21st Century Teaching & Learning

Search Engines & Kids: Who gets it?

2009-12-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

What to ask to get to the answer - every search engine has its own method

On the heels of sending out tips for "getting the search results you want" I came across a great article in the New York Times ... talk about esp.

"Helping Children Find What They Need on the Internet" by Sefanie Olsen (NYT 12/26/09)

It's tough enough for adults to get the search results they are looking for, imagine what kids could produce when they start writing questions in search boxes, long or short. Rather than developing a stand-alone child-proof search product, Google and other companies have decided to enlist kids to make existing search tools more kid-friendly, effective and I hope safer for children AND adults.

Bing uses more imagery than other search engines (incl. Google) leading to faster search results - very popular among young people. Bing's use by Internet searchers age 2 (!) to 17 has increased by 76% since May '09. 2-Year olds searching - this just blows my mind!

Google's "Wonder Wheel", launched in May '09, is a graphical search tool designed to make browsing easier. You can find it under "show options" on the search results page.

A 13-year old, self-proclaimed power searcher who participated in a children's web search research project a couple of years ago, has come up with his own idea. "I think there should be a program where Google asks kids questions about what they're searching for," he says, "like a Google robot."

Google et al, get it?

"Little Kids, Big Opportunities"

2009-12-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

The following is a "Comment" reflection on Kelly Hines' video presentation
"Little Kids, Big Opportunities" - 1 of 50 presentations @ K12 Online Conference 2009 - "Bridging the Divide".
Click here to view Kelly's presentation and to access her Conference page with links to presentation resources and other information.

Dear Kelly,

As I watched your K12 Online Conference presentation "Little Kids, Big Opportunities" I immediately thought about hijacking a staff meeting to share it with others. Amazing how much information you packed into 19.7 minutes! The overview webs, quick-start tips, your lesson ideas, they all clearly project the educational and motivational power of the coolWeb 2.0 tools you selected for this presentation. Needless to say, they have all landed in my personal tech tool box!

Although I have used Wordle for a while you taught me something new. Thanks to your "public gallery" saving tip I will no longer take screen shots when I want to post Wordles on my blog(s) - I now know how and where to get an embed code. Comics.com is on my list of new tools to use with ELL students. Also, I can't wait to play with Wallwisher - I want to introduce this virtual sticky-note "parking lot" app at one of our staff meetings. And as for Edmodo, well, say no more ... who needs Wikis and Twitter when Edmoto seems to have it all. Intuitive and safe - definitely worth exploring.

Speaking of powerful, a brilliant move on your part to preface the meat of your presentation with comments and concerns about Web 2.0 tools and the 12-and-under age user group. The Conference offers a global forum to call for Internet citizenship and children's safety, to mention CIPA, the new Federal Children's Internet Protection Act, and to suggest that click-happy and readily agreeable users take "Terms of Agreement"seriously! In doing so you have sent a very strong "call before your dig" and "do you really know what you're agreeing to" message to technology facilitators and educators, students under and over 13 years of age, and parents all over the world. Yes, skipping over the tedium of reading the small print of User Terms of Agreement produces instant results, "That was easy! But to just dive into new Web 2.0 apps by simply clicking on the "I Agree" button can have serious ramifications especially when young children are involved. Just last week, the use of GMail by children "under 13" outside school domains was the very topic of a group discussion during our "Teaching & Learning with 21st Century Technology" class with Alice Barr. How timely.

You have managed to make your "Small Kids, Big Opportunities" presentation more than just a "nuts and bolts" guide for new Web 2.0 tools. Through creating this video and by sharing lesson resources on the K12 Online Conference site you have gifted your audience (me) with a much appreciated and very meaningful instructional tool for promoting responsible and safe use of ALL new and exciting 21st Century tools in classrooms all over the world.

Thank you so much!

Janny
Technology EdTech
Portland, Maine

Final project ....

2009-11-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

... this is about where I was with my final course project ideas, all over the place, that is until this a.m.! After surfing the many project "brainwaves" I've collected since class started in October (TX Alice!). I've decided to match 21st Century Learning and Teaching tools with ELL students and make that the focus of my final project. I want to create a virtual "piazza", a virtual village center with and for the ELL newcomers that they can call their own and share with others. I have a lot of ideas but will start with creating "ELL-evate".

