Through a  Tweet from @HeidiHayesJacob, I found the Ning of the Curriculum 21 book, I recently recommended.

One video uploaded by Heidi of Alan November, a contributor to the book, immediately caught my eye.

He says:

We have to stop spoon feeding kids curriculum tests and homework. They need to be self directed. They need to be life long learners., which means they need to be empowered to manage more and more and more of their own learning.  [...]

It is not about adding technology… because we add a lot of technology that improves teaching, but it does not improve learning.[...]

The biggest barrier is not technology, the tools or money. The biggest barrier is a culture of the shift of control from the teacher managing learning (creating dependent learners by the way) to a culture of students being inter-dependent while they are globally connected and contributing content, tutorials, to the whole classroom.

From reading the  Curriculum21 book , listening  in on streamed conference presentations to video clips like the one from Alan November below, I am witnessing the shift towards  globally connected students at my school right in front of my eyes. IT IS a shift of culture. IT IS a shift of what a “classroom” means. IT IS about empowering students AND teachers by exposing them to all the possibilities that are within reach through available tools.

I especially am in agreement with Alan about the role tutorials can play. Our Middle School students are continuing to work on on their Math Wiki, which is filled with tutorials, 5th graders are about to create SmartBoard Notebook files for first graders with tutorials and practice lessons about contractions (I + am= I’m/ will +not= won’t, etc). I can’t wait to continue observing the shift taking place in our school as a result of it.

Find more videos like this on Curriculum21

I am thrilled to be publishing a guest post by Andrea Hernandez, cross posted from EdTechWorkshop Blog on Langwitches.

http://www.edtechworkshop.blogspot.com/

In the Lifelong Kindergarten group, we’re trying to change that. We believe that it is critically important for all children, from all backgrounds, to grow up knowing how to design, create, and express themselves. We are inspired by the ways children learn in kindergarten: when they create pictures with finger paint, they learn how colors mix together; when they create castles with wooden blocks, they learn about structures and stability. We want to extend this kindergarten style of learning, so that learners of all ages continue to learn through a process of designing, creating, experimenting, and exploring.

As part of their mission to “sow the seeds for a more creative society,” the MIT media lab has developed a free program called Scratch that encourages the kind of open-ended exploration and creative problem solving that is not on the test, but that promotes the trial and error learning that is the heart of math, science and technological innovation. The beauty of Scratch and similar applications is that while the processes they engage are complex, most children are naturally drawn to them and find them fun. Kids ask to “play Scratch.”

In my STEM classes and, to a lesser extent, my weekly lab classes I attempt to provide students with the time and space to engage in this kind of exploration using freely available resources. In my role as the teacher I model possible approaches, support students in their attempts, validate and encourage them as they proceed, and open the door by introducing them to what’s out there. When appropriate, I push students to go a little deeper. Some students are more inclined than others to enjoy the open-ended, for those who require more structure I can help by defining a problem or assignment for them. I can also help them to reflect on their learning styles so that they grow in an understanding of their own abilities. Some students can’t wait to get to the computer and play, others prefer a tutorial (there are many tutorials online for most applications. It can be great practice and reflection to have students who are more advanced create tutorials for others), some students are more comfortable watching first before trying. Any and all approaches to learning are valid as long as students understand the process and challenge themselves.

In addition to Scratch, here are some other recommended resources for open-ended, creative exploration:

Whizzball -from Discovery Education, whizzball is a puzzle creator. Students can design puzzles, submit their puzzles for others to solve and solve puzzles created by others. I have found this to be challenging and fun for grades 1-5.

Fantastic Contraption- physics challenge. Use the materials provided to create a contraption that solves the challenge of getting something from point A to point B. There are multiple challenges and endless solutions. I am using this with a first grade STEM enrichment class, and they LOVE it. I could see it being popular with older students as well, although I haven’t introduced to other grades yet.

Lego Digital Designer – design tool using virtual legos.

PHUN – 2D physics sandbox. This one is more advanced. I recommend viewing at least one tutorial before jumping in to play. I used this with 5th grade, and it was fun (phun) at first, but many of them became frustrated quickly.

I have been blogging for over 4 years now. In my very first bog post (February 20, 2006), I wrote :

This Blog is an experiment. I am fascinated by the possibilities of blogging in the foreign language classroom. I will document what I have learned and hopefully inspire other language teacher to try their own blogs.

