Actually what it means is I want my students to dig deep into what teaching and learning looks like in 2012 as great teachers and great ideas come together to make learning better and richer and even transformative. I've taught this particular course 4-5 times now and am really looking forward to this term. I've got some interesting and new ideas planned and I'll share on that later. 

The class is made up of pre-service teachers who are usually in their 3rd or 4th year of teaching and have had some classroom experience. This course is totally optional so they take it because they have an interest in technology and usually have some skill set above the average pre-service teacher. That doesn't mean they are programmers, just that this class doesn't focus much on the "how to" stuff, but more the "why to" stuff. 

One idea that I began a few years back was the virtual mentorship. I connected my students with teachers and classrooms around the world and they did varying degrees of work with those classrooms ranging from commenting on blogs to teaching virtually via Skype. Here's one example from a few years back.

I've not done that for a few terms now and want to resurrect that idea. Here's where I'm hoping you or someone you know would be willing to participate. This time however I'd like to offer 2 options for teachers. 

Mentorship: 

• must have an open online classroom presence where students regularly blog or post work
• must be willing to have your students interact online via comments or twitter or discussion areas
• must be willing to have my students do at least one real time virtual teaching session via Skype or other online conferencing tool
• explore the possibility of another project 
• must be willing to provide feedback to my student (3-4 emails or contact via twitter)

Mentorship Lite:

• must have an open online classroom presence where students regularly blog or post work
• must be willing to have your students interact online via comments or twitter or discussion areas
• occasionally contact student via twitter or email…no expectations

What I'm going to do is show my students the list of mentors and have them choose based on their interests and your offerings. Whether you are chosen for a full mentorship or not, everyone of you that requests will at least have my students commenting in some way on your students' work. 

Thanks so much for being willing to support future teachers. The partnerships you create here can be incredibly influential on these students.  If you're not a classroom teacher but think of someone that might be a great fit, please pass this along to them or Retweet this at the bottom of the post.

 I'll be in contact with you in late December or early January. If you have any questions either leave them in the comments or email me dean AT shareski DOT ca

If the form doesn't load for you, you can fill it out here.

Why would you Skype someone involved “in the process?” What process? Who? State legislators? What are they likely to tell a student that can’t be found out in a book or article?

The connections you speak of, now matter how much you yearn for them may be as inauthentic as the task itself. Perhaps they just make a task nobody cares about even more arduous. The “you can use Google ____ or Skype with someone” suggestions have become as automatic and meaningless as when a politician says, “We need to pay teachers more, but hold them accountable.”

To be fair, Gary's comments here were about a broader issue and he goes on to discuss it in more detail. For me the striking comment that “skyping someone in” is often a automatic response to trying to demonstrate you have a classroom that “gets it” gave me pause to think. While I applaud teachers who consider this strategy, without thought and purpose it has no more value or impact that asking a parent or principal to randomly come talk to your class.

But today was a day where I saw Skype used in a truly authentic, powerful and yet quite unassuming way. Much like a pop-in. On the surface it was a class in the small town of Mortlach, Saskatchewan talking with students in Philadelphia, PA. Depending on who you ask that may or not be all that remarkable. The technology was pretty straightforward. A laptop, webcam, and a projector. Call someone up and start talking. Today we can longer attempt to think that that requires any degree of skill. it doesn't. Unless you have some type of fear mongering administrator or IT person weary of Skype, or an unwilling teacher, every classroom can and should have the capability. no training required.

Allow me to deconstruct this for you.

A week ago, Zac Chase of SLA posted a wonderful recording on his blog of some students in a task he calls Story Slam. I listened to it and immediately shared it with my own kids and then thought of a teacher in my district that I knew would love this idea. I shared it with her and without asking permission, I suggested that Zac might be able to have his kids and him Skype in and share this. Which brings us to today.

What I witnessed was a group of students sharing a couple of stories and learning about an idea. The students from SLA talked about what story slam involves, students in Mortlach asked a few questions and in turn shared a story too. A brief pop-in that later led to more conversations about storytelling, inspiration, encouragement and learning in a very natural way.

The untold story here is how a conversation like this can even happen. There's a story of networks and connections, a willingness for one teacher to publicly share practice and student work and another teaching actively seeking a better learning experience for her students. I'll take partial credit for the networking and connections. Part of my job is to connect learners.

The willingness of a teacher to share allows me to even know that this good work and good idea exists. Can I once again implore everyone to please share your work? It matters.

Finally, a teacher who sees herself as a learner, wants great things for her students and is open to ideas that will help them finished the story.

All these pieces were necessary for this to take place. This is no flat classroom type project, no massive project based learning example, just some teachers and students interested in storytelling and a desire to get better.

So Skype, for Skype's sake is just superfluous. This is about way more than technology. It isn't just about technology, but in some ways, it is.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkuropatwa/4766403166/

]]> http://ideasandthoughts.org/2011/03/28/the-anatomy-of-a-skype-call/feed/ 0 http://ideasandthoughts.org/2009/04/30/a-call-for-teachers/ http://ideasandthoughts.org/2009/04/30/a-call-for-teachers/#comments Fri, 01 May 2009 02:18:54 +0000 Dean Shareski http://ideasandthoughts.org/?p=820 As readers of my blog know, I’ve been teaching part time at the University of Regina for the past few years. I teach an introductory course to pre-service teachers on technology. I’ve had the freedom to more the curriculum to a much more broader look at technology in our schools. It’s been a wonderful experience [...]]]> As readers of my blog know, I’ve been teaching part time at the University of Regina for the past few years. I teach an introductory course to pre-service teachers on technology. I’ve had the freedom to more the curriculum to a much more broader look at technology in our schools. It’s been a wonderful experience for me and my students.