Creating the ELL Wiki is based on the following visions or objectives:
:: I plan to use tech tools that promote the collaborative and interactive capabilities/features of the Wiki so that I can enrich (elevate) and extend the learning experiences of my students. Their Wiki contributions and interactions with the blog will give them a sense of ownership that promotes self-esteem, confidence, and community.
:: The grade 3-5 ELL teacher is aware of the Wiki plan and chose to name it "ELL-evate". This makes her a partner in the project! She has never blogged and with ELL newcomers arriving every month this year the use of technology in the classroom is limited to online language and math tutors. The Wiki will be a perfect venue to help her expand the use of technology in her lessons - I'm certain that the kids will get her hooked!

I have started outlining project details in the project description - as always expecting for things and circumstances to change as we move along.

Over the next couple of months I will introduce the kids to a variety of fun and creative multi-media technology tools such as the digital camera, our Flip camcorder, VoiceThread, KidPix and other resources in order to add visual, oral and auditory dimensions to their lessons. I am in the process of checking student permissions for media exposure on the Internet and need to follow up with several parents to make sure that nothing is lost in the translation of our Internet Safety & Media Permission form. I hope that lack of permission is merely caused by language barriers.

I will not abandon my idea to stage a digital staff meeting at some point this year. I will continue to work on ideas and continue to take small steps to wet our teachers' innovative tech palettes, i.e. by introducing them to Goolgle Apps ... (I'm listening Alice!). Our district tech team is currently running tests to establish a district-wide Google Apps domain which will hopefully allow the use of school email for GDoc collaboration. I hope to have more news on this early January '10. In the lab, Ms. Graves' 2nd graders are rapidly becoming experts at using special effects and recording features of PhotoBooth and VoiceThread for their geology research project assessment pieces that will be posted on their class Wiki. Thanks to Laura I have stumbled upon some great student presentors and good stuff for the digital meeting agenda! I have also joined a VoiceThread Ning to learn more about this great tool!

FYI, Laura is a USM "Teaching and Learning with 21st Century Technology" 2009 Summer Course alumna :-)

Going Green with Google Docs: a first, a last, more to come

2009-11-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

Google Survey

Working from home -- I sent out my first Google Doc survey to building teachers last Friday. After reading Ginger's and Liza's blog posts re. their first experience with Google Docs I decided to put a very short "teaser" survey together to
:: invite teachers to a quick orientation session - required to claim their iBooks
:: practice & find out if and how it works - the people part and the technology
:: model "working smarter, not harder" by going paperless
:: give teaching staff a taste for a more elaborate staff survey coming their way soon ->

-> a survey I've created with the objective to establish a launching pad for a building-wide PR campaign to adopt & teach with innovative 21st century tech tools - our school is one of the first to become wireless and paper is becoming a scarce commodity so this is my window!

Survey Take-Aways

1) Not bad for a first even though not everyone responded. I had announced the iBook Orientation Sign-Up event with a conventional "coming your way" email and could have insisted that everyone had to respond ("just click on the link"). I could have also put something to that effect in the header of the Google Sign-Up form or could have added a gentle "must respond" nudge in the pop-up selection box, but I didn't. Live and learn, next time.

2) Groups in Gmail? I need to figure out how I can set up groups in GMail - typing individual email addresses leaves room for error. I also need to figure out how to organize the Inbox and other GMail/Doc interfaces - they are pretty cluttered and confusing.

3) After I ran my next survey (the BIG one) by a couple of "converts" in the building I decided to give it a rest, revisit the survey questions and roll it out after the holidays (as suggested) when teachers are less stressed and more receptive (I hope). I want to make sure that I'm asking the right questions for the feedback I'm seeking. Will Richardson's "Teachers as Learners - Part 32" blog post ("On My Mind", anno 2006) shows that even the right answers do not always constitute useful feedback so if I miss the mark to some degree I feel I'm among experts. How and what I will roll out will all depend on the passion with which the survey is received. As for when, I'm not throwing in the towel. Unfortunately there are pockets of what Will describes in his "think-aloud" blog "Teachers as Learners - Part 27" as the "T" factor. I can totally relate but do not have the freedom (and luxury) to think aloud.

Google Calendar

HELP!! Google Calendar is getting the best of me! I have been playing with Google Calendar because I want to put the lab scheduling on auto-pilot. My plan is to post a shared & interactive weekly lab calendar on my school blog so that teachers can sign up for lab time directly from their computers. I need an online, shareable calendar that allows me to customize times and tasks during the school day. I'm running into a couple of problems that make me think that Google Calendar is not my ticket. Week days can be modified but I can't figure out how to change the times - no, school doesn't start at 7:00 a.m. nor does every teaching block start on the whole hour. I'm about to abandon Google Calendar and looking for alternatives. There must be something out there I can use.
Anyone out there with calendar ideas?

