Technology in the Lutheran Classroom

Digital Disruptive Relationships

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Thu, 21 May 2015 14:35:00 -0500

Being at 7th Grade camp last week afforded me the opportunity to catch up on some professional learning via my network. This video , "Where Disruption Will Take Us", grabbed my attention for many reasons, but mostly because I'm a sucker for all things "disruptive." Whether that's disruptive innovation, disruptive practices in education or business, or even disruptions in traditional faith development models.

James McQuivey, VP at Forrester, talks about how traditional models of disruption, (ala Clayton Christensen), are themselves being disrupted using the already existing technology platforms. This time, the disruptions aren't the digital platforms themselves, but rather the consumer relationships in, with, and under those platforms. The initial digital disruptions of the last century have not only caused us to re-think how goods and services are delivered, but how those digital platforms challenge consumer relationships with those companies that provide those goods and services.

This notion of business disruption got me thinking about disruptions in our world of education. While technology has certainly shaken up the field of personal learning, the technology itself is only the platform by which education will be changed in the future. For the first time, at least in my understanding of teaching history, the technology now affords teachers the opportunity to focus on what they really do well, primarily, foster learning relationships with students, not just deliver content. When teachers take hold of this relational model of student learning, it is then that truly innovative learning disruptions occur.

If the driving focus of every school is truly learning, and we allow that to become our mission, or non-negotiable, then everything else is can be tailored precisely to meet that outcome. Traditional understandings about assessment, school day schedule, or even content delivery platforms are open for discussion/disruption. I definitely do not think that would be a bad thing, as long as at the heart of these disruptions is student learning.

Would these innovations in learning ruin traditional models of "school?" You bet, but the cultural, digital disruptions have already done that (Well, in part, there are still some schools and teachers who have refused to recognize that we are already 15 years into a new century)! It's only when teachers embrace the technology disruptions that the other innovative learning disruptions make sense. Teachers now have the ability to focus solely on developing learning relationships with students and return that relationship to the heart of what we understanding school to truly be.

By the way...I'm still trying to figure out what that looks like for me and my ministry! How about you?

Image: by Flickr User: Brian Solls, "Disruption as an Ecosystem" (CC BY 2.0)

Conditional Statements

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Wed, 20 May 2015 22:20:00 -0500

I came to the conclusion some years ago that I wasn't really teaching computer science. I thought I was

teaching computer science, but it was really just computer applications. My students were learning how to be
power users and consumers, but not programmers and creators.

Thanks to a summer workshop from the CS Department at Washington University in St. Louis, these days I've become more intentional about being a true computer science teacher. My Math Application Fridays activities have started engaging students in more open ended projects which force them to work through solutions to problems. Using tools like Scratch from MIT, students are subtly learning about the logic behind programming instructions. Even our 1st grade teachers are getting into the CS mode, by having students work through Kodable on the iPad.

One particularly important programming concept I introduce to students is the conditional statement. Now for the most part, students get the idea of how if/then statements work. For those who struggle, I've had success connecting cause and effect to if/then logic statements and they tend to eventually "get it." Conditional statements are an important logic concept regardless of the syntax you are programming in.

Conditional statements are also a great conversation starter with students about the faithfulness of God! While if/then statements drive the logic of just about every program, it does not drive the logic of God's love for us in Christ Jesus!

How often do our students feel like they area loved or valued based on their behavior or some other metric? Unfortunately, I fear there have been times I've left students wondering IF they are truly loved based on their classroom behavior or their ability to successfully complete a task. I have also had students who seem to set their entire identity on a grade book percentage. Don't get me wrong, it is awesome to see students set goals which can be measure by a letter grade, but it's not healthy for them to tie their self efficacy to their success or failure. God's love for us in Christ is NOT conditional. There is no eternal if/then statement when it comes to earning salvation; there are no "ifs"... just a "because." Because Jesus lived a life I could not live, and because he died as a sacrifice in my place, I am forgiven, redeemed and set free from the guilt and shame of my sin. My eternity is secure and my today is renewed because of the unconditional love and sacrifice of Jesus.

Being able to remind students that about who they are in Christ is a powerful thing. Knowing that God doesn't tie their failure to an eternal destiny is crucial to helping students attain a strong faith foundation. That is one way of looking at it, but there is also another conversation to be had!

It is also important to remind students that God does indeed care about the choices they make now. God has given us tools like the Ten Commandments as a way for us to find peace together and provide a guide for living in community, both with Him, and our neighbors. If we want to get along with our neighbor, then we should protect his reputation, marriage, property, life, etc.

The reality is that many of our life choices on earth do follow the if/then model. but those choices need to be grounded in the unconditional truth of God's love for us in Jesus. Loving your neighbor and serving your community make complete sense once you understand how much Jesus loves and serves you!

Who would have thought that something as simple as a conditional programming statement could provide such deep conversation with our students! They not only build Computer Science fluency, but the serve to strengthen and grow students along their faith journey?

Dot Connecting

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Mon, 9 Feb 2015 14:32:00 -0600

Some of the best teachers I know are "Dot Connectors."

Teachers who are dot connectors are good at...

Being learners themselves, even when the topic or idea doesn't immediately show its usefulness.
We have monthly professional development meetings (AKA "faculty meetings") and at our last gathering I introduced the concept that computer science is not just a class or subject specific discipline that needs its own curriculum and teacher in the elementary and middle school (I know some would disagree with this, but you've got to start somewhere, right?). Rather, by using online tools like Scratch, or apps like Scratch Jr., Tynker, Hopscotch, or Kodables, teachers could introduce fundamental logic concepts with out having to implement a full blown CS curriculum, or work without having to teach coding.

Inevitably there were teachers who felt it was a waste of time, because "this doesn't pertain to me," or "I'm not a computer teacher." There were however those teachers who took time to do the difficult intellectual work of recognizing the importance of introducing these simple logic concepts and then went a step further to identify WHERE in their current curriculum these ideas fit the best. They connected the dots!

It is these teachers, these "dot connecting" teachers, who are willing to engage ideas about new learning outcomes, even if they don't understand the full impact on their classroom practice yet. They are willing to to give the time and mental energy for the future learning of their students.
Seeing learning opportunities as a way to grow there practice.

Dot connecting teachers recognize that their practice is shaped by the world around them, and not just the discipline that they teach. These are teachers who will be able to say that they've been teaching for 25 years, but didn't teach the same lesson 25 times.

Using the faculty meeting example above, I started our faculty introduction to computer science by reading from Douglas Rushkoff's book Program or Be Programmed. In it he challenges the reader by saying,

“Programming is the sweet spot, the high leverage point in a digital society. If we don’t learn to program, we risk being programmed ourselves.”

The world is a much different place today than it was even ten years ago, and as the world changes, so do some of the needs of our students. A dot connecting teacher recognizes the changing world and adjusts their practice to meet the needs of their students. Teaching is job similar to paddling a canoe up stream, if you're not paddling, your going backwards.

