MIA

It has been rather nice to not be so focused on blogging, but I have missed it. Thinking of ideas for the final project busted my chops. After watching Akeelah and the Bee and hearing one of the greatest songs ever I was sold on using it for the project. Then, the copyright thingy. OMG. I was like totally upset. LOL. So, there went that effort. So "Under Pressure" I found my way and sought out my iTunes ol' skool rap collection and laid down a track with my kids. My daughter has had this "American Idol" bug and has been doing "studio" work for a while. Staying out all time of the night. Keeping composition books of her writing. I didn't really get it until we embarked on this project. I've been in the zone for days now trying to "spit" out a rhyme. I even sought a resource called Flocabulary from flocabulary.com. It is has resources for writing raps for kids and with kids in the classroom. I tried to do a slant rhyme, instead of matchy, matchy lyrics (cat, rat, mat, flat)...you do...words that pull off the sound of "at"(still a novice so I have no example to share).

I will admit this was fun. The kids are singing there heart out and we hope to add Jordyn's trumpet piece, Myles' recorder part, and create a people version video later. It was loads of fun! So even though I've been MIA, I'm really not been that far away, you can catch me on skype and ichat, I seem to not be able to leave my Mac, as a matter of fact.....I think, but don't quote me that this was a slant rhyme.

Perfect practice makes perfect with just about anything.

PB15_2009123_OneMinuteMessage2

Creative juices always take a minute to get going! Enjoy!

PB14_2009123_PeerReviewJoanieWestern

I found an easy and inspirational bookmaking Web 2.0 tool, Tikatok StorySparks, for differential with my students in art for the elementary level, which I feel would be a great motivational tool as well as cognitive. Student creates his or her own stories. And watch them develop into actual book with hard copies.

In art class we can intergrade this with a study about illustrator and what make up a story? We can intergrade Language arts into the arts and technology realm. Student can collaborate with one another by choosing their art pieces and editing their storybook. This Web 2.0 tool can help learners of all multiple intelligences, as well as enhance the right and left-brain learners during collaboration. Students create ideas for the story, draw and name their characters, apply their artwork into their storybook.

I like this Web 2.0 tool because it is fast and easy and it is cost efficient. Tikatok StorySparks allows the art teacher to teach book making and illustration through language arts and enhance critical thinking skills. Tikatok StorySparks allows the learner to view storybooks and writing from different perspective and utilize different learning strategies as well as collaborate with the publisher for a real life finished product. In visual art class we teach art as a visual communication technique in solving communication problems. Tikatok StorySparks enhances these teaching methods by allowing the student to come up with many different creative solutions, while working in groups or individually.

Tikatok StorySparks, can be used as a summative assessment in art by developing an end of year portfolio for the elementary levels. Art teacher just need to make sure they take photos of the students work and save them to the web sites photo file under my photos and create individual hardcover books for presents to their parents to take with them for the years work. People still like something to that is tangible and keepsake, when it comes to their children.


My comment to Joan: You and I share the creativity bug. I love your idea of using this tool as a way to assess students in art. I would collaborate with another subject area and share the tool as an assessment. Two birds with one stone. As teachers we need to look for more ways of assessing students. It is more real world to do application type assessments as well. This was a great find Joanie!

PB13_2009123_PeerReviewSnwokedi

I like the site http://www.kindersite.org/Directory/DirectoryFrame.htm and it is a site I will visit frequently for resources to use in my class. This web 2.0 site is full of resources for kindergarten teachers. The resources are endless, from storybooks to lullabies to music and songs to games. I can basically create a lot of my lessons just by visiting this site. I also noticed that a lot of the activities on this site are differentiated by learning style and preference. The site is inline with my teaching style and my students will benefit from all of the wonderful resources on the site. I also loved the colorful graphics used on the site. The storybooks look inviting and make for a good way to motivate the students read. This is a site I can use also as part of my resources for my AR project since my research is on reading in kindergarten.




I can get so many ideas from the activities on this site; ideas that help can me build resources I can use to introduce students to technology using the appropriate content area for my young learners. The resources on this site will offer me measurable technology based tools to teach and assess my students. I am so excited! This site is indeed a great and very useful website for kindergarten students and teachers. Another thing I liked about the site is that it gives the age group for the storybooks so you can select the age appropriate books for your classroom reading. This is a good resource for read aloud and independent reading. There are also puppets to use with the books. This is a something I found that students enjoy. They love puppet shows and the resources on this site makes it easy to combine the storybooks with puppets.
Posted by SNwokedi_ETC Blogs at 8:12 PM

Deirdre Huger McGrew said...