Sir Ken Robinson

2009-11-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

The following is written in reaction to watching and reading

Creatively Speaking, Part Two: Sir Ken Robinson on the Power of the Imaginative Mind
&
Schools Must Validate Creative Expression: Take a Chance, Let the Dance

Sir Ken Robinson is a clever and somewhat captivating speaker with antidotes designed to confirm his vague theses. He implies the assumption that divergent thinking is always virtuous. He would have more credibility if he were to develop this thesis convincingly. To suggest that cheating is a meaningful form of collaboration is showmanship, pure dribble. Few will dispute the value of challenging the status quo and coming up with your own solutions to meet a common objective. But to suggest divergent thinking or unstructured creative thinking is the be all to end all is naive. I'll leap to an assumption that he has never managed a project to land a man on the moon or had an executive position overseeing a line operation for a for-profit enterprise. Yes, the arts are important but so are the sciences. They are not mutually exclusive.

My point here is that one of the many charges of public education is to train people to understand productivity -- of people, groups, and organizations. His data on the shrinking capacity for creativity from kindergarten to high school are no doubt valid. But to imply that teaching orderly problem solving focused on goal accomplishment and productivity is invalid, is not to understand a primary function of education. As a matter of fact, this endeavor is even more intense in the college and graduate experience. The hard part and the real challenge of Robinson's protestations is achieving allowance for divergence and creativity within the paradigm requiring order and productivity. Robinson does not acknowledge the latter as a basic function of education and doesn't offer practical solutions to the implied severe imbalance. We have seen this pendulum before. Is Robinson leading the nudge away from the sciences back to the arts?

No doubt the greatest achievements, inventions and innovations, and problem solving come from those enabled to question, test, diverge, and create. We have clear evidence that the greatest economic and job growth come from small entrepreneurs who are free to create their solutions to whatever the market will bear. But seldom do these same individuals thrive in a business environment without the skills to navigate it. To do so successfully one needs to understand the structure and behavior of our primary institutions that are based on order, structure, and understanding of the common denominators necessary to make them work. For example, when the communist empires of Eastern Europe fell there were many seeking to leverage the capitalistic system to earn a better life. However, few had any knowledge about accounting, costs, and profits, banking, or business law. Eventually these institutions were put into place sufficiently to allow investment and flourishing free enterprise.

Likewise, Microsoft reserves a half-billion dollars a year for so-called pure research in the hopes of coming up with the next iteration of Windows or whatever. But by no means would Microsoft turn the keys of their profit making enterprise over to this research group. The major emphasis on this company is to survive and indeed thrive in the marketplace. Without a knowledge of how to navigate that marketplace and all the institutions it encompasses, the company would never succeed.

From my standpoint, the most compelling part of Robinson's entreaty speaks to the importance of educating an individual in such a way as to help them become fully educated and self-sustainable. Do our students emerge with a well-rounded education? Do they know how to make creative use of their leisure time? Can they seek and achieve fulfillment from the pursuit of an avocation not necessarily designed as a route to earning a living but simply for the pure enjoyment of doing so.

In my view, our society's ability to develop and pursue their own interests for the purpose of a fuller, more rewarding life is a need as critical as the school sufficiently preparing its graduates for higher education and vocations. Right now in the US it would appear the average person aspires to spend their leisure shopping, eating, and consuming.

Robinson would have greater impact if he acknowledged the realities of the charter of American education and presented his observations, anecdotes, and platitudes as a stimulus to enlarge the charter rather than a vehicle to suggest it is all being done wrong, that we're all missing the boat. With all due respect, I think that his comments taken in isolation can be somewhat thought provoking if not entertaining but it smacks of superficiality.

NETS activity

2009-11-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

In September I started working with grade 3-5 ELL newcomers. Most speak very little or no English and without communication skills in Burmese, Russian or Arabic I needed to come up with a fun and creative way to bring down the language barrier, to connect with these students, to build trust and to get to know each other. Mac Kiev Kid Pix Deluxe 3X has been the perfect digital medium to use for their first English, Math & Social Studies lessons that culminated in their first computer project "All About Me". This project has met the following standards:

ISTE Standards & Performance Indicators for Students
Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
Performance Indicators for Students
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

Click on Activity Sheet to access the "All About Me" activity description.

