Drape's Takes

Missing the Roadmap

2010-01-22T18:56:00.007-07:00

Anytime someone provides a list of steps to achieve complex tasks, my reaction is to turn and run. Lists are generally only useful for the people who make them. Situations and contexts change rapidly. What works now in one organization will likely not work in the future in another organization. But, complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty are difficult to manage. So we turn to little techniques and ploys that provide us with a pseudo-sense of what’s really happening. Consider this article: The 10 Stages of Social Media Integration in Business. This is exactly how not to implement social media…at least if you’re looking for the transformative impact the author cites early in the article. If you make lists for managing social media, you’ve misunderstood social media.

I guess the question I have - for anyone realistically capable of providing an accurate answer - is how should schools be managing social media? Even after the relatively extensive experience I've had with social media, I'll be one of the first to admit that we simply don't have all the answers.

Sure wish I hadn't misplaced that roadmap.

Image source: Flickr user Anua22a.

Not If I Can Help It

2010-01-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

An interesting piece of interestingness was put out there a few weeks ago by Dean Shareski and John Pederson.

While I love the first sentence and the possibilities that it brings, here's my reaction to the second:

Not if I can help it.

When I think about the kinds of things students need to prepare for college success, I think of those traits possessed by the autodidacts of today: persistence, drive, and easy access to numerous avenues of learning.

What are you doing to help "schools" notice that some of the most powerful avenues of learning today are only a click away?

What is the Purpose of IT?

2010-01-12T07:04:00.003-07:00

An important question has been posed by our district’s Superintendent that has heavily occupied my thoughts over the last few days. My initial take follows (complete with an ample supply of cutting-edge, 21st Century, digital-age buzz).

What is the purpose of IT in preparing students for college success?

To assist all educators in the task of teaching students to learn how to learn.
To assist all educators in the task of teaching students to effectively function in the same kinds of technologically rich learning environments found on and around college campuses.
To provide access to knowledge and information outside of the immediate school environment, while enabling teachers to understand best practices in empowering students with that access.
To provide functioning technologies that can improve the learning process, while supporting teachers in empowering students with these technologies.
To facilitate communication and collaboration between all members of Canyons District learning communities.

In other words, the purpose of IT includes supporting teachers in their use of technology to:

Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments
Model digital-age work and learning
Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
Engage in professional growth and leadership

...and supporting administrators in their use of technology to:

Provide visionary leadership
Facilitate a digital-age learning culture
Promote excellence in professional practice
Enable systemic improvement
Model appropriate examples of responsible digital citizenship

Well, there you have it (kind of reminds me of this). Anything you'd add to or remove from my list?

Practical Theory

2010-01-04T21:36:00.002-07:00

Chris Lehmann, in Principal Leadership magazine:

Those of us who work in education talk a lot about student engagement, but I don’t think that goes far enough. Engagement is certainly better than boredom, but schools should set the bar for themselves is much higher. What schools should strive for is student empowerment.

My questions:

Once students are empowered, what need will they have for their teachers?
If students (think they) no longer have a need for their teachers, what do they then do in school?
What if students learn empowerment in Elementary school?

My answers:

There are more skills to be taught than that which will show up on a test.
The best lessons in life can finally be learned only after one realizes that there is always a need for good teachers.
Seems to me like the perfect fast-track to preparation for college.

Teach a person to fish and they fish for life.

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Cross posted at Thinking Out Loud... Let's learn together.

Open

2010-01-02T22:28:00.003-07:00

More from where I sit on the open education debate, kind of hodge-podged together in a sorry-so-sloppy kind of way. All in all great stuff in the open education discourse, but I think it's telling how few practitioners engage in this dialogue, particularly in the K-12 arena. Until more idealists make it clearer how better an open education system can be than what tradition has spent years developing, then very few in the trenches will ever jump to embrace any seat, regardless of the table.

That's just the way it is.

Kicking it off...

Dave Cormier:

“What do you mean by open?” has become the theme of the open movement, sign of maturity or impending senility. Or, as my son would say, maybe both. Cast all thoughts of definition from your mind, openness is a state of mind… a state of YOUR mind. Be open. ’nuff said.

While openness may be a state of mind, having an open mind (open-minded, open in mind, willing to share?) is far different than being completely open (transparent?) with others. And given that everything in education is political, there's a time and a place for transparent communication and a time and a place to remain silent (and even unwilling to share). In my mind, being clear on what we mean about "open" is a very good thing.

David Wiley:

Remaking our educational institutions into places where openness is a core, ambient, unconscious value of all who work there is a more intricate and involved matter than giving everyone on campus a copy of the OSD and saying “apply this in all aspects of your professional and personal life.” “Openness” the ideal needs to mean specific things in specific contexts in order for it to be applied usefully in those contexts. It will mean one thing in the IT context, another in the research / scholarship context, another in the teaching and learning context, another in the broader policy context, etc. And we need to thoughtfully develop these different meanings through writing and debate.

Exactly. But I also wonder how consensus is ever met. With so many stakeholders having so little in common (apart from a love for learning and a wrenching gut feeling that "open" is the right thing to do), it's difficult to reach that holy grail of agreement without some form of governance.

I also wonder about the best way to track all of these conversations if they are to be held in the blogosphere. Might a standard set of tags be useful in tracking conversations surrounding a specific context for openness? Maybe.

