Peripheral Blog

This litterally is a peripheral blog -I almost missed this last assignment!
I am very excited to use some of the extra tech toys in next year's newly designed Rice Unit. Particularly the Flip Cam. It is really so easy to use, and so simple to incorporate into some many types of files and applications.
I've been using several differnt cameras and tools to tell stories in my I.T. class thus far, and have met with limited success. In part because of the nature of the sixth grade brain, but also in the defining of the parameters of the assignment.
In making a story with digital media, the story board needs to be used as an integral part of the process. I am sure that many of the mishaps with the peripheral devices could have been avoided if the students went in with a greater sense of purpose with them.
I will definintely take my own advice on this when building the documents and lessons for my final assessment. Thanks, Matt.

Teachers ensuring Good Learning

I see this as the course's BIG question. How can teachers in today's schools ensure that good learning is happening in the classroom.

Lots of answers surface with this question, and certainly the picture would not be complete without the inclusion - if not the center-piece of, yes, technology. A productive learning community, has many facets and never before have teachers needed to be practicing what they preach about life long learning and intellectual risk-taking.

However, while technology tightens its grip on the keys to learning, it in-and-of itself is not the answer.

Now while I cannot claim even double digit tenyer in the profession, there are some old addages that work in the classroom just as well as they do in the lunch room, or the family room, or the bar.

One such example is the idea that I always try to hold on to of "meeting people where they are". When applied to learning at ISB, it can direct assignments, interventions, and open new possibilities.

Not all students are going to be great at reading. Not all students are going to be great at math. And not all students are going to be challenged by even some of the more demanding computer assignments. But if we can meet them where they are, at least we will know what they can do, and what they are capable of.

Lap Top Management (AKA Effective use of the 'MicroComputer' in the Classroom)

I just saw four groups of seventh graders back to back (to back to back). The purpose of each class was to be a work period where all students could work toward their final semester's end project and ask clarifying questions.
In each class, the computer was used for word processing, and for graphic design features.
Some of the recommendations from the class discussions most definitely surfaced in the course of these 45 minute blocks of time. In the wiki artcle "Classroom Management" the idea of gaining and refocusing attention is brought up. Lowering the laptop screan to me is as close to an industry standard as there is. Students can do it, and they are accustomed to the request.
What I find to be the challenge, and having shared my classroom with other teachers, I know I am not alone in this; is the management of the carts. Too often the studnets do not put the computer in the right place or in the right cart or the carts end up not gettign plugged in when they reach the next class room or storage room. What ends up happening is the next group of students ends up not being able to work through the period without running out of battery power.
Assigning moniters ahead of time works well, but ultimately the responsibility ends up back with the teacher.
Hardware or software? Which one do we spend our time worrying about more? Which should we spend our teaching time focusing on?
Without the hardware, there is no software...

The Medium is the Message

These are the immortal words of Marshall McLuhan (recently quoted by Jim Fitzgerald)that just seem to surface over and over and over again through the course.
This is of course McLuhan's most famous and enduring quote, but another idea put forward by the famed 1960's media analyst also has profound relevance these 50-some-odd-years later.
McLuhan put forward the theory of the extension of man. He sees the human desire to extend itself in bigger, faster, better ways. In that, he proposes, the hammer is an extension of the fist, and the car is an extension of the feet, humans are able to promote their autonomy over the world - a basic human desire. He continues to describe the idea of the over-extension. The car in its overuse has brought about massive social problems in North America. From what was intended to be a device of increased mobility has resulted in record instances of obesity.
How does this play out when paired off against the idea that computers are an extension of the brain? When used effectivley, they undoubtedly extend human intellectual capabilities. What then is the result of computer overuse? I think the answer for the next generation of computer natives is akin to the obesity result in the car example.

From 'Who's Job?' to 'A Healthy Tech Community'

When I first considered the question of ensuring that all outcomes and benchmarks of technology were covered at ISB, my immediate instinct was that the Curriculum Office needs to oversee the process.

After all, they are the ones who have the perspective on what is and is not happening at all grade levels in all subject areas throughout the school. And surely, there are plenty of other PK-12 skills that we value highly as a school but still do not appear on Rubicon; notetaking skills, reading for content skills, listening skills, character attributes, etc...


