Unlike a classroom where a teacher controls the lecture, the organic communities that emerge through collectives produce meaningful learning because the inquiry that arises comes from the collective itself.
https://kindle.amazon.com/work/new-culture-learning-cultivating-ebook/B004S72WOS/B004RZH0BG
 

Integral to this idea is giving yourself opportunities to experience and facilitate serendipitous learning. Currently there really isn't a better way to make this happen than twitter.

Here's the story.

Yesterday I'm attending a full day workshop (workshop is a loose term, it was really a 5 hour lecture) with Dr. Larry Bendtro, researcher and founder of the Circle of Courage Institute which focuses on reclaiming at risk students. Dr. Bendtro is a good speaker and while a 5 hour lecture isn't an ideal way to learn, there were lots of nuggets of learning I took away.

Sitting in the auditorium made up of educators and community people, I did see several ipads out but the majority of course were sticking with pen and paper to capture their learning. Lots of people were talking notes but of course, few, if any were sharing those notes. That's a bit of waste. So when I pull out my phone, I'm sure most people who see that think I'm checking email, texting, playing a game, or generally just off task. I used to be concerned about that but not anymore. I've learned that for me, engaging in a backchannel or simply using hashtags is the best way for me to stay focused and engaged. It may not be for everyone but it's for me. The person I sat with also uses twitter and we simply agreed to use the #circleofcourage as our hashtag.

Sidebar:

Last week one of my students was tweeting about being bored in class. I tweeted back that she should tweet what she was hearing and try and see if she could get others in her class to use a common hashtag to take collected notes. It worked for her.

Back to the story.

Part of the purpose of using twitter to take these notes is both for me, for the others participating but also because you never know. Early on in the lecture, Dr. Bendtro talked about the importance of a good theory but that if you can't explain your theory to a 4 year old, maybe you really don't understand your theory. As I was about to tweet that out, I see my buddy Dave Cormier in my twitter stream. I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Dave and his family last month and enjoy bantering and teasing with him so I decided I had enough social capital to present him a little challenge:

I really didn't know what I expected him to do with that. The nature of twitter is such that it could have easily fallen into the pile of useless tweets, which I'll admit I likely hold the world record. But Dave took my dare and did something, something quite awesome as a matter of fact. (I forgive you if you leave here now and spend time on Dave's blog. Go ahead, it's okay) He obviously had no obligation to do anything with my question. He could have ignored it or told me to mind my own business. Instead he created a useful artifact that is beneficial for me, others and for him as well.

I don't know if that's an amazing story because it's one that likely happens to many people every day because they place themselves in a space that fosters intentional serendipity. It's actually quite wonderful, joyful and meaningful. You can't quantify it, place it in a lesson plan but you also can't ignore it. I'm sure the vast majority of you reading this are twitter users and have your own story to tell. Maybe not. The point here is that intentional serendipity should be held in much higher regard. If you say you're too busy for serendipity, you might want to loosen up your schedule.  I've often felt that every classroom should have a space, be it a wiki or a bulletin board that highlights unintended learning. It's often the best kind.

Having done my share of workshops, I recognize it's challenging to spend a half day or full day with strangers and provide a meaningful learning experience. Most workshops I've attended usually consist of someone giving some type of initial presentation followed by a series of table talks from handouts; read this and respond, think, pair share, and so on. Often embedded in these events are things I call "cutesy activities". Something like, find someone you don't know and interview them about blah, blah, blah. I might not be articulating this well but all I know is that half the people in the room hate it. I'm usually the one that hates it. I'm not invested in the conversation and it always seems contrived. 

Not that I've figured it all out but I've been extremely cognizant of not doing those things at my workshops. If I think I'm close to broaching the "cutesy" zone, I'll make participants fully aware of my concerns and invite them to pass if it seems like that to them. 

I have a pretty simple formula I try to use in my workshops. 

1. Give participants early success. Particularly if it involves technology, which obviously mine are, insure people can leave with a new skill or idea. Even if it's small. 

2. Allow for deep conversation and storytelling. I'm not interested in spending 2 or more hours if all we do is talk tools. There has to be an opportunity for people to tell their own stories and push themselves with new ideas and insights from me and from each other

3. Wrap it all in fun. Set a tone early that laughing and joyful learner is going to be embedded in everything. 

So with that premise, here's a wonderful learning activity that uses all those pieces. I call it the Karaoke Presentation. 