By my second and third post (February 26, 2006), I was already wondering how to get my students into blogging:

How will I set up a Blogs for my upcoming Technology Summer Camp?
Here are a few things I am concerned about and need to find out before I decide with which Blogging Software to use.
I will need to be able to set up passwords, that only my students are able to edit and read our blogs. As the teacher, I need administrative control over all my students’ individual blogs.
They will need to be able to write in their own blogs, but need to be able to comment on each other’s blog.

In 2008, I wrote a series of  “How To- Posts :Blogging for Teachers”:

• 1. Blogging with Elementary School Students
• 2. Outline Blogging Lessons
• 3. Introduction to Blogging
• 4. Online Safety
• 5. Commenting
• 6. Writing
• 7. Setting up the Blog
• 8. Logistics of Formatting Post

Since I have never been a classroom teacher, I had/have to rely on After-School/Summer clubs, work with the classroom teacher as the guide on the side or as the presenter at Professional Development opportunities. I have learned from being in these roles, that I have little control over to what level the students will actually rise to. I have learned that it is up to the teacher to set the bar to what the classroom or student blog can be.

My goal has been to see students become members of a classroom learning community with the blog as the virtual hub of conversation, collaboration and dissemination for their work.

Many benefits of blogging seem to become apparent over time. That has happened in my own learning journey as a blogger as well.  It is the reflective nature and the timeline of a blog, as well as the growing connections with readers that will reveal growth as a writer, the benefits of being a member of a network and a contributor to a global community. I fear that teachers might give up too early on classroom or student blogs before the initial learning curve for teachers AND students has been overcome.  I worry that teachers might get stuck at the stage when the blog platform is merely a static website.

How can we support teachers and facilitate that a blog becomes “something more”?

• How can we prepare classroom teachers to not get hung up on the initial [technology] learning curve of setting up, maintaining and administering the blog?
• How can we help teachers transfer their teaching/learning objectives, skills to a blogging platform.
• How do we get over the hurdle of making a classroom blog just another writing assignment for students to complete?
• How can we use a blog as a tool to deepen learning?
• How do we awaken curiosity to read about a variety of subjects and topics?
• How do we help students understand that their thoughts, work and contributions matter in the big scheme of the world and/or bloggersphere?

On Wikipedia, you can read about the Information Age:

The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Information Era, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously. The idea is linked to the concept of a Digital Age or Digital Revolution, and carries the ramifications of a shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based around the manipulation of information

We have to realize that we are one decade into the 21st Century and that we have moved on from the Industrial age our schools are set up for to an Information Age. I am reading frequently (Ex. Daniel Pink’s “The Whole New Mind”, Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat”, Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ “Curriculum 21″) that what matters in our age is not the the ability to know all the information, but to be able to locate, evaluate and to CONNECT the easily available information .

I believe that we, as educators, can use a blogging platform with our students to

• expose
• show
• practice
• become skilled

at exactly that.

• How do we make sense of information
• How do we reflect on information?
• How do we connect information?

A blog is a tool. A TOOL!!! It is NOT about teaching the tool. It is about allowing teachers to integrate all subject areas (if desired) by addressing multiple skills and literacies.

A teacher from Bangkok writes on her blog Shine On a post titled The Reluctant Blogger:

I now have 21 students with blogs, they have another 100 counterparts in our grade at our school alone, and it’s just really hard to get them (okay, myself, too) motivated to comment thoughtfully and in a way that constructs learning.  They (we?) might be happier to comment on and play with the digital pets they like to put up, but what about the big ideas we were hoping to see growing on our blogs?  The inspired writing?  The organic learning?

And yet I persevere.  I am curious to see if my students will respond to the questions I am starting to leave in my comments to them.  I am trying even harder to have blogging replace, rather than add on to existing activities.

What stands out for me are the three questions she asks:

1. What about the big ideas we were hoping to see growing on our blogs?
2. The inspired writing?
3. The organic learning?

I am venturing out to say that I have found the answers to her questions in the Middle School Blog of Mrs. K., the Language Arts teacher at the school I teach at. The blog is very young (less than a month old), but I am seeing unfold exactly what I was hoping a blog could be.

The class started by looking at other classroom blogs and to think about what writing and commenting etiquette was. Mrs. K. made it very clear what she was expecting regarding the quality of student comments.

• Acknowledge the author of the blog post.
• Let the author know if you agree with him/her and why.
• It is also ok to disagree with something, just let the author know why you feel that way.
• One word comments are not very useful. Writing just “cool” or “nice” are not very helpful and don’t let the author of the blog post really know what you are thinking.
• Always make sure you follow “netiquette”. Think if it is appropriate BEFORE you hit the submit button.
• Always be polite . It does not matter if you agree or disagree with what you are reading in a blog. Don’t write anything you would be ashamed of saying to someone’s face. Don’t hurt somebody’s feelings.

Make sure you check out some of students’ thoughts in the comment section of that post.

The teacher then guided students’ curiosity and writing with an editorial blog post titled “Do Killer Whales Belong in Captivity?” The students’ comments are well thought through (there has been a class discussion about this topic previously) and well written (teacher had established her writing expectations, such as no text language, proper grammar, spelling and coherent thoughts). After the initial comments of all students, they are reminded to make sure to read previous comments first in order to avoid duplication or a simple “dump” of a statement. Blogs are about a conversation, students need to take other thoughts into account. As you scroll down further in the comment section, you will start seeing students responding to other commenters by using “@” in front of the username. Mrs. K. had shared with them a list of “Comment Starters”

Comment Starters
( from Youth Radio blog Netiquette-  which in turn was adapted from  Excellence and Imagination )

• This made me think about…….
• I wonder why…….
• Your writing made me form an opinion about…….
• This post is relevant because…….
• Your writing made me think that we should…….
• I wish I understood why…….
• This is important because…….
• Another thing to consider is…….
• I can relate to this…….
• This makes me think of…….
• I discovered…….
• I don’t understand…….
• I was reminded that…….
• I found myself wondering…….

Do Killer Whales belong in Captivity?

Students produced incredible responses. It was evident that they read each others’ comments, thought about their response and invested time in their writing.

Student Comments

When they received comments from outside of our school community (Thank you @Mjmontagne and @sciencelabman and Beth!) a new dimension opened up for them. What they are writing matters! Other people are taking the time to read it and even respond. It came with the awareness, that we can reach out beyond our classroom walls and request AND receive new perspectives. We have entered a new era, where school papers do not get turned in to the teacher, graded, handed back, stuffed into a backpack to then end up in the trash at home. We are at a point, where (even young) students can reach an authentic  audience, that gives feedback and contributes new (not thought of) perspectives and be part of a world wide community.

Comments from a larger world...

So what now? What is next?

• We need to continue modeling and guiding good writing practices (old and new writing genres).
• Start connecting ideas/thoughts and previous blog posts as well as to other writing.
• Bring resources/links as well as embedded media into their posts.
• Pursue larger circles of connections with other students/classes/schools.

Please add your experiences in taking student blogging to the next level. Leave links to good examples for educators, who are just starting out and need models to be able to construct their own understanding of what levels of blogging/writing they could take their students to.

I want to recommend a book today.

Curriculum 21

Edited by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Contributing authors: Stephen Wilmarth, Vivien Stewart, Tim Tyson, Frank W. Baker, David Niguidula, Jamie P. Cloud, Alan November, Bill Sheskey, Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick.

Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

I am usually a fast reader, but I have been taking my time with this book. There is not only a wealth of information, but it connects to so many of my thoughts and ideas I have contemplated in my mind as well as on this blog over the last few years. It resonated with me when Heidi Hayes Jacobs says:

a school does not need reform— it needs new forms.

Heidi advocates that

New essential curriculum will need revision- actual replacements of dated content, skills, and assessments with more timely choices.

I really liked her approach when she suggests the distinction between a “growth model” instead of a “change model” that needs to be introduced to a school’s culture.

As I was reading the book (hard copy, not on my Kindle), I was using highlighters to not miss thoughts or quotes that I wanted to remember. It did not take long to realize that I was highlighting too much How was I going to get through this book and make sense of it, connect and wrap it around my thoughts which were floating around but had not been verbalized?

I know that I work best through concepts and ideas when I create diagrams or use mind mapping tools. I really like using the SmartArt Graphics in PowerPoint. The visuals below are a summary of what I “read out of the book”, the most important points in my mind and quotes.