Jim Groom:

The larger question in my mind is that what’s under girding this discussion is an even more insidious logic than a denatured sense of open, and that’s a sense of entitled leadership... Isn’t the push away from these legacies of power and privilege a part of what open is working against on it’s most powerful and truly transformative levels? Why does their need to be a continental congress on open? Why do we have to conflate it with system and then elect officials to define it for us? Part of the power and the hope of this space for me is a new scale of working though these ideas that’s both hyper-individual and communally local at the same time. To frame the discussion around a table of designated players that move us forward seems in many ways contrary to possibilities these connections and relationships provide us.

I think it's easy to confuse EduPuNk with openness, the wild west with structured reality. However, I also think it's very important to remember that the open education movement is far more than just the freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want to. To me, openness is about sharing, giving, taking, using, reusing, being willing to help and be helped. To you, it might be something different. However, I think we're approaching a point in the field where we need to draw well-defined lines depending upon the context of open we're hoping to explore. Failure to do so, in my mind, will only lengthen the time it will take before any real progress can be made with regard to research on the topic(s) and the promulgation of openness to areas of education outside of higher ed.

In a similar vein, I remember attempting to discuss the "rules" of etiquette that surround participation in the blogosphere. While some balked at the idea of even attempting to identify any normative view of blogging etiquette, others greatly appreciated the suggestions made - having remembered the times when they, too, were new to the practice. As time went on and our discussions deepened, it was clear who had a real interest in the "cause." It also became very clear who the leaders were, although no attempts were ever made to identify them by name.

I think the same thing has happened/will happen with openness. Leaders (have) emerge(d) and lines will be drawn.

Moving on...

George Siemens:

The quality of our thinking in these still early stages of openness will produce future systems and related affordances. The Federalist Papers, for example, were important in shaping the future of the Western world. Much of the debate could be treated as irrelevant and inconsequential. But the time spent in establishing idealistic roots – rather than pursuing more readily achievable pragmatic goals – has paid substantial dividends.

Perhaps. But if so, then what are those dividends?

Has any of this debate really changed the way teachers teach and learners learn? Fundamentally no, from my point of view, but I do find it extremely interesting that the open education movement coincides so strongly with the movement surrounding public schools, their efficacy, and the (once?) growing popularity of charter and private institutions.

In advocating an open education system, aren't we really aiming for a more public form of education - one that's truly built by the people for the people, following a more distributed model than the public system currently in place? If so, then I think Cuban's words (2001) have particular relevance and introduce an aspect to this debate that I think may have been overlooked.

Larry Cuban:

It is seldom noted publicly, but many promoters of new technologies [like open education] seem to have forgotten the historic civic idealism and broad social purposes public schools serve in a democracy. Well-intentioned reformers eager to make schools efficient... concentrate upon how schools serve the economy and how much individuals can gain, rather than on the public good. Recapturing the broad democratic purposes that Americans have sought through schooling and the critical importance of the schools in building and sustaining social capital challenges the assumptions passionately held by promoters of technology in schools.

Until now - as long as the one of the primary reasons we're placing technology in our schools is to provide a more open learning experience for our students. If that's why we do what we do, then technology can be a powerful conduit for building social capital globally and locally through the learning connections that only an open, networked learning environment can provide.

Frances Bell:

Technology-enabled change can/will happen in societies where education is more and less available. In the former, I would like to see any change preserve the quality of educational experiences whilst extending its reach; and in the latter, I would like to see new models explored where developing countries can... contribute to knowledge from their unique perspective of growing their education systems in a new socio-technical environment.

I, too, look to technology as a means for us to bring learning, in all its forms, to all people - regardless of geographic location and social status (i.e., "extending its reach"). To me, that's what open education is all about. Idealistic, indeed, but that's still why I share. In sharing, I'm able to give to others some of that which I have learned, in turn receiving a better understanding of others and the world around us as they return the favor from their perspective.

Finally...

Stephen Downes:

We need "some good ol' radicals in open education," he writes. "You know, the types that have a vision and an ideological orientation that defies the pragmatics of reality. Stubborn, irritating, aggravating visionaries..." Well, maybe. I could use the company.

What's not to love, here, really?

I welcome your thoughts on the subject as we enter 2010 together. Peace.

Larry Cuban: Trusting Technology After a Career of Mistrust

2009-12-23T07:04:00.004-07:00

To be clear, I think most would concur that Larry Cuban is an intelligent, well-respected thinker who's earned his reputation by expressing powerfully worded arguments that have withstood the test of time. One quick glance at his work and it's easy to detect greatness. Four brief quotations from his reserve illustrate his facility with words, the strength of his thinking, and a tone that's inhabited many of his arguments.

Four quotations...

Larry Cuban (1993):

...The seemingly marginal use of computers and telecommunications in schools and classrooms is due less to inadequate funds, unprepared teachers, and indifferent administrators than to dominant cultural beliefs about what teaching, learning, and proper knowledge are and how schools are organized for instruction.

Larry Cuban (2001):

Without a critical examination of the assumptions of techno-promoters, a return to the historic civic and social mission of schooling in America, and a rebuilding of social capital in our schools, our passion for school-based technology, driven by dreams of increased economic productivity and the demands of the workplace, will remain an expensive, narrowly conceived innovation. The next generation of Americans will wonder about the wisdom of previous reformers seeking technocratic solutions that ignored the broader civic and social roles of schools in a democratic society.

Craig Peck , Larry Cuban , and Heather Kirkpatrick (2002):

In the end, innovative technology remains relegated to the periphery and has not made any dramatic inroads into the academic mainstream.