One question I've used that is useful for any educator is to delve deep into the question, "What is Learning?". Based on my recent project with my students, I ask participants to take a recent concept or skill they are learning and to examine various facets of the experience. I'll offer them these questions as prompts:

How do you learn? Use specific examples

• What’s the most difficult thing you learned?
• Are you modeling or sharing your learning in any way?
• Do your students see you learn?
• How is learning a skill different than abstract learning or personal growth
• Was it a lot of reading, was it largely practicing?
• Where am I finding resources?
• What specific things do I find easy, what is more difficult?
• What do I think I might be able to accomplish before my next reflection?
• What or who provides me with the best instruction?
• Does it remind you of a past learning experience?
• Where and when is the best time for me to learn? Describe and consider environment.
• What do I admire about those who have mastered this skill? Who are these people?
• Is there a particular learning style I use more than another?

Depending on the room configuration and participants, this conversation can happen in various ways. The key is that everyone is asked to think deeply about what it means to learn. As educators it's kind of essential we have a better handle on this question. I know that Will Richardson has been asking and collecting responses of folks in his workshops. My efforts here is to have everyone take the conversation to a place they don't often go.  

At some point, usually before hand we discuss the power of using visuals to tell stories. After the conversation about learning, I'll have participants find an image using compfight that illustrates a attitude or feeling around their personal learning.  We explore the dynamics of searching for images as opposed to a google search. For many, finding images that are not literal is a new experience. Add to that a little introduction to Creative Commons and this itself is a great learning opportunity. 

I've had many participants of late with ipads so I've used software like Fotolr or PhotoPad to bring in images and add text. If they're using their laptop we use Picnik or any software they prefer as long as they can add text. This is also a great opportunity to discuss design.

After they create their images i have the email their work to me. Inside these apps or with Picnik, it's a straightforward process. The simplicity and the ability to create something meaningful and useful accomplishes my first goal of easy success. I open their images on my ipad and simply choose "Save Images". They are automatically placed in my photostream. I have my slideshow settings to last for 20 seconds. As the emails are coming in I tell participants that they we will be building a joint presentation and the each person will be responsible for a 20 second presentation on "What is Learning?"  I've done this with up to 50 people. As long as you have reasonable wireless, this works extremely well. 

Once you have all or most of the submissions, you simply start the slideshow. It's interesting how some people prepare by writing out a word for word script, some write out a few key points, others just do it off the cuff. Either way, it's a great experience. Laughing at the silence, rushing through your 20 seconds or listening in awe of someone's lucid thoughts, it's a powerful way to synthesize the group's thinking as well as give them a tangible experience using visuals and their technology to tell stories. And up until this point, I've watched carefully to insure this doesn't turn into cutesy. If I cross that line, I'll scrap it. 

This is a clip from some administrators I worked with in Edmonton. 

If the video doesn't play in your browser, try this. 

The day was well crafted by Ewan that included a series of short presentation type deliveries followed by opportunity to discuss and play.

As a group, we decided these were the most important ideas from the morning:

1. R & D is for everyone
2. Building Shared Awareness
3. Remix the curricula
4. Balance between structure and flexibility, saturation and overload
5. Importance of rules in play

The afternoon was spent exploring gaming and the concept of gaming as a learning tool.

One participant summarized his learning this way, “One mistake I’ve made is I’ve never played with a computer”. This was a telling statement about how we view ourselves as learners.

Lots of ideas were explored and my goal was that folks left willing to continue to innovate, explore, learn and share. Not entirely new but a fresh set of eyes always helps.

Working out a New Game photo: by Ewan Mcintosh

If you asked anyone who's ever presented at a conference about web 2.0, Read/Write Web or whatever you want to call it, they will tell that the most common type of question or comment from teachers goes something like this:

 

 

 

 

"Yah, but what about posting kids pictures online? Aren't you concerned about their safety?"

This question can often bring an important conversation about learning to a grinding halt. As tired as I am of addressing this issue, I realize it will continue to be an issue until we hammer the research and facts at people at a relentless pace. Well that's one way to handle it anyway. I also realize I work in a school district that has a very enlightened view of this thanks to the work of many teachers who have been doing cool and important things with kids for a while now, but I'm still frustrated with the lack of knowledge folks have about this issue and the influence of traditional media that fosters the endless and needless hysteria. This is a ridiculous barrier to great learning and opportunity.