Based on Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

• Understanding of knowledge, creation & authority
• Make meaning of information to create new knowledge
• Find, evaluate, organize, interpret & distribute information
• Pattern recognition, critical thinking, perception
• Gather knowledge to become intelligent vs. apply knowledge

• Social production is enabled by power of networks to connect people
• Nature of learning & teaching
• Locating experts & eyewitnesses
• Relationships NOT technologies determine learning
• Enhancing the process of learning to be (Identity)

• Compete. Cooperate & connect with global peers
• Greater understanding of 95% of world’s population
• Knowledge-driven global economy
• Global competency knowledge, language &respect
• Global perspective

• Critical Thinking
• Literary Authority & participatory culture
• Media is shaping the way students think and express themselves
• No longer print-centric world
• Find, analyze, evaluate, organize, remix, store and share media

• Collecting-Selecting-Reflecting
• Metacognition
• Gather data about own learning
• Self-Modifying as lifelong learner
• Alternative assessment tool

• Non-linear learning
• Semantic Web
• Interdisciplinary linkage to real world applications
• Global Connectivity
• Ubiquitous connectivity

• Learning is social
• Collective Intelligence
• Engage students to produce meaningful contributions
• Students making contributions to learning communities
• Establishing & maintaining working relationships

• Tools to share what we learn open up new ways of thinking
• Professional Development
• Community
• Nationally/ Internationally
• Foreign Languages

Adapted from Alan November (pp. 186-194) in Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Arthur Costa & Bena Kallick (pp. 210-226) in Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Arthur Costa & Bena Kallick (pp. 223-225) in Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) "by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Stephen Wilmarth's chapter in Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Visual based on Heidi Hayes Jacobs in "Curriculum 21" (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. We need to upgrade curriculum content. She suggests to start with assessments. Decide what kind do we need to keep, what do we need to throw out and each teacher pledges to at least upgrade one assessment type a year.

I also like taking quotes and create visuals of them.

Adapted from Alan November (p. 189) in Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Based on Steven Wilmarth (pp. 95-96) in Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Visual based on quote by Stephen Wilmarth in the book "Curriculum 21" by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Odyssey- A Spiritual Quest

image licensed under CC by Let Ideas Compete

An Odyssey is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:

1 : a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune
2 : an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest

I can’t help but make the association with the above definition of “wandering” ,”changes of fortune” and “quest” with my Around the World with 80 Schools project.

The Quest

It has been over a year, since I have embarked on making connections with and for my teachers and students around the world. The journey has been nothing short of eye opening and wondrous.

Broaden your Horizon

When I first thought of using Skype in the classroom, I wanted to broaden my students’ (and other teachers’) horizon. I wanted them to say “We talked to someone in Argentina today” or “The kids in Thailand are just like us” or “Teachers in New Zealand are preparing similar lessons than I do”. I wanted to bring the geography and global awareness of other countries and cultures into everyday vocabulary.

Wow!

I wanted them (students & teachers)  to be “awed” at the possibilities that technology can open up to us. I wanted them to be shocked at how easy and economical it was to make the world part of their classroom.

Change in Fortune

The “Awwws” ,”Wows” and “That is incredible” did come, but also did the “I don’t have the time to prepare my students for skype calls with other classes”, “It takes too much time away from curriculum content” and other variations of “It’s nice, but…”.

Wes Fryer says It takes leadership to get creative in schools and support the use of Skype. Wes addresses  the technology (bandwidth and security) part of that equation in his post. I am venturing out to say that leadership at schools also need to be creative and understand the pedagogical value and curriculum connections that video conferencing has in terms of learning.

Leadership needs to support “pioneering” educators. They need to be allowed to go through a process of experimenting, evaluating, reflecting to see the effects of regular video conferencing on cross-curricula integration, student learning, motivation and engagement. We also need to get creative in involving and educating parents. With many of them unfamiliar with the technology (which appears to include such a strikingly different method than they remember from their own school days), they might not understand the educational use for such a tool in the classroom.

Wandering

Wandering

There had to be something more to merely using a webcam and calling another class in another city and country. There had to be subject area integration, there had to be ways to support (20th AND) 21st century skills and literacies, there had to be something more than an initial “Wow”.

The wandering paid off. There IS something more than the tool:

It is NOT about the tools...

The Understanding

The understanding that it never was about the tool (Skype or the webcam) started settling in. As students (and teachers) started to be part of regular Skype calls, it crystallized itself that it was all about the connections, the authentic experiences and knowledge we were able to bring to our students in addition to the communication opportunities. More and more students took their experiences home and asked their parents to install Skype in order for them to talk to far away grandparents or friends who had moved away.

It became apparent...

Experiences such as learning about whales from kids in Canada or becoming the experts for other students from Michigan or interviewing Jews from around the world as part of a research project were just the beginning to help us understand that it is about an awareness for teachers and students.

An awareness:

• which takes learning off the pages of textbooks
• that gives students the tools to make connections with experts and eyewitnesses
• that can lead them to authentic information”just in time” [personalized] for them
• that our classrooms can be as big as the world

An Odyssey transforms the traveler. I believe that we are catching a glimpse of how Skype, the tool, is transforming learning and teaching. It is making a real impact on how information is accessed, who we are communicating with and how we are connecting to the world around us.

Here are some journal entries from second graders about their thoughts of Skype:

If I could talk to anyone on Skype, I would choose my Au Pair, Magdalena, because I haven’t seen her in a while.

Skyping is learning new things to me.

I learned how to talk to different people from different countries.

I have learned to make friends.

I would Skype with my Tante Heni, she is my aunt.

I learned about the Olympics skyping.

I would like to skype with Houston, because I would like to talk about football.

Skype is like Facebook, but better.

I would like to skype with the president.

Skype is a way to meet new people who speak different languages.

A window to the world...

Our students are learning and understanding that there are more available resources to them than printed material. Our teachers are starting to include potential Skype connections in their planning in order to extend learning. There is a buzz around school that has is shifting from “Where are we skyping to…” to “We are studying… and skyping to learn about…”

The following video is from clips, I have been recording over the last few months. Nothing was scripted, many times just recorded when passing by in the hallway. I am hoping to continue recording students to see if a shift in their answers will also become apparent.

Around the World with 80 Schools Impressions from langwitches on Vimeo.

Are you taking a “risk” as a teacher by “taking precious classroom time” to have students work on a wiki? Does this kind of “project” support the way students learn? Is it a tool that is/can/will help transform teaching?

As I thought of and suggested to my Middle School Math teacher to create a Math wiki for her Pre-Algebra, Algebra & Geometry students, I wanted to write down my Thoughts on Setting up a Student Created Wiki, and document the steps of  Setting up and Introducing a Collaborative Student Math Wiki.

I feel strongly about the reason for working with this wiki. It is NOT about the tool (the wiki itself), but about the math and a long list of other skills that are being addressed and embedded.

Students are reviewing content they learned in math class, they are organizing definitions, linking information, creating visuals, screencasts, audio files and tutorials. They are using various tools, such as Skitch and SmartBoard Notebook software to create the image and video files, but have also tapped into PowerPoint and Animoto to create Math Tutorial Music Videos.

The math teacher had an informal classroom discussion about students’ perspective of the value of the wiki. Students then brainstormed more formal questions they would like to see on a more official survey of their thoughts regarding the wiki and its effectiveness as it relates to their learning.

I created a Google Form and 7th and 8th grade students took the survey. A sample of the results are below. I would love to hear experiences of other teachers and students who have worked on and with student wikis. What are your thoughts about a wiki as a teaching/learning tool? Do students feel they are learning better/differently/more engaged? Or is this just wishful thinking on our part? Do you have pre-and post assessments or other data?

Does the presence of the visitor’s map impact your work?

Yes. It shows me that there are people in the world that are counting on our work to learn about math, from a student perspective.

Yes, because it makes me feel like someone is looking at my work that I have done, and that its helping them. This encourages me to work harder!

A little. It makes us want to make the Wiki good for our viewers, but i don’t feel that way.

Yes it does. I find that whenever I see the map and it has more dots for more people, I feel that I need to work as hard as I can to show off and impress the people who go on and use this site.

No. I really couldn’t care less if it is there or not. I don’t even look at it.

Yes, it does, because it makes you work harder because people are looking at your work.

Not when there’s mostly 1 or 2 views.

Yes, the more viewers makes me want to work harder

Yes, it helps to see that people actually appreciate our efforts.

No, although I do enjoy being able to see who’s visited our map, it doesn’t really impact my overall performance on the wiki.

Yes. if there are people looking at my work then I want to do my best and make it professional.

Not really. Just because someone from somewhere else is looking at the site doesn’t mean I need to care. Somebody in the class will probably edit the page and make it look nice anyway.

Yes, because it motivates us more that more people are looking at the work we have done.

Yes, it does. When I see how many people have viewed the wiki, it drives me to want to make it the best it can be.

Yes. The first thing you see when you go to the wiki is the cluster map and it shows you that other people are looking at this and judging us on this. We should do a good job and try our best because that is what they think of us, if we do a horrible job and put in no effort they will think that we are all lazy.