Larry Cuban (2009):

Close scrutiny of ads about cancer treatments that will save lives and claims by school officials about the miracle-like qualities of laptops are tasks high school teachers might undertake when they teach critical thinking and educational policymakers should seriously consider when they make decisions. Were such scrutiny undertaken, a self-evident truth would emerge: too much emotional appeal and too little hard thinking hurt those seeking miracles from cancer centers and from schools buying new electronic devices.

An observation...

In spite of Dr. Cuban's well-documented mistrust of technology’s use in education (both on-line and off-), I think his behaviors of late speak far louder than his words. At least to me, his mere presence in the blogosphere:

Signals a new-found reliance on technology to communicate academically. Who might he be reaching here that he wasn't reaching before?
Indicates that some technologies - like blogging - are no longer “relegated to the [academic] periphery” but rather, rolling swiftly into the mainstream.
Powerfully illustrates dramatic changes regarding the “dominant cultural beliefs about what teaching, learning, and proper knowledge” are.

Why else should teachers blog? Because Larry Cuban does.

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Original image source: Flickr user horizontal.integration.

Free, As In Look Over Here: Media Literacy 102

2009-12-15T07:14:00.003-07:00

I just finished perusing "Seth Godin's new ebook" entitled What Matters Now. On the surface, it's an interesting read full of humor, wit, emotion, and timely advice; written by seventy-five of the most influential thinkers of our time/type. Big thinkers? YES!

Still, upon viewing the book, I'm struck by how much it feels like that stack of advertisements that comes with every edition of the Sunday paper.

Honestly, it's not that the content is bad, quite the contrary. Rather, it's that the content therein is so amazingly good that it's a shame it's been presented in such a way that each plug is so blatantly obvious. It's also as if the message they're really trying to send is that what really matters now is exposure, marketing, and my blog can beat up your blog.

First there was Web 2.0 - and now, well, there's free. Sure it's exciting; it's even liberating. But this example alone illustrates yet one more tragedy of the commons, unintentionally cloaked as a clarion reminder that nothing in life truly is free.

What Matters Now (A Description of Modern Economics):

Cost of production: time, creativity, and the networking skills required for assembly.
Cost of consumption: a population of readers duped into thinking the production is anything more than it really is: a professionally tailored advertisement for those whose work is featured therein.

Now, where did I put that Sunday paper?

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Image sources: What Matters Now and Flickr user pappalicious.

(Mis) Communication

2009-12-11T14:48:00.003-07:00

Yesterday morning, I learned clearly that one of the weaknesses of blogging is that in attempting to communicate with one group of people, it’s very possible to unintentionally miscommunicate with another.

For that reason alone, I think many administrators hesitate to put their thoughts out (t)here, regardless of the importance of the conversations that might take place online.

Sometimes my brain is too small.

Thank You

2009-11-26T08:16:00.004-07:00

In 2007, I guess I did a decent enough job at giving thanks publicly for all of the amazing things I have to be grateful for. And while last year I sadly dropped the ball, I hope to pick it up again now and take it a few steps further toward the end zone.

First, I'm breathlessly thankful for the amazing ride its been for me in this past year. I'm thankful for my current job and thankful for the experiences I've been privileged to have. Remember, it was only about a year ago that I was being pulled on-stage with Alan November, taking my turn at inspirational quotes, and sharing the Educator's Guide to the Creative Commons - at the top of my game (?) as a Curriculum Technology Specialist in the Jordan School District. Since then, my district was split and I've shifted gears slightly. It's been an amazing ride, no doubt about it.

Next, I'd like to publicly thank the following people for doing what they do so well:

My beautiful wife and supportive family. Without them, I'd still be nothing.
The fine folks I used to work with in the Jordan School District. While I've seen much good come about from the split, I miss the friendships we had built up over the years. I hope we can do more in the future to strengthen those relationships.
The fine folks, supportive administration, and amazing team that I work with now. Building a district from the ground up is an incredible experience I wouldn't recommend to anyone. :)
The helpful faculty at Utah State University that continue to push me forward with my dissertation. It is coming along, slowly but surely.
Chris Craft, Jeff Utecht, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Robin Ellis, David Jakes, David Warlick, Sue Waters, Steve Hargadon, Doug Johnson, Kevin Honeycutt, Dean Shareski, Joyce Valenza, Chris Lehmann, and Will Richardson - for doing me a solid last July by helping to give my Ed Tech team one of the most spectacular introductions to their positions that I could ever imagine. I did a horrible job in thanking you then, but want you to know how much I appreciate your efforts. The audio for some of our conversations is available below.

Finally, I hope I never sound ungrateful for the good health I often take for granted, the freedoms I enjoy by living where I live, and the opportunities I'm afforded by playing the game in such remarkable times.

Peace.

- - - - - -

The following audio clips result from an introductory "retreat" that we held the week of July 13, 2009, for the then-newly-hired Ed Tech team in the Canyons School District. While each of the conversations was directed to my staff in particular (via Skype), there is a wide range of interesting ideas shared by each of individuals. Sorry I haven't had time to clean them up more, but work with me here people: this is good stuff. Topics include the benefits of networked learning, techniques useful in motivating teachers to change, and other helpful selections of advice.

Chris Craft - 07:38
Chris Lehmann - 19:17
David Warlick - 26:25
Doug Johnson - 22:45
Kevin Honeycutt - 17:17
Robin Ellis - 14:52
Sue Waters - 33:01

The Perfect Copyright Policy

2009-11-23T14:21:00.004-07:00

Because of our background with media and technology, Jethro Jones and I have been asked to participate on the committee charged with creating a copyright policy distinct to the Canyons School District. Rest assured, this will be no insignificant task. My eyes go blurry just thinking about it.