I'm not sure that teachers are intuitively dot connectors on their own. Is dot connecting a skill? Is it a personal characteristic or creativity trait? I tend to lean more toward it being a disposition.

After experiencing my third #edcampSTL this past weekend, I find it hard to believe that not all teachers are "dot connectors."

I'm NOT saying "non-dot connecting" teachers are bad teachers. There are a plethora of caring, loving, and awesome teachers who just happen to need stuff laid out for them in detail before they will engage new ideas, new methods, or new technologies. No, I'm not saying they are bad teachers, but there is just so much more they could teach their students besides core curricular area, if they didn't want the immediate gratification of professional development.

I praise God for the dot connecting teachers! I want to BE dot connecting teacher and I admit that I am not always a dot connector. Tomorrow will begin my eighth or ninth Midwest Educational Technology Conference. There have been times when I haven't wanted to go, because I wasn't "getting anything out of" the sessions. I was always looking for the latest and greatest new web tool, or website, or resource and when I wasn't getting it, I started to blame other people. The reality is that I only have myself to blame. So this year, I'm showing up with a renewed attitude to connect more dots! I'm going to be doing a lot more thinking about my students and the potential impact new learning spaces, places, and tools, will have on their future. God willing, I'll even share my learning along the way...likely with the readers of his blog....but for sure with my students!

Almost ready for the New Year...

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 15:38:00 -0600

If you are a reader of this blog...which is quite a funny statement within itself, because there hasn't been much to read this past year...then you know how much I've struggled with making the time to write. One of my reasons/excuses is my perceived lack of writing ability (there are consistently warrants out for my arrest from the "grammar police"). The other is my own selfishness with regards to wanting to write something engaging, relevant, or new. Frankly, these days, I have not been learning a whole lot of anything new to share. With the addition my role as an LMS admin, school accreditation, and now teaching 5th grade mathematics, there has not been as much professional development and implementation time as I'd like. Thinking about learning has been relegated to passing conversations with colleagues and even more infrequent tweets. Besides, how many more articles need to be written about the SAMR model or blended learning?

But then again, maybe writing about my "non-new" experiences and sharing some of my own personal struggles and successes through learning processes is exactly what someone else might actually like to read?

As much as I'd like to have "grammatically squeaky clean" articles, maybe this blog needs to be more about process? Could I live with being a writing "hack." I do have close to 24 blogs that have yet to see the light of day because they need editing. Maybe now is the time to just say the heck with it and post them? Maybe they would spark a conversation waiting to be had? Isn't that really what reflecting and blogging is about anyway? If not having a conversation with an audience, then at least taking the time to think through ideas with myself?

Flickr Image by Emilio Quintana (CC BY-NC-SA)

I'm not "resolving" to do anything! I'm not a fan of the whole New Year's resolution thing, but I am committing to be more thoughtful practitioner this new year with regards to the sharing of my teaching practice.

Some of my posts may be short, but at least I have set my sights to sharing! Isn't that what good teachers do anyway?

God's richest blessings to you and your student's in the coming year. Bring on 2015 and all the experiences that it will bring!

Student Strategies for Web-Based Researching

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 10:53:00 -0500

In an effort to be more practical, here is a list of strategies our 7th grade students created for what do if you don't understand something that you're reading on the web (some prodding was used to create these):

Open a new tab in your web browser and dedicate it for "extra research." Students underscored the importance of using the "define:" operator as an important tool. This might sound trivial, but the fact that students admitted that they have to keep searching as opposed to lazily doing a single search, was worthy of putting on the list! Searching is NOT a "lazy man's" activity.
Especially in Google Chrome, single right click on words and click the "Search Google for..." option. This was a shortcut to the above mentioned "New Tab" option.
There was some good discussion with one class about how and when to follow hyperlinks. Good web authors will add hyperlinks as a way of providing extra or needed contextual information for their readers. We never did come to a general consensus on exactly WHEN is the best time to follow links (follow links in the context of the reading or wait till the end of the paragraph or article), but it was good to get them thinking about hypertext reading.
As was mentioned above, students did identify the use of search operators (Google Advanced Search options), but few use them because they felt that they weren't effective. It seems that Google has been working hard to refine their search algorithms and page rank formulas to account for "question asking." While this isn't always the case, students felt that the advanced search features didn't get them any closer to what they needed than well thought out key words.

Context is everything for young researchers. Finding information about topics you already have prior knowledge of is relatively straight forward, but what do students do when they have no context? It is important for students to have identifiable strategies in their "tool box" when learning without a mentor in the room.

Any other strategies that we most certainly missed?

One other quick note, we did identify ways to cut down on moving adverts and clean up articles for reading by using the "print" feature of most news sites. However, most news sites are getting saavy to this trick, and have started adding advertisements to their print previews (those sneaky guys)! BUT if you go one step further on some sites and actually print the article to PDF, that did away all together with the ads.

image by Flickr user Jeffery Beall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Content Filtering and Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 11:23:00 -0500

So, why at my school do we pay to have a web service filter our student email?

Do we want to identify and stop digital bullying? Yes.

Do we want to stop kids from sharing content they are really too young to be sharing? Yes.

Could it be we want to provide a safe environment where kids can learn from their mistakes with minimal consequences to their digital footprint? Yep.

While all of the above points are important, we filter student email for one major reason, so we can talk to kids about Jesus!

We just had a student send a very simple email to another student, which got flagged and blocked (two small, hurtful words, "you suck"). Knowing that the email didn't make it to its intended audience was a huge relief, but more important, was the opportunity it provided for us to talk about the motives of the sender and the struggle that child has with their personal filter. It gave us the opportunity to share the love and forgiveness of our Savior. That child needed to hear that the God who loves the intended email recipient is the same God who loves and forgives them. It's only when kids start seeing each other the way Jesus sees them that we will begin to know what true "digital citizenship" looks like. That blocked email gave us the opportunity to have a conversation, not so much about good email etiquette, but rather their heart.

So, was money worth it? I'd have to say, yes!

If you're interested in knowing what service we use, feel free to contact me directly. I try not to advertise too much on this blog :-)

Image: "THIS DOOR BLOCKED" by Flickr User: pheezy was used under an Attribution, Creative Commons License

Finishing Strong

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:29:00 -0500

For those of you who are members of the Technology in Lutheran Schools Ning social network, you received this in an email yesterday. For those of you who are not members, I decided to post it here as a source of encouragement as you finish out these last weeks of the 2012/2013 school year.

How "strong" are you finishing out this school year?

The video below was recently shared by one of my teaching colleagues at morning devotions and highlights the impact of "finishing strong," even when it seems too difficult.

Maybe you are feeling a little beaten up as the school year draws to an end? Maybe this has been an especially difficult year?
Maybe it's been difficult to be the best teacher you can be?

