PLTs: The Future of Education is Here

Karl Fisch wrote a good article that I'll post here:

We've spent a lot of time at my school thinking about the concept of Personal Learning Networks (PLNs). We live in an age of information abundance. Our students need to learn how to find, evaluate, organize, synthesize, remix and re-purpose information in order to understand and solve complex problems.

A PLN isn't a particularly new idea; learning networks have existed for a long time. What's new is the reach and extent that's now possible for a PLN, with technology and global interconnectedness providing the opportunity for a much wider, richer and more diverse PLN than ever before. This is a complex topic that can't be fully addressed in a short article, but let me provide an example of my own learning that resulted from my PLN.

I've been a big proponent of publishing student work on the web, of using Web 2.0 tools to provide our students with a wider, often more authentic audience. But I've struggled with the quality of that work and question whether publishing student work that at times is pretty mediocre is such a good thing after all. My PLN helped me think more deeply about this.

Christian Long posted, "are we really prepared to drown in a sea of "just good enough" presentations." That led me to Dan Meyer, "But if they and their teachers aren't immersing themselves constantly in better, clearer work than their own . . . work which for the first time in history is available freely and quickly, how in that vacuum can they rise to any greater occasion?" Dan led me to read Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen (books are still part of my PLN). Both Dan and Carolyn Foote led me to a post by Garr Reynolds, "Perhaps if all of us smart experts, with our massive intellects, tried to approach problems with 'the beginner's mind' we could get much better at solving problems." A couple of posts by Vicki Davis got me thinking again about how it takes a "special kind of individual to make connections to be able to see things that specialists on their own cannot see. How do we teach that?"

I had multiple conversations with teachers in my school to further refine my thinking (direct conversation is still part of my PLN). Finally, I came upon a post and a Technology, Entertainment, Design talk by Larry Lessig, who suggested that the "read/write culture" is "a literacy for this generation."

My thinking has evolved; I have a more refined, nuanced viewpoint on students publishing their work on the web. I believe even more strongly this is something we need to do with students, but I'm also thinking more critically about how to nurture the quality of that work.

As I envision the future, I think it's critical for our students to create, nurture and expand their PLNs. It's also critical to include varied viewpoints in our PLNs, to make sure we don't continually reinforce our already held beliefs. I thank the members of my PLN for all they've taught me and encourage all of you to help your students – and yourselves – develop powerful, meaningful and effective PLNs.

I believe that the learners of the 21^st Century will be the driving force behind the technology that is driving education. As I wrote in "Web2.0: Web-based Technology Advancing…," just as slide-ruler was made obsolete by calculators, so will lecture-based learning be replaced by web-based learning. Our students will demand it, and our schools will have to adapt or " risk obsolescence" (Seimens 112).

Dang bust it!

Yosemite

Podcasting Sensation in Education

Podcasting in education is a great broadcasting tool for a multimedia lab or club, or administration announcements and broadcasts. They can broadcast their podcasts over the intercom system for announcements, make a broadcast during homeroom.
These podcasts could promote after-school programs; sports, clubs and upcoming school events. They can be sent to radio stations to announce sporting and school events. The school’s Wi-Fi lab could podcast weekly shows that are aired by the school’s web page, or the local radio station. The lab could feature the student, teacher, or staff person of the month.
Adult Education is one area that would greatly benefit from podcasting. They could either by promoting it over the district’s web page, or the local radio station. Adult Ed classes could be announced by the Internet class, and thus promote podcasting technology.
Teachers could use podcasting to send messages, students’ progress, and any detention notices to parents who have an access code onto the school’s or class’ web page. This would only alert parents to any scholastic or discipline issue, as well as improved progress or exceptional work. Just as class members of this course are alerted to wiki messages via email, so too would parents be alerted of podcast messages.
Nothing will replace written notices. Our legal system has made sure that everything has to be documented. It not only puts tangible evidence into the hands of parents, but also keeps the pulp and paper industry alive (somewhere).
Another useful means of podcasting is in the Language Arts department. Middle school students love to talk. The chorus of middle school kids at lunch can be worse than the chattering of a Red Squirrel. Podcast projects could be used to report on a book, or do an audio program of the book they just read.
For Social Studies the class could put together a podcast audio project of a “You Are There,” show featuring some historical event. The nonspeaking class members could do background noises (they do that very well anyway).

