Educational Discourse

We are approaching the final days of our CPT class and things are really starting to get interesting. The students are suppose to be finished their ten minutes of recording, getting thing ready for editing. So, what is going on? They’re reviewing the early work we did where we downloaded various sounds off the internet  and sounds they made with the effects and combined them to make a composite production. They spent a bit too much time doing this, although some of the productions were rather humorus. Check out the Podomatic badge - Blended Monkeys. This was one that just kind of came together by accident. We all had a good chuckle!

I’m finding that the students don’t want to do the scripts or storyboards. They want to get straight into  producing, which doesn’t bother too much except that we don’t have anything to turn to if we run into time problems or editing difficulties. I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas for this. I’ve thought of using writeboard to have them do their story boards. Any ideas for this part?

My other class, grade 9 social, has begun using their blogging efforts. Some of them are really into it. I began with the blogmeister setup just for the start. I’m going to try it for the first assignment. Now that we have done a few, things are really coming along. My next little tech trial will be a wiki that will list the work they are doing on importatnt people, events or inventions during different periods of time. We do this as an introduction to the study of the Romans, Medieval times, the Enlightenment and then Native Canadian culture. This is sometimes a bit hard to tie together but we’ll see how it goes. This class is pretty excited about the blogs and they keep asking about the wiki.

My third goal is to get the staff and administrators going with blogging. So far it has been a big dud! I haven’t given up and I’m going to through Scott MacLeod’s project out to my admin group to see what happens. I’m hoping that a few of them will jump on board. I may even get to do a session for opening day next year. Pretty scary!!!!

Well, take a listen to the monkey. Let me know if you have any ideas. Off to coach basketball against our archrivals - the Eagles.

Go Mustangs Go!!

Kelly

Today my Communication Production Technology (CPT) class is working on their final project. We looked at some of the history of communication and the different tools that were standard in communication production. Much of the curriculum is still focused on using tape for recording so we have had to substitute and make changes to use digital recording and editing.

The class started by using various sounds they found on the net to create a short sound blurb in which they experimented with various effects. We have been using Audacity for our editing and recording and it has been very user friendly. Right now I am editing the different sound recordings together into one podcast for people to listen. The students spent a good deal of time just working with effects and the sounds.

Next we moved on to creating an audio production. Here the students did have trouble. They wanted to move into just recording and not worry about scripting or editing. They were to discuss a topic of their choice for 2 to 3 minutes. Some chose a band and played a song for most of the time, not spending time talking about the band. They also found out that without a script, they had to do more editing because of all the dead space.

Our final project is a group project. Now, I borrowed the idea from Christ Betcher which he described on one of his Virtual Staffroom podcasts. I gave the students a rubric from which to work and gave them the opportunity to again talk about topic of choice for 50% of the time and they had to do an interview and talk about a school topic for the other 50%. They also had to write their script for any of the talking they were going to do. For the interview, they had to identify who they would interview and what they would ask. They will then take the individual portions and create a 50 minute podcast. Right now they are into interviewing with 3 days left. We’ll see how they all turn out!!

I’ve found the recording to be the easy part. The students do not want to write the scripts but, after their last work, they realize the necessity to do this. They also have trouble planning the whole podcast out before they get to work. They like spending time look and listening to music or trailers but getting down to work is more of a challenge.

I’ve also begun a wiki and blog assignment in my grade 9 social. We are go to look at the topic of Change in relation to the fall of the Roman Empire and the ensuing changes in Europe and then reflect on how these have impacted on our present society. I’m using blogmeister for the blogs. We’ve just started so I’ll report back how this is working. What I will have them doing with the blogs is reporting in on what they did that day and what they found out. I am also using a wiki - which is private now - for recording of information and group assignments. I also want to try writeboard with the class to have them share ideas and gliffy to share any charts or drawings. I will spend time going through each with the class, explaining the use of each and how they will be assessed during the different projects. I’m recreating my assignments so that, instead of them doing a written copy and handing it in, they can share their knowledge on the wiki and use the other tools to communicate amongst themselves. I’m also hoping to use screen snapshots instead of URL’s when using diagrams and maps so that they can add comments. I’m not sure which tool we will use for this.

