• Henyy My experience at NECC09

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• Read me first: Google isn’t making us dumb – or smart. That’s the problem, says Andrew Brown | Technology | The Guardian

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  Google isn’t making us dumb – or smart. That’s the problem

  Far from dumbing us down, the constant ebb and flow of information on the internet is forcing us to change our habits

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  * Andrew Brown
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  o Andrew Brown
  o guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 July 2009 18.10 BST
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  Last year, Nick Carr wrote a forceful article for the Atlantic magazine, arguing that Google was making us stupid. It’s not just Google, of course, but the whole chaotic wave of technology that seems to be sweeping us into the future, surrounded and sometimes battered by the flotsam and wreckage of old certainties. And that was before Twi

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• Meeting Ticker

  tool that shows how much money we spend in meetings

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• MixedInk – Free Collaborative Writing Tool

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• 10 Rules That Govern Groups « PsyBlog – Annotated

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  10 Rules That Govern Groups

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  Much of our lives are spent in groups with other people: we form groups to socialise, earn money, play sport, make music, even to change the world. But although groups are diverse, many of the psychological processes involved are remarkably similar.

  Here are 10 insightful studies that give a flavour of what has been discovered about the dynamics of group psychology.

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• The Definitive NECC ‘09 Wrap-up Post | ISTE Connects – Educational Technology

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• WoWinSchool / FrontPage

  This is a collaborative workspace for the development of instructional items for the use of the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, in a school setting. Please take a moment to explore the various sections of the site and if you would like to contribute, please email Lucas Gillispie at lucas AT edurealms.com.

  The primary focus of this project is to develop a curriculum for an after school program or “club” for at-risk students at the middle and/or high school level. This program would use the game, World of Warcraft, as a focal point for exploring Writing/Literacy, Mathematics, Digital Citizenship, Online Safety, and would have numerous projects/lessons intended to develop 21st-Century skills.

  -Lucas

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• TaNuj^’s Weblog

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• 21stcenturylearning – *NECC

  Sheryl’s Wiki for the session

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• Sheryl NussbaumBeach (snbeach) on Twitter

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• Edmodo « T is 4 Technology’s Blog

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• Edmodo

  Micro Learning Management System that enables teachers to enroll students into a simple class, share files, give tasks, receive work and provide simple grading online.

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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

The global world sucks. I miss my kids. I have no idea how some people do this all the time.

So what happens when 14,000 people come to an ed-tech conference about Web2.0, the wifi dies. Despite pre-registration, publication of the type of technologies being used, #necc09 wifi died a a thousand deaths before lunchtime – seriously did they think we’d all bring chalk boards or OHPs?

While problematic for the ‘line-up here’ events for the digital tourists; more importantly it killed conversations that we’re happening in the halls and lounges. ISTE promotes the event as ISTE connects; and for much of edtech communities – this is the only real value – talking to people about ideas; ways to share and experiences.

“We didn’t expect this volume” is the reply, it will come back up “its not really our problem” … the volunteers around the halls are running for cover. How on earth does anyone expect to convince anyone that the internet in education is not a black hole. Lack of power outlets, seating and now internet for ‘third space’ informal learning simply wrote off my day.

SINGULARITY of idea and thought in the metaverse is a very fragile thing. When discovered, it will  be shared, remixed and re-purposed almost immediately. The people however – are unique and to me this is why I want to be here.

It’s only the day before the great floor of commercial education-ness opens and the grand opening ceremony has been given. At NECC you can buy a Scantron or set about destroying them.

Edubloggercon

Is the day before the day before NECC begins. It’s a day in which the un-bureaucrats, un-official technology leaders and un-pioneers gather to share ideas and stories about everything from the latest Twitter client (like the world needs another visualiser) to the motivators of networked students. For many newcomers; its a chance for affirmation and discovery – and a big influence on what we see on the main NECC agenda.

It’s fast moving, combative, collegial, scary and supportive all at the same time. Its small, almost family like, where the newcomer shares a power outlet with a seasoned campaigner. There is a place here for the iPhone fanboi, the application junkie and the policy makers – its rough around the edges and driven by provocative conversation.

A clearing house of ideas, offering some resolution and clarity on the thousands of on line conversations and ideas shared online. A chance to dump, vent, engage, laugh and recharge by connecting to people.

The amazingly uber Sheryl Nusbaumm Beach

Thanks especially to Sheryl for driving over from Virginia Beach for the afternoon and leaving here guests hanging. I learn so much from you all the time, and really enjoyed the opportunity to deliver my first NECC workshop with such a well respected and influencial educator.

Here’s my initial brain dump on the first few days;

ISTE Leadership forum

I was really pleased to take part in the discussion sessions that form a part of ISTE’s future thinking and strategic planning – and always amased that I’m even asked. I look around and think ‘wow’ that’s so and so over there. It’s almost surreal at times. The group session I worked on consisted of US, Australia, Germany, Brazil, India and Portugese educational leaders – including ISTE’s CEO, Don Knezek. The session was aming to focus the big ideas, big priorities around how can we leverage technology to ensure all students have access to high quality, rigorous learning experiences.

It was a tremendous honour to be involved, and really put into perspective the recent Education AU symposium. I saw familiar faces driving some of the most insightful discussions. Australia without doubt, helps shape a great deal of educational technology leadership thinking, and are warmly welcomed – we need far greater internationalization at all levels in Australia too – and not at the government cop-opt level either. ISTE lobbys, not reports to.

Opening Keynote – Malcom Gladwell

To me, this remains one of the big problems with large conferences; the idea of the grand-show, the entry event to frame the following few days. The Twitterati were out in force; and generally I think it was a 50/50 split on good or ‘meh’. There’s no doubt he’s a good speaker and well regarded – but not at all sure about this role at NECC. To me it embedded the idea of difficulty and challenge as a deficit message that is getting old – and does not reflect the growing maturity of educational technology – in practice.

It was the anti-experience of the informed discussions I’d had had earlier with Don Knezek’s round-table.

I have real issues in putting non-edua types in front of the edu-crowd; they are entertaining; but so is Doctor Who – who is also on the telly. Stephen Heppell does not appear on light entertainment show panels, so please let’s make sure that the messages are authentic and relevant – Just show some K12 repeats, it makes better viewing.

There were a few issues I had too – Firstly, that all the teachers sit in rows and passively listen; that there are no kids involved (are they unable to tell us anything new?) and thirdly – ISTE is a BIG deal and demands singularity and new ideas as much as any TED talk.

There was a distinct lack of focus and mis-alignment with reality probably because this speech was appears to be an adaptation by the speaker. Gary Stager was quick as ever to notice and Tweet accordingly as the assembled rows chuckled and nodded in the auditorium (which could only seat half the attendees, the others were put in an overflow room to watch giant tellys and play with their finger on a stick gifts).

The Fleetwood Mac thing didn’t work for me, and lots of peolple had never heard of them. It showed a spectacular disconnect with how todays music artists (property) use advertising, branding, marketing and networks to speak to ‘true fans’  and for them reply – this is digital profile management, and not education. Godin makes a better point in Tribes about the Greatful Dead, we could just have easily watched them on the telly.

I didn’t like the references to ’smart’ and ‘intelligence’ and much of his theory seemed very suspect in this context – which seems adaptive. We have questions to understand your audience – that’s smart and what David Warlick is doing.

You are dealing with very skilled people at NECC, and really, it’s not sufficient to re-peddle a message – as TED talks insists. Bring new ideas, new conviction – there are were many in the ‘crowd’ that could have easily delivered this level of message; why out-source not power-source.

The keynote didn’t add anything for me – apart from drive some affirmation discussion with Dean Shareski and Angela Maiers (who I’ve not talked to before, but want to again). The plus side, I got to spend some more time with Cognitive Dissonance – who are a fantastic group of educators and a stick with a plastic finger on it from the sponsor. Yey!

