Why > When

It is difficult for me to agree with Nicholas Carr, or his article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The main reason being that I have never seen knowledge in terms of how much stuff you know, but how in tune one is with his/her world. It might be very Maslow of me, but it all comes down to:



SELF-ACTUALIZATION



I will take credit for this quote: I'd rather have a student know why a war was wrong, than when it happened. Self-actualization pushes for morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack or prejudice, acceptance of facts, etc. If Google helps us reach self-actualization it is a good thing. If not, it is just like anything else that distracts us for the time being.

Boring Letters or Passionate Emails

"Students still need to learn to express themselves clearly, cogently and artfully, but the forms are now different. Texts are shorter, for one thing, and there is much more use of multimedia."                  - Teaching the Right Stuff

 

Passion is the students’ true motivator. Once a student has a passion to know or do something—anything—the chances are excellent that he or she will do much, on their own, to follow it. It’s actually hard to stop them—the best role for teachers in these cases is to get out of their students’ way and subtly guide the students in directions where their passion can have the greatest positive effect on their lives. - What Technology ISN’T Good At, Part II: Passion

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I agree with a lot of Marc Prensky's ideas. Allowing students to follow their passions is a great thing. In English, right now, I am allowing students to do an assignment where they pick a type of style of writing (narrative, dialogue, poetry, newspaper, song, etc.) that they are passionate about. Through this style, we still discover the grammatics and mechanics of the English language. However, some of the monotonousness is lost, since the students are engaged by a style of writing that they have a passion for. Once a student has passion, the rest is easy.

 

Flip It Real Good

"Flip" teaching can be beneficial for some kids, but not all. Like any form of teaching, it involves motivation on both the part of the teacher and the student. Without motivation, the concept is doomed. I introduced Khan Academy, as an option, to the math and science teachers in my school. They actually had never heard of it, and they proceeded to make an account. A few students now use it at home to reinforce concepts. The saying about being semi-decent at riding a bicycle and then having students ride a unicycle is very true. Teachers become set on a curriculum, and need to stay on schedule; even if certain concepts demand more time. Khan Academy is a valid concept, but certainly not the only alternative. As for the ELA world, it is not that useful.

7 Degrees of Similarity

This grade eight test from West Virginia in 1931 is far too similar to a current test in 2012. It revolves around rote memorization. Perhaps memorization was more important back then, because knowledge could not be acquired so easily. Tests should not always aim for lower level thinking; we must apply our knowledge. The answers are easier to obtain now more than ever. We must rather create problems that take this knowledge and help students solve said problems.

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7 Degrees of Connectedness

Presenter: Rodd Lucier
Location: Komoka, Ontario, Canada
Twitter: @thecleversheep
Presentation Description: What is it for you that leads you to pay closer attention to the learners in your network? Do you feel close to those colleagues you interact with, even if you’ve never met? Are you more attuned to those people whose voices are amplified because you met at a conference; exchanged stories; shared a meal? As our connections grow with online colleagues, we may find ourselves in qualitatively distinct relationships with co-learners. By sharing our ideas alongside details of our personal lives, we have a tendency to become more and more familiar to one another. Augment these connections with voices and imagery, and it can lead to deeper and more fulfilling connections. In this presentation Rodd Lucier (AKA The Clever Sheep), invites you to walk along with a few of his colleagues who join him in reflecting on how modern tools are impacting our online relationships. The concept of ’7 Degrees of Connectedness’ is introduced as one way to qualify the relationships we foster with online colleagues.

This is a great additional form of PD for teachers. As an avid podcaster, this is very beneficial and easy to listen to.

 

Gary Johnson 2012

Testing: The Be-All and End All?

 

Assessment: From Observation to Testing to Embedded Assessment

 





"Assessment in this context, then, does not involve getting a grade or failing a test. It simply means getting a grade or failing a test. It simply means getting feedback as you work, and suggestions as to how to improve. The master comes away with a clear understanding of what each apprentice is capable of doing; the student comes away with an assessment of just what still needs to be learned."

 

"Testing always involves some cutoff, so testing brought with it the notions of passing and failing. This led to the ranking of students, and ultimately, to a sense of failure among those who do not learn as easily as others do."

 

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If we are ever going to find success as educators, we must create assessments that focus on "what still needs to be learned," and not, "passing and failing." Students must not see grades in terms of pass/fail, but constantly pursuing new knowledge to better understand a topic. The best way to prepare students for life is to demonstrate that they will never know everything; there is always something to be learned. Education is constantly evolving. Testing cannot represent "the be-all and end-all," but assessments can show there is always progress to be made.

The Niche Disappears

Interesting pic. Connected Learning allows individuals to have a wider audience to access information on a variety of topics. Though some things might be niche, Connected Learning creates an opportunity for the idea of something only being niche to disappear. Everything can now have an audience. Social media helps to unify these groups from experts to the novice to anyone in between. The end goal is to create a virtual community where all can thrive. A downside: someone can create the illusion of expertise. But we know this happens in classrooms all the time. We have had those teachers where we call their understanding into question. But we must continue to progress towards an environment where one can experience multiple perspectives with a shared purpose.