For the past 3 terms I’ve had my undergrads hook up with classrooms from around the world. Over the course of about 2 months the range of interactions is anything from skype conferences where my students teach lessons to commenting on blogs to working closely with students in collaborative projects. I’m been reluctant to make it much more structured since I want to honor teacher’s time and access. My student’s express a variety of  levels of satisfaction. I usually have the connect with 2 classrooms both to give them some variety but also to insure a greater chance of interactions. Two months is a very short time to build a connection with a class. Amazingly, some of my students made this happen and for many it was the best part of the course.  Others were frustrated by communication break downs and lack of activity. This was usually no one’s fault but the nature of school. Teachers are busy and I don’t want to place any undue expectations on them. I want my students simply to have the chance to interact with other students in whatever way the teacher sees fit. It’s not a perfect program by any means but it continues to provide students with an experience they never get in other classes in their university careers.

From May 6-June 18 I’ll be teacher the spring term of this same course. I had originally resigned the idea of a mentorship not only because of the shorter time frame but also since many US schools in particular would either be done or winding down. However I know there may be many that might be looking to have some outside voices participate.  I thought I’d give it a shot.

We’ve had classrooms ranging from Kindergarten to advanced senior Math. My goal is simply to have my students witness and experience how teachers and students share and open their classrooms to the world.  So I’m calling any teacher or classrooms in any grade and subject area. I might suggest the following scenarios for interaction:

• A Skype call to share stories about where you live and where we live
• Find out what areas of expertise my students might have and have the teach a lesson virtually
• Collaborate on a story
• Have my students comment on student work

As teachers, you’re using many tools to connect, these are just some starting points. My students need to see these in action. I realize that in a month it’s going to be difficult to establish a deep relationship be I’m open to being surprised.

So leave a comment, email me shareski at gmail.com, or resend this to any teacher you wish and let me know if you might be interested.  Our class meets every Monday and Wednesday evening and I’ll likely have you come all join me  in early May (likely the 11th or 13th) via Elluminate one evening to share about classroom.

Please complete this form if you’re interested:

Once again, testing the boundaries of my PLN.

Show notes:

Dan’s 10 videos
Ze Frank
David SimonThe WireGraphing Stories
Summer Camp Video

*My feed in itunes is not functioning. The feed validates but itunes says it’s wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Matthew:
are teechr sas yes you can cum from Mathew.

Me:
I will come over tomorrow if that’s okay

Matthew:
yes can you cum at 11:00?

Me:
okay, it’s a date!

Matthew:
see you too moro.

Me:
Sorry I can’t come in the morning. It will have to be later in the afternoon or else on Wednesday.

Matthew:
how about 1:20

Me:
That should work. I think my meeting will be finished by then.

Matthew:
OK
do you wont to see wat we havein awr cllas rite nou

Me:
sure

This is what he wanted to show me.

Update: As you can see this was largely a copy and paste job via Skype chat. I inadvertently left the name of the student in the post. Fortunately, Kathy was Johnny-on-the-spot and noticed but decided to check with the parent. The parent was quite happy to have the name left on. Thanks Mom and Dad whoever you are.

Show notes:

Dan’s Assessment stuff 

TMO’s blog

[tags]danmeyer,darrenkuropatwa,math,assessment[/tags]

I asked David back in November to join the Posse for a podcast. He agreed, received his honorary mug and the recording found its home on Rob Wall‘s hard drive lo these many days. Apparently Rob has a life outside his computer and wasn’t able to edit and upload….until today. Not that this podcast is all about David but it’s just fun to lead him towards another bus.

So without further ado……just listen.
[display_podcast]
And here are the show notes:

Dean:

• Flip Video Camera (leads me to think about the changing nature of hardware. With the advent of youtube, small digital cameras and devices are taking over from larger more traditional video cameras….good or bad?)
• Selfish teachers Reminds me of something Rick said about a year ago in one of our podcasts about taking a class (can’t remember what it was…something obscure) that had no relevance to his classes at the time but he really enjoyed the experience

Dave:

• 15 minutes: I’m tired and bored with the time excuse, why not devote 15 minutes every day to personal professional development? What would that look like? What activities would you participate in? Would it be beneficial? See Carolyn Foote’s post about the idea.
  • Konrad Glogowski
  • Clarence Fisher
  • Darren Kuropatwa
• Relentless Schools: a phrase that absolutely caught my attention when reading the U.S. News and World Report article on America’s Best High Schools. What are the characteristics of a “relentless” school?

Heather:

• SIAST has just bought into using Turnitin. I heard Alec speaking about this once and this topic deserves some more discussion time. (Heather: we’ve used Turnitin in my school district for 5 years, so I have a good deal of experience with it. Dave)
• As for my wish list, I’m with David Warlick in that I’d like a tech free holiday.
• I mentioned LibriVox for free audio books (classics that are out of copyright protection) and ThinkingRock (free, cross-platform, open source, GTD software).