I regret that I could not attend the Constructavist Connection Day as well as ISTE Leadership. Timing at NECC is a huge problem for everyone. You can’t be everywhere you want to be. Right now I’m just plain tired. NECC is a mind-melt and not for the passive.

Peggy Sheehy has been saying all week “don’t rock the boat, sink it.” She’s talking about sinking it will better ideas, better ways to connect and learn. Australia really, really needs to get Peggy to ACEC 2010. Seriously.

WHAT would you like to drink? Asked the flight attendant. Well , I thought, as it’s 3am and you’ve finally returned light to the cabin after 10 hours of darkness … orange juice. To be honest I was pleased to finally experience some choice. Seat 60J is followed only by the aft cabin toilet and so far I’d have little luck in the choice department since boarding.

“I only have tom-ayto” the crew member sullenly replied . Clearly in the other isle they were pouring orange juice. “I’d like orange juice, like they have over there”, thinking this would lead him to think beyond his trolley. “Well how about tea?” he said. “No, orange juice” …”you don’t want anything?”. I gave up, it seemed that behind that perfect hair parting and dedication to routine, we were not connecting.

“No I don’t want anything other than orange juice”. By this time my allotted time was over and he’d moved on. No deviation, no adjustment at all.

I got up, walked past the now smelly aft toilet into the adjacent isle and help myself to an orange juice.

My fight is without in-flight entertainment, yet I know other airlines have it, so I am bored – and less tolerant of avoidable frustration. It struck me, as I travel to Washington to attend and present at the National Educational Computing Conference (#necc09) that teaching people to think about several solutions and NOT  ‘the’  answer is a truly important mission.

Change to routine is inevitable. Technology creates change and always has challenged humanity to change along with it. Without taking risks, thinking beyond the immediate known environment, man would have never ventured outside the cave. Let alone figure out how to take $10 off me for beer via electronic Visa at 51,000 feet.

I still baffles me why in an age of educational media influencing formal and informal learning, that teachers relish being technology adverse. The overwhelming evidence is that we are no longer in the 20th Century and the abundance of places to connect instantly to thousands of others who have trod the path ahead of us has never been easier.

I will, no doubt, be hearing a lot about ‘change being possible’,’teachers are time poor’,'the system needs to change first’ blah, but  it begs the question where it became okay to not only believe but insist that change is impossible in teaching practice.

Routine does not mean repeating the past, but adapting to the future. If we routinely offer both orange and tom-ayto then we will routinely make more people happy – or visa versa.

GAMES are part of the mash-up, and effective, motivating, accessible resources for the classroom. Many are free to try or peanuts to buy – saving the teacher a great deal of time and giving them a motivation power-up that ignites learning.

While many continue to explore ‘web2.0’, they are often not exploring the diverse and rich media being produced for playful learning.

Picture yourself as a student – about start using this game to learn.

“Fresh from a successful exploration of the wreck of the Titanic, the Hidden Expedition Club will pit one of its stellar members against a formidable group of opponents in a race to the summit of Everest. Other groups will battle you to be the first to summit Mount Everest. Expert Everest climber Ed Viesturs will assist you along the way. Explore mysteries of the world as you find hidden clues. Race to the Roof of the World!”

Sound exciting? – Maybe exciting enough to do a couple of hours work deconstructing this text? Using Google Earth, History sites maybe drawing the character; writing a story even. My point here is that games often have an instant narrative, instant motivation to which teachers can subtly add outcomes. It almost doesn’t have to feel like learning at all.

Hidden Treasure is a very slick example of hundreds of games that are available to teachers online.  The demo alone has been downloaded over 8 million times. The game itself allows for a lot of classroom fun, but also allows wider exploration of some of the under pinning themes and concepts that a skilled teacher can weave around it. For under ten dollars; there are numerous puzzle, adventure and discovery games to explore online – allowing playful learning. Just like Web2.0, we have to adapt games into learning as a mash-up. We don’t need to use an instructional CD-Rom, just go online.

