and terms that are outdated and lame almost before we spew them out (web 2.0…really?) We kill terms and speak them to death, like 21st century learner 10 years after the century changed over. But, I’m beginning to see lights and connections around me that are inspiring me in my school, my articulation area, and my district.
I must say though that your post made me think…again and I appreciate that.
I don’t know if I have all the answers, some of the answers, or none of them, but I know that I will try to pour 110% of my knowledge, skills, talents and resources into my class tomorrow and that feels pretty good.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Valuing a PLN through age-old philosophies
Looking at a PLN from a traditional philosophy based point of view puts it into perspective for me. Bloom’s Taxonomy, Vygotsky, I think for most of these terms draw up memories of college or licensure. How does my PLN influence what I do every day in the classroom? Every day I am learning, sharing, collaborating, and engaging with peers around the globe for the purposes of becoming a better teacher. Vygotsky (1978, p56) provides the example of pointing a finger. Initially, this behavior begins as a meaningless grasping motion; however, as people react to the gesture, it becomes a movement that has meaning. In particular, the pointing gesture represents an interpersonal connection between individuals.
Yesterday I was able to participate via twitter to the ITSC keynote thanks to teach42 microblogging. I felt engaged, challenged and provoked into thought. These 140 character posts sparked a conversation with my wife (also a teacher) a text message to a friend in St. Louis (also a teacher) and so on. I am just one man, teach42’s PLN is HUGE, imagine the debates, conversations, thought provoking interpersonal dialogue going on around the globe! If that is not supporting Vygotsky and his social learning philosophy, I do not know what is. Most of us are engaging our students and challenging them through the use of technology, web 2.0 tools and a 21st century approach to their learning. Each day I ask my students to understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. I expect them to ask questions to guide their thinking and then critically share, collaborate and learn form each other.
Many of my ideas come from my PLN; what works, what doesn’t, what is new, what’s tired, etc. So when I am working and my tweet deck whirrs a message to me sometimes I get excited, because I know there’s a chance that those H.O.T.S that I strive for my students to reach each day is about to begin for me…again and again throughout the day. I read my PLN’s posts; I try to understand what they are saying, then I analyze how that could work in my classroom or school. I apply what I know and what has worked and hasn’t in the past, I evaluate the pedagogy and implementation into a stringent curriculum, then I create lesson plans, units of study, or discussions to take them through and above the knowledge goal. A great example of this is as I’m typing this Bill Grazaiadei has posted a link to a site on Digital Fluency Model and I can’t wait to read it more closely. I want to look at whether or not I’m meeting these needs in my classroom and if my digital natives are becoming as fluent as they should be in a 21st century classroom. My point in all of this is that the more we learn, the more we grow as teachers some of the same age-old philosophies that have withstood time are gaining momentum and meaning to me. They mean just as much today as they did when I was sitting in that 20th century lecture hall in college wondering; why I should care about this Bloom guy’s pyramid or Vygotsky’s hippie philosophy of “social learning”? Thank you to my PLN for challenging me and inspiring me each day to be a better teacher and thinker.
"That I learn of others, I replied, is quite true; but that I am ungrateful I wholly deny. Money I have none, and therefore I pay in praise, which is all I have: and how ready I am to praise any one who appears to me to speak well you will very soon find out when you answer; for I expect that you will answer well." Socrates in response to Thrasymachus -The Republic
Yesterday I was able to participate via twitter to the ITSC keynote thanks to teach42 microblogging. I felt engaged, challenged and provoked into thought. These 140 character posts sparked a conversation with my wife (also a teacher) a text message to a friend in St. Louis (also a teacher) and so on. I am just one man, teach42’s PLN is HUGE, imagine the debates, conversations, thought provoking interpersonal dialogue going on around the globe! If that is not supporting Vygotsky and his social learning philosophy, I do not know what is. Most of us are engaging our students and challenging them through the use of technology, web 2.0 tools and a 21st century approach to their learning. Each day I ask my students to understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. I expect them to ask questions to guide their thinking and then critically share, collaborate and learn form each other.
Many of my ideas come from my PLN; what works, what doesn’t, what is new, what’s tired, etc. So when I am working and my tweet deck whirrs a message to me sometimes I get excited, because I know there’s a chance that those H.O.T.S that I strive for my students to reach each day is about to begin for me…again and again throughout the day. I read my PLN’s posts; I try to understand what they are saying, then I analyze how that could work in my classroom or school. I apply what I know and what has worked and hasn’t in the past, I evaluate the pedagogy and implementation into a stringent curriculum, then I create lesson plans, units of study, or discussions to take them through and above the knowledge goal. A great example of this is as I’m typing this Bill Grazaiadei has posted a link to a site on Digital Fluency Model and I can’t wait to read it more closely. I want to look at whether or not I’m meeting these needs in my classroom and if my digital natives are becoming as fluent as they should be in a 21st century classroom. My point in all of this is that the more we learn, the more we grow as teachers some of the same age-old philosophies that have withstood time are gaining momentum and meaning to me. They mean just as much today as they did when I was sitting in that 20th century lecture hall in college wondering; why I should care about this Bloom guy’s pyramid or Vygotsky’s hippie philosophy of “social learning”? Thank you to my PLN for challenging me and inspiring me each day to be a better teacher and thinker.
