21c LEARNing

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:03:04 PST

Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline and perhaps the nation's most recognized advocate of systems thinking, made a brief series of presentations to educators and businessfolk in Denver last week. Organizers of the sessions framed them as an opportunity to bring educators and businessfolk together to talk about transformation in education through systems thinking. (That's a mouthful.)

Civics Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 07:54:30 PST

Downtown Denver, seen from City Park Golf Course. Photo by Stevan Kalmon, November 2011. Driving home across Denver on a recent evening, I had the opportunity to reflect on the relationship between privilege and housing/neighborhood design. I travelled from Green Valley Ranch, at the eastern edge of the city, to my house on the western edge. (I was coming home from a golf lesson. Yes, a

November 12th Webinar: 21st Century Learning Naturally

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:24:48 PDT

Join us Monday, November 12, at 3:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) for a conversation about a school “dedicated to the study of natural sciences in a natural setting.” The webinar will be conducted in the CoLearning Network space on AdobeConnect. Jonathan Wuerth, co-founder of the School in the Woods (Academy School District 20), along with students at the school, will lead the conversation. This

The Tipping Point to Personal Learning - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:27:44 PDT

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October 15th Webinar: Learning and Teaching for 21st Century Skills

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:17:34 PDT

CoLearning Network's October 2012 recorded webinar covers a conversation about learning and teaching for 21st century skills. Becky Russell (senior library consultant for CDE) and Phil Goerner (media/information specialist for Silver Creek High School in St. Vrain SD) lead the conversation. This interactive webinar explores the transformative potential of the 21st century skills incorporated

Upcoming Webinar Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:25:31 PDT

Join us for the fall CoLearning Network Webinar Series held every 3rd Monday of the month at 3:30p.m (Mountain) in the CLN webinar space. Upcoming topics we will explore include: October 15 - Teaching for 21st Century Skills - Becky Russell and Phil Goerner November 12 (note: the second Monday, not the third) - School-in-the-Woods - Jonathon Wuerth December 17 - Museums as Learning

September CLN Webinar- Learning Through Simulations with Mike Vaughan

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:00:03 PDT

View the recorded version of the September 17th webinar conversation about learning through simulations with Mike Vaughan, Director of Regis Company. Topics the webinar explores include: experiential learning; reflection and learning; 21st century skills; simulation design; leadership and learning.

The Tipping Point to Personal Learning - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:59:56 PDT

"Mt. Zion One-Room School," from Museums of Worcester County, Maryland According to the authors of the book Disrupting Class, the theory of disruptive innovation predicts the end of schooling as we know it within ten years. Well, at least the beginning of the end. (fn 8) Inquiring minds may want to know what educational forms will replace schooling. In this post I'm going to describe

The Tipping Point to Personal Learning - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:56:24 PDT

According to the authors of the very important book Disrupting Class, 2012 is the year in which the logarithmic curve of computer-based learning consumption "tips" -- i.e., hits the "elbow" and begins to gobble up increasingly large chunks of conventional schooling. By 2019, the authors project, "50% of high school courses will be delivered online." By 2024, "80% of courses... will have

May CLN Webinar- Engaged Teaching

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:03:35 PDT

View the recorded webinar conversation about Engaged Teaching with Mark Wilding, Executive Director of PassageWorks Institute and a postgraduate instructor in leadership and systems thinking. Based on years of teaching, leadership development, and work with thousands of educators, Mark writes that “Engaged Teaching is about re-integrating a fragmented view of education that often separates

The Study of Being Human

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:48:36 PDT

Driving home on a recent spring evening, I was listening to a Black Eyed Peas song, "One Tribe". It's quite the earnest appeal, both the lyrics and the... prayerfulness... of its musical arrangement. The crew Whoa-o-o-o-ing like a choir in the background, while Will.i.am preaches about forgetting evil and embracing our oneness. It's very touching -- hopeful and beautiful. I think that BEP

April CLN Webinar- Student Presentations of Learning

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:33:08 PDT

View CoLearning Network's recorded conversation about student presentations of learning with Sarah Park (Director of Mapleton Early College, Denver, Colorado) and Michael Soguero (Director of Professional Development at Eagle Rock School, Estes Park, Colorado). At Mapleton Early College and Eagle Rock, presentations of learning provide students a powerful opportunity to reflect and report on

March CLN Webinar with Rick Freehling

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:05:02 PDT

CLN's monthly webinars are recorded for convenient viewing. Rick Freehling (Critical Thinking & Reasoning/Economics & Globalization Teacher and Department Chair for the 21st Century Program at Harrison High School) will lead the conversation on creating and running a school devoted to learning for the 21st century. Now in its fifth year, Harrison's 21st Cenury Program focuses on