Games online have perhaps made leaps forward than ‘websites’ yet are often still viewed with a prejudicial 1990’s lens – where games were predicated violent behaviour and arcades were for drop outs and gangsters. Games, like the rest of the web have come a long way and await discovery in the classroom.

WONDERING what to do when first faced with a 9th grade class armed with 1:1 laptops? Here’s a couple of ideas … let’s kick off with the bad way… then move to a fun way. All you need to play is a PBWorks. This is one of those learn it in 10 minute things.

Some will set about establishing THE ‘rules’ – what you can’t do and how you will behave in MY classroom – or else.
They start with threats, expose weakness, discount opportunity and never test student strengths.

You know what I’d do? Play Wiki-Tag!

I’d teach them how teach each other about how to look after their laptop! I’d get the kids to create a resource of awesomeness that everyone could share or add to. I’d create a student-help desk, right there and then. I’d create a learning community. I’d empower everyone. I’d establish a new norm – and at the same time knock over half a dozen outcomes. I’d mix that with their ‘regular’ lessons … yep, I’m crazy enough to do two-things at once.

Here’s how wiki-tag works

1. Start with a brainstorm – get kids into groups to think/pair/share and list what they know about their new laptop and what think they are going to need to know. Go around and around students in the groups asking for ideas until all the ideas ran out.
   
2. Then I’d go around and ask for responses until they run out.
3. Put all the knows and need to knows on the wall.
4. Give each student something to do from the list – and make a wiki-page. (yeah, you have to sign up to pbworks first).
   
5. That student owns that page, until someone makes it better – by putting a suggestion in the discussion tab. If the group thinks the idea is better, then the kid who currently owns the page needs to find something else, and the kid with the suggestion now owns it. So the displaced kid has to go looking to improve someone else’s idea.
6. Anyone not adding to the ideas; gets given and ideas to work on. The group will allocate a ‘task’… They’ll learn to be pro-active, as solving your own problems is more interesting that being given one. If the group can’t come up with one – then they get the teacher’s idea.
   
7. You have to play everyday for month, and then have to do at least one thing a week for semester. (Appoint a wiki-administrator to give you a weekly report so you don’t have to).
   
8. Students design an evaluation; to work out what activity gets the best marks, based a criteria such as; innovation; accuracy; importance; effort; supporting others (the 21st Century skills).
9. Students grade their projects – those that contributed to the best page – share the marks (let them work out the formulas)
   
10. There’s a weekly reward for participation – additional credit on your final term score.

Each day I had them, I’d give them a new problem to solve, or throw them a curve ball – and in solving it, lead them to explore new boundaries and find better ways to explain it. From resources on touch typing to help with configuring the wireless – my ideas would mix with theirs. I’d make pages; and they could make them better. With my wiki, I’d embed 75% of the pedagogical technology I need in one hit as kids learn to ‘mix’ and ‘mash’.

I’d get them to think of ways to evaluate our ideas, and the value of the improvements – a kind of ‘idea’ currency exchange.

• If you stick to small stuff, you have to do more than if you create new big stuff. Huh? Well if you put up a simple page; then someone will find it easy to change and you are more likely to get bumped. Do a comprehensive page and you might keep it all semester (and focus on stuff you like).
• That’s how life works, so that’s how I want my class to work.
• I’d make the IT Helpdesk a wiki not a form or a phone call. And if I had IT help on staff – guess what, I’d make damn sure my kids knew that they didn’t need support or wait in line – as our wiki would be the best way to get help – anytime.
• Not ‘can you help me to’ – I want to hear ‘Can you teach me to’ – and put it on our wiki.
• I’d want our school to have the best wiki – and get dots on our map and get other schools to use it!

By the end of the month, my kids would be independent; co-productive and co-operative – ready to deal with whatever I wanted to teach next. Deeper learning rewards more than surface learning. Then I could play more wiki-tag, just by changing the topic – because they have learned a process in a realistic, relevant way.

Want to learn to play? – Drop me a line, sure we can hook it up. 50 ways to play wiki-tag … easy.