"That I learn of others, I replied, is quite true; but that I am ungrateful I wholly deny. Money I have none, and therefore I pay in praise, which is all I have: and how ready I am to praise any one who appears to me to speak well you will very soon find out when you answer; for I expect that you will answer well." Socrates in response to Thrasymachus -The Republic
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Digital Safety and Citizenship Resources
A lot of people are asking about teaching digital safety, I agree iSafe is a great resource, here are a few I've shared at my school and with my PLN. There are a lot of articles and a couple studies some games and a few lessons for the classroom here...check them out if you have time. :)
Games/Lessons
Internet Safety Games
Woogi World (site designed with games for safety)
Connect Safely videos to teach internet safety
Lessons
That's Not Cool!
Internet 101
Safe Surfer
CyberSmart
KidSmart
Articles:
New Study Shows Time Spent Online Important for Teen Development
Twitter? It’s What You Make It (just popped up on twitter :) from my PLN
Raising Digital Kids
Behaveyourself.com: Online Manners Matter
Schools caught in internet safety dilemma
beginner's guide about how to get started on Twitter
Twitter Etiquette
The kids are alright (the net gen kids)
FINAL REPORT Digital Youth Research
Teenagers’ Internet Socializing Not a Bad Thing
Social Networking Risks/Myths and Realities
Browsers:
KIDOZ
BuddyBrowser
Games/Lessons
Internet Safety Games
Woogi World (site designed with games for safety)
Connect Safely videos to teach internet safety
Lessons
That's Not Cool!
Internet 101
Safe Surfer
CyberSmart
KidSmart
Articles:
New Study Shows Time Spent Online Important for Teen Development
Twitter? It’s What You Make It (just popped up on twitter :) from my PLN
Raising Digital Kids
Behaveyourself.com: Online Manners Matter
Schools caught in internet safety dilemma
beginner's guide about how to get started on Twitter
Twitter Etiquette
Research/Findings
The kids are alright (the net gen kids)
FINAL REPORT Digital Youth Research
Teenagers’ Internet Socializing Not a Bad Thing
Social Networking Risks/Myths and Realities
Browsers:
KIDOZ
BuddyBrowser
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Are we teaching enough digital citizenship in elementary?
Are we teaching enough digital citizenship in elementary? My immediate answer is no, but then again I'm in a k-6 school in the burbs of littleton, Colorado so my frame of reference doesn't extend as much as some of my peers. When I see the work that others are doing (Vicki Davis in particular) around preparing their students for the true threats that are online I feel like I'm underperforming.
I'm going to start a new project with my students this week using these great tools and I hope to really get some productive and meaningful conversation started in our classroom.
I'm going to start a new project with my students this week using these great tools and I hope to really get some productive and meaningful conversation started in our classroom.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
"Money I have none, and therefore I pay in praise"
"That I learn of others, I replied, is quite true; but that I am ungrateful I wholly deny. Money I have none, and therefore I pay in praise, which is all I have: and how ready I am to praise any one who appears to me to speak well you will very soon find out when you answer; for I expect that you will answer well."
Socrates in response to Thrasymachus -The Republic
I appreciate the knowledge that I receive from my peers in the school I work in. I work with teachers that have philosophies and teaching styles that are different from mine, but are successful. I am impressed and motivated to be a better teacher by them.
I also open my email and firefox and learn 10-15 different tools, ideas, or reflections from my PLN which is scattered around the globe. Friendbar relays my "tweets" instantly and sometimes I can barely keep up with the activities and sharing going on.
It was this post from Ben Wilkoff an educational technologist here in Douglas County, CO. that stopped me in my tracks and made me think to appreciate the peers I see every day as well as the peers I "see" every morning or evening when tweeting, reflecting or learning.
Thanks to my PLC, PLN and everyone out there sharing for the sake of better teaching!
Socrates in response to Thrasymachus -The Republic
I appreciate the knowledge that I receive from my peers in the school I work in. I work with teachers that have philosophies and teaching styles that are different from mine, but are successful. I am impressed and motivated to be a better teacher by them.