Thanks for sharing this one. I have a K5, soon to be K4, and a wee K. I can use this at home with them. I look forward to seeing your ideas for Kindergarten. If I can help you with you AR let me know. I'm willing to be a critical friend.
December 12, 2009 7:44 AM

BP12C_2009123_Moovl

Can't talk about the big brother without sharing little sister, a big addition to the soda constructor family.

This Web 2.0 is more my style because it incorporates freehand drawing and animation. Obviously geared for the young, which is what I am at heart. Moovl gets high marks for giving the mind something creative to do. Sometimes kids just need to play and explore. Even the grown ones. Enough said.

PB12B_2009123_Sodaplay

Soda Constructor
www.sodaplay.com

I have a thing for creativity. It is probably a quiet passion of mine. I almost think it drives much of teaching practice AHa moment! I will follow through on that after I complete this post.

With that said, I have rediscovered a tool that I discovered about 8 years ago on the web. Sodaplay is a java applet that allows users to create the most wonderful visual animations. For my own personal inadequacies I feel that you have to be a genius to construct something that is worthwhile, but I know the fun is in the play. Think soda straws and using them to build structures now and movable parts and there you have sodaplay. The site holds no construction directions, which upset my basic mind when it comes to this playful tool. Eight years ago it was just lines and point and tools to get the gadget moving. Today they have added more applications to extend the original idea.

As I read through their forum it was obvious that they have a huge following that has been around since inception because they dutifully ask for the old version of sodaplay.
I feel that this tool is great for problem solving and math. I've even showed this to my son whom is working in his Algebra 3 course on conics. Tools within sodaplay include gravity, springiness, and physics. I'm no science and math person, but I've found sheer joy in looking at the work of others and trying to figure out how to create my own soda construction.

No wrapping paper needed. Sodaplay will provide hours of constructive play time.

PB12A_2009123_Zotero

I honestly wish I found this one 4 months ago.

How do you not loose your mind in the search for research? How do you gather your online resources for research and have them automatically ready for bibliography and in text citation? Zotero!

“ Zotero is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work—in the web browser itself.”

www.zotero.org

It was with great delight to find this Web 2.0 tool. It has so many features. Some them include automatically capture citations, remotely back up and sync your library, store pdfs, images, and web pages, take rich-text notes in any language, and uses thousands of bibliographic styles. As teacher-researchers this tool is worth the download. So instead of just storing those tools on bookmarking lists, virtual notebooks, or Word, Zotero will handle everything you grab from the web right into its browser tray.

I feel that is Web 2.0 tool comes with an impressive resume. Its sponsors are The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library services. It was created by the Center for History and New Media and George Mason University. And if that doesn’t satisfy its validity as a worthwhile tool, make note that the National Science Foundation has hired Zotero “o provide a customized interface for NSF’s internal use” (zotero.org).

I’ve not mastered its use, but am in self-training mode as I place my Ebscho searches in Zotero. Who wants to remember how to write a reference? I know I’ve never liked it since learning MLA in high school (which was also a self teaching experience). Does it make sense in the digital age to require manual acquisition of bibliographic information? I think not. Just Zotero!

In the flow of Action Research...

Creative Commons
Compass Stone by John Carmichael
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlcarmichael/3548475933/



It has been an incredible 48 hours of hard core searching, thinking, searching, and more thinking. The AR zone has finally hit the fan and boy the breeze feels good. I have found a purpose, a question, and gems of research. I'm thankful for the spirit of discovery and ask for the spirit of clarity to continue to drive the winds of success my way. A huge thank you to course instructor Rena Hanaway for expanding the horizon. Enough lofty writing, back to the compass to continue my journey.

All Tapped Out

Creative Commons:
Peat Bakke
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistermoss/1314808684/




I would love just a brief moment of synchronous thinking and doing instead of the asynchronous searching,finding, reading, and creating. Surely, one at a time is the desired choice, but by way of deprived focus I find myself in a constant state of driven distraction. Just thought I 'd get that in there for slight steam release.

Did a name change...

...I will leave it be. I thought 'web tools' in the subheading was redundant in relation to the title. So, I had a creative zing after tonight's Wimba session and changed the name. Thought of doing...Webtwolery...then Web-two-Oh..and just settled into Webtoolery. What do you think?

PB11_2009122_OneMinuteMessage1

This new tool needs users and feedback. Give it a try!

PB10_2009122_PeerReviewTomKowalewski

Tom said, "What does matter is IF I learn it and can apply it to my own life and share it with others."

