Feed: Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech - AggScore: 82.5

Cross posted at The Tech Learning Blog

This facebook/twitter posting by Chris Lehmann got my attention.

It's hard to argue with that statement and it raises some interesting questions and implications. It reminded me this cartoon by Hugh MacLeod (warning, Hugh as an affection for the f-bomb)

It's powerful statement warning about our ability to connect and yet wallow in shallowness and fluff. While I concur with Chris's concern I also think it's important to explore the nature and purpose of audience.

Placing a clustr map on your blog or receiving a comment from someone on the other side of the world is pretty amazing. Often in very contrived ways, teachers find these connections for their students and generally get the "ooohs" and "awwwws" for while. As Chris suggests this novelty fades. But I would argue the word "audience" has a number of connotations and uses. Understanding and leveraging them thoughtfully is the key.

Audience as Eyeballs

This is about pure numbers. Views on a youtube video, reads on a blog, traffic on a website. These tell students that others are watching.  That's important. Just as it's important when fans show up at a basketball game. It says what you do matters. What it doesn't say necessarily, is that what you are doing is any good.  You can put a video on youtube of yourself clipping your toenails and get 5,000 views. It says very little about quality and lasting value. In the end, the views are nice but won't lead to much more than a little recognition.

Audience as Teachers

This is when the audience suddenly participates rather than just views. Comments on a blog, emails, video responses are prime interactions. You have the opportunity to grow and get better. Fostering this type of relationship with your audience might be contrived as two classrooms decide to spend a little time on each other's space but even if it is, we know the power of peer review and assessment for learning. When students have to thoughtfully provide feedback and critique, both parties benefit. Even random, one off comments are useful and offer students new perspectives not otherwise available from their teachers and or classmates. Students will indeed have powerful things to say and share as they craft their messages and products under the tutelage of many teachers.

Audience as Co-Learners

When students now see themselves as teachers to others we have truly harnessed the power of the audience. This isn't about novelty anymore but authentic exchange between interested learners. It doesn't matter if it's only one person but the idea that your work or ideas not only matter but are important in the development of others learning.  A little anonymity and distance seems to be a good thing in some cases. It's less about personalities and more about learning.

The question that we need to ask is can this occur in our classrooms without seeking an audience from the outside? I suggest it's possible but not as likely. Great teachers may be able to make this happen under certain conditions but the reason we love the internet is it's ability to personalize, customize and connect our learning to world. To suggest that room itself has all it needs to learn and grow is simply false. Limiting learning to the walls of classroom ignores a possibility that's too great to pass up. Good work needs to be shared.

Our students deserve not only an audience who would watch what they do but one that would actively participate in their learning.

One final point. Given that I would estimate fewer than 25% of our students even have a chance to find an audience via their schools, I hesitate to be too critical of teachers who only offer an audience of eyeballs. I would hate for that to be the ultimate goal, however, as Chris states, this novelty will wear off. Audience for the sake of audience is fleeting. Audience for the sake of learning is lasting.

Maybe I'm just too lazy or unimaginative so I stole the title of my last post to make this one. Whatever.

I'm not sure why but this topic runs pretty deep with me. I found Alfie Kohn's article this morning on twitter (I like the fact that he brings back stuff from the archives, I wish more people would do that. Old is not bad) and thought I'd highlight a few gems found inside it.

While I recognize many peoples opposition to Kohn's highly progressive, Deweyesque slants, I find myself more in agreement with him than opposition. In the case of this article, I find it hard to disagree.

I would begin by defining joy as a clear sense of satisfaction at the work or relationships that surround us. That's the definition, I'll use as I explore this idea. This does not equate with happiness, it's perhaps part of it but I'm talking about a sense of purpose and success. This is directly linked to a passion based learning environment.

Joy has been in short supply in some classrooms for as long as there have been classrooms. But I join Deborah Meier in wondering whether things are worse now, not only because more people are less happy but because this is taken for granted; we don’t even see it as a problem that requires our attention.

I can't remember having "joy" or "student's attitude toward school" on any meeting agenda in 20+ years in education. It's less important than if the school sports teams get new uniforms or if we'll stop allowing students to bring potato chips as snacks.