It is clear that ISB values these skills and characteristics- faculty meetings, in-service specialists, Maggie Moon, Synergy in the middle school; measures are taken to ensure that all of our kids get the right kind of exposure.

So why would technology be any different?

There are many factors that make technology standards very different from any other kind of standard: the speed of changing technology, the readiness of the students, the readiness of the teacher, and the availability of the tools to name a few.

We arrived at the idea that the role of teaching technology is that of the community. Like the different habits of automobile traffic in different cities (a Bangkok traffic jam looks and feels different than a Toronto traffic jam), technology permeates the culture of communities in a similar way, and individuals internalize culture in different ways.

The question that I extend from this point is, how can we ensure a healthy tech community at ISB?

Final Project

This master's I.T. project of digital storytelling came along at just the right time! The directions provided by FOSS were weak and needed to be far better presented. Digital stroytelling was the prefect way to enhance these lessons.

The science unit of Finding Energy in Ecosystems required studnets to learn and understand that food is the only source of energy for consumers. Like other forms of energy, food can be burned and its energy can be measured (in kilocalories).

Through formative assessment with my first class, I noticed two major areas that required attention.

The first: the direction provided by FOSSin the student hand book were incomplete. Here is a silent movie (captured on Flip Cam by one of my students)that shows how to set up a stable platform for a burning squid-ball snack.


The second: these students have no idea how to use a match! We went through boxes and boxes before I decided that I needed to formally intervien. Here is a short movie (created on PhotoStory 3) that shows 7th graders how to light matches. There is an emphasis on science and of safety, however, I think that if this 'how to' video is successful, many students will go on to light other things on fire.

Digital Story Telling

Digital story telling - let me count the ways: voice threads, photostory, audacity, podcasts, movie maker, imovie, slide share, flip cameras, the list goes on and on.
Kim and Jeff did a great job of putting it all together yesterday. Or was it that I was finally ready to hear what they've been saying all along?
Reflective messages keep surfacing for me. If I don't buy in, am I resister? Why am I not on the class blog band wagon? I see no point in podcasts for middle school science. Does this make me a digital stick in the mud?
Some things I warmly embrase: panthernet, google docs, technology that fits the work. So not a resister- I teach the I.T. class for crying out loud! Maybe I'm a late adapter? Not sure...
In fact don't think resiter or late adaprer are branding that are accurate for my place on the spectrum of technology in education.
I also no longer see that distinction as the point of what we are doing in our class- and that's the revelation for me. As educators we must be tech savy and tech aware. The multitude of plaforms with which to tell a digital story are oportunities for our kids to share their thinking in a way that works for them.
I see it now. Thanks Jeff. Thanks Kim.

Nut Job

Here is the link to the digital story. Massively updated by Jon Breedlove. Thanks Jon!

Slide Share

Last week, seventh grade science had two presentations about Lake Nichada: the first presentation was an introduction that I made using newly acquired "Presentation Zen" techniques, the second was done by the Chief Engeneer from Nichada Thani using a more traditional powerpoint presentation.
Since loading my Zen presentation onto Slide Share and posting it here on my Blog, it is obvious that with no words, there is not much learning to be gleaned from viewing my Zen powerpoint. The traditional powerpoint, on the otherhand could be viewed by a distance learner who could actually gain information from it.

Intro Lake Nichada

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Intro Lake Nichada

View more presentations from guest969f41.

Next!

Last week I organised an assembly for the entire seventh grade class about what we are doing in science. We gathered in the Chevron Theatre to listen to a guest speaker talk to us about how Lake Nichada works.

The students were expected to make connections between the aquariums and terrariums that they assembled and monitored in class to a real life example of an artificially created ecosystem: Lake Nichada.

Knowing how difficult it can be for seventh graders to draw parallel relationships, I decided to help them bridge the gap between concrete and abstract. I did this using powerpoint techniques that I’ve picked up through this course (see my slide share) and used photographs taken from CC.

COETAIL pays off

Aspects of COETAIL are definitely creeping in to my day to day pedagogy, as well as into my reflective work after each class. Technology, like any new influencial force in education is subject to the ebb and flow of the pendulum of critical analysis. Much has been written on both its value and limitations. Lately, I'm hearing the voices of the sceptics more clearly than those of the proponents of technolgy in education.