I’m not completely replacing the print and written assignments but I will have more than 50% of the work being done using these methods. At the end of the unit, they will have a few options for a project of which two will involve either a podcast or a vodcast depending on where I am able to get our technology to in that time.

One of the reasons that I am doing these different things is to demonstrate to teachers that, not only it possible to use these different tools, it allows one to track individual student time on task, contribution to the group assignment, focus on assisting the students instead of getting them to work since their time is, in a sense, being monitored and getting them to work collaboratively without having to have all of them crowded around one desk or table. We’ll see how this works out and I’ll keep you posted on how things are working.

Oh, one other thing we will be doing is learning how to do a search for information and then deciding what information is reliable and what information is questionable. Because much of the information on the fall of Rome is written at a university level, they will have to look for information they can understand. We’ll then work on creating personal summaries that they can use for their work. I’ve noticed that students have a very difficult time finding information and, when it doesn’t pop up in front of them, they tend to give up like there is nothing available for them. I’ll be assisting them to narrow their searches and look for information and we’ll discuss how to summarize and such. Again, we’ll see how things come together as we progress.

As students work, I notice that they have difficulty with the technology once it goes beyond their knowledge base, like most people. They become easily frustrated and have difficulty problem solving to figure out what it is they might do next - which is a normal characteristic of most people I know. It does, however, make me question the whole “immigrant/native” assumption (see my last article for how I really feel about this) since they seem no different than many of the adults that I have worked with who have the same problems. (Still think it’s a digital intelligence!)

I’ll keep updating as we move along.

Kelly

I’m presently enrolled in a Harvard Graduate School of Education distance learning course. I’ve completed two of the courses and am in the process of training to be an online coach. I figure this is one way to encourage teachers to use technology. Besides the skills will be useful for working with students online and developing online assignments and courses. One of the main areas is the discussion page that all participants use to discuss the various topics of the week.

Now last week I was a bit behind so I didn’t get my ideas posted until the 11th hour. Reading through the different posts, I’m still amazed at the number of educators who have grabbed onto the “digital immigrant/digital native” phrase and see it as being their mantra - “The kids are so capable - I’m just an immigrant.” Now, the more I hear this, the more I begin to think that, unless there is something to replace this mantra, the more it will become the poster slogan for educators.

Presnky basis his argument that we are immigrants because we have had to make a switch from one way of doing things, non digitally, to a second way of doing things, therefore immigrants, while children, who have grown up with the technology know no other way and are surrounded by it and are immersed in it and, therefore, are natives. As I thought of this analogy, I began to wonder, if that is the case, there are no natives since no can be born and age without having to learn new things, things that may have not been there when they were young. Thus, taking this to its farthest extreme, we might as well all give up because as things progress, we’ll get farther and farther behind and there is no hope since we weren’t born into it. What he misses, which is very easy to understand is that for many of us, we grew up with video games, computers, electronic gadgets and all that he suggests the students of today have. In fact, after some serious reading, I would say that he’s missing the boat, almost completely.

I would suggest that using the tools and technologies is an aptitude that maybe we have not identified, much like one of Multiple Intelligences from Gardner. As I work with students and adults, it seems that there are those people, from each group, that are able to work with the technologies, are comfortable using them and adapt to any new upgrades that come along. Instead of it being a generational gap, as suggested by Prensky, I would suggest that it is an intelligence that people have. My reason for suggesting this? Well, in working with students, teachers always describe how they are so willing to try new things, find new things out and show them all these wonderful things while working on computers while they, the teacher, have great difficulty in moving around and getting things to work. However, I would suggest not all students are like this and, in fact, there are a few core ones who lead the way for the rest. Another thing is that children are naturally curious and therefore willing to try many things that adults don’t. So, using Presnky’s argument that children are native because they have been surrounded by it, we should allow children to use all kinds of power tools if they have been around them. Surely they’ll figure out what they are for and find some great things to do with them. Seems ridiculous. People have suggested that it is not the same thing, power tools are different than computers. Well, having worked for many summers pounding nails and then, later on in my life, learning to use an air nailer, to me the two are the same. In fact, I was using computers before the air nailer!