Not really. I just do what needs to be done and seeing who is accessing the wiki from where does not impact my work at all.

No. It is an interesting tidbit to put on the wiki and I like looking at it, but it does not really influence me to do better or worse.

No, it does not impact my work. When I am editing, I never even look at the visitor’s map. I think it is cool, but it does not effect how I work on the wiki. This is on the internet and can be seen by anyone, but even if it was private, I would still put my best effort into it. I think it is amazing how many people have looked at our site and possibly used it to help them with math!

Yes it shows me that other people use this stuff not just us. It shows that it serves a big purpose. Plus its just really cool to look at.

Do you think your work on the wiki contributes to your own learning?

Yes, I believe my work contributed to my own learning because every time you write something down you learn.

Yes, even if we have already learned a subject, putting it on the wiki helps me review what we have learned in the past.

Well, I don’t think about it for myself, I think about contributing to others, for their learning experience. I think it helps I just don’t recognize it, because I am a good student/ make good grades in math class.

It does because some of the definitions and lessons in the earlier chapters I was not here for so when I look at the information about each chapter and definitions it helps me understand and learn what I missed.

Yes. It is a review of the things we, as a class have learned so far. It also always helps to remember things by writing/typing them in detail.

Yes, because you are reviewing what you have learned in unique ways with videos and photos.

Not really. It’s fun to do, but I never use it.

Yes, when I edit I find mistakes that even help me understand what the right thing to do is.

Yes. I study and learn from the wiki. It helps me study for my tests.

Yes, It helps me to type out how to do stuff that we are learning and see how you do it too. I really like putting pictures on the pages too to show my work better.

No. I usually do things i know how to do already.

No because I do not look at it at home.

Yes. I believe that working on the wiki helps me remember past chapters and lessons as well as the current ones. It is good to once a week have a quick refresher of what we have been doing in math class all year.

Yes because when I am editing a page I have to remember the lesson and try to put it into easier words and sentences and sometimes make a picture. You have to know what you are talking about before you talk about it.

Kind of. It does help me remember math that we had learned at the beginning of the year, but that is about it. The wiki does not really affect me when it comes to studying for tests.

Yes. I feel confidence when i look at the hard worked on parts of Geometry. When we go to a new chapter and it uses tools from previous ones, I can usually find that information on the wiki.

Yes, working on the wiki definitely contributes to my learning. For example, something may be confusing to me, bu then I work it out step by step on the wiki and it becomes clearer. Not only that, but working on the wiki also helps me review work from earlier in the year.

The info definitely is an easier way to review stuff than opening our text book. It makes the topics more interesting, but since we have such a small class, a lot of the lessons are not posted by the time of the test. It is nearly impossible to add all this stuff by the time of the test. If something was unclear I can try to see if the wiki will help me understand it.

Do you think your work on the wiki contributes to other students’ learning?

Yes, and No…. It depends on how they view everything we put up on the screen. I believe it is some ways helps them because it is in a student perspective.

Yes, because if just a teacher is teaching students about work. then those students might not get the material that was taught because it might not be out of a student perspective of learning.

I don’t feel like other students from our school look at the other class’s pages for information. Maybe for tips on their pages, but nothing academic. Maybe next year, in Algebra, I look at their Wiki for insight and help. But, I won’t be looking at it now, because that isn’t what I”m learning.

Yes because this website goes into detail to every little thing we have learned in math this year. It is very comprehensive. I think this will help many people in their math classes.

Yes, because a students perspective of learning will help other sudents.

No. I don’t think a student from a different class would go on our wiki to learn.

Yes because many people view the wiki

Yes, when someone does something wrong and you fix it, the next time they see it they learn that they were wrong.

Yes. If I edit a page and another student needs help on that lesson then that page might help them understand the lesson better.

Yes, we have been working really hard on the Wiki and I hope other students are learning from us. It should help because we put a lot of information into each page.

Probably not because I do easy things everybody gets. They don’t look back at the old stuff.

Yes because they can also use the information for their math study.

Yes, I think that my work on the wiki helps other students learn because they can visit each page, maybe to edit or just to view and it helps them remember the math lessons.

Yes because the book can be very confusing! When we make the page we put it into simple terms and give visual examples that we can understand!

Somewhat. I know that I never go on the wiki out of school for math purposes, but for other students possibly having trouble in Geometry this is probably a helpful tool.