Some studies report that tech gadgets and relentless multi-tasking behaviours are destroying youngsters' ability to concentrate on anything at all. Other articles describe how teachers are relying too heavily on power point presentations and should be teaching "naked" (a movement in some university levels that has professors lecturing without leaning quite so heavily on the crutches of technology).


In addition to McG's Connect-Ed, I've opened up a new blog site for parents of my science class who want to stay current with what's happening in seventh grade. Having tried classroom blogs before, and dismissing them as "time that is not being spent to help students", and having tried multiple other tools to communicate with parents, I have now reinstated a blog format for an audeince of what I precieve to be overly-concerned parents for four of my classes, albiet in a very couched manner.


While I do appreciate the blogging aspect in this course and for this audience, other ideas from COETAIL have been more meaningful to me. I think that through the learning in this course, my students are benefiting from the power of web 2.0 and shared info delivered directly to them on a daily basis in my classes.



Through google docs, the four different science classes I work with throughout the day are able to collaborate not only with each other, but with other students, in other classes, share ideas, communicate events, and blend their tallents to write 360 degree observations. The process involves significant modern life survival skills including reading for content, critical analysis, writing for a purpose, writing for an authentic audience.

As the critics battle over the vertue vs. the drawbacks, I like to hope that with a close enough eye on the debate, we can seek out and hang on to the enduring elements in this movement.

AUP project reflections

Last night I completed my final project for Course 2 of the coetail certificate (insert favorite David Lee Roth quote here).

The project was intended to share the AUP with middle school students. This was not at all an easy task. From the point of view of a middle school kid, the AUP reads like a 10 minute nag from your mother. Hence the challenge- how to make this document accessible to 13 year olds?

One question that occurs to me: who is the document written for?

I think the presentation is a good way to deliver some of the basic elements of the AUP, however, if the document itself is intended to speak to students, a rew format is required.

Mass Collaboration and The Stanley Cup

Mass Collaboration
Living overseas, we sometimes can feel like we are removed from not only our home land, but our mainstream homeland culture. As a Canadian, the start of the NHL playoffs is one of the times when homeland nostalgia is hard felt.
Reading Jude Fiorillo’s article on Wikinomics about Mass Collaboration, Social Networking and the NFL reminded of something I could do to alleviate that longing for a piece of 2009 hockey heritage. Where did I turn? NHL torrents!
I’ve used torrents before to download music, videos and generally clog up the bandwidth at Samakee Gardens, but have only had a loose understanding of how a torrent actually worked. As I went through the steps to create my account, NHL torrents FORCED me to actually READ the policy that I was agreeing to! (The nerve!)
Their policy was actually an interesting read. It was not drawn up by a team of lawyers, but by people who understood the there were people out there who really want to watch hockey. It was an instant bonding moment. I felt like I was part of a community of people perhaps skattered around the world who feel the same gravitational pull of the Stanley Cup.
The policy went on to specify the ratio of seeding vs. leaching that users need to balance in order to keep their account in good standing. Basically - sharing makes the torrents work better. The greater the mass collaboration, the healthier the community.

Axis of Copyright Evil

Obama doesn't like the way copyright law is being upheld in Thailand. He's put Thailand in with some unflattering company including China, Pakistan and Canada, reminiscent of the Axis of Evil; now to live in I.P. infamy under the cloak of "The Dirty Dozen"!

Evidently Barak doesn't spend much time watching tv. Or if he does, he must still get a kick out of watching re-runs of Full House.

For those of us who have cut cable and have enjoyed the wealth of "free" media that's circulating out there, you may be doing your county a disservice. According to the Bangkok Post article, countries on Obama's priority watch list may be economically penalized through trade barriers and embargos.

Think again next time you go shopping at Panthip Plaza...

Multi Tasking at School

There was much debate about the class with the guest speaker, Silvia Tolisano who introduced the Tiny Chat to our group. The discussion was again brought up in the lunchroom in the high school with several Eng/Hum/Sci teachers.

The teachers at the table had a variety of comfort levels with using tech. Most of them I would say were avid tech users and most qualified as early adapters.

Some of the teachers could see how Tiny chat "could" be used in the class, but not one could say whether Tiny chat "should" be used in their class.

