I Suspected, But ‘Did Not Know’ For Sure June 30, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos, Opinion.1 comment so far
I’ve admired the work of Karl Fisch, especially his contribution (Did You Know, a.k.a. Shift Happens) to the discourse on the role of technology and connectedness in education, but there was always one section of the presentation that bothered me. The section that show the number of students in China and India in advanced classes far outnumbers the total number of students in the US. I’ve always felt uncomfortable about that. Should the US always have the highest number of advanced students? Is that even possible? In a world where the US makes up less than 5% of the total population, I don’t think so. Should we be concerned about this state of affairs in the US? Are we losing our ability to compete? Will we become irrelevant because other counties are becoming more capable, better educated? Or does the reverse hold true? Should we instead celebrate and support better education around the globe? Is this a win-lose situation, or is there a win-win outcome? Watch the embedded TED Conference video below and be better informed. I know I was; better informed that is.
TIE 2009 – Shifting Literacies – Karl Fisch June 25, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions, Opinion.add a comment
http://tieconference.wikispaces.com/3311
Something new: http://www.netvibes.com/theunquietlibrary#Iran_Election_2009
Rants and Raves
- It is important to continue to learn, and to share that learning process with each other and our students.
- Karl’s current cosmology comes from a dissatisfaction with a ‘good enough’ math classroom.
- 1994 computers came on the scene and so did student information systems. Karl began the transition from math to technology, motivated by bringing a better experience to the classroom.
- Money was a barrier to providing access to and integration of technology.
- Teachers wanted time. Cohort of brave teachers became a group of teachers teaching teachers how to use technology. Teachers developed the PD based on research, pedagogy, and (if time allows) technology.
- The Fischbowl was born.
- Lots of significant reading took place, Gladwell, Pink, Kurzweil, etc.
- August 2006, the conversation started with Did You Know? We get to see an updated edition for TIE.
- Presentation was posted to the blog and it started to spread from there. Scott McLeod posted new versions in new formats. Those spread to YouTube, I’m Bored, etc.
- System we use in education today based on an industrial model.
- Lots of questions:
- Education system designed when information was scarce. Information is now abundant. Now what should students know how to do? Content and skills are both important. We need to learn and relearn.
- What does it mean to be literate in the 21st century? We don’t know. Not yet. Reading and analyzing books is not the same as reading and analyzing websites. We have a lot more information and a lot more access to information. We can do our own fact checking. Previously we filtered prior to publishing. Now we publish and then filter. Everything gets published, and all of us have to filter, we all need to be a media specialist. Consume and produce the media of the day. Our students (as well as we do) need an understanding of our digital footprint. Are our students ready for co-laboratory learning, for a world where professional networking is the communications tool of the day? Google Mobile for iPhone, and WolframAlpha as examples.
- Wisdom? What do we do with all of this? How do we help them create their own personal learning networks? A PLN is the new coin that separates those who are on the inside and those who are on the outside. Standards, but not standardized.
Examples
- http://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/21c/21c.htm
- Use a fishbowl – outer circle of students taking interactive notes and live blogging the conversation. This can include students in and out of the classroom, outside observers, both when it happens, and whenever anyone wants to participate.
- Wiki-fied research papers. Discussion. Drafts. Links.
- Cover It Live posted in a blog – live text discussions with experts.
- Blog posts requesting comments to critical questions.
- Podcasting “This I Believe”.
- Commenting and editing with comments on documents.
- Google Groups for college essays.
- Scribe posting – assign a student to post to the class blog what happened that day.
- 2nd graders drew pictures, 6th graders composed music to fit, 9th graders wrote poetry, all from different schools, different states.
- Online projects – Flat World Projects.
- Reading anything school appropriate, with end of week oral report, podcasted, with feedback as comments on a blog.
- Language translations by students between classes for native speakers learning the corresponding language as podcasts and written examples on wikis.
- Email questions to an author, which turned into a Skype conversation.
- Ning, Moodle.
Audience Participation
What is the best way to ‘fix’ the system? Join tech dept.? How does 21st C. Lit. relate to math? Real world data-gathering. Is there any vocabulary that need adjusting like literacy? Writing is different. Local and global may also be changing. How does the general public respond to this presentation since there is no obvious consensus about what education is or should be? Once school parents can see the results of their children’s work, they become supporters.
Reflection: The very nature of change is changing. We are moving to a time, not of change, but of flow. We need to know how to stay on top and not be overwhelmed or marginalized by the sheer volume of information. I’ll probably blog more about this later.