Don't give up! Get back up and finish strong!

Take to heart God's words to Joshua:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Not only does God call us to be strong, but He even provides the means by which we can BE strong (He will be with you)! The trumpets of Easter may have faded amidst the planning of spring field trips, looming end of the year report cards, and student portfolio grading, but the victory of Christ over sin and death is enough to strengthen you into and through the final days of this school year!

So, how are you finishing the school year?

What is YOUR role?

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Sun, 7 Apr 2013 21:23:00 -0500

Thanks so much to +David Black for posting "Who Are Your Tech Gurus?" It is a true blessing to be part of Dave's professional learning network. He is for sure a significant contributor to my professional walk and is part of what I like to call my IronMen Club (Proverbs 27:17). I am a better educator because of his work and the work of many other like-minded educators. Thank you!

His post got me thinking about a statement I once heard regarding the Christian life journey:

"Everyone should have a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy!"

Everyone should have a Paul!
Looking at the Epistles of the New Testament, there is little doubt that the Apostle Paul was an effective teacher and leader to the fledgling churches of the first century. With an eye, ear, and tongue struck with wisdom, he mentored young leaders, gave wise advice, and by the power of the Holy Spirit spoke truth into the lives of God's people. Everyone needs a Paul!

Which personal relationships in your life consistently point you to the cross and teach you? Who is the "Paul" in your spiritual walk?

Everyone needs a Barnabas!
In the book of Acts, Barnabas was one of the first people to "have Paul's back" after Jesus claimed him for service to the Gospel (Acts 9:27). Barnabas and Paul traveled together, taught together, and shared the ups and downs of ministry together, but they also had disagreements. I can imagine how these two friends held each other accountable at every turn. Even after going their separate ways following a contentious disagreement, Paul, in later Epistles, counts Barnabas as a friend and encourages others to recall the grace that was taught them by BOTH he and Barnabas. Everyone needs a friend with whom they can not only share joys, but that can also "tell ya' like it is."

Who walks with you on a daily basis? Who is the one willing to call you out when you need correcting? Who is your Barnabas?

Everyone needs a Timothy!
Timothy was a young pastor charged with leading the people at Ephesus--not such an easy task. Paul didn't just kick Timothy into the arena and say, "Good Luck with that." On the contrary, Paul mentored him through targeted correspondence, encouraging him, exhorting him, and most importantly praying for him! Timothy, being a young man, I'm sure struggled with with his leadership responsibilities, but Paul reminded him time and time again to be faithful in showing God's grace to His people. Keep the main thing, the main thing. I'm sure Timothy needed that! I'm sure someone needs that from YOU too!

Who in your life can you stand next to and encourage, instruct, and lift up in prayer? Who in your life needs a mentor?

Now nothing in life is rarely this cut and dry. I don't know that I could single out ONE person for each of these roles in my life. More often than not, the person who is my Paul winds up also being my Barnabas. The ones who I've spent time mentoring, winds up teaching me an awful lot in the process as well!

It is just neat to see that God has wired us for relationships and relationships of ALL kinds.

These relationships don't just apply to our faith journey alone, they apply to our professional journey as well.
Who in your professional life would you count as your Paul, your Barnabas, or your Timothy. Who can you turn to with unanswered questions? Who do you trust to lead you to good and wise answers? Who in your professional circles can you share the ups and downs of classroom life with and from whom can you get honest feedback? And who have you taken the time to mentor?

There are literally dozens of opportunities each day to engage in one of these significant roles.
As +Bernard Bull pointed out in his comment to Dave's post, you can play a significant role in someone's professional growth even if it's just being part of the Twitter "collective brain."

As a teacher, you ARE important! Not just in the life of your students, but in the life of your colleagues as well. If the 21st century has taught us anything so far, it's that you can be someone to someone else whether near or far. Take the risk! Be who God has called you to be! Engage the community. Dave and I are better for it....and so will you!

Image: "Community-Manager" by Flicker User: kikembo
Used under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Google Earth Test Video / METC Take-away

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:43:00 -0600

After being at METC last week, one of our teachers wanted to give creating flip classroom videos a try. She already has a class blog and is wondering if that is the best place to put the videos. This post is a test for uploading videos directly to Blogger as a possible solution for posting videos.

I know that uploading directly to her blog is probably NOT the best option, but at this point in the game, we just want to get it up and in a location where it can be seen by students. This is like my scaffold for this staff member! One thing at a time...

The video I'm uploading here was a screencast designed for my sixth grade technology class to answer questions about presenting from Google Earth. I referenced this video as a remediation step for anyone needing an extra reminder about how to save placemarks and execute their "tours."

While I'm waiting for the video to process here in the edit window I thought I'd share a couple of take-aways from METC this year.

1. Global connections for students are important. It's not just a matter of learning ABOUT other cultures and people, but it's actually getting to know them, talk to them, and learn with them that makes a difference.

2. Technology use in the classroom affords us the opportunity to make learning student centered. The devices in your kid's hands free them to identify problems, solve them, and then share that learning with others.

Those are my two biggies. Hopefully I'll carve out some time to share more!

#EdCampSTL--My First Unconference

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Fri, 8 Feb 2013 09:06:00 -0600

People who know me understand that I tend to over-state matters just a bit. One of my potential over-statements is the idea that the "unconference" is a revolution in teacher professional development. Now the reason I say potential over-statement is because I haven't ACTUALLY attended one!

From what I understand, attending an unconference is an evolutionary learning experience. The connections and relationships formed at these types of events generate learning sparks which open a whole new world of professional learning for some teachers. I'm hoping that will happen again on Saturday!

Tomorrow is my first EdCampSTL. I have seen EdCamp events all over the United States for over a year or so now, but this is the first time I've seen it in St. Louis.

What I'm most anxious to see is how the day is organized and run. Even before attending an event like this, I've considered throwing together a Lutheran unconference with my friend Mike Kratzer for St. Louis area Lutheran Schools. Beside the no/low cost aspect, we know there are ton of talented teachers in the greater St. Louis area who would be great at sharing their ideas. Many teachers want no part of presenting a traditional conference sectional, but would be willing to be part of the unconference discussion/sharing model.

So, tomorrow's the day. I am bummed to be missing the social get together tonight, but I'll be ready of a day packed full of conversation and learning.

Even if you're not attending be sure to check out the information coming from the #edcamptl hashtag and Google Plus Community

Who knows...you might even hear about a Lutheran Schools Unconference coming soon to the St. Louis area!

Why I Want My Students' To Work Online

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:40:00 -0600

Something interesting happens when a student does a Google search for something and either their own work or the work of a classmate shows up. Today was the first day that actually happened!