I believe that this can help students (both in and out of our school) that are going into the grade we are working on. This wiki gives them a heads up of things they need to know and gives them a brief explanation of it.

Yes, I think that my work on the wiki contributes to other student’s learning. We are taking the hardest math in our school, so we can not help other students from our school in Geometry. However, lots of people have viewed our site and therefore, we are useful to at least some people. We are even helping people outside of the country. To me, that is unbelievable!
It can help if for example someone forgot their textbook, maybe he formulas would be posted on the wiki. Also, if something was unclear at school, the description on the wiki might clarify that lesson.

Do you find the wiki informative?

Do you like working on the Wiki?

Can you understand the material on the wiki?

Has the wiki helped you review previous chapters?

What do you like to work on the most?

I received a tweet from Michael Kaechele, Technology Teacher at Valleywood Middle School.

What an opportunity!

Michael and I set the Skype calls up for the following week. I had a meeting with our Judaica teachers to get them involved and Brian, the Social Studies teacher from Michigan, shared a Google Doc with the questions his students were interested in asking.

Our students were very excited in being seen as “experts” and talked with their teachers about the questions and how to articulate their answers.

Since there were three sections of Social Studies classes from Michigan, we involved our 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes to take over one section each.

After our Skype calls, I received the following email from Michael:

Just wanted to say thanks for the calls yesterday. It was a great experience for our students to learn from yours. The social studies teacher liked it and wants to try again. Quote from student “They are just like us”

That says it all for me-breaking down walls of stereotypes that they might have just because we do not have a large Jewish community here.

I could not agree more with Michael. Opportunities like these, facilitated by technology tools (such as video conferencing) and Twitter (to make the initial connection), are taking learning off the pages of a book for our students (social studies book in this case). They give young people the opportunity to articulate what they have learned and share it. It brings in a kind of authentic learning that ordinarily the students in Michigan might not have had (meeting and talking to other Jewish kids their age).

Is that what “transforming” learning is about? Not doing the same assignments… the same content…simply with a different tool…?

Is it being able to do something that was simply not possible before…?

Tom Barrett on his blog EdTe.ch wrote:

transformative learning is what I am looking for, because replication offers no benefit to a teacher – all it produces is ostensibly a better presented piece of work and more of a headache to setup. The technology has to offer a whole new level of interaction [...] that cannot be gained from the traditional method explained above.

The learning activity has to be transformed into something that provides a greater depth of learning and interaction. There has to be a pedagogical shift.

I am thinking that the above mentioned learning example could not have been possible “before”.

• … before Twitter… most likely @concretekax and I would not have connected
  
• … before Skype … we would not have been able to bring our students together. Video conferencing is the closest we have to a face to face meeting. A phone call would not have produced the same results of the feeling to be in “one” classroom.
• … before…  our students would not have been called upon to be teachers to their peers across the country.
• … before… students from Michigan would have learned about Judaism from their teacher, from the pages of their social studies book and quite likely would not know or meet anyone Jewish in their community.

Brian’s TRT Blog picked up one of my blog posts from Educon’s session Taking.Play.Seriously. Brian has only a very short response to this:

So, would more play produce more creativity which would result in higher test scores? Hmmmm………

That “Hmmmm” sparked the following comment from me:

That is exactly what I am pondering as well. How can we have the same assessments (standardized tests) to measure “learning” if we want to encourage creativity? Why would schools/teachers change the way they have taught for years, if they are seeing results in their test scores? Why would curriculum change to prepare students for THEIR future if the assessment of the present will not measure nor value these skills?

All this seems to connect well with the book “Curriculum21“  by Heidi Hayes Jacobs that I am currently reading. Heidi advocates that change growth in schools should start with upgrading assessment. Now this makes sense to me. We can’t ask teachers to change grow in their teaching, but continue to expect them to evaluate students with the same types of assessments as they did 50 years ago.

Wikipedia defines educational assessments as:

the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs.

Since we don’t want/can’t overwhelm teacher by asking them to CHANGE everything at once

Curriculum Decisions

Heidi challenges teachers to a 21st Century Pledge by taking one “traditional” assessment and replacing it with a new kind of assessment. Those new kinds of assessments include:

Documentaries

Podcast

CAD projections

Web sites

E-mail exchanges

Digital music compositions

Webcasts from live sites

Online Journals

Films

Online courses

Video podcasts

Screenplays

Quarterly e-reports

Video conferences

Second Life simulations

Blogs

Note: I am not sure of the difference between an online journal and a blog?