Rob:

• I might have picked the Flip Camera as well. Another thing on my mind is a Nintendo Wii, but I’m not sure that qualifies as a gadget. I think I’ll go with an iPod Touch (or an iPhone, if ever available in Canada and the data plan rates are realistic). Aside from the obvious uber-geeky joy, I think that the Apple has set a standard for a portable online interface. This is how the upcoming learners will want to get their info and how they be connecting.
• Ed Reform? Hmmm – I’m not sure if this is a large scale reform, but I think it is a local one. My school is offering online courses next semester and I’m hoping that it goes well for students and we (teaching team) learn a lot from the experience. Also hoping for a successful first run-through for ECI 831 with Alec. It will be very open, connected and social.
• Discussion topic – based on a chat Dean and I were just having. Is OLPC missing the boat. Will laptops be the next generation digital learning platform, or is it condemned to become old school as cell phones, iPhone-like devices, digital cameras etc. gain more computer-like functionality with (arguably) a better user interface?

Rick:

• Pay it forward gifts. We’re starting a new tradition in my family this year by giving our kids sheep, pigs and goats for families somewhere else on the planet through PLAN International (http://www.plan-international.org/ ). There are also books, teaching kits, etc. available for this kind of gifting, and we may move to those in the future (the educational reform part), but we thought we’d start with four-legged technology first. Our kids will do the same, and the idea is to find a miniature/toy animal figurine of whatever you’re giving and send it to the person you’re sending it for. Over time, our family will see how big our herds have grown. When it comes to educational reform, it could be that it has to start in the belly. (our family, Dean that is, is doing this as well…a few grumbles were heard but pretty well received)
• Water Buffalo Movie
• And despite my growing irritation with consumption and consumerism, I would love to get/give an iTouch, just like Alec’s!

Alec:

• Gadgets: I have ordered an XO, want the April 2008 version of the Asus Eee and would like one of the LiveScribe Pens (although not sure it will work with my Mac). I am really interesting in seeing the potential for adoption of tools like this (or even the iTouch) where the goal is 1:1. Would love to get a chance to sponsor, collaborate or research this learning environment.
• XO article by John Dvorak why he doesn’t like the project>
• I’m hoping the proposed Canadian DMCA act does not go through, it’s touted as being even worse than the American DMCA. I’d love to see our laws go toward more openness and copyleft than to supporting corporate greed. When talking about kids and creativity,
• Lessig hit the nail on the head when he said: “We can’t kill the instinct that technology produces, you can only criminalize it. We can’t stop kids from using it, we can only drive it underground. We can’t make our kids passive again, we can only make them “pirates”. And is that good? We live in this weird time, an age of prohibitions, where in many areas of our life, we live life constantly against the law. Ordinary people live life against the law. And that’s what we are doing to our kids. They live life knowing they live it against the law. That realization is extraordinarily corrosive, extraordinarily corrupting, and in a democracy, we ought to be able to do better, do better at least for them.”

Discussion – TurnItIn

http://myskitch.com/courosa/dock-20071211-193640/ (from Alec)

Book Recommends
Getting Things Done
MicroTrends
The Dip
Blink
Dark Age Ahead

[tags]edtechposse,robwall,davidjakes,richardschwier,aleccouros,heatherross[/tags]

I invited Will to return the favour (btw Will, you still owe me a few more appearances) and share some ideas (about the 14 minute mark) about publishing which sparked some great discussion and questions. So he gets in from sledding with his kids and chats with us for about 10 minutes. I carry on. Then David Warlick watches via Ustream and at just the right moment (35 minute mark), skypes in to share his thoughts on Lulu.com ( I had asked David earlier so it wasn’t a purely random interruption). So I went to the back of the room, grabbed a water and allowed David and Will to do their thing.  It’s been said often, that the minute you open up your laptop, you’re no longer the smartest person in the room. I never was anyway. But this is what learning ought to look like; finding and connecting to others that help you learn more. Easy, free and personal. Low hanging fruit.

I realize this is not profound or new, but I just wanted to share.

Technorati Tags: showcase2008, davidwarlick, willrichardson, skype, lulu

By chance I happened to be Winnipeg at another conference and was able to invade the MB BloggerCon. The event was casually put together and turned out to be a blast. About 60 people showed up and Andy Mckneil the president of their provincial technology group, organized and paid for the event. (The gave us full use of the bar, free wireless, snacks) Andy also did a great job filming and recording the entire event.  There were 5 unpresentations. I had to stick my big nose into the mix and show off my network. Alec, Jeff and Brian were able to skype in and talk very quickly but clearly, how the network works for them.

I would have liked to connect more with the others but as a guest, I felt the need to lay low. Very cool to meet for the first time Clarence, John and Chris. Nice to see Darren again. It felt like meeting old friends…oh yeah they are.

At any rate, it was great experience and pure fun. Paul Hamilton has remarked a few times about the fun I have with my job. Brian says learning is messy. I say it’s fun.

Powered by ScribeFire.

After that I drove an hour south to the tiny community of Bengough where Peter Bell and many of his staff invited me to talk about “things Web 2.0″. I was careful to this to their stories, figure out where they were at and go from there. Peter had bought everyone a webcam and headset (he loves Skype) and so they were quite excited with their shiny new tools. I had no intention but realized I needed to leverage those tools somewhat. So I fired up a Ustream show.

With a quick tweet I had up to 23 viewers (there may have been more but I wasn’t always checking) and some pretty impressive viewers as well. Viewers that added some key stuff. I can’t talk about Professional Learning without showing off and utilizing my network. They have become such a part of who I am professionally. It would be like not talking about my family when in social settings. We use to think it was important to reference people in blogs and workshops. Now we might as well bring them right in. For some reason I did have access to the chat (previous attempts inside my school division blocked the chat portion) and even tried skyping Will and Kristin who both contributed things via Skype chat. I wish I had thought more about including and engaging both the live, newbies and the online vets. There was some chat but I wonder if I could have leveraged it more?