So relevance is an issue and at the heart of failing schools. The educational system in place is failing all students by not accurately making the learning significant. About a week ago, on Meet the Press, Rick Warren, the minister who wrote The Purpose Driven Life, said that many people are working in jobs that they don't want to be in because it's not their purpose. The education system prepared them for those jobs by using the methodologies used in factories. There is no canned method for human education. It may work to create cars, but it's not working in learning. The learner must find what they are learning relevant to them. PLE is exciting the ignored elephant. Bring on student centered learning that is relevant. I agree with you here Tom and of course, CBL is a catalyst for change.


Please see Tom's blog at http://tk00.blogspot.com for his resources.

So what might be anti-teaching? What could be personal learning environments?

“If you want to see the significance problem first hand, visit a classroom and pay attention to the types of questions asked by students. Good questions are the driving force of critical and creative thinking and therefore one of the best indicators of significant learning. Good questions are those that force students to challenge their taken-for-granted assumptions and see their own underlying biases.

Oftentimes the answer to a good question is irrelevant – the question is an insight in itself. The only answer to the best questions is another good question. And so the best questions send students on rich and meaningful lifelong quests, question after question after question.” (Wesch, 2008)

“A personal learning environment (PLE) describes the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals. A PLE is frequently contrasted with a learning management system in that an LMS tends to be course-centric, whereas a PLE is learner-centric. At the same time, a PLE may or may not intersect with an institutional LMS, and individuals might integrate components of an LMS into the educational envi­ronments that they construct for themselves. A typical PLE, for ex­ample, might incorporate blogs where students comment on what they are learning, and their posts may reflect information drawn from across the web—on sites like YouTube or in RSS feeds from news agencies. While most discussions of PLEs focus on online environments, the term encompasses the entire set of resources that a learner uses to answer questions, provide context, and il­lustrate processes.” (Educause, 2009)

"As most of us know from our own experience, the best learning almost always occurs in the absence of a teacher, for it is then that learners are free to pursue with great passion the questions that are meaningful and relevant to their own lives. Focusing on the quality of learning, rather than the quality of teaching transforms the entire educational agenda." (Wesch, 2008)

I don’t mean to keep speaking about Challenge Based Learning (CBL), however, the quotes from the “Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance” by Michael Wesch, and the quotes from "7 Things You Should Know About...Personal Learning Environments" by Educause, describe CBL to some extent.

“Legislative efforts, then, have not only failed to improve performance, but are also failing to keep kids in school. The evidence shows that one of the main reasons students are leaving is because they are disengaging from school.” (Hernandez Jozefowicz-Simbeni (2008); Neild et al. (2008)).

“While some factors leading to disengagement are related to their home life and family issues, it is becoming clear that an important factor is that students feel very strongly that what they are learning in school is not relevant to their lives.” (United States General Accounting Office (2002)).

“Surveys of students who have left school have revealed that a lack of perceived connection between the curriculum and their everyday life or future work was a key factor, and many former students felt that more could have been done to keep them engaged through the type of schoolwork they were asked to do.” (See Bridgeland, et al. (2006), in which 71% of respondents reported losing interest in their freshman or sophomore year; 47% reported that they left school because the class work was uninteresting).

“Through the years, similar approaches including project based learning and contextual teaching and learning have been attempted, evaluated, and enjoyed by teachers and students alike; student learning in problem-based courses has been documented; yet the norm continues to be lecture-based instruction focused on what will be on the test.” (See, for instance, Pearlman (2006); Saye and Brush (2004); Ward and Lee (2004); Maxwell et al. (2001); and Berns and Ericson (2001)).

“PLE’s represent a shift away from the model in which students consume information through independent channels such as the library, a textbook, or an LMS, moving instead to a model where students draw connections from a growing matrix of resources that they select and organize. In this context, the PLE functions as an extension of the historical model of individual research. Be­cause they emphasize relationships, PLEs can promote authentic learning by incorporating expert feedback into learning activities and resources. A PLE also puts students in charge of their own learning processes, challenging them to reflect on the tools and resources that help them learn best. By design, a PLE is created from self-direction, and therefore the responsibility for organiza­tion—and thereby for learning—rests with the learner.” (Educause, 2009)

“Instead, what is needed is a new teaching model that incorporates the best aspects of problem based learning, project-based learning, and contextual teaching and learning while focusing on real problems faced in the real world. This model must engage students’ curiosity and desire to learn. It must make the solving of real problems the center of the curriculum, give students access to 21st century tools, and require them to work collaboratively and manage their own time. It must allow students to direct the course of their learning and engage teachers in a supportive, very necessary role as guides. Challenge-based learning is such a model.” (The New Media Consortium, 2009)

