Archive for April, 2009
Posted by: Paula White in engagement, homework, learning, metacognition, teaching, thinking, twitter, tags: collaboration, iPod Touch, thinking, wikis
We have an iPod Touch Pilot going at our school. Well, we really have a mini pilot, since we only have 4 and we are trying them out with 7 kids. It’s been an interesting venture thus far, so much so that I thought I’d share some thoughts here and you can read the kids comments on our wiki, Crozet Math Musings iPod Pilot.
Sue Waters (@suewaters) tweeted on April 13 that
Education 1.0=Consumer
Education 2.0=Producer
Education 3.0=Collaborator
Others have said a similar thing about web 1.0, web 2.0 and web 3.0. What we need to realize, as we work with iPod Touches (and I’m referring to the 2nd generation) is that it is designed as a device for access. It allows users to get to “stuff”–email, twitter, texting, the internet, games, etc., but it is NOT easy to create on it. It doesn’t allow access to many web sites in ways that you can use them (flash doesn’t work, for example, so there go all the flash-based games on my school’s computer support site), and the kids complain that the keyboard is hard to use.
If that is so, and it is mainly a device for access, then would it not make sense to categorize it as a web 1.0 device, since you are mostly consuming web pages with it??
But wait, can you not record on it? Can you create a voicethread? Can you work on a wiki? If you can do some of those things, then doesn’t it become a web 2.0 device, since you can now produce on it?
And, as you record for that voicethread, or make that wiki, or respond to an email, text or Twitter, aren’t you collaborating? Doesn’t that, then, allow us to classify it as a tool for collaboration, and thus a Web 3.0 tool?
If it’s such a tool for collaboration, then why aren’t we infusing them into classrooms and using them daily instead of machines that cost three and maybe even as much as four times as much as an iPod? Why don’t they become the basis for our 1:1 programs?
What are people using iPod Touches in the classroom for? My 8 and 9 year olds are exploring games on them, and reviewing the games (see our wiki).
What are others doing? See Chris Webb’s Why an iPod Touch in education? for more info on using iPods in the classroom.
There are lots of ways to use them, but do they REALLY do collaboration well? I’m not so sure, and would be interested in YOUR ideas of what you would like to see on the iPod to make it more of a collaborative tool. Iin the third or even fourth generation iPod, what features would YOU like to see?
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Posted by: Paula White in Blooms, engagement, learning, metacognition, teaching, thinking, twitter, tags: learning, metacognition, passion, teaching, twitter
This morning I read a tweet by @e_shep who quoted “Inventing Creativity” http://bit.ly/b2kYT The true pain of being passionate is encountering people who are not.
I think that’s a true statement because so many of us who are passionate are often perceived as dogmatic, or intense, or our passionate contribution to a conversation is misconstrued as “it has to be my way.” One reason I tweet is because I find like-minded individuals on twitter who are also passionate about teaching, learning, technology, students, quality interactions and real, honest, direct and sharing/caring relationships. So many times I have seen people who do not know each other face to face express incredibly kind sentiments to one another, and I have marveled at the ability of strangers to connect so deeply across this microblogging platform.
Today I tweeted out a question: “In thinking of passionate educators, are people on Twitter more passionate educators than you typically encounter day to day?” I didn’t mean it as an either/or question, but as more of a continuum, or to help me think about the passion behind the educators on twitter. In 140 characters, I certainly didn’t say all I was thinking, and the responses I got broadened my thinking even more.
Here’s a sampling:
- UltimateTeacher@paulawhite I love what I do, and I happen to work with some people who don’t feel the same…twittering allows me to help and be helped
- cwebbtech@paulawhite re: Passionate teachers – I think the teachers who are on Twitter tend to “share” their passion more frequently-globally. (And I’m appreciative of that sharing!)
- icklekid@paulawhite hard to say if educational twitters are more passionate but tweeting and sharing ideas makes me more passionate about education!
 tbrewster@paulawhite Educators that use Twitter are passionate about sharing ideas, and modeling 21st Century technology skills for their students.29 minutes ago from web
 melhutch@paulawhite passion can seem more evident when you are excited and learning so twitter people seem more passionate- others can be just as p.34 minutes ago from web
So what I’m sharing is that it’s not that teachers on Twitter are MORE passionate than other educators. Teachers who are passionate about teaching and learning are everywhere and show those passions in lots of ways. Those of us who do it on Twitter may simply be more overt or public about it in this particular venue.
P.S. and being limited to 140 characters is probably a good thing for many of us!
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Posted by: Paula White in Blooms, engagement, learning, metacognition, teaching, thinking, twitter, tags: blooms taxonomy, engagement, learning, metacognition, teaching, thinking
You might want to read Tom Woodward’s Bionic Teaching and Michelle Bourgeois’ Milibo’s Musings response before reading my thoughts on both of those. Part of the background conversation also happened at Tom’s Bloom’s and Technology Pyramid, Mike Fisher’s Digigogy blog, and Visual Bloom’s and Bloom’s rubrics as well.
Tom and Michelle have been thinking about a teaching/learning challenge for a while. Initially Tom’s idea was “Pimp My Lesson Plan” and it turned into a challenge based on the “Iron Chef.” Having gotten a comment on the challenge on Tom’s blog, Michelle responded and tweaked the challenge potential a bit. Here’s my two cents to add to their challenge.
We all know it’s not necessarily JUST about the lesson plan, or the hook, or the activity, but about a combination of all of those things that will allow people to put good ideas out for others to use, and that will engage students in important work. When thinking about engaging students in activities that support “higher level thinking” I think about at least the following 3 facts:
- We can quantify rigor and relevance, but we experience issues when trying to quantify relationships. As we examine tasks and attempt to “judge” or “rate” them, we must keep in mind that relationships between student and teacher may make what might look like a less meaningful task important BECAUSE of the relationship.
- Being mindful of Phil Schlechty’s Working on The Work is crucial to the development of tasks that are likely to lead to student engagement.
- When an observer can see at least three of the 8 qualities of engaging work in a learning activity, then 80% of the time students self-report being engaged.
Thus, a learning activity not only has to be tied to good teaching, to the three R’s (rigor, relevance and relationships), and to worthwhile content, but also engage the students in quality ways.
Michelle described two scenarios where students were clearly engaged and the learning activities were built around the objectives for learning. Teachers were thoughtful about how to engage students so that interest was high, interactions between students were heightened and students received feedback throughout the activity. Teaching was centered around the task, which was clearly tied to the learning objectives. Teaching to the task is a GOOD thing!
Tying together the components of what John Antonetti calls “The Engagement Cube” is what I believe is critical to setting up learning opportunities that do what Tom and Michelle (and Mike Fisher and I and @beckyfisher73 and @mwacker and @barbaram and a bunch of other educators) are thinking about as we engage in these conversations around quality education.
Like the title of this blog, I say teachers must be MASTERS of task-making. I do not mean in the traditional sense of the word, as in making sure the work gets done, but as in MASTERFULLY crafting tasks. These tasks should be ones that engage, teach, allow for diversity of thought, stimulate creative juices flowing, and evoke a proud sense of accomplishment. They may even take on a life of their own, resulting in students taking the task to places the teacher may never have envisioned. Through rich tasks that demand rigor in thought and performance, that elicit cooperation and teamwork, students may also discover a passion for the subject or the discipline as well.
I hope my thoughts add TO the conversation and don’t detract from what Tom and Michelle are trying to encourage. These two educators have challenged other teachers to craft great lessons and share them. Let’s support that challenge and collaborate to create some incredible tasks!
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