In the end, we built wikis, played with flixn and continued to speak about networks, kids doing more work and teachers being clear on why in the world they would want to spend the time doing all this stuff. The decided to meet again next week, on their own to continue this process. I’ll skype in.

Anyway here’s the video and the chat. (this will definitely be my longest post ever) The chat is interesting in that you can so some simple Math to find out when comments synced with the video. At one point, someone cursed me to which Jeff Utecht replied, “Just ignore them and they usually go away”. I also learned:

• about some cool voicethreads
• I shouldn’t eat in front of the camera
• and yes….I was tired.

The Chat

[17:02:30] : yeah, because now I’m starving.
[17:02:30] : Do a poll, Dean
[17:02:38] : dance for us dean!
[17:02:50] : me too!
[17:02:58] : my staff thinks i am insane
[17:04:14] : instant pd right dean
[17:06:01] : is Twitter just for your personal network? Or do updates get sent out to the whole community?
[17:06:25] : if they are coded with an @
[17:06:36] : You can follow everyone on twitter
[17:06:36] : the entire Twitter website, i mean
[17:06:38] : what do mean by “whole community?”
[17:06:40] : @everybody send to all your twits
[17:06:46] : no?
[17:06:55] : or you can log in and see just your network
[17:06:56] : if you set to show public updates
[17:07:25] : Lost sound on this end. What about you?
[17:07:38] : sound fine for me
[17:07:41] : I can still hear it
[17:07:46] : me too
[17:07:52] : my sound is fine
[17:07:56] : hey cami
[17:08:03] : heyo
[17:08:10] : my macbook is dead
[17:08:13] : no skype
[17:08:19] : I sent you an e-mail about wednesday since your computer died…yeah that’s what I figured
[17:08:25] : ok
[17:08:30] : Lunch???
[17:08:38] : i have a meeting in 20
[17:08:40] : me!!!
[17:08:43] : @will I was going to say….i am pretty sure it’s supper time.
[17:08:47] : Bye everyone
[17:08:48] : me too
[17:08:53] : plane’s finally here
[17:08:53] : pick me! I know what tabbed browsing is!
[17:08:53] : I have 14 tabs open now
[17:08:57] : Bye will
[17:09:02] : have a safe trip
[17:09:03] : bye will
[17:09:03] : bye guys
[17:09:11] : bye
[17:09:14] : I’m not counting- waaaayy over 14
[17:09:15] : Name that window
[17:09:28] : lol @shoemap. Name that window.
[17:09:34] : @lnitsche that is just in one browser
[17:09:38] : tabbed browsing is my lifesaver
[17:10:25] : been there
[17:11:00] : how did you break your macbook Paul?
[17:11:07] : I’m counting 35-36 I need to get this under control
[17:11:09] : tried to do pd on second life
[17:11:20] : me !!!
[17:11:22] : me
[17:11:25] : me three!
[17:11:38] : ha ha not much of a learning curve here today in the chat room
[17:11:41] : my macbook won’t even bootup
[17:11:46] : nope
[17:11:57] : our common everyday tools
[17:12:01] : justkind of fun to know that there still are so many folks that have so much to learn
[17:12:10] : ugh. That is not good about your macbook.
[17:12:14] : i am so mad i am missing out on the glogowski pd in second life
[17:12:17] : grr
[17:12:42] : Glogowski?
[17:12:50] : wrong spelling
[17:12:55] : he’s from toronto
[17:13:10] : thx – where in SL?
[17:13:23] : sorry — missed answering tabbed browsing question — i was busy browsing my tabs!
[17:14:12] : konrad glogowski
[17:14:29] : i have a link on my dead macbook
[17:14:41] : would you like me to smash it in hopes that the link falls out?
[17:14:53] : that way i could share with you
[17:14:58] : I’m going to leave this eatfest and find glog
[17:15:08] : bye
[17:15:14] : talk about wepaint dean!
[17:15:29] : Wetpaint fixes this problem right now
[17:15:46] : everybody gets a color and you can see people’s contributions on the screen
[17:20:10] : don’t talk with your mouth full!!
[17:20:30] : he has forsaken his network members to his pd
[17:21:00] : onhhh flixin is a new resource for me
[17:21:08] : i have used it once
[17:21:10] : flixn is new for me too.
[17:21:11] : it is good stuff
[17:21:18] : i like ustream alot
[17:21:50] : well that’s that
[17:21:57] : nice work dean!
[17:22:08] : his lips are moving but his voice aint there. Share the fries man
[17:22:10] : definitely can’t lipread via ustream.
[17:22:17] : nope
[17:22:27] : good product placement for ice tea
[17:22:28] : 11
[17:22:33] : Paul, do you guys go to Agribition tomorrow?
[17:22:54] : I am having a hard time keeping dates straight with the end of semester approaching
[17:22:54] : yup
[17:22:59] : kids excited?
[17:23:00] : all day
[17:23:01] : yup
[17:23:04] : am i
[17:23:04] : nope
[17:23:05] : Ok I need to get packed for my Thanksgiving trip anyway
[17:23:22] : bye
[17:23:30] : lol. it’ll be fine. my one colleague is getting to go with her class on Wednesday to agribition
[17:23:44] : Haha. I think dean forgot to turn his sound back on
[17:23:49] : not my ideal field trip
[17:24:03] : hes a mind reader
[17:24:26] : There are definitely field trips that are more enjoyable that’s for sure
[17:24:32] : just when I thought I was going to make my escape