It’s simply stunning, therefore, that some traditionalists actually complain about an excessive concern with children’s happiness. Earlier this year, I came across an essay by an administrator who attempted to explain the supposed inferiority of U.S. schools by asserting that, whereas parents in other countries ask their children, "What did you learn in school today?," American parents ask, "Did you enjoy school today?"

Would that it were true! The author Frank McCourt, who taught at a prestigious New York City high school for 18 years, told the journalist John Merrow that only once in all that time had a parent ever asked him, "Is my child enjoying school?" Instead, all he—and, presumably, the students themselves—heard from parents were questions about test scores, college applications, and getting the work done.

It bugs me when my own kids, who do very well in school say they don't really like school. I know that it's the right thing to say when you're a kid but even when we get past the surface response, it's clear that learning isn't all that pleasureable. This is not because we have bad teachers, it's because we have schools that place student satisfaction way below everything else. "It doesn't matter if they like it  or not." Really? What are the chances your student's will be proficient in using Mathematics after high school if they hated it? Again, this is about everything we do being akin to spending 6 hours playing HALO, but there has to be an element of joy, don't you think? Those classrooms where joy is the unspoken or spoken default environment, are the ones where good learning happens everyday. I have no data to back that up so you can dismiss that as opinion but I'd stand by the claim. But as I consider what we're doing to teachers in the quest for "higher achievement", I think we could remedy much of their stress but supporting them and encouraging them more strongly to make learning a joyful experience.

Academic excellence, the usual rationale for such decisions, is actually far more likely to flourish when students enjoy what they’re doing. "Children (and adults, too) learn best when they are happy," as Nel Noddings observes in her book Happiness and Education. How they feel—about themselves, about their teachers, about the curriculum and the whole experience of school—is crucially related to the quality of their learning. Richer thinking is more likely to occur in an atmosphere of exuberant discovery, in the kind of place where kids plunge into their projects and can’t wait to pick up where they left off yesterday.

But in pointing this out, I fear that I’m appearing to accept an odious premise—namely, that joy must be justified as a means to the end of better academic performance. Not so: It’s an end in itself. Not the only end, perhaps, but a damned important one. Thus, anyone who has spent time in classrooms that vibrate with enthusiasm needs to keep such memories alive in all their specificity to serve as so many yardsticks against which to measure what we’ve lost: 6-year-olds listening to a story, rapt and breathless; teenagers so immersed in an activity that they forget to worry about appearing cool; those little explosions of delight attendant on figuring something out.

Nobody seeks to snuff out joy intentionally, it just happens. The antidote is to be intentional about including joy in the classroom. We can fall into the same trap as parents. The fact we love our children should make this minimal but we've all been guilty of getting so caught up in accomplishing our various goals that we forget to experience joy and live in world where mistakes are valued, where working together on a project is fulfilling and where we celebrate completing a challenging task. Again, this is not some airy, fairy thing, this is, as Kohn suggests, an end, in and of itself. These not be separate, but seriously, if I had to choose between rigor and joy, I'd pick joy every time. But I don't think we have to choose.

I'll end with this quote from Taylor Caldwell

"Learning should be a joy
and full of excitement.
It is life's greatest adventure;
it is an illustrated excursion into the minds of noble and learned men."

Now there's a mission statement that matters.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by John-Morgan

 

This is the audio and the slides from a presentation for SIAST Virtual Campus.

Last week I posted a rant entitiled, "We have to Stop Doing This to Teachers". I lamented about a number of conversations with teachers about the struggles of doing good work and dealing with change. Anytime you tag your post with the word "rant" it usually means there is some unfinished thoughts. (I guess you could say that about every one of my posts)

Rather than commenting on each person, I thought I'd highlight some of the more salient remarks and perhaps add some commentary of my own.

 

Alan writes:

I am less sanguine about the consensus for change. Competing philosophies of education still hold teacher’s attention. The teacher’s priorities also act as a barrier. Dean mentioned concerns that the focus is to narrowed on Math and Reading (add writing to this). Sure there are marginal teachers, or sound teachers in a slump; however, as Dean remarked, most teachers are innovators. We all have private action research projects we have committed ourselves to and these compete with the division’s primary curricular goals.