To renew learning with technology is to give teachers and students practical strategies and methods in their environment. Its easy to peddle snake-oil, but a lot harder to compliment with practice. This post is to help newcomers get to grips with self-development of professional practice, and overcome the ‘fear and pressure’ in taking action and becoming a confident user.

Problems

I’m beginning to  wince at the now obligatory ‘Twitter Shout’ when talking to newcomers. It’s impressive to show the world is connected to you and you to it, but the imperative to me is to connect teachers to students and students to outcomes first. Another niggle is to read or hear the orbital leadership questions “How do create 21st Century blah …”.  I find myself wondering if they added “to boldly go where no teacher has gone before”, it might at least get an overt laugh. They miss the point time and time again.

The challenge is to teach every day in technical ways that initially need no more skill than sending an email with an attachment – and focus on practice, not technology. There is a problem when the pitch is too high by both ‘technocrats’ and ‘leaders’. Many teachers say they feel further disconnected and powerless after hearing the 21st Century call to arms.

Solutions

Emotionally, we want teachers to feel ‘wow, I want my class to be like that all the time’ and ‘I can do that!’. There are a number of ways to achieve this, but lets look at one, peer observation (which is not new at all).

‘Team teaching’ in the classroom (with or without an expert mentor) –  supports and allows peer observation in authentic settings. This strategy provides focus on practice, techniques and student behaviour through observation and reflective notes. It might be a focus on the way students are given instruction; they type of instruction; the time management of activities; the type of questions being asked or reactions to events. Secondly, agree some facets of their teaching that they feel they want to work on with technology. Agree some element of the class that they wish to try-out. 10 minute activities are great for focusing practice and student attention. So in an hour, 15 minutes is given to the newcomer trying out agreed methods and techniques.

I’m advocating very simple tools and services – no where near the levels of skill needed to podcast or use an IWB. Newcomers need things they can learn in 10 minutes or less, then go and try for 10-20 minutes. It’s the gamer approach to learning. Easy entry, easy win then level up and try again.

They came back to Liberty Square with a message: update the attractions. The Liberty Square ad-hocs were the staunchest conservatives in the Magic Kingdom, preserving the wheezing technology in the face of a Park that changed almost daily. The newcomer/old-timers were on-side with the rest of the Park, had their support, and looked like they might make a successful go of it. (Doctorow, C. 2003 “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom”)

I advocate professional learning for newcomers to focus on ‘transitional technology’ – learning how to be an effective facilitator in online spaces;  building learning communities; moving between online, classroom discussion, exams and essays, to support and promote socially constructed,  meta-cognititive learning. Teachers are often highly successful and want to stay that way, don’t scare them off.

Lethargic students who ‘game the system’ can be overcome more easily if you use a online ‘space’ well. Gifted students can be extended, slow ones catered for etc., but most of all, teachers operate inside, not outside the system, holistically on their practice to norms in their classroom. We never put the calculator at the centre of a maths lesson – so why assume that the laptop will be the centre?

Create (and model) activities that are sufficiently motivating to participate in , neither too facile or too hard and discouraging time-wasting, which leads to being off task conflict. Buddy up; start simple and don’t get intimidated by the snakeoilers.

I’ll be running a 5 hour, over 5 week course on this soon.

I am a firm believer that asking teachers to do more with technology is the wrong approach to renewal, unless you are removing old habits, old methods and genuinely improving outcomes. In sessions I run for teachers, I believe that it’s more effective to change the culture and narrow the participation gap between autonomous and co-operative learning. By establishing a few simple norms – for spectacular results – especially in 1:1 technology situations. To achieve this, I’m proposing 3 tools, and  dropping some old approaches to get a performance gain.

1. Use reflective, self-reporting activities

The internet is a complex and diverse environment – simplify it for students. Use technologies that accurately reflect classroom activity and narrow the gap between what you want them to do and what they actually do – and save a heap of wasted or off task time. Diigo is the tool for this. Use it to model resources for students (lists); ask them to justify their own explorations (bookmark); and reflect on group learning (forums). Diigo is not a bookmarking tool! – It’s a learning management system and should be central to online learning.