“Challenge-based learning builds on the successes of problem-based learning models where students engage in self-directed work scenarios (or “problems”) based in real life. In challenge-based learning, as in problem-based learning, the teacher’s primary role shifts from dispensing information to guiding the construction of knowledge by his or her students around an initially ill-defined problem. Students refine the problem, develop research questions, and investigate the topic using a wide variety of primary source material, and work out a variety of possible solutions before identifying the most reasonable one. Documentation of the process and a high-quality production of findings further serve to give the process relevance to the world of actual work.” (The New Media Consortium, 2009)

“A unique feature of challenge-based learning is that problems are tied to an idea of global importance (war, say, or the sustainability of water). Students are able to research the area of the challenge in terms of events taking place in the world around them, strengthening the connection between what they learn in school and what they perceive outside it. They then work in teams of co-learners, further increasing their interest in the process and giving them valuable experience in team dynamics and collaborative work. Teachers act as coaches to the student-centered communities of practice, addressing individual questions and concerns and stepping in to help the students retain their focus if the problem seems too large.” (The New Media Consortium, 2009)

Because challenge-based learning takes its ideas from real-world issues that students then must translate into solutions of local applicability, a very wide range of curricular areas can be addressed. When integrated as a regular part of the curriculum, challenge-based learning practices naturally lead to discovery of relevant subject matter in many areas. Because problems do not need to be invented — the challenges are real — students connect what they are learning with their own experiences.” (The New Media Consortium, 2009)

“When students recognize their own importance in helping to shape the future of this increasingly global, interconnected society, the significance problem fades away. But simply telling them this narrative is not enough. The narrative must become pervasive in the learning environment. There are many ways to do this.” (Wesch, 2008)

“Personal Learning Environment is an evolving term, one without a single, widely accepted definition. Even as defined here, the con­cept remains somewhat amorphous, made up of disparate re­sources—including people—often beyond the boundaries of the institution or the user that can come and go, creating a lack of continuity. For academics, a simple reference to sources may not be enough in such an environment, as data can easily disappear. As a learning platform that is by definition always evolving, a PLE requires students to engage in ongoing decision making to main­tain, organize, and grow their learning environments. The process of self-directed learning requires a degree of self-awareness, and it must be given time to mature. Some students, however, may have never taken the time to think about their own meta-cogni­tion or to reflect on how they learn best. These less experienced students may not be ready for the responsibility that comes with building and managing a PLE. Furthermore, despite their ability to quickly learn new online tools and computer applications, many students lack the information fluency necessary to recognize when a writer speaks from authority, for example, or when a nar­rative is opinion. While the PLE offers the opportunity to sharpen these skills, instructors may find it useful to discuss the hallmarks of a well-thought-out argument and to underscore caution in ac­cepting “facts” presented by peers and anonymous posters.” (Educause, 2009)

“Access to technology, an integral part of challenge-based learning, can help teachers overcome some of the other constraints of problem-based learning. Ubiquitous Internet access in a one-to-one setting opens the door for students to use online tools for collaboration and communication, often the same tools that are used in the modern workplace. Students have access to a wider range of resources, including current news articles, research, and even experts around the world.

A key feature of challenge-based learning is that it appropriates the networking tools and media production techniques already being used in daily life by many 21st century learners. In preparing the final products of their research — presentations of their chosen solutions — students draw upon photography, videography, audio recording, and writing skills that they may already be using as web content producers. If they are not already doing those things, challenge-based learning provides an engaging opportunity for them to hone these kinds of high-level communication skills.” (The New Media Consortium, 2009)

“Challenge-based learning motivates students to come to class and do well. It leverages technology tools to put the daily experiences of students in the service of their education. It focuses learning on real-world issues, gives students a chance to work on important problems, gets their voices heard, and empowers them to influence their community for the better. Challenge-based learning has real potential to reverse the slipping trend of poor retention, low scores, and disengagement, turning learning into an exciting, meaningful experience — as it is meant to be.” (The New Media Consortium, 2009)

“Challenge-based learning is a collaborative learning experience in which teachers and students work together to learn about compelling issues, propose solutions to real problems, and take action. The approach asks students to reflect on their learning and the impact of their actions, and publish their solutions to a worldwide audience.” (Apple, 2008)

In addition, Mr. Wesch sounds like he is proposing digital storytelling as a means for a final outcome. He states, “The ultimate goal of the course is relatively simple: figure out how the world works . . . My job becomes less about teaching, and more about encouraging students to join me on the quest. Students record the simulation on twenty digital video cameras and we collectively edit the material into one final “world history” video using clips from real history to illustrate the correspondences. We watch the video together during the last week of class as we contemplate our world. By then it seems as if we have the whole world right before our eyes in one single classroom – profound cultural differences, profound economic differences, profound challenges for the future…and one-humanity.”

