techLEARNING webinar for Teachers April 26, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.add a comment
From the Cool Cat Teacher:
This webinar is Monday about Web 2.0 and I’m co-presenting. If you attend, you’ll receive a 3 month free trial subscription to Atomic Learning. Preregister here.
This will give you access to the series I did on Web 2.0 and how to set up an RSS reader, etc. Also, the new one I’ve done on Flattening your classroom will be available as well.
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2008/04/sites-that-caught-my-eye-today-04262008.html
links for 2008-04-26 April 25, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Link Collections.add a comment
-
George Siemens slideshar presentation on “The Big Picture: Future of Education”
$100 Laptop Roundup April 25, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Hardware, OLPC.add a comment
Liliputing has put together a fairly comprehensive list of low-cost ultraportable laptops. There are several on the list I’ve never heard of, but for some reason doesn’t include the XO although it is mentioned in the reviews of other laptops. The whole site is a terrific resource for anyone looking for more information about small inexpensive laptops.
http://www.liliputing.com/2008/04/over-past-six-months-or-so-asus-everex_24.html
links for 2008-04-24 April 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Link Collections.add a comment
-
visually compose boolean searches using puzzle pieces
-
great digital story telling resources
Simple Programming Reviewed April 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Tools.add a comment
I know this is a bit old fashioned, but I believe that the best way to learn technology is to take control of the technology by learning a programming language. This can be as simple as setting up a macro in a spread sheet, or hand-coding the HTML code for a web page. Programming can also be simple enough for students and teachers and be fun at the same time. Clarence Fisher has posted a nice review of several education-focused programming environments on his Remote Access blog. Lego Mindstorms, Alice, Phun, and Scratch. Take a look and challenge yourself to learn one! Or two!
http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/remote_access/2008/04/simple-programm.html
links for 2008-04-23 April 22, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Link Collections.add a comment
-
Site dedicated to fight the high burnout rate of new teachers by building a bridge between service and pre-service teachers.
Necessary Ingredients Part 5 – Overcoming Success April 22, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Opinion.add a comment
I’ve been thinking about this one for a long time. There are many voices calling for change, but change is slow in coming if it is coming at all. One reason for the lack of change in the educational world is the belief that as educators, we are mostly successful practitioners of our craft. Fortunately, this is partly true. While the generalization can’t be applied with even brush strokes for all teachers, most teachers deliver their curriculum, their students complete most of the assignments, and in the end, there is some growth, even if it is no more than a student might affect with any concerted intervention on anyone else’s part.
It is that modest success that keeps us from adopting new techniques, strategies, goals, and technologies. In order to provide a thriving 21st Century technology-infused learning environment, we (as educators) must not rely on moderate success. Treading water isn’t enough to keep up with the pace of change in the world around us. The ability to feel uncomfortable with doing ‘good enough’ needs to be an integral component of our approach to a life dedicated to teaching and learning.
I’m going to have to think critically about my own practices. I hope the following questions will be helpful to me in identifying where I’ve settled for ‘good enough’ instead of preparing for what’s next.
- What do I believe about how learners learn?
- What can others see in the craft of my teaching that expresses my philosophy of education?
- What did I learn today, and what impact should it have on my teaching tomorrow?
- What am I doing to regularly seek out new information, concepts, ideas, opinions, and the voices of others?
- How much time did I spend in reflection on what I did today?
- When did I say ‘no’ today and why?
In case you missed them, here are links to the previous four ingredients.
- http://villagegreen.edublogs.org/2007/11/02/necessary-ingredients-part-1-access/
- http://villagegreen.edublogs.org/2007/11/05/necessary-ingredients-part-2-neutral-internet/
- http://villagegreen.edublogs.org/2007/11/14/necessary-ingredients-part-3-wireless/
- http://villagegreen.edublogs.org/2008/01/22/necessary-ingredients-part-4-identity/
Shift Happened April 22, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos, Opinion.1 comment so far
Stephanie Sandifer, on LeaderTalk and Change Agency, posted a nice article on what to do once the realization has been made that something must change in education in response to the shift in the world around us that has already taken place. She does a nice job of moving the discussion from tools (what to buy) to people. Stephanie identifies everyone on campus, teacher, administrators, etc. as learners, and I agree with the assertion:
If we are serious about changing our learning environments so that our students leave fully prepared for life and work in a globally connected and collaborative environment, then we are definitely going to be moving the cheese of many people in our organizations — it won’t be easy and we can’t wait for all of the state and federal policies and mandates to catch up before we take action.
Stephanie goes on to point out that traditional methods of distributing change in educational systems, such as committees and pilot programs, are just too slow. She calls on the early adopters to virally spread change. While this is effective among the early adopter set, I don’t think this approach will impact those in the later (and larger) adopter groups. Unfortunately, I don’t have a suggestion for a better way to spread change, especially in educational institutions.
Stephanie does a great job of identifying roadblocks, such as tolerance toward technophobic attitudes and sufficient infrastructure. Some of these same elements I’ve written about in the ocassional ‘Necessary Ingredients’ series. On a side note, the post is nicely annotated with helpful links. Link to the article below:
