Teach Web

Stanford AI MOOC Reflection - Homework 2

2011-10-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm definitely not as confident in my success on homework #2 as I was on homework #1. The probability equations were challenging. I guess I'm more interested in observing learner behavior. The course confirms that most students do procrastinate. I, like many others, popped in at the last minute on Monday to find that we had a 24 hour extension on homework. Server crash. Apparently, too many people trying to finish up in the final hours. Even more interesting was doing a quick Internet search on Bayes Rule to find the first three hits were also churning. Guess a lot of folks were searching for content support. Still no discussion forum on the course site, but I'm getting a daily digest from http://www.reddit.com/r/aiclass . My goal is to do a better job keeping up this week. Time for a coffee break!

Sometimes social learning isn't the best option. Stanford AI MOOC Reflection - Unit Three

2011-10-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

I earned a respectable grade on my first homework assignment. Now, on to unit three. I've already been warned in the introduction about the difficulty of the probability unit. I'm not sure if warnings are an effective pedagogical tool for everyone, but I'm definitely paying closer attention. All I can say about Bayes Rule is too many steps.

While I really want to connect with other students in the class, I haven't had much luck with the forums because I can't really trust the accuracy of the posts I'm reading. With these probability challenges, I feel like I might get a better result visiting Khan Academy. Sometimes the social network isn't the smartest choice. Frankly, there's too much noise which only increases confusion and stress.

Stanford AI MOOC Reflection - Unit Two

2011-10-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

The first homework assignment was posted today. I had to finish up state spaces, sliding blocks puzzle, and problems with search before attempting homework. Apparently, my homework answers are saved, but I can go back anytime before the due date to change answers. I feel about 80% confident in my responses. I think I'll sleep on them a few days, read the text, review prior lessons and take a final shot at it on Saturday. In the meantime, I hope to explore the reddit forums and the #AICLASS hashtag on Twitter to connect with other students.

Stanford AI MOOC Reflection - Unit One

2011-10-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

I started Stanford's Open AI Course today. I plan to share reflections on learning in a Massively Open Online Course with over 100,000 other registrants. We'll see how long they (and I) can hang in there. I'm already a day behind, as the course began yesterday. At the end of unit one, I've had an introduction to intelligent agents with vocabulary words such as deterministics, stochastic, discrete, continuous, benign, and adversarial. A machine translation exercise using a Chinese/English menu as an example gave me a new appreciation of machine learning. I answered 62% of my unit one quiz questions correctly, but learned from my mistakes. Hopefully, I'll do better than that on the tests that count.
The discussion feature is not yet working. I look forward to the reflections of others in the course. At the moment, it's a lonely endeavor, but I am learning.

Here you see unit 1, Welcome to AI, in which the video lecture runs on the right with progress checked off on the left. I can check my progress on quizzes with the Progress tab across the top.

Unit 2, Problem Solving, was a bit more challenging. I thought I understood breadth first search, but my quiz answers beg to differ. I will go over it again, but this is a point of frustration where I would like to ask questions and/or challenge the instructor. I'm thinking about how I would approach the learning if sitting in a classroom rather than here online. I definitely feel the pressure to go back and review. If sitting in the classroom, I doubt I would ask the professor to repeat himself as many times as I've gone back and reviewed the video.

Evernote is turning out to be a great learning tool. I can take notes on the lectures and integrate screen captures throughout. It syncs to my iPad and iPhone, as well. Here's a shot of my full desk top, Evernote on the left with screen caps from the course and lecture on the right. Better than being there.

Open Learning as an Avenue for Higher Quality - #PLEK12

2011-02-27T07:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kb35/349762358/

Facilitating an open course gets you thinking a lot about the benefits and challenges of teaching and learning in this environment. There are definitely challenges. The focus of week #3 was digital responsibility. Kristin Hokanson provided an excellent perspective on copyright amid some technical difficulties with Elluminate. We just chalk this up to part of the learning adventure, but I personally know how frustrating it is when a presentation doesn't load correctly or the audio doesn't stream well. In any case, Kristin handled it eloquently and we had some very positive feedback.

My aha moment this week highlights a potential benefit. The focus of week #3 was digital responsibility. We posted some resources from various sites providing guidance on copyright. Kristin, as an invited speaker, reviewed the course resources and noticed that some of our references took an outdated, highly conservative stance with regard to fair use. She provided updated resources and we were able to revise the content immediately. Think about the walled garden approach in the traditional classroom where one person's point of view is predominant. The content we posted was not wrong, but it didn't provide the whole picture. What would happen if all university courses, especially those that are offered repeatedly across the country or around the world, were open to feedback from others? Would that have an impact on course quality? In what other ways might quality be improved in this scenario?

Resources
#PLEK12 Week #3
#PLEK12 Resources
Kristen Hokanson's ISTE2011 Workshop on Copyright Clarity

Pulling it all together in #PLEK12

2011-02-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

Well, we finished week one in the Personal Learning Environments for Inquiry in K12 course (#PLEK12). I have already had conversations with students about the experience. Organization of content is always a challenge. Chris and I have tried to provide structure to the course to allow students to access content easily. But, once people dive in, they are often confused about what to do next. I try to be transparent in my teaching and learning. In all honesty, I often feel disconnected from my online students. I don't know how they are feeling unless they reach out to me and share. What can we do to feel more connected to one another?

Don't be afraid to ask for help. If you email me or message me in Twitter, I will respond.
Reach out to others in the course. Many have already posted their blogs in the week 1 repository.
Set up your own RSS subscription service (Google Reader, NetVibes, Symbaloo).
Use #PLEK12 on anything you post anywhere. The RSS feeds will pick up the hashtag.

In an attempt to model personal learning management, I set up a NetVibes aggregation to help.

PLEs for Inquiry in K12 NetVibes Page

There are many ways to aggregate content on the web. I don't advocate one over another. Symbaloo is a great option for kids because they allow students under 13 to use the tool with parent permission. But, ultimately you should use what works best for you. We will look at this in further detail in week 5.

Reflecting on the demoralization of an entire profession

2010-09-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

Paul Bogush offers a sad and very honest view into a teacher's psyche, yet most teachers have felt this way at one point or another. I know I have. Teaching is by-far the hardest job you'll ever love. Teachers are being blamed for ills that can be directly attributed to the system. We can not afford to further demoralize an already over-burdened profession. We need more teachers to "step out of the corner", as Paul says, and speak out on what should really be done in the classrooms. I believe most teachers know how to reach kids. That may (and should) look different depending upon the teacher and the students in a given class. But, teachers are being forced to conform to a system of uniformity, high stakes testing, and fear. I wonder how many teachers struggle with shame because they follow the directives rather than do what they know is best for kids, or worse, hide in the corner with fear because they ARE doing what is best for their students.

Personal vs Personalized Learning

2010-08-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

I was reading the Washington Post article, Bill Gates' troubling involvement in school reform, when I came across the following excerpt that troubled me even more than the focus of the article.

What is the next experiment Gates is likely to foist on our schools? It looks to be online learning, as the new magical answer to "personalized" instruction. This practice has been once again pioneered in NYC schools through the discredited practice of "credit recovery," in which students are encouraged to spend a few days online, cutting and pasting their answers into a software program, in order to quickly gain the credits they need to graduate, even if they have failed all their courses and/or never attended class.

I hate to think this is anyone's vision of online learning. Unfortunately, it is just this type of off-the-cuff statement in a mainstream news article that can turn a few words into a reader's permanent perception. But, what actually caught my eye was the reference to "personalized" instruction. While some use personalized and personal learning interchangeably, I believe the distinction is important.

There is considerable discourse around personalizing the learning experience. A few examples include Jeff Rice in California, Pearson, EdWeek, and The Training Place that defines a number of different types of personalization. Note that these are all slightly different approaches. Most suggest that the educational activity be customized for the learner. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, a more customized approach to learning would be a welcome change from the current prescribed curriculum offered in most schools. But, this is not the same as personal learning.

Consider a US automobile license plate. All states and many countries provide the option to personalize your plate. You can create a "vanity" tag within the limits of the system (e.g. 7 letters, original, not obscene). Whether or not you personalize your tag, you are required by the state to have one. Personalized learning has a similar connotation to me. Personalized learning, while customized for the student, is still controlled by the system. A district, teacher, company, and/or computer program serve up the learning based on a formula of what the child "needs".

I believe personal learning environments are different from personalized learning environments in that the learner controls the learning process. He or she constructs the learning environment based on what will be learned and who will be invited to participate in or support the learning.

I will be the first to admit that The Networked Student and Welcome to My PLE examples walk the line between personalized and personal learning. While the students have some level of choice, the teacher retains control over subject area and some content. These young students are networked learners in training. Some level of scaffolding is required to facilitate greater autonomy in the long run. In these examples, the ultimate goal is to scaffold the personal learning process so that students will assume greater control over time. I'm not sure this is the goal of personalized learning. I fear we are already mired in semantics. Are we using the appropriate terminology? I'm really interested in your thoughts.

What is the difference between personalized and personal learning environments?

Teaching HOW to learn, HOW to Multitask, HOW to Focus

2010-06-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

Signaling by Genista

Two articles on how the use of technology changes our brain appeared in the St. Petersburg Times this morning. Tied to technology, and paying a price (NYT version of article linked) points out our deteriorating ability to focus as a result of our extended use of "devices". When Technology Takes a Wrong Turn (Washington Post version linked) explains how constant use of GPS devices causes our hippocampi to shrink thus decreasing our navigational sense. These articles are intriguing to me, and not just because of my general interest in educational technology.

I left corporate eLearning management nearly six years ago to pursue a doctorate in educational technology and return to K12 teaching. I felt strongly that the coming wave of technology would mandate a change in teaching. First of all, I knew what would come to be expected in the future workplace because I was already there. Seven years with IBM and AT&T Network Services led me to believe that the constant multitasking associated with my job had changed my brain. I couldn't prove an actual physical change at the time. At the very least, I know it changed the way I think and approach problem solving and work.

I boldly entered my program at the University of Florida stating my plan to conduct fMRI studies on learners' brains to support my hypothesis. My colleagues did not exactly laugh at me, though they knew the practicality of obtaining the proper equipment, approvals, and cross departmental associations would definitely be a challenge. Even so, I attended brain conferences and pursued that dream until my passion shifted (ever so slightly as it turns out) to networked learning and personal learning environments. This was an easy shift as one of the first tasks required when I joined IBM was to set up a personal (professional) learning environment. Accessing the right information and managing an extensive network of social contacts was critical for success in my role. It also required constant multitasking and shifts of attention. All calendars were public and colleagues could schedule your time unless you blocked it out. I actually had to block out time for focused activities, times when I would power down to study networking documents, create presentations, or design instructional materials. Nothing in my former education had prepared me for this way of working. Sadly, very little in our current system of education prepares students for this future reality.

Emerging brain research is important to help us understand the processes necessary for a successful, productive life. We don't yet know what all of this means for learning. Brain scientists caution educators from responding to each new discovery with sweeping changes in pedagogy. But, I'll go out on a limb with my gut feeling that successful adults will be required to multitask effectively AND have an ability to focus when necessary.

What does this mean for our students and our teaching? Isn't part of our job as teachers to help students learn HOW to learn? Regardless of whether multitasking is good or bad for our brains, the momentum is not likely to reverse in the near future. Nor is the need for rigorous thinking, problem solving, and focused attention. We are failing our young people shamefully. We must help them balance multitasking with focused attention by presenting opportunities for both and providing strategies for shifting between the two effectively.

Some will argue that you can't teach effective multitasking. I'm not so sure. As an experiment, try writing a paragraph or working on a crossword puzzle while listening to instrumental music. Then try the same verbal task while listening to a news program or favorite podcast. In the latter situation, you will likely find that you cannot attend to both activities effectively. (Dzubak, 2008) We have recently learned that different parts of the brain are associated with different activities. Some people may also be more effective multitaskers than others. Even with the limited research available, we can help students recognize their strengths and limitations.

Our schooling/teaching should provide a balance of digital connectedness, opportunities to multitask, and opportunities to focus when tethered to technology and untethered. Achieving that balance should be a thoughtful goal throughout the curricula. Providing effective strategies for managing this type of learning should also be mandatory. I believe in both digital and traditional rigor. While I'm a rabid proponent of effective technology integration in schools, I'm not convinced we should toss out all traditional means of learning. Writing is thinking and there is great value in thoughtful writing beyond 140 characters. There is value in listening to a lecture, evaluating that content, and applying it to an authentic learning activity. There is value in working through math problems, answering document-based questions, and (drum roll please) studying for a rigorous essay test based on 30 pages in your AP History text. The problem is we're already doing those things. That's all we're doing and it's just not enough. Whether we like it or not, our children are on their own in a very complex, powerful, yet potentially overwhelming environment that requires extreme responsibility and savvy to navigate effectively. How can it be that we're not there to help them?

Temporary Instructor Opportunity at UF

2010-05-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Temporary Instructor, Educational Technology, University of Florida

The Educational Technology program within the School of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at the University of Florida is seeking an individual to teach multiple sections of EME 4401: Integrating Technology into the Elementary (or Early Childhood) Curriculum. This course prepares prospective elementary (or early childhood) teachers to use technology effectively in the classroom. This is a temporary position (Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters) and will involve teaching no more than 4 courses each semester. This one-year position is funded with non-recurring funds and, thus, is not renewable. Salary is approximately $40,000.

There is an established curriculum for the course but the selected person may work with Educational Technology faculty members to revise it to meet the needs of the program and the strengths of the individual.

The ideal candidate will have (1) experience teaching with technology in K-5 settings and (2) technology-related experiences with prospective and/or inservice teachers. Preferred qualification include (1) advanced coursework in Educational Technology, (2) evidence of involvement in the field, (3) substantial knowledge of free tools that allow students to create digital content and (4) knowledge of alternative assessment strategies for post-secondary learners.

Interested individuals should submit a cover letter, curriculum vita and 3 reference contacts to Dr. Kara Dawson (dawson@coe.ufl.edu). Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Personal Learning, Drive, and Autonomy

2010-05-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

This era doesn't call for better management. It calls for a renaissance of self-direction (Pink, 2009)

I've been listening to Daniel Pink's audio book version of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. I haven't found it all that surprising, but it has me thinking about the relationship between personal learning and self-determination theory (SDT).

Pink (2009) asserts that management isn't the solution, it's the problem. He extends the word management beyond the common business definition to include our social structures and institutions. (Yes, including education.) He cites Ryan & Deci's (2000) work on self determination theory in support of autonomy for workers and learners. (Note: There are others who have thought about SDT in a K-12 context. See Reeve & Halusic (2009).

Ryan & Deci (2002) identify three basic psychological needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. The optimal social environments satisfy all three of these needs. Human behavior is either controlled or autonomous. Autonomy is different from independence. It means acting with choice (Pink, 2009).

Realizing Pink's renaissance of self-direction for education will be challenging. Centuries of institutionalized control are not easily undone. Pink points out that humans are curious and self-directed "out of the box". Passivity is the result of years of "management" and control. My experience working with middle and high school students on personal learning environments supports this perspective. It's even more challenging when we try to direct personal learning toward system-imposed content standards or the rigor required for deeper learning of these standards.

I know what you're thinking. Directed personal learning is an oxymoron. But, the reality of the current situation in our K-12 classrooms is that years of passive learning have undermined student autonomy. Myths about student learning preferences further constrain our progress, especially when it comes to learning with technology. It is common in teacher professional development sessions to hear that students want to learn with technology. Actually, some, not all students enjoy using technology for social, entertainment, or learning purposes. Few have had consistent, quality technology integration in school. When asked to create artifacts based on rigorous inquiry or to use technology for rigorous study, the complaints range from "I don't like technology because it doesn't work" to "my teacher isn't teaching me" to the ever popular "just tell me what I need to do to get an A". This does not describe every student. Of course, there are those who embrace autonomy, especially when given curricular choice. I offer these seemingly negative examples to encourage educators to think realistically about the consequences of a passive learning system and the hard work it will take to undo those years of indoctrination.

I happen to believe strongly in learner empowerment and the value of technology as a means to achieve autonomy. I'm also realistic about the steep climb it will take to get there. I offer some suggestions for creating an atmosphere conducive to learner autonomy within a system that is not likely to change quickly.

Taking back control and responsibility for learning can be facilitated by teachers who scaffold the processes that support learner autonomy. These processes include digital responsibility, digital literacy, organization of content, collaborating/socializing with others, and synthesizing/creating (Drexler, 2010)
Integrating those processes into early grades will ensure that personal learning environments of increased complexity can be constructed in the secondary grades and beyond with greater focus on the learning outcome rather than the processes or technology needed to support it.
Building a teacher and learner disposition of experimentation around technology use that recognizes the speed at which new technologies emerge and the tinkering required to adapt technologies for learning.

I'm intrigued by the possibility of a renaissance of self-direction. I feel I've been able to build that reality in my personal learning and professional work, and I want even greater empowerment for the next generation. More importantly, I believe those learners who are less autonomous will be at a distinct disadvantage.

Deci, E. & Ryan, R. (2002). Handbook of Self-Determination Research. New York: University of Rochester Press.

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates Us (1st ed.). Riverhead Hardcover.

Reeve, J. & Halusic, M. (2009). How K-12 teachers can put self-determination theory principles into practice. Theory and Research in Education. 7(2). 145-154.

Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.

Decision Making and Systems Thinking: Week 3 - #edfuture

2010-05-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate to attend AERA in Denver over the last few days. As a result, I did not have a chance to participate in the Ed Futures Elluminate session at the regular time on Tuesday. But, I had plenty of time to think about the plethora of solid educational research that will never translate into educational policy. It's an ongoing frustration for most of us in the field, yet we can't stop thinking about the possibilities. Maybe that is the allure of a structured approach to future thinking.

The Education Futures Elluminate recording and assigned articles prompted me to pull out a handout from the conference (one of few actual pieces of paper I kept) because the decision-making issues in Weick's (1993) article were sounding very familiar.

Relative to poor decision-making, Weick quotes Morgan, Frost, & Pondy (1983:24):

Individuals are not seen as living in, and acting out their lives in relation to, a wider reality, so much as creating and sustaining images of a wider reality, in part to rationalize what they are doing. They realize their reality, by reading into their situation patterns of significant meaning" (Morgan, Frost, and Pondy as quoted by Weick, 1993).

This immediately brought to mind J. Michael Spector's AERA presentation, Integrating a Systems-Thinking Perspective into Learning and Instruction for Complex and Challenging Tasks. Spector quotes Dietrich Dorner's (1996) Logic of Failure.

Highly trained, well-intentioned adults often make bad decisions when reasoning about complex phenomena.

What is more complex than our system of education?

Spector goes on to explain that these bad decisions happen for a number of reasons.

Acting on instinct
Failure to anticipate-delayed effects
Focus on one aspect of a complex system
Failure to understand non-linear effects
Less analytical & reflective thinking as a problem worsens
Accidental reinforcement of undesired behavior
Failure to recognize internal feedback mechanisms and change over time (Spector, 2010; Sterman, 1994)

He advocates for a systems-thinking approach to help students learn to solve complex, ill structured problems. It seems systems thinking can also help us with future thinking, at least as we begin to consider education futures.

Anderson and Johnson (1997) define essential characteristics of systems:

A system's parts must all be present for a system to carry out its purpose optimally.
A system's parts must be arranged in a specific way in order to carry out its purpose.
Systems have specific purposes within larger systems.
Systems maintain their stability through fluctuations and adjustments.
Systems have feedback. (Anderson & Johnson, 1997)

Each of us exist in silos of expertise in the field (or system) of education. Perhaps this is why it is so difficult to affect change. We constantly make decisions without all parts present. Anderson & Johnson (1997) advise that we should think in terms of the big picture, balance short-term and long-term perspectives, recognize the complexity of our system, and consider patterns. They even offer a worksheet at the end of the paper that might come in handy as we move deeper in the course.

Anderson, V., & Johnson, L. (1997) Systems Thinking Basics: From Concepts to Causal Loops, Waltham, MA: Pegasus Communications. Retrieved from http://www.uwex.edu/CES/cty/waupaca/cnred/documents/SystemsThinking2010.pdf

2010 Horizon Report Johnson, Laurence F., Levine, Alan, Smith, Rachel S. and Stone, Sonja. 2010 Horizon Report. Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium, 2010.

Karl E. Weick . Reprinted from The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch
Disaster by Karl E. Weick published in Administrative Science Quarterly Volume 38 (1993): 628-
652 by permission of Administrative Science Quarterly. © 1993 by Cornell University 0001-
8392/93/3804-0628.

Morgan, Gareth, Peter J. Frost, and Louis R. Pondy. 1983. "Organizational symbolism." In L. R.
Pondy, P. J. Frost, G. Morgan, and T. C. Dandridge (eds.), Organizational Symbolism: 3-35.
Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Contemplating the Future of Education: Week 1 #edfuture

2010-04-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

I am participating in the Open Course in Education Futures facilitated by George Siemens and Dave Cormier. I'm excited about this course for two primary reasons. First, I like the concept of a structured approach to contemplating the future of education. Second, I'm fascinated by the format of the course. Having also participated and enjoyed #CCK08, this is another opportunity to learn from numerous brilliant people and get some ideas for an open course I will be offering next spring.

I recently returned to John Dewey's (1913) Interest and Effort in Education looking for a quote. Instead, I ended up with the following quotes from the Editor's Introduction leaving a strange sinking feeling in my gut.

It's active acceptance by teachers would bring about a complete transformation of classroom methods (p. v).

Somehow our teaching has not attracted children to the school and its work (p. vi).

Good teaching and the teaching of the future, will make school life vital to youth (p. vii).

At the present hour, we are very deeply concerned with the universal education of youth (p. viii)

The final solution is to be found in a better quality of teaching, one which will absorb children because it gives purpose and spirit to learning (p. x).

Is it just me or do these 100 year-old quotes sound hauntingly familiar? If the teaching of the future is going to make school life vital to youth, how far in the future do we have to go? Suddenly David Wiley's Parody doesn't seem so far fetched.

So, I'm beginning my journey into education futures by looking back at the past. I believe this is important if we really hope to facilitate change. Most of us like to think that the benefits of technology will help transform education, but we absolutely cannot assume that a trend in the consumer, media, or business world will necessarily translate to a trend in the education world. That is why the structure of future thinking is so important to our field. We have to be able to approach our administrators, districts, and policy makers with visions of the future supported by research and thoughtful consideration of trends. IAF's Guide for Thinking about the Future suggests we set achievable goals to be reached within a reasonable amount of time based on articulation of a vision of the future we want to create. Somehow I'm not as worried about the vision, mission, goals, and strategies as I am about the implementation. I wonder if Dewey had those same thoughts 100 years ago?

Personal Learning Environments: Student Processes and Decisions

2010-01-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

We in educational technology are often accused of focusing too much attention on technology and tools rather than cognitive processes. I've struggled with this myself, most often because I enjoy assessing the learning potential of new technologies. John Seeley Brown might call this tinkering. I get a charge out of playing with the tools myself and presenting them to my students to see what happens. As a teacher, I'm all about what is practical in the classroom (even if I sometimes try to push the limits of innovation). My evolution from teacher to researcher has been a long journey. All those prior years of classroom experience influence my perspective. I "know" something works with students because I feel it in my gut. There is never time to sit back and observe what happens before moving on to the next challenge.

Focused research on student construction of personal learning environments has given me the opportunity to sit back and watch learning from a process perspective. What processes do students go through when constructing personal learning environments?

(Click on the diagram to enlarge.)
The model above reflects the research findings. If you compare this version to the older Networked Student diagram, you see the shift from tools to processes.

As with a flowchart, the rectangles represent processes. The diamonds represent decisions. The student (or the student in collaboration with the teacher) decides which tools to use to support the learning processes.

Some processes in the diagram are not supported by tools, especially in the areas of learning and practicing digital literacy and responsibility. If we truly wish to empower learners and provide our students with the skills necessary to become independent networked learners, then direct instruction is critical and necessary in all five categories. I view the holes in this diagram as the teachable moments, as verification that teachers can be the facilitators of personal learning. Through direct instruction, we can teach our children how to fish, then step back and learn as much from them as they learn from us.

To ponder:

What do you think about the relationship between direct instruction and personal learning?
Do you see areas on the diagram that require teacher intervention?
How many of our secondary and post secondary students are equipped to construct effective personal learning environments?
What would you add to this diagram?

Meet one of the students who participated in this research project.

The Networked Student from a Process Perspective

2010-01-11T08:03:00.001-08:00

I've been working on The Networked Student Model from a process perspective. Having identified the processes students go through when constructing personal learning environments, I thought it would be interesting to see how the original model fit within the processes.

Here is the original.

Look what happens when we regroup and distribute the organizational tools and contacts amongst the processes. There are some definite holes.

This was a good exercise for me for three reasons.

I realize the power of research, why it is important, and how detailed qualitative analysis can yield valuable insight beyond the experience gained merely in practice.
In order to create a model that is practical for classroom use, I need to move beyond the organizational tools and include processes such as digital literacy, digital responsibility, synthesis, and creation.
The development of API widgets for web applications such as NetVibes, iGoogle, PageFlakes, and Symbaloo provide organizational possibilities that offer powerful means for organizing content. This should also be incorporated in the model.

Next step: Revise the model to reflect the process perspective. (More to come.)

Welcome to my PLE!

2009-12-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

I've been working with a teacher to implement networked learning in his classroom. As you can see from my previous post, we had our challenges. However, we're working through most of the technical issues and I'm proud to present "Welcome to My PLE". One of the students in the project offered her personal learning network as an example. Enjoy the tour!!!

We would love your feedback.

Construction of Personal Learning Environments is Messy

2009-10-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

My goal was to keep a running journal of my dissertation research on the blog. I suppose I could cut and paste my field notes, but that wouldn't be very reflective. Time is definitely the enemy. This doesn't amount to a deep reflection, but I feel inspired to share. I'm learning as much as the 7th graders about student construction of personal learning environments. The project has gone quite well in spite of numerous challenges and technical difficulties. I owe this to an unbelievably gifted and flexible classroom teacher in addition to 24 "normal" 7th graders who surprise me every day. Here's a short list of our many hurdles.

As the project began, the school network was locked down like Fort Knox.
The computers go into deep freeze when dormant for 10 minutes.
Deep freeze does not allow for new applications to be permanently downloaded. The process to fix this requires shutting down, turning off deep freeze, rebooting.
Most Web apps require users be over 13. Students turn 13 in 7th grade.
This is not a laptop school, but we managed to gather up 24 laptops - just enough. Three have gone down since the project began so some students are working on desktops in nearby rooms.
We were using NoteFish as a web-clipper and note taking program. We upgraded to the latest version of FireFox. Guess what? Not compatible with NoteFish.
7th graders can be notoriously disorganized. This can be a problem when you're trying to manage numerous online accounts and passwords.
Occasionally, key Web apps go down. The probability of this is positively correlated with the importance of the activity.
Today as I arrived on campus, the power went out. No power, no network. At the same time 7 visitors arrived from a community leadership group made up of local business people who came to observe the class.

You would think from this list that every day was a new disaster. However, neither I nor the participating teacher see it that way. In fact, every day is a new science experiment, a new adventure, a new learning opportunity. The students are all engaged in their own unique ways... for the entire hour and 40 minute block. On the one hand, they've had to learn a whole new way of work riddled with frustrations and unknowns. On the other hand, they've embraced it with a vengeance. They work together to solve technical problems, dig deep to find answers, and share with classic 7th grade enthusiasm.

Happily, the power came back on within a few minutes. The students accessed the agenda on the teacher's blog from their Symbaloo account and plowed right to work on their individual scientific inquiries. The adults in the room were mesmerized. I didn't let on, but I was also mesmerized and smiling inside with pride for the kids. I have no regrets about the technical difficulties. There is always a work around. Sometimes the kids are the ones who figure out the best alternative plan. My only regret is that more students are not empowered to learn this way.

Welcome Guest Blogger Jennifer Roland!

2009-09-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

The Best of L&L Giveaway
First, I’d like to thank Wendy for hosting me on my blog tour.
Wendy is one of the authors included in The Best of L&L, which is a collection of the best articles printed in ISTE’s flagship periodical Learning & Leading with Technology from 2003 through 2008. In addition to the articles, I talk a little about why I chose each, and many of the authors provide updates to place their ideas in a current context.

Her piece, “Kids Galore Helping Kids in Darfur,” was an amazing example of student-directed learning that had a huge effect on awareness of the human rights issues in the Darfur region of Sudan.

If you’d like to read her article and get a taste of the types of articles and commentary included in the book, you can read an excerpt on the ISTE website.

What about you. How have you used student interests to guide your learning choices?
Have you allowed students to design their own learning experiences?
How do you manage such an endeavor if students can’t agree on topics or the types of activities?

Answer one of these questions, ask a question of your own, or respond to Wendy’s thoughts to be entered into the random drawing to win a copy of the book.

About Jennifer Roland
Jennifer is a writer living in the Portland, Oregon, area. She holds bachelor's degrees in magazine journalism and political science from the University of Oregon. Her education also focused on history, economics, linguistics, and educational policy and management. Before embarking on her freelance career, she was a staff member at ISTE. Follow Jennifer on her blog tour at http://edtechjen.com; each tour stop includes a chance to win a copy of The Best of L&L.

Bringing Service Learning Back into Focus

2009-09-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

It's so interesting how certain projects take on a life of their own and events sometimes converge to confirm that you're on the right track. Such is the case with the Kids Galore Helping Kids in Darfur Project. It's been three years since my third graders cooked up this idea and followed through with their vision of how to make a difference. The following group of third graders helped organize the Many Voices for Darfur 48 hour blog project and contributed to the supporting wiki. This year, I find myself in a position to (hopefully) have some influence over new social studies teachers through a course I'm teaching at UF, EME5432 Integrating Technology in Social Studies. I view service learning as the flagship of authentic learning and hope to share this passion with my students through a number of resources including:

Ultimately, I hope the pre-service teachers will embrace service learning and recognize the value it has in their teaching practice.

All these things come back into focus as ISTE's Jennifer Roland stops by my blog on Friday for a guest visit and a chance to win The Best of Learning and Leading with Technology. Welcome Jennifer!

The College of 2020 Today

2009-06-19T05:49:00.001-07:00

The Chronicle Research Services recently released a report, "The College of 2020", an overview of some of the demands that students will make for flexibility and technology integration. As I read the executive summary, I realized these are all conveniences available to me at the University of Florida. (BIG caveat: They would not be available in all colleges or departments. At this point, I would expect at least this much from an educational technology program.) Here is the list:

Putting more courses online
Of 26 classes taken as part of my Educational Technology Ed.S and Ph.D programs:
Total face-to-face (4)
Blended (3)
Completely online (19)
Note: This does not include doctoral qualifying and dissertation research credits.
There are now full-time online options for Masters and Ed.S students, as well as an Ed.D cohort that is conducted primarily online. At this time there is not a fully online Ph.D program.

Taking classes at multiple colleges
This took some minor navigation through administrative red tape, however I was able to take the Connectivism Course for 3 credits through the University of Manitoba (because no such course was available at UF) and 8 credits of quantitative research from nearby University of South Florida (because this was required for my degree and not offered at the time I needed it at UF)

Monitoring classes on cell phones
Every single class I took, including F2F had some online presence whether is was Moodle, Blackboard, WebCT, or a simple website. Not only did I monitor these classes on my cell phone, I continue to monitor the classes I teach with it, as well.

Starting courses at multiple times throughout the year
Online education courses at UF are conducted in 8 week mini-mesters. They are offered on a rotating basis six times during the academic year.

Sign up to take classes F2F, then opt to monitor online
This was a little trickier, but not as difficult as you might think. I took qualitative research F2F with a retired professor who returned specifically to teach this class. You might think that he was very traditional, and to some extent he was. His courses were primarily lecture format, but there was good discussion, and significant group work. He integrated technology via PowerPoint in the classroom and online submission of all assignments. I had to be out of town for two of the class sessions, so I approached him about Skyping into the class while I was away. No problem. I was able to participate fully through a classmate's computer, ask questions, and offer my points of view from 2000 miles away. I think it helped that I was already established in the class before asking to do this, but I it was a good experience for both of us.