So, what am I saying? One of my favorite quotes probably says it best, “I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.” (Cassidy, 1968)

Simply, put, no matter what the label (anti-teaching, CBL, problem based learning), students need to feel a part of their learning environment they can touch. The students need to see how they can make a difference; they need to sense progress in their own lives. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “To be (a part of the solution), or not to be (a member of society), that is the (essential) question.”

So the essential questions are: Are virtual learning environments with course management systems the answer? What about PLEs and Web 2.0 tools? Is technology itself enough? What are the key components you would include in new schools?

Answering these questions is easy. Each of us learns new things all the time (at work, home, on way to and from, hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, dreaming, touching, and even thinking). We all learn differently. Some call this differentiated instruction; some say it is a learning style, or PLE. It doesn’t matter if it is one-intelligence or multiple, it doesn’t matter if it is right brained or left, and it doesn’t matter if it is brained-based at all. What does matter is IF I learn it and can apply it to my own life and share it with others.

Without communication, nothing is possible. Whether students learn in a virtual world, a classroom, online, a combination of these, or some other way is not relevant. If a student learns something and can apply it to his/her own life and can share it with others, we have succeeded in educating the student. We teach to each student’s PLE and should be using all tools, not just Web 2.0 tools. My new school is the world, and everything in it.

“The challenge for me has always been engaging students with technology to create a variety of disciplined communications. Classroom innovation comes from educating each student with challenge-based learning so each can successfully use his or her imagination to transform ideas into real world solutions through a vast array of multimedia. I facilitate the expansion of student experimentation while making every attempt to follow both state and national technology goals. My name is Tom Kowalewski and I am an Apple Distinguished Educator.” (Kowalewski, 2009)

PB9_2009122_FlickrLesson

Flickr is the poster site for visual learning. A picture is worth a thousand words is how the saying goes; yet we seem to be able to find more words depending on our mood and personal experiences.

Like the rest of America and the world, I'm like obsessed with reading the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. Two years ago I had heard about it from a student because she was reading it for Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). It was time to move on and she begged for more time and I just didn't get it until I decided to check it out for myself. The rest is part of a collective history. Like many I just devoured book one, book two, and book three and then went into withdrawal until book 4 arrived from Amazon. In my head are those characters and the scenes. I really didn't appreciate the movie much because my minds eye was stuck on what had registered there from reading. Now, what does that have to do with Flickr? What if Flickr could be used to find visual pictures that represented stories and books they have read and create slideshows with narrations or music?

I decided to investigate this brain burp and seek photos of Forks, Washington on Flickr. In my search I found and entire slide show that resonated more with me than the movies have, even though New Moon definitely up the visuals a notch. Fans have posted photos of the area including movie-based pictures.

Using Flickr to find picture artifacts of a novel would be a cool idea. It would even be great for building prior knowledge before a story is read. Teachers could grab photos that relate for students to view.

Seeing the photos from Flickr of Forest scenes and meadows have made the words of Twilight whisper in my heart’s ear. I have no time to really reread like I desire to, so the photos will have to suffice for now.

PB8_2009122_Hyperwords

I'm hyped about Hyperwords!

Hyperwords is a tool that literally makes an entire webpage searchable. Naw huh...ah huh. Instead of the hyper links that already may exist on the page, any word that you choose to select by clicking and dragging over it can be researched in some way. Hyperwords allows you to search, shop, translate, and copy words. While doing my usual web shuffle in search of just the right Web 2.0 tool or other resources I came upon a German educational technologist's blog. I was able to use the hyperwords translation feature to actual read parts of the page. I found that to be quite cool and humbling. The western isn’t the center of the global community. It’s only a hub as many in other cultures are a part of the technology conversation.

I wish the developers would work on developing this tool for ereaders like the Kindle. Building prior knowledge before learning new material is important. A tool like hypermedia would help with that skill. Students would be able to look up words they didn’t know or search a city that is mentioned in a story. It really builds the ability to comprehend and improves reading literacy.

As I’ve spent many hours on the net hypermedia has helped me while reading some of the ‘scholarly’ pieces online. The vernacular of academia can be daunting.

Hyperwords is a Mozilla Firefox add-on. No Safari, yet. If this one does well, it may go proprietary. Snatch it now while it is free, but download Mozilla first.



http://www.hyperwords.net/index.html

BP7_2009122_Flockdraw

Hot of the Press, Newly launched Nov. 30!

Blog hopping landed me onto to a fresh new Web 2.0 tool, flockdraw.com. I will say that my personal interests always seem to attract web tools that are artistic and creative. This tool is a whiteboard for drawing, writing, and collaborating asynchronously. Up to 10 students can participate on the whiteboard at one time. Others will be able to view but not participate. The interface is clean and simple. Once a drawing has started the program automatically assign a distinct url address to the piece that can be shared. Once the piece is complete an embed code is given so the end result can be placed on websites or blogs, etc.