What worked?
- Kid Pix was the perfect choice to introduce the ELL newcomers to technology - aside from great visuals and sounds, it contains many universal creative authoring tools & features ranging from Drawing to PodCasting that make it a great program for K-5 students, English speaking or not. What started as a simple "get to know each other" activity idea continues to grow and is going into many different curricular and technological directions, learning how to click the mouse for starters.
- The kids love working on the computer and with every new Kid Pix tool they learn comes another "Kodak" moment! Even the most reserved, quiet student is able to "communicate" when she/he can use digital coloring pencils & paint, stamps, sounds, graphics, animations along with text boxes. They have learned so much in such a short time! So have I ...

What didn't work?
Some are having trouble with the Kid Pix slide show controls so we stuck with default settings I set up in the slide show preferences and KP settings.

U.S. Unveils Education Stimulus Rules

2009-11-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

Just heard this clip on NPR Morning Edition. Is your School Committee working away in the "Race to the Top"?
Click on the link to tune in and listen to arguments in favor and against rewarding best ideas for student achievement. U.S. Unveils Education Stimulus Rules
You can find up-to-date information on schools and stimulus online at Education Week

Speaking of stimulus, best ideas and student achievement, take a couple of minutes to watch this video created by Gettys Middle School in Easley, South Carolina ...

Marc Prensky

2009-11-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

Turning On the Lights

Reaching the Reluctant Learner

"Compared with students' technology-infused lives outside of school,

the traditional classroom is a somber place."

My initial reaction after reading the first paragraphs, why the passed tense? The big, bad world out there gone because of lights? The lights of what? Depower? What? Where? The brain, fiber optic connections? Isn't the "noble calling" of every educator to be passionate about leading kids from intellectual darkness into the intellectual light, to enlighten? Who is (are) the reluctant learner(s)? The student, the teacher, the parent, the school or district administrator, the policy writer ... and where does technology fit into the "noble" art of effective teaching? While very thought-provoking, realistically speaking Marc Prensky's high-level ideas are not that simple to implement, starting with "Prensky's Principles for Principals".

With all due respect, I think that this article is filled generalizations and over-simplifications, especially given diverse learning styles and student backgrounds, cultural and socio-economic. I have a tough time accepting that technology, particularly gaming, is a cure-all for boredom and academic achievement nor am I convinced that kids are bored because they cannot use their illuminated and illuminating gadgetry in school.

In my mind "Depowering" is not a new phenomenon in the context of clearing the brain to make room for imagination. All I can say is that the "noble" teachers who successfully connected with me in the 50s/60s (and believe me, I had plenty to "depower" from in those days) and who now manage to get the attention from my generally bored-in-HS 15-year old son continue to be those "noble" educators who present rich and relevant content in creative packaging - not necessarily hi-tech. Simply incorporating technological devices for the purpose of expanding their students' knowledge base to stimulate and motivate today's students is not the only answer. Even technology can be used in a vacuum. To quote Joe Makley, our district technology coordinator, "We can make school less boring, but not by making it more entertaining or less demanding." I personally challenge Marc Prensky to create a Club Penguin look-alike specifically designed to prep for MEAs, NWEAs, NECAPs, and all those other required assessment testing we put our kids through.

This said, there is definitely a time and place to laptops, iPods, social network sites, Wikipedia and other technological devices and tools in the K-5 classroom. Mind you, I also believe that there are times to put them away. I taught a college level computer class once and asked my students to turn their cell phones off or on vibrate. I respected their need to respond to "emergencies" but asked them to do so by stepping out in the hall. I didn't lose one student the entire semester. So far I have not discovered educational use for student cell/iPhones in school unless, of course, phones are part of a digital citizenship lesson to teach students how to use them ethically and appropriately.

Our elementary school is equipped with wireless network access, with a computer lab and classrooms have computer stations. Teachers have camcorders, digital cameras, and an iPod at their disposal - these tech tools are used in different ways, for different purposes and at varied levels of complexity or innovation. In my mind, the degree of commitment to use them effectively for instructional purposes is driven by personal motivation and passions. To quote Joe, "Those [teachers] who use the techniques and technologies that best suit their students well are motivated intrinsically." I agree.

This fall, all elementary teachers received a G4 iBooks. I hope that teachers will use these iBooks as their vehicle to explore, discover the latest technology trends in education, and connect with other educators on the WWW. I also hope that they will take the next step and use new tech ideas and Web 2.0 with their students. Most importantly, I hope that teacher use of iBooks in- or outside school hours brings them together as professionals who want (demand) to share and use innovative teaching and learning methods during professional development and staff meetings. We have to find that time and this can only happen if we all share the passion and commitment. Back in the classroom, I say: bring in the students and have them show the way! Students will insist as will their parents!