SNICK: Google Form

Bubbles Are Better

To begin, if anyone has even the slightest interest in education, then take fifteen minutes out of your day to give this a watch. Personally, I couldn't agree more with what Will Richardson has to say. His evaluation of the current education field, as well as, the direction it needs to go in order to return to a positive place is truthfully accurate. He pulls no punches saying it is "not an amazing time for education." With that said, what can teachers do to help rejuvenate a positive attitude in the education field.

He starts by discussing how teachers and parents alike have a "moral imperative" to help guide children to things they might be interested in, but are not allowed to explore, because of curriculum restraints. Unfortunately, students are forced to "wait on a curriculum" to learn things that they will quickly forget once an assessment (most often a test) comes along. To sum up the system: memorize, test, forget, repeat. Certainly there are exceptions, but this is how the system has come to be. Maybe this worked for twenty or thirty years, but not anymore. Then why does education system continue to push this format of learning? Government officials are concerned about education. They want to make it so we do not fall behind with our global peers. So what to do? Make education better. Oh right!

Sadly, a better education is code word for one thing: better test scores. Therefore, we have created "one size fits all assessments" that will give the illusion that if students do well, then our education is getting better. And obviously, we must have better teachers. How do we gage what teachers are better? The teachers whose students have the better test scores. Oh, and in case I haven't said this word enough in this paragraph...better! The government has one imperative, “…to raise the needle on the test scores.” Teachers become products of the system, and the thought of wearing an earpiece with someone instructing me on how to instruct is straight out of the theater of the absurd. A system where we only care about better test scores is slowly but surely killing imagination and creativity.

And perhaps Richardson's most prevalent point to take away: "Test prep and learning are two completely different things." If the only goal of a teacher is to prepare a student for a test with knowledge they will forget within days, then I do not want to teach. But why do people gravitate towards a test? There is probably a lot more to this question than a simple sentence. However, if I had to give my two cents it is because it is an easy way to gage where a student stands. Yet, we must realize better is not always as easy as a bubble sheet.

A Skeptic's Guide to Technology in the Classroom

Skeptics of technology firmly believe that advancements in the classroom will force students to develop the attitude: "Learn what you need when you need it." However, if an individual is so naive to think that taking a pencil and paper test where you list the presidents, doesn't support the "learn what you need when you need it" attitude, then your thinking must be as extinct as the Beta VCR. No offense to those of you with a Beta VCR, I have one myself. Unfortunately, a majority of students have already adopted this model, but we must realize it is not an attitude brought on by technology, but all education. Most asked question in a whiny tone, "Why do I need to learn this?"

Though this quote is not expressed until the final paragraph in chapter three, everything subtly hints at this attitude. The main argument of the skeptics is that technology does not help develop a basic foundation of learning strategies, but limits a student's knowledge to coming "just-in-time." Despite this argument being made ad nauseam, the section I found most compelling was Assessment.

"In the traditional view, learning consists largely of memorizing essential facts and concepts, and performing procedures until they are automatic...[o]nly a small minority of educators hold the belief that education should be about students constructing their own understanding using computer tools." If this is the alternative to technology, and technology is wrong, then I don't want to be right!

The skeptics fail to recognize that technology gives students the ability to transcend memorizing. It can help students "carry out in-depth research and complete meaningful projects." Much like teachers teach what they were taught, most educators educate in the same way they were educated. If pencil and papers were what the educators had, then it is what their students will have. These skeptics seem to be wearing nostalgic lenses, and feel the way they learned was best. I am sure they would be skeptical to see me typing this. Additionally, they should be skeptical if I was using a pencil and paper. Perhaps I should return to my cave and resort to painting...

TEDx Timberlane

A Sentence That Sticks
"Tools drive science. Not theory; not experiment; it's the tools."

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This really all comes down to Marxism. That might be the most pretentious thing I have ever typed. I would say blogged, but I have never blogged. Until now.

I suppose the place to start, however, is the purpose of education. I don't want to suggest it is to make it so your student can earn a high paying job in the Wall Street District, but that's all I got, so I will go with it. For me, education (not schooling) is a mix of high level critical thinking, individual creativity and the ability to reach a state of compassion. Sure the MCAS doesn't gage compassion, but it understandable since there are so many other questions to get to: what is Na on the periodic table? What is the capital of Iowa?

If technology can expressly provide us with these very answers, it demonstrates schooling and edcuation are two very different. As Mark Twain once said:

   

Though teachers may be "dangerously irrelevant" in terms of schooling, there is still a major purpose for them in the educational realm. A teacher's ability to facilitate high level critical thinking, individual creativity and the ability to achieve a state of compassion is something that technology will have trouble touching.