Office hours, study groups, papers-all online
Group work in the F2F qualitative research course was conducted using a wiki in combination with Google docs. This was initially student-directed by one group. When the others realized the efficiency, everyone was on board.

With the exception of a hand written quantitative (statistics) take-home exam that had to be turned in on the day of the F2F exam in the lab, I cannot remember turning in one paper or assignment in hard copy form. Everything was either submitted to a course management system or emailed directly.

UF is the flagship university in my state. It is nearly two-and-a-half hours away from my home. Nearby USF has an excellent College of Education, but I already earned a Bachelors and Masters from that school. It was in my best interest to obtain my advanced graduate degrees at a different school. This would not have been possible without the flexibility of UF's Ed Tech program. I do not feel that I compromised quality in any part of my graduate experience. In fact, I had a very difficult time transitioning back to the traditional classes. The pace seemed exceedingly slow. We were not able to cover nearly as much content or critical thinking in the F2F format as was possible online. Some of that had to do with instructional design, some with self motivation. Those are topics for further research and discourse. But, I've been very pleased with the education I have received in the program.

Google Wave, Networked Learning, and PLEs

2009-05-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Beware of focusing too much on the tools because they are going to change so fast we won't know what hit us. Just as I'm wrapping up the Networked Student article and designing the methodology for my dissertation research, I watch this demo of Google Wave.

By my calculations, it should hit the market just about the time I'm finishing the research component of my dissertation. So, what does that mean to the networked student model?

Well, the most difficult aspect of using this model with k12 students (or anyone else for that matter) is organization. How do we help students organize their personal learning environments to best leverage all this diverse content coming from so many different sources? One solution is to use iGoogle, PageFlakes, or NetVibes gadgets and widgets to pull all the learning apps into one page. iGoogle is great, especially for the younger students, because it limits the number of ids and passwords a student has to manage. (Though it cannot be made public which is a major frustration.)

But, imagine if email, chat, threaded discussion, live concurrent collaborative editing (in documents and wikis), multi-user games, photo sharing, language translation (as the user types), blogging, and other applications such as Twitter were all integrated into one interface that could easily be shared among a group of people. Enter Google Wave! All of these components are presented in the demo along with a playback feature that keeps track of the wave history. Better yet, it's open source and Google is encouraging developers to get moving with APIs that will allow new apps to run within a Wave and Waves to exist within external apps. What this means is that learning objects and whole interactive courses could be built upon Waves. (These are the times I wish I had better programming skills, or that developers would team up with some solid instructional designers.) Ultimately, students will be able to construct PLE Waves making it much easier to capture and organize their learning journey and the content they collect along the way.

Of course, the devil is always in the details, and we'll know more when Google Wave debuts "later this year". But, I really feel us moving closer to interconnected personal learning environments that students share and build collaboratively to solve complex problems.

This brings me back to my initial warning. We can't just teach our kids how to use tools. Somehow, we have to articulate the learning power of these tools and more importantly how students can recognize this power on their own as new applications emerge. We have to get them thinking about technology for learning and personal empowerment - not just socializing and entertainment.

One last question I have yet to seen answered...can a wave be made public?

TIMN and Networked Learning

2009-05-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

As I read David Ronfeldt's In Search of How Societies Work, I kept thinking how neatly this applies to the classroom and networked learning. I guess this is not a big surprise as the classroom is often seen as a microcosm of society. Tom Haskins inspired me with his post Combined Models for Pattern Recognition, and I wonder if there are others who have aligned Ronfeldt's TIMN model with learning.

Ronfeldt identifies four forms of social organization: tribal, institutional, market, and network (Ronfeldt, 2006, p. 1). Tribal structure deals with identity and belonging. The institutional form emphasizes hierarchy (e.g. state, military). The market form focus is competition and free trade. Network form deals with the connection of dispersed groups via emerging communication technologies. (Ronfeldt, 2006).

In the classroom, the tribal structure is evident in the kinship that develops with the teacher and between students. Teacher acts as leader. The institutional aspects of education include the schools, districts, state, and national standards and requirements placed on schools. It is also evidenced in the hierarchy of discipline (teacher, dean, principal, district). The market aspect of learning includes the outside forces such as textbook companies, software, curriculum packages, or online learning that is repackaged for other districts, states, or countries. Within the classroom, there is competition for grades, science fairs, history fairs, and placement based on standardized test scores. More recently, there are opportunities for students to create and share allowing some student products to rise to the top for reuse by others. Some classrooms are moving into the network form by interacting with others via network technologies, emerging web applications, and connecting to students outside the classroom.

As societies evolve through the forms, they do not abandon the previous structures. "If the addition of a new form occurs properly, the older forms end up being strengthened, not weakened, even as their scope is newly limited (Ronfeldt, 2006, pg. 3). I think this is an important point for all of us who argue for change. Most of our classrooms are still in the tribal/institutional structure (TI) with some penetration in market (TIM). I say that because most of the competition and free market aspects come from outside forces. The students have few opportunities to create knowledge and share with others for their learning.

Two big lessons for me as I consider the implications of networked learning:

We cannot jump directly into networked learning and abandon the previous structures.
The optimal learning environment is not networked alone, but a TIMN approach that continues to build relationships within the classroom (f2f or virtual), works within the current institutional requirements while trying to change those requirments, gives students opportunities to create authentic learning products that can be shared with others, and provides them with the tools they need to construct personal learning environments.

Ronfeldt, D. (2007). IN SEARCH OF HOW SOCIETIES WORK: Tribes — The First and Forever Form (pp. 1-102). Working Paper, Rand Corporation. Retrieved May 23, 2009, from http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR433/.

Networked Student Challenges

2009-05-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

I believe in the potential of networked learning in k12 education. From a research perspective, I'm also painfully aware of the challenges. My dissertation research will analyze the networked student model in a middle school science classroom. I'm trying to foresee every possible obstacle. There are many. Some are theoretical, others quite practical.

Fitting within the framework of required curricular standards
Giving students a choice of topics that maintains the learner's freedom yet falls within the life sciences curriculum
Permissions and age limits for using many Web applications (most require that users be 13 or over. Many 7th graders are not yet 13.)
Working with tech administrators to open blocked sites
Balancing structure to maximize learner motivation (points/grades/supervision) while allowing for learner control
Designing assessment options that promote deep synthesis of content
Providing opportunities for students to learn from each other
Protecting students from inappropriate content
Time required to teach organization, digital literacy, and technical skills
Teacher buy in (I'm not as concerned about this as I am working with an open-minded, enthusiastic teacher who is not afraid to take risks. I also find that science lends itself well to a student-centered, experimental approach.)

These are the issues I know we will face. It's the unknown unknowns that really worry me. What else?

Crowd (Re)sourcing

2009-05-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

Zotero is a user-friendly, time-saving tool for "collecting, managing, and citing" your research. In the past, I used the University of Florida's subscription to RefWorks for research papers, but as I began to collect and organize resources for my dissertation, I wanted an open solution that better supported online research. I loved the idea that Zotero was created by actual researchers at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. I learned about Zotero from co-creator Dan Cohen and Mills Kelly through their Digital Campus Podcast. Now, with the release of Zotero 2.0, I can:

synchronize and back up my library with Zotero's servers and access my resources from any computer
share my research resources and notes with others
follow colleagues and fellow researchers and gain access to their work
create groups specific to research areas (e.g. Educational Technology)
export selected resources to a bibliography in the format of my choice in seconds (previously available)

In keeping with my philosophy of open access, especially with regard to research, I'm sharing my dissertation resources in two ways. You can view my personal Zotero Dissertation Research Library or, you can view, access, and add to the Zotero Educational Technology Group. Feel free to contribute, join, share your own resources, and/or take what you can use. You do not have to be using Zotero to view the resources. You will have to install Zotero to add or edit the group page. I have not been able to upload my citations into the group library due to a programming glitch that should be fixed in the next couple days, according to the Zotero Forums.

As you can see below, Zotero opens/closes in an adjustable window at the bottom of your browser. Here you have immediate access to your research resources including articles, notes, and website notations.
We all become quickly accustomed to the familiar, so Zotero may not be a good option for people who are well-entrenched in other citation tools. This just happened to be a good time for me to make a switch.

P.S. I've been experimenting with Evernote as a research tool for younger students. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated, especially if you have been using it with your students.

Friends and Family - I'm Still Here!

2009-05-15T06:44:00.001-07:00

I'm so happy to report that I've finished my doctoral coursework. The qualifying exam is scheduled for August 26. Research proposal is going through multiple revisions. I have a solid plan to work with an energetic, enthusiastic seventh grade science teacher to help students construct personal learning environments similar to the one highlighted in The Networked Student Video. I've also finished the first draft of a related article I hope to submit to the British Journal of Educational Technology. Of course, there is plenty to do. But, yesterday was the first day in a very long time that there wasn't something I HAD to do on that day. I feel a little like the survivalist who was holed up in a bomb shelter for 4 years and emerged to find the world still bustling by. Yes, I'll be returning to the shelter for a little while longer, but at least there will be day passes.

DotSUB and Networked Learning

2009-01-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting conversation this morning with Michael Smolens, founder of dotSUB.com. He got me thinking (even more) about the power of community, what that means for networked learning, and what networked learning could mean for the world community.

I learned about dotSUB when someone contacted me for permission to translate The Networked Student. It has been translated into Czech, Portuguese, and Spanish...so far. That had nothing to do with me. But, now people in other parts of the world have the opportunity to hear that message in their native language and consider the possibilities.

Check out the documentary, Zeitgeist, over 288,000 views, translated into twelve languages...so far. There's a lot of potential to build community here.

Michael challenged me to consider some of the implications to education. Immediately, I think of the opportunity for language learners to view translations, or better yet create them. That almost seems trite when you start to think about the implications for connecting with people all over the world, the opportunity to expose our students to the work of others, to share their work beyond the boundaries of language. Consider this quote from Teachers without Borders. "Brains are evenly distributed throughout the world. Education is not."

Ponder beyond the immediate value to our students and imagine the reach of every teacher and student in the world extended to a global audience. The possibilities are mind boggling. The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative intrigued me. Its educational component has not been as successful as I (and others) had hoped. But the project certainly had an impact on the development of less expensive computing and networking devices. As more developing countries gain access, there will be greater opportunities to collaborate. Language barriers are challenging but not insurmountable, especially with the world community contributing to the translation process.

What do you think? Beyond the obvious, what is the educational potential of programs like dotSUB?

To see the subtitles in the languages available, click on the drop box in the navigation bar below the video.

The Networked Student with Transcript

2008-11-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

A few people have requested a transcript for The Networked Student. You can access the transcript here.

The Networked Student is free for you to use in any way that is helpful to you. I would really appreciate any feedback you have or receive about the concept of the networked student.

