Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Shifted Learning is a term I’m using frequently as I talk to people about the impact of technology in education. The best single example continues to be wikipedia. I’ll argue every and twice on Sundays for the value of wikipedia.

Scot McLeod pointed me to this and Will Richardson via his del.icio.us account led me to this which Ewan Mcintosh also found here.

Key quotes:

Please don’t tell me that Wikipedia isn’t a real encyclopedia or one that can’t be trusted. Perhaps it can’t be trusted if you’re prepping for a Presidential debate, but it is sure good enough to help me learn what I need to learn–which is how to quickly take a bunch of facts and turn them into a new and useful idea. Here’s what just about every exam ought to be: “Use Firefox to find the information you need to answer this question:” And as the internet gets smarter, the questions are going to have to get harder. Which is a good thing. Until teachers get unstuck, our kids are going to be stuck and so will we.

…a professor at the university’s Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences program, tried to do for the first time last fall by requiring term papers to be submitted to the popular, user-edited online encyclopedia.

onstant revisions by regular contributors. Brockhaus suggested that was part of the experience, and that students posting material to the site would have to stop viewing their work as “sacrosanct.”

But being subject to editing led to a potential problem: Wikipedia editors didn’t find some of the students’ articles relevant enough to warrant their own topics. They were either deleted or merged with existing articles. That reality is in part a function of Wikipedia’s vast breadth, which already covers virtually any topic in which there is sufficient public knowledge.

Maybe we should include it on resumes or portfolios: “What wikipedia articles have you contributed to?”

Technorati Tags: wikipedia, sethgodin, scottmcleod, ewanmcintosh, willrichardson

Powered by ScribeFire.

In creating the keynote for the Flat Classroom 2007 Project, I utilized chroma keying. Many seemed quite intrigued as to how I did it and although for most videographers, this is not a difficult or complicated task, for those entering into video editing it may seem a bit arduous. It’s not. This video demonstrates how I use chroma keying.

As I mention in my keynote and in this behind the scenes look, chroma keying has the WOW factor but with anything else it can be overused. I don’t claim to be an expert editor so for those with greater skill than I, excuse the rather crude editing and set up.

I think the potential for projects like Vicki’s and Julie’s would be to have students collaborate and create content that appears seamless;as if they were working in the same room.  I like the recent Gmail video as one example as well.

I used Viddler based on Chris Harbeck’s use and it serves as a nice interactive video tool. Go ahead and leave a comment on the video itself.

Technorati Tags: chromakey, greenscreen, flatclassroom, shareski, viddler

Powered by ScribeFire.

A local principal told me today she had to suspend 20 students from computer privileges for inappropriate use of school computers. Primarily Facebook. Specifically some of these students were engaging with bullying others socializing. She also suggested most of these student’s parents do not understand the implications of their actions, let alone what facebook is or does.

While my initial reaction was to suggest alternate ways to handle the socializing, the bullying of course raises another issue. She did ask our IT guys to considering blocking Facebook. He was not prepared to make that call. We discussed it later and would certainly like to pursue educational opportunities.

I quickly fired up a tweet and received this responses(for those that do not understand twitter, it only allows 140 characters, thus the IMspeak) :

• cburell @shareski I’d be interested to read a post about that. If they violate AUP, how is it different from any other misbehavior?
• Durff @shareski I would revoke until they had passed bullying curriculum and parental meeting…then when they graduate from tha
• kwhobbes @shareski get them to explore the effects of bullying - do some interviews with people bullied, look at bullying in the media, seek out info
• kwhobbes @shareski work with them on the issue - on their own time. As for the socializing, isn’t that WHY most kids come to school?
• cathyjo @shareski where else but at school in safe env can kids learn to use FB & MS SN sites. Banning not the anser IMHO. Thy’ll jst do it @ hme.
• courosa @shareski: Bullying is against the law in jurisdictions, so let the law deal with, at the same time, let’s educate them, design a program.
• briangrenier @shareski Take away their Math books! No that doesn’t make sense either. Have them create and post a digital anti-bullying ad.
• lucychili @shareski the medium is not the message/problem
• duckie @shareski teachable moment -can they regain their privileges?I’m not to concerned about the social part just the bully part
• plivings @shareski - bullying .and. socialize - these 2 things should be separate and have separate responses imo
• mctoonish @shareski If it was just to socialize I would argue that that could be a part of learning. The bullying part changes everything IMO

All great responses and once again, the value of the network is evident. (For those still not convinced twitter has merit, how else would you get this type of response so fast? Grant it, these are bursts of support but still they are helpful to me) Definitely these are 2 separate issues and honestly I didn’t get all the details so I’m not sure how the students were dealt with individually. The information given by the principal was limited as this was not the intent of our conversation. But I’m trying to develop a response to this for future reference.

The cyberbullying one for me is almost the easier one to deal with. Part education, part consequence, part responsibility. This may involve the law as Alec suggests but certainly requires a well thought out response. The socialization one is the tough one. As Kelly writes, that’s why they come to school. I’ve talked with our administrators and teachers about social learning and its importance. I’m sure most don’t consider the use of tools like IM and Facebook to be a part of formal social learning. The problem is the lines between personal, professional and educational socialization is blurring. Twitter for example, combines the personal and the professional as well as any tool. Even bloggers get personal from time to time and that’s a good thing. Good teachers have always understood this but today we are more compelled to figure this out. I remember spending classtime talking about their personal issues be it sports, or the current event of the day that impacted them. I also recognized that as students worked together, they would engage in conversation not directly related to the work they were doing. And yes, they got off track and had to be drawn back to focus on the task at hand. But I could never think I could eliminate their efforts to socialize.