Ironically, the ID tag given to the Copyright Compliance policy nails the overall experience perfectly:

If I could wave my magic wand, I'd create a policy that didn't require a full eight hours just to read it. That alone would likely translate into more teachers and students being willing to follow it.

What do you think? Does your school or district have the perfect copyright policy? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Those Content To Lurk

2009-11-14T07:00:00.005-07:00

I've added a comment to my recent post about online participation (or lack thereof) that deserves a little focus time on the stage:

Upon thinking further about this topic, I've decided to add a few important words to my second category of educator. Originally it read:

2. Those content to lurk but still hesitant to contribute.

I've edited it to read:

2. Those content to lurk but still hesitant (or unable, for whatever reason) to contribute.

The fact of the matter is that there exist a very large number of effective educators that are simply not able to contribute in any significantly recurrent amount to online discussion. All told, it's not that they're incapable of participating and it's not that they're unwilling. Rather, this group maintains perceived silence online because their professional priorities prohibit them from spending the time or energy required to provide plausible contribution.

As I think Jared was suggesting in his comment, this population includes some teachers. Likewise, I think that school/district administrators and other members of the school community should be included. Furthermore, any inference that the offline contributions of these professionals are insignificant is simply unjustified and honestly inappropriate.

Now think carefully about this:

Do you think there is legitimate justification for a lack of participation in the important discussions that occur online (or are some conversations simply too important)?

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Image source: Flickr user horizontal.integration. No clue what this picture has to do with lurking, but it sure made me smile :-)

Smart Rooms

2009-11-11T21:53:00.007-07:00

Dave Weinberger was right: The smartest person in the room, IS the room.

Librarians: The Three Types I Still See

2009-11-10T18:04:00.002-07:00

One week later, and I'll admit: I'm concerned.

Scott McCleod has posted a list of ten incredibly important and equally complex questions about books, libraries, librarians, and schools.

Doug Johnson has begun to react to Scott's questions, by stepping back as a (very good) librarian himself and challenging his peers to step up to the plate.

...how we respond to folks like Scott says a lot about us. Can we explain our values and mission and realities without sounding defensive, self-serving or reactionary? Read the responses to Scott's post, put on your classroom teacher, principal, or parent hat and evaluate!

With such a provocative challenge and important list of questions, wouldn't you think that every librarian would want to respond? Unfortunately from where I sit, however, I still see three kinds of librarians (and teachers, for that matter - the same we've seen now, for years):

Those that read and participate in the online think-tank we call social media.
Those content to lurk but still hesitant (or unable, for whatever reason) to contribute.

and
Those still stuck in the analog paradigm.

Sadly, the "professionals" behind door number 3 have likely yet to see the questions posed by Scott - and probably never will - unless some caring person prints the list out for them and tapes it next to the library copy machine, feigning violation of some abstruse portion of copyright law.

Roland Barth has said it best:

The problem of all educational institutions isn't that they are no longer what they once were. The problem is that they are precisely what they once were, while the world around them is changing in revolutionary ways.

Is it ever too late to change? Sometimes I wonder. More importantly, I continue to wonder what we can do to help current educators break out of their molds and into this century.

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Image source: Flickr user Lester Public Library.

Why I Share

2009-07-20T19:59:00.001-06:00

David Wiley:

For me, for my students, and for the informal students who looked in on or participated in the course outside my university, this “open teaching” was better than a two-for-one. It was a thousand-for-one. When the costs of “open teaching” (freely allowing people outside the university to view course materials and informally participate in the course) are so low, I ask myself a question. Do we professors, who live rather privileged lives relative to the vast majority of the planet’s population, have a moral obligation to make our teaching efforts as broadly impactful as possible, reaching out to bless the lives of as many people as we can? Especially when participatory technologies make it so inexpensive (almost free) for us to do so?

I believe the answer is yes.

As do I.

For that reason, I pose the same questions to professional developers that David has to professors above - and plan on studying the impact of open professional development environments on teachers. What follows is the first chapter in my dissertation proposal. Fun, I know.

I welcome any feedback you might be willing to give and hope you'll find the mistakes I may have overlooked.

- - -

Introduction

A number of elements have combined in the educational landscape to make teaching and learning in the 21st Century exhilarating and strikingly different than ever before. Not only are students and teachers afforded different opportunities for learning in the formal classroom, there now exists a large body of learning possibilities through the access of open educational resources (OER) and additional information freely shared online (Hylén, 2005; Johnstone, 2005; Downes, 2007). The utilization of OER is rapidly gaining traction in K-16 environments worldwide (Brown and Adler, 2008).

In addition to the educational resources that might be labeled as OER, modern collaborative technologies can provide meaningful learning experiences (Parker and Chao, 2007; Boulos, 2006). Specifically, social software provides an array of powerful information and collaboration components, acting as cognitive reflection and amplification tools by assisting in the construction of meaning (Jonassen, Peck, & Wilson, 1999).

Wherein the term ‘social software’ is used in many different contexts (and the assortment of technologies covered by the term are not necessarily developed for educational purposes), Terry Anderson’s (2005) definition of “educational social software” (p. 4) is particularly relevant. Educational social software exists within the context of distance education as a growing set of “networked tools that support and encourage individuals to learn together while retaining individual control over their time, space, presence, activity, identity and relationship” (p. 4; see also Belderrain, 2006). Such pedagogical tools can provide a learning experience unparalleled in educational environments past (Dalsgaard, 2006).