The bigger discussion about distractions and multi-tasking came up. Some good points were made on both sides of the argument:

Pro Tiny Chat:
Kids are wired differently than we are.
Kids have shorter attention spans anyway, so why not allow productive “back room” chat/note taking.

Con Tiny Chat:
Multi-taking is a high order skill that can only be preformed successfully by mature thinkers and experienced people.
Adult learners at ISB were not allowed to take their laptops into the Thai Teaching Certification course because it inevitably leads to off topic behavior.

Further investigation into this compelling debate revealed a body of research done on multi-tasking and learning. The study showed MRI evidence that memory, performance and comprehension are all negatively impacted by dividing attention.

Teachers have always scorned students for passing notes in class. Why should the digital note be treated any differently?

Surely there are enough opportunities for chat rooms, pop ups, and other distractions after the bell rings.

Bullying 2.0

Two years ago, the sixth grade core teachers were required to help out the PE/Health department cover a unit. There were several subjects to be covered in this unit: nutrition, smoking, hygiene and (predictably for this blog post) bullying.

Bullying became my topic to cover with the 6th grades and it was considered a significant topic by the admin as a "consistent message to be sent to all middle school students at the start of the school year".

The majority of the curriculum focused on typical scenarios of the school yard bully, and what could be done to avoid him or her. We then shifted focus to cyberbullying.

The discussions were interesting because the initial reaction by the students was that cyberbullying was a less threatening means of intimidating victims. As we further examined the issues, the means, the outcomes and impacts of cyberbullying, a stronger awareness of just how damaging this kind of bullying can be.

At one point in our Apr 8 f2f, the instructor was asked if there had been any formal survey done on the prevalence of cyberbullying at the school.

In my class of two years ago, I did survey the students specifically about cyberbullying. The results that came back were negligible and those that did report to be bullied online, claimed only mild irritation and nothing that needed intervention.

That was two years ago. A lot can change in that amount of time - especially when technology is concerned!

I think a new survey should be created, and amendments to the ISB AUP should strongly reflect the wrongitude of cyberbullying!

Digital Fearmongering

Techin' PE recently wrote a very worthwhile entry on the issues of privacy and the online footprints that follow us through our digital lives (nice one Andy!).

In his post Andy mentions two common fears:
1. Our online behaviour from our deep, dark past follows us to job interview and university admissions tables.
2. The possible threat of others creating a negative footprint for us through rumors and online gossip.

Both scenarios are real and significant.

Special Guest from March 18th's f2f, Silvia Tolisano made mention to an entirely opposite and far more optimistic approach to tackling the issue of students' digital footprints. Tolisano endorses us educators to harness this unstoppable force and make digital footprints work for our children!

We should show our students that it is never too early to start down a good path that will leave nice footprints that reflects positively on us. This idea is similar to Friedman’s in his novel, The World is Flat: "In the future, you must be good."

It's optimistic, but not very realistic.

The extension of this "do good" approach sounds to me like we are asking kids to start building their ‘resumes’ in grade school! -Step out of line and run the risk of wide-spread and far-reaching ostracism.

How utterly stifling it all sounds.

The thing is, both sides of the footprint issue end up at the same place: an over-exposed and all-too-transparent society whose citizens are fearful of failure. As a teacher, it would be tragic to see risk taking and out-of-the-box thinking decline any further in our classrooms.

Copyright vs. Copywrong

The shear amount of content I've stollen from other people off the internet is simply staggering.

250 Gigs wasn't enough to hold all the movies, images and endless lists of songs... 250 GB turned into 750 GB with the purchase of a 500 GB HD, then a 1 TB HD to back it all up.

The quantities of zeros and ones. The storage space it required became increasingly less of an issue as hard drives just kept getting cheaper and cheaper...

At some point in this process, it was not only the storage space that got cheaper; the content in my opinon started to lose some of its artistic value as well.

Surely the artists who spawned these imaginative creations never aspired to have their work randomly fired through cyber space, or shared for free between computer links.

Most of them I'm guessing don't want to work for nothing.

On the other side of the free-share story, file sharing communities have helped to launch bands like my brother's : The New Deal , and gained them much popularity amongst those with complementary musical taste.

For more on good sharing, check out this video about artist who want you to view, listen and use their content.

