I spent this morning teaching a group of Education students fromCold Lake and Lac La Biche, Alberta. I wasn't there... but I was there... thanks to video Conferencing. Three hours revisiting the topic of Constructivism (within a social studies context)--- doing some of the same things I would had done if we were face to face and lots of things that we wouldn't have been able to do if we were face to face.

After the class, as I wandered back to my office, I walked down a hall full of students doing what university students have always have done, reading their assigned readings, writing and working in groups. Fresh out of three hours of Video Conferencing, I took a very intensional look at what was different about this hallway of learners. This is what I saw:

- most students on laptops 
- students reading a book with earplugs attached to an ipod 
- students with big earphones, listening and staring ahead 
- students scanning their cell phones 
- students working on their iPad 
- students showing someone something on their handheld device 
- students talking on their cell phones 
- students intently reading a book or article with their cell phone right beside them or in their hand 
Few students were not attached to some kind of digital device. 
I wished I could have taken a 360 degree picture of the scene before me (I didn't because of FOIP concerns). It would have been a visual commentary about how much learners and the place of learning have changed.

If schools and upper education are just starting to note the shift that has taken place in this profession, they're already way behind--- the shift has already happened and is morphing in ways most educators can't even fathom. 
Michael Wesch's Visions of Students Today, a kaleidoscope of images, text, and student voices (using HTML5, Popcorn + Open Video) was created as an assignment  by Michael Wesch's university students Their voices sends home the message loud and clear: Pay attention Educators-- this is important! We need to be heard!

Learning Institutions are trapped in a conversation about the wrong thing. Presently, the talk is all about how do we micromanage the digital devices that students are coming to class with and how "does the technology work" as a fix for the old. It ought to be about developing and choosing between visions of how this immensely powerful technology can support the invention of powerful new forms of learning to serve levels of expectation higher than anything imagined in the past” (Papert, 1999). Really listening to the voices in the Visions of Students Today video extravaganza should convince us that change is more than stirring--- that change has reached a tsunami level that can't be ignored or disagreed with. We need to take heed to Seymour Papert's 1999 warning that we're trapped in the wrong conversations-- and then look like crazy for the right ones.

 

 

For all you book lovers out there- here is a bewitching idea. A secret bookstore (the owner refers to it as illegal) , located somewhere in a private residence in New York City, Brazenhead Books, a used bookstore since the 1970's, has found its way to the recently converted 84th Street apartment of owner Michael Seidenburg (his rent in New York City quadrupled). This venture is fueled by Michael's passion of reading and the his obvious passion for the sacredness of an institution that is quickly disappearing-- the privately owned bookstore. If Michael had followed most private bookstore owners, the doors to Brazenhead Books (see video clip below) would now be closed but instead this curious man has turned the bookstore concept upside down by creating his home into a salon for collectors. How do you find this bookstore? From another disappearing institution--- the phone book!

As I logged into my U of A account today, I came across this short, moving video posted there- an interview by Paul Nyibek who fled war-torn Sudan as a boy, "eventually making his way to Canada, where he defied the odds to finish high school and a political science degree at the University of Alberta. He now wants to devote his life to conflict resolution." Listening to testimonials like this always stirs me and makes me wonder if I would have had the strength and resilience to do what people like Paul Nyibek have accomplished. Imagine- after a life of conflict, choosing to help negotiate conflict for others...

 

Kudos to George Couros' on his newest blog posting. George has broached another very important subject--  "The Difference Between Neat and Deep", a topic that's been near and dear to me for a number of years. My terminology for this area of concern is a little different (I've instead used the words "glitz vs gutz") but our concerns are exactly the same. As flashy and flashier tools come our way, it's easy for educators to become mesmerized by their flashiness and miss the fact that when the dust settles, the depth of student learning has been compromised or missed altogether in the process. That can be true when integrating SMART Boards, Digital Storytelling and Podcasting and the many Web 2.0 tools available. Teachers often start out with excellent pedagogical intensions and then get waylaid by the cool things the tool can do. Using it in the name of student engagement can justify the use of a tool that gets in the way of the learning or fails to support the learning in meaningful ways. Unfortunately one thing the tool isn't is a silver bullet,-- technology tools can't mediate learning unless they are used at the right time, in the right way, with a clear instructional goal supporting it (and a solid understanding of curriculum and how kids learn best).