To continue, in spite of the learning opportunities that students might have outside of their formal schooling with OER, educational social software, and other educational technologies, there still exists a need to improve the pedagogy found within our schools. To that end, a number of researchers have maintained that the quality of what teachers know and can do has the greatest impact on student learning (Ferguson, 1991; Ferguson and Ladd, 1996; Wenglinsky, 2000, 2002; Darling-Hammond, 2000; Muijs and Reynolds, 2000). Furthermore, Supovitz and Turner (2000) have put forth logic that is difficult to refute:

The implicit logic of focusing on professional development as a means of improving student achievement is that high quality professional development will produce superior teaching in classrooms, which will, in turn, translate into higher levels of student achievement. (p. 965)

Moreover, while some have contended that teacher professional development can lead to an increase in teacher efficacy (Ingvarson, Meiers, and Beavis, 2005), others consider the training and professional development of teachers as the keystone to educational improvement (Hawley & Valli, 1999). In any case, such experiences designed to help teachers grow, are generally created to assist teachers in the learning of new skills, knowledge, and attitudes to support students’ learning and teachers’ own performance at a high level (Miller, Smith, & Tilstone, 1998). Indeed, teacher professional development is very important.

In considering the kinds of professional learning and interactions that can occur online, Bill Ferriter (2009) has argued that technology has made it easy for educators to embrace continual professional development. While describing how he has personally utilized blogs and wikis to create a “uniquely authentic” (p. 35) learning environment, he states:

Specifically, thousands of accomplished educators are now writing blogs about teaching and learning, bringing transparency to both the art and the science of their practice. In every content area and grade level and in schools of varying sizes and from different geographical locations, educators are actively reflecting on instruction, challenging assumptions, questioning policies, offering advice, designing solutions, and learning together. (p. 35)

Through the networked connections inherent to learning with emerging social technologies, teachers are now able to reflect, collaborate, and participate in a form of professional development regardless of geographic and other constraints. Additionally, educational social software aids in the promulgation of the original vision of the Internet as a space wherein all people might participate (Schaffert, Gruber, & Westenthaler, 2006).

A New Genre of Teacher Professional Development

Beginning in September 2007, a new genre of teacher professional development was developed that allowed teachers of various levels, subject areas, and cultural backgrounds to participate in the same formal class at the same time, regardless of geographic location, and without monetary costs to participants (Draper, 2007). The classes, termed OpenPD, or Open Professional Development (OPD) were built upon several key principles, largely centered on the foundation of open education (Downes, 2007; McLoughlin & Lee, 2008) with its many dimensions and numerous interpretations (Iiyoshi and Kumar, 2008). Furthermore, the classes were dependent upon the collaborative technologies available through social software and were designed to “teach social software using social software” (Draper and Ellis, 2008; Roblyer and Edwards, 2000). Since the inception of OpenPD, a number of similar open, synchronous, professional development efforts have ensued that have relied heavily upon educational social software not only for content distribution but also for direct delivery of instruction (see for example, Jones, 2008; Couros, 2009).

According to its creators, OpenPD was chiefly designed with a number of characteristics at its definitive core (Draper, 2008):

Open enrollment (all that desire are welcome to participate).
Free of charge to participants.
Combines the established tradition of sharing good ideas with fellow educators and the collaborative, interactive culture of the Internet.
Built on the belief that everyone should have the freedom to use, customize, improve and redistribute educational resources without constraint.

With several successful iterations having been completed and a growing population of interested participants, OpenPD has given teachers a learning experience different than more traditional approaches (see Viegas-Reimers, 2003; Borko, 2004; Viegas-Reimers, 2003). Furthermore, it has advanced the field in making significant strides toward the realization of the recommendations set forth by Stuessy and Metty in 2007 that “professional development providers acknowledge the power of communication and feedback in dissolving the traditional boundaries by which they normally define themselves” (p. 746. See also Knight and Boudah, 2003; Borko, 2004).

Problem Statement

Because professional development has been shown to improve teacher efficacy, it is vital that ways to improve the methods that are used to help teachers learn are identified. Furthermore, since few (if any) studies have been conducted that analyze the combination of open education as it applies to teacher professional development and the modern collaborative technologies of the Internet, more research is needed in this area.

Purpose

The purpose of this mixed-methods experimental study is to determine the impact that OPD environments have on teacher attitudes toward technology use and their utilization specifically of social software in the classroom.

The following questions will guide the study:

How do teacher attitudes toward technology use in the classroom change while participating in OpenPD?
What impact does OpenPD have on teacher utilization of social software in the classroom?
What do teachers learn by participating in OPD that isn’t specifically covered by the explicit topic(s) at hand?

Literature Review

A substantive, thorough, and sophisticated literature review is the antecedent to any successful research endeavor (Boote and Beile, 2005). Therefore, an analysis of the literature in connection with this study will:

Include a historical review of the origins and principles of open education and (educational) social software.
Consist of an overview of the literature associated with teacher professional development, linked methods, and procedures.
Contain a summary of the literature in connection with factors affecting teacher attitude.
Discuss the concepts of communities of practice and communities of interest as they have been established in the literature.
Highlight key understandings of educational change theory as they apply to this study.