I'm not so sure I'd use the word innovator but certainly each teacher brings their personal bias and strengths which adds diversity to students' educational experience. While no one explicitly states that health or art are less important, the message is implied. It reminded me of a post and the comments of a previous rant from about 11 months ago as well as this quote:

Dave writes:

I’ve never seen a detailed breakdown of teachers’ time. If a group of teachers voluntarily started keeping these notes, and if administrators and support staff paid attention and gathered the data, we’d have a much better picture of the problem, could work towards some solutions, and make actual progress because we’d have data to show the decision-makers.

This could be an interesting research. My sense is that so much of the is interrupted in terms of student learning which includes obstrusive assessments. I had a number of teachers last week tell me that they spend more time working at home than they ever have. Again, this is anecdotal, perhaps some hard core data would be of value. Two can play that game.

Megan:

I am convinced that it can only happen when teachers are taught about the power of the personal learning network. By reading and writing and reflecting, teachers can not only connect with those down the hall but also with others from around the world. Through these networks, teachers can begin to grow professionally in their own ways and on their own time line. Of course, this takes great leadership (and possibly PLCs which teach and foster a 21st century mentality), but I think it’s a way to make transformative changes in schools and in teacher-attitudes from the bottom-up.

Although a few of the teachers I spoke with fit into this category, I agree that the support and power of personal learning networks are valuable. That said, our current division uses the term PLC very badly. In fact, what we do is not a PLC and it certainly isn't personal. Teachers are given 3 days throughout the year to work collaboratively on fairly targeted areas.  The work itself is important but somehow the personal part needs to be included. This argument always falls back into a lack of time and will to provide teachers the ability to learn from and with each other. That's why those who are developing this online have the edge. They use their own time and efforts to do this work. There needs to be a better balance between personal learning and professional learning. Not that the two terms can't coexist but as a district or school, there may be certain goals that don't necessarily align or meet every teacher or student's needs but we can't ignore the professional judgement and needs of individual teachers.

Gord, a school administrator from my division writes:

There is no disagreement among teachers, administrators, or senior administrators that the changes we are discussing/implementing are positive and promising for improving student learning. In fact many of the changes we have been wanting for years are coming to fruition. The challenge of course is not in the believing or understanding of the change, but rather the complexity of the implementation. Teachers need time and training to successfully implement the transformation. Just as we do with our students, chunking, scaffolding, and mastery of outcomes come one at a time and build on one another. What we are doing right now is serving a buffet of change and asking teachers to taste a little bit of everything, without really having time to digest anything. Thus, as the instructional leader in our school, I find it my responsibility to filter out some of the myriad of choices and present them one at a time rather than force feeding everything and causing a mass case of indigestion. Change is good and will be a constant for all, but how we manage change and take others with us in the journey is critical to a true transformation.

Sue King,

To me, one of the biggest issues is that deep level change is needed – significant change – and that is not possible to do incrementally while school is in session in the manner we currently do things. I think a very different approach is needed – but the state leaders in education seem hell-bent on staying on the course of accountability via low-level standardized assessments given to all in order to “hold teachers and schools accountable for student learning.” Though the “student learning” being measured is not, to me, genuine learning. I am ready for a change – just do not know how or with whom to join to create something different – something that can start small but be brought to a larger scale in a reasonable amount of time!

Deep level change. That's an ongoing problem with education. We nibble at a variety of approaches and rarely dig deep. I'm excited about the possiblity of our new Saskatchewan Curriculum. It offers the possbility to go deep. Fewer outcomes that focus on big ideas and supporting indicators to guide assessments. Designing learning that answers the questions, "Why do I need to learn this?" and "What is it that I want my students to remember 5 years after they graduate?" is a worthy goal. There are huge implications about how to do that. That's a major shift we're dealing with right now.

