Educational Discourse

I finished my final work on my online course through Harvard Education. It was great to be back doing a class but as the class drew to a close, I began to realize that there was something that was missing from what I was doing. As I began to wrap up my work which I was doing with my own class and then recording in the class, I realized that it was really Teaching for Understanding as much as it was Learning for Understanding. Yes, I was the teacher, but I’m really do a whole bunch of learning as we work on this project. I also realized that the students only need my permission to go find things and, to some degree, some of the skills that I have found work when doing a search. But once they begin to use them themselves, they then need critical reading and analytic skills to assess what they have found.

Another thing that I have been working on is having students view the internet as more than a cool place to chat and hang out, play games and watch videos. It is a place of interesting thoughts, ideas and perspectives that has the potential to bring us in touch with many different things that can help us to build whatever it is we are building. (Pipe bombs excluded) We have an opportunity now, with many of our students still keen about the internet and learning, to really get them involved in this process and have them share and work together with all kinds of people while we provide the parameters by which they will need to demonstrate proficiencies, knowledge being one of them.

My CPT class is working on creating a review/interview using audacity on a topic of their choice. They have to create a proposal and then, using that proposal, begin to craft a 6 minute review of their topic which must include an interview of another person. We discussed this and brainstormed topics. My greatest problem is getting them to get down to work on the assignment. If you check out the link, I’ve given them places to look for sounds and ideas for their reviews. I thought that this would motivate them. I then added the incentive that these would be posted and reviewed by other students. Still like pulling teeth on a charging rhinoceros. For them, they log on and go straight to the games/music videos. I then must get them to close these windows throughout the class as they try to not let me see them on them. So there is still a long way to go. Having said that, if we can work with students who are younger and get them to view these tools as more than an entertainment area, we then have a real opportunity to drive education in a new direction. For a vast majority of our senior students, the opportunity has been lost. This is where, I think, we need to be work at having young students encounter the technology and get messy learning with it. Kathy Cassidy’s class blog is a perfect example of this. Thanks Dean for sharing!

As I mentioned in my last blog, we need to begin somewhere so let’s put some foundation down for future years. I’m not saying don’t show this to the older kids or the senior students won’t benefit or run with it but, with young learners, they’re excited about school and willing to try things and work at things. They don’t yet have the “entertain me” perspective that I am encountering more and more. These tools will really move us away from the entertainment and into the realm of authentic learning. The catch is figuring out how to assess this, where it fits in our present system, how do we begin to shift the paradigm and what takes place in the mean time? These are things, as an administrator, I must think about as we have provincial and division initiatives that we must also work towards implementing. Part of my role is to assist teachers in finding the resources to bring the two together and one of those resources is time. Any ideas for this one? I know it was one thing that Will Richardson  says he hears all the time and it is valid.

I read a new blog today from an administrator who has begun blogging. His sentiments are very true.

Okay, I have always thought of myself as fairly forward thinking and progressive educator.  In the last two days I have come to feel as if I have been asleep for the past decade.  I’m 40 next year and I have an mp3 player, frequent the Internet – my friends and family get me to burn disks for them and are amazed at how quickly I can do that.  I buy stuff on Ebay.  I, therefore am technologically literate . . .  right?!?

Ah, no.

Web 2.0 or the multimedia, read-write-post-video-audio-voip thingy has set up camp in my nice little familiar world and I just don’t know how it happened.  I have been here the whole time – I am a pioneer.  First teacher to have Internet access in my school!  Ahhhhhhhhhh.  How do you keep up?!!

But there is hope, I think, in that we are seeing a rise in the number of educators who are becoming aware of this move to using the tools around us for more than just posting assignments and schedules. There is an opportunity to build a foundation with people who are willing to again become the pioneers. Only we don’t have years and years. We have only a few years, if that, to make these tools part of our everyday life of school. (FCOL, we still don’t have any electronic method of doing announcements ) There is a will for things to change, we need to stop the quick response of “On top of all this?” by being ready to suggest things that can be given up in order for this to become a reality. I really think that some program of purchasing laptops would be a big step towards making this a reality. Teachers need the tools and need to be able to work with them, get messy and have things blow up (figuratively) so they aren’t freaked out when it happens to a student. Independent learners are important. We need to create them in our teachers and then create them in our students. As an administrator, I guess this becomes part of my mission, one teacher at a time.

Kelly

technorati tags:learning, teaching, administration, administrators, edtech, elearning, collaboration, web2.0, discussions

Blogged with Flock

Today was another first in my technology learning curve. I was able to enjoy a session with Will Richardson, Dean Shareski and a group of educators from the southern part of SK. I was only able to round up one teacher from my school to take part in the dialogue which was good because we were able to have a good discussion as we listened.

I took a few things away from this conversation that will definitely impact what I do and I think all teachers should really think about.