References

Anderson, T. (2005). Distance learning – social software's killer ap? ODLAA 2005 Conference. Retrieved July 11, 2009 from http://www.unisa.edu.au/odlaaconference/PPDF2s/13%20odlaa%20-%20Anderson.pdf
Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2), 139-153.
Boote, D. & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher 34(6), 3-15.
Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain. Educational Researcher, 33(8), 3–15.
Boulos, M. N. K., Maramba, I., & Wheeler, S. (2006). Wikis, blogs and podcasts: A new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education, BMC Medical Education, 6(41).
Brown, J. S. & Adler, R. P. (2008). Minds on fire: Open education, the long tail and learning 2.0. EDUCAUSE Review, 43(1), 16–32. Retrieved July 7, 2009, from: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0811.pdf
Couros, A. (2009). Open, connected, social – implications for educational design. Campus-Wide Information Systems 26(3), 232-239.
Dalsgaard, Christian (2006, July 12): Social software: E-learning beyond learning management systems. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning (EURODL). Retrieved July 2, 2009 from http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2006/Christian_Dalsgaard.htm
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(1).
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Formally Learning Informally

2009-06-27T20:15:00.009-06:00

We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birth of a new world is at hand.
Thomas Paine, February 14, 1776

In reflecting over today's version of EduBloggerCon, I'm struck by how important informal learning is to the educational experience of people - regardless of age, race, and socioeconomic status. Strange that it took an EduBloggerCon to help me see it.

Nonetheless, today's didactic experience - for me - was a very good one (and it wasn't because of the "sessions"). Rather, the experiences during which I learned most involved spur-of-the-moment conversations with a number of different people on a wide variety of topics. Today, because of the formal gathering provided by the EduBloggerCon unconference, I was able to engage in meaningful conversations (for which I was extremely grateful) with a number of people, including: Michelle Baldwin, Jon Becker, Liz Davis, Vicki Davis, Kelly Dumont, Scott Floyd, Wesley Fryer, Steve Hargadon, David Jakes, Karen Janowski, Kevin Jarrett, Doug Johnson, Lee Kolbert, Julie Lindsay, Angela Maiers, Scott Merrick, Sylvia Martinez, Scot McCleod, Beth Still, Henry Thiele, Lisa Thumann, Maggie Tsai, Jeff Utecht, Joyce Valenza, Mark Wagner, David Warlick, Paul Wood, and many others.

Because of these informal learning “sessions,” I learned a lot. Were they “conversations”? Yes. But there was more to it than that. These were conversations of intense meaning because the people involved effectively served as resources uncommon to the typical day. Clearly these conversations were better than merely “shooting the breeze” because the topics discussed had particular value to those engaged. Furthermore, while similar “conversations” take place on a daily basis online (among people with similar interests but with different cultural backgrounds), because today’s conversations were held in a seemingly traditional face-to-face setting, the emotions and passions felt by conversation participants were easily conveyed.

Which brings me to my questions:

What will it take to provide our students daily with the kind of meaningfully rich learning experiences that typically result from informal learning?
Can a formally constructed informal learning environment be recreated with more than sporadic frequency?
How might we structure the learning environment in our schools to allow for more informal learning while teaching concepts assessed by federally imposed standardized tests?

In other words:

Why can’t we make informal learning an integral part of the formal learning process?

Once we do that, the learning revolution that so many crave will become a reality, essentially marking the birth of a new world of learning for students and teachers alike.

- - -

Update: I apologize for seemingly dehumanizing the events of EduBloggerCon in this post. I wouldn't normally do so but I'm really trying to wrap my head around what it is about today's landscape that is essential to the learning processes of our students. Frankly, I see even clearer how little our students need us to feed them with information. They can get that for themselves, thank you.

Rather, students need teachers to give them what the Internet can't: love, empathy, and a physical person in the room that genuinely cares for their needs.

Original image source: Flickr user WOScholar.

A Beginner's Guide to Twitter During NECC For Those Not Attending NECC

2009-06-26T10:07:00.003-06:00

Step back and slowly walk away from your social networks - cause it'll be nothin' but NECC for the next five days. Don't worry: Your regularly scheduled networked learning will return to its normal state on July 2.

Thank you for your patience.

Just Sayin'

2009-06-24T15:13:00.001-06:00

Seth Godin:

Sometimes we spend more time than we should defending the old thing, instead of working to take advantage of the new thing.

Not that there's anything wrong with Singer sewing machines, or boring our students, or even teaching to the test. It's just that I think our patrons deserve better pedagogy, more support, and now.

Onward and upward.

Let the Games Begin

2009-06-22T18:15:00.001-06:00

I sent this in an email to my doctoral committee today. I'm getting excited.

Executive Summary:

I’m moving forward with my dissertation and would love your input/feedback. I hope to study professional development and how it impacts teacher practice. In working further with Dr. Bentley (my Chair), I have narrowed my focus to the following research questions:

What are the characteristics of teacher professional development programs that encourage teacher use of technology within communities of practice?
What are the characteristics of teachers that utilize social software in the classroom?
What impact do open professional development environments have on teacher utilization of social software in the classroom?
Thanks for your help,

Darren

---

Additional Detail:

Therefore, a major component of this study will be several professional development classes that are offered this Fall in the Canyons School District:

Furthermore, because the treatment for this study will be to conduct professional development in an open environment, a brief understanding of that concept might be helpful. Similar in concept to open education efforts and even open source software, open professional development has the following characteristics (see my original description here – as this is a concept that is just emerging):
Free of charge to participants.
Open Enrollment - All that desire are welcome to participate.
Combines the established tradition of sharing good ideas with fellow educators and the collaborative, interactive culture of the Internet.
Built on the belief that everyone should have the freedom to use, customize, improve and redistribute educational resources without constraint.
Not limited to the course we've named OpenPD. Thus more of a movement - like Open Education - than a particular class.
In further researching the characteristics of open PD environments, I would also compare and contrast a number of PD efforts that fall within the realm of being open. For example:
OpenPD – This is a series of PD classes that I taught wherein teachers were invited to participate, regardless of their geographic location.
http://openpd.wikispaces.com/
K12 Online – This is a free conference wherein teachers can participate with others, receiving a level of professional development and tailored to individual teacher needs.
http://k12onlineconference.org/
Connectivism & Connective Knowledge – This online course has also been termed a “Massive Open Online Course,” has been used as a form of professional development by many teachers.
http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/connectivism/
What are your thoughts, how well do you think these methods will answer my questions, and what suggestions do you have regarding these efforts?

