Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

I’ve taken about 8 course online but had never taught one…until last night. I’m teaching an undergraduate class to about 12-15 students of which 8 showed up yesterday for our first synchronous meeting. I managed to access Elluminate from the University of Saskatchewan even though my class is taught out of the University of Regina. To be safe, I did not allow for simultaneous speaking and so conversation didn’t really flow as I would have liked. Maybe there are those who have used this feature successfully and can pass on their experience. The chat box did work fairly well at times. I may choose to use Skype for more fluid discussions in the future.

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]

About six weeks ago I pointed a number of key people in our division to Will Richardson’s article The New Face of Learning. It sparked some discussion and interest, and in an effort to bring forward these ideas, we invited any interested teachers to gather informally to discuss what this article might mean for schools.

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.

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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)

 

 Conversations on Change: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Using Skype, I dropped a quick compliment tonight for Jeff Utecht on using his screencast for a workshop I did. What ensued was a lenghthy exchange of ideas and for me a personal tour of the city of Shanghai where Jeff resides. Using Google Earth, he and I shared a little bit about both of our worlds. Early into the tour, I happened upon one of the schools Jeff works at and then he kindly sent me a couple of .kml files to provide some context to his world. I knew nothing about Shanghai and still don’t know much but he was able to point out some key landmarks and provide a nice overview of his city. For about an hour, he willingly offered some insights into his life and city and answered all my questions.

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]