I also open my email and firefox and learn 10-15 different tools, ideas, or reflections from my PLN which is scattered around the globe. Friendbar relays my "tweets" instantly and sometimes I can barely keep up with the activities and sharing going on.
It was this post from Ben Wilkoff an educational technologist here in Douglas County, CO. that stopped me in my tracks and made me think to appreciate the peers I see every day as well as the peers I "see" every morning or evening when tweeting, reflecting or learning.
Thanks to my PLC, PLN and everyone out there sharing for the sake of better teaching!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Homework...Why?...How much is too much?
This article from the Washington Post, last Tuesday, has had me stewing for about a week, so I'm just going to discuss it out loud.
How much homework is too much, should we be giving out any at all? What is the purpose? Does it help?
When I taught 3rd grade I gave homework out almost nightly, mostly as extensions of what we were doing but sometimes because we ran out of time and I wanted to get the content across. I rationalized it at the time as preparing the students and getting them organized, but I hate that I did it now. I have never used homework as punishment, but I've seen it happen. Unfortunately I've fallen short in making sure that the learning at home is fun and productive, sometimes it was, but I missed the mark on authentic learning quite a bit when I first started teaching. Oh If I knew then what I know now. :) Looking back I would be more selective and rarely give out any homework, heck I hated grading it, I'm sure they hated doing it, so now I'm doubly cursed, students and teacher both hating the activity, what was I thinking?
My team's rule of thumb for my 6th graders (whom we share) is 60 minutes on Math/Science or Social Studies/Max. and 30 minutes-open ended on Reading Writing and Technology. What I'm finding is that the reading/writing/tech is extending the walls of our classroom and they LOVE it, sometimes spending an hour or two on it. Whether it's blogging, having virtual conferences via palbee, dim dim, twiddla, or buiding digital stories, animations, and our wikis; the students are engaged, productive, and loving it. The best part is there's a lot less grading because these projects/assignments are self directed, and authentic collaborative pieces that are graded anecdotally and in big chunks. I am not winning friends if I don't give out homework and there's a lot of pressure to comply.
There's no evidence (that I know of) that homework improves test scores or makes students more organized in the professional world, but ask any students about homework and they're going to say they hate it. I NEVER want a student to say they HATE anything to do with school, believe it or not that includes homework.
This quote was what opened my eyes, "I'd rather not do it, but I know I have to," said Sabrina, 8. Isn't there a way to allow "Sabrina" to enjoy her homework?
That is my challenge, in the classroom I self check for authentic lessons and assignments do I need to do that at home, too?
If every night leads to a fight with mom, dad, or your sibling for bothering you; it's just not worth it for me. Optional open ended essential questions may be the solution I'm looking for; limited only by available resources and a timeline.
How much homework is too much, should we be giving out any at all? What is the purpose? Does it help?
When I taught 3rd grade I gave homework out almost nightly, mostly as extensions of what we were doing but sometimes because we ran out of time and I wanted to get the content across. I rationalized it at the time as preparing the students and getting them organized, but I hate that I did it now. I have never used homework as punishment, but I've seen it happen. Unfortunately I've fallen short in making sure that the learning at home is fun and productive, sometimes it was, but I missed the mark on authentic learning quite a bit when I first started teaching. Oh If I knew then what I know now. :) Looking back I would be more selective and rarely give out any homework, heck I hated grading it, I'm sure they hated doing it, so now I'm doubly cursed, students and teacher both hating the activity, what was I thinking?
My team's rule of thumb for my 6th graders (whom we share) is 60 minutes on Math/Science or Social Studies/Max. and 30 minutes-open ended on Reading Writing and Technology. What I'm finding is that the reading/writing/tech is extending the walls of our classroom and they LOVE it, sometimes spending an hour or two on it. Whether it's blogging, having virtual conferences via palbee, dim dim, twiddla, or buiding digital stories, animations, and our wikis; the students are engaged, productive, and loving it. The best part is there's a lot less grading because these projects/assignments are self directed, and authentic collaborative pieces that are graded anecdotally and in big chunks. I am not winning friends if I don't give out homework and there's a lot of pressure to comply.
There's no evidence (that I know of) that homework improves test scores or makes students more organized in the professional world, but ask any students about homework and they're going to say they hate it. I NEVER want a student to say they HATE anything to do with school, believe it or not that includes homework.
This quote was what opened my eyes, "I'd rather not do it, but I know I have to," said Sabrina, 8. Isn't there a way to allow "Sabrina" to enjoy her homework?
That is my challenge, in the classroom I self check for authentic lessons and assignments do I need to do that at home, too?
If every night leads to a fight with mom, dad, or your sibling for bothering you; it's just not worth it for me. Optional open ended essential questions may be the solution I'm looking for; limited only by available resources and a timeline.
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