Another sign that the shift in teaching and learning is happening comes with the release of Student 2.0. Sighting a video introduction on this new website and concept on Will's post I went exploring.
Students 2.0 Launch Teaser from Sean on Vimeo.
I have to admit....I cheered. Sitting here in my office on a Sunday afternoon trying to plan out how to bring about this exact shift in my region and I realized that the shift is already happening. Students are not staying silent, waiting to be called on, invited in, etc anymore. Yes, for my pessimistic friends out there, I realize that this is a very small group to be suggesting that the world is changing...and yes I know others have been out there doing this already at Taking it Global, GlobalKids, and others.
It was the way they said it that hit me. They recognize that they have been the 'silent majority' and they are asking politely to be let into the conversation.
WOW....The world is ripe for the new ways of learning. People are starting to do it.
Its a very exciting time to be in education.
Keep exploring,
J:)
December 9, 2007
November 5, 2007
Preaching and Practice
*Beware- metaphor of Will as a Blogvangelist carried throughout this post* :)
*Second warning- Ranting to follow*
So, I am sitting here as just mentioned in my last post in a day of discussion around Web 2.0.
'Brother' Will just delivered his message on the shifting of the world due to technology and where we are in education. (or better to say where we are NOT).
He was 'preaching to the choir' and our many amens were heard.
He suggested that as we, the converted, helped to convert others eventually it will change education.
The real problem is that everyone is looking to someone else to get this started. Peter over on Ed Tech Journeys has also recognized the spinning of Ed Tech Blogs. So who is going to help the change truly happen?
It seems that the practices are what need to change, this is a tough process and should not be glossed over. BUT, the commitment has to be there too.
Perhaps we need to start creating models of real learning as Will is starting to do with his own kids.
Just a thought,
J : )
*Second warning- Ranting to follow*
So, I am sitting here as just mentioned in my last post in a day of discussion around Web 2.0.
'Brother' Will just delivered his message on the shifting of the world due to technology and where we are in education. (or better to say where we are NOT).
He was 'preaching to the choir' and our many amens were heard.
He suggested that as we, the converted, helped to convert others eventually it will change education.
The real problem is that everyone is looking to someone else to get this started. Peter over on Ed Tech Journeys has also recognized the spinning of Ed Tech Blogs. So who is going to help the change truly happen?
It seems that the practices are what need to change, this is a tough process and should not be glossed over. BUT, the commitment has to be there too.
Perhaps we need to start creating models of real learning as Will is starting to do with his own kids.
Just a thought,
J : )
Web 2.0 take 2
I talked about the projects surrounding Web 2.0 that I am involved with in my last post. Today is very interesting for me. I woke up early so that I could catch-up on my online course for using Web 2.0. Our conversation on the discussion boards in that course, using Moodle, we talked about some exciting options, but spent a lot of time discussing the barriers to really moving this forward in a region or state. The key to this was that the energy within this course is around how do we help people participate in this type of technology and convince them to use it. This is a very specific way of addressing change. How do we, as those who get it, change those who don't get it. Now don't misunderstand, I feel that there is a place still for almost any type of interaction, but this is about a mindset--- a way of thinking. So why does this type of course still exist? Quite simply, the technology has made possible for new types of learning. However, we were trained in a certain way of learning. So this is a very appropriate way to structure a learning experience....for now...
....but.....
Here I am sitting in another type of experience. This is the launch day for Powerful Learning Practices. this is the launch day for a year-long experience. What are we doing? We have invited those who are passionate about teaching and learning AND are willing to change. Those were the requirements...not to know already, but to be passionate and willing to learn. So what is the approach here? A group of well-networked individuals are going to lead an experience to help others to develop their own learning networks. Yes, there are sessions on how to ... (as I said we still need this), but what has been continually said is that this is just to experience/view the tools. The real learning how to use it will come later and then there will be online resources to truly deliver the just in time learning.
So--- what am I seeing? The new learning is now driven by people who are passionate, willing to learn and connect with others. The change is from people who connect, not people who know and teach other's in a linear, specific pattern.
So now how do we connect? The truth of the matter is that those who are truly passionate want to talk and interact regarding their passion. I challenge myself and others to truly begin to connect.
So less of an exploration of eLearning and more exploring how we begin to change the way we address and learn about it.
Keep exploring,
J : )
....but.....
Here I am sitting in another type of experience. This is the launch day for Powerful Learning Practices. this is the launch day for a year-long experience. What are we doing? We have invited those who are passionate about teaching and learning AND are willing to change. Those were the requirements...not to know already, but to be passionate and willing to learn. So what is the approach here? A group of well-networked individuals are going to lead an experience to help others to develop their own learning networks. Yes, there are sessions on how to ... (as I said we still need this), but what has been continually said is that this is just to experience/view the tools. The real learning how to use it will come later and then there will be online resources to truly deliver the just in time learning.
So--- what am I seeing? The new learning is now driven by people who are passionate, willing to learn and connect with others. The change is from people who connect, not people who know and teach other's in a linear, specific pattern.
So now how do we connect? The truth of the matter is that those who are truly passionate want to talk and interact regarding their passion. I challenge myself and others to truly begin to connect.
So less of an exploration of eLearning and more exploring how we begin to change the way we address and learn about it.
Keep exploring,
J : )
October 24, 2007
Web 2.0 and Teaching
It seems that this year is the true explosion of trying to make Web 2.0 happen in the classroom. 2005 seemed to be the year of the educational blog, but many of these crashed and burned.
I am in 3 different initiatives which are all looking to figure out how to help teachers bring Web 2.0 into the classroom.
Powerful Learning Practices: Lead by Will Richardson and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach this initiative is a year long professional development with teams from schools (required that it be a team). The idea is to help teachers work on their own professional practice and then through the 'aha' that comes to all who use these bring to the classroom.
EdTech Leaders Online: This course is a more traditional online course (ironic that I am calling it a traditional online course...isn't it. We have already moved into the time when an online course can be considered traditional). Structured in Moodle, we are working through a set curriculum and interacting through the discussion forums and then we have added a wiki. The elluminate session is optional. The idea is for us to learn a curriculum and course and then teach this course to our teachers/leaders in our region.
Class-centered initiative: This is just developing, but the idea here is that the students should be helping to lead the way. The teacher is a co-learner and together the use of the technologies and how to learn from it are discussed with the students. Right now, this is only being done with blogging in 5 classrooms. This is more of a concept than a true initiative. We have a number of districts heading this way. The idea is to get the technology into the classrooms as quickly as possible. The teachers 'dive-in' and then are supported as they go in whatever way they need.
So three approaches---which is better is the question many may ask. I think that it is more of a match of the approach, teacher, and system they are working within (ie school district/building).
There are negatives and positives to all three. It seems the positive aspect with the first, is that the teacher becomes connected and has made the mental shift needed to be a lead learner. The second approach is more comfortable and helps a larger group of teachers move forward. The final is wonderful for the speed at which we move into the classroom and the students help inform our understanding of the way that learning shifts for not just teachers but also students.
I tend to not talk about the negatives yet, until I have really thought about these and if the issues I see are true negatives or merely different approaches.
Keep exploring,
J:)
I am in 3 different initiatives which are all looking to figure out how to help teachers bring Web 2.0 into the classroom.
Powerful Learning Practices: Lead by Will Richardson and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach this initiative is a year long professional development with teams from schools (required that it be a team). The idea is to help teachers work on their own professional practice and then through the 'aha' that comes to all who use these bring to the classroom.
EdTech Leaders Online: This course is a more traditional online course (ironic that I am calling it a traditional online course...isn't it. We have already moved into the time when an online course can be considered traditional). Structured in Moodle, we are working through a set curriculum and interacting through the discussion forums and then we have added a wiki. The elluminate session is optional. The idea is for us to learn a curriculum and course and then teach this course to our teachers/leaders in our region.
Class-centered initiative: This is just developing, but the idea here is that the students should be helping to lead the way. The teacher is a co-learner and together the use of the technologies and how to learn from it are discussed with the students. Right now, this is only being done with blogging in 5 classrooms. This is more of a concept than a true initiative. We have a number of districts heading this way. The idea is to get the technology into the classrooms as quickly as possible. The teachers 'dive-in' and then are supported as they go in whatever way they need.
So three approaches---which is better is the question many may ask. I think that it is more of a match of the approach, teacher, and system they are working within (ie school district/building).
There are negatives and positives to all three. It seems the positive aspect with the first, is that the teacher becomes connected and has made the mental shift needed to be a lead learner. The second approach is more comfortable and helps a larger group of teachers move forward. The final is wonderful for the speed at which we move into the classroom and the students help inform our understanding of the way that learning shifts for not just teachers but also students.
I tend to not talk about the negatives yet, until I have really thought about these and if the issues I see are true negatives or merely different approaches.