  An example I often use when I'm talking about this with teachers is the tool MosaicMaker (from the BigHugeLabs portal). This tool enables users to upload a collection of images and with little muss and fuss, create a collage of 4-36 images. In a few seconds, there it is--- on your screen. Unbelievably easy!

  So... suppose you ask each student to locate an image that represents their favorite geographical region of Canada. Students will locate an image (on a site like Flickr Storm - ensure that the creative commons license is set to "non-commercial, no derivatives") and then share the url of the image with the teacher. The teacher adds the url to MosaicMaker, clicks "create"and voila---- you have a catchy collage or mosaic on your screen (see the image above). This is where it gets fuzzy. If the teacher stops here, all she has is glitz- a mosaic and no idea what the students know. The students have not needed to justify why this image accurately represents a favorite specific geographical region of Canada. To access the depth of their thinking, the teacher needs to continue. Here are a few suggestions how:

1) Copy/paste the Mosaic image onto your SMART Board and using the record feature, have the students justify their choice of image. So for example, a student might have chosen an image of a wheat field. In their recording they would draw an arrow to the image, share the geographical region and explain (justify) how they know this region is a Prairie region of Canada. The teacher can look back to this recording and use it as an assessment piece that documents the student's understanding.

  2) Save the Mosaic to your desktop (select "Save" at the top of the Mosaic Maker page). Upload the image to a VoiceThread and have students add a comment, justifying their choice of image. Requiring students to justify their choice of image takes this activity from Glitz to Guts. 

Others are thinking along the same lines as George and I. A master at getting to the heart of the problem, David Warlick nails it when he asks:

The question persists... 'Is Web 2.0 going to lead to School 2.0?' Is it truly transformative, or just more geek lust and magic tricks for consultants [teachers] to perform on stage for the applause?"

 

 

Yesterday my husband and I were driving Highway #2 between Edmonton and Calgary. The roads were terrible, slick with blowing snow. Cars were in the ditch all over the place. Some cars were driving like snails, others were flying by way to fast. All of a sudden it happened--- a truck beside us sped up really fast, passed in front of our car, lost control and flew off the highway, rolled twice and stopped (unbelievably right-side up). Immediately four cars stopped to help. At that movement I thought about how lucky we are to have cell phones with us and how social media gives us another tool from which to respond to emergency situations. The visual above provides more information on how social media can provide a bridge between an emergency and help. Lots of food for thought. I saw evidence of this last week on Twitter after the New Zealand earthquake and several weeks ago in Egypt after the Internet was blocked there. Here's an example of Twitter being used as an emergency responder tool in Egypt. So much for the belief that Twitter is a trite and silly technology application that you shouldn't waste your time on. 

Let's admit it....

Today's call to prepare students to be leaders, innovators and creators sounds a whole lot more stirring than our profession's ageless call to prepare them to read and write. But... embarking on this challenge is whole different thing. Once in practice, educators discover that preparing students to be design thinkers, tinkerers, creative problem solvers, leaders etc can be highly abstract and that many of today's teachers are uncomfortable with the pedagogical changes needed to shift from traditional teaching practices to the education reform required to "make schools places that cultivate creativity" (Florida, 2004). The Seven Deadly Sins That Choke Out Innovation exposes seven common institutional practices (as applicable to education as they are to business) that interfere with the creative process. As I read through these seven deadly practices (that are unfortunately alive and well in the schoolhouse), it occurred to me that the main reason that we fail to shed these practices is (mostly) because of fear since true creative endeavors takes courage (according to artist, Henri Matisse). Using this article as a jumping off point for the changes needed in school (in order to foster creative, innovative thought),  teachers, administrators, district leadership need to:

+ We need to get outside the school and district to see what others are doing in all areas of culture (not only education).  
+ My dad used to remind me that "Talk is cheap". It's a whole lot easier to talk about educational reform than start building it. It's time for us to begin doing many of the initiatives we've been talking about (constructivist practices, technology used as a mind tool, project-based learning, alternative assessment etc)  
+ The opposite of the previous point is also true--- don't try to nail down a project before there's been adequate exploration and preparation (ex: SMART Boards without proper teacher training--- practical skills AND pedagogical underpinnings). Don't under-estimate the importance of scanning the landscape, researching and training.
+ Fear prevents creativity. Don't be afraid to think alien, to go against the conventional grain. Don't assume that unconventional ways of doing things doesn't have merit. Look for answers in unconventional places.
+ Determine what you're prepared to be patient about and what you're not. This one resonated with me. Most schools have given teachers lots of time to get on board with integrating emerging technologies into teaching and learning. Many are still dragging their feet. Why is meaningful use of technology for learning now non-negotiable in our profession?
+ Diversity is the word! Interdisciplinary, diverse skill sets and perspectives need to be part of everything we do in our profession.
+ Thought leadership--- without it, we're sunk. Ryan Jacoby (IDEO designer) believes that since innovation is essentially a human endeavor, the leadership component overshadows the processes used. You can listen to Jacoby's recent NYU Poly lecture (below).

Also... be sure to check out Nancy Stuewe's blog posting Innovation, Creativity and the Traditional School

via youtube.com

It's sad but true... from Grade 4 on, I struggled in Math.

It wasn't always this way. Up until Grade 3, math was easy for me but in the Spring of Grade 3 my family moved to a different neighbourhood, and a new school for me. It was here that my math problems began. My new Grade 3 class was heavy into multiplication (the 3X tables, I recall) and I had never heard of multiplication. For the first time I dreaded math class and for the first time in my little nine year old life, I felt stupid. Getting behind in my times tables was the least of my mathematical worries...

The next year (Grade 4), Alberta embarked on what 1960s parents and veteran teachers referred to as The New Math, a memorable 1960's curriculum initiative, memorable for teachers because they didn't understand how to teach the new processes, memorable for parents because they couldn't make hide nor hair of it (so they couldn't help their kids at home) and memorable for kids like me because we felt hung out to dry since there was no one to help us when we struggled. 

Tonight I did a little research. I learned that Alberta wasn't the only place that adopted this program. Apparently its adoption was wide spread and was in response to the early Soviet's technical superiority in outer space. It's underpinnings were eventually challenged in the later 1960's (too late for me). As Iisten to Tom Lehrer's parody song (above) called New Math, I can see why. This mumble jumble was exactly what I remember. You see how well you do with it.  

"We think with the objects we love; we love the objects we think with." ~ Sherry Turkle (Evocative Objects: Things We Think With)

In the beginning...
I was highly skeptical about electronic books and portable e-book readers. Not only skeptical but downright defensive. To understand why it's essential for me to state that the experience of holding and reading a book is near and dear to my heart. Some of my favorite memories involve curling up with a book and escaping to an imaginary world full of characters who are almost as real to me as the people I live and work with. The thought of an electronic gadget mediating a similar experience was unfathomable for me. I never envisioned myself even trying it out since it almost seemed like an act of disloyalty. My thoughts here may seem a little over the top but they need to be shared so that you can understand the extent of the paradigm shift I experienced this week.

It all started with my husband buying me a Kindle for Christmas. I was vaguely intrigued with this compact, leather bound electronic reader but not enough to try it out during my reading blitz during Christmas holidays. Last week I was mulling around Chapters bookstore (in my opinion, the only thing better than curling up with a book is wandering around a huge bookstore fully of enticing reading possibilities). One book caught my eye- Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. I was on my way to the cashier to buy it when a little voice inside reminded me of my Kindle at home and the need for me to try it out. I have to admit that knowing that I'd save five dollars by downloading an electronic version fueled my decision. Back at home, I ventured into the Kindle Store and one minutes later had Mister Pip on the screen of my Kindle, reading to read. Minus an alluring book cover, this electronic book had little visual appeal but pulled along by what I knew about the story, I started reading.