There is really no technology directive or philosophy in place in my school. And although I know teachers use technology collective thinking and application around level outcomes is lacking, in my mind to detriment of our students. How technology is used in the classroom is up to the individual teacher and I cannot say with certainty how their annual technology goals are identified, assessed or reviewed and the end of the year.

As a school and as a District we have made a lot of progress since I arrived on the scene in '97 but lots of work remains. Only several teachers, one was a very reluctant tech user until last year, are successfully using our District Wordpress blog system to connect with parents and students. My personal hero is a second grade teacher due to district network limitations is successfully using a Wiki to use innovative ways to connect school with home. Sadly, this "Web 2.0 Poster Teacher" is "in the closet", unrecognized by her administrator as being onto something that should, or better yet, needs to be shared and showcased during staff meetings.

Our District technology use policy is being revamped as we speak. One of the areas in need of immediate but very carefully worded revision is that of allowing digital media, video and photos showing students on the Web. Given the diversity of our student body, we have to be very careful about featuring our students on YouTube . The reality is that parents have to give written permission for online student publishing, they are the ultimate gate keepers. This dilemma has been a point of discussion during the last couple of BTC (building technology coordinators) meetings with Joe. At one of those occasions we looked at Room 18 and the power of kids, video, and finding a new teacher!

Knowing the people who are part of the policy revision process I have faith that our new District technology policy will push the gates ever so carefully but with determination to enable teachers and students to use innovative technologies. On the network end, I hope that with the new policy the District will unblock Twitter. Perhaps I should e-mail Dr. Morse, our new, tweeting Superintendent to open the Twitter gates on our network. Some day I would love to link staff up with Deb White to learn about the way she uses Twitter with her students.

PS: To help me figure out where Marc Prensky is coming from in this article and to add credence to his point and arguments I had to check him out. At the bottom of the article Prensky is presented as speaker, writer, consultant, and game designer. It was interesting to find out that he holds Graduate degrees from Yale (education) and Harvard (MBA). I assume "Turning On the Lights" was published as part of an EL feature on "Reaching the Reluctant Learner" in 2008. His background & target audience - the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development - clearly came through in his writing.

DimDim

2009-11-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

Hello USMEPC512 classmates,

After seeing Skype in action during class last week, I discovered DimDim - played with it, staged a video conference with a colleague and decided to set myself up with a "free for 20, forever" account. Because I am not a Skype user I don't know how they compare. From what I have seen so far I think DimDim is pretty slick and could definitely be used for educational purposes.

:: In addition to basic video conferencing DimDim let's you use, collaborate, and safe shared whiteboards and websites with those you invite. You can change meeting settings enabling meeting participants to open, alternate or fix control over the shared meeting media. I'm not sure if Skype offers these features.
:: DimDim's marketing approach is very clever - refer DimDim to a friend and you get an additional, free seat at the DimDim meeting table.

At some point I should figure out why my colleague (and her students) could see me but I could not see them on my DimDim meeting screen. Perhaps this 2-way video stream is a upgrade feature for which I would have to pay. If you have used DimDim perhaps you can shed some light on this.
Janny

Will Richardson

2009-11-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others

Will,

A year after your article was posted on Edutopia.org, Barb Benford's comment that followed on 12/6/08 has really hit home! With frozen or non-existing school budgets and no relieve in sight, our current economic situation has created a perfect storm for a Web 2.0 technology revolution. Teachers no can no longer AFFORD to deny the existence of fantastic, free and fun alternatives to their traditional teaching tools and practices. Ironically, in the worst of times, I couldn't think of a better time to take teaching and learning to the Web! My theory is that the few teachers who are successfully re-tooling and expanding their curriculum with FREE Web 2.0 resources will eventually convince even the reluctant to take the plunge, sooner than later.

My job as technology Ed Tech is to make the connections between the technology tools, teaching & learning, teachers & students, school & home. More so than ever before am I committed to helping teachers discover the educational value of Web 2.0 tools - it's no longer an option, it's an unavoidable necessity. "Sorry, no money for field trips this year..." and "We need to curtail our paper use..." announcements during staff meetings this fall clearly put change at the classroom door and the teachers in my school know it. To get folks on board to Web 2.0 is a huge undertaking especially given the wide-ranging perspectives on technology use in the classroom, not to mention different levels of tech proficiency. My goal to help teachers transition and adopt 21st century teaching tools for classroom instruction and changing from linear to expeditionary instruction is not going to be an easy and quick process. I'm afraid that it will take longer than 25 days.