Bill Ferriter,

I’ve never wanted to be anything but a classroom teacher–and have turned down many, many high paying opportunities to work beyond the classroom to stay true to that commitment. But I’m actively looking for a way out….and I’ll do almost anything: consultant, college professor, instructional resource teacher etc.

Pretty harsh reaction to someone who obviously is a valued teacher. I worry more and more of our best will be thinking this way. Not that those options are bad, I'm one of them, but certainly seeing those options as a way out, doesn't bode well for the future of the profession.

Finally, a bit of a dissenting point and one that is worth considering and responding to. Joel says,

I don’t think it’s fair to paint teachers as victims or martyrs. Professionals in many fields take responsibility for the product and the process of their work, and it seems that teachers may finally need to step up to the plate on both of these fronts.

I’m always amazed by teachers who think that education is some kind of ultra-noble exercise that is unaffected by the laws of organizational dynamics. It seems we’ve largely neglected our professional responsibilities for quality control, productivity, corporate culture and innovation. We’ve handed the reigns of our profession to administrators, staff development experts, teacher’s unions, and local and federal policy makers.

What did we expect? Did we really not see this kind of reform coming?

My response to Joel is that the "pull up  your bootstraps" approach does have some merit, however, there are so many mixed messages that the whole idea of reform is a muddied notion.  As he states early in his comment,

I’m a sixth grade teacher in Tucson, and I feel much of the pressure you describe. It feels like trying to rebuild the engine of a car while the car is still cruising down the highway.

Reminds me of the EDS ad about airplanes. That challenge is particularly unique to education since we can't ever stop.

Thanks for all those great comments and insights. This is why I write; to learn. Does any of this strike a nerve? Did we miss something?

For two years I've observed from a distance the energy and sharing of ideas that have taken place at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. The day after it ended in January 2009, I decided I wouldn't miss it again. My registration is in and my tickets are booked. In fact, I'm paying my own way for this one, it's that good.

If you're looking to participate in a learning event that's different from the regular conference, this is it. Fortunately Chris and his staff and students have always made it available virtually so even if you can't attend in person, you can participate both as an attendee but also as a facilitator of conversation. From Chris' Website.

The students and faculty of the Science Leadership Academy — and all the amazing folks who give of their time and energy and ideas — are again hosting EduCon! This year's EduCon 2.2 is now open for registration and for the call for conversations!

This conference only happens because so many people are excited to come together and share their ideas and passion. We have some amazing events lining up for this year, but the sessions — the things that the community creates and imbues with meaning — will always be the heart of the conference. So please, consider coming, and considering submitting a proposal to facilitate a conversation.

About EduCon 2.2:
 

And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas — from the very practical to the big dreams.

The Axioms

Guiding Principles of EduCon 2.2
1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members
2) Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen
3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around.
4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate
5) Learning can — and must — be networked.

Now, perhaps more than ever, it is important that a community of educators come together to share a vision of what our schools can be. Proposals are due November 1st. Registration will be open without late fee until mid-January.

 

cc licensed flickr photo shared by teachandlearn

Lesley Edwards left me a really interesting link in her lastest comment. Google Image Labeler is something I hadn’t seen before. Here’s how it works:

You’ll be randomly paired with a partner who’s online and using the feature. Over a two-minute period, you and your partner will:

• View the same set of images.

• Provide as many labels as possible to describe each image you see.

• Receive points when your label matches your partner’s label. The number of points will depend on how specific your label is.

• See more images until time runs out.

After time expires, you can explore the images you’ve seen and the websites where those images were found. And we’ll show you the points you’ve earned throughout the session.

I’m already thinking of the classroom applications involving vocabularly, visual literacy and logic. In addition, you’re working at making the web better. Not a bad deal.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by Carlos Magaña

 

Search is highly overrated.

I have a serious problem. As I build presentations I get a clear vision of an idea or concept I want to discuss and I immediately want to visualize it. For better or worse, I gain and make meaning with visuals. To that end I’ve continued to create slides that I reuse and share with others. Fortunately others have shared my passion and created a nice set that others are free to use.