I found a great video by Colette Cassinelli about integrating podcasts into students' learning.

Podcasting in education could be an informative and fun way for kids to learn a new and innovative technology.
Dang bust it.

Yosemite

The White House movie

Naa-watz up, gang. If you thought this was going to be a movie about the White House (the one in Washington D.C.) well, you're wrong. And it's not about a wascally wabbit. But, it is about a part of rural America that is fading away.

Many people who tour Downeast Maine, only see what they have been told to see. To find the real treasures of coastal (and even, inland) Maine you've got to dig around a bit. If you're into historical places, and are tired of the touristy hot-spots (crowded with obnoxious moon-bats), then I invite you to explore a real gem. The Israel P. White House in Columbia, Maine. It is located on Route 1. This homestead has been passed down through four generations. The original house was built in 1858. Daniel E. White was the eldest grandson of Israel, who passed it onto him. Israel's son, J. Edger, already had a successful farm three-quarters of a mile away, which was part of the White estate.

They all were farmers and craftsmen. Daniel was lucky enough to marry Ethel Maxfield, a girl from a well-to-do Searsport family. The front section was a mail order house from Sears and Roebuck Co., designed in the popular Colonial Revival architecture of the 1900's called Heritage style. It was built in 1905. Daniel and Ethel raised eight children, and as you can see in the movie it was a loving and happy home. Tragically, Ethel died in 1915. Daniel lived in the home with his eldest son, Everett, until Daniel died in 1960. Everett continued living in the home until his death in 1992. Neither of them owned a vehicle out of principle of going into debt to own one. They are best remembered for walking to the store, or wherever. They continued farming, raising pigs, harvesting apples and blueberries.

At the time of Everett's death, the house was in rough shape. No repairs or upgrades were done, except minor repairs for leaks, and other house necessities. A major restoration effort was conducted by family members and the community. They created a family heritage center that was open to the public.

It is a lovely example of simple country living at a time when the pace was a lot slower. I'm privileged to live in this historic home. I created this movie last winter using MovieMaker as a multimedia project for Making Multimedia Meaningful. It was actually the initial test project which turned out pretty good. So, classmates, enjoy the tour.

Media Sharing

What a great way to share teaching ideas, teaching tools and techniques, interesting projects. The one video that caught my attention was from TeacherTube. This middle school social studies class project was A-1.




Didn't they do a super job! Bravo and well done!
The other thing that come to mind is teachers sharing how to use media in their teaching. We all learn from one another. VoiceThread is a new innovative and interactive media that can be class shared. Two classes from two districts can learn from the same lesson, and post comments (discussion, really:)). How cool!

RSS, i gueSS

We are so accustom to a set of steps and using them in a certain way that when something really innovative comes along, it initially is hard to adjust to the new order of things. Only a few years ago, say eight, most people who used computers filed or downloaded their hard drive files on to a CD. They bookmarked well used web sites onto a Favorites file. And then came along Google and revolutionized (once again) the way people use the internet.
Okay, it’s simple. It puts all your RSS compatible feeds (we used to call them web sites) on to an easy memory board (space on the left). It saves people time and trouble of searching through their Favorite files. I guess it’s a good thing. I just get used to going to Favorites, and then Yahoo comes along and calls it “Bookmark.” I just hope the guy(s) [and gals] who work this stuff up get paid very well for aggravating my life on the internet.
I live in Downeast Maine. The one thing the natives love to do is aggravate people, especially tourists (like when they ask for directions, they send them down the wrong road). “You can’t get theah from h’yah. Ayah.” But, what aggravates them is breaking their routine to do something new. Don’t they hate that. When one of them was asked why he didn’t use the internet, he retorted, “Too aggravatin’!” Finally, something that aggravates the aggravator. Sorta makes up for all theah aggravations. Huh!
Well RSS feeds and readers are very useful. Just one moah dang bustin’ thing to get used to.