As for the “natives” being surrounded and growing up with it and therefore being able to use it effortlessly, that also doesn’t wash with me. Check out the age of the Guinness Book of World Records record holder for high score on video games. I believe the gentleman is in his late 30’s somewhere. Hmmm, I’d say he’d know a thing or two about gaming! Oh, yeah, the students using things effortlessly. My gauge for this is throwing a piece of software, like Zoho or other online software and see how they adjust. My experience, although limited to only a dozen or so years of working with kids and technology, is that if it is not what they are use to using, like Word, they are lost. This applies to most of the software that we have. In fact, we have several non-Windows based computers running on Linux and the kids avoid them because they are not Windows. “Those are the evil computers!” To me, a native will use any type of software, can figure out any type of software, doesn’t need the manual and will be comfortable on any platform. I know plenty of 40 something people who are this way - complete natives in the digital medium. Yet there are natives in all age groups, people not put off by the technology, who use it and understand how it can be used, see possibilities and are able to push the technology to get more and do more. That is why I would suggest that it has nothing to do with the “age/generational” as Prensky suggests but, instead, is an intelligence that people have.

Another fact that I’d like to point out is that many of the gamers and first users of the technologies are boys. Does this mean that girls are less native? Or, is it just in the last few years that game designers have been turning their attention to females? Are we seeing more and more females using technologies because it is being considered a “unisex” tool rather than the domain of the male “techno-geek”? Is it because the Web2.0 has become a social network with personal interaction being the norm. Who has more cellphones, boys or girls? What would a survey say? What do they use them for? Is there a difference? Does this mean that there is more than one type of native?

I really believe that for many people who have read Prensky, it is an immediate “Oh, that’s me.” reaction. They then generalize about the population in both regards and agree that it must be an “immigrant/native” divide. In discussions with people who speak many languages, they comment that they may know the language and fit in with the people but they are still immigrants because they were not born there. But being born automatically make you a native and, if that is the only criteria, then we’ll have to redefine a whole group of gaps as being “native/immigrant” divides - before microwaves/VCR’s/…. and after. Before the mini-van and after. This list will be endless. Each of these items had a huge impact on culture and changed the dynamics of the culture in many ways, although not as big as some of the other items. In rural settings, the introduction of large machinery creates a “immigrant/native” divide that has had a huge affect on a whole way of life. Yet, many people who were born before have made the transition and are very successful. So, maybe they have a particular intelligence that allows them to be successful despite the changes.

Why do I squeak about this? Well, it creates a way of thinking that I don’t think is good for education. It creates a divide that I don’t think is really there and causes people, especially teachers, to view themselves as being unable to make progress without great difficulty.  Could it be that, like music or math or the other intelligences, there is a digital intelligence?

Kelly

Basketball season has started and I’m at a weekend tournament 2 hours from home with 12 teenage girls, and a chaperone, sleeping in another school. And I do this because …..

I’ve been negligent with my blog this week. It was first week back from the break, which is always busy. It was a busy week with all the activities starting up. But, really, Dean Shareski noted my blog in his:

He’s already amassed some powerful writing and great reflections questioning both his own practice and struggling with the hard questions.

How do I live up to that? For the whole week I’ve been hesitant to blog in case it wasn’t “powerful” or a “great reflection” and was just, like mediocre. I avoided even going to my blog unless I needed to moderate a comment. As the week rolled on, however, I began to reflect on what was making me so anxious. What was it that was throwing me off. So, I read more blogs. There were so many of interest with interesting ideas and insights. Were mine really in this calibre? Do I really have anything to say? I know that I my own learning has been greatly enhanced over the past few weeks by the great blogs that I’ve been reading. I’ve been reflecting on what I can do as an administrator to help the students and teachers as we move toward the integration of new technologies. How can I lead them in this new direction.

