eLearning Explorer

Extending learning practices

2009-01-14T09:18:00.005-05:00

I seem to be the sprinter in terms of blogging. I will have a time when it is meaningful for me and other times when it is not. In conversation with a colleague I have started to see that my blog is not a tool within my toolkit for my personal learning network. I use it as part of projects or ways to connect for a specific time frame. This is very similar to what many classroom teachers use blogging for. You will see blogs on 2008 Newbury Project or Online Discussion with NJ. These are single projects that allows you to be public with posts and comments but end when the project is over. Much as this blog just keeps going even though I am inconsistent, I would recommend teachers to keep a blog that allows these projects to develop history and become an ongoing location.
So this then asks the question am I truly an edublogger? Well the same colleague mentioned early (he's worth reading at his blog) mentioned his way of thinking about this. If you read blogs, you are a viewer. If you consistantly comment or write on blogs than you are a blogger. He sees that this idea really pushes our concept of the network being created within the blogosphere. It is not that you need to be the one with great ideas, but rather you need to engage with the community talking about issues in educational technology.
So the question is "Are you extending your practice by engaging with the conversation?" You don't have to keep posting, but I would challenge readers that you are not truly in a learning network if you are only reading...even if you are indeed coming away with good ideas. You need to engage to truly be developing that learning network.
Keep exploring....

Technology Literacy Assessment Tools

2008-06-10T12:16:00.002-05:00

The idea that we need to assess the literacy of our students and teachers in terms of technology has been popped up every so often. Most recently the conversation has emerged because the annual reports actually include a question from the state on what a district is doing regarding this item. There are online assessment tools out there. The NY State Education Site (I am from NY after all) has some information. I just watched a demo from one of our service agencies who developed a tool for technology literacy assessment.
These are all well developed tools. My question is to the larger question: What are we truly assessing and why are we assessing it? I have a hard time spending a lot of time assessing if my 8th graders (or 8th grade teachers) know how to bold text, or save a file or file down a spreadsheet. What I really want to know is what can they do with this...and can they figure out how do what they need to do? It seems we are not assessing what is really important.
I am a big fan of the ideas and stances over at Gen Yes. They suggest that "students can take on much of the responsibility of demonstrating they possess these skills. Students do this by creating two projects that show they meet national technology standards. Including students as peer mentors and evaluators further reinforces this student-centered model."
My final question is: WHY ARE WE FOCUSING ON WORD ANYWAY. Why aren't we assessing the use of movie software or social networking or internet safety or.....there are aspects that are so much more important skills/strategies to be focused on.
More exploration to come.....
J:)

The way we learn...

2008-06-07T12:17:00.000-05:00

I am never a big proponent of essentializing the way that people think and learn. However, we can say certain things about good learning (and teaching). We do not learn well under water without breathing equipment. (don't tell me that you are learning that you can't breathe underwater...that is a very quick lesson.)
There are more relevant ideas that we know about learning: It must be meaningful, it involves people, it is active, etc.
So my quote of the day: "Unfortunately, if human learning works best in a certain way, given the sorts of biological creatures we are, then it is not going to work well in another way just because educators, policymakers, and politicians want it to." (Gee, 2003, p. 68).
Or you can watch the presentation on How the Brain Works over at Darren's blog. The presenter says similar things but in a different way. Best line: "If we wanted to create the perfect opposite of what we know about how the brain works in education,it would look like the modern classroom"
Ouch...SO my goal- to start the conversations I am having in districts with: So what do we know we should be doing? Then how do we get there? This is very different than "What do you think we should do?" One is what should we do "in response to the current situation" The other is what should we be doing "in looking towards the future." I hope that with this being the focus of the conversation we will be able to move forward rather than just responding to what is.
Well, off for more exploring in the world of Learning, Identity and Technology.