Today, Miguel found another piece of research that debunks the myth of online predators once again.

Read it. Now.

Here are a couple of key selections from this research:

• 99% of victims of Internet-initiated sex crimes were 13 to 17 years old…none were younger than 12 *why include this point?
• Posting personal information online does not, by itself, appear to be a particularly risky behavior.
• Social networking sites such as MySpace do not appear to have increased the risk of victimization by online molesters.
• Patterns of risky online behavior make youths vulnerable. (risky behaviour defined as making contact with strangers and engaging in sexual talk)
• There is no empirical evidence that posting personal information, by itself and independent of engagement in a pattern of online risky behavior, puts youths at risk for sexual victimization. Further, millions of youths use social networking sites safely, and we have not found evidence that these sites are more risky than other online venues popular with youths. Rather than focusing on types of online sites or noninteractive pursuits such as posting information, prevention messages should focus on online interactions because Internet-initiated sex crimes come about through direct communications between offenders and victims. This includes educating youths about the specific kinds of Internet interactions that are most associated with victimization, such as talking online about sex to unknown people. At the same time, judicious online contact with unknown people is not harmful or dangerous (Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2002; Wolak et al., in press).

I"m still waiting for some evidence to refute this position. So I'm telling you for the last time, until Tuesday when I present again.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42274165@N00/2078377117/http://flickr.com/photos/lworcel/504844880/

Technorati Tags: digitalcitizenship, internetsafety, seinfeld, research,

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

Show notes: 

• Project Based Learning
• Cellphone Video Post
• Dale Basler twit
• Wes Fryer
• Jeff Utecht
• Vicki Davis
• Clay Burell
• Maria Knee
• Kathy Cassidy
• Erin Remple
• Lisa Parisi
• Alec Couros’ class
• Showcase 2008
• Tlt Learning Summit
  

If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to my podcasts in itunes….Click this

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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I met with a small group of high school teachers who wanted to learn more about Web 2.0 and what they might be able to use in their classrooms. I was fully prepared to spend the day showing demos, and working through the technical issues of setting up a blog, wiki or whatever they wanted.What happened instead is we spent the first part of the morning grappling with the big questions of why. Why would we post students online? Why does it feel like asking us to change means that our current practice is all wrong? If this is so important, why aren’t we given time to explore and make change? To be clear, this group of teachers was not simply complaining or naysaying. They just wanted to be convinced and sure that investing time to use these tools would pay dividends. I’ve been telling teachers lately that if they have any hesitation, they shouldn’t bother to blog or use any tool because all it will do is add to the many “binders of guilt” that sit on the shelf labeled, “things I should really do”.I’m not sure that all these questions were answered but I know we moved forward on some. At lunch time, I fired up twitter and posed the question regarding posting online. Thanks to my network I received several key responses that I shared with the group after lunch. 

Again, not that those responses solved the conundrum but it clearly demonstrated that an online presence or network is a powerful thing. So we continued on and continued to deal with some tough questions but after providing some time for teachers to muddle on their own, they left the day feeling like they had some direction or purpose in using the tools. We’re moving forward in a positive way.I thank them for challenging me.

Thursday, I met with all our school administrators and shared our vision and focused on the idea of shifted learning. I showed Did you Know, used some of Ewan’s videos and ideas that focus on a shift in learning and challenged them to consider how learning is changing. In general they are a great bunch of leaders who truly want to make shifts that are good for kids but like many of us, are looking for a recipe, which although we know doesn’t exist, still want one. I challenged them to consider how they might support teachers and after some good discussion, felt like we have set the ground work for the work that lies ahead. The following are the slides I used with my notes embedded underneath…feel free to use this in whatever way you wish.

One school administrator approached me after and asked, “What is it we’re really trying to do?”He talked about an angst he feels about what he sees most kids doing with technology. Useless text messaging with the person right beside them, nothing seems to be interesting to them, jaded attitudes towards violence, and so on; all valid points. He was careful to say he didn’t want to appear to be out of touch but was truly concerned with kids who use technology in meaningless ways. I tried to share my feelings about our duty to .I’m glad he approached and challenged me and the kind of dialogue I had in these two instances does help us move forward. I’ve taught too many workshops where everyone comes happy and excited to be there and leaves happy and excited but never carry on with the ideas and never implement anything. They like new stuff but don’t deeply consider what the true impact of change might be.