TIE 2009 – Online Professional Development – Randy Stall and Dana Levesque June 25, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions.add a comment
- Monday Models – 3 hour sessions on variety of topics. Face to face hold my hand training. No prior sign-up, drop-in model.
- In-Building PD
- whole staff
- grade level teams
- content teams
- individuals
- Co-teaching
- Modeling
- Topic 1: Introduction – Classmates – Used dotSUB to view videos housed on YouTube to avoid the filter. Included background information with Common Craft videos, as assignment section, a link to the progress spreadsheet, rubrics, and a classmates page to list (and link) the members of the class. The class page is where people post their information. Instructions did not include step-by-step instructions which fosters self-reliance, discovery, and proficiency. There are instructions, just not complete details. Also offered alternatives and prompts about how the topic relates back to the classroom. Use of discussion tab in each module to connect students, and give them a forum to communicate with each other.
- Topic 2: Wiki. each topic had a features section where each person had to find a feature and describe step-by-step instructions on how to use the feature.
- Topic 3: Blogs. Five posts over the course of the whole class. Course blog also acted as a model. Course blog also served as a place to encourage additional conversations.
- Topic 4: Social Bookmarking. Topic 5: Podcasting. Topic 6: Online Communications. Topic 7: Web Albums. Topic 8: Google Earth. Topic 9: Online Tools. Final project module which became a wiki collection or portfolio of their work in the course, and a reflection. RSS Module also included, but not required.
- Paras and teachers and anyone else could sign-up. 3 credit class.
- Face-to-face meeting at the beginning to make sure expectations were clear, logistical things worked, etc. Some visits for struggling students were made.
- Prerequisites: classroom experience, basic Internet skills.
- Instructor
- Some teachers need 1-on-1 attention
- Consider the class timeline
- Time to check and respond back with participants
- one instructor per module
- Keep people aware of timeline
- Participant
- Difficult class but worth it
- See other participants work
- Procrastination can be a problem
- Online Community: you get out of it what you put in to it
TIE 2009 – Create, Communicate, Collaborate – Howie DiBlasi June 25, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions, Link Collections, Safety, Tools.2 comments
Started with Green Eggs and Ham. More statistics about jobs moving from the US to overseas, from Friedman’s “The World is Flat”. Also mentioned Pink’s “A Whole New Mind” and Jim Collins “Good to Great” – get the right people on the bus, get them in the right seats, get the wrong people off the bus. Howie says we also need to get a driver. Short video about people who failed before achieving greatness (lincoln, etc). Can we still reward kids for doing anything rather than allowing them to fail? If you want change, be the change.
Will change happen if we don’t change our classrooms? Short video “Is this what the future in the US looks like” from ScreamingFrog. Skills for success:
- creative problem solving
- critical and analytical thinking
- information gathering
- team work and collaboration
- Everyone is not the same
- Conflict isn’t always negative
- Learning is individual to each person
- Naps are important
- We all deserve the opportunity to share our stories
- Failure is a powerful teacher
TIE 2009 – Technical, Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts – Mike Scott and Frank Vretos June 24, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions, Tools.add a comment
Started with introductions. Podcast Capture is the client utility (included with all 10.5 Macs) to create or upload media to the Podcast Producer on the Leopard OS X Server. Podcast Capture uses 6 built-in scripts or workflows. You can make your own workflows. Web interface for the client is also available. Podcast Producer is highly scalable. Probably a good idea to start with a small group of dedicated content producers before it is more widely distributed.
From the server side, starting with Wiki server. Wiki services enabled on the OS X server. Create a couple of users to see how they can work differently. Group is created and the wiki and blog option is selected. From the client side, open a browser and view the wiki server.
TIE 2009 – iPodTouch – Dan McCormack June 24, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions, Tools.add a comment
Most of this session is done on touches. Positioning the touches as a device that improves the ability to collaborate, create, distribute, and access. It is not a ‘netbook’ or laptop lite. Starts with a review of touch basics. Turn it on, home button, bring up controls, swipe to navigate.
Watched a 7 minute video on the touch which outlined challenges in education, and how the touch addresses those challenges. Talked about the student as the CEO of their own digital brand. Karl Fisch cals this their ‘digital footprint’. Looked at audio books in ‘music’ as a podcast, and videos like the physics of baseball. Research from Escondido Union School District on the iRead project where fluency was improved. Apple’s solution is the Bretford PowerSync Cart ($2300 without the iPods). Charges and synchs up to 40 dock connector iPods. Other solutions are on the way.