Keep exploring,
J:)
October 8, 2007
Exploring on Superintendent's Day
I had the wonderful opportunity to present at a Superintendent's Day with teachers who are interested in eLearning. Feel free to check out the presentation. It was my first time creating a presentation from nothing on Google Docs. I found the presentation templates very easy to use and with the added benefit of being online, I could embed links and allow those who were interested in moving ahead or staying on a certain topic, they could do just that. BIG negative, it isn't easy to export it back out to a PowerPoint or Keynote. So if you see yourself wanting to have an online and offline version, it might be good to start offline and move online. BIG positive...I didn't do this in this particular workshop...however, imagine presenting with a group and sharing the presentation with them. You could group author your day. Talk about truly constructivist.
We started with a conversation on what is eLearning and why we are talking about it. The beautiful aspect of this day was that by the end we were talking about what each person wanted to do to move forward and how we would work together to meet those goals. I would say the primary goal was to connect with other classrooms or experts around the world. How do we do this? Well....share your ideas with me and I will keep all updated on the progress. To date, I am pursuing those presenters who I know that are international and asking that they share out my name and information with anyone who asks the same question I am: How do we connect with others around the world who are interested. My collegue, over at Streaming Thoughts has the right way, IMHO (in my humble opinion). Start connecting with Web 2.0 blogs, wikis, etc. on those things you are interested in and participate!!! Send emails, skypes, talk with those in second life, etc and talk about the projects you are interested in. You will find that those who have time to work with you will also be the ones who respond. Finally, you should start your own blog or some other way to get your name out there. Once you share your success about yoru first project or two you will start to get heard about and people will come to you. The truth of the matter is that those who actually follow through and DO this whole global connect thing are few. So, if you become one of those, then others will want to connect with that success.
OK....so that was my wonderful opportunity beginning to connect directly with the teachers in the region.
Happy exploring,
J:)
We started with a conversation on what is eLearning and why we are talking about it. The beautiful aspect of this day was that by the end we were talking about what each person wanted to do to move forward and how we would work together to meet those goals. I would say the primary goal was to connect with other classrooms or experts around the world. How do we do this? Well....share your ideas with me and I will keep all updated on the progress. To date, I am pursuing those presenters who I know that are international and asking that they share out my name and information with anyone who asks the same question I am: How do we connect with others around the world who are interested. My collegue, over at Streaming Thoughts has the right way, IMHO (in my humble opinion). Start connecting with Web 2.0 blogs, wikis, etc. on those things you are interested in and participate!!! Send emails, skypes, talk with those in second life, etc and talk about the projects you are interested in. You will find that those who have time to work with you will also be the ones who respond. Finally, you should start your own blog or some other way to get your name out there. Once you share your success about yoru first project or two you will start to get heard about and people will come to you. The truth of the matter is that those who actually follow through and DO this whole global connect thing are few. So, if you become one of those, then others will want to connect with that success.
OK....so that was my wonderful opportunity beginning to connect directly with the teachers in the region.
Happy exploring,
J:)
October 5, 2007
Exploring eLearning
I am headed for a fun-filled two hours at a district today. There are some 30 individuals who have elected to discuss What is eLearning? on their conference day. I hope that some choose to follow-up and I will definitely share our wonderful ideas.
Feel free to look at the presentation over on Google Docs--- What is eLearning?
J:)
Feel free to look at the presentation over on Google Docs--- What is eLearning?
J:)
Classroom 2.0
I have been bouncing around this site for a couple of months now and although the breadth of participation is a little low, the quality of the posts is very high. So if you are looking to connect with some other teachers who are really dedicated to connecting with others, this might just be a home for you. The tools at the site are great for the classroom. It allows for closed and controlled social bookmarking and wikis and blogs.
Recently Ian posted about a great tool called Sketchcaster. It is worth looking into if you do presentations or teach pieces. There was also a great link to a blog posting about a school use of Twitter-like application which has been getting a lot of attention over the past 3 or 4 months.
I would say well worth your time to at least hop over there a little.
Happy exploring,
J:)
Recently Ian posted about a great tool called Sketchcaster. It is worth looking into if you do presentations or teach pieces. There was also a great link to a blog posting about a school use of Twitter-like application which has been getting a lot of attention over the past 3 or 4 months.
I would say well worth your time to at least hop over there a little.
Happy exploring,
J:)
September 18, 2007
Trailfire
It does seem that the explosion of Web 2.0 tools have slowed down. Here is one that I have played with for awhile but just came up in a conversation today.