This tool is adaptable for any discipline. I’d love to see this Flockdraw incorporated in a math class. Students would work together on math problems or create visual pictures that represent a math sentence. Young children would really get a kick out of a shared drawing or story. Could this tool put a spin on the usual overhead of daily oral language or analogy? How about a creating vocabulary pictures?

I believe Flockdraw will be another tool that will make technology integration seamless. Of course with a new tool there will be constructive criticism from the risk takers who try to employ the tool. I would love for instructions to be on the site, but for now flockdraw appears to be a viable addition to other Web 2.0 tools out there. Kudos to the Flockdraw team, this is a whiteboard worth sharing. Check out the video of my son and I playing around.

BP6_2009121_AntiTeaching

Two glimpses.

Thoughts of a student

Dread. Same old class with the same old methods. No fun. NO change. Daily Oral Language on the board. Journal. Teacher talk. I pretend to listen. Friends catch my eye. Funny face. Book work. The worst. The clock ticks. Too long. Finished. Read silently. (Gasp). Bell rings. Thank goodness. Art!

Kids at play.

Let's play school. I'll be the teacher. Get your books. Read this story. Write your math. Here is your worksheet. Let me grade it. Everything is correct. You get an 'S+". You have an ‘F’. Here is more work. No talking. Stay in your seat.




How many of our students walk through similar sentiments? How many of them have this heaviness on a daily basis? As a kid, I can remember many days like the point of view above. Even as an adult learner, I know I learn best in an engaging environment. As a teacher I've had these days with my students. (The truth will set me free).

I'm old enough to remember the Little Rascals and the days of the dunce cap. A kid mirroring the images of school is a great game, loved mostly by girls. Are children still playing school today? Is the classroom still significant to children’s playtime? If so, what do we look like?

The focus of this entry is to think about the educational systems that are in place and assume that the system is inadequate for the majority of learners. If that assumption were true then what would work for those students? What systems would be needed to allow those students to flourish? My honest take is that there isn't one way that would work in every situation. Learning is a personal event. There is a generalization of how learning can be derived, however what really makes learning reach its highest degree is when it adds to the physical, social, cognitive, and emotional dimensions of the learner.

As a college professor Michael Wesh (2008)claims that the problem of education today is significance. Students have always lamented the familiar ‘why do I need to learn this’ or ‘what’s the point’ questions. And can educators blame them, especially the learners of the 6-12 sector of public education. As a middle school teacher I see how in this zone we sow the seeds of those questions. Learners are inundated with skill and drill and teach to the test methods that have no specific connections to real world career, jobs, or interests. In my opinion, students derive their connections to real world more from their personal interests and activities. Having a love of cycling can lead to becoming a XGame professional, tennis can lead to a viable career, a love of technology and computing makes students think tech school versus public education’s highly preferred ‘4 year college for all’ platform. Wesch speaks of putting his 500 students at the center of the learning and bowing out of the standard teacher centered instruction calling it ‘anti-teaching’.

At first gut I heard the rebel yell and cried ‘more, more, more’ like the 80’s song by icon Billy Idol when I read Wesch’s. I was ready to go rogue, but it wasn’t that kind of party necessarily. Wesch was trying to restore thinking of what teaching can and should be. It should be relevant to the learner and provide a purpose. What is content without a learner? Can you have a learner without content? Learning is natural and the world is content. The learner comes into contact with its environment and the environment provides a natural curriculum to be learned. A learner’s ability to grasp the curriculum is shaped by its mentors that guide the learner to understanding. That is education.

So, what is teaching? That is the question. Dr. Christopher Deason gave this question in an online learning environment to his month 3 graduate students, of which I was a part. I’ve shared his views and a student’s reply in the following video. It speaks to those ideals that Wesch is attempting to make relevant to the education community. As I don’t have a direct quote from Dr. Deason, I remember him saying that what we value as teachers really encourage how we view teaching and learning. It is what shapes who we are.


