Educating the Dragon » school 2.0

Where’s the threat?

Dragon09 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:08:40 +0000

If sharing is the threat now…. What is hyper-civilisation going to look like when my kid hits college? Surely there is a premise here of get on board or get out of the way… Society is clearly heading down a certain path with technology and all it’s plug-ins. I have known for a long time that students are needing to understand the place of the internet and its tools for a productive economic life in the future but I have not really understood WHY before now. And according to Mark Pesce its because if they fail in grasping this stuff they will be disavantaged more than if I had never learnt to read or write.

The future looks nothing like democracy because democracy which sort to empower the individual is being obsolest by a social order that hyper empowers them.

Mark Pesce

Ahhhh McCain you’ve done it again.

Dragon09 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:18:25 +0000

Another successful collaborative project.

Students took the parts of newspaper reporters and illustrators to create a 6 page news paper in 3 hours.

I was delighted with their enthusiasm and desire to meet the deadline.

They worked in pairs to write recounts including the 5 W’s and H. using complex and compound sentences, writing and linking sentences together in short paragraphs…. But shhhhhhhhhhh…. They think they were just designing and creating a newspaper.

Go Ted McCain!!

Natural Learning – What Schools Don’t Do by Steve Wycoff

Dragon09 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:02:17 +0000

Just listening to Steven, through Wes Fryer.

I have to begin by saying that listening to Roger Schank inspired me too, I even posted about it at the time. It was one of the first podcasts of Wesley’s I heard and he really challenged my thinking, in fact I wonder if I can track back to hearing that podcast and that being the catalyst for the challenges I have faced in the last 18 months as I began to push back?

School improvement, are we really doing what our society requires?

Our schools are so NOT “fine they need tweaking”, there needs to be a fundamental shift in what the curriculum is addressing and what schools are supporting. We in New Zealand are quite blessed with the new curriculum, it is very new and shiny and very 21^st Century perspective, however I wonder how these are being implemented in schools. It makes me wonder what the key pressures are on schools that truly define how the curriculum looks, it is not simply the National Curriculum.

Steven Wyckoff spends quite a bit of time talking about the analogue of learning to drive and someone made the comment that while you’re growing up you spend a long time watching people drive. I heard it said once that while you are learning to drive, driving instructors spend quite a while telling people where they need to look. “Focus on what is immediately in front, look out around parked cars”, etc. People’s closest sensory experience to driving? It’s sitting in the passenger seat. So a new driver has unlearn the passive ‘watching’, for example looking at someone walking over a footbridge for the whole time it takes for the car to pass under it. Drivers then need to learn to be active observers of the environment around them. There are so many things that students are learning that are wasting time… We DO need to spend more time on learning the skills that they are going to need in life.

So what DOES a curriculum look like?

What are the other pressures and issues we need address in school?

What are the school teacher:student ratio look like in New Zealand. Are there the same issues as in Kansas where the system needs to be adjusted to lower the ratio or is there a genuine issue around ratios?

“In order to do what?” Brings the curriculum into sharp focus. Steven links the need to focus education on ‘economic productivity’ for the future. But I want to consider, is there any value in learning for learnings- sake? Does it not do something for the brain development, regardless of purpose?

My next question: Are there quality apprenticeships or study-to-work programmes available in New Zealand that realistically address the issue applying students for the workforce?

As I was listening I was thinking this idea about applied learning and the links made to Ted McCain and the discussion/ presentations made by Ian Jukes in Napier last year.

I was discussing with a high-school principal the other day around the issues of NCEA level1 not meeting the expectations required for courses in NCEA level 2, let alone NCEA level1 OR 2 meeting expectations for the workforce.

So how are we going to measure success for the 21^st Century, what are the skills required and EQUALLY, what is the core knowledge required for the future?

More of the same?

Dragon09 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:19:14 +0000

Are we getting over it? Or is it part of the message that needs repeating in different ways, to engage different people. TO AWAKEN A WORLD TO IT’S OWN FUTURE!!!!

Ulearn08- My not so secret wish

Dragon09 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:58:08 +0000

I don’t know how I’m going to do it. Not being attached to a school at present let alone and ICTPD cluster but I have got to get to Ulearn ’08.

I was flicking through the Education Gazette at lunch today and came across the advert.

Christchurch Convention Centre

8-10 October 2008

www.Ulearn.org.nz

I’m always up for doing a presentation or two, you know me. And it’s always great to meet at the blogger café and get some F2F time with folk. But there are 3 main reasons for attending.

Will Richardson- The Don of the Edublogosphere himself.

Steven Carden – He whose book inspired me to action with my “Did you Know?… NZ” presentation at Learning@Schools08 (I’m kinda hoping it’ll be ready of ULearn!)

And Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach (http://www.21stcenturycollaborative.com/)who I missed at TUANZ that time and am desperate to see.

Any and all ideas about getting there gratefully received.

Out on the Road

Dragon09 — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:18:38 +0000

Here are a few thoughts abouts about secondary education in New Zealand. It was recorded on my MP3 player while driving home one day.