Well, tonight, as my team was walking off the court after winning their first game this season, a parent from the other team came over to me and announced that “I was a poor example of a leader for how I acted on the bench. The way I slapped the floor when that girl missed the shot. There is no way I would allow my daughter to play for you.” Wow. I thanked her for her insight and walked away. Crushed. All the wonder of our first win gone.
All night I’ve been thinking, reviewing what I had done that would make her say such a thing. I asked my assitant coach - had she noticed anything. No. In fact, she commented that I had done nothing offensive at all. That it was a comment from a parent of the losing team. Forget it.

Well I can’t! I have worked very hard to become a good leader. A leader of students. A leader of teachers. Eventually, a leader within a school division. So, here I sit wondering why that one negative comment from someone who knows nothing about me, a perfect stranger, can impact me so much? Why haven’t all those positive and helpful comments done the same?

As educators, it’s hard for us to accept a compliment, mostly because so much of what we do is behind the scenes. Even when colleagues give us one, we deflect or bashfully thank them and change the subject. It makes us uncomfortable. Why is it that we don’t sit back and reflect as deeply when someone points out a strength? Reflect how we were able to get to that particular point? How we might be able to use that knowledge in other areas so that our growth is positive-based with a face toward getting better. Not that negative comments can’t make us better but I would prefer constructive criticism.

As an administrator, I began to reflect on how this made me feel in front of a whole lobby full of people. Whether they heard or not didn’t matter. It was done in such a demeaning fashion. It led to a strengthening in my belief that, as an administrator, it is my role not to destroy the fragile egos of those students in my care but to help grow them, mold them and make them bloom. To help teachers to see that these young people are more than the assignments, books, games and processes that they engage in each day. They are, first and foremost, caring and feeling people, no matter how much they might try to convince us they don’t feel. And the ones that appear void of feeling are the ones we need to reach to the most as they have been dealt with too many times in front of a lobby full of people. They are the ones that resist our early attempts and we need to reach past those initial rebuffs to find something that will draw them out and allow the building to begin. We have to make connections with students, finding out where they are and urging them to consider things from new and different perspectives - constructing knowledge along the way without telling them they are wrong or don’t know any better or are wrong or are poor leaders. No one wants to hear that! I certainly didn’t like it!

So, having been brought back down to earth, I am reminded that, as an administrator, I must be aware that what I do and how I interact with each student is extremely important - especially considering that the lobby is always full as far as this is concerned. Learning is hard sometimes!! So back I go to my earlier dilemma. Do I really have anything to add to this conversation? I really don’t know, but as I take a look at what is happening around me, I know that we must begin to change the way we do school because we spend too much time worrying about the grades, tests and the “Improvement Quotient” instead of what is going on in the lobby and halls of the school - where most of the action is really taking place (unless your students have to check their igear!) We have the opportunity to engage more students in more ways than ever before from more locations than we can imagine. The lobby, although it leads to the inside of the school, also leads us to the outside world and maybe we need to step out of our classes and offices and move into the lobby and take a look out our doors to see what is going on in the beyon. It really isn’t that scary  with the students there - unless we overlook their small victories and point out, in full view of others, their deficiencies. After tonight, I think I’ll start looking out and see how I might bring that view into the school. Hopefully, someday, we won’t need the lobby because we won’t need that transition from outside to inside - it will be seamless - or a lot less scary than it was tonight!!

….. lobby. But what a spectacular impression it has made upon me. We truly have the greatest jobs on earth.

Kelly

 We did it! Yes, the grade 1/2 class at my school took part in our first school podcast that has been uploaded. I am in the process of uploading the bunch of them to be available for people to listen. The big thing that was noticeable was the excitement of the students as they took turns recording their reading. The were excited and eager to take part, practicing together, helping one another to get the words right, rereading their selections to ensure that everything was right. Those groups that were not quite ready asked for more time to prepare. Because this is a split class, the grade 2’s were willing to forgo reading a “harder” book in order that their grade 1 partners could be successful in their reading.

As the teacher and I worked with the students, we noted that they were taking this process very seriously, more than we had anticipated. They were very serious about what they were doing. When they were done, I would ask them if this recording was okay. I showed them how I was going to edit the long pauses to shorten the the overall length of the recording. They were very keen to know exactly what I was doing. Why I highlighted certain sections, how I got rid of those parts, how I made sure that it sounded right. We even got into a discussion of what would happen once we were done and began to upload the readings. It was here that I ran into some trouble as I wasn’t exactly sure how the process worked myself so I explained what I knew and explained once I had done one or two we would do a few together.

