Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Ewan’s mom is pretty cool. Not only a blogger, grandmother and former educator but one who understands connections. I remember Anne Davis blogging a while back about hooking up with Ewan’s Mom in San Francisco. I remember reading it at the time and thinking, this is pretty cool and serendipitous. Here Anne, travels to San Francisco, when Ewan, from Scotland sets up a meeting between Anne and his Mom, or is it Mum?, who, also from Scotland happens to be in S.F. Wild stuff.

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.

Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) continue to get a lot of attention as new models of Professional Development for learning.  I’ve been part of formal PLC’s for about 6 years. In the new school district I work for, many of our teachers and schools are new to PLC’s and are discovering their power.  Some of these teachers come from small, rural schools where they teach mulitple grades and classes and only at the end of the day can they come up to breathe. Some have had very little support and have learned to operate in isolation.

What they have experienced in their PLC’s is a feeling of support and access to resources and ideas that have lightened the load and made teaching manageable and more fun. Initially, groups needed time simply to get comfortable with the idea of social learning and sharing. Initially it might be described as “collaboration lite”;sharing units and tips but avoiding the real tough questions.  The goal is to get teachers to work together to examine the hard questions of teaching and learning and begin to work to improve student learning. Working together with people of like mind. This seems pretty straightforward and natural but classrooms and teachers have been designed to be isolated. Most of our classrooms still do not have a phone and sharing has not been a part of the culture of education.  Many teachers welcome collaboration and sharing but haven’t experienced it all that much and are having to learn what that really means. Transparency and candidness take trust and time.  Fortunately, this is developing among our staff.

We all know many teachers who prefer isolation. These have not seen PLC’s as very effective and truthfully, many are not functioning as effectively as they could. It’s easier just to do it themselves. Collaboration is just too hard and messy. I usually challenge this group by stating, “if you’re working on something that’s easier to do by yourself, you need to change your focus”. The power of collaboration comes in wrestling with ideas and issues you can’t handle all on your own. I can’t think of many who haven’t had the need for support.

My friend Ewan, loves PLC’s. He loves to go to local pubs and socialize and learn. His teach/meet sessions take place in local pubs, coffee shops and maybe even in schools. Learning is social and fun.  For some classrooms the words “social” and “fun” are rarely used or actualized.

I believe that in the not too distant future, students will be able to complete their entire education online and never attend a traditional school. It probably could be done today. In the light of this I’ve asked principals, “What will your school offer that would cause a student to choose to attend when they have access to better courses, experts and learning online?”  The answer to me, lies in social learning. Learning can be fun. I’m sorry if that offends some but it’s true. Social learning is what I experience everyday. While I’d love for all teachers and students to experience the type of learning and fun I’ve had both online and in person, I understand that their is some work to do before they get it. But they can begin with building social networks within their classrooms first. Once that happens, the inclusion of online social networks will only add value to learning.

Clarence Fisher is going to be doing a very cool experiment this year with Lucy Martin. Their classrooms will be a true and living version of face to face and online learning. You can read about it here. These teachers understand how important it is for kids to have access to other kids at anytime from anywhere. PLC’s begin to get at this notion and if teachers get that, maybe, just maybe they realize how critical it is for kids to experience this as well.

[tags]sociallearning,professionallearningcommunities,plc,ewanmcintosh,lucymartin,clarencefisher[/tags]

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This image tells the story of my online/face2face class. My students requested the chance to meet face to face. I obliged. So I slated our regular Tuesday meeting to be held at a local pub in downtown Moose Jaw. Our province has now created the largest wireless network in Canada and I thought it would be nice to take advantage of this ala Ewan Mcintosh’s Teach/Meet concept.

Nice idea right? Well as the image above suggests, it was not quite the smooth evening I’d hoped for. After struggling to find a suitable place, we ended up at my superintendent’s home who is auditing my class. Those who were only online kept things going by having a nice discussion. Anne Davis so graciously chatted with students as we got set up.

Once set up, we struggled with some technical issues around sharing IP addresses and sound issues. Anne Davis shared her thoughts about the invisible web and then David Jakes and Alan Levine talked about Del.icio.us and Twitter. As expected, they added great flavour and value to the concept of social networking and these tools in particular. If you’re interested, here’s the recording.

