Fostering a love of learning

How many times have you found yourself being sucked into reading hours of information about a topic just because you stumbled upon it? Or maybe you intentionally sought out information that had little or nothing to do with what you teach but you needed it solely for personal reasons.

Well, it is the second example which is the impetus for this post. Within the past few months, I've acquired information on how to repair my mountain bike through bicycletutor.com, determined the location of the cabin filter on the family van through wikianswers.com, watched a video on how to install a 3 way dimmer switch at easy2diy.com, and most recently, I was able to correctly insulate the pipe leaving the central air unit using yahoo answers. Can you tell I am a new home owner?

In each of those instances, I was hoping to be an informed consumer and save a few bucks but ultimately it was my passion knowing for how stuff works(great site) and a love of learning that drives me.

So how can we foster a love of learning? With respects to the curriculum, often times, too much emphasis is placed on content objectives when it is the affective component of the curriculum that is deficient. Please note, that I am not advocating abandoning content because having a foundation is indeed important in creating interest and passion.

What I am advocating, however,is balance on a sliding scale. Provide the foundation, check for understanding, and then allow your students to discover, apply, and create. And as the content becomes more complex, allow that scale to slide some, perhaps in favor of content, so the affective component can grab hold.

This is hardly a new concept, but imagine the time and energy our students would spend given the opportunity to engage in meaningful learning. For some teachers, this is a radical shift in pedagogy but our teachers need models too. If we model this approach within our professional development days or classes, we can take advantage of the innate curiosity within educators. Spread the seeds of curiosity(change) and watch the learning take hold.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spursfan_ace/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Streaming Dilemma-a good problem to have

With the explosion of online media, many schools and institutions have started to stream events from their venues using web apps like uStream and fliqz.

This is certainly a convenient format for parents and friends that are unable to come to the event but it is also a wonderful opportunity to share your institution's story.

This past academic year, St. Christopher's School streamed the homecoming football game, the Virginia State Indoor Track and Field Championships, a Basketball and Lacrosse game with our rival school, and Lower and Middle School graduation(Upper School will occur in 2010).

The new online presence was received very well but then the questions and requests started to pour in.

Here are a few of the questions:
-Can we stream all athletic events?
-How about the arts?
-Can we stream chapel talks?
-Will athletic events be limited to varsity sports?
-Which varsity sports will be streamed?

Those are only a few questions but it did prompt us to consider developing some sort of protocol or at least a consistent response to streaming requests.

Ultimately however, it comes down to few basic issues.

Manpower: Does your school have the manpower to stream some/all of the requests? Will your school use student help? Who will supervise students?
Access: Is internet access readily available at the location of the event? This is particularly problematic for away games, off campus events, or even outdoor events if your institutions wireless access is spotty.
Equipment: We have yet to stream more than one event at a time, but I can already anticipate the requests. Whose camera will be used? How about spare laptops? Spare cables? High capacity batteries? Can I stream with cellular broadband card? How much does a cellular broadband card cost?

Streaming media can and will enhance your school's online presence but be ready for the requests. I would encourage you to be proactive and develop a protocol or consider how you will respond to certain questions.

But ultimately, it is a good problem to have.

Powerful Learning Practice Reflections

On May 1, the St. Christopher's team traveled up to Fredericksburg Academy to participate in the concluding face 2 face session for the PLP's international cohort. It was a meeting full of energy, creativity, a sense of purpose, and belonging.

Personal reflections:

A wise man once told me that when working in groups it's all about the people. If you have the wrong people, the best intentions will fall by the wayside. I have a great team and I'm eternally grateful for all of their hard work and willingness to take risks, share, and offer constructive criticism. I am looking forward to working with them as we start to develop our wiki full of tech tips.

Presentation tennis is a wonderful way to learn how others perceive a certain concept, theme, or idea.

Teachers learn and adopt strategies at different rates. Our team certainly illustrated this and we are all moving forward and sharing.

It's not about the technology it's about the learning.

Leverage technology to cater to various learning styles and provide differentiated instruction.

It's ok to lurk but don't make a habit of doing so or there will be missed opportunities.

Develop a strong PLN. It will be one of your greatest resources.

Lead and model by example.

Take advantage of teachable moments in the classroom and in meetings.

Some of your best meetings can occur virtually while you're at home in your pjs.

Special Thanks:

Thank you to Susan Carter Morgan, Will Richardson, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, and the members of the international cohort for providing our team and school with such a wonderful opportunity to participate in this journey.