A little background first: As a concluding project to studying the "Progressive Era" in American History, our 8th graders have to give a class presentation about a National Park of their choice. This is a "role playing" project which has them take on the persona of a park ranger who must give a presentation to a congressional over-site committee. The goal of the presentation is to convince committee members to not de-fund or close their park. Here's a link to the project site if your interested. As an aside, I like this project, in part, because a component of the rubric has them contacting an actual NP Ranger. Most students just want to email, but a majority wind up having to make a phone call and talk to a live Ranger. We've got to work on our people skills along side the digital ones!

In the process of doing research on their national parks, I was teaching them how to use the filetype: operator in Google to search for KMZ files when low and behold the top entry for a Shenandoah National Park search was from our school wiki page.

The lesson my wide-eyed students took away from this was that their work, which gets posted online, is important. It's not important because they are getting a grade, or because it's for a presentation they will have to give in front of an actual audience, but rather because their work is digitally permanent.

It was neat to see their reactions when I told them that file was uploaded back in 2008...an eternity ago for a middle schooler! If the work which a student did almost four years ago is coming up in the search results now, what might happen to the work they post today?

The answer to that question has all sorts of implications, many of which I won't get into here, but the most obvious one is of quality. All of the sudden knowing that someone from the future will use their work all of the sudden ups the ante on their effort.

Never discount the power of audience, either now...or in future!

If you're interested, here is a list of helpful search links and/or sites:

Google Search Operators--http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html
My Diigo sites about Search--
http://www.diigo.com/user/rjacklin/search
Power Searching with Google--
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/landing/powersearching.html

Unexpected Urgency

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:55:00 -0600

Over the past two or three years, I've felt a sense of urgency to be creating more computer science related learning activities for students.

There are many likely catalysts for moving in this direction, none of which is my experience with computer science. After all, I was not a computer science major in my education program, I didn't / don't particularly enjoy math and I'm not particularly good at logical, critical thinking puzzles. I used to think I was a good logical problem-solver until I was asked to help troubleshoot the class schedules of our entire middle school schedule and I felt my brain locked up; my thinker just does not feel at home in certain areas.

By nature I'm an end user. If you asked me to figure out how to use something, I can generally do it. Please don't ask me to program it or create a flow chart around the logic of it's design.

So here I am with this glowing feeling of inadequacy about my lack of skill in the process of programming, while at the same time I know I should be teaching my students to THINK like computer scientists!

Then it dawned me...the power of teaching in this digital age of learning isn't that you always have to be the knowledge expert, but rather you need to be be able to help students curate their own learning. While that sounds awkward, it makes quite a bit of sense. I've seen this most to be the case in the electives I have chosen to "teach." The emphasis has shifted away from what content related area do I know that most about, to which subject/class idea has the most resources available to help me facilitate and mentor students! If I stumble as a teacher, it's not that I don't know how to do something, but that I wasn't able to connect my students with the people/resources they need to help them learn.

Now I am NOT saying that teachers should not be knowledge experts. For example, I "taught" a computer science elective this past semester which focused mainly on using the program Scratch. I know how to use Scratch, and I know how to help students storyboard and plan their ideas, I just wasn't quick at the troubleshooting process. My helping students learn to debug involved asking a LOT of questions and relying on other students (near and far) to provide insight:

"Is there a YouTube video about how to do that?"
"What other script could you have used to get the same result?"
"What would happen if you tried the other script instead?"
"Did you find any Scratch discussion forums addressing this same issue?"

I didn't particularly know the answers to those questions, but nine times out of ten my students where able to learn the correct answer.

The one thing I do know, however, is it is important for kids to know how to think like computer scientists. Regardless of my adequacy in that area.

Douglas Rushkoff in his book, "Program or Be Programmed" says:

Digit technology is programmed. This makes it biased toward those with the capacity to write the code. In a digital age, we must learn how to make the software, or risk becoming the software. It is not too difficult or too late to learn the code behind the things we use--or at least to understand that there is code behind their interfaces. Otherwise, we are at the mercy of those who do the programming, the people paying them, or even the technology itself. (p128)

So, comfortable or not, it's time to start pushing a little bit more into the areas of programming (slowly learning javascript at CodeAcademy). Maybe not so much the language itself, but the skill sets that accompany them.

Now to be sure, the "discipline" of computer science is much broader and deeper than learning a programming language, but it's not a bad place to start. It is my goal that within the next three or so years, to start encouraging my faculty to integrate the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) K-12 Computer Science Standards (membership to CSTA is free by the way).

I definitely don't have this all figured out, but you've got to start somewhere, right?

image "Binary" by Flickr user: noegrandado
Used under an Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike Creative Commons License.

Faith and Technology, Practically Speaking–Honoring One Another’s Work

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:44:00 -0500

Below is a re-posting of an article I had written for the MTM Project Blog on the 14th of this month: <http://www.mtmproject.org/archives/210>.

One of the most hotly discussed areas amongst teachers and parents today is how we help students use technology in a safe and responsible way. As Christian teachers and parents, we take that question a step further and ask how do we help student learn to use technology in a God-pleasing way?

While there are many approaches to answering these types questions, I suggest we take a catechetical approach. Since the Ten Commandments were given by God to help his people live together in community, the commandments are a great place to start thinking about how we help children learn to be God’s kids online! So, let’s start with something very practical: stealing.

With the invention of digital technologies, the processes of copying & pasting, ripping & burning, and creating & remixing have become easier and easier. What once used to be the domain of professional musicians, photographers, and writers is now accessible to everyone with a computer. How do we teach students that when a person creates something of value, that creation should be valued, respected, and protected? How do we help students see that just because something can be downloaded, does not mean that it should be? How do we help students see that the property talked about in the meaning to the 7th Commandment applies just as much to intellectual property as it does to physical property?

The 7th Commandment and its meaning, according to Luther’s Small Catechism, not only exhort us to not steal our neighbor’s property (physical and intellectual), but it also calls us to help him “improve and protect” it. As teachers of the Gospel, we can have a powerful impact as we model and instruct students on the appropriate and respectful use of intellectual property.

Modeling Appropriate Use
One of the ways we can help students “improve and protect” their neighbor’s creative work is by intentionally modeling respect for a content creator’s work in our own practice. Educators at every level should be citing the sources, images, and media they use with students. The old adage is always true: students’ learning is caughtmore than it is taught. When students see you as their teachers taking time to properly cite sources, they will be less likely to hassle you when it comes time to have them provide documentation for their work.

Honor the intellectual property of others by properly citing work.

This is especially true if you want to use a copyrighted work. Teachers need to make a solid effort to get permission to use content labeled as All Rights Reserved. I will often use images for presentations from the image sharing website Flickr; and more often than not, the image(s) I want to use are labeled as All Rights Reserved. Without exception, every photo owner I have contacted has given me permission to use their photos. When I get the email confirming permission to use, it’s rewarding to let my students know we are 100% legal. While having to go through that process of getting permission is a bummer, it is a worthwhile endeavor. Besides, in my experience, copyright owners are more than willing to share and grant you permission to use their stuff as long as you ask! You cannot be guaranteed that a copyright owner will always give permission; but it is their right to make that decision, not yours.