Multiverse Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:05:20 PDT

Tomorrow, I have the good fortune to get 15-20 minutes of time to talk with the participants at the Teacher-Librarian Day (TLD) sponsored by Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) at Metro State in Denver (or whatever the current name of that university is). TLD2012. Thank you, Peggy O'Neill-Jones and TPS staff! I'm using this post to see whether my ideas are sufficiently composed to pass muster

Feb CLN Webinar- Teacher Inquiry

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:30:28 PDT

Catch the conversation about teacher inquiry as a vehicle for professional learning as recorded during CoLearning Network's February webinar with Michelle Bourgeois (Co-director of St. Vrain Valley School District’s Digital Learning Community [DLC]) and Stevan Kalmon (Director of the Council on 21st Century Learning) will lead the conversation. Collaborative inquiry is central to St. Vrain’s DLC

Thoughts from the Mosey Road

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:11:18 PDT

I like to drive what my colleague Dixie Good calls the Mosey Road. The roads or streets with less traffic and less anxiety. I look for roads with good flow. I don’t need to go 75, or even 55; just cruising is fine, often better, so long as I don’t have to stop frequently. Typically these roads are framed by interesting scenery -- neighborhoods; open spaces; industrial zones... Aside from

A Well-Designed PLC.... Really

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:17:57 PDT

In my previous post ("Professional Learning Communities... really"), I raved about the St. Vrain Valley School District’s PLC model, the Digital Learning Collaborative. I can only hint at the intricate detail of the DLC’s excellent learning design here; if you want to know more, check the resources at the end of the previous post. But I want to touch briefly on three elements of the design:

Professional Learning Communities… really…

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:02:07 PDT

The idea of Professional Learning Communities, appealing in the abstract, has suffered during the NCLB decade by its connection to tedious and frustrating review of NCLB-mandated measures of academic achievement. For many educators the term ‘PLC’ has come to mean torturous sessions in which the participants mutually expose their inability to ensure that all children will do well on state tests.

Since Last We Met…

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:30:27 PDT

The 2010-11 school year was a busy one for C21L, which might help (though not really) to explain why this blog bogged after October of 2010. The opening of a new school year brings new resolve. Let’s start with some catching up: Promising Practices VideosPartnering with eight school districts, C21L is preparing more than 60 video segments to document the work of teachers in learning In and For

C21L Now On iTunes U Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (C21L) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:24:27 PDT

Through C21L's new iTunes U Colorado channel, educators may now access C21L's Promising Practices videos and resource tools. Launched at TIE 2011, Colorado on iTunes University will feature a wealth of educational and professional development resources. The 10 videos currently available include examples of how to implement 21st century learning strategies. C21L has also begun posting its

Content Standards -- Going Deeper

noreply@blogger.com (Dixie Good) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:11:34 PDT

It's been said that K-12 education standards run a mile wide and an inch deep. Well, Colorado is gearing up to go deep. Along with Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, new Colorado standards include Depth of Knowledge (DOK) indicators, based on the model developed by Norman Webb of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. There are 4 levels: Level 1: Recall -- recalling facts,

Layers of Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:03:32 PDT

Imagine that schools were communities of learning. What would it look like? How would it be different from what we typically do now? My colleague Dixie Good and I have many opportunities to observe and think about learning communities; sadly, most of the communities we observe are not schools. Our experience suggests some thoughts about schools and learning that… well, I don’t think Arne Duncan

New Targets, New Approaches?

noreply@blogger.com (Dixie Good) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:04:23 PDT

In Colorado Springs School District 11, the school board has adopted the ACHIEVE profile of a high school graduate. It’s D11’s take on the traits and skills necessary for a person to thrive in the 21st century. The profile is a good target. C21L worked with the district on refining the ACHIEVE model and thinking about ways to infuse it into the current system. Together with district

Social Networks for Professional Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:31:40 PDT

A few weeks ago, I listened to a presentation by Colorado 3rd grade teacher Terri Reh on how she uses social network tools for professional learning. This is an area in which I am developmentally delayed, and her narrative was both inspirational and informative for me. Below are my notes from that presentation, which she entitled “Lurk and Learn.” The notes are as much in Terri’s voice as I

Communities of Softball

noreply@blogger.com (Stevan Kalmon) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:09:10 PDT

On Wednesday this week I played my last game of softball with the Lost Boyz. In case you missed the reports on ESPN, the Lost Boyz have been my team for the past 14 years. We play seven months of each year (March through October) in a highly competitive double-header league, and we are very good. I decided that it was time for me to, well, retire. I’m by far the oldest guy on the team, and the