[17:24:50] : At least it’s just the day, right?
[17:25:12] : or turn the volume off on ustream
[17:25:12] : yup then bargaining meeting right after
[17:25:33] : Busy you are! What meeting do you have this evening?
[17:25:51] : executive for the RPSTA
[17:25:59] : Ahh
[17:26:08] : still no supper
[17:26:24] : this macbook thing is driving me nuts
[17:26:48] : I can only imagine. And here I’m sitting at my desk with two functionning laptops in front of me
[17:27:00] : im on my dinosaur desktop
[17:27:20] : dinosaur desktop. Oi.
[17:27:52] : gotta go — kids’ bedtime
[17:27:55] : oh hey. I talked to Jean and he said he will come whenever my lesson is being taught next week.
[17:28:09] : So I just have to let him know the time and he will be there.
[17:29:56] : i thought he was there this week
[17:30:24] : nope, next week. he’s coming next week because Trista is at agribition this week and he wants to get both of us done on the same day.
[17:30:37] : ok good to know
[17:30:44] : K. I’m out. Dean I’d love to chat with you sometime. Would be of interest to you I’m sure..
[17:32:03] : Go bombers
[17:33:12] : See you on thursday Dean. Enjoyed the show
[17:34:20] : I would love to experiment with a smartboard some day
[17:39:10] : Hey Kyle
[17:39:26] : Hi Cami. Where are we, what are we?
[17:39:39] : ooops what are we sitting in on
[17:40:35] : we are in a supper PD session in a small town (I cannot for the life of me remember the name) haha
[17:41:28] : my browser shut down halfway through the session so I don’t have the name of the place in my chat history
[17:42:57] : Bengough?
[17:43:13] : sounds about right. I knew it had a G in there somewhere. lol
[17:43:56] : Dean a great use of voicetheread. http://voicethread.com/#u6703.b21279.i120389 got kids to comment on student work
[17:44:01] : http://voicethread.com/#u6703.b21279.i120389
[17:48:35] : thanks Dean. Talk to you later Cami
[17:48:43] : yep. have a good one Kyle
[17:50:42] : I am
[17:50:48] : listening
[17:50:49] : More food
[17:50:52] : got a good tip
[17:50:58] : flixin
[18:01:18] : Dean you look so tired
[18:01:48] : wake up dean
[18:01:56] : have some ice tea
[18:01:58] : Boo
[18:02:32] : good morning jeff
[18:02:33] : who is in the live audience?
[18:02:49] : Good Morning
[18:02:55] : Greetings
[18:02:56] : i can’t hear anything
[18:03:04] : and I can’t log in. dangit
[18:03:04] : How is a Shanghai morning looking?
[18:03:08] : Thanks csouthard for the twit!
[18:03:14] : You’re welcome
[18:03:19] : cold…starting on Friday. 43F right now
[18:03:42] : My parents come to visit in Dec. taking them to Bangkok…can’t wait for the warm!
[18:03:52] : I don’t think he’s watching our chat – b/c he’s taping off of his laptop & presenting off his laptop
[18:04:11] : Snow/Slush in NY late tonight into tomorrow
[18:04:18] : Canadian Praries are the defn of cold. Not Pacific winds keeping it warm
[18:04:39] : it’s chilly in SK tonight.
[18:04:51] : SK?
[18:05:21] : Saskatchewan
[18:05:35] : We’re so global.
[18:05:47] : haha @csouthard it’s true
[18:05:50] : reboot. I have no sound anywhere. fudge.
[18:05:55] : I’m in IL – rainy but about 50
[18:06:04] : I know I have no place to complain…but still would rather be in Bangkok where it’s 80F
[18:06:20] : I agree Jutecht
[18:06:32] : on my wish list to go there – you are lucky
[18:06:50] : Who is Shareski presenting to?
[18:07:08] : Not sure who – but its a wiki presentation
[18:07:10] : I asked too, but didn’t find out
[18:07:28] : I came in late – I missed the intro
[18:07:57] : it’s a PD session in Bengough Saskatchewan
[18:08:12] : talking about all things web 2.0
[18:08:39] : What is your favorite web 2.0 tool?
[18:08:39] : California was sunny and about 80 degrees today
[18:08:51] : OC to be exact
[18:09:01] : nice
[18:09:23] : I’m off to AZ on Wed – heard it will be in the 70′s-80-s during the day
[18:09:46] : my favorite web 2.0 tool is twitter
[18:10:07] : I’m not sure I can pick just one favorite web 2.0 tool
[18:10:18] : I like to use wikis to tie a lot together without HTML (with the kids)
[18:10:18] : voicethread
[18:10:21] : It’s gonna be cold tonite in the OC …about 65 degrees
[18:10:41] : If web 2.0 is about linking content
[18:10:41] : thanks for inviting us in – night
[18:10:43] : I like voicethread too
[18:10:48] : I still think a blog does it best
[18:10:50] : or morning to you jeff
[18:11:00] : Our students love blogs
[18:11:02] : personal, connected, conversations
[18:11:07] : How much is twitter?
[18:11:12] : twitter is free
[18:11:18] : Blog does do it best but voicethread adds a voice and picture that kids can easily use
[18:11:20] : Good morning fsinfo
[18:11:24] : Is it easy to set up?
[18:11:34] : super easy to set up. and such a great tool.
[18:11:40] : www.twitter.com
[18:11:42] : We embeded podcasts into our blogs
[18:11:44] : thanks
[18:11:53] : no problem @yep
[18:11:57] : 20238 agree with voicethread just had an IB art teacher use it..great tool
[18:12:22] : @jutect I saw that voicethread stuff that the IB teacher did. Amazing stuff!