CCK08-Connectivism: Networked Student...The Movie

2008-11-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

YouTube version for sharing
(Please share, reuse, redistribute, especially with administrators, teachers, and parents.)

As a grand finale for the Connectivism course, George asked participants to respond to the following questions:

What is the quality of my learning networks: diversity, depth, how connected am I?
How has this course influence my view of the process of learning (assuming, of course, that it has)?
What types of questions are still outstanding?
How can you incorporate connectivist principles in your design and delivery of learning?

Questions 2 and 4 are addressed in the video above. The presented scenario is definitely not a complete picture of connectivism. I think it's a good start for a k12 classroom. I view the work with my students as networked learning incubation.

I had great fun creating this video. My 15 year old son, Alex, helped with the artwork and voice over. My high school students are currently working on the project that is highlighted in the video. I owe a big thank you to Lee LeFever of CommonCraft. He kindly gave me permission to use the "Plain English" format for my project. I absolutely love the brilliant simplicity of his work.

I sincerely hope that other teachers will use the video to help colleagues, parents, and students understand the potential of networked learning.

On to questions 1 and 3...
I managed a fairly robust learning network prior to taking the connectivism course. But, I believe I'm taking a more thoughtful approach as a result of this experience. I'm reaching out to those with whom I already have a professional relationship, building new contacts, and trying harder to seek out points of view that differ from mine. I hope that the visibility of CCK08 will facilitate more research and testing of Connectivism as a theory of learning. The biggest question in my mind is whether the theory is powerful enough to have a real impact on main stream education. I see a lot of potential obstacles, especially with younger children. I'm also contemplating the best strategy for strengthening network ties and developing deeper professional contacts for learning and sharing.

CCK08-Connecting the Concept Map

2008-11-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

I've been posting concept maps for each of the topics covered in the CCK08 Connectivism Course. It's time to pull it all together. Drum roll please...

I need to have this in poster format so I can read it all at once. There must be some site out there that will turn this into a poster for me. Hmmm.

CCK08-Changing Space and Structure

2008-11-23T14:32:00.001-08:00

Everything is connected. I find the day-to-day connectedness of life interesting. Think about it. You give your child a unique name. First time at a birthday party, two other kids have the same name. You buy a new car and run into identical models everywhere. You learn a new word and suddenly the whole world is using it, too. It's not that these things didn't exist before. You just weren't paying attention. This happens to me again and again in my personal network, tiny coincidences that really aren't coincidence at all. Such experiences are actually the unveiling of connections that reflect those moments where our paths intersect. I recently blogged about Scott McLeod's perception of Clayton Christensen's concept of disruptive innovation. (See the bread crumb trail here?) To my surprise, it appeared again in this week's CCK08 readings. Knowledge diffuses like a forest fire, moving in numerous directions, sometimes jumping roads to burn a whole new path.

Schools, by their structure, contain the fire. Closed classrooms contain knowledge by limiting access to available information, investing everything in the one teacher/one text model, and bureaucratizing the system in the name of accountability, thus making change nearly impossible. It is perfectly clear to me that changing the educational system will require a whole new paradigm of structure and space.

What will this new space look like? Will all learning take place online, or will we build blended connected environments that include small meetings of face-t0-face participants? Will the innovations made possible by new technologies be powerful enough to change an educational system that has managed to survive virtually all past technological advancements since the pencil? Will some of us have to start from scratch with a whole new paradigm of learning space? The chances of making that happen within the current physical structure appear bleak, at best.

CCK08-Connectivism, Disruptive Innovation, and the Long Tail

2008-11-17T18:54:00.000-08:00

Paper #3
In this reflection, I offer a personal perspective on connectivism concepts addressed in the past ten weeks. Three major components drove my learning experience. Instructors, George Siemens and Stephen Downes provided a solid foundation of theory and concepts. Colleagues in the course and those who have blogged in the past brought unique perspectives to the content. My personal journey through blogs, online video presentations, podcasts, synchronous meetings, various articles and relationships with colleagues and students further constructed my connective knowledge.

As a result, I see opportunities for education, especially in helping students build personal learning networks that will serve them in all learning endeavors. While the connectivism that George and Stephen envision is often spontaneous and self-directed, I believe students can initially benefit from a more organized approach. Once the foundation is built, independent learning will thrive.

The challenge lies in making this possible for all students, from elementary through higher education. New technologies with connective network potential are released on a near daily basis. Yet, few teachers take advantage of the most basic benefits of network technology such as Internet search and research strategies.

Why is it so difficult to change the practice of education?
I recently listened to the 21st Century Learning Podcast, Dr. Scott McLeod on Disruptive Innovation and the future of K12 Education. Scott compares schools to the corporations in Clayton Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma (1997). Christensen’s basic premise is that “time and time again almost all the organizations that have ‘died’ or been displaced from their industries (because of a new paradigm of customer offering) could see the disruption coming, but did nothing until it was too late” (12 Manage, 2008, pg. 1). Basically, corporations are not able to handle disruptive innovation from within. Such innovation is only possible through completely new business models or off-shoots of the business with autonomous management. The sober implication for schools is that existing systems are so entrenched in bureaucracies of current practice that they are not likely to change. Those of us who are trying to innovate from within are basically banging our heads against the wall. On the other hand, online, connected learning may provide opportunities to disengage from the institution of school as we know it.

What kinds of opportunities can we embrace if we are able to make fundamental and systemic changes?

We must rethink school, structure, and power. School is not necessarily textbooks, and standardized testing. It doesn’t have to be a brick building, six or seven periods a day, and desks in rows. Teachers do not have to control the learning process. If we empower the learner and provide him or her with the resources necessary to embark on effective connective journeys, we’ll have a vehicle for innovation.

What can we learn from voices of resistance?
Resistance is good. Any new theory, or idea for that matter, needs vetting to fully develop and improve. Open-minded skepticism is healthy because it encourages creativity. There will be those who never change. However, our response to their arguments adds to the foundation on which we build a solid learning network. Learning may look different in a connective environment, but some traditional learning principles may be valid in certain circumstances. Resistance will help us evaluate those pedagogies and how they apply.

I see our current world of weak ties and easy connections as the long tail of learning. John Seeley Brown suggests, “the challenge of 21st century education will be leveraging the abundant resources of the web – this very long tail of interests – into a “circle of knowledge-building and sharing” (Brown, 2007). Success will depend on our ability to change our role from all-knowing teacher to network learning guide.

Brown, J. (2007, January 30). MIT World » : Relearning Learning-Applying the Long Tail to Learning. Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/419/.

Christensen, C. (1997). Innovator's Dilemma: Introduction: (Why Companies Need to Understand and Manage the Forces of Disruptive Innovation). New York: Harvard Business School Press.

Christensen, C. (2008, November 8). Disruptive Innovation (Christensen). Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://www.12manage.com/methods_christensen_disruptive_innovation.html.

Ragone, A. (2008, November 14). 21st Century Learning #84: Dr. Scott McLeod on Disruptive Innovation and the Future of K12 Education | EdTechTalk. Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://edtechtalk.com/21cl_84.

The Networked Student Revision B

2008-11-12T19:40:00.001-08:00

Thank you for more valuable feedback on the Networked Student Diagram. A special shout out to Jon Becker for this visual suggestion.
Cindy Lane suggested that coworkers be added to contacts. She reminded me that many older students have part time jobs or internships.

Here's the update with their input and a few of my changes. I removed the subcategories under social networking and placed it under RSS. You'll see that the diagram is actually starting to look more like a network with RSS as a separate category, but also a subcategory of Information Management. I changed Direct Communication to Synchronous Communication and connected it to contacts, as well. Any more ideas?
Click on the graphic to enlarge.

The Networked Student Revision A

2008-11-12T08:45:00.001-08:00

Thank you to everyone who offered feedback on the Networked Student so far. Changes to this revision include:

Remove reference to specific tools.
Include RSS under "Information Management"
Add MySpace and Facebook - Rather than single out these specific tools, I divided social networking into hobbies, formal learning, and socializing. There may be a better way to do this.

Please have a look at this new version and let me know what you think. Click on the graphic to enlarge.

The Networked Student

2008-11-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Alec Couros' vision of The Networked Teacher and participation in the Connectivism course, I've decided to experiment with student personal learning networks. I'm still in the process of brainstorming a concept map to represent the Networked Student. It's not especially pretty at this point, but I would so appreciate any feedback on the content!

Today, I kicked off a project with my Contemporary Issues class. Each student is selecting an issue for which they have a great interest. We're in the process of building personal learning networks one step at a time:

Internet search tips
Social Bookmarking - Set up de.licio.us account
RSS - Set up Google Reader, personal blog, podcast subscriptions, Google Alerts
How to find an expert (to schedule Skype sessions with our class)
Hoping to hold it all together with iGoogle Page and/or personal wiki

Students already have Google Docs accounts, so it seemed easier to keep with the Google tools.

For the selected topic, students will:

Follow at least 5 blogs (hopefully more)
Create a personal blog and reflect at least twice/wk
Maintain and share de.licio.us bookmarks on the topic
Facilitate discussions in our face-to-face meetings
Subscribe to podcasts if available for the topic
Schedule a Skype session with an expert in the field
Create a final product that can be posted to share with others (e.g.: wiki, ning, slideshare, Voice Thread, video)

A purely connectivist approach would not mandate each of these tasks. Students would be free to navigate their learning network according to individual needs. However, my students still find great comfort in structure. This is their first venture into online learning. We'll see how they venture on their own once I nudge them out of the nest. :-)

What am I missing? If you've done this before, what worked or didn't work for your students? Anything you would add? Ideas?

CCK08-Who is Teacher in a Connectivist Framework?

2008-11-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

Changing roles of educators
Teacher roles and responsibilities are changing on a number of fronts. The accountability movement, especially in the United States, has placed considerably more responsibility on the teacher in the form of standardization of content, evaluation, and documentation of student achievement. Brain research is telling us more about child development and how humans learn, in addition to providing the means to identify auditory processing deficiencies, autism, attention deficit disorder and countless other exceptionalities. Government increasingly looks to education to solve complex social challenges. Meanwhile, technology evolves at such a frenetic pace that we barely have the chance to consider the educational value of one tool before another takes center stage. Teachers are continually asked to do more with the same or less resources. It’s easy to understand why they are overwhelmed. Some embrace these changes losing sleep over how to address them. Others find safety in their comfort zones. Ultimately, we will all have to come to terms with how these issues affect our roles as educators and learners.

Teaching and learning involves social interaction, even in the most traditional sense between teacher and student. Social technology “has fundamentally changed how we can be together” (White, 2008), so it seems natural to explore the potential impact of social networking on education and how it might change our roles. This reflection will focus specifically on the impact of connected learning on teacher roles. However, it is wise to consider implications to all of the issues listed above to further reflect on how networked teacher roles might address educational challenges beyond mere technological implications. Such is a topic for future study.