Since the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, even if materials are not registered with the copyright office, copyright laws still protect them and they should not be considered in the public domain unless specifically stated.

As educators, we have freedom to use a wide range of copyrighted material for classroom instruction on a single occasion, even if prior approval has not been granted, as long as four conditions are met:

The clear purpose of use is for teaching, scholarship, or research.
The nature of the material must permit copying.
The amount used of the total material is limited (10% or less).
The use of the material cannot have a negative effect on the present or future sales or market value of the work.

The problem we run into though is that our students are not able to make the same distinctions about Fair Use as educators. I have never thought about the 7th Commandment as having any gray area, but trying to interpret it in light of Fair use guidelines makes it unclear at best and, at worst, a legal nightmare. There has got to be a better way.

Teaching A Better Way

Digital technology has forced the hand of many artists. Very few content creators want their work in the public domain (free for anyone to use and for any purpose), but the restrictive nature of copyright to many is equally undesirable. There has to be some middle ground, and thankfully there is: Creative Commons (CC) Licensing<http://www.creativecommons.org>. In a nutshell, Creative Commons is a less restrictive, “Some Rights Reserved” licensing structure for content creators who would like to retain exclusive ownership rights to their work, but feel comfortable giving away some of those rights.

Creative Commons licensed works are identified by four characteristics or licenses <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/>:

Attribution–”This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.” Every CC licensed work carries an attribution license. People who use a CC licensed work must give credit or attribute that work and do it in a way identified by the content creator.
Non-Commercial–Works may be used in any manner as the user sees fit, but they cannot make a profit off of the use of the licensed work. The premise is that the only person who should be able to make a profit from their work is the creator. Non-Commercial licensed works are free to be distributed, remixed, tweaked, or built-up, but they cannot be used for commercial gain.
Share Alike–All works created under this license can be remixed, tweaked, or built upon; but the new work must have the have same license as the original. So, if you find an image on Flickr that is licensed as share alike, you are free to edit or change it in any way you would like; but when you are done, the new image must have the same license as the original image you started with it.
No Derivative works–Any Creative Commons work identified with a non-derivation symbol must be used “as is.” The content can be distributed, just as long as it is used or passed along unchanged and whole.

The great thing about these licenses is that they can mixed and matched to give content creators maximum flexibility. For example, all of my personal online content is licensed as Creative Commons: Attribution, Non-commercial, and Share alike. This means that anyone who wants to use, remix, tweak, re-purpose or copy any of my work is free to do so as long as they attribute me as the original creator, they do not receive monetary gain from its use, and they must also license their work as “share alike.”

Creative Commons works can be found all over the web. Websites like Google images and Flickr give teachers and students the ability to narrow down keyword searches to only include results which are labeled for reuse or are Creative Commons licensed. There are also websites like CCMixter and digCCMixter that have whole songs, loops, sound effects labeled for reuse. YouTube now allows users to label their uploaded videos as Creative Commons as well.

Teaching students to search and find this type of licensing takes the ambiguity out of using someone else’s work! Our kids can create with confidence, knowing that they are not only upholding international copyright law, but that they are also showing honor and respect for other people’s work.

Looking for more information about Creative Commons licensing or copyright in general? Check out the following links:

A Fair(y) Use Tale–A video highlighting the concepts of copyright, public domain, and fair use. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo>
Creative Commons: A Shared Culture–An explanation of Creative Commons from the people who have developed it. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKm96Ftfko>
Larry Lessig: How creativity is being strangled by the law–<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q25-S7jzgs>

image:"Stealing on flickr continues.....", by user: Nisha A' was used under a Creative Commons Attribution license

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:15:00 -0500

I have a substantial number of blog articles that were drafted, but never finished. In an attempt to honor the ideas presented in them, I'm going back and at least getting them ready to publish. Some are more practical than others, but they should at least see the light of day.

A colleague shared this poem/prayer during faculty devotions last week that I thought I'd share with you. It highlights a fundamental truth about children and how much school, even though it tries, denies them the freedom to be who they truly are.

Jesus and the Children

Oh, Lord Jesus,
Some days I wonder what you saw in them.
How could you gather those whiny, crabby little humans in your arms and bless them?
Did they push and shove to get ot you,
or worse yet,
take cuts in line?
Did they tattle on their best friend
or ruthlessly tease the victim of the week?
That's the reality of kids, Lord.
Oh, but help me to remember
that no less real
is their curiosity, their open-heartedness, their zest.
Nowhere but in children
do we see such receptive, eager and humble learners.
So, Lord Jesus,
remind me what you saw in them:
the very kingdom of heaven.

Murphy, Elspeth. Chalkdust-Prayer Meditations for Teachers. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1970. 24. Print.

I absolutely love the section about God creating students with "curiosity," "open-heartedness," and "zest." I truly wonder sometimes how much of the way we "do school" actually takes those traits into consideration. When as a teacher, I sit down and design a learning experience for my students, do I see them as "receptive, eager, and humble learners"? Do I acknowledge their ability to l when I create an environment for them to learn?

Those are very powerful descriptions of our student learners. How willing are we to take advantage of that and capture that with our students?

Image: "Children learn how to make Chilean Rain Sticks at East Palo Alto Library" by Flickr user: San Mateo County Library
Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

METC12 -"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future"~Adam Bellow

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:11:00 -0600

METC12 -"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future"~Adam Bellow

METC 2012-Dr. David Thornburg--"

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:18:00 -0600

Below are my notes from the first keynote by Dr. David Thornburg--"Can You Hear Me Now: The Powerful Rise of Mobile Learning."

<p>&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=4eae568b49" &amp;gt;METC-Thornburg Keynote&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</p>

So is it over yet?

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:40:00 -0600

Now that all the boycotts are done and elected officials have taken their names off of sponsorship lists, does that mean that all the hubbub about SOPA and PIPA is done? I think this video presentation by Clay Shirky, from a recent TED event, answers that question.

Full disclosure: I really enjoy listening to Clay. I've read both of this books "Here Comes Everybody," and "Cognitive Surplus" and have admittedly "drank the Kool-Aid" if you will. If anyone disagrees with his assessment of the situation, I'm open to hearing your opinion, but I think he does a splendid job of explaining the major issues with the legislation and the back-story that goes along with them.

All the more reason to involved with teaching our kids about joys of creating and using Creative Commons licensed content!

Cultural Shifts in a Fast Changing World

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Fri, 2 Sep 2011 00:04:00 -0500

Below is the text of an opinion paper I wrote for class regarding cultural change in a digital age. I thought is was relevant to post here because I share some thoughts regarding Missouri Senate Bill 54, now the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act of 2011.