Podcast : On the Road

New Zealand Unleashed- well worth a read

Dragon09 — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:54:03 +0000

New Zealand Unleashed by Steven Carden is a book that is continuing to make we think. I haven’t finished it yet but I just wanted to share with you the value in it, for everyone, and especially to us as educators in New Zealand.

Just as The World is Flat and Growing up Digital rocked the US so this book should be a ’sit up and listen’ kinda thing for New Zealand. Whether we will or not is another matter, but we should.

New Zealand is in a locality and has a population situation that makes innovation and change possible, with relative ease as societies go. Let’s make our educational system relevent for our students who are entering a global economy from a very unique direction.

Let’s stop apologising, play to our strengths and make a real difference.

Educating thinkers and learners for the 21st century

Dragon09 — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 03:24:12 +0000

Karen Boyes

21^st Century Learners

We so often expect for ‘me to win someone has to loose’ For so long Karen argues that has been the case in Education. Its about time we took a serious look at that. With the new possiblities through the new curriculum in New Zealand we have a opportunity to address this imbalance and make education a ‘win-win’ situation.

Technology is changing, REALLY fast now. Karen challenges us and asks: Are we keeping up? Are you? Am I?

Interactive Whiteboard are good and a step in the right direction but the kids very quickly ask, ‘yep…now what?” “What’s next?”

So what skills are they going to need for the 21^st century? We need to turn them into thinkers and Learners for the 21^st century.

Think of it: Wikipedia is the first port of call for information, youtube, iTunes two billion tunes available off the web. Gone are the days of “ooooo, I just bought my first stereo,/walkman.”

, access to the world…. TradeMe is fast becoming the first not the last port of call for purchases.

Everything is happening too fast.

There are six pionts that Ted McCain points to, to help us in developing the 21^st century citizen:

Resist the temptation to tell

Kids are different to in our day.. Opening the door through education is no longer required because now they have access. We need to teach them to inter-relate and use the information effectively. Why are we labelling kids so early when the brain matures at such a vastly different time from student to student. Educational milestones; reading this well aged 6,7,8 NUMP level 3,4,5 by such and such. They should be a guide and we rather than saying “They are not developing” we should rather scaffold their learning with the view to them ‘maturing’ in their learnnig later. (Karen said that bit better than I typed it but I hope you get the idea)

Back on track….. With Apollo 11 being only 3% ‘on target’ for its mission to the moon so our kids need to be, we as teacher spending 97% of our time on ‘course correction’.

Let them experience life and learning they have to do it for themselves; how does a child learn about ‘hot’ you can tell them off all you like be until they touch hot they won’t full understand the concept- My boy was like this, at 18 months he touched the bulb of the beside light when it had been on a couple of minutes, Now when I say ‘That’ll be hot’ he understands more fully- there is pain and discomfort involoved that he does not want to experience again.

Stop teaching decontextualised information

We need to give them a real world context. Dr David Sousa states that we needs to learning to:

1 make sense

2 have meaning

How do we get them to buy into learning?

Stop giving the final product of our thinking.

- Enpower them to do it.

Why are they still dependant at Y13?

75% of tasks we do in the classroom kids should be doing. Sure we need to scaffold you can’t just expect them to that on Monday morning– Who decides what is important to learn in your classroom? You, the government or the kids! Who should decide?

Problems first teaching second-

Getting the children empowered through ‘role play’ Please see Edcast one or my example of Ian Jukes’ talk

Progressively withdraw from helping.

ICT stands for the progression towards independence : Independent , Collaborative, Teacher. Progress through the year. They become dependent and less reliant on teacher input

Re-evaluate evaluation.

Have we missed something. Is the written test enough??

Looking below the surface- what is it we are about- what is the best for their futures?

Teacher make every other profession possible- 21^st Century.

Ian Jukes “We are doing a great job in educating our kids for the 1970’s”

Pedagogy- How important is it?

Dragon09 — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:01:51 +0000

It has been interesting to share Greg’s post and Chrissy’s posts 1 and post 2 about pedagogy.

I am of the opinion that it is vital for us as practioners to know the answer to the WHY? question. There are many teachers of various generations that I know or know of who struggle with the WHY? question. I have had to take a stand on this issue recently when a colleague of mine answered me by saying:

“I really don’t think we should concern ourselves with the background to why we have identified these traits as being gifted and talented, we should just concern ourselves with classroom practise.”

I totally agree with her about focusing on our classroom practise but we still need to understand the purpose behind what we do, simply replying to the question “Why do you run your reading programme like that?” or “How did you determine these as valuable traits to worthy of additional time and resources?” with the words “Because Marg told me to” really isn’t going to cut, especially in an ERO year!

My main focus has to be on the classroom teacher, me specifically. What values and beliefs to I hold to as I develop my classroom practise.