Although I am, I am trying not to be overwhelmed or overwhelm those I am trying to help. The class "Teaching and Learning with 21st Century Technology" I decided to take with Alice Barr this fall (usmepc512) has been a terrific first step for me in my plan to personally get a grip on Web 2.0. Attending Alice's lectures, learning with and from others online, and working my way through reading assignments such as your article and the comments people posted in response are helping me sort out ways to expose this enormous shift in education at my school without scaring people away.
Thanks for your inspiring words.
Janny

Digital Literacy & How To Job Hunt In The Twittersphere

2009-11-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

NPR All Things Considered - "It's not whom you know, or even what you know, but how you say it — 140 characters at a time.

As often the case on my way home I listened to NPR's All Things Considered and caught a segment about job hunting with Twitter, why and how people Tweet to get in front of the virtual employment lines. At the same time, innovative Twitter job boards like TweetyMyJobs.com are popping up, the new "Monster" job posting sites. If they want to be successful using the Twitter route to employment job seekers need to master digital literacy, internet writing skills
• fine-tuning & packaging your resume into a 140-word Tweet, the Twitter way
• identifying valuable & trustworthy connections on the Web
• re-tweeting to keep that network of connections alive & get that virtual "foot in the door"
In my mind, there isn't a more compelling example than today's unemployment scene to underscore the need for teaching students 21st Century, digital literacy skills. You can read a transcript of this story or listen it by clicking on How To Job Hunt In The 'Twittersphere'

If you like this post bookmark it on your Delicious

GDocs, Blogs, Blog Roll ... Moving Forward!

2009-10-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

:: Just created a new post on my school blog to unveil Google Docs for those who are still wondering what the GD hype is all about. Browsing the Moving Forward site I came across a video clip Christopher Atkinson created with his students. Check it out @ Teaching & Technology - the kids offer pretty convincing arguments for using Google Docs. Atkinson is a Google Certified teacher who teaches & uses Google apps with elementary level students - tons of projects and ideas for innovative teaching! Great blog roll - I'm subscribing! This blog has a spot on mine.
Another Moving Forward siting, Keystrokes, has landed on my blog roll. The creator of this blog, Nina Peery of White Oak, Texas, is an elementary school computer lab teacher. Her site is amazingly comprehensive - it contains tons of technology tips & wisdom for teachers, students AND parents. She uses Google Docs and cutting edge digital media tools. Love her Google lab schedule (on my to-do list). Her blog layout is simple and very easy to read. This is definitely a blog I'm following (I subscribed ....).
:: Last week I spent a good 3 days scrubbing, reimaging and prepping (40 and counting) G4 iBooks for our teaching staff. A pretty tedious task until I had to use a Google Docs database to enter MLTI & assignment information. Has this ever happened to you? I'm comfortable with dbases & entering data, I use Excel. But in this database I encountered a "concurrent" user, my hunch is the creator! At one point I tried to scroll down, copy & paste and someone took over the control of my cursor and started moving the data I & others had entered all over the place. What a mess. And then, I discovered my deus ex machina: UNDO (undo, undo, undo, undo ....). I managed to avert disaster and managed to redo/reinstate data order. Was this a fluke, was this my imagination, or is this a common side-effect of concurrent use?
:: This weekend I'm going to experiment with GDocs - my goal is to do a quick & paperless, hassle-free "how are you going to use your G4..." survey before handing them out. If I figure it out over the weekend I'll make learning transparent, right?
Moving forward ...

Taking the Digital Plunge

2009-10-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Bill Ferriter's article Taking the Digital Plunge appeared in the September issue of Educational Leardership: Teaching for the 21st Century. I have summarized the article in the Quicktime presentation below. Before activating the presentation please READ the information that follows. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and the need to multi-task.

Technical disclaimer and viewing tips:

I used Pages (iWorks) to create the slide show. I've always used MS PowerPoint so this was a "first".
It all looked fine in Keynote but in the process of formatting it into a Quicktime movie, my presentation shrunk! Use the "View" button on the menu bar and zoom to at least 150% for viewing without ruining your eyes.
You will notice that timing is a bit off - slides and content are moving a faster than I had expected. Please use the slider tool or the "pause" button at the bottom of the video windown to stop and read because Bill Ferriter makes such sense!

Alice, thanks so much for making this article part of our class assignments. Bill Ferriter inspires me and his words encourage me to continue to inspire others!