If I tried to enumerate all of the ways that digital technology is, has, and will affect culture, we would surely be here many days. But to underscore my thoughts on the matter, all I need to do is point you toward section 162.069 of Missouri Senate Bill 54. It reads as follows [emphasis mine]:

SECTION 162.069 - By January 1, 2012, every school district must develop a written policy concerning teacher-student communication and employee-student communications. Each policy must include appropriate oral and nonverbal personal communication, which may be combined with sexual harassment policies, and appropriate use of electronic media as described in the act, including social networking sites. Teachers cannot establish, maintain, or use a work-related website unless it is available to school administrators and the child's legal custodian, physical custodian, or legal guardian. Teachers also cannot have a nonwork-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student. Former student is defined as any person who was at one time a student at the school at which the teacher is employed and who is eighteen years of age or less and who has not graduated. --(Amy Hestir Student Protection Act of 2011)

What you see in this now Missouri law is a visceral reaction to an alarming trend of sexual abuse by teachers of students. But what you also see is a fundamental misunderstanding of the shifting nature of how teachers and students communicate and relate to one another in the digital age. I believe society at-large does not understand how new technologies have transformed the teaching and learning relationships between students and their instructors (or at least provides a solid platform for facilitating change). Learning relationships have shifted from being based solely in a place (a school building), to a more holistic anytime, anywhere relationship focused on learning and is facilitated by new communication tools.

While teachers used to only be available between the hours of 8:00am to 3:00pm, interaction, sharing, and learning can now take place at any time of the day and from any location. This new Missouri law I believe, unknowingly undercuts the digital platforms that can facilitate educational change, not to mention cast suspicion upon a key component of the learning process: a sense of trust between learner and teacher (it could successfully be argued however, that abusive teachers have eroded that trust, not a protectionist law).

Teachers are already voicing their opinions regarding the unintended consequences of this new law. For example, what if a teacher is also a youth worker at a local church where it would be acceptable to carry on a Facebook faith-centered relationship? What if a teacher’s teenage child was also their class? Would parents be forced to unfriend their own children?

In general I feel that society trends toward only reactionary responses when it comes to digital change. This reactionary feeling is also mirrored in churches and congregations as well. It is the constant “black or white” thinking of many congregations that stifles the potential work of the Gospel in new and exciting ways. That is not to say that every “new thing” to come along is wonderful, but with scripture as their guide, communities of believers can make good choices and discern what change are beneficial and which ones are not. The church does its best work by wisely interpreting all change¸ whether digital or cultural, through the lens of scripture. As a wise pastor once told me, “the answer is rarely ever either/or, but most always both/and!”

The one value that must remain constant, regardless of shifting cultural norms, is wisdom. The ability to discern a situation, interpret a new idea, or look to future consequences is something that must be maintained. It is wisdom that must drive adoption of new technologies and the shifts that they bring, and it is wisdom which helps us cope with those difficult choices.

My ultimate take-away....

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Thu, 3 Mar 2011 17:47:00 -0600

Just finished up meeting with the LCMS Lutheran Schools Technology Cabinet. What an engaging time of thought and planning. I'm truly awed by the commitment to quality Lutheran education by everyone involved.

As we began our last day, Pastor Bill Bartlett from Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, CA opened up with a short devotion centered around the theme of the Transfiguration as being a door to Lent. A couple of thoughts really stuck with me during that time:

1. Exodus 34:29-"When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. As teachers, are we aware that being the presence of God through prayer and study is important? Not I mean really? Do your students see your face gleaming from being the presence of God? Of all the things we can do for our students, cultivating and tending a personal spiritual relationship is key.

2. Are you weary and burdened? Are you busy? I mean, really busy? I can vouch for the business for some of the people on the cabinet. It is so easy to balk at the challenges of our ministry, especially the challenge of time. Bill shared this quote with us from author Anne Graham Lotz that was very uplifting:

My duties and responsibilities at times seem overwhelming and my schedule is overfilled. But, I don’t want a vacation, I don’t want to quit, I don’t want sympathy, I don’t want money, I don’t want recognition, I don’t want to escape, I don’t even want a miracle! Just give me Jesus.

I won't try to dissect that quote. It pretty well stands on its own. The power of cross is enough.

As we prepare to enter the season of Lent, and thanks Bill for helping us do that, it is important to refocus and acknowledge that thing that makes our Lutheran schools distinct...Jesus.

image: Rough Cross 2 by Flickr User: Transguyjay. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 License

21st Century Learners

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:44:00 -0600

Below is the answer I gave to a discussion board post this evening for one of the classes in my masters degree program. Feel free to pick apart my thinking or let me know if there are any holes in my logic!

The writing prompt was as follows:

Post your own definition of a 21st century learner and what it means for them to be literate in the 21st century. What does this mean to you as you consider NETS-T, Standard Two, designing and developing digital-age learning experiences and assessments?

I would define a 21st century learner as someone who knows how to utilize ALL of the tools available to him/her in the learning process, regardless of what the tool is. Most likely the resources will be digital, but it is a wise and learned pupil who can differentiate the correct resource for the task at hand. More importantly, I see a 21st century learner not learning in isolation, but rather learning as part of a community or network.

I get my broad rationale for this definition based on the directions I have seen my own personal learning take. Nearly all of my learning, with regards to technology use in education for example, have come from a learning network or a personal relationship within a socially connected environment (Both traditional F2F connections and online). I frequently meet new teachers, consultants, vendors, or experts based on previous connections with other teachers, consultants, etc. In the past 12 years I've been teaching, "school" has not been a variable in my learning experience. It is the connections I have made that have created the learning and none of these connections would have been possible without the digital tools of the 21st century.

In his explanation paper on the learning theory of connectivism, George Siemens concludes his ideas about 21st century learning in this way:

The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. A real challenge for any learning theory is to actuate known knowledge at the point of application. When knowledge, however, is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses.

Connectivism presents a model of learning that acknowledges the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity. How people work and function is altered when new tools are utilized. The field of education has been slow to recognize both the impact of new learning tools and the environmental changes in what it means to learn. Connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

If learning in the 21st century is a matter of connecting, then it is up to teachers to help students create those and/or evaluate, critique, and filter those connections. In his February 2010 Blog article entitled "Teaching in Social and Technological Networks" Siemens lists what he believes are the essential roles of a teacher with regards to student learning:

1. Amplifying
2. Curating
3. Way-finding and socially-driven sense-making
4. Aggregating
5. Filtering
6. Modeling
7. Persistent presence

Not ironically, these ideas dove-tail nicely with the technology standards for teachers. Teachers are to create the environment within which learning can take place, but they are not the ones responsible FOR the learning. Teachers also assess whether learning has taken place and it is up to them to adjust the learning environment when connections aren't being made by the learner. This is a markedly different approach to the teaching/learning relationship we saw and experienced in the 19th and 20th centuries. Technology and personal access to information has fundamentally changed education in the 21st century.