In 1997 Julia Atkin wrote an article entitled “Enhancing Learning with Inforamtion & Communication Technology: Promises, pitfalls & practicalities”

She uses the term ‘Learning Technologist’ as one possible alternative to ‘teacher’ – Learning technology she states is the applied science of learning. I do prefer this term to facilitator, coach and teacher, the reason being that the Learning is placed at the heart of the role:

In a world rich in information technology, the authority of the teacher no longer lies in being the one who knows. Rather it is in being the one who knows about knowing and learning and in being the one who has deep understanding of aspects of the powerful ideas and processes captured in collective human wisdom.

She identifies a Learning Technologist as on who:

recognises that effective learning requires active construction of meaning by the learner and is active in designing and negotiating appropriate learning experiences;

• is mindful of the learning styles and needs of each individual learner and promotes and affirms their individual ways of knowing;

• intervenes where necessary to help the learner use strategies and processes which take them beyond their style to enhance and maximise their learning;

• teaches the learners about their own learning.

Let us consider for a moment the value of contextual, transformational learning, Julia puts it like this;

intrinsic motivation

- need/purpose/perceived challenge

- curiosity

- relevance

- inner drive

• teacher passion

• direct experience

• learning/teaching strategies which stimulate and integrate multiple ways of knowing

But which, if not all of these, does the learning technologist have control over ? Point one is something I have struggled with for sometime, how do you develop intrinsic motivation into our students.
What does this model look like for the ECE teacher? the primary teacher? the secondary teacher?

One concern of mine is contextual pedagogy, “We are in a decile 1 school, these kids are needy, they need structure, routine, discipline- this changing pedagogy that you talk about is really good decile 10 schools. They don’t have the same issues that we have. What we have gonig on here is a historic, schoolwide approach to education. Everyone needs to do the same, OUR children can’t handle change. It is working for us now and has done for the past 20 years, we slot technology in where we can, that’s enough isn’t it? Our kids aren’t that connected anyway.”

It is through our conversation, in school and over the edublogosphere, that we can address these key issues:

deepening understanding of learning and how it is changing
the development of learning strategies to meet the needs of the 21st century
the development of collaborative, student-centred learning
developing approaches for learning to learn.

Synchronous conferencing- what a valuable conversation

Dragon09 — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:23:12 +0000

In my presentation on SkypeTalkandWrite I spent very little time talking about the background to its use in the classroom.

Skypetalkandwrite is a synchronous conferencing tool. In this book David Jonassen talks about ‘How..synchronous conferencing can be used as a mindtool.’

These tools are not new, back in the day there were MOOs, MUSEs, MUSHs, MUDs some or all of these are still in use in various forms.

Neither is skypetalkandwrite unique Microsoft Netmeeting, CUseeME are two other examples on synchronous conferencing being used today and I’m sure there are others.

What I’d like to focus on here is the value of the real-time communication which enables learners to become discursive members of a wider community. As with any level of real time conversation it is important to ensure it stays on track. There is a fine line here to consider, with synchronous conferences being in nature social it is important to establish, and maintain, the purpose of the discourse to avoid the quality of conversation spiralling downwards.One of the key ways to do this is offer purposeful conversation, students require a project to engage with, an issue to debate or a problem to resolve. It is often helpful for students to share a workspace on line, it is good for then to see a product of their labours. This is where the ‘object’- the shared whiteboard provided by the TalkandWrite software comes in, it focuses the students attention on the project at had. Without a shared ‘object’ conversation can deteriorate very quickly (just like a real classroom)

The single most powerful aspect of a synchronous conference is the immediacy. ‘Live interactions produce more motivation to contribute’

There are other applications out there, Web 2.0 is full of synchronous and asynchronous tools. I guess it’s what drives the social networking, the picking and choosing of applications to meet your communication needs. As I type this I was engaged in a conversation with Amanda about this very subject and I started out hoping to support my presentation with some theory but never mind. This is how I conversation went:

Dragon09 says: Am writing a post about synchronous conferences…. any thoughts?

Amanda says: i.e. k12 online chats?

Dragon09 says: yeah true…Skype too

Amanda says: or what Ewan talks about in his blog about being able to respond while he gives his keynote?

Dragon09 says: Sort of, but I think that is technically asynchronous cos you don’t need to be on at the same time like we are now

Amanda says: ah yes you would be right in that

Dragon09 says: Twitters an interesting one, its kinda both.. if you think about our ERO twitters yesterday, hours apart, but if you catch people on at the same time it can be…synchronous

Amanda says: definitely

Amanda says: I think that they synchronous element is important in a conference I went to Ulearn last year but didn’t have the contact other than the people i went to school with and some people i met. But after I met you and begun to have more contact with people within the conference via twitters it changed the dimension of the conference. It changed from being me thoughts between the speaker and myself to the possibility of having other peoples opinions i.e. the Helen Baxter presentation and the twitters and examples that were given in rebuttal or agreement with her presentation It meant that I was questioning and thinking during the keynote to a higher dimension than if I was just sitting there listening to HER. Make sense?