"Orchestrating the Media Collage" by Jason Ohler

2009-10-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

A summary of "Orchestrating the Media Collage" by Jason Ohler
speaker, digital humanist, author & President's Professor of Educational Technology - University of Alaska

you can read the entire article online @ "Educational Leadership - March 2009, Volume 66, Number 6

"Being able to read and write multiple forms of media and integrate them into a meaningful whole is the new hallmark of literacy."

THE SHORT OF IT
In "Orchestrating the Media Collage" Jason Ohler hones in on the historical and current definition of the word literacy and what lies at the core of the literacy evolution, the shift into what it is and how it is perceived today. Most importantly, Ohler's article talks about what this shift in literacy means for today's educators, their students in the context of differentiating narratives with digital media & publishing tools and Web 2.0 venues. For many it is a daunting task to create a digital teaching and learning environment and to bring it to the next level: collaborate, teach and learn with local and global communities. The shift to teach 21st Century (digital) literacy is huge and places new demands on teachers as they prepare their students for a digitally connected world.

The guidelines Ohler offers in his article are meant to help teachers cope with the new demands a digital society places on literacy, In them he assures those educators who are worried about digital media and their potential negative impact on traditional literacy skills that these traditional skills are more important than ever before in order to turn students into critical readers, organized writers and effective participants in digital communications and collaborations on the Web.

MY 2 BITS WORTH & SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The technology-in-education train is out of the station because digital literacy has become and IS part of LIFE!

Digital literacy = literacy = no turning back! If you're not sure about this just check with your kids/students.

25 Years ago digital tools made their debut in the classroom ... before I landed in education, just around the time I worked for for multi-national companies in the network infrastructure field - global packet switching in the early days and submarine transmission systems in the early nineties, connecting continents, countries, cities, multinational businesses & people world-wide through trans-oceanic, fiber optics systems. Now I my work with technology "end users", educators and students, promoting the use opf digital tools and venues taking teaching and learning to a higher level and beyond classroom walls. The pace at which networks were built was super-sonic as competition was fierce - shouldn't the same apply to building digital literacy and US education in general?

Ohler's article confirms what I have sensed for years ... there is an urgent, accelerated need for educators to hop on the 21st Century literacy train. To make this happen, we need to quell the general perception (myth) that technology and in particular digital media replace traditional literacy.

More than ever before, teachers need to provide students with high-level skills such as critical thinking, comprehension, synthesizing, the ability to organize letters, words and sentences so that they can create effective digital media collages. Participating effectively in social networking hinges in large part on traditional literacy skills. Surprisingly Ohler did not elaborate more on the importance and key component of 21st Century literacy: CITIZENSHIP!

For those educators in denial, the shift to (digital) literacy represents a double whammy for some so overwhelming that they will miss that tech train altogether, and short-change their students. On the other hand, when educators are on board it is great to watch and experience hesitation transform into a commitment to making technology part of classroom thinking, lesson planning, teaching, collaborating, and learning. In both cases I think Ohler's advice “to focus on expression first and technology second - and everything will fall into place." and to strike a balance between teaching traditional and digital literacy especially holds value for the tech-wary.

Are teachers prepared? How? When? Are they ready?
Just wondering, did this article generate any opposing views to Ohler's perspective among the literacy experts?

Lastly, and I don't know if this is due to Ohler's writing style, I had a tough time summarizing this article and I did not really want to create this rambling, scrolling post. As you can see, I should summarize the summary. I would also have preferred to offer you [readers] a separate link my lengthy summary ... if they would be so inclined.
Does Blogger not have a "new page" feature?

Why didn't Ohler walk his talk and capture the essence of his message in a media collage? What digital venue would he have used to post it: a Blog, a Wiki?
In the meantime, I am working on KidPix slide shows and digital media with my ELL newcomers ... I don't speak Burmese or Arabic so thanks to digital media we can at least start somewhere to connect, build literacy and most of all communicate! Isn't that what it's all about?

BOTTOM LINE ...

FOR THE LONGER (OF THE SHORT) OF IT ... READ ON, AND ON, AND ON, AND ON .......

The Evolution of “Literacy”

Centuries ago, the words letter and literacy were closely linked and were used to describe a person who “knew the letters”, someone who was educated. This general definition of literacy still prevails, however, the meaning of literacy has evolved beyond its core association with reading, understanding, and being able to write “the letters”.