What do you think? Have I got a leg to stand on?

Teaching Teachers that Teach Teachers

2009-06-17T21:14:00.001-06:00

When a new school district is built, then entire departments must be created anew. When entire departments are created anew, then entire teams must be hired. Once entire teams are hired, then entire teams need to go through some sort of introductory "training" to ensure that everybody on those teams is on the same page, working toward the same end (and I'm not just talking retirement here).

So... after hiring an entire ed-tech team (we're almost there) to join an entire newly hired IT department because we've been building this new school district... we'll be conducting our introductory ed-tech "training" in a just few weeks (the week of July 13, actually).

In preparation for such a task, I've invited folks to share.

Needless to say, the responses I've received in answer to my query have been extremely helpful. Here's the list (a pretty decent selection, if I do say so myself):

Video:

Via Corrie Bergeron:

Via Beth Still:

Print:

Confronting the Challenges of Participative Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, by the MacArthur Foundation (via Robin Ellis)
The Steep Unlearning Curve, by Will Richardson (via Darrel Branson)
Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?, by Karl Fisch (via Josh Allen)
Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project, by the MacArthur Foundation (via Deb Hanson)
People remember 10%, 20%...Oh Really? by Will Thalheimer (via jadekaz)
The Mentor's Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships, by Lois Zachary (via Michelle Bourgeois)
Caution: Falling Rocks, by David Jakes (via Kelly Dumont)
The Future of Learning Manifesto, by Christian Long (via Glenn Moses with thanks to Scot McCleod for hosting the pdf)
Different Strokes for Different Folks: A Critique of Learning Styles, by Steven A. Stahl (via Chris Craft)
Framing Constructivism in Practice as the Negotiation of Dilemmas: An Analysis of the Conceptual, Pedagogical, Cultural, and Political Challenges Facing Teachers, by Mark Windschitl (via Cory Little)

Don't be shy. Feel free to throw your suggestions in the comments...

I'm Still Talkin' Priorities

2009-06-04T17:25:00.002-06:00

George Siemens:

Facebook and Twitter are recording enormous increases in amount of time spent on their sites by visitors. Twitter records an increase of over 3700% (year over year). Understanding which sites are increasing is use is only part of the discussion. I’d like to know what we are doing less. My email use is still the same as last year. I still read the same number of RSS feeds. I can’t think of anything I’ve dropped from my online habits. I’m still at a “net add” stage. Guess that will have to change soon…

My gut feeling is that many of us are still at the "net add" stage. Translation: Many of us are at the "offline subtract" stage, as well.

Is that good?

Gary Stager:

Glenn Moses:

I'm just sayin'. Still.

Telling the Story

2009-06-01T07:08:00.002-06:00

In this week's Tech Learning post, I decided to follow Dean Shareski's lead and include my first attempt at mashing an inspirational quote with a selection of stock photography since Dan Meyer offered his constructive push-back against the practice in April. For the most part, I find myself agreeing with Dan's arguments and have had to seriously reflect on the message I've tried to send and the manner in which I should send it.

Which brings me to my question. Given that I want the medium to be a 1024 x 768 still image:

How might I now better tell the story?

Personally, I think that the quote is the story. However, combining the correct image with the quote brings added depth to the story and how it might be perceived. To illustrate, in this example the picture serves to bridge the gap between what many might perceive as a traditional media center (with books, call numbers, and signs pointing the way) and the kind of library portrayed in the text (a sort of social gathering place). Furthermore, the small sign in the picture - edited by me - additionally and almost subconsciously promotes a message that I would include in the text: that learning is social.

No good?

Sources:

Quotation: Carolyn Foote, punctuation altered.
Original Image: Flickr user sylvar.

Classroom 2.0 Live Workshop - Salt Lake City

2009-05-21T11:42:00.000-06:00

Classroom 2.0 LIVE Workshops are two-day hands-on workshops that focus on the use of Web 2.0 in education. They are intended to be much like the Web itself: free, open, engaging, participative, and highly collaborative.

Click here for a printable flyer.

The workshops are also designed to be highly practical, and beginners are especially invited and encouraged to attend — in fact, if you are a beginner, you are the reason we are holding these workshops! We promise you will have a lot of fun as you learn about these important technologies. Each workshop is a blend of presentations, facilitated discussions, and hands-on creation, with lots of time for "drilling down" by getting individual help and instruction.

Who: YOU!
When: August 10-11, 2009
Where: Jordan High School (95 E Beetdigger Dr., Sandy, UT)
Cost: Free

View the agenda (and sign up to present) here.
Sign up to attend here (sign up for Classroom 2.0 while you're at it).

For additional information, please visit http://workshops.classroom20.com/.