Cheers,

Yosemite

A Blog?!?

“What’s a blog?” you say. Some just roll their eyes and give some sort of paraphrased definition like, “Oh, its what the kids do when they’re bored.” Or, some might say, “I don’t know that much about it, but the kids think it’s really neat. Isn’t it like MySpace?” One teacher colleague said, “It’s a form of online communication between two or more people. It can be a very positive means of expression when used in the right channels.”
I liked what Jen Carbonneau said in her blog: “Blablablablablablog.”
It seems to me that most of American society has misconceptions about it. My own definition comes from an American heritage point of view: It’s a way to exercise our First Amendment rights as defined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. It is a way to show the rest of the world how our form of government works; a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
So, I’m going to give Paul Ambrose’s blog tutorial a try. Here goes the Wildman.





Of course, a blog has been around for over 100 years. It may be in another form, but it was and is a form of telecommunication. Here is a 100 year old blog machine.
This 1901 Kellogg telephone rests in the historical White House, Columbia, Maine.

First and Second Thoughts

My first thoughts of this course were how it might help me teach history better. As most of you know, the better a student learns, the better he/she is prepared for the world in which they will be engaged in their future. Their future will undoubtedly involve the use of computers.
Karl Fisch’s video was a real eye opener. Reviewing it, yet again, just blows me away with the responsibility teachers have to engage the learner in some kind of computer networking skills. The modern generation is flexible enough to learn, unlearn, and relearn methods and applications. I remember the IBM monitor and keyboard (we only had one) in our high school that was connected to the massive computer at the University of Maine. A code was needed to boot it up, and all us nerdy kids had access. We only used it for games.

When I started work, (in the early 80’s) I learned how to log on to an IBM computer, access my files and write up reports. When the company switched over to Apple computers I had to relearn how to boot up the Apple II, file documents, run the screen, etc. Then they upgraded to Mac’s, which wasn’t much of a relearn, but I still had to learn how to set up spreadsheets, and run a database. The memory of those PC’s didn’t allow for much more than documents, spreadsheets, and a database. I wasn’t lucky enough to get email. I stuck with my Mac through the 90’s until its memory crashed. Then I had to get a cheap Brother PC that lacked the capabilities of the Mac but was functional. Yet another relearn, because the Brother PC’s didn’t have a mouse, just arrows, and a bunch of command codes.
The real break through was in 2002 when we got our first computer with Microsoft Windows (98 with upgrades) that had email Outlook. Wow, another relearn. And, email came easy because I had recently worked with it for a company that had Windows 98 and 2000. Communication barriers came crashing down, even if it was dial-up.
I know students who actually resist this. Their socio-economic background opposes internet use. As crazy as it may seem, I live in a backward pocket of modern American society where in some situations, internet use is looked down upon. As a matter of fact, the town I live in opposed the installation of cable 30 years ago. Now, the only internet connection is slow dial-up. I’m lucky enough to live along the main highway where cable was installed. High speed cable is soooo nice.
I don’t think we ever unlearn the computer systems of the past. I picked up an old operational Mac, once that still ran like new. It was amazing how I remembered how to run the thing. But, its capabilities were limited for what I had progressed to. It was nice, but I eventually boxed it up. I eventually passed it on to a youngster that thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. He’ll, one day, upgrade and the unlearning and relearning process will come around again. Just wait till he gets to a computer class in high school, or college. He’ll have lots of fun when he discovers blogging and social networking.