I am someone whose mind has begun to mimic the web. I jump from idea to idea...each one building on the discussion of the last. Well, there is a tool which can help someone understand my path of thinking...or you can take them on a journey with you through the web.
The tool is trailfire...it hasn't seemed to take off a great deal. The idea is great though. You make comments on a series of webpages which then people can follow through the web. This is more than just a listing of sites. It is a listing, with comments in a particular order. Perhaps not great for sharing general topic areas....but for helping students work through a topic that builds on itself, this is a great idea. It provides scaffolding without limiting what the students can go and look at.
Here is an example of one I put together trying to find best practices in blogging, starting from an excellent pre-calc blog. Follow the trail.
Happy exploring!!
J:)
I am someone whose mind has begun to mimic the web. I jump from idea to idea...each one building on the discussion of the last. Well, there is a tool which can help someone understand my path of thinking...or you can take them on a journey with you through the web.
The tool is trailfire...it hasn't seemed to take off a great deal. The idea is great though. You make comments on a series of webpages which then people can follow through the web. This is more than just a listing of sites. It is a listing, with comments in a particular order. Perhaps not great for sharing general topic areas....but for helping students work through a topic that builds on itself, this is a great idea. It provides scaffolding without limiting what the students can go and look at.
Here is an example of one I put together trying to find best practices in blogging, starting from an excellent pre-calc blog. Follow the trail.
Happy exploring!!
J:)
September 12, 2007
Panoptic what??
Here I am reading a book about studying the way people carry on discourses in our modern age. The point I just hit upon was worth thinking about. The authors (Scollon and Scollon, 2004) describe a traditional classroom as set up for optimal observation of the students. The term actually comes from a conceptual design for a prison. The idea put forth by some theorists is that schools and classrooms are laid out similarly to this panoptic philosophy behind the panopticon. Now, I realize that perhaps many students would agree with the idea that a classroom is like a prison...but that is not the primary point. The suggestion is sometimes made that with the Web 2.0 or new technologies, we move away from this all controlling, centralized on the teacher approach. Yet, one conversation I recently had during a Skype call with two researchers looking at new literacies (Lankshear and Knoble) was the concern of many that on the web, with youTube and blogs, we are actually creating a situation in which our lives are constatnly under surveillance. With period by period attendance reported to a database which can be viewed by parents online, even the right of each student to skip that boring class is being placed under surveillance (that was a tongue in cheek comment:)
So what is going on here...are we more under the watchful eye in the f2f classroom or online? My thoughts?? Its not about the classroom location. It is about the context. That is it is about the culture, mindset, beliefs, history, set-up of the context of interaction. Once again the role of technology as being different by its nature is overstated. Technology provides the opportunity for difference...it does not require it.
Soap box is done for today....tomorrow will actually go on a trip through an eLearning experience.
Explore on....
J:)
So what is going on here...are we more under the watchful eye in the f2f classroom or online? My thoughts?? Its not about the classroom location. It is about the context. That is it is about the culture, mindset, beliefs, history, set-up of the context of interaction. Once again the role of technology as being different by its nature is overstated. Technology provides the opportunity for difference...it does not require it.
Soap box is done for today....tomorrow will actually go on a trip through an eLearning experience.
Explore on....
J:)
September 11, 2007
Where are we really?
This blog has been struggling to happen...well I have decided it will now happen. Let me quickly recap the past couple of months since I had decided to switch to this space (and then didn't).
- Ran a Second Life project: Rural school, web design class, cool teacher. What did we learn from this? Well this exploration was like going into uncharted territory. The issues involved with trying to have a program that required weekly updates, high bandwidth and a fairly sophisticated class was hacking through the jungle. Luckily we had a great group helping us. Vital Labs, from Ohio University, worked with our students within second life and through skype. (of course with Second Life now, we could have just used the audio feature...but we were back in the silent picture days:) They were very helpful and as one might expect, we had some students take to it and others who thought it was 'stupid.' My favorite conversation was when I asked the students what they thought of the experience. First student: "It was interesting and all, but what has this got to do with web design class?" Second student: "This is the web of the future. Its like asking what does driving a car have to do with going somewhere. Its how we will do it in the real world."
Most powerful statements: student as stuck in the now as all of the rest of us (the millennials are not all "there" either..check this video out from their mouths...so there is hope for us digital immigrants), "Its how we will do it in the real world." OK...so they see that the virtual world is what the real world will be....VERY interesting.
OK...thoughts for tonight are posted...going to keep these short and sweet so I know I can keep at it.
Keep Exploring,
J:)
- Ran a Second Life project: Rural school, web design class, cool teacher. What did we learn from this? Well this exploration was like going into uncharted territory. The issues involved with trying to have a program that required weekly updates, high bandwidth and a fairly sophisticated class was hacking through the jungle. Luckily we had a great group helping us. Vital Labs, from Ohio University, worked with our students within second life and through skype. (of course with Second Life now, we could have just used the audio feature...but we were back in the silent picture days:) They were very helpful and as one might expect, we had some students take to it and others who thought it was 'stupid.' My favorite conversation was when I asked the students what they thought of the experience. First student: "It was interesting and all, but what has this got to do with web design class?" Second student: "This is the web of the future. Its like asking what does driving a car have to do with going somewhere. Its how we will do it in the real world."
Most powerful statements: student as stuck in the now as all of the rest of us (the millennials are not all "there" either..check this video out from their mouths...so there is hope for us digital immigrants), "Its how we will do it in the real world." OK...so they see that the virtual world is what the real world will be....VERY interesting.
OK...thoughts for tonight are posted...going to keep these short and sweet so I know I can keep at it.
Keep Exploring,
J:)
June 12, 2007
Time to explore
Well, it has been over two months since I said on my closed blog that I was moving here....I am finally here. Today starts my posting and exploring on my new blog site. It does seem strange to be returning to blogger. Why did I leave? Well, schools couldn't get to blogger.com. My work started using something called Elgg and since this is open source and on our own server, districts let it through....so in order to reach those who would actually be reading my posts, I moved to elgg. Well, I am now back to blogger as more and more schools are seeing the value of the Read/Write web and are finding ways to open it up. I also see a need to begin to connect out with the larger blogging community.
Today I have two destinations for exploration: Seeing the final project of the Second Life pilot we ran last month and talking to a group of Master's students on Web 2.0
One big comment on both of these visits....the whole idea that 'everyone is doing it' is very incorrect. Many kids know what is out there and have seen some and may be doing some of it...but certainly not all (and this is in a web design class where we might see more concentration of those using new web technologies). Also, the new generation of teachers have also not necessarily seen the power of these technologies. I have the opportunity to talk with a very dedicated and engaged group of master's students. However, after an initial, informal survey I have seen that they don't have much exposure or experience with these technologies.
Is this perhaps the environment in NY state? Are we behind the times....well no. We have the first middle school into Second Life. We have huge numbers of teachers who are using these technologies. It is just that the number who are using and exploring is not this overwhelming number that many are trying to suggest. People are exploring and looking...but full use is still a way out there.
It some ways, this comforts me. It suggests that we as educators are not just jumping into anything new just to do it. It also concerns me, as it means that we as educators are not looking down the road and exploring what might be useful or make sense in regards to the shift in teaching and learning.
Technology is finally hitting home in education. If there is truly a shift in the way information is being created and shared, we will be impacted by this as education has dealt so long with information/knowledge. (I realize those two terms are not the same, but would suggest that they have been linked in the past in education.)
OK...off to explore.
J:)
Today I have two destinations for exploration: Seeing the final project of the Second Life pilot we ran last month and talking to a group of Master's students on Web 2.0
One big comment on both of these visits....the whole idea that 'everyone is doing it' is very incorrect. Many kids know what is out there and have seen some and may be doing some of it...but certainly not all (and this is in a web design class where we might see more concentration of those using new web technologies). Also, the new generation of teachers have also not necessarily seen the power of these technologies. I have the opportunity to talk with a very dedicated and engaged group of master's students. However, after an initial, informal survey I have seen that they don't have much exposure or experience with these technologies.
Is this perhaps the environment in NY state? Are we behind the times....well no. We have the first middle school into Second Life. We have huge numbers of teachers who are using these technologies. It is just that the number who are using and exploring is not this overwhelming number that many are trying to suggest. People are exploring and looking...but full use is still a way out there.
It some ways, this comforts me. It suggests that we as educators are not just jumping into anything new just to do it. It also concerns me, as it means that we as educators are not looking down the road and exploring what might be useful or make sense in regards to the shift in teaching and learning.
Technology is finally hitting home in education. If there is truly a shift in the way information is being created and shared, we will be impacted by this as education has dealt so long with information/knowledge. (I realize those two terms are not the same, but would suggest that they have been linked in the past in education.)
OK...off to explore.
J:)
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