Before I knew it I was hooked by this emotionally loaded, heartwarming story, forgetting that the "gadget" in my hand (delivering the story) was an e-book reader, not a traditional book. Within a few chapters I made a massive discovery- that it wasn't the tangible book that evokes the pleasurable sensations you experience while reading a good book--- it is the skill of the storyteller, the ability of the author to create a believable, engaging story line complete with characters with a strong presence of voice. All this (and more) was present in Mister Pip. Just like in the past, I found myself sneaking in a few minutes whenever I could to read the next chapter and during one profound reading session this morning I found myself gasping audibly and tearing up as the unexpected happened in the story. At this moment I knew I had crossed over from being a skeptic to what Sherry Turkle refers to as, "loving the objects [that] we think with". Dr. Judi Harris reminds us that the important thing isn't how we use the TOOL, it's how we USE the tools. In the case of the Kindle, it's power isn't in the gadget itself, the power is in its ability to mediate the storytelling, the power of the written word (regardless of how that word is delivered) to make us think and feel.

This important lesson has helped me work through the mixed feelings I have about abandoning real books for electronic books. First of all, I don't think it's an act of abandonment... an either-or choice. I'll still buy books and read them with the same excitement as before, but my decision to read a good book on my Kindle will never again be considered a compromise.  

Resource:  To Kindle or Not to Kindle--- That is the Question!

Diritti Bambini...
As a follow up for yesterday's posting about children's right to read, I want to share an incredible book I found online. It's not new but it is new to me.  The Rights of the Child (Diritti Bambini) was published in 2009 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This moving photographic essay was a gift to UNICEF from Paolo Allori of Tipolito Duemila Group Srl and Edizioni Imprinting in Florence, and "offers deep testimony to the expression and violation of children’s rights through the luminous imagery of Giacomo Pirozzi".

This Italian phrase, Diritti Bambini, takes me back in time to 2004 when I was invited to attend the Global Junior Challenge in Rome, Italy to present We the Children... a telecollaborative project that I had created for my Grade 7 students. During this project, my students and I had collaborated with a school in Tel Aviv, Israel, exploring Children's Rights today's world.  The partnership between ABC Charter School in Calgary, Alberta and Magen International School in Tel Aviv was a learning highlight for all of us. My attendance at the Global Junior Challenge would normally have been out of the question but along with the invitation came the financial support (from the Global Junior Challenge) needed to attend. So off I set--- to attend a very uncommon educational gathering in a country where italian was the first language. How would I share this project, my English thinking brain wondered...
Once there I was drawn into an incredible educational event that was like like none other I'd ever attended (before or since). I discovered that I, along with 49 other projects creator, would spend two days presenting our projects to over 5000 Italian students. Over the two days, groups of students from schools in Rome (and the outskirts) filed by our booths and (to my surprise) asked questions in English and introduced me to an Italian phrase I heard over and over again during those two days:
Diritti Bambini which means Children's Rights (in Italian). The students were amazing-- interested, polite and completely willing to try to communicate with me in somewhat broken English. All projects in this competition had one common theme- the use of technology to lessen the digital divide and to promote e-inclusion (a concept that I had never thought of until that time). This trip to Italy altered my thinking forever. Before I had considered technology solely as a mindtool. Because of experiences at the Global Junior Challenge my mind and heart had been introduced to the notion of using technology a tool to promote social justice-- a heart tool. How I made this shift is described in my Education World blog  The Italian Adventures of an Average Everyday Teacher

I don't think anyone would dispute the importance of developing reading skills. What I don't think we often think about is that this is more than a "should do", it is a "right" that every child is entitled to. Making sure every child has access to this right can be complex (and uphill work) especially for children who have unique and perplexing learning needs. The video above profiles The Reading Bill of Rights, the eight "beliefs" that "affirm every child's right to read and what that means in the 21st century". As inspiring these words are, I wonder whether parts of these ambitious beliefs are rhetoric (akin to the UN's 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child). Is the government and tax payers prepared to cover the expense needed to turn these eight beliefs into a reality for all children? Like my dad used to say... "Talk is cheap". Take a look at the Rights of the Child Photo Essays below:

Part One       Part Two