More and more is the word literacy is used to describe someone’s knowledge and skill in specialty areas, i.e. math literacy. In the area of technology the term digital literacy has become a commonly used term to describe someone who has knowledge and skill to function and perform in a digital society. For educators it is important to understand this shift to a new, 21st Century brand of literacy, digital literacy. Understanding digital literacy is the key to teaching, to preparing students for today’s job market but it is also a compass to understanding the newly emerging profile of “illiteracy”.

Today ...

Reading and writing with pen(cil) on paper is no longer enough to function in life. Nine years into the 21st Century society expects us to be creative and innovative writers and to use new, dynamic digital media and channels to publish smooth, seamless end products on the Web with Web 2.0 publishing tools and venues that are no longer cost-prohibitive and widely available.

Today’s (Web) authors are expected to know how to use, manipulate, and compile ever-changing digital components into a narrative media collage that is ready for instant viewing, sharing, and editing on the Social Web: blogs, MySpace, YouTube, Google Docs and other digital venues. This instant, public, and collaborative nature of media literacy requires high levels of literacy and places great pressure on students to learn and master new digital skills quicker than ever before in order to produce high-quality work. The dynamics and speed of adapting new digital literacy adds a new dimension to illiteracy.

According to Jason Ohler, today’s definition of literacy includes digital media. Whether we agree or not he suggests that “A strong case can be made that commanding new media constitutes the current form of general literacy and that adding the modifier digital is simply not necessary anymore.”

Ohler Tips for Digital Lit Success ...

Ohler's 8 guidelines that should help teachers in teaching students the skills they need to be digital literacy.

1. Shift from text centrism to media collage - Explore “fearlessly”, experiment, collaborate, and learn together. Digital media change so quickly that nobody can really claim to be an expert on the educational implications of media.

2 . Teach students the skills to be effective and active participants in collaborative projects on the Social Web: fluency in synthesizing, clarifying, editing, thinking, and communication. Highly developed skills in creative writing are the core of an effective blog: the ability to write concisely (using the 6 Bs and hyperlinks) and to create “visually differentiated text” (by including digital photography, movie and audio clips) will engage the intended audience.

3. Adopt Art as the next R - Art can no longer be treated as an “elective” in K-12 education. With the shift from text centrism to media collage, knowledge of art, design, including music, drama and other forms of artistic expression, is an essential component of media literacy. Art should be taught by art teachers, not computer teachers.

4. Blend traditional and emerging literacies - take the DAOW approach to media literacy: use a well balanced menu of new and traditional forms of literacy, digital, art, oral, and written expression to create new media collages and to achieve best student outcomes.

5. Harness report & story - students need to be able to understand and create research reports and stories as each requires a distinct writing style. With new media students can now create an interesting collage that captures both forms of writing in a report-story continuum.

6) Practice private and participatory social literacy - Contrary to conventional literacy (an ear for an eye) and the social experiences brought to us by TV in its infancy, Web 2.0 tools make it possible for everyone, regardless of social or economic status, to contribute and to participate in the new literacy phenomenon: social networking combining individual and collective thinking and creative expression all take place in a public and global forum - the Web.

7. Develop literacy with digital tools and about digital tools - “Students need to be media literate to understand how media technique influences perception and thinking.” Students need to understand the importance of digital citizenship, Web safety, security, and ethics rules to be a part of the new networked world. New media opens the door to larger, global social issues that will help students become informed and caring individuals.

8. Pursue fluency - A teacher who is digitally fluent has the know-how and creativity to use digital tools to build innovative lessons that take learning beyond the classroom and make meaningful connections to students’ lives.

Teachers as Guides ... ?/ !

Overall, teachers are excited about the new digital literacy but others are overwhelmed and do not understand that they do not have to be digital experts in order to guide and help their students to become media literate. Students are inherently fearless adopters of new technology - it is with their teachers’ clear guidance and feedback that they will be able to expand on their talents and develop quality and lasting technology skills.

Jason Ohler’s advice to teachers who are worried about digital literacy is “to focus on expression first and technology second - and everything will fall into place.”

Where in the world ...

2009-10-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

We all have come from many different places,
we all speak different languages,
we like and eat different foods,
and
we all have different customs and traditions
making each and every one of us unique!

What we will discover is that we also have many things in common!
Let's find out what they are.

"Did You Know?"

2009-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

Imagine having a great time with technology on a rainy Saturday. I'm part of small group of people that is doing exactly that! It was tough to get out of bed this morning but everyone in the group is alert :) especially after viewing the latest version of the "Did You Know" video that more or less explains our class mission: learn, master, teach & share new 21st Century technology tools for educators and students. Our class "home" base is USMEPC512.
"Come on, see what I'm [we're] doing." (Alice)