I was further encouraged by spending time with two of our superintendents. Both men have been in education for over 30 years and recalled some of the reasons they got into education in the first place. As children of the 1960’s they were excited about the ideas of Summerhill and believed deeply in personalized learning. Somehow the system they entered took things into a more traditional model and my presentation triggered memories of the hope of what a quality, meaningful education can look like.

These conversations are what will matter. Allowing people to tell their stories, share their resistance and consider the change that’s necessary. I’m pretty good at telling my story and perspectives  but at times forget that others need to tell theirs as well. Chris Lehman has written lately about not forgetting the value of our teachers. Another great conversation ensues.  Again, this is not anything profound but once again, reminded me of the importance of those conversations. Conversations about change that lead to implementation.

Technorati Tags: blogs, assessment, prairiesouth, shifts, ewanmcintosh, didyouknow, summerhill

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This is not so much to give you the run down of the technical issues, although I’ll provide it but rather to extract some learning and revelations that continue to build about learning in general.

The technical background:
We’ve got some understanding of Joomla/Mambo and felt it was the best choice to accommodate the needs of school websites. We installed it on our server and purchased a multi-site manager component with the ability to quickly create sites and users from one place rather than have 40 separate installs. The issue is we did not have an easy back-up in place and weren’t using the component correctly and inadvertently overwrote site databases a couple of times. Since most schools were developing, this did not cause big issues other than a few pages and content that had to be recreated. Today, however we had a similar experience and several schools lost a lot of content. I certainly don’t have the technical expertise to be supporting this and although my colleague does, we don’t have a bunch of time to devote to learn this well. Our intentions was to learn together with schools. This actually worked to some degree as some schools discover unique ways to manage their site, use flickr as an image repository and pushed us to provide more advanced features that would enable a better site.

The learning
In the midst of the chaos that occurred during our workshop, a principal from one of the schools said to me, “learning technology is so much like the learning in our schools”. He explained to me some frustrations he’s had getting teachers to see that learning is hard to be prescribed. You can’t put everything in a handout or step by step instructions. As we talked about setting up the sites, it became apparent very quickly that every school would soon have different needs and that one easy solution wouldn’t be for everyone. You can’t just show one way and expect it to be learning. How many ways for example can you copy something?  How many ways can you tell a story? What’s the best way to a links page?  What is the best blogging tool? How do you divide 687 into 89?(not the answer by the method) A plethora of answers almost always exists. This bit by bit podcast touches on this as well. I was reminded of Thomas Edison’s famous quote:

If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.

As we showed people the calendar component, this principal wanted to know if there was a way to embed a calendar from the exchange server. It would have been easy for me to discourage this since it wasn’t anything to do with the agenda of the workshop. I knew I didn’t know how. So as many worked on using the calendar within Joomla, he began to explore how he might get his calendar from Outlook into Joomla. After a few minutes, he discovered if he exported his calendar into Google, Google created an iframe code he could embed into his site. Now there may be many out there who could come up with an easier, better way but his persistence and willingness to explore and experiment resulted in learning and satisfaction. There were many other experiments today that didn’t work and those are still valuable learning experiences. My good friend Ewan talks about being less explicit and more implicit. Teachers sometimes hate this. “Just tell me what to do”. I can get you started but eventually, you’ll have to figure it out yourself.  Sometimes we’re afraid to say that to students because we still see ourselves as teachers first and not learners. Fortunately for me, I know I’m a learner first and readily admit it.

Ken Robinson asked if mistakes are the worst thing we could make. I hope not because I made a bunch today.

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Are you preparing students for their future, or for your past?

Missing from this quotation is the idea we also need to prepare students for the PRESENT that is taking place right now, and not just a faraway “la la fantasy land” vision of the future when the world will look just like that of the Jetsons.

As some authors have observed, our vision for what the future is going to “look like” has changed markedly over the years. Predictions from people like Benjamin Franklin that new technologies would yield vast amounts of leisure time have given way to conditions of information overload and overscheduled calendars, with often little time for people to enjoy unstructured time in natural environments. I’ve never visited Disney’s Tomorrowland in Florida, but I understand the vision it communicates of “what the future holds” has undergone interesting evolution over time.