Today’s vision was around filtering. Not that kind of filtering but the kind I’ve discussed here. On more than one occasion, I’ve quoted Clay Shirky’s quote about filter failure. It has been begging to be visualized, at least for me. So I head over to flickr and realize that my vision lacked easily searchable terms. I had envisioned a larger quantity of some item with one item standing out. I tried several search terms and phrases but didn’t find what I wanted.

I turned to twitter.

After this initial request:

Over the next 30 minutes I recieved 20 various image suggestions and 4 other ideas of how to create one. Here they are:

@robletcher offered these two:

http://bit.ly/80zrS?r=td

http://bit.ly/cWAUc

@triareanews suggested these three:

http://images.inmagine.com/img/imagesource/ie236/ie236003.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3533/3931819587_48fdec1fd9.jpg

http://artforprofits.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/stand-out.jpg

Here’s four from @tuchodi

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15202064@N03/2435295029/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollyclark/450509297/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unlearn_art/3143041781/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnkay/3924381425/

@bookminder responded to my "needle in the haystack" concept

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/335350003_9ca033ba68_m.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanorwood/1046416640/

I nearly went with this one from @dlsio4 who apparently thought of something he had and took the picture on the spot

http://img96.yfrog.com/i/dyu.jpg/

@njtechteacher offered to take a photo of a pile of legos but did suggest this one

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/1804080776/

In the end, Sean Nash gave me six to choose from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was that last one that I chose. I could have picked any of the ones offered me and I’m sure you might have chosen differently. The point is that sometimes search doesn’t get it done. Google only goes so far. I needed people to help me sort out my ideas and provide inspiration to reach a satisfying conclusion. I feel badly for folks who don’t have this resource.

Oh by the way, here’s the final product.

4/5’s of the Posse gathered at Convocation Place at the University of Saskatchewan to hear Sir Ken Robinson. You seen his TED talk right?  If not, go watch it now.

Anywho, as usual we had a great time talking, laughing, being silly and of course, as sure as I’ll spill food on my clothes, Rob brings out the microphone and begins recording.

No theme, no purpose, just friends yacking. After Sir Ken, Rob and I hit a local coffee shop for the debrief.

Just because I felt like it, I’ve added some show notes. I haven’t done that for a while. Enjoy.

• Alec’s crying photo
• Alec’s student’s post
• The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment
• Out of Our Minds
• A radical alternative: Real teaching
• Howlett Academy
• Summerhill
• Reading is Not a Skill
• Ken DeRosa and Facts
• Kristin Cummings

 

Claire Thompson left this comment on a recent post pointing to Jan Smith’s classroom blog and the disclaimer that sits on the left sidebar of her blog. This is a huge issue for many teachers considering posting work online. Not only are the worried about controlling content and concerned about how others will view the quality of the work.

Typically classroom bulletin boards are dedicated to finished, edited, polished work. Most classrooms do not want to draw attention to the mistakes or efforts of their students. They are comfortable with sharing the best products but would rather hide the process. While that may be a generalization, I would argue that it’s fairly accurate.

I’ve struggled myself when it comes to helping others recognize spaces dedicated to practice and at the same time finding places to set aside work that has been created, revised and reworked. Blogs in general often get a bad name from the public because by their very nature they aren’t intended to be definitive spaces, but rather conversation starters. But of what makes blogs what they are, is the ability to elicit comments. Ideally this should include critique and feedback to enable further learning. This is where most classroom and school relate blogs fail. They do not either have enough feedback from a variety of perspectives that includes both peer and outside responses or the feedback lacks depth and specifics. Creating a culture that encourages openeness and respectful, helpful critique is challenging and requires skillful teachers determined to build this meaningful community of learners.

By the looks of things Jan Smith is trying.

I’d love a response to any or all of these questions:

What have you done or seen that helps people understand how you’re using your online learning space?

What have you done to support your students in providing critique and meaningful feedback for each other?

How have you been able to bring in outside voices to give feedback for your students?

