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.