The fact is, NO ONE can predict with certainly what the future holds. Yet, we still must live our lives today (in contexts which are often dynamic with respect to communication, information flows, and technology) and strive to prepare learners (both young and old) for flexible readiness in the months and years to come. How can we do it?

I read the following quotation by Herb Caen recently which brought many of these thoughts to mind:

I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there.

I think many of the most innovative uses of digital technologies for learning we see today in the United States are happening in charter schools where educators as well as students are freer to think and act differently than learners have in the past. It is natural and even unavoidable to look at our present context (as well as future prospects) through the lens of our own past experiences. We form our perceptions and decide on our actions based on those experiences and our thoughts about them.

For that reason, I think it is essential we strive to experience (ourselves) and help other teachers experience successes in using new digital technologies to access information, collaborate with others, publish ideas, and thereby create new knowledge. I find the quotation from Alan Kay, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it” extremely compelling. If we want to help teachers lead students in their classrooms in ways that will empower them to “invent the future,” I think we need to recognize the primacy of encouraging PERSONAL USES of technologies by teachers.

Those ideas will strongly inform the three day workshop I’m helping facilitate here in Oklahoma next week, and Karen Montgomery is facilitating for teachers in Missouri. We’ve titled our team-taught workshop “The Digital Learning Academy.” We have four main goals:

1. Have fun creating media and collaborating with other teachers.
2. Gain an experiential understanding of the read/write web. (web 2.0)
3. Help teachers make “A-Ha” connections for instruction and learning with digital tools.
4. Help educators “plug in” to the growing network of educational Yodas.

To support these goals (and hopefully accomplish them) Karen and I have constructed a three day workshop agenda focusing on the use of several web 2.0 tools for learning as well as videoconferencing. The key will be follow-up, I think. We’re planning to schedule dates in the fall when teachers will come BACK together, both face to face and via videoconferencing hook-ups, to share how they’ve used the tools and strategies they experienced in the digital learning academy with their own students to help improve learning opportunities.

My philosophy in helping putting together and facilitate this 3 day learning event is informed by the words of John Norton, who I met and visited with several weeks ago at NECC. He observed that accomplished teachers have GREAT capacity for supporting positive instructional change and ongoing professional growth of other educators, but that process often needs facilitation by others. The Alabama Teacher Leaders Network is focused on supporting the dynamic of accomplished teachers mentoring each other as well as novice teachers. I hope our digital learning academy and the online network we’re building (via Ning and other tools) will also model and support this philosophy.

I hope our workshop next week will be fun as well as “successful.” Rather than view myself as the source of content knowledge for this series of learning days, I view myself more as a “connector” and “facilitator” who will hopefully invite and encourage the teacher-participants to learn by doing– creating knowledge products which have personal meaning and relevance to their own lives with others, located in the same room but also geographically distant from their own classroom. We’ll see what happens! If we have fun “making stuff” together with digital tools, I think chances are high we are all going to learn a LOT.

One of the most beautiful things about leading and participating in a summer learning workshop like this is the AUTONOMY we are afforded when it comes to the curriculum. Accomplished teachers need to be afforded the same opportunity in their classrooms to seize “teachable moments” and not necessarily stay on the exact page of a curriculum pacing guide which was written in stone months before, and does not respect the learning opportunities which may present themselves in the dynamical and chaotic environment of a REAL classroom.

Here are the slides. (Embedding was not working)

[tags]rss,tltsummit2007,shareski[/tags]

I’m not usually interested in informational sessions at conference since I can find it online just as well. I”m looking for stories, developed or new ideas, tough questions, challenges. Maybe others aren’t. Maybe some are just at a different place.

I remember a while back, Steve D. talking about having presenters post their material ahead of time and spend the sessions dealing with the challenging stuff.

I’ve been accused of being a multi-tasker and one who has trouble sitting for a long time….I disagree. I can switch back and forth between tasks quickly. I can sit for hours when engaged. I’ve just chosen to choose what I will engage my mind with rather than endure time in unengaging activity. (low battery warning…must hurry)

So my dilemma is this:

• Am I just lazy?
• Do I need to be more disciplined and focus better?
• I make judgments quickly about the value of the learning activity. Is that bad?
• What makes us think kids would be any different?
• Am I the only one with this problem?
• Do we really believe that engagement is more important than content? (Prensky)

[tags]conferense, AWASIS,engagement[/tags]

Leave a comment and let me know if I can skype you. (leave me your skype name if I don’t have it)

Also, feel free to add to the RSS wiki or the Google Reader wiki.