Here’s what I learned:

• Everyone loves when the teacher/geek/computer guy has technical issues. I do this more than I’d like but it’s always a big thrill for others.
• Face to face is important. As I learned from experience at BLC, meeting face to face adds a deeper connection with those I already known. Somehow, they’ve moved from online peers to friends. Meeting my students now adds added value to my class. I’m suggesting a class party in Regina later next week….those unable to attend might be able to drop in via Skype.
• Online learning can be more social than face to face. As one of them told me last night, they have more of a connection with their classmates in this class than most face to face classes. In face to face settings, rarely do they know what each other is learning. The connections are superficial. Here, there is an accountability factor. If you’re not doing your work, others know. We contribute to each other’s learning. We’re responsible to prop each other up.
• I have a great network. Having the likes of Anne Davis, Alan Levine and David Jakes, not to mention prior visits from Wes Fryer, Jeff Utecht and Alec Couros, I not teaching alone. We’re teaching each other. These people model the generosity and genuine love of teaching and learning that my students hope to be as they enter the teaching field. (Next week, I have the Dream Team)

So despite the screw-ups and poor organization on my behalf, it worked. Mostly because those attending understand as Brian Crosby says….Learning is Messy.

[tags]annedavis,djakes,cogdog,wesfryer,jutecht,courosa,briancrosby,onlinelearing,socialnetwork,elluminate,moosejaw,shareski[/tags]

To illustrate the past 2 hours of my day have a look:

• 10:00 Began an Elluminate session with Jeff Utecht, his Plymouth State students, mine and Alec Couros
• 11:00 Clarence Fisher starts a chat session with me using Google Chat about his current visit to Moose Jaw. I invite him to talk to my students in a couple of weeks.
• 11:15 Session comes to a close as Jeff tells me his Skyping with Chris Lehmann…I send a chat message to Chris just to say hi
• 11:20 Tom Turner responds to an earlier “twit“  I posted about my golf swing…requesting the raw footage
• 11:25 edit and upload a 2 second clip to archive.org
• 11:25-11:45 Commenting on my students’ blogs
• 11:45 Comment on Christian Long’s image from today’s ball game
• 11:45 Preparing for an upcoming workshop on Digital Storytelling I check my del.icio.us feed to see a great digital storytelling resource by Alan found by Will

Connected and learning all the time. I’ve got a great crew working for me.

Imagine this: Take a dozen or so people who spend much of the personal and professional life immersed in technology put them together for three days and guess what they’d spend most of the time talking about. If you said technology or computers you’d be wrong.

BLC featured 600 educators from around the globe focusing on learning. That’s what the discussions in large part focused on. I was privileged to be able to spend time with the likes of Barbara Bareda, Bob Spankle, Sharon Peters, Ewan Mcintosh, Darren Kuropatwa, David Jakes, Joyce Valenza, Will Richardson, Trevor Smith, Chris Lehmann and Christian Long. These folks all represent passionate thinkers and educators who at almost every turn will speak about making learning better for kids. While they worry and lament about bad teaching and schools, they truly are excited about the possibilities.

Here are a few highlights:

• Bob Sprankle…Podcasting with a Purpose…you don’t miss a chance to hear arguably one of the founding fathers of educational podcasting. Bob and Tony Vincent likely represent the finest example of how to use this powerful tool with kids.
• Darren Kuropatwa…Darren and I have done a fair bit together so hearing him present live wasn’t really a new experience. Spending time outside the sessions is where he really shines. Smart, articulate, Darren is determined to make school and learning authentic and engaging for his students.
• Joyce Valenza….if you’re a teacher librarian, you ought to pay attention to what she says. She spent some time with me explaining her concerns with the lack of use of the “invisible web”. Lots for me to ponder.
• Chris Lehmann and Christian Long…Chris Sessums called them the “wonder twins”. Talking with Christian for a couple of hours on Thursday forced me to take a nap. High energy and deep thoughts. He’s headed back to the classroom this fall. All I can say to his students is BUCKLE UP! Chris Lehmann is a principal who’s got it right. My favorite line of Chris’ after he told us about a teacher who was complaining about something, Chris said, “Yeah, but you get to teach!”
• Trevor Smith…I convinced Trevor he needed to come to BLC back in spring and I’m hoping he’s glad he did. Trevor and I work together and he’s got some great plans. Trevor’s been moving forward with things for a while now and I sense things are beginning to get clearer. Not any easier but clearer. Trevor and I were able to touch base a few times and we’re both excited about some of our upcoming initiatives. Watch for good things from his school.
• Will Richardson….I had met Will before and Will has been gracious to support my work in the past but I challenged Will to continue to push the envelope. I did attend his session where he broke form a traditional presentation and challenged the audience to look beyond the tools and coolness of Web 2.0 to what was really important: connecting learners, ideas to fully develop the concept of lifelong learning. I hope Will continues to make people a bit more uncomfortable. We also had our talk about the optimum number of feeds you need to read. I was right
• David Jakes…is grounded. He knows what he believes about learning and isn’t afraid to tell you. He’s calls it like he sees it when it comes to artificial, fluffy student work and offers ideas about how to make learning authentic and meaningful. You also get the sense that he’d do whatever it takes to help kids learn. You have to love Jakes.
• Ewan Mcintosh…Will Richardson called him rock star. He pretty much is. I just love the way in which he crystallizes complex ideas and makes them simple or least I’m able to ponder them a bit more. See Will’s example about his photography lesson. Ewan and I had a great conversation about the lack of myths in North American education. I hope he blogs about it if he hasn’t already. I certainly think that our curriculum and education systems are much more closely tied than that of US.
• Being able to present ideas about Google Earth was important especially after all the hype about Second Life. Google Earth is to me the more critical tool for kids and teachers to focus on. Being able to discuss the implications of learning and developing location-based learning will be a valuable skill for our kids: See Pool Guy Story.