Reposted on the TechLearning blog

Yesterday I stood in the gym of a local elementary school to watch my 10 year old daughter play volleyball. Both teams were made up 5th and 6th grade girls who are in their infancy when it comes to playing volleyball. As a result, anyone one that could serve the ball over the net was 95% guaranteed they would win the point. There were the occasional returns and even one rally that consisted of the ball going over the net 3 times before hitting the floor.

As a sports enthusiast it was painful. As a parent, it was exciting.

The gym was pretty much full of parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters crowded around the perimeter of the gymnasium. What struck me was the unbridled joy and encouragement for both teams and the cheers with every effort put forth. It kind of gives that warm fuzzy feeling inside, not often associated with sports. Parents and children well behaved and excited to be learning a new sport.

So I’m back to thinking about stages. I can’t say for sure but I’m doubtful any kids were left off the team because a parent didn’t want them performing in front of others. Even the girls who couldn’t serve the ball more than 10 feet were cheered for their efforts. It was clear to everyone in the building that this was a place of learning, a place for social interaction and fun. We will watch with amazement to see improvements with the next game and cheer even more loudly.

Why is it so hard for people to allow this to take place with learning? The mystery that occurs because work is suddenly displayed on a screen, accessible to the world makes people nuts sometimes. Even if the local TV station wanted to show this game, I can’t see any parent opting out. They might even want to have names sewn on the back of the jerseys (okay they are only t-shirts but still).

The sad part is that as a parent of 4 children, 2 of whom have graduated from high school, I knew way more about the sports and extra-curricular part of their school life than the academics. There was almost no way for me to interact or watch them learn other than the occasional homework assignment or parent teacher interview. The emphasis on most schools places extra-curricular at a way higher profile than the academics. Grant it, those are choices students can make. But shouldn’t we be working to a place where the day to day work and learning is showcased, celebrated and elevated to a higher place?

I recognize that with classroom work, the students don’t have much choice but by starting young and creating a culture where we share our work and seek encouragement and feedback I have to believe that is going to make for more engagment students producing better quality work.

I’m probably not done thinking about stages, I’ll just warn you right now.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by shareski

                                   cc licensed flickr photo shared by Will Lion

Discuss.

Even though I’m not a convener this year I hope you’ll take advantage of this great learning opportunity. I also don’t mind the fact that this event includes two of my Saskatchewan colleagues.

 

 

Content copied and modified from Kim Caise, Patrick Woessner, and the K12Online09 LAN Party Wiki. Please copy, reblog, and tweet this information!

Please join us on September 26, 2009 for the first live event of the 2009 K12Online Conference On September 26, 2009, the K12Online Conference in partnership with EdTechTalk will host a worldwide, sychronous “LAN party” (free web meet-up) from 2:00PM EDT (6:00PM GMT) to 5:00PM EDT (9:00PM GMT). Organizers encourage educators around the world to get together with colleagues and engage in lively, online discussions during this time using links provided by EdTechTalk. Past presentations will be shown, and participants are invited to engage in live conversations about the presentations with the featured presenters during and following each session. A K12Online Conference overview is scheduled at the EdTechTalk website 30 minutes prior to the LAN party. This event provides an opportunity to try out the synchronous EdTechTalk environment and platform, which we will be using for the 2009 K-12 Online Conference in December. For more background about LAN parties, see Jeff Utech’s post from Sept 2006 and the K12Online08 Shanghai LAN Party wiki. The Shanghai LAN parties are models we hope educators around the world will emulate in 2009. You do NOT have to gather face-to-face with other educators to participate in this Saturday’s live LAN party events, but F2F connections are encouraged! Here’s the schedule. (Times below are EDT. Start time for the first presentation is 6:00PM GMT. Use this WorldTimeServer link to convert this time for your local time zone.)

2:00 – 2:45 EDT Film School Mathew Needleman, Apple Distinguished Educator, has been integrating video in the classroom for seven years as a teacher of kindergarten, first, and second grade. Make better classroom movies with simple tips that will help elevate your vodcast to the next level in terms of artistic and technical merit. Learn how to storyboard like a pro, choose shots that support the telling of your story, and capture better lighting and sound.