I would add the following to her list of possible assessment replacements:

• Wikis (information depository & collaborative work)
• VocieThreads
• Tutorials

What would YOU add to this list of assessments which could measure more accurately skills of the 21st century?

Taking.Play.Seriously with Brian Smith

Session Wiki

Conversation Description:

Diane Ackerman’s quote, “play is the brain’s favorite way of learning” is oft used to describe the learning that takes place in elementary schools. Despite that belief, a simple visit to any school in the country will reveal a picture that flies in the face of Ackerman’s statement. We know why play is being squeezed out of schools, but bringing it back will take creative thinking, ideas and sharing. Together we will discuss and construct ideas for bringing the aspects of play into more learning experiences.

Think about how YOU play(ed).

• What did you play?
• What do you think you learned from play?
• When did you stop playing
• When did  you play?

What is play?

• Play is open ended?
• Possibly without an objective?
• Joy , freedom, being in the moment
• Role playing
• imagination
• explore, discover, unveil
• no expectation at the end?

Playing to learn or learning to play? Why and when has the word “play” at schools become a “bad” word?

Stuart Brown at TED Talk

Re)Imagining Social Media & Technology in Teacher Education with Alec Couros and Dean Shareski.

Conversation Description:

Dean Shareski and Alec Couros have been teaching technology and social media related courses in a teacher education program at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. Over the last couple of years, we have focused on social and participatory learning strategies as we have “opened” our courses with the assistance of the individuals in our respective personal learning networks. This has meant connecting our students to passionate and knowledgeable educators from around the world, and also, allowing our students to become mentors in distant classrooms. The courses, based on student feedback, have been very successful. We hope to focus this conversation on both the specific and general. First, in what ways can we improve our course experiences to ensure success for our students (and hopefully for the schools in which they are hired)? Second, we would like your input in (re)imagining the role of teacher education programs in the development of students who are technologically savvy and media literate. What should our programs aim to accomplish? What strategies should we adopt? And, perhaps most importantly, how can we work better with K12 schools districts to help foster innovation and ensure success for young learners.

Educon Participants

Teachers and teacher’s education is changing.

Big Question: What does teacher education look like?
Course Framework:
Learning is Social, whether that is being online or in another context. Imperative that students be together in one way or another to learn with each other. Students are required to explain HOW you learned from other and HOW you contributed to the learning from others. It is important to spell out that expectation!

Public Spaces:

Idea of private to public spaces. Student ownership of their learning. The idea of dismanteling a course learning space a after the class is over is unreal, but very normal with platforms such as Blackboard.

Assessment:

How do we help each other learn more. Co-constructing criteria. What should your blog look like. How should it look like for you. Discussion how something could look like. What would the student like to get out of it. Shifting the assessment more to the student, not the teacher.

Distributive Expertise:

Bring in expert/practitioner voices. Changes the role of professors to facilitators.

Access to Best Practices:

Mentoring by opening your classroom to student teachers (via video conferences). Very powerful experience for student AND classroom teacher. Student teachers might start “contract” themselves out to help classroom teachers.

Personal Learning Network:

Possibilities to have our pre-service teachers connect with someone who inspires them and to mentor them in their journey. How should it happen (Building a PLN)? Organically or prescribed?

Private vs. Public:

Web2.0 tools exist that might allow academics to  on and reimagine what they do as scholars. Such tools might positively affect – even transform learning[...]

What would you suggest to improve the experience for students?

Help pre-service teachers to get in the habit of integrating technology in order to LEARN. Imagine school and learning can look different, even though school has worked for these pre-service teachers. How do you prepare students that it worked well for them (since they are in college).

“We have to teach teachers how to learn.”(Will Richardson)

About Sharing...

Image licensed under Creative Commons by Dean Shareski

-Have virtual field experiences.

-Being a reflective practitioner:

- It can’t be so much about teaching for pre-service teachers, but it also has to be about LEARNING.

What parts of this framework make sense for all learners? What parts don’t?

What happens when you prepare your pre-service teachers and then they go out to their first jobs and none of the technology tools are available or desired in the new school or district? The same question arises what happens to students in K12 schools who are in a 21st century savvy teacher who open up all the possibility to connection and collaboration and then they move on the the next grade level, where they are denied to continue to learn in that way.