Cell Phones in Education?!

I came across a tweet from @lkolb(Liz Kolb) regarding Poll Everywhere so I decided to do a little exploring. Essentially, one can collect data with a live audience and display the results on the spot. So on a whim, I emailed a few people, tweeted about it, and asked my students to participate in my beta test of poll everywhere.

Results:
The directions were tough to follow for nontexters but after I talked them through it, it made sense.
American Idol fans don't seem to have a problem. :-)
Students w/o phones can respond via a pc for open ended questions.
I was impressed by how fast the information appeared on the website.
My students were excited because I allowed them to use their cell phones in class.
One can export the results in a .csv file

See clip of results:



Potential:
This technology certainly has a great deal of potential. I may introduce it during student elections or perhaps for an alumni function but for the time being it will be for nonacademic purposes until I have additional time to explore its capabilities.
Also, as a recent Blackberry adopter, it has become clear to me that the smartphone will continue to grow in market share which will only increase and improve the capabilities of these devices.

Good Timing:
This article came out today from the Daily Press: Cell Phones get top marks in education

And yes, I read it on my phone.

Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

A few months ago Darren Kuropatwa suggested an activity as part of the Powerful Learning Practice. In his words, the activity was going to be "something along the lines of" Presentation Tennis.

Specifically, here is what Darren asked us to do.

We will collaboratively create a 20 slide presentation (not counting the title slide) called "Teaching Well". 20 slides in 10 pairs of contrasts: "Teaching well is more like < slide 1 > than it is like < slide 2 >." or however else you want to create contrast.

Each day one slide is added to the deck that builds on those that came before. The final 4-6 slides must bring the presentation to some sort of close.

The collaboration continues after the deck is done. The completed slide deck will be uploaded to SlideShare.net as a "Master Deck". To view our final project, click here

Time to Model

I was so impressed by the results of that activity that I decided to adopt the strategy and use it in my 8th grade computer class. The goal of the activity was to have each student develop a slide(a few made 2)that depicts what it means to be a creative problem solver. They were required to have an image and a quote that would assist them in depicting what constitutes creative thinking and problem solving. To view the slideshow, please click here.

I hope you enjoy my students' perceptions on this topic.

Ninging it

With the popularity of Nings increasing, I've been giving some thought on how we can leverage them within our courses at our respective schools. I belong to several Nings that are extensions of my PLN and they have proven to be valuable resources time and again. But what makes them so valuable as a resource is the broader network of individuals that participate in the various nings.

The ISENET ning for example, was developed by @demetri has become a tremendous resource for educators around the world. Although I tend to stay in groups related to technology, there is a group for just about any facet in education. This ning is 1800+ members strong.

So how do we leverage the collective wisdom of educators around the world? I believe teachers need to open up their nings to other teachers and resident experts in the fields being explored within their ning. The ning is a powerful tool but if used solely for the class of students being taught, then the classroom walls have moved only slightly. A concept I have learned over and over again in the International Cohort for PLP Ning.

A few weeks ago, Debra Garcia at Fredericksburg Academy asked if I wouldn't mind joining FAT BIO(Topics in Biology at Fredericksburg Academy). I accepted the offer and was thrilled at the opportunity to read and participate in topics related to Biology.

You see, before I moved into the world of educational technology I was a MS science teacher but my degree is in Biology from the College of William and Mary. Although I have a new found passion for educational technology, I will always be a science guy first-look out Bill Nye.

The ning is indeed a wonderful opportunity to share but I say let's move beyond our classrooms a little more and ask a colleague from another school, university, or profession to share their experiences with your students.

I hope school's of education consider this model because there are lots of grad students who could certainly benefit from this type of experience.

Care to fall off the flat world with us?

Below is an annotated version of the video skype session St. Christopher's School had with Toorak College regarding the Australian Bush Fires. The video is just under 20 minutes but one can certainly sense the energy, compassion, and the desire to work together to make a difference.

How are we helping? Toorak College suggested that we support Chum Creek Primary School. This is a small school that suffered tremendous damage and it is our desire to assist Chum Creek acquire a new playground and to send drawings developed by our lower school students to support their students.

Interested in helping the students of Chum Creek?
Please send notes of support or checks made out to:

Australia
Chum Creek Primary School
care of Michael Corr(principal)
705 Chum Creek Road
Healesville 3777