Appropriate responses to change
Teacher as entrepreneur
Teachers, by nature, take pride in their control and structure. Traditionally, this is how order is maintained. Control is further regarded as necessary to efficiently cover large quantities of content. However, managing change requires flexibility. Experimentation is essential in any dynamic environment. Effective responses to rapid change include an open mind, flexible attitude, and entrepreneurial spirit. Teachers, like their students, can learn a lot from their mistakes. Empowering students requires exchanging control for greater freedom. Greater freedom promotes positive risk taking on the part of both teacher and student. Everyone benefits. Let’s Talk Business, an online guide to business success, suggests that successful entrepreneurs are optimistic, tenacious, ethical, eager to listen and learn, confident, disciplined, and self-controlled (Prairie Public Television, n.d.). Imagine these qualities in a networked teacher, emphasis on self-controlled versus controlling.

Impediments to change
Teacher as change agent
Even in a storm of change, some teachers manage to maintain enough autonomy within the confines of classroom walls to escape administrative directives and avoid collegial pressure. Therefore, the networked teacher must assume the role of change agent. In many cases administrators are not familiar with connectivism and the potential of connected learning. The teacher as change agent possesses leadership qualities to be modeled by other teachers. He or she is a decision maker, one who doesn’t just use technology for its own sake but exhibits thoughtful applications of each new tool. Furthermore, change agents are confident, visionary, and persistent (Gwinn and Taffe, 2007). They will visit fellow colleagues one-on-one as much as necessary to influence their practice. One of Paul Skidmore’s characteristics of network leadership is helping people grow out of their comfort zones (Skidmore, 2006). The teacher as change agent helps others manage this shift.

Impact of current trends
Beyond skeptical colleagues, the networked teacher faces obstacles of limited time, contradicting pedagogy, unbalanced focus on accountability through testing, increased costs with lower budgets, and slow change at upper administrative levels. Yet emerging technologies are providing lower cost, efficient alternatives for building robust personal learning networks. As the trend toward less expensive computers, ever-expanding storage space, and user-friendly social networks continues, more educators will experiment with connected learning thereby exposing more students to its endless learning potential. Once students are empowered in this way, no one will be able to take that away.

What could be?
What does this mean for the networked, connected teacher? What new roles emerge? On his blog, Konrad Glogowski explains, “his classroom transformed itself from a place where knowledge was pre-packaged for students to a place where they are now given a responsibility of creating it, where they have to participate in existing networks (class blogosphere, for example), nurture their own (Furl or del.icio.us accounts, blogs), and look for connections” (Glogowski, 2005). He further identifies the point when he began teaching students to recognize and formulate connections and patterns as the point when he became a teacher of connectivism (Glogowski, 2005).

Konrad, Clarence Fisher, Alec Couros and others in my own personal learning network inspire me to take on new roles to make networked learning possible for my students. I’m about to embark on a 6-week connectivism project with my Contemporary Issues class. They will build a personal learning environment based on a topic for which they have great interest. I will take on a number of new roles including that of modeler, network administrator, curator, concierge, community leader, technology steward, information filter, Sherpa, researcher, change agent, learning entrepreneur, and evaluator. Some of these roles will be foreign and uncomfortable. But, I’m open minded, confident, ready to experiment, and prepared to learn from my mistakes. (See Concept Map in post below this one.)

References

Brown, J. (2008). How to Connect Technology and Passion in the Service of Learning. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(8), 99.

Brown, J., & Adler, R. (2008). Minds on Fire. Educause, Jan/Feb, 17-32.

Cormier, D., Downes, S., & Siemens, G. (2008, November 7). CCK08 UStream Session Chat. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Dave%20Cormier%2C%20Stephen%20Downes%2C%20George%20Siemens%2C%20CCK08%20participants%22%20AND%20(mediatype%3Amovies)%20AND%20subject%3A%22role%20of%20teacher%22.

Entrepreneurship: Characteristics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2008, from http://www.prairiepublic.org/features/END/entrepreneur5.htm.

Glogowski, K. (2005, September 14). Teaching Connectivism blog of proximal development . Retrieved November 9, 2008, from http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2005/09/14/connectivism/

Gwinn, C., & Taffe, S. (2007). Integrating Literacy and Technology: Effective Practice for Grades K-6 (Tools for Teaching Literacy). New York: The Guilford Press.

Siemens, G. (2007, August 24). Connectivism Blog. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from http://connectivism.ca/blog/2007/08/networks_ecologies_and_curator.html.

Skidmore, P. (2006). Leadership themes school leadership in the 21st century. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from http://74.125.113.104/search?q=cache:C6_YNOXjQvYJ:networkedlearning.ncsl.org.uk/knowledge-base/programme-leaflets/leadership-themes-school-leadership-in-the-21st-century.pdf+paul+skidmore+network+leadership&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a

White, N. (2008, November 5). Full Circle Associates » Guesting with Connectivism & Connective Knowledge. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from http://www.fullcirc.com/wp/2008/11/05/guesting-with-connectivism-connective-knowledge/.

CCK08 - The Changing Role of Teacher

2008-11-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

This week in CCK08, we focused on changing teacher roles. As the concept map reflects, George Siemens, with the help of Stephen Downes, John Seeley Brown, and others offered a number of examples. Nancy White, our guest speaker on Wednesday, offered her views of emerging roles and practices. I'm going to address teacher roles in greater detail in my next post, but the concept map includes a few of my own contributions to the list.

On Friday, my school sponsored a professional development session facilitated by Dr. Joann Deak. She presented current research on the brain that might impact the way we teach. She was careful to focus only on well-documented research and peer-reviewed studies, and she guarded forcefully against hopping on the latest pop psychology band wagon. Almost immediately, teachers were thinking about the practical implications. It occurred to me that there is more influencing the role of teacher than just technology or social networking. The field of education overlaps nearly every other field of practice. Research is evolving at a break neck pace, and arguably all of it could impact effective instruction. This got me thinking about our responsibilities as educators. We've always been conduits of information, but we can't possibly be the keepers of all content, no matter how narrow our field of expertise. Neither can we pick and choose what is important for the learning needs of others. Rather, we become facilitators whose responsibility it is to guide others through the information filtering process. In order to do this we must also become expert researchers. The goal is not research for the purpose of regurgitation, but rather to teach the research process, how to find and filter information.

CCK08 Power to the People

2008-10-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Power is a loaded concept that is hard to pull into focus without consideration from many different perspectives. The concept map below reflects my personal values. Realistically, power does not agreeably conform into each of these tidy categories. It just seemed logical for me to differentiate between individual, group, and network power, as well as perceived and actual power.

Empowerment takes place when an individual accepts or takes power in a situation. Power can be assigned or earned, but empowerment must be accepted. It was helpful to reflect back to the week we spent differentiating between groups and networks as I considered how individuals behave in these environments. Based on some of the components discussed earlier, I see group power taking the form of leadership by a recognized authority. Whereas, network power may be distributed and/or negotiated. It is also more likely to change based on situations or the environment. I think power is more complex in a network. There may be individuals who believe they have power when, in fact, others do not acknowledge it. In other cases, individuals may have power without even recognizing it.

Paul Skidmore offers characteristics of network leadership that helped me consider what it means to wield power in a network for good (rather than evil). Frankly, these are just good leadership principles in general:

Lead from outside in
Mobilize disparate supplies of energy
Foster trust and empower others to act
Help people grow out of their comfort zone (my personal favorite)
Lead learners, not all-knowers
Nurture other leaders

This is great advice for teachers who strive to facilitate students' development of their own personal learning environments.

CCK08 Connected ID from Grainne Conole

2008-10-21T17:17:00.001-07:00

I've really been looking forward to this week's connectivism content. Instructional design is a personal passion and I enjoy pondering design for every new learning challenge or, in the case of connectivism, contemplating a new theory. From my perspective, this is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching. It's like cracking a case, solving a mystery, or putting together a 5000 piece puzzle. Yet, it's never completely finished. There's always some way to make it better. So, from day one, I've been wondering how to practically create an effective connected learning environment. I'm not sure that connectivism is ready to make the leap from learning theory to learning practice, but I did pick up some valuable principles that apply to social networking for learning.

In New Schemas for Mapping Pedagogies and Technologies, Grainne Conole "reflects on the implications of Web 2.0 for education and offers two new schemas for thinking about harnessing the potential of technologies", focusing specifically on Web 2.0 technologies. The portion of the article that resonated most with me is the pedagogical framework for mapping tools (see concept map above). Conole identifies 3 dimensions that span from information to experience, passive to active learning, and individual to social learning. I immediately recognize that most classroom learning takes place in the upper left corner of the framework. Most of our students individually learn knowledge-level information in a passive manner. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do we move our students toward the lower right corner where they can actively experience learning with others?

Conole offers a matrix of principles against the learning characteristics they promote. For example, frequent interactive exercises and feedback promote thinking and reflection, conversation and interaction, as well as evidence and demonstration. Allowing users to build a reputation in the system promotes experience and activity. Conole further identifies personal learning networks as a means for creating a custom learning experiences.

I see personal learning environments as the key to a connectivist approach. Learner freedom to choose connections and navigate the network is crucial. It's what separates a group from a network, structured closed learning environments from open, distributive from distributed. If we put structure around this PLE, it no longer maintains all of the characteristics of an open network. Perhaps we should...

focus our teaching time on effective methods for building a personal learning environment
provide guidance and feedback as our students create this environment
offer support and challenge students to push themselves further, especially when they fail to take ownership of the learning process
share in their successes and provide additional avenues for sharing with others

It appears that Open University's Cloudworks, a social networking tool for sharing learning ideas and designs may provide a repository for networked learning objects. I was only able to visit some areas of the site to get a very high-level feel for what they are trying to accomplish. For now, the site has limited access. However, a few basic design principles are offered that could apply to the design of any social network for learning.

Clearly define the social object your service is built around
Define the verbs that users perform on the objects so that it is clear what the site is for (how many Web 2.0 tools have you visited with absolutely no clue as to what they do?)
Make the objects sharable
Turn invitations into gifts (provide motivation for others to participate)
Charge publishers, not spectators

The Cloudworks design framework further identifies four design domains:

Enabling practice
Mimicking reality
Building identify
Actualizing self

The Cloudworks design principles focus on actually building a social network for learning rather than using existing networks to learn. However, the design domains are useful in both situations.

I'm not sure I have all the components necessary to design an effective social networked learning experience, but I do feel that we're getting closer. I think that the lessons of this week provide some building blocks that will continue to surface as we progress through the course.

References

CloudWorks. (n.d.). Retrieved Oct. 18, 2008, from http://cloudworks.open.ac.uk/.

Conole, G. (n.d.). New Schemas for Mapping Pedagogies and Technologies. Retrieved Oct. 19, 2008, from http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue56/conole/.