Later that same day …..

I ran into one of the parents while dropping my son off at hockey practice. The mom began to tell me how her daughter, who plays hockey on the same team, had come home and told her all about what they had done and how they were going to be able to listen to her on the computer. I was filled with fear at this moment. “How would she react to us using this at school? What would she think about what we were doing? How would she feel about her daughter’s reading being on the web? Was this going to be positive or not?”

The mother was so excited that we were doing this and using the technology to expose the students to such things. Whew! She wanted to know where she could find the posts so they could listen to them. I told her that I wasn’t finished with that yet but would be working on it and thngs should be ready soon. I had to leave but, from what I understand from my wife, the group of parents were very enthusiastic about this.

Bit of a dilemma ….

So now, we must cross the “Where does this fit in our technology plan/computer use” bridge. I don’t know of any other schools doing this, I haven’t even found any schools using any of the new Web2.0 tools. I know that a few of the websites like YouTube, MySpace and some of the gaming sites have been blocked as has some of the public email servers. So, all of you if the blogosphere, where is the best place to host these podcasts? Right now I am registered at podomatics  but I want to know if there is another place to do this. Also, I am looking for a place to host blogs and wikis. I know many of you have experience and I’m looking for your suggestions. If you could offer me your insights at what works best, I would be truly appreciative. I would like to get things rolling and demonstrate the usefulness of the technology when I take this further.

To add to this, I am in the process of hosting my own podcast in which I will discuss various things that I have noticed about this whole technology phenomenon and interview some of the teachers who are experimenting with these technologies in our school. I may even be able to convince an administrator or two to jump on board and take part in Scott McLeod’s 100 principals in 100 days Project. All I know is that things have to start moving and moving NOW. With the announcement of the iphone, we are seeing the advent of yet another tool that will push the communication sphere even further. ($600.00! I think I can save enough by June to get myself one. WooWee! This is going to be fun!) Steve Jobs has just made things easier/harder for educators and schools, never mind Motorola and Windows! However, we must get past the hype by the media about the problems with on-line predators. Reading Scott McLeod’s post today and then Pete O’Reilly’s, it is amazing how these facts always come about with something new. I still remember the outcry over having to wear a seat-belt. My grandfather even cut his out - no way anyone was going to make him wear it. Now, this may not be the same type of change but things like the printing press and other such advances must have been met with great opposition. Now, my students study change and we talk about the 4 parts of the change process.

• Denial is the stage at which the person completely rejects the change. Any acceptance of change at this stage is coincidental.
• Acknowledgement of change occurs when the new idea is given some credence and recognition.
• Acceptance of change means that more of one’s behaviour centres on the new approach than on the old.
• Defense of the change occurs when the old idea is seen as wrong and the new idea is basically common sense. (SaskLearning)

I’d say we are in the denial/acknowledgement stage when it comes to using technology in education. Now there are three influences that force individuals and societies to deal with change: environmental change, contact with another culture, and changes from within a culture such as technological. (SaskLearning)

As the technology “flattens the world” and cultures come together, we are having two of these influences impact on our youth at one time and the one place where there is “control” is in the schools so it only makes sense (somehow?) that the influence be kept to a minimum in this area, especially with the highprofile cases of the “negative” affect it has had on youth and society. (Sorry, I have no links for this!) What these people do not see is that these are not things of the future! They are of here and now and we need to come to grips with how we can use them to their full advantage. Like the students today who were so excited about what they were doing and we were just touching the tip of the iceberg. Their excitement and passion mixed with our wisdom and knowledge is such a powerful combination. I know I’m preaching to the choir but it was such a great thing to watch these students so excited about reading, so intent on what they were doing and willing to collaborate to make sure their end products were acceptable to them. It was a great 2 hours!!

Again, if you have any ideas about wiki posting, blogging and using/hosting podcasting, drop me a line. I’ve a grade 9 social class that is “pumped” to get started.

Kelly