[tags]rss,shareski,presentation,saskatoon,itsummit2007[/tags]

Wes Fryer did a workshop the other day on podcasting with a number of teachers new to the read/write web. He had them post some questions and comments on a blog he created for the session. I read quickly through some of the comments and they most definitely are representative of a great number of our teachers. I’m sure Wes responded to many of their concerns but I thought I’d also chime in with some responses. Here goes:

How does blogging relate to the skills students need to know for TAKS?

There hasn’t been much research on the topic but certainly blogging isn’t designed to specifically improve test scores. It’s designed to connect learners and provide an audience and purpose for writing and communicating ideas.

How easy is it to moderate profanity that continuously happens?

How easy is it to moderate profanity that continuously happens in the playground?

Is there documented evidence that “laptops in the hands of students” increase student achievement? Do TAKS scores increase wherever all students have laptops?

See previous response. But again, is there any evidence proving pencils will increase student achievement?

I really think the idea ($100 laptop) is innovative…and will give many students access to things they never would have without the technology. It is a way to make the world so much smaller! I do worry about moving too quickly into things and educators not being adequately prepared.

You should be but we have no choice. Waiting for educators to get comfortable is not something we can wait for.

This will allow kids without the resources of developed countries to be engaged in the learning with the electronic community.

And the kids of developed countries will still be waiting for their weekly period in the computer lab.

Initially, I would say that all my students need one of these, then I start to freak out and wonder how I can control what they are doing with this tool?

Ding, ding, ding….hold your calls, we have a winner! This is the critical barrier for our teachers. Control. I agree, we will freak out, it is going to be hard but again, we have little choice.

You’ll see some of my responses are a bit cheeky and I suppose a bit harsh so I apologize if some were offended but I certainly would have answered them in a much more diplomatic way as I’m sure Wes did but I did feel these are very indicative of our current teaching population. I always try and sort out which questions represent a lack of understanding and which are the ones resisting change. I have less patience with the latter.

Note: I have a director’s account in youtube which allows me to upload videos longer than 10 minutes.

[tags]powerpoint,makeover,digitalstories,digitalstorytelling,camtasia,screencast,youtube[/tags]

I prefaced my talk by stating I didn’t want to begin with the tools since without context they can be meaningless. The analogy I used was that as someone with no understanding of carpentry, someone could show me all the latest tools at Home Depot and it wouldn’t mean much to me. But show me that you can create cupboards and I might be interested. (In reality, even that for me wouldn’t do it…I’d just hire someone) So I told them I was going to be showing them cupboards.
There were supposed to be few more than what turned out so it’s a very intimate setting. For the benefit of those unable to attend and for others interested, here’s it is. I just ran the video camera and basically captured the screen. I could have used a screen capturing program but am a bit leary when it’s a long and uses multiple applications. Because of the length, I had to use alot of compression on the video. So if you want a clearer picture of the slides, here they are. It’s really more of an enhanced podcast. So if you’ve got a spare 42 minutes….here you go.

The message is virtually the same but it’s nice to discuss the use of these tools outside the classroom application.
This week I also begin a series of 3 workshops on digital photography as part of our community courses.

The fact that these topics and tools have great use for adults in everyday life, once again brings validation to the importance of them to be explored and used with our students.

We’ve  been asked to pass this along.  Perhaps I’ll consider a proposal…I know how about “Using Microsoft Word in the Classroom” Yah right. But I’ll think of something.

technorati tags:k12online06, conferences

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We teach teachers to teach, we don’t teach teachers to learn. Even in professional development, we teach them stuff they need to be better teachers, but do we give them the skills they need to be better learners? Do we evaluate them on what they’ve been reading? On what they’ve been writing? On their reflectiveness?

Tomorrow, I’m talking briefly to all our new teachers and interns. While my portion of the day is largely informational, I hopefully can share the idea of being a learner first.

We hire teachers based on how well they know their subject matter and how well we think they can deliver it to students….What if we hired learners first?