Now, without got go back too much to our previous discussion about literacy (the term I'm sure we flogged pretty well), being literate in the 21st century is more than just reading and writing. Yes, one needs to know HOW to read and write, but those skills are a far cry from the ONLY skills necessary to learn in the 21st century (which it sounds like we mostly agreed upon). The more I think about it, the more I want to define literacy in the 21st century as the ability to learn.

You may have already heard this quote from Alvin Toeffler before, but I think it's worth repeating in this conversation:

"The illiterate of the future are not those that cannot read or write. They are those that can not learn, unlearn, relearn."

Teaching "New" Literacies

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Thu, 4 Nov 2010 09:29:00 -0500

Got this email from one of our awesome first grade teachers this morning and I wanted to spend some time thinking about it:

"I have some photographers who will take a billion pictures of what they think is important. That’s not a big deal… When I asked them which pictures we need to keep, they truly think all of them… and they don’t. Do you have some suggestions/parameters which might help them to decide what they think is a “good” picture or what they think is “best”?"

What a great question! So, how do you teach visual literacy. Better yet, how do you help students discern, make judgments, and create meaning from visual material? How do you teach students that images not only convey meaning, but that they also create meaning in a similar way that text helps create meaning for its reader?

Here are some of my initial thoughts:

1. I wonder if a conversation needs to happen with the students about what an "important" picture is? Could that be causing the randomness of the image taking? That could very well be the case, but every good photographer knows that the best images happen in the moment and are not staged. So how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? The issue could also be that students frankly just don't want to delete anything they've done. They are so excited to have created something that they don't want to think about what to give up; they want to keep them ALL for posterity.

2. Teachers should reinforce with students the idea that images tell a story. If students can identify the "story" behind an image, they are on their way determining its potential place in and among the other "stories" in a group. Only when students begin to see that some images fit better than others will they be willing to pick and choose. The Tell a story in 5 frames Flickr image group comes to mind when thinking about this.

3. Images can be combined to convey a message in a broader context. While each image in itself can create meaning for students, putting pictures together in a sequence also create a larger "big picture" idea. Now this process can go both ways! Students can either start with the big idea and create images that support or tell the story, or they can make a judgement about what the "big picture" is based a given set of images. One is obviously more subjective than the other, but if students can come to a big picture understanding of the images, maybe we can help them re-evaluate their choices. This may very well need to be caught through aggressive modeling more than taught?

4. Along the lines of images telling a story, would be the students ability to put events in sequential order. If the bulk images can't be put in order in which the "story" of the day happens, then they shouldn't be kept. This is a skill that most early childhood and elementary teachers work on with their students. Can you use similar teaching strategies in making the transition from text to images? When students can identify the beginning, middle, and end of literature, I would think that would also be the foundation for helping students discriminate sequences in images as well; as long as images are thought of as meaningful and not just "pretty" things to look at. ECE teachers are already doing this with emergent readers anyway. Emergent readers are constantly connecting pictures to text for the purpose of helping them create meaning. Why couldn't teachers build on this process?

It would be interesting to see if research could provide a link between traditional literacy sequencing skills and the discrimination of meaning from images. What are the preparatory skills needed for students to effectively make subjective decisions about the meaning derived from images? Are both both visual and text literacy two sides of the same coin?

So is "visual literacy" really a NEW literacy or are digital photography and the Internet just amplifying something that has always been important?

Image: "Small DSLR" by Flickr user: jonr. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 CreativeCommons License

Image: "life.turns.clockwise #1" by Flickr user: delphwynd. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 CreativeCommons License

Google Earth: Still in crazy, after all these years

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 11:11:00 -0500

Note: I started writing this post about a month ago and have just now gotten around to publishing it. Since that first month, a lot has changed with the project I did with my 5th-6th graders. I'll explain more about that at the end of the post.

I still appreciate Google Earth! I can't help but use it as my "Go-To" tool when Social Studies teachers talk about embedding technology into their curriculum. I especially love Google Earth for beginning of the year activities, as basic geography skills get dusted off again in the new year (Continents, Lat./Long, features, etc). With so many tools at an educator's disposal these days, it's easy to overlook Google Earth; it happens to be my tool of choice for helping students connect everything geography. Why the rest of my staff hasn't caught "Google Earth Fever" at this point is beyond me.

We've been spending these past weeks with both 5th and 6th grades completing a geography assignment in which each student is creating a thematic tour of placemarks (five to be exact).
Then we get to use those placemarks to identify major geographic concepts (most immediately understanding latitude and longitude). We may even through some math concepts too.

If you haven't worked with Google Earth in the resent past, give it another shot! It may surprise you. There was just a recent version upgrade (5.2.1.1588). I haven't seen any significant changes for teachers, only some minor bug fixes. According to the Google Earth Blog, "This version is largely dedicated to supporting outdoor athletes and their GPS devices (hikers, bikers, runners, etc), but comes with a few other Goodies as well." Haven't quite figured out what the "other Goodies" are yet, but I'm sure they'll be made apparent over time.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One month after beginning of projects:
So after having worked with my students on this project for the past month, I've determined that saving placemarks in a folder, is by far one of the most tricky endeavors known to man! You would think that putting a man on the moon was more difficult, but that is not the case. Oh, the tears and agony of lowly 5th graders who did not first select the folder they had created and then press, "File" and then "Save Places As!" I even tried to teach them to single-right click on the folder to save instead of using the above mentioned process...but alas...it was not to be! They only accomplished to well up in themselves feelings of inadequacy and sheer horror as they opened perfectly normal looking KMZ files, only to notice that it is missing the other three placemarks that were there just moments before. How sad! Our social studies teacher, Mr. Schroeder, has been a saint and a good sport about the whole thing. Rumor has it he sent an email to every parent in the 5th grade apologizing for the misery it was causing at home and vowed, and I quote: "I don't know what we were thinking, I promise to never do this assignment again!"

But in all seriousness, the thing that made this thematic placemarks project so difficult was that it was a multi-step assignment. As there teacher, I did not provide the best resources for reinforcing learning of the skills needed to complete the assignment. Obviously, creating resources for them to follow up with (Like this entire wiki page dedicated to Google Earth) wasn't helpful either.

The beginning of this school year I've chalked up to a major learning experience! I'll need to be sure that I don't do this project first thing in the year next year with these young of students. A little computer maturity can go along way when diving into a four or five step process!

We live and we learn....but it's not Google Earth's fault! It's still the best darn tool out there!

Image by: Pedro Ferreira Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Portugal License.

Access does not equal success

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:39:00 -0500

So I often wonder how it is that we have unprecedented access to all of the worlds knowledge on the Internet, but it doesn't actually makes us smarter. Here's my thinking--

On Twitter, for the past year or so, I've been following the International Space Station observation account (@twisst18) which gives you times and dates of when the I.S.S. is visible in your area. I received my usual daily/weekly announcement--Later that evening, I was pulling into the parking lot of my local community center when I thought, "Hey, it's 9:00pm and a clear night, maybe I'll check the International Space Station flying over head!" Mind you, since following these tweets, I have NEVER seen the ISS! So I get out the car, find a clearing where I have an unimpeded view of the South-South West sky and I stand and I wait. I waited...and I waited....and I waited, but saw nothing...oh wait, was that flashing star looking thing the ISS? I don't know! Maybe it was just a really high altitude plane?