CCK08: I've Had an Ephiphany about emergent learning

2008-10-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

I've had an ephiphany...an "aha" moment...I've experienced emergent learning!

(Then, again. I could be wrong. It's impossible to predict.)

People tell me that uncertainty comes with age. I have to admit I see less black and white in the world these days and a whole lot more gray. I continually marvel at the human need to simplify extremely complex ideas. We are always looking for that one cause to explain an issue or problem (e.g. cancer, economic collapse, student failure in school, poverty). The reality is that all of these problems are the result of complex systems. Therefore, cause is difficult to determine because it is the result of the interaction of many variables. We have to consider alternative conceptions of causality. In other words, prediction is uncertain, difficult, maybe impossible. (Phelps, 2003) The cause may turn out to be a system in and of itself. For example, cancer in one individual may be the result of a combination of genetic inheritance, exposure to a combination of environmental chemicals, and the complexities of diet. Removal of any one of those variable MAY decrease the risk, but which one? Are they all dependent upon each other? At this point that is impossible to predict.

How can we extend this concept to learning?
Can we even create specific learning objectives within a framework of complexity? (Framework of complexity...Is that an oxymoron?) Phelps points out that real life is not ordered or structured, but I submit that's the reason we humans try so hard to put structure and order around it. Order facilitates our understanding. If we took Phelps' study to the next level, we might find that students learn more from a free, open, complex content environment. But, I wonder if we would also find (as I am experiencing with this course) a motivation to impose our own individual structure around the chaos. So, maybe it's not about a lack of structure, but more about who's imposing the structure. Do we learn from artificially imposed structure conceived by the teacher, or self-imposed structure that meets our unique individual learning needs? How can teachers help students build those individual learning structures? Is that possible or practical?

CCK08: Groups versus Networks - What's the difference?

2008-10-07T16:33:00.001-07:00

This week in Connectivism Stephen Downes and George Siemens differentiate between groups and networks. When I first started to consider connectivism as a learning theory, I had difficulty separating these two ideas. I wondered how connectivism was any different than cooperative learning with technology. A simplistic view, I know. But, playing devil's advocate in my own mind, I couldn't immediately see enough differences to warrant a brand new theory of learning. That changed for me somewhat over the past weeks and more so this week.

A few key concepts associated with groups and networks really clarify the differences.

Groups
Unity
Value
Closed
Limits
Distributive
Unequal

Networks
Connections
Diversity
Autonomy
Open
Distributed
Equal

Connectivism is about networked learning. This doesn't mean that groups won't form within networks. It just means that connective learning in it's most powerful sense has the characteristics on the right side of this concept map. Those characteristics are what differentiates groups from networks and connectivism from other learning theories.

Just one question...
I'm grappling with the notion that networks are like ecosystems. When I think of an ecosystem, I think of critical dependencies whereby the ecosystem fails when one component fails. Yet in a complex network, a node could theoretically disappear without causing major impact to the network. Again, I'm getting caught up in metaphors when I should be thrilled that all of this is starting to make a lot more sense to me.

CCK08: History of Networked Learning Timeline

2008-10-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

Week 4: History of Networked Learning
I chose to create a timeline in place of a concept map for the history of networked learning. It just seemed to make more sense given the historic frame of reference for the week's content.

Of course, this timeline does not include everything. It's a compilation of content from George Siemen's "A Brief History of Networked Learning" and Trebor Scholz' Slideshare of How the Social Web Came to Be.

Be sure to click on the little plus signs at the bottom of the timeline to see all items.

CCK08: What is Connectivism? A position based on 4 weeks in CCK08, an open Connectivism Course

2008-10-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

A New Theory of Learning?
The Internet, interactive social gaming, and Web applications designed to facilitate social participation have created a new environment for collaborating and learning. Humans adapt to their environment. “Learning is influenced in fundamental ways by the context in which it takes place” (Bransford et al, 2000, pg. 25). Connectivism seeks to understand learning within this relatively new, technology-enhanced context. “The concept of emergent, connected, and adaptive knowledge provides the epistemological framework for connectivism (Siemens, 2005) as a learning theory. Connectivism posits that knowledge is distributed across networks and the act of learning is largely one of forming a diverse network of connections and recognizing attendant patterns (Siemens, 2006)” (as quoted by Siemens, 2008, pg. 10).

Discussion continues in the scholarly and online blogging community over whether Connectivism is a new theory of learning. To answer that, we have to determine what constitutes a learning theory versus an idea or principle of learning. In Human Learning, Jeanne Ellis Ormrod differentiates between principles and theories. “Theories of learning provide explanations about the underlying mechanisms involved in learning. Whereas principles tell us what factors are important for learning, theories tell us why these factors are important” (Ormrod, 2008, pg. 5-6). Ormrod further identifies 4 advantages of theories. Theories summarize results of many research studies, provide starting points for conducting new research, help make sense of research findings, and ultimately help us design learning environments that facilitate human learning (Ormrod, 2008, p. 7).

Based on these views of learning theory, I submit that Connectivism is in its theoretical infancy. It is built on existing theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism (Siemens, 2005). However, Connectivism is differentiated by new requirements for learning that are evolving in the digital information age. We’re in the middle of this evolution. Therefore, more observation and scholarly research studies are required before we can effectively apply this theory to instructional design. These are exciting times. All who are participating in this exploration of Connectivism are directly involved in the process of establishing Connectivism as a valid theory of learning.

Strengths and Weaknesses
The strength of connectivism is in its ability to explore and consider learning in a complex networked environment. There is powerful learning potential in a network where learning can reside outside the individual at the same time providing limitless access to further learning opportunities for each participant.

The weakness of Connectivism as a theory of learning is in practical application. Consider the concepts of chaos and self-organization, chaos, the “connection of everything to everything” (Siemens, 2005) and self organization, “the spontaneous formation of well organized structures, patterns, or behaviors from random initial conditions” (Rocha, 1998, p. 3). We can observe complex connections of everything to everything. We can observe random initial conditions after they occur. Unfortunately, we can’t effectively recreate them. (Unless we have access to large numbers of people to pull together for a common cause as with the 2000 participants in this class.) Therefore, how do we apply this theory of learning to design? Furthermore, how can we help practitioners fully grasp the theory in such a way as to consider the possibility that they won’t be able to control learning in the same way they have in the past. The implications to education must be explored further.

Personal Perspective
Connectivism resonates with my past learning experience in that I’ve come to personally value the power of networked learning. I was an independent, introverted learner throughout my formal education until the last few years of graduate school. I did not like group work primarily because I disliked the dependence on others to get work done. The distribution of work was never well balanced. Someone always ended up with more of the burden and it was often me, not because I was so intelligent, but because I just wanted to get the work done.

It has only been in the past few years, as I have seen the emergence of online networks, that I’ve come to understand the power of connections and collective intelligence. I’ve decided that networked learning doesn’t take place as effectively in a small group setting. Technology provides a means to network with a much larger population. People can contribute at all different levels of participation without adversely impacting others who seek to learn from the network. The larger the number of participators or subnetworks, the less important an individual level of participation becomes. The smaller the network, the more motivation and forced participation come into play. I’m currently involved in a number of 21st Century learning initiatives that require my participation in a Ning. On the one hand, it’s a great way to connect with other members of the group. On the other hand, contributions often seem forced or contrived. I resent (though I understand) the requirement to contribute when I don’t necessarily have anything I feel compelled to add to the conversation.

I believe that the bigger challenge for educators and instructional designers will be to figure out how to tap into or create larger networks for learning. I think that individuals will have to build their own personal learning networks based on unique needs and desires. Educators will become facilitators who help individuals navigate these large networks and organize content in a manner that best meets the learner’s unique needs.

Outstanding Questions
Connectivism is a theory in progress. As I practitioner, I’m continuously tempted to apply the theory to my personal practice. As a researcher, I understand why we’re not quite ready to make those leaps. At the same time, reflecting on possible practical applications helps practitioners grasp the theory. It might also identify areas where further research is needed. Questions I continue to ponder include:
• Is there an optimal size for a learning network?
• Are individual motivation, participation, level of expertise, and level of contribution dependent factors?
• How can teachers make the best use of existing networks and facilitate the organizational challenges for student participation?
• Is it possible to design an effective learning network? Should we even try?
• If Connectivism is a learning theory, we must presume that individuals are learning in this environment. What are the implications for future research and how do we design effective studies to address these implications?
• What are the roles of individuals in a learning network? Are the values of each role different? What is the implication if one or more of these roles are not fulfilled?

References

Bransford, J. et. al. (2000). How people learn. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Ormrod, J. (2007). Human Learning (5th Edition). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall.

Rocha, L. M. (1998). Selected Self-Organization and the Semiotics of Evolutionary Systems. Retrieved October 4, 2008 from http://informatics.indiana.edu/rocha/ises.html.

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for a digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1). Retrieved October 4, 2008, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm

Siemens, G. (2008). Presented to ITFORUM for discussion on January 27, 2008. Retrieved from http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:zSoDQHEjB3QJ:it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf+george+siemens+learning+is+distributed+within+a+network&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a October 4, 2008.

CCK08 Network Concept Map

2008-09-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the conversations about networking that came out of the connectivism course last week. The concept swam in and out of my brain throughout the week. For example, an old friend came into town on Sunday morning. He invited a few other folks who he knew in the area when he lived here years ago. We all got together for breakfast, talked about old times, and marveled over the additional friends and acquaintances that we had in common. Human networks are not new, but technology certainly reinforces and enables those additional connections. At the end of breakfast, email addresses were exchanged and I ended up with 3 new LinkedIn connections. Once you start thinking about networks, it's difficult to break away. They are so pervasive in my daily life.

Some of the key take-aways that resonated this week include:

Multiple networks that come together are not purely additive. There is overlap, more so as the network evolves.
There are different roles within a network. Individuals can take on more than one role within a given network or across the networks in which they participate.
There is value in all network nodes, though it may be influenced by individual roles and possibility expertise.

Networks Concept Map
(Click on the map to enlarge)

I truly began to see that networks ARE everywhere, not just on the Internet, but in our face-to-face workspace, public transportation, social relationships, mobile communication, families, colleagiate football (bad week for the Gators), and our suffering economy. Recognizing networks in every aspect of life provides a virtual laboratory for contemplating and comparing those networks to online social networks. What makes them successful? How are they maintained? What are the roles within that network? Where is the power? How does this outside-world network compare to my online social connections?

These questions are important if we ever hope to grasp the complexity of online networked learning.

CCK08 Network Metaphors and Week Three Recap

2008-09-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of the CCK08 Connectivism course focused on networks. The metaphors and analogies have been flying in the forums, blogs, and chat rooms in Elluminate and UStream sessions. This is another example of how we, as humans, find meaning in confusion. We make connections with ideas and concepts we already know, comparisons that fit within the established schema.