2. Students must believe their choices and opinions matter

Probing questions in online spaces, allow teachers to discover student opinions; use a weekly question in your Diigo forum to ask them a probing question that allows them to express their feelings. Encourage participation by engaging in socio-centric conversation with students in the online space – as an aside from the rigor of the syllabus routine.

3. This week matters, because there’s another one following it.

Use TodaysMeet to create a simple question and answer page that expires after a week. Let them know that information is not persistent; but needs application to become knowledge. Encourage them to take turns in using it for passing notes and asking questions. Allow them to answer them and then at the end of the week, ask them to write a weekly journal entry – by asking a driving/probing question. Students are often poor a daily journal writing (you just get recounts) – make each week a process of leveling up to a Friday summit question. Base your assessments on summit questions.

4. Make authentic connections

Bring external voices to your classroom via technology, even if it as simple as using Google Chat, or finding a voice from YouTube. Locate an authentic dimension to problems. One great way to do this is to find your schools entry on Wikipedia – and make it better!

5. Build Vocabulary Bank

Each week a student is asked to find one word that relates to the week learning. Make one page in PBWorks, and ask them to add to it – alphabetically.

•    They have to give the meaning and how it relates to the discipline.

•    They should locate a web-reference of this being applied

These two actions provide continuous formative assessment of their ability to learn, comprehend and apply – digitally and conventionally.

What does this do for learning and engagement?

These 5 things, as a norm, repeated over a semester, promote socio-disciplinary learning. For the teacher it represents a very small change to promote the read write process in their learning and welcome students with a positive approach to learning with technology. Students will begin to select when and how best to use these spaces and  replace some of the tiresome activities of writing in Word, printing it out, collecting it or transferring it to flash memory or via email. Rather than think about ‘new’ ways, this appraoch blends existing, successful practices that allow technology to augment learning, keep students on task, be accountable, and interested in working online – though teacher facilitation and communication in those spaces. Doing this over and over, insisting and persisting; will create that norm – and may take several weeks to embed in student behaviour. Don’t fall into the trap that many another technology might work better – after all for the last decade, students have used little more than office automation and Google Search. Give them and yourself time to adjust and to be confident.

As we see laptops being issued to students directly, here in Australia and around the world- it’s interesting to look at the policies being issued to students and teachers – which then shape their use and the learning possible. Given the language. Are we ready for laptops?

When it comes to visualising policy, a word cloud helps me to illuminates the ‘mood’ of the document.

This illustration is from a school laptop policy which begins ‘students will not disable …’, and then goes on to list a long list of terms and conditions under which students can use them. The entire document is built around fear and control, passing significant, long-term risk and responsibility from the issuing authority to the student.

As a parent, I’d be weighing up the risks before agreeing to such terms as;

“never plagiarise information and will observe appropriate copyright clearance, including acknowledging the author or source of any information” and “responsible for any breaches caused”.

The personal computer under overt policy becomes a personal tracking device. Mobile computing means flexible thinking; and shared risk.  I wonder how policy affects the learning outcomes. Risk passed directly to the student regardless of their ability to interpret or comply with it? – How does that encourage better pedagogy? How is this being taught and assessed? or it is a case of wait until it happens, then determine who was at fault.

A photo for example, used on a blog or powerpoint? Does the teacher understand copyright?, will the child ask? How can we validate that it is the original source … how much time will be afforded to addressing these issues in busy curricula?

So if we allow digital sources into student work, then we have to be clear as to which parts are being assessed against the usage policy and which against learning outcomes. At a time when teachers are often critisised in their use of technology, the policy that acompanies the device will to a large extent determine the way in which it can be used. We have come a long way in educational technology, but in reform and policy there seems to be an increasing shift of responsibility on children. I’m left wondering if we classrooms are ready for personal laptops in learning and teaching … and have put a 10 second poll online which I hope you’ll add your voice too (or leave a comment).