We have to consider how to provide learning environments where students can learn and socialize at the same time. As we move to a more personalized learning model it only makes sense. How we do this and how we help teachers get comfortable with this is a challenging task. Obviously, many are not ready to shift to personalized learning. But if we continue to ban these tools be it via filtering or simply classroom rules, we perpetuate the notion of irrelevant learning.

What does a learning environment look like where students can use things like IM or Facebook or text messaging in both an educational and social context?

[tags]facebook,contentfiltering,twitter,school,education[/tags]

Powered by ScribeFire.

I certainly haven’t gone through all the K12 presentations and likely won’t. Like my RSS reader, I’ll look at the ones that capture my attention and imagination, focus on presentations of those already in my network (by the way, as Jeff Utecht points out we choose our network and generally attend to their work first.  I have an awesome network and feel the stuff they produce is by in large the best in education) and then graze through the others.

Scanning the K12 blog, I noticed a comment left by Clarence Fisher on Ben Wilkoff’s presentation. His comments made me take a look immediately. Being that I’ve been downloading them via itunes, it was easy to begin to watch it.

Ben’s presentation is definitely steeped in philosophical or big picture thinking. For me that’s important. In particular his definition of authentic learning truly is powerful.

For some, this presentation lacks the “how to” nature many of the other presentations provide. But like any conference, not every presentation is meant for everyone. If you are involved in supporting and moving towards change, this presentation is not only well designed but provides some key concepts in moving towards authentic, relevant learning.

Technorati Tags: benwilkoff, k12online07, jeffutecht, clarencefisher

Powered by ScribeFire.

I irritated when my own kids use the all too common inflection at the end of sentences that turn statements into questions? As we work to help our students write and even use videos to express themselves, kids generally have limited practice in speaking in public situations.

I like this talk. Clear, concise and demonstrates an important quality all too often missing in our kids today. I remember a chat with Christian Long in Boston where he expressed the desire for kids to have the wherewithal to express themselves clearly and confidently. Christian, if you’re still out there, I’d love to hear you chime in on this one.

In case you hadn’t realized,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you’re talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you’re saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)’s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren’t, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don’t think I’m uncool just because I’ve noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It’s like what I’ve heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I’m just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we’ve just gotten to the point where it’s just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we’ve become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.

Technorati Tags: speech, speaking, taylormali, christianlong

Powered by ScribeFire.

Driving home from this conference, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to reflect. Some people just think about conferences and learning, I record them. There might even be some ideas in here worth listening to.

Show notes:

• Finding Our Way: Assessment Evaluation & Accountability
• unconference
• open space technology
• K12 online
• Andy Hargreaves
• My notes on Hargreaves talk
• Learning 2.0 in Shanghai
• Jeff Utecht
• Wes Fryer’s recordings
• Joanne Quinn
• OISE
• Konrad Glogowski
• Mark Ahlness
• Clarence Fisher
• Walled gardens
• Miguel Guhlin
• Just the facts

[tags]conferences, networks[/tags]

 

 Conferences Aren't working for me: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Trying out Liz Kolb’s recommendation on using Gabcast with cell phones. Liz’ presentation was filled with a number of good ideas for implementation.  Wes is the epitome of an early adopter as he already posted a number of conference reflections using gabcast.

[tags]cellphones,gabcast,k12online07,wesfryer,lizkolb[/tags]

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Last night I noticed my superintendent was blogging again. She hadn’t since spring so when my RSS notified me I was surprised but certainly encouraged. I immediately made a post to twitter and was pleased by not surprised by their response. Not simply by the numbers but the quality of their responses to her blog about blogging.

Here’s the work of my network:

• It is also through the sharing that I have begun to connect with others who stumbled upon my thoughts. Through these interactions, they have helped me grow professionally in ways that I cannot fully describe….Vinnie
• Why blog? Why not! You’ve nothing to lose and whole host of new friends and ideas to find….Kelly
• You would be surprised how many people care!…Jen
• I do think it’s incredibly valuable. Especially when we have educational leaders blogging and contributing their voices to the conversation!…Stephanie (extra kudos to Stephanie who join us today during one of our PLC planning meetings to share valuable insights.)
• …the process of reading and reflecting has enlarged my boundaries of what education can and should be…my pal Jakes
• I can honestly say reading blogs and writing my own is the best professional development I’ve ever had…Cathy
• I think it’s vitally important for people who don’t consider themselves techies to blog….Jeannette
• it’s time better spent focused specifically on becoming a better teacher, a better communicator and becoming better connected to the wider educational experience…Alec
• Kudos to you for the efforts. It does take time, but in the end you’ll find it to be well worth the experience..Cami (education student)
• if only these veteran educators would blog so I could read more…Chris
• if you think about what it is we ask the kids to do as they learn and grow…synthesis of information is the highest level…Kristin
• blogging builds community, whether with your colleagues, families, or friends…Susan
• My thought is that, in order for education to maintain relevance we need to shift how learning happens. I look forward to reading your thoughts, anecdotes and hypothesis’ on these topics…Kyle (another education student)

Thanks to all these fine people who recognize the importance of leadership moving forward. I love the fact that the comments are from folks that have been around for a while and others who haven’t even got started. They all get it.

She posted her brief but important response today.

Photo courtesy Clarence Fisher
http://flickr.com/photos/glassbeednorth/1641834402/

Powered by ScribeFire.