Chapter 9: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts by Richardson

Change, change, change! That is what it all means. Not only do teachers need to change, but schools and entire systems need to change to adjust to the "digital kids" who now come through our doors each day. We need to help students be consumers, collaborators, and producers of information and knowledge that goes beyond the walls of the classroom. Students can now produce information for the world.

Students need to be able to produce products that show a mastery of knowledge and demonstrates a synthesis of ideas. It seems that the change all boils down to one word: Relevance. Learning opportunities and the tools used to facilitate the learning, must be relevant to the students and engage them in authentic learning opportunities.

As we consider bringing about CHANGE, it will be important for leaders to know what brings about change and all of the elements of the change process. Knowing this, will allow them to facilitate change in a positive way, proactively addressing barriers that inevitably come up when change is introduced.

Marzano 2.0 - Non-Linguistic Representation

My favorite Marzano strategy is Non-Linguistic Representation.

http://web2thatworks.com/index.php?title=Nonlinguistic_Representation

ISTE 2008: Why Podcast?

Andrea Keith provides an overview of safe e-mail services provided by Gaggle.net. She indicates that e-mail enhances the relationship between the teacher and the student. It provides students easier access to the teacher and allows them to ask questions they might not otherwise ask. Teachers can assign tasks to students through the e-mail and even have students submit assignments via e-mail. Her experience has shown her that when students are asked to post an assignment using their computer rather than taking out pencil and paper, they are much more engaged and more likely to want to complete the task assigned.

I can see this being a valuable tool for teachers. I believe this needs to be carefully monitored, but it certainly is a possibility for enhancing the communication between the student and the teacher. I would like to have access to this also as an administrator. I think it would be incredible to be able to send information, encouragement, and affirmations via e-mail.

ISTE 2008: Chris Lehman: School 2.0

Chris is principal of a school in Philadelphia that is working to "walk the talk" with the Web 2.0 tools. There are several things about his presentation that "hit home" with me. His primary points started off with the fact that the school needs to be a "Caring Institution." That follows my exact thoughts in that as we look at becoming more and more digital in our presentation, we need to remember that students still respond to the one to one personal touch they can only get from a caring teacher.

The school must be student centered, focused on the work they do and the relationships formed with the students. It can't be about the adults or about the technology. Everything that is done and every decision that is made needs to be based on what is best for the students.

Technology instruction, like Science, need to be inquiry driven, and driven by asking authentic questions that we do not necessarily know the answers to. Giving students the opportunity to truly dig in and discover the answers to "real" questions.

The projects and activities students engage in have to be passionate and have to matter to the students. If it isn't important, today's students do not necessarily care to engage in it. They will be come passionate about things that are important and have significance.

Once projects are complete and learning has taken place, we need to allow students the opportunity to reflect on their learning. They need to be engaged in the meta-cognitive process of thinking about what they did, thinking about their learning, and thinking about their thinking.

And learning opportunities need to have technology infused to the point that it is ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible. That means technology needs to be available so learning does not have to be scheduled around when the technology is available. It has to be available "on demand" when it is needed.

I believe Chris explores some interesting ideas that provide a framework for developing a rich learning environment infused with technology. Keeping the focus on the students and away form the adults and technology is the key, which I believe is the key to any successful school community.

K-12 Online Conference: Leading the Change Teaching Web 2.0 - Everything you need in one place

This presentation was tremendously helpful. Wendy Drexler not only reviewed some of the Web 2.0 tools available, but more importantly shared the Wiki where they are stored and shared her thoughts about getting people started using the tools. Her presentation outline included:

Assumptions
Why Teacher 2.0?
Tour of Teach Web 2.0 Wiki
How to Join and Contribute
How to Start Your Own Revolution

A part of each post on the Wiki includes a SWOT Analysis of the tool.

SWOT Analysis of Tool
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

As I think about applying her presentation to the Prosperity staff, I can't help but think how fortunate we are to have had some many team members already participate in Tech Cadre. Wow! What a tremendous benefit that is for our team and most importantly our students.

The Wiki was by far my most powerful learning from this presentation because I now know where I can go to learn more and explore about the 2.0 tools, but these steps to teacher integration shared during the presentation are also beneficial.

Steps Toward Teacher Integration
1. Awareness
2. Experimentation
3. Collborate with colleagues
4. Initiate unique projects, lessons, activities

As I think about this, I quite simply need to provide more opportunity for us to share with one another the things we are trying in our classrooms on a daily basis. I know that many of these tools are being used, we just need to develop the platform so our learning can be shared.

K-12 Online Conference: It Simply Isn't the 20th Century Anymore Is it? So, Why Would We Teach as Though It Was?

Listening to the presentation and the reflections on the questions posed has allowed me to open my thinking in completely different ways. I really had not thought about who would lead the technology development of education in the 21st century. I find it interesting how the responses were so varied from person to person. I have reflected on the person who commented that she believes children (students) will actually lead the way with a completely different type of social network for learning. I think that is very likely and can transform learning from a single classroom to many classrooms around the world.

I am certainly intrigued by the question about the "timing" of schools and the school year. I have always questioned this in my mind and have at times been frustrated that we can't "overhaul" the system so students can move through material as they complete it. I remember in my 3rd grade classroom, my teacher allowed several of us in the class to work through our Math book on our own. We were incredibly motivated and probably learned more than we would have if we had stayed together with the rest of the class. I recall finishing the entire book before Christmas and then having the chance to work on other math projects and activities that were well beyond the 3rd grade curriculum. I also remember then moving on to the next year and finding the giant "system door" opened in 3rd grade "slammed shut" for the remainder of my academic learning time.

The final question posed is about the essential skills necessary for teachers, provided from the point of view of students. I believe the things we are learning in this class are some of the essential elements or literacies students would want us to know as educators. I also believe this list would be ever changing as the days and sometimes minutes went by.

Ian Jukes Reflections . . .

"Stop and consider the implications of this constant exposure, this digital bombardment to these digital devices" (Jukes). Listening to Jukes in this audio presentation and reflecting on his presentation in San Antonio, I can't help but think about how important it is for our schools to not only embrace technology, but to become in themselves, a "digital bombardment" for learning. Not that we need to be like video games, e-mail, and texting all of the time, but we certainly need to step up to the plate and acknowledge the impact our world is having on the brains of the students who walk through our doors each day. How we can expect to teach these "digital natives" when we as educators have not re-wired ourselves enough to communicate with them effectively?

Is it possible that we have more ELL students in our building than we ever thought possible? If Digital is their first language (DFL), then perhaps English truly is their 2nd language and we have a larger challenge than just reaching those students who speak Spanish, Chinese Mandarin, and various Indian languages. Although they speak "Digital" we continue to teach them with chalk and chalkboards. These kids have grown up with a mouse in their hand and they are ready to learn digitally."

Jukes states that these kids think and process information fundamentally differently than any other generation. Many of our teachers come from a time and a place where technology did not "rule" everything. We have a "digital accent" and do not have the same mindset as the kids who are "digital kids." Research now shows that our brain is constantly reorganizing itself based on the experiences we have in our lives. The intelligence we are born with isn't fixed. Neuroplasticity - on-going re-organization of the brain. Literally that the brain is plastic. It makes new connections and setting up new circuitry. Intensive, sustained stimulus over time. That means the digital world our kids live in really is reprogramming the brain.

It is my belief, that while these kids are wired differently, they do still respond to a caring, nurturing, safe environment that is the foundation of all learning.