Teacher's Crystal Ball

Networked learners. Google docs. RSS feeds. The Horizon Report. GeoTagged Everything. Smart Objects. And that’s just the next 5 years…

Maybe Marc Prensky was right after all and these dusty old curriculums teachers cling to are getting in the way.

But where I would chose to deviate from Prensky- is what curriculums are getting in the way of.

I commented on a few blogs recently that teachers should all be equipped with a crystal ball to see what the future will look like. What a 21st Century learner needs to know.

Based on global projections about the health of our planet (made with today’s technology), the number of friends you have on Facebook, or the number of hits on your connected blog, won’t mean a thing!

Food and water shortages, diseases and epidemics, pollution, deforestation, energy consumption… Technology isn’t the cure. It is the problem itself.

Today’s learner needs to know how to use a divining rod, and a fishing rod; how to harness the wind, and brew ethanol.

Making videos with a phone is easy.

Swimming or Skimming?

In his article in the Atlantic, Is Google making us Stupider, Nicholas Carr describes the feeling of losing his span of attention.

He describes how he used to love immersing himself into words and books and lengthy prose; but now, with computer-based reading occupying increasingly more of his reading, he struggles to read past a few paragraphs. Instead of thoughtful and involved reading, he is gleaning for ideas, while being bombarded by competing images and advertising.

He describes his transformation as the difference between swimming and Jet Skiing.

Carr is certainly not the only one having the experience of peeked distractibility online. But what are the implications of this kind of transformation in reading?

Is this phenomenon, as Carr suggests, making us ‘stupider’? Or are we, and our students benefiting from seeing more?

Perhaps online reading about: gardening, adventure travel, global issues (or any wide variety of topics), could actually be a richer experience for students (or any learner) if accompanied by images, links, and pop-ups.

If that is the case, then to deny our kids online reading, and promote books is an educational crime.

Is the pursuit of slow the equivalent of a thumb in the eye of the speed boat of technology? Does it behoove us all to get on the boat now or risk being left behind to become obsolete? (Have you noticed this about technology; at a certain point, if you’re not on Facebook, or you don’t’ have a cell phone, you’re a pain in the ass!?)

I think what it comes down is this: like any Jet Ski ride, the adrenaline rush is great at first, but eventually the ride has to either go somewhere, or come to an end. Extending the metaphor, at some point, students will find an area of interest, get off the Jet Ski and swim in the words.

And the reading will be more powerful because they will have found it on their own. Our job as educators, then must be that of guide and life guard.

Pendulum Swung too Far: Marc Prensky VS. Nicholas Carr

In his article Apopt and Adapt, Prensky makes a case for more technology in schools. Perhaps that's putting it too mildly. He implies so much more technology is needed that schools' curriculums are getting in the way of technology.

He argues that teachers and school are too conservative, too slow, and that schools: teacher and administrators, hang on to curriculum as if it is the last bastion of culture and the way things were. If Marc Prensky were to walk out of his software training and Games design office and into virtually any other business setting, would he really expect to find the technically advanced demographic that he isn't seeing in schools?

Prensky complains that although teachers have started using programs like powerschool, they are not changing their assignments. (Does he know what powerschool is?)

For our kids to be able to finally join the 21st century, all schools should be one-to-one, and all lessons, activities, and assignments should be digitally based. Because after all, the computer has become "extensions of the students' personal self and brain".

Nicholas Carr makes mention to the ideas of AI (artificial intelligence) and the computer as an extension of our brains in his article "Is Google Making us Stupider?". Carr desribes the possibility of becoming a society of "pancake people" spread too wide and too thin with access to uncountable volumes of information at the touch of a button. And how Google is working toward programming AI.

Although at times, I sensed that Carr was deliberately making a Socratic case in his article, I think that he too would find fault with Prensky's extreme position on the over-use of technology in schools.

Beating up on Bloom

Is it academically cliche to repeatedly defame old theories and theorists?

If so I apologize...

I just think that any taxonimist worth his salt should describe the entire specrum of the heirarchy on which they claim expertise.

Kate and Tess (my 2 year old twins) are curently learning and thinking at a mad rate. None of what they are doing are represented on Bloom's heirarchy because their thinking must not qualify as HOTS.