[18:12:29] : http://voicethread.com/#u6703 easy use in class use
[18:12:48] : I subscribe to your blog jutecht – Saw it this morning
[18:12:49] :
[18:12:49] : Yeah blogs allow so much embed audio, video, links, images
[18:12:52] : I’ve just started blogs with sixth grade math. Will intro blogs with 1001 Flat Tales in Jan to seventh and eighth
[18:13:00] : Thanks csouthard
[18:13:07] : hey everybody. finally remembered my pword for this page
[18:13:15] : You might have some fifth graders commenting – if that is okay
[18:13:22] : That’s perfect
[18:13:36] : http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=88116 <—- Our blog site
[18:13:42] : You can see all the blogs at my school here
[18:13:45] : www.saschinaonline.org
[18:13:51] : teachers and students 4-12 grade
[18:14:20] : I’m a co-teacher, so I say “we” and “our” a lot
[18:14:29] : http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=101050 <— ours
[18:14:35] : are these 5th grade blogs?
[18:14:57] : who the is this nerd
[18:15:04] : yo u ugly
[18:15:14] : go read a book
[18:15:15] : wow
[18:15:15] : loser
[18:15:26] : books are so outdated
[18:15:27] : o ur cool
[18:15:29] : go read a kindle
[18:15:35] : We have a fifth grader in the room?
[18:15:35] : what is this retard doing
[18:15:38] : lol @sroustan
[18:15:39] : showing off for the cam
[18:16:20] : I’m always amazed at the people who come into these rooms and try so hard to be cool but just annoy everybody
[18:16:49] : @csouthard I sent your link to my 5th grade teachers
[18:16:56] : eh. i just think it makes it more fun.
[18:17:02] : Super
[18:17:15] : to annoy those who are annoying, that is. at least, in my geeky mind.
[18:17:22] : just joining – what’s dean presenting about?
[18:17:37] : Just ignore them and they usually go away.
[18:17:41] : Hi Karen – Web 2.0
[18:17:47] : @karen wikis at the moment
[18:17:52] : thanks!
[18:18:14] : @jutecht – loved the voice thread and youtube videos you posted in your blog!
[18:18:42] : Thanks…teachers here are really strating to get into it
[18:18:43] : he looks puzzled
[18:18:53] : very
[18:18:53] : Great conversations too! Which is what we need
[18:18:59] : haha it’s not the first time he’s had that puzzled look on his face
[18:19:17] : Drink some water Dean…you sure earned it
[18:19:21] : love his expressions!
[18:19:41] : oh he’s reading twitter
[18:19:47] : Does anyone know is the chat archived?
[18:20:02] : i think so @jutecht
[18:20:04] : @jutecht, it was also great that your students wanted to do the best job since they knew they were going viral
[18:20:04] : I need that twitter
[18:20:25] : yeah you do, @yep. it is my favorite tech tool
[18:20:33] : @Karen the power of the Internet..they get it!
[18:20:38] : @yep, agree with sroustan it’s a great thing to have.
[18:21:02] : control v it!
[18:21:07] : not sure it’s my absolute favorite tech tool, but it’s definitely up there on my list.
[18:21:18] : These last three hours in Dean’s presentation have been quite interesting.
[18:21:26] : I can’t see where the chat is archived in ustream
[18:21:31] : @lizdavis – looked for you at MassCUE last thursday, were you still there?
[18:21:35] : You’ve been here for 3 hours?
[18:21:37] : Is he getting paid for this
[18:21:37] : How long has he been presenting?
[18:21:47] : @liz didn’t you say you were going out for ice cream?
[18:21:59] : He’s getting paid? Then I don’t feel bad
[18:22:15] : @karen I presented on Wednesday sorry I missed you
[18:22:16] : @csouthard yep, been here since the very get go of the presentation which was about three hours ago. I love being a university student with a free evening to learn from the magnificent dean shareski
[18:22:27] : Ice cream is delicious!
[18:22:40] : anyone going to Philly for the edubloggercon with chris lehmann?
[18:22:43] : Dedication points to you cmalbeuf
[18:22:51] : I’m at work and now not getting anything done
[18:22:53] : @karen i want to
[18:23:02] : cmalbeuf – what are you studying?
[18:23:02] : @Karen – I’d like to
[18:23:08] : @karen Yes!!!! Can’y wait!
[18:23:10] : but no money to travel +poor teacher = no go
[18:23:12] : thanks Jeff! lol. I’m a preservice teacher so I love these things. I’m the only person in my program who is nerdy enough to do things like this
[18:23:32] : @cmalbeuf we need nerdy teachers!
[18:23:32] : maybe i should get these google ads embedded on my blog
[18:23:39] : @cmalbeuf – That’s super! More power 2 u
[18:23:48] : @Karen I’m a third year teacher in the french education program at the u of Regina in Saskatchewan
[18:23:50] : @cmalbeuf i always was, too
[18:23:51] : I wish my last student teacher had that stamina
[18:23:57] : third year student haha.
[18:23:58] : shared Jott with two of my daughters friends yesterday – they only know facebook and loved Jott (they are 23, relate everything to Facebook)
[18:24:03] : I couldn’t even get her to google fifth grade curriclum
[18:24:03] : lol @csouthard me too
[18:24:09] : typing with one hand ice cream in the other
[18:24:13] : When did the @ become so popular is that twitters doing?