The App Store. We are exploring apps that were synched on the touches. There are a lot of options.
iTunes and the App Store. Think of iTunes as an architecture. iTunes U is free, hosted by Apple.
Reflection: I’d like to see this used in a school. I also think the price for the devices and carts has to come down a bit. The free offerings from the App Store are very nice.
TIE 2009 – Education 2020 – Elizabeth Hubbell June 24, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions, Data.add a comment
http://tieconference.wikispaces.com/2111
Incoming 2nd graders are, if the graduate, are the class of 2020. What kind of skills do they need? What can we do in school to help prepare them for a future we can’t quite see? What has changed since 1990? Not much in schools. Can a 1990s education possibly prepare our students for a 2020 world?
What are the barriers to change?
- money
- effective teacher use of technology
- change is hard for someone who has taught for 20 years
- change in technology is mercurial
- technology is not reliable enough
- we are not testing the way we should be teaching
What is the ‘low-hanging fruit’ we haven’t picked? Based on data from ‘walkthroughs’ http://www.mcrel.org/powerwalkthrough
- teachers are not actually using the technology in their rooms
- students are not actually using the technology in their rooms
- students are not assessed using the technology in their rooms
- Design – moving beyond function to create something beautiful, whimsical, or to engage our emotions
- Story – narrative added to products and services – not just argument
- Symphony – adding invention and big picture thinking (not just the detail focus)
- Empathy – going beyond logic and engaging emotion and intuition
- Play – bringing humor and light-heartedness to business and products
- Meaning – immaterial feelings and values of products
- Make our work transparent
- Creativity is what we want our students to do
- Audience is important – students can and should self-evaluate
- Connect the lesson to something personal
- Break out of text books and work patterns
- Learn with your students
- Use real tools
- Students don’t have to go to school to get an education – MIT open courseware, University of the People, insight schools
- Average life expectancy from under 50 in 1900 to over 76 in 2000 – more time to learn new things, work in more areas – fewer younger people in the workforce supporting retirement group
- Migration trends – toward south and west, including Colorado
- Generational changes – millennials: teamwork, technology, structure, experienctial, entertainment – these are children of Gen X parents: pragmatic, few alliegences
- Economy – most of our money is spent from age 35 to 55 – greater concentration of population in urban areas
- Globalization – they have more top students than we have students, ‘did you know’
- Digital World – Moore’s law
- Education – movement toward charters, homeschool
- Too many directives working at cross-purposes
- Not enough self-control over my individual or department work
TIE 2009 – Design with Forever in Mind – Ben Wilkoff June 23, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions, Tools.add a comment
Authenticity done for a real purpose and a real audience. How do we capture learning?
Backchannel is set up using a hash tag in twitter. #forevertie09, viewable as an RSS feed from http://tieconference.wikispaces.com/1117
How do you created learning that lasts forever? Based in experience, grows with the learner, has an impact that is external, creates more questions.
Forever does not mean storage, nor password protecting the information, nor the work remains unchanged, nor that everything is preserved.
Forever does mean that done does not exist (foreverism), that everyone should teach (mathcasts), and exit strategies are not optional (jot and the web 2.0 graveyard). So how do you do this?
Capture student voices:
- vocaroo – http://www.vocaroo.com voice recording
- drop.io – http://drop.io/ file sharing, drop box, and also voice mail
- screencastle – http://screencastle.com screencasting
Aggregation:
- educhat – open discussion using twitter tags http://twitterforteachers.wetpaint.com/
- Google Docs collaborative documents, presentations
Reflection:
What learning will I capture? Aggregating hash tags in twitter – great way to collect discussions from people both present and virtual. How does this captured learning let everyone teach? Every participant in the back channel can be the teacher, can participate, can ask the important question. How will someone build on this learning? If the backchannel is posted as part of the learning, it can serve as a reminder of jumping off points for the next discussion, the next learning or presentation. What is my exit strategy? I’m blogging my notes about this session.
Linked here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rm5-Ie8Hss7MgxElepGuAyw
Distractions:
- The conference network is not behaving. It’s down, it’s up!
- Ben’s battery, is it charging or not? Will his laptop turn itself off in the middle of his presentation?
Other tools discussed:
- Tweetgrid.com – set up searching for hash tags in Twitter, near real-time RSS feed.
- Bubbl.us – mind-mapping or brainstorming