But if to them stacking cups and signing songs and learning signs is higher order, then, equitably speaking, shouldn't that qualify?

Evidently I am not the first to come to this realization. Dave did in 1975. Here is his take on it:

The follow up question is this: Could this model then also be interepreted into the world of digital thinkers?

Looking at a glance, the answer must be yes.

From banging on a computer mouse, to touch typing keyboard skills, to writing a first essay, there are applications throughout the spectrum.

Amendments to Bloom's Update

Okay, I just lost my entire post. Rrrrraaats!!!

Boiled down version: Take 2!

At it's highest level of HOTS (higher order thinking skills), the Digital outlook on Bloom is either (a) too easy or (b) too hard.

(a) Too easy. "Creating" a blog or a wiki is a sinch. Anyone can plan, construct, design, etc... a blog that offers nothing but flashing hotdogs.

That's not the height of thought.

(b) Too hard. "Creating" a computer program, animating graphic images, mixing and remixing video or audio or both are all very difficult.

That's supposed to be the point, but these things are also very exclusive.

Lack of money or no way to access equipment means that for many (most?), attainment of the top of the heirarchy is completely off limits. Unattainable.

The original vision of "evaluation" is far more inclusive.

PS. I'd also like to give a shout out to Robin Ulster on her comments about "Creating" and on "Understanding". Well said Robin.

Teaching Blogs

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who questions the academic value in using blogs for student writing assignments.

On the one hand, as I write this post, I am cognisant of the fact that I may have any number of readers looking on; judging my writing, spelling and sentence structure, as well as my thoughts and ideas.

On the other hand, blogs posts, comments and replies are rife with spelling and grammar mistakes, and often are simply unintelligible! Too often blogs are used as opportunities to vent and spew.

If kids are going to use blogs in spite of whether or not we learn about them in school, why not focus our energy on teaching them the proper sentence structure, grammar and spelling the blogs don't value? Why not focus the energy on teaching how to build a proper thesis statement?

There will always be time for kids to blog weather we intervene or not.

Skype Lecture w Clarence Fisher

Dead Writing.

The idea of writing and presenting in a school environment is too often contrived. In math, when I see hwk answers that say nothing more than =12, my teacher hackles go up.

No no! I say. Show your work. Pretend that I don't know the question!

Why are we asking students to pretend?

Similarly with so amny forms of academic written work. Traditional teachers are always forced to ask studnets to suspend belief and work in contrived environments of writing to imaginary non-expert readers- when in fact, they are writing for teachers who are subject matter experts.

The internet, blogs and wikis eliminate this problem. By writing on online environments, the audience is the world and students no longer need to write to pretend audiences.

Common Craft Video

Common Craft presentation this morning redefined the role of the teacher. I loved the terms used to define what a teacher needs to be. Guide kids through mountains of information, teach them how how politely ask experts for help, assess the validity of sources, etc...

This is just as much of a continuum process as learning to read or write. The final product shown in the C.C. video was the equivalent of a thesis paper. This level of intellectual curiosity manefesting in a quality, self-motived venture was not something that can taught in one year or in one course. It is the product of many influences both academic and social that come together to create something new and special and important.

Hopes for I.T. Masters

On entering the IT Masters program, I must admit that I am coming in a little bit of a skeptic.

This is not to say that I do not believe in the power of the internet, or that I am in any way a techno-phobe.

The opposite is true. I feel that throughout each mach advent of new communitcation technology, I have been an early adapter. Email in 1992. Blogging in 2001. Skype when there was no one to skype with. MySpace. Facebook. Ning. Moodle...

I think this stuff is powerful.

But.

I have been an disbeliever in fully integrating into education. This skeptisism was strengthened at the Tech2.008 conferenece in ShangHai where classroom after classroom was filled with people tuning out their presenters, cell phones ringing, twitters twittering, and wikis chatting.

Teaching teachers is not an easy job. Teachers (in my experience) make erogant, overly critical, disrespectful, and generally lousy students. That said, in my opinion, Tech 2.008 didn't look like learning.

What I want from this course is to be convinced.

Convinced of a different way of looking at what was happening in the classrooms in ShangHai.

Convinced of the idea that is at the heart of school: learning and socialization. The internet is an avenue for both, but are the two sides of school simultaniously compatible?!?!...