The Dangerous Assumptions

2008-06-06T18:17:00.004-05:00

Setting up the rant: In catching up on my blog reading (and now apparently writing) I ran into an interesting theme that I have been bouncing around in my head already. It is an underlying assumption in all our conversations on Web 2.0 and students. We are reducing all people under age...say 25 to Digital Natives.
Rant begins: Granted I have often talked about the way in which the society in which we live changes the way we think. Thus, that there are blogs and they are a part of modern conversation impacts how a person thinks. The less history a person has, the less they recognize that this Web 2.0 is 'new.' Thus, the whole idea of digital native emerges.
And sure there are many youth who have taken the idea of blogging and really done something with it: TakingITGlobal, Global Kids, Students20h and 25 Days to Make a Difference are all wonderful examples of this. Will Richardson suggests that these are the examples that we should be talking about (and I agree!!)
Yet the assumption that I have run into time and again (including today at a meeting) is that the students get it and if we just get out of their way they will use these tools in our classrooms to do what we want them to...Umm...no. Yet, we seem to think that because a student can learn a tool better than us they will utilize it in explicitly meaningful ways to us.
We Assume That

All students learn and interact best and most naturally in this digital world
If given the chance to use the 'tools of this generation' in the classroom students will do so to meet our goals and objectives
Using tool is the most important part of what they do with the tool

By making these assumptions, we do not foster an environment of creative exploration and learning. Will Richardson mentions this in his critique of The Dumbest Generation. It is even hitting the research circles (sorry to my fellow researchers for the slight..but we do tend to be a little slower on picking things up sometimes). The AERA (research association) just published an article on pre-service teacher's use of online forums, discussing the surprising results that students were not critical in their use of the forum. My question is: Why would they have been? Are we expecting spontaneous development of critical metacognition and deep reflection both on subject matter and themselves as learners just because they can easily post their thoughts? My second and more painful question: Do we recognize this critical thinking and reflection when it is happening...or do we see it as not aligned to our Curricular Objective?
Final Thought: The Web 2.0 (or as BrianC Smith is starting to say, social media) tools make it easier to _______________. We need to forget about the tools and the easier part and fill in the blank.
Or as I would type in one of my papers: Tools mediate the meaning making process...they do not make it meaningful...that's what people do.

Web 2.0 Online Course

2008-03-19T08:28:00.002-05:00

I have been out podcasting and blogging in other spaces. Mainly I have been over in the Ning universe. This is a closed social networking site that some schools are using for classroom and school use.
I am now starting another journey with some colleagues in Monroe county. We are participating with the NY State Education Department through a Grant with the Federal DOE and AT&T who worked with EdTech Leaders Online, a non-profit organization, to create a Web 2.0 online course.
We are now going through this online course, with yours truly as the facilitator. I thought that over the next 6 weeks I will provide some view into not only what we are learning and discussing, but also some of my thinking as an online facilitator.
So a quick update from the course. We are introducing ourselves right now and here are some of the questions and ideas that have popped up so far:

Many of us have heard about and seen Web 2.0 technologies, but few of us use them regularly either for our own professional growth or for classrooms
Those that have used these tools for classrooms, the projects or use have not taken off very successfully
Wide variety of skills and experiences from teachers and administrators mean that the connections between needs and use of the appropriate tools fall on a limited group of people.
Everyone is excited about the connective power of this type of technology. Some have mentioned that local connections can be just as powerful as the global ones.

Well, this is where our conversation is right now. We will be starting the full course this Saturday with a discussion on the Read/Write web.
Happy exploring,
J:)

"we won't be raising our hands anymore..."

2007-12-09T13:34:00.001-05:00

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:)

Preaching and Practice

2007-11-05T11:05:00.000-05:00

*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 : )

Web 2.0 take 2

2007-11-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

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 : )

Web 2.0 and Teaching

2007-10-24T08:50:00.001-05:00

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:)

Exploring on Superintendent's Day

2007-10-08T16:13:00.000-05:00

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:)

Exploring eLearning

2007-10-05T05:54:00.000-05:00

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:)

Classroom 2.0

2007-10-05T05:42:00.001-05:00

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:)

Trailfire

2007-09-18T19:29:00.000-05:00

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:)

Panoptic what??

2007-09-12T20:53:00.000-05:00

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:)

Where are we really?

2007-09-11T20:59:00.000-05:00

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:)

Time to explore

2007-06-12T07:03:00.000-05:00

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:)