2:45 – 3:30 EDT Open, Social, Connected Dr. Alec Couros is a professor of educational technology and media at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. This presentation unravels a recent open graduate course offering titled “Open, Connected, Social” that was offered at the University of Regina, Winter 2008. The presentation describes the theories influencing the course, types of open practice, reflections and outcomes, and goes on to describe the emergence of “open teaching”.

3:30 – 4:15 EDT Wiki While You Work (Basic) A former high school English teacher, Mark Wagner has since served as an educational technology coordinator at Estancia High School, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, and the Orange County Department of Education.  His session briefly introduces participants to the Read/Write Web, and to wikis in particular. A live demonstration of wikispaces.org and wikipedia.org will illustrate that…, “If you can use a word processor, you can use a wiki.”

4:15 – 5:00 EDT We Like Our Blogging Buddies: The Write Stuff With Blogging Mentors Kathy Cassidy is a grade one teacher at Westmount School in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada.  In the winter of 2008, Patrick Lewis’s university class of pre-service teachers were blogging mentors for Kathy’s grade one students. This presentation talks about that collaboration and the results of the research that was conducted about the effect this mentorship had on the students’ writing.

Kudos to the K12Online09 Live Events Committee for organizing and hosting this event! Please plan to join us and share this learning opportunity with your colleagues!

This post sounds alot like this one but I don’t care.

Technology doesn’t make you a great teacher. But in my experiences those that do, seem to be among the best. I had two examples today that supports my hypothesis. First I was at a conference today with most of our school administrators.  During a lull in the conference I checked my twitter account. (There were several lulls) and saw a primary teacher from one of our schools posted a picture of her students learning. Her principal happened to be sitting nearby and I showed him the picture of the kids. Another principal asked him who the teacher was. His reply included the phrase, "she’s an awesome teacher".

Today I taught my pre-service teachers and brought in over 20 teachers from across Canada, the US and even New Zealand to introduce themselves and share what they might want my students to do in their classrooms. Each teacher took a couple of minutes to introduce themselves and describe their classrooms. It was absolutely exhilarating. This had nothing to do with the technology they deployed but their passion for teaching and learning.  One of those teachers was in her 37th year of teaching. Digital natives theory shot down again. 37 years and still willing to learn, to try something new that might help her students, that’s inspiring.

I"m fortunate, no question. I have a wonderful network and get to expose my students to these awesome teachers.

http://dcshstech.pbworks.com/
http://www.hafford.lskysd.ca/?q=cone
http://history302008.edublogs.org
www.mrforgrave.net
http://weblogs.pbspaces.com/mrskolbert/
http://fablogs.org/capohanka
http://www.mrkapptie.wikispaces.com
http://ckheyrman.wikispaces.com
http://collaborationnation.wikispaces.com
http://new.schoolnotes.com/xpages/view/16893
http://userve.unioncityschools.org/~lbruce
http://www.earth.edublogs.org/
http://www.major.lskysd.ca
http://mraungst.wikispaces.com
http://wilsonbeckri.edublogs.org
http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/TEACHERPAGES/MrsSmith/tabid/1814/Default.aspx
http://weblogs.pbspaces.com/ionnoj/
http://berwicklodgeps.globalstudent.org.au
http://www.mpradio.ca
http://www.burnabyonline.ca
http://edm310fall2009.blogspot.com
http://room10rbs.edublogs.org
http://www.macklin.lskysd.ca/?q=node/26
http://www.37stars.org
http://woodtech.edublogs.org/
http://sargentparkmathzone.blogspot.com
http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=73127
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337
http://fa-marine-science.ning.com/ and http://www.fredericksburgacademy.org/page.cfm?p=958
http://huzzah.edublogs.org
http://www.wtisburyschool.org/
http://readwithme.edublogs.org
http://mallonmessages.blogspot.com
http://noeltigers.com
http://www.laspillane.org
http://learning.ssis.edu.vn/blogs
http://pvec201wscience.wikispaces.com/
http://www.calgaryscienceschool.com
http://wdpms.blogspot.com;
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=26233
http://martini.wetpaint.com

There must be a link between good teaching and technology. That’s what I see.

Photo by Mrs. B. Martin