I never went to camp as a kid and my wife suggested this was the closest I’ve ever come to that feeling when camp ends. I don’t know if that’s true, but lest you think this is a post about my sappy experience, think again. It’s about the power of face to face learning combined with great online tools; People and ideas connecting to form the basis of social learning. Each is an important ingredient. All of these people are committed to help kids and not just the ones they get paid to help. Almost all of them have worked with teachers I associate with and work for and have given hours of their time to make learning better for others. They do it because I ask them. That’s how they roll.

There was nothing at this conference that rocked my world in terms of new technologies or even new ideas. Most of these have been roaming around my brain for a while. Some were pretty solid, others needed tightening and still others need some loosening. Both of this was accomplished. The conversation that Darren and I had with Christian really focused on some key questions. Christian asked, “What if all the technology was suddenly taken away?” What have we learned from all this and how do we sustain and develop the connections and beliefs about learning? Hmmmm…..

At one point someone said, “We’ve got to stop talking about all this, and start doing something about it”. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I can’t wait for summer to end.

Flickr Photoset.

[tags]blc07,alannovember,boston,conference[/tags]

The hype around safety and privacy on the internet is certainly a battle I, along with many others have been fighting for long while.  Shows like Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” seem to give lead folks to the conclusion that:

Internet/Social Networking = BAD

No one, and I mean no one has been able to link the posting of an image on the internet leading to the type of danger associated with these predators. This discussion that took place for the Congressional Internet Caucus in Washington last month helps shed some light on the real dangers of online activity:

Our research, actually looking at what puts kids at risk for receiving the most serious kinds of sexual solicitation online, suggests that it’s not giving out personal information that puts kid at risk. It’s not having a blog or a personal website that does that either. What puts kids in danger is being willing to talk about sex online with strangers or having a pattern of multiple risky activities on the web like going to sex sites and chat rooms, meeting lots of people there, kind of behaving in what we call like an internet daredevil.

Those are the facts.  Let me repeat, IT IS NOT GIVING OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION  OR BLOGGING THAT PUTS KIDS AT RISK. How about a sign like that in your schools?  No, I’m not advocating being careless or divulging private information unnecessarily or carelessly but want to be clear that the research bears this out. If you’ve got research to diffuse this, let me know.

[tags]internetsafety, privacy[/tags]

Yes I twitter and yes it’s stupid and yes I still do it.

I’ll try anything once, as evidenced by the countless vacant activity in dozens of social networking sites.  But after reading Darren’s revelation and pointing me to Alan’s portion of the Open, Connected movie, it made more sense.  I could certainly point to several resources, connections and good fun discovered but spending a short time twittering.

Alan points to the experience I had today using twitter. The idea of having instant access and discovering incidental ideas is quite captivating. It reminds me a but of StumbleUpon which I although I haven’t used for quite a while, provided some great treasures. Twitter isn’t just about links and resources but personalizes things. The idea of nano blogging is nice outlet for me and others who struggle with creating fully developed blog posts.

I still don’t fully get it but I get it more now.

[tags]twitter, kuropatwa, d’arcynorman,alanlevine[/tags]

Having a week off to go on a golf trip is nothing to complain about this awaited me:

Why do I feel compelled to read through these carefully? I had 3 newspapers waiting for me that I simply tossed in the garbage. Being that it was Easter break for all teachers, my inbox only had a few dozen messages, few of which I felt obligated to respond to until tomorrow. But the newsreader, is more important to me then any other source of information I use. I’m afraid I’ll miss something. This tells me how critical this is to my learning and interests. I kind of knew this already but I can’t remember taking a week break from my newsreader before. The fact that Google Reader uses the “100+”  measurement is a bit deceiving. I’m sure this will take me the evening to go through….so I better get at it.

[tags]rss,googlereader,professionaldevelopment[/tags]