1. Communication and the exchange of ideas and information is changing and education better beware. As I listened to the discussion, it was amazing because there were several things happening all at once and, without being present, one would not fully appreciate the events that were taking place. First, Will Richardson was explaining how teachers needed to start where they were ready. While this was going on, I could hear that the group in MJ was having a discussion about what they thought while we were typing out a question(my mike is not working:( ) that we edited together to get the message that we wanted. All this going on in a brief amount of time, all of us sharing our thoughts and ideas in such a way that we could all still hear what was being said while still having our own conversations. That is what I think Will is referring to in his article The New Face of Learning Here we were, discussing things with someone from Philadelphia about learning and the ways of learning and all of us were engaged, not just with him but with those around us yet no one was disrupted or disturbed.
2. Teachers need to begin working with the technology in whatever way they can. Teachers need to quit looking for excuses for why they are not using the technology and technology tools that are available. For myself, I’m always finding time to be an issue but, as Will pointed out, he has given up the paper because he does not have time for it. I thought I might give up something like marking but that really doesn’t help So, as an educator and administrator, I need to find what is important, both in my personal and professional life and then, instead of adding this to it, exchanging it for something. AND, I will need to put forth some of my own money to make this successful. This will be the more difficult part but, as I was thinking about it, I have a few things that may have to give in order for this to work. That doesn’t mean I can’t go back to them at a later date but for now, they may have to wait.
3. Administrators need to become aware of the new technologies and support/encourage their use. As an administrator, I am fully aware of the usefulness of these tools for enhancing the learning of students. And given the rapidly advancing landscape of technology where the phone may soon become the device of choice, we had better be aware of what we are asking teachers to do and where we are asking teachers to invest their time. I’m not yet at the point where my blog is read by large numbers, but I am learning quickly and applying what I learn to my own classes. Therefore, as we go along, not only will it be a discussion of what might but I will address that “what is” as it takes place in my class.
4. Learners need to become active not passive. This may be one of the most difficult things that we face. For many students, the web and the tools we see as being educational and transformative are, for many of them, gadgets they use for entertainment and communication. I am experiencing right now, as I teach a Communication Production Course, this very problem. I have modified my assignments to try to engage them with having them work on something they are passionate about but I still find they are off doing other things – mostly gaming. So, as we look toward the younger students, if we don’t have them using the tools for learning, I can only imagine what they’ll be doing. We have to allow them to be creative and explorative.
5. Society needs to view these “gadgets” for their learning potential. We, as educators, must be advocates for the children and their future. I guess I really didn’t understand how powerful that was until Will began to talk about his children in school and I began to picture my three boys, the oldest entering kindergarten this year and what they will face in the next 20 years. Right now my four daughters are growing during a time of revolution of sorts. They are beginning to see how the tools can be used and they want to be part of that. My oldest daughter, 14, wants to do a website and blog and upload/download music, etc – she’s beginning to look in MySpace. This is good and I’m encouraging her to begin this process – she already belongs to several writing groups and is using the tools for expanding her learning far beyond anything she will get in school. The other girls, 9 through 13 are all at different stages from playing and IMing to becoming more socially aware of what is happening in the world to the point that one is beginning to scan the newsheadlines instead of the paper, which she use to read. We’ve moved from the paper format to the web format – replacing our format but not the discussions. We must be advocates for these children and the only way one can truly advocate is if one is familiar with the actual tools hence the need to use them.
6. Finally, suspension of disbelief. This is where our conventional past experiences runs into the unobservable future. We need to let go and jump knowing that, no matter where we land, it will take us to places we haven’t been and we just might really enjoy the ride along the way. This includes everything from giving students digital cameras to take photos with to increasing access to other tools in the school, making sure our work aligns with curriculum which aligns with assessment. The more I hear, read and learn, the less able I am to put the brakes on what is happening.

My biggest challenge as an administrator is how to support and encourage such learning when there are many other irons in the fire. How do we stoke the fire now so we don’t get burnt in the future? I’ve spent less time doing this than a host of other people in the circle but I’m already seeing ways we can use this in all levels of our educational system, from Sask Learning on down to the classroom.

Now which way do I go?

Kelly

Blogged with Flock

Well, I’ve take the leap and begun a small admin blog for administrators in our school division. I’ve invited a few administrators with whom I am working to discuss topics dealing with supervision and evaluation. I am hoping to have add some other widgets that they can use to find other topics of interest. I’m using blogger for this, just to try out yet another popular blogging site to see what it offers and how it works with groups. I’m hoping to start a wiki that administrators can use to edit different things in relation to papers we are discussing or proposals we would like to make. I see this as being a key instrument in helping us to work more collaboratively given the distances that we have to manage in our new school division. I see such other technologies as Skype and other webbased items to be critical to us doing our job in a timely and efficient manner. It will also allow us to access other resources that we would not otherwise have access. Case in point is the discussion I will join view Skype with Will Richardson. I’m looking forward to what we will discuss. I’ll keep you posted on what happens. FYI – I’m still hoping to get to chapter 5 in the Three-Minute Walk-through in the next week. I’m having trouble finding time for all these little things, especially with basketball season starting to move into full bounce.