So then the question becomes what is central to the core of learning in the 21st century? How will this be achieved and how does the learner’s learning style now make a substantial impact on how learning will take place in formal education? In the advent of virtual learning, computers are literally on the table for discussion. Mobile technology and systems that promote curriculum development are becoming mainstays of college campuses and online learning. Course management systems are prevalent tools used by the education community to supervise online learning content and provide a way to compact a set of tools to provide interactions between students and course providers. This system is great for instructors whom are immigrants to current technology. Even though this warehouse of administrative tools is relevant to providing some efficient ways of interacting with students, they do not provide varying options for its use. In my experience as a teacher my school had the service provided by our district called eChalk. It gave every faculty and staff email address, Teachers could create web pages that could have a discussion board, bookmarked resources, class calendar and announcements, mini-pages for project activities and resources. Students were had email service and access to class pages. So it was more a management system for the teachers with limited technology for students. Initially students were excited by the ability, but disappointed that there was ‘no real purpose’ for having an email. Exploration was prohibited and teachers didn’t find ways to incorporate this technology so students would find the significance of the online experience valid beyond getting homework assignments. A very expensive system that isn’t used to it’s fullest potential.

On the other hand, sites like Google and Yahoo, are allowing it’s users to customize their homepages with gadgets, i.e. calendar, notepads, mini Facebook and Twitter interfaces, that put everything needed for productivity in one place. It creates a personal environment for the user. Like CMS everything is available and then some. Email, IM, RSS feeds, links, and all sorts of other gadgets allow users to create their own space according to their own needs. Professional learning environments (PLE) describes the tools, communities, and services that allow users to personalize and manage their own learning via a free online tool. The learner decides what is important, what is needed, who their contacts are, and manages their agenda via the platform (Educause, 2009). I can attest to PLE, even though at the time I had no idea of this concept. I’m an aspiring artist and have sought out an art group via Yahoo, which has a Facebook group and blog. I signed myself up and receive emails from the group, have made contacts with other group members in the art Flickr group, and have a lifeline of mentors as I draw, upload, and share my work. I do all this without a university. I scour the web for art lessons and subscribe to feeds of other artists so I can constantly feed my brain with my own personal preferences for art. A university could legitimize my abilities but it would cost me a great deal for the validation I may receive through my PLE. My interaction with my iGoogle has been my summer long PLE and I’ve truly missed it as stated in an earlier post.


Am I anti-teaching? I am Pro-Learner. I am passionate about the new ways we can reach our grey minded students who lack true significance of their learning efforts. I want to set my teaching practice free. So, truth be told, I am anti-teaching and anti-teaching is authentic teaching.


References:

More videos from Dr. Christopher Deason
http://feeds.feedburner.com/idnetwork

Meerts, J. (2003, October 20). Course management systems (CMS). Retrieved from Educause Web site http://net.educause.edu/or/library/pdf/DEC0202.pdf

Wesch, M. (2008 Spring). AntiTeaching confronting the crisis of significance. Educate Canada,48(2), 3-7. Retrieved from www.cea-ace.ca/media/en/AntiTeaching_Spring08.pdf

PB5_2009121_SocialBookmarking

I have scoured the net for resources that comply with this assignment and seriously the information is redundant and comes strictly from higher education. What I've seen is how college instructors are using Delicious or any other social bookmarking tool to enhance research collaboration.

As I changed my search terms to 'social bookmarking for schools', heaven shined upon me and there it was, a link to a blog called Share More!Wiki.

Here is the link to that site: http://www.edsupport.cc/mguhlin/share/index.php?n=Work.Socialbookmarkingstories.

The author elicited friends to share how they are using social bookmarking. Most teachers were creating their own accounts and sharing their site with students and parents directly or uploading their tags to a different site that provided a little more safety, ie www.portaportal.com.

Visit the site and see what is offered there.

BP4_2009121_PicLit

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

This was my first PicLit in practice mode.

tbird said 20 hours ago:
Tell us more about this meeting. Where is it taking place. WRITE more and often. Thanks



See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

tbird said 13 hours ago:
Clever and very apropo.

This was my second and I made it for this post.



See the full PicLit at PicLits.com


tbird said 13 hours ago:
Well said. Grasping the magnitude of change and over-abundance of information. Just some of my thoughts. Thanks for sharing this PicLit. Kudos.

chata said 14 hours ago:
The agony and the joy of working on the edge!

After playing around I made this one and earned 4 stars! Very exciting.


PicLit.com is a site that brings pictures and words together. The idea is to creatively match words that capture the spirit of a photo. A single word, phrases, sentences, or even a paragraph may be written. Rhyme or prose, the end result is liken to the many posters we have seen hanging on the walls in classrooms.

Creating a PicLit is very simple. A photo is chosen, words can be dragged and dropped from a provided list of nouns, verbs, and adjectives or the user can ‘freestyle’ and write from their own thoughts. The PicLit is then published and the user is given an embed code and Url to share their work in other places on the web. ELA teachers have long had students use the strategy of using images as prompts for story starters. As a part of my writing project courses picture prompts were used for quick writes. Finding just the right words to convey the message of an image isn’t an easy task, but just imagine using PicLit to jump off the creative writing mojo of students.

