Comments on: Are we insane?

By: Dean Shareski

Dean Shareski — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:35:18 +0000

Very true. I’ll be the first one to admit that I have too often shown teachers how to blog and haven’t contextualized it well enough to show why it matters and how it impacts learning. Blogging is easy but hard to do and make effective.

By: Richard Kassissieh

Richard Kassissieh — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:15:23 +0000

Absolutely, but I find that individuals known to the student represent a much more authentic audience to elementary kids than faceless strangers. I'd also like to underscore the importance of additional planning and instruction required to do this well. One might interpret the analogy in your post to mean that all you have to do is publish student work online, and meaningful learning will happen. I think we owe it to teachers reading ed-tech blogs to affirm the subtlety in any learning environment design, electronic or not. .-= Richard Kassissieh´s last blog ..Undergrads and IT =-.

By: Dean Shareski

Dean Shareski — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:56:23 +0000

Richard, I always appreciate some pushback.

I guess I would argue that first off, the power of an audience cannot be underestimated at any age. Students will write better when it matters. This, I believe is true no matter the age. If you want to know more about the power of publishing for an authentic audience at a young age, you should investigate the work of Kathy Cassidy. She represents the power and the value of publishing for primary students.

Audience is one thing but beyond that, my analogy fails to consider the power of feedback. Whether its a second grade student getting feedback from a grandparent who lives far away or a high school student getting feedback from an expert, you cannot deny that value. That’s why publishing online trumps paper publishing.

The pedagogical value stems mostly from making learning transparent and open which affords students the opportunity to connect beyond the walls of the classroom. To me, this is appropriate for all students, all ages and all subjects.

By: Richard Kassissieh

Richard Kassissieh — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:33:15 +0000

Let's back up a minute. What pedagogical value would this act of publishing have for the students? Would it help their learning? Maybe or maybe not. I can imagine this being of great value to high school students who could use an external audience and feedback. For elementary, I am not so sure. An anonymous, large audience of adults might intimidate an elementary student and lead to a poor experience. Let's keep these initiatives connected to students and their learning goals. .-= Richard Kassissieh´s last blog ..Undergrads and IT =-.

By: Kevin Bals

Kevin Bals — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:21:36 +0000

Dean
Great post. As a school administrator myself I wonder why this would be the response so many educators would give when asked to publish all their student’s work. Your post really made me think.

By: Connected Admin » Dean Shareski asks: Are we insane?

Connected Admin » Dean Shareski asks: Are we insane? — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:17:46 +0000

[...] is part of a post I read from Dean Shareski's blog Ideas and Thoughts. I thought it was a great post. Click on the link to read the post in it's [...]

By: Kyle Webb

Kyle Webb — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:29:27 +0000

Dean, I think that if this offer was made to a principal today, they would say yes. Even today, you would be crazy to pass up that offer. Until, of course, you tell them how it works. If all this work was published and put in a book or magazine, I have no doubt that they wouldn’t blink an eye before saying yes. As soon as you bring in the internet and the horror stories that we hear every now and then, the offer changes. Right now, paper publishing is more trusted than web publishing, likely because it is so new. As you’re implying, we need to educate these administrators further about this, so this deal no longer gets passed up.
This was a great way of putting the issue into perspective!

By: Ed Allen

Ed Allen — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:47:55 +0000

Dean, perfectly put. I will be sharing this one for sure. And I think, yes we are insane. How admins and teachers can fight what is clearly a perfect and free opportunity is beyond me.

By: Dana Watts

Dana Watts — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:36:39 +0000

Thanks for creating an analogy we can use to parents and fellow educators. An authentic audience is a key motivator to beginner writers. This allows students to create and control their own digital footprint. Instead of writing to an audience of one (the teacher), it is the audience of anyone. Thank you.

By: Chris Hyde

Chris Hyde — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:26:10 +0000

I couldn’t agree more, Dean. I love this analogy. In fact, I just recently started a podcast for students in my district where I travel around to the different schools and showcase or “publish” student work via the podcast. It is completely student-driven and just provides a way for teachers to share the great things they are doing in their classroom digitally. Thanks so much for putting this in writing and hope it’s okay to use this analogy with teachers and administrators in my district.

By: Alan Stange

Alan Stange — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:24:05 +0000

In the 1980′s when I began teaching middle and high school English “Windscript”, a magazine of student writing, was published annually. I remember sharing these stories and poems with my children. The good writers aspired to having their works accepted. Once one was and the school celebrated that with pride. Each year much is made of the winners of the Legion writing contests. A submission to the local paper is a familiar journalism project. I share your bafflement. Why not publish on the net?