Technology Services in the Canyons School District

2009-05-13T17:55:00.001-06:00

Here's a quick run-down snapshot of the team we have been developing to serve the technology needs of the Canyon School District.

Canyons School District:

Formed because of the division of the Jordan School District, near Salt Lake City, Utah
Consists of 29 elementary, 8 middle, 4 high, and number of special schools
Approximately 33,000 students, 1,700 teachers

The CSD Department of Information Technology (click each of these images to enlarge)*:

A clean copy of the org chart for you to hang on your wall:

The Technology Services Team:

Technical Support (Classified, break-fix):

Serve as level 1 technical support in the schools. Will be the first point of contact for break-fix technical support issues.
One Technical Support Specialist per high school, housed in the schools.
One roaming Secondary Technical Support Team Lead to serve as a coach and a mentor to other support personnel, provide consistency throughout the secondary schools, and to help individual schools where necessary.
One Technical Support Specialist shared among every two middle schools, housed in the schools.
A team of Technical Support Specialists to service the elementary schools (geek squad approach), at a ratio of just over one Specialist to four schools (including the Elementary Technical Support Team Lead). We anticipate using smart devices to push out job requests to the Support Specialist physically closest to the issues at hand.

Help Desk (Classified, change management):

Serve in the critical bridging role between the Service and Deployment teams.
Will provide some level 1 technical support to district office personnel.
Will continue to support the same systems that are currently maintained by the Jordan School District Information Systems Department (and then some). At this point, the number of systems currently sits at 55, with new systems seemingly being added weekly.

Educational Technology Services (Certificated, curriculum technology):

Will inherently provide some level 1 technical support but will focus primarily on assisting teachers and students to utilize technology to teach and to learn. Each member of this team will also provide teacher professional development as it relates to their specific realm.
One Educational Technology Consultant per every secondary school to teach half time, and help teachers with technology the other half.
Six Educational Technology Specialists to provide ed tech support to elementary teachers at a current ratio of roughly one Specialist per every five schools (with another six Specialists being deferred as future hires = final ratio of roughly 1:2).
One Extended Technology Specialist (with one deferred) to assist teachers and students with technology in special learning environments (i.e. special education).
Four Media Technology Specialists to work with on-site Media Assistants in maintaining the Media Centers (collection development, Big 6, etc.) in our elementary schools at a ratio of roughly one Specialist per every 7 schools (with another two Specialist positions being deferred as future hires = final ratio of roughly 1:5).
In the end, the coveted "Social Media Specialist" position has been merged with the "Distance Learning Specialist" position to form the Media Technology and Distance Learning Team Lead. After all, shouldn't every librarian/media coordinator/specialist be a "Social Media Specialist" in today's landscape? I certainly think so. Our students are using social media to learn without us. Why shouldn't we, as educators, be expected to understand what they're experiencing in order to best help them use such technologies effectively? This person will also work to coordinate many facets within of our district's Ed Net/Concurrent Enrollment programs.

It is our sincere hope that the organization we've created will be able to provide the kind of technology support experience that the teachers and students in our schools clearly deserve. Furthermore, I greatly appreciate the confidence, trust, and support that has been given to our department by the Canyons School District administration and Board of Education.

Questions, comments, suggestions? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* TBD = To be determined or hired before August 2009.
* Deferred = Currently budgeted for but not to be hired in the immediate future.

Media Technology Specialists

2009-05-11T18:36:00.005-06:00

I was scolded today by one of the Media Specialists in my old district for having "too much technology" and "not enough library" in the description of the Media Technology Specialist positions that we opened today.

Yup.

That's exactly what I was talking about when I worried about bringing aboard all of our current media coordinators. Sorry, but at this point, some librarians still don't understand that:

21st Century library
-
technology
=
15th Century library - all the monks

Baby steps, one teacher at a time, and with lots and lots of love.

Open Textbooks in K-12

2009-05-07T21:40:00.004-06:00

In response to one of the most refreshing conversations I've read on the tubes in quite some time (starts here, continues in subsequent posts):

Dear David and Stephen,

Perhaps I've missed some of the multi-year conversation you've been having (do you even bother to link to each any more?), but I can’t help wondering why you both seem to ignore k12 and the potential power they have in helping you both gain the leverage you’re clamoring for with regard to the adoption of open textbooks. Can you please help me understand why – as you see it – the key to this venture is that things must first take hold in higher ed?

Surely there must exist some progressive district(s) out there willing (financially forced?) to take a gamble on what many of us see as a very possible future for textbook creation and distribution. Or is it really a gamble? Frankly, to me it appears to be one of the best options out there. For I see the creation of open textbooks – by the very teachers that will be using them – as a way for teachers to finally get the textbook they’ve been hoping for. Not the text that teachers must endure, but the one that they collaboratively fashion. Furthermore, with the kinds of budget cuts that have been forced upon k12 schools world-wide, their leaders would be foolish to not want to support an initiative that will dramatically decease costs in the long run.

With this in mind, I now beg you to tell me:

Aren’t teachers hired because of their abilities to create an effective learning environment (and aren’t districts tightening the belt)?

Then why shouldn’t schools take a year off of textbook buying and put that money into the creation of open texts? With that money, districts could pay the best of their teachers to begin the process – not really with money, though, but with time. Time to create, time to share, time to collaborate.

In time, I have every confidence that the quality of open textbooks will greatly surpass that of their commercial competitors – and as k12 students come to expect the flexibility that only open textbooks can provide, surely they’ll come to demand them in higher ed, as well.

Or is student demand simply not enough to get some of the more stubborn professors to budge?