[18:24:24] : I love the @ thing
[18:24:26] : @jutecht i think so. habit now, i guess
[18:24:27] : yes!
[18:24:30] : LOL
[18:24:30] : me too
[18:24:36] : haha I think so jutect. Like @sroustan said, it’s habit.
[18:24:42] : Did you see the link someone sent about twitter on CSI
[18:24:50] : no
[18:24:50] : @csouthard I love technology. I love being dedicated to my pd.
[18:24:51] : so twitter is a good habit
[18:24:53] : no
[18:25:01] : I almost sent an e-mail to a parent with the @
[18:25:04] : @yep yes i think so
[18:25:07] : LOL
[18:25:08] : lol
[18:25:09] : You have to be careful where you use it
[18:25:10] : @cs LOL!
[18:25:15] : @jutecht I did see that! It was funny seeing twitter on csi
[18:25:22] : @jutecht what about CSI and twitter?
[18:25:27] : Really?!
[18:25:44] : Twitter on tv?
[18:25:46] : Here’s the YT of twitter on CSI
[18:25:49] : http://youtube.com/watch?v=YT5yCnEr8kQ
[18:25:51] : where is Dean?
[18:26:00] : i was telling some of my colleagues about ustream today, and they think i am SUCH a dork now
[18:26:07] : Nice green shirt Dean
[18:26:12] : they don’t know what they are missing!
[18:26:22] : Dean is in bengough saskatchewan
[18:26:22] : yep
[18:26:29] : This is called a low angle shot in TV/Video language
[18:26:30] : I think we need to discuss ustream protocol
[18:26:31] : I’m trying to get our 5th grade teachers to use it
[18:26:35] : about where you can stand
[18:26:38] : great connection tonight, sometimes ustream fades in and out
[18:26:42] : lol
[18:26:54] : wow – that’s a great shirt. and flying hands
[18:26:54] : We had to do it with skype and our students
[18:26:57] : thanks @cmalbeuf
[18:27:07] : yep
[18:27:14] : OK…I have to get some work done
[18:27:22] : if he was a woman, and pregnant, this would be a great baby shot
[18:27:24] : have a parent preso tomorrow on Internet Safety…ug
[18:27:28] : bye @jutecht
[18:27:33] : aok – check you later jutecht
[18:27:36] : have fun with that1
[18:27:36] : bye @jutecht have a great day!
[18:27:40] : Later everyone thanks for the conversation!
[18:27:41] : have fun with that @jutecht.
[18:27:42] : bye
[18:27:50] :
[18:27:54] : Going to watch Heros
[18:28:14] : Heroes
[18:28:16] : Should I ustream my students Thanksgiving feast tomorrow? We are BBQing Turkey and having all the authentic foods they really had at 1st Thanksgiving per student’s research.
[18:28:20] : never got into that show @liz
[18:28:44] : Journey Man is even better
[18:28:44] : Ok I’m a TV person too
[18:28:44] : @Brian – that would be super!
[18:28:46] : @Brian – ask your students what they think
[18:28:47] : @briancrosby absolutely! how cool!
[18:29:08] : @Brian you will make us all hungry
[18:29:09] : You just have to watch out for punks who show up in the chat
[18:29:12] : it would be cool that their parents can watch it and they can watch it later
[18:29:14] : @brian do you get ustream at school? all streaming media is blocked for us
[18:29:18] : How do you BBQ a turkey?
[18:29:40] : special way?
[18:29:41] : We’ve had a few drop in earlier. Unless, can you make a ustream private?
[18:29:56] : who is byndpdcstng in twitter?
[18:29:59] : @sroustan – so far my school district doesn’t block sssssshhhhhhh!
[18:30:09] : We won’t tell
[18:30:18] : @karen that’s me
[18:30:37] : Welcome @sroustan
[18:30:38] : thanks – tried to make the connection @croustan – your twit got mehere
[18:30:51] : @lizbdavis – took my Weber grill to school today so it is ready for tomorrow. Have done this before.
[18:30:54] : @brian i won’t tell. will richardson was in district today, and we’re hoping that maybe – just maybe – the district will figure out it isn’t all scary
[18:31:15] : Behold – the power of Twitter
[18:31:17] : do you know how hard it is to type your twitter name with no vowels? i have to really think about it when I type it
[18:31:22] : @Brian – I would definitely take video
[18:31:24] : lol sorry
[18:31:30] : Wouldn’t it be funny if they blocked U-Stream, but still let you BBQ a turkey. Which is more dangerous?
[18:31:30] : there was a character limit
[18:31:46] : lol in my district – that could be a toss-up
[18:31:56] : My kids will blog about experience too.
[18:31:58] : @liz – great question
[18:32:32] : Have to get fire dept. to give OK – they always do.
[18:32:57] : Happy to know there is some “moderation”
[18:33:03] : Hi Dean
[18:33:33] : @liz – i don’t think he has the ustream chat
[18:33:53] : Too bad – I guess it would be distracting
[18:33:59] : @Karen he does have the chat, he didn’t think he did in the beginning, but he does
[18:34:04] : Hi Dean – haven’t heard back from teachers you had me contact about blogging!
[18:34:15] : h…haven’t been checking the chat
[18:34:33] : ok, i heard him say he didn’t have but that was hours ago
[18:34:37] : wish I could save it….If I click embed chat owuld that work?
[18:34:40] : Welcome – it’s been busy in here
[18:34:46] : I think I win a prize Dean….Definitely have been the only person here since the getgo. talk about dedication
[18:34:49] : haha
[18:34:49] : @Karen have you been here for hours?