George Seimens explains, "Knowledge is distributed. Learning is the process of creating networks. This is increasingly aided by technology." George posed a question this week, "If a network structure is a foundation of learning, are our education systems designed to appropriately take advantage of networking opportunities?" A number of course participants have asked for practical applications of connectivism theory. I long for that myself, but I'm beginning to realize that we're putting the cart before the horse. It's a lot easier to observe a highly functioning networked learning environment or situation than it is to create one. Though many early adopters are trying. Newer web applications such as Nings and wikis offer some structure for networked communities. But, it's still quite messy. I'm increasingly challenged to sift through the networking opportunities that come along each day, especially as someone working in the educational technology field. I personally belong to a Powerful Learning Practice Ning, an NAIS Teacher of the Future social network, a Florida Master Digital Educator's Ning, a University of Florida Department of Ed Tech Wiki, student AP Human Geography Wiki, student Great Debate 2008 Ning, K12 Online wiki, and the connectivism course. These are just the ones in which I'm supposed to be currently active.

This is not a complaint. Nor, am I trying to win the most-networked teacher award. I'm actually trying to embrace the cognitive dissonance that is the result of my immersion in this 24/7 connectedness. On the one hand, I'm picking up tidbits of useful knowledge that greatly enhance my research and pique my curiousity. I also hope that I'm sharing useful information with others. On the other hand, I'm losing a lot of sleep and feeling extremely disjointed in my participation in these networks. So, if I exist as a single node within all of these networks, what is my value to the network? Would I be of greater value in one network to which I could devote a greater amount of my thought processing? Or, am I of some value in each of these networks? Furthermore, do I personally get more out of full participation in one network - or disjointed participation in many?

Back to George's question. My answer today is.. we won't be equipped to design a system that supports networked learning until we understand it much better than we do now. It may even require us to rethink our definitions of learning, structure, scaffolding, and other concepts we relate to a learning environment. Rather than teaching students how to learn, we may have to teach them how to effectively manage learning. We don't do a good job of that, even in our current system.

CCK08 Knowledge Concept Map

2008-09-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Some of last week's conversations defining knowledge were very theoretical and a little difficult to follow. Still, they were thought-provoking and certainly had me questioning my perspectives with regard to knowledge and knowing. In the simplest sense, I am able to view knowledge as qualitative, quantitative, or connective. George Siemens verified via our UStream discussion that knowledge can be both qualitative or quantitative AND connective. That provided some clarification.

One question that continued to resonate with me...What has changed that makes connectivism a viable learning theory at this point in history? Many of the components of the theory apply to face-to-face communities as much as they do to virtual ones. Why don't we view connectivism as a general theory of group learning rather than a theory that applies the use of technology to learning? Relating connectivism to changes in the knowledge environment helped clarify the role of technology. Knowledge-sharing is becoming easier, knowledge itself more accessible. A number of trends are changing the knowledge environment. These trends facilitate connected learning. (See concept map below.) Technology is making the environmental change possible.

Connective Knowledge CCK08

2008-09-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

Connective Knowledge is this week's focus in CCK08. George Siemens' book, Knowing Knowledge (included in my summer reading) provides a good foundation for this week's discussions. A few course members are already contemplating the difference between knowledge and information. From a conceptual point of view, I see value in differentiating between

Information
Knowledge
Learning
Education

As these are English words, I don't want to get caught up in semantics. The differences are subtle, but important to note. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition is italicized with my comments below.

Information
1: the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence2 a (1): knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction

Webster uses the words "communication" and "knowledge" in the definition for information. I would argue that information exists without necessary communication. Information is everywhere, not necessarily communicated. In some cases, it just is.

Knowledge
1 obsolete : cognizance 2 a (1): the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (2): acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique b (1): the fact or condition of being aware of something (2): the range of one's information or understanding knowledge

Knowledge is a noun, but attaining it requires action, either passive or active on the part of the one acquiring it. Note the phrase "through experience", "being aware", "understanding".

Learning
1 : the act or experience of one that learns 2 : knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study 3 : modification of a behavioral tendency by experience (as exposure to conditioning)

Learning is the action. It is what happens as one acquires knowledge.

Education
1 a: the action or process of educating or of being educated ; also : a stage of such a process b: the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process education>

A favorite quote of mine: Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
I digress. Seriously, Education is what exists after exposure to information, acquisition of knowledge, and the learning process take place. Education is dynamic and continuous. It is constantly being constructed or built upon.

This is where it is important to differentiate between an individual's experience within a networked learning community and the overall group experience or contribution. One person may contribute a lot of content or very little. Another may learn extensively from that content, or barely skim the surface.

From an individual's perspective within a networked learning environment, varying levels of knowledge may be negotiated and/or acquired. I'm going to use the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki as an example of networked learning because I'm close to it. But, I believe that this is a simplistic view compared to the connected learning going on in CCK08 where numerous tools are being used at once.

One of the frustrations of the Teach Web 2.0 design is getting participants to move beyond information gathering to application, synthesis, and evaluation of content (Blooms Taxonomy, 1956). Arguably, this transition must take place for deeper learning to occur. Information is the low hanging fruit in a learning network. People are happy cutting and pasting, moving content from one location to another. But, is that really learning? Is than even knowledge? The Teach Web 2.0 wiki was designed to encourage participants to evaluate Web applications and their potential value to teaching and learning. However, few contribute at this level without guidance. There's a much greater commitment of time and thought processing required to participate in this way. It's very easy to list a new tool, much harder to assess and articulate how to use it effectively.

I see a similar circumstance within the CCK08 community. Many are in the discussion forums typing a paragraph or so. Others offer drive by praise or criticisms. Still others pop in for Elluminate or UStream sessions. How many are diving into all of these things while closely digesting the readings and trying to offer new perspectives? I want to be in that last category, but time is an enemy.

I'm very interested in understanding connectivism from an instructional design and learner role perspective. How do we move from information collection to knowledge construction? I wonder if we'll skim this topic when we look at power, control, validity, and authority in week 8?

Learning can be painful and very messy

2008-09-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you George, for your comments to my "disconnectivism" blog post. Now that I've had the chance to vent some of my frustration, I should clarify. While following the discussion has been overwhelming and at times (I REALLY hate to admit this) intimidating, I feel extremely fortunate to be part of the process. I appreciate Andreas' Walk in the Woods analogy and Stephen's reflection that "people want to cover the entire subject in the first five days". It's clear that the discomfort stems from trying to make sense of a complex environment. It almost feels like I'm personally experiencing every learning theory to which I have been exposed in my educational graduate work. Learning can be painful, confusing, and very messy. In this case, I see that as a positive.

So far, this has been one of the most intriguing and personally enlightening learning experiences I have encountered. I'm now mentally prepared for week two. :-)

Connectivism or Disconnectivism

2008-09-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

My head hurts. It is day 5 of the connectivism course, and I have more disconnects than connects. I've been reading through the Moodle forums, specifically the skeptic thread. I strongly support challenging discourse and disagreement. However, I'm frustrated by the human tendency to over-simplify complex concepts and ideas. It's even more frustrating because I can't adamantly disagree with anyone at this point. All of the arguments have merit. I'm questioning everything - my educational philosophy, my profession, even the name of my blog and wiki.

The skeptic discussion thread includes a number of Web 2.0 criticisms. We tend to put every new web-related technology under the Web 2.0 umbrella. That's a mistake. I want to strike out the "Web 2.0" in my blog and just leave "Teach". At the same time, some of the so-called Web 2.0 tools have significant educational potential. Those of us who live in educational technology must continually remind ourselves that many of our colleagues do not. There has to be some guidance to help teachers navigate emerging tools and differentiate between those that facilitate learning and those that don't. I do not apologize for that. The tools are especially important if we are able to harness them to manage complex learning environments. Why bother? For one thing, our current system of education is not working, at least not for everyone. More importantly, I've seen a flash of light and I'm curious.

Professional experience at IBM in a socially networked environment and countless online courses in my graduate program have given me glimpses of earth shattering learning events, moments when concepts, contributions of others, and epiphanies collide on multiple levels - monumental a-ha's. How do I replicate that for my own students? Is it even possible to create an environment conducive to those experiences, or does it happen just as randomly with the help of technology as it does in a face-to-face classroom? I'm not sure, but those brief moments are what I hope to capture. My interest in connectivism is rooted deeply in the quest for understanding those "connected" moments.

I see the tools of technology as future potential to manage those moments. We're not there yet. The contributions of over 2000 participants in this course are confusing, overwhelming, and uncomfortable. I have to keep walking away. Then again, they certainly have me thinking.

Motivation and Connectivism

2008-09-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

My previous post asked the question...

Shouldn't motivation be included as an influencing factor in Connectivism?

With a little more time to think about this, I realize that we have to differentiate between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Stephen Downes post Connectivism and its Critics: What Connectivism is Not states that "learners are not managed through some sort of motivating process, and the amount of learning is not (solely or reliably) influenced by motivating behaviours (such as reward and punishment, say, or social engagement)."

Delliotthk (see comment to post below) related my motivation question to our system in Florida, in which 1/3 of students do not graduate, contemplating whether networked learning might be a motivator for these students. I think it might, but my gut feeling (for lack of the requisite knowledge to make a stronger assertion) is that connectivism does not address this type of external motivation. In other words, it does not encompass those things we do as teachers to get our students to care about the work and do it.

I would, however, argue that intrinsic motivation is an influencing factor in the quality of networked learning. I do not mean the motivation of individuals. I'm talking about the motivation that exists within some larger number of participants. Not much learning will take place if no one is motivated to contribute. This begs the question, how much learning takes place when the network includes just a few highly motivated participants versus large numbers of motivated participants? What about those who lurk, but do not contribute? The thought-provoking concept here is just how does learning take place within a connectivist framework? Isn't motivation a critical factor?

Connectivism and Connective Knowledge

2008-09-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm taking George Siemens' and Stephen Downes' open Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course through the University of Manitoba. My blog is coming back to life with thoughts and questions based on the experience. Hopefully, you will see a deeper understanding begin to evolve. George posted a number of supporting documents for review, one of which was a comparison chart that differentiates connectivism from various other learning theories. This is helpful as I am still trying to grasp the concept of connectivism.

A couple questions came to mind as I read through the comparison chart.

If learning is distributed within a network, how do you centralize understanding? In other words, each participant only holds a piece of the complete puzzle.
Are the tools that help put those pieces together the new tools of learning?
Shouldn't motivation be included as an influencing factor? My personal experience with online learning communities is that levels of contribution vary greatly. Learning therefore depends on individual participants' motivation to support and contribute to the group.

More to come.

NACOL Webinar - Online Student-to-Student Collaboration

2008-04-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday evening I had the opportunity to attend a NACOL Webinar presented by Susan Lowes from the Teachers College at Columbia University. "What Works in Student-to-Student Interaction in Online Courses" was attended by a number of virtual school teachers from across the country. I was able to