I created the above images in less than 10 minutes and was really surprised at how quick someone had viewed my work and made judgments so soon after I posted. The viewer of my work came from the PicLit founder, Terry Friedlander. His critique of my work was very exciting. This made me think about how feedback is so important to learners. Comments and ratings are formative assessments, nudges.

In my opinion, the site is not cumbersome and easy to navigate; the graphics are pleasing and does provide sparks of thoughts for writing. The directions are simple for even the youngest reader. The site even provides 3 levels of writing lessons for users to differentiate their writing experience. Each level has its own instructions for writers. Coming soon to the application will be the ability to print, search, and tag PicLits. There will even be a weekly contest.

PicLit is a great tool for inspiring students to think, write, and share their work in a creative way online.

BP3_2009121_EdulUses4Blogs

Photo Credit: Michael Karshis

Musing about blogs.

Jibber. Jabber. Yaada, Yaada, Yaada. I loved Seinfeld and his cronies and their gift of gabbing about everything from muffins, dates, jobs, and just about a whole lot of nothing. It was always talk and banter about some of the most asinine things. No matter the talk we all tuned in for years of episodes because in the whole lotta nothin’ there was a trace of somethin’. Thinking about blogging makes me think of Seinfeld, or various other shows where the speaking is fun and fast. Blogs can be fun or serious, full of air or substance, and nothing in particular or just as specific as it wants to be. It can be a swirl of all of the above. Nonetheless, it is a way to share one’s thinking on just about anything with a virtual audience. No vocals necessary.

A blog or weblog is defined as a website of chronologically ordered entries or posts (Zawilinski, 2009). These posts are like journal entries. The author expresses ideas, opinions, or inform its audience on how many licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie pop (just having fun). Blogs are open to everyone and in every form.

Educational uses of blogs.

I’ve run a cool race searching for the “it” list of educational uses for blogs, but there isn’t an “it” list.

Here are some ideas from www.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogideas1.cfm:


Post writing prompt
Week in review
Respond to a reading
Find the facts
Critique a site
Current events



References

Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking. Reading Teacher, 62(8), 650-661. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=39232973&site=ehost-live

BP2_2009121_RSSFeeds

Adding blogs to the Google reader can be quite messy without organization. Within the reader I've created several folders to organize my subscriptions. I've labeled them art, brain, gifted, AR, FSO, professional, etc. In my professional folder I have more than 5 feeds but I will share those that I think will help me in my Full Sail journey and beyond. I've subscribed to Reading Daily Today RSS feed. This is a blog from the International Reading Association, IRA. This feed will allow me to stay abreast of information concerning reading and literacy. The second feed is ISTE Connects from the International Standards for Technology Education organization. I look forward to staying up-to-date on technology teaching and learning for students and teachers. The third feed that I have is ASCD inservice blog. Access to the information shared with administrative leaders, provides a different point of view. The last two feeds I will list here are from seasoned professionals whom are passionate about technology. They are Dangerously Irrelevant and CoolCatteacher. These two sites will provide information about technology, leadership, and classroom teaching ideas. I am working on tailoring my feeds to sites or blogs that will help me with my Action Research (AR) project.

Huger-McGrew, D., (2009). Screenshot6.png.[Frame]. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#overview-page

BP1_2009121_iGoogleScreenShots

Google Homecoming!

I am very excited to return to my iGoogle page. Over the course of the last 3 months it has been extremely difficult to merge the FSO world with my Google world. I'm a veteran Google suite user since the 2007-2008 teaching school year, my final school term. Then, I was looking for ways to integrate technology. Research writing was a part of the 8th grade ELA curriculum and I just knew there was a more efficient way of handling all the parts of the writing experience, i.e. a virtual concept mapmaker, a virtual notebook, etc. Once I figured everything out like my fellow course mate,Christina Hewitt, it was time to put my new learning to use. I had my students to create Google mail accounts and add the notebook tool to their home browser. Like I've said in numerous posts on the Full Sail Online discussion post boards, this was the best teaching and learning experience in a regular classroom setting that I had ever had. I still have the communication from this experience archived from the following: Google chats, emails, docs, and notebooks. This experience was the one thing that was nagging at me when I decided to leave the classroom because I wanted to use Google the following year (my action research before I knew of such a thing). I'm really grateful that spiritually much of what I have thought about has been solidified by my participation in the FSO program and the network of friends I've met here. When my course instructor, Rena Hanaway, shared her story, it was like she and I shared a journery, only in different states. I, too, believe that public education could use an overhaul and revolution led by it's strongest ally, the public school teacher.