It was at that point which I realized that even though I knew exactly where the ISS was supposed to be and when it was supposed to be there, that didn't necessarily mean I was going to see it. I had access to all the correct information, but I still couldn't see the orbiting station.

Mr. Luehmann, our 7th-8th grade science teacher, could have easily pick it out. He's used to looking at the night sky! Surely he could see it! But there I was looking like a fool, neck craned back gazing into the vast darkness called night with no moving space station visible!

I think our students have the same issue with the Internet. They have access, but don't know what to do with the information once they get it. Students lack the wisdom needed to put the information into its proper context. It is very much like the line from the epic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, "Water, Water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink."

It's for this reason that I appreciate the work of gentleman like Ian Jukes at the 21st Centur y Fluency Project. They have defined effective digital citizenship in terms of five "fluencies." The one I'm most interested in for this post is information fluency.

I remember listening to Ian present at NECC quite a few years ago when I first heard the term "info-whelm." We are drowning in it! Our students are drowning in information! We are all over-whelmed with massive amounts of content.

Information fluency is way more than just teaching students how to access information. Information fluency is about interpreting, extracting, authenticating, and perceiving. Over the years I've realized it's much easier to show students HOW to do a Google search than it is to help them make sense of the results once they get them. But I think in the end, that's what it means to be a great teacher. Showing kids what to do with it, once you've got. Access isn't the issue anymore. We've got the quantity thing figured out, now we need to work on quality.

Our kids today are living with information cups that are over-flowing. The challenge we face is not how can we make our students learn MORE (fill their "cups" with more stuff), but rather, what do I DO with the stuff that I already have! Take it one step further by asking, how can I help my students create a framework for dealing with all the info coming their way?

Thinking back to seeing, or not seeing, the International Space Station helps me empathize a little bit with my students. How irrelevant and trivial all this abundant information must seem to kids.

The skill I think students need the most is learning to distinguish the good from the bad information, the noise from the music. It is this task that I believe is the quintessential action of the teacher. You can't just do the same old thing in the classroom you did before, because traditionally, you're just "filling the cup." There has got to be something more!

Wow, all this thinking and ranting from not being able to see the International Space Station! Must have been a long week :-)

image: Overflow by Flickr user: 96dpi

Wish I Was There...

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:21:00 -0500

Well, ISTE 2010 has almost come to a close and how I wish I could have gone. Various and sundry reasons had prevented me from going this year, but all in all, it has been a treat enjoying conversations from afar.

AAAHHH...who am I kidding...Twitter is NO replacement for being there. Some of the best conversations I've had about education have happened in many of the meet-ups (or now Tweet-ups), and vendor parties at past conferences (especially chats with @mkratzer over a cold beverage). You can't really do that online!

For the sake of not being too melancholy and whiny, I am very appreciative though of posts like this one from @henrythiele. Henry gives a quick overview of what he saw as the emerging themes of the conference (as a side note, thanks to @kevcreutz for retweeting Henry, which is how I found his post. That's what you have to love about a PLN).

But reading exciting posts, doesn't replace talking face to face with folks you have known for years, but are just "meeting" for the first time! Because that is what ISTE Conference is all about: meeting face to face and sharing.

But alas...

It is awesome to read posts like "It's Not About the Tools" from Jason Schmidt. ISTE 2010 gave Jason time to think and write about his teaching. It's posts like this that echo so many ISTE conversations from this year's conference and NECC conferences of the past. It can also be summed up in tweets like this:

I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the change in teaching that terrifies many of our colleagues and not the technology! We'll leave that for another post on another day.

So yeah, I am a bit bitter about not being able to go, but I can't deny it has been awesome to see the true power of my learning network in action. Even though I wasn't there, I got pretty darn close.

Thank you so much for those of you who took time to post, tweet, bookmark, and note-take for the rest of us! Your sharing is so important and doesn't go unappreciated!

Image above: IMG_0200 by Flickr user: ctkmcmillan

Still Amazed....

noreply@blogger.com (TechILC) — Thu, 4 Mar 2010 09:40:00 -0600

It doesn't matter how many times I've been part of a video conference, it is still exciting to watch the connective power of the Internet at work in the classroom! Our Jr. Kindergarten class this morning was able to get in touch with a year six class from Novo Hamburgo, Brazil. Maybe it was the over 5, 000 mile classroom separation, or the idea that you are making a personal connection with someone from a completely different culture or way of life, either way it was just plain COOL!

I can't underscore enough the importance of connecting classrooms. These short but effective video chats are changing the way our children at St. John see the world. As one Kindergartner remarked, "they really do look like us!" Our first grade students said the same thing as they Skyped with another foreign county....California! Well, it's foreign to use in the midwest!

There were several hiccups during the call this morning, but those set aside, the experience gave our preschool teacher a great place to start. I think the neatest part was having a 6 year old Jr. Kindergartner be the interpreter for the group. Of course her dad was there to help out as well (Portuguese was the language of the day). Everyone involved needed the interpreter and it was a great confidence booster for that student to have such an important job during the video conference.

As some of our teachers are finding out, connecting outside their four walls can be quite addicting. Once the kids know it is possible, that with a single click they can be in touch with other kids, they want to connect ALL the time.

I am beginning to be skeptical of the "digital generation" critics who say that our kids are becoming less personable and exhibiting less social skills because of the technology. With a high-speed Internet connection, a computer, and a web-cam, our kids are making vital connections that are breaking down distance, linguistic, and cultural barriers. If anything, the technology has the ability to make them more social. The trick for the classroom teacher is to capitalize on the power of a digital connection, while helping students process that experience within the context of everyday face to face interactions.

A couple of lessons learned from this mornings video conference:

1. Choose your video conference time so as to maximize bandwidth. Because of scheduling conflicts, we started our call about the same time our teachers were sending lunch count and attendance over the network. Talk about a bandwidth nightmare! Also it was about lunch time in Brazil. The dad who helped translate said that at lunch most people in the city hit the Internet pretty hard, which also contributed to slow things down on their end. This excessive traffic bumped us off a couple of times and made caused our web-cam to not show to the Brazilian class.

2. Plan ahead....
Our preschool teacher did an awesome job of having questions prepared in advance. There wasn't a lot of down time trying to come up with questions to ask. Also, she had prepared the kids in advance to be patient for technical problems. The kids knew ahead of time that their attention needed to be brought back once any technical problems were fixed.

I'm looking forward to helping them connect again in a couple of weeks!

So when is your classroom going to adventure outside of your four walls next?