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So I decided to take them on a tour, using some interactive maps and showed them the power of networks, open API (don’t worry I didn’t actually use that term) and personalized learning.

At 9:17 local time I sent out a tweet looking for help. In 2 hours we managed to talk with 10 different people from mostly North America, save for Jeff Utecht who was in Malaysia at a conference.  We got to have a brief chat with each one, found out a little bit about them and even asked one or two intelligent questions.   Using Community Walk (as you can see my community is not walkable) we created placemarks and I added some video snapshots as well.

Here’s the map we created on the fly.

Wedding map to share with guests
CommunityWalk Map – Skype Me

Kids were amazingly focused, running around the room helping each other, teacher laptop in hand right beside her students asking questions, looking like a learner herself, talking to people who help me learn. The students were customizing their maps and adding items of personal relevance and also making connections to the activities and whereabouts of the various guests.

A pretty cool morning.

Technorati Tags: avonlea, prairiesouth, jeffutecht, tinasteele, sharonpeters, barrydahl, paulhamilton, jeffboulton, jamesohagan, brianmull, susanmorgan

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Mrs. Mcintosh (don’t know her so I can’t call her Chris) blogs about how technology is enabling connections like never before.

But isn’t Skype wonderful? And aren’t computers just the bizz? So this post is for all the saddoes out there who think people don’t interact if they’re stuck in front of computers.

Fortunately, I’m feeling more and more like teachers and schools are getting this. At least the ones I work with. Today I showed a small gathering of teachers what kinds of connections are possible and why they’re important. I brought Kathy and Sophie with me to show off their good work and experience/journey into connected learning. Fewer questions like, “Aren’t you worried about publishing kids work?” and “Aren’t kids spending too much time online?”. They are seeing the power and urgency of getting connected. Our conversations and goals are focused on helping students develop audience and learning networks.

It won’t be long before Catriona will be calling Grandma asking her for a visit.

Most of the students are entering their 3rd of 4th year of education. It’s evident that most have had some exposure to using technology in their classroom and are keen to take things further. A few asked mentioned interest in finding tools that enable connectivity, questions about privacy and how to convince school boards/districts to invest and utilize technology. I laid out the big ideas of the course as follows:

• Learning is social and connected
• Learning is personal and self-directed
• Learning is shared and transparent
• Learning is rich in content and diversity

I really want these students to have a great time learning. To discover the power and importance of connected learning and begin the journey of helping figure out how to share it with their future students. We’ll be meeting each week to discuss a variety of issues. I’ve also connected with Jeff Utecht and his grad class to do some collaborative work. This sparked an interest with some students as well.

So the challenge for me is to provide six weeks of learning that challenges these future teachers to think differently about education. I alluded to them last night that I doubt whether much of their current experience is really preparing them for the change that needs to take place.

Do they know?

[tags]onlineclass, uregina,elluminate,jeffutecht[/tags]

So we gathered together using a hodge-podge of technology. We had 16 in Moose Jaw, 4 in Assiniboia via Polycom, 1 in Bengough via Skype and 2 in Eston via Skype as well (Kelly Christopherson and a colleague using a mic-less computer but he did participate via chat). Then Will joined us from New Jersey. Here’s a large version of the image.

What you hear is the last 20 minutes of Will’s portion and another 20 minutes of conversation that took place after he signed off. Sorry, I only remembered to start recording after 40 minutes into our talk. What impressed me was the diversity of the group both in both teaching positions (grade 1-12) and in experience using technology. Yet the common understanding seemed to be that things must change. While many have already embraced the change, everyone recognizes it must happen. We may not agree on exactly how that must happen but the beginnings of these conversations are important. Those of us using these tools have been having these conversations for some time so to see others joining in is encouraging.

Here’s a short clip taken with Jeff’s Treo.

[gv data="8oup5Tu9bZI"][/gv]
We hope to offer a few of these types of sessions to promote some discussion and interest around web 2.0. We ended by agreeing to bring in students to try and better understand how they use technology…Stay tuned. Thank you Will for taking time…buy your son something nice and send us the bill!

Show notes:

• Will Richardson
• post on cell phones
• post on teacher blogging
• George Siemens
• Alan November
• David Warlick
• Kathy Cassidy (Primary Blog)
• Clarence Fisher (Middle Years teacher blog)
• Post about student choice
• Clarence Fisher (Middle Years classroom blog)
• Post asking students about their learning
• Calculus Blog (High School Math classroom)

This to me typifies why connections are so critical. Is this information available online? Mostly, but having a personal tour guide was much more relevant and engaging. The awareness I now have will no doubt lead me to more interest in his city. Was it the extreme distance between us that made it so engaging? Partly, but also Jeff and I share many of the same beliefs and ideas when it comes to education. We certainly connect on many levels. After reading his blog for over a year, conversation flowed easily. Jeff, what the heck are those blue rectangles north of your school on the coast?

Learning is certainly easier with a friend.

[tags]googleearth,china,connections[/tags]