Kelly

For all the benefits of technology, there are some drawbacks, and its greatest strength — being attuned to our need for instant gratification — is also its greatest weakness.

The latest software and hardware can be outdated in six months, and school systems simply don’t move that quickly. A school system will get state or federal funding to purchase access to the Internet, computers and software, and then the school system is unable to keep up with how rapidly advances occur.

Another glitch in heavy reliance on modern technology in schools: Every child learns differently. There are some students who prefer pencil and paper to Palm Pilots — students who can’t learn unless they physically write something down. In any given third-grade classroom across the country, some kids might grab a library book to learn something while other kids might benefit more from a talk with their peers. Technology might connect us more on one level and reduce personal interaction on another.

The key to our success with technology in the classroom, as with life, is to find a balance. Technology has its value, and textbooks have theirs. Ultimately, the goal is to provide every student with the best education possible — whether it is in textbook form or as an e-book downloaded to an iPod. WILLIAM S. DINGER

To add to my last post, the above quote comes from the same article that is used articles in the links found in  Jean-Luc Picar, Where are you? . I used this to demonstrate that unless one takes the time to read references (time students usually don’t use), one can miss information that very much changes the complection of what the author might have intended. Also, as this demonstrates, one can find seemingly supportive information from something that might not be. As Dinger states, one must be sure to differentiate (teach to the child) for each child and not all students want or relish learning on the web. In fact, not all students find learning in groups to be a positive experience. As I’ve begun to realize, this debate about using technology to “bring the learning to the students” isn’t quite as cut and dry as some would have people believe. As I’ve stated, I’m all for using the tool of technology to enhance the understanding of students but we seem to be on a craze that, societally, I do not think we can afford to maintain. As Dinger points out, one of the limitations of keeping up with technology is the cost and, like it or not, we cannot put all our resources into technology. Libraries are still very important for schools as are the Arts, Sciences and the Humanities and we cannot just rely on technology to serve in all these areas. Yes, it can assist and provide a great tool that will enhance the learning but so will field trips, books, and other “old” technologies that we use in our schools. And, technology moves and changes so rapidly that it becomes difficult for schools, and even parents, to keep up with what is happening. fyi – survey of our 200 odd students – 6 ipods/ 2 inanos. 6 & 2. Cellphones, used by a select group of grade 11 and 12’s with the odd grade 7 – 10 student having access to one. btw, we still have dial up in homes and, gasp, not everyone keeps pace with the net and we still use phones. Some homes don’t even have a computer. My guess is that in any major city you might find a block or two of people who do not have a computer either. (Too bad they don’t qualify for the $100 computers:( ) It’s not that I’m against technology, but we seem to be willing to sacrafice the human aspects or even stand up to kids and say “Hey, that’s great you talk and text, but you need to work on the one-to-one interaction with people.” Maybe it’s just me, but we’ve seemed to have relinquished some adult responsibility in favour of “Getting the kids on our side.”  or is it “Getting on the kids side?” As I read many of these blogs, it amazes me that for the first time ever, I think, adults appear to be buying into the notion that kids know best. I was going to make a tongue-in-cheek comment about having chocolate cake for breakfast (an old Bill Cosby bit of humour:) ) but then realized that it just might be true given the state of the weight in our children and the way diet is being dictated by “Fast Food” restaurants. We seem to have forgotten that everything needs to be taken in moderation and too much of any good thing will kill you (Yes, even chocolate!:0 )

K

Today I’ve been filing and filing and filing. I don’t know how I let it get out of control like this. And I thought that with the advent of email and the whole electronic age, paper was going to be reduced. It seems more like the a case of Global writing to me.

I think that this is one of the reasons I’d like to see more of us in the educational world get use to using and communicating via the web with the tools available to us. I know that some people need to have a hard copy but my experience has told me that once you get use to a different method, you soon begin to see the advantages. Now, in education there is a certain need for the presence of a hardcopy of things, especially when signatures are involved. But for most of the other things, lets move on to the digital world. I’d especially like to see the government begin to send us all the information and other material through the web using a template with the signature of whomever is sending the document. That way I wouldn’t have a file full of letters explaining why I’m getting the pamphlet that I won’t use. This would also apply in the assignment department where students could send us copies of their assignments, we could read them, type in our comments (which my students would really like) and then lock them and send it back – no paper used. If we could figure out how to do this with most of our assignments, think of the paper we’d save. Having said this, I’ve read that the PA Pulp Mill might have sold so maybe these aren’t such great ideas for our provincial economy!
I’m looking forward to this weekend – it’s our first basketball tournament and we’ll see how the girls and I do. I’m working on sitting for most of the game and their working on listening when I talk to them on the bench, if I sit down. We’ll see!!
I’m also hoping to get into the 5th chapter of The Three-Minute Walk-Through so that I can begin to put together a plan to use it before Christmas and give some feedback on how I find it working in the field. It may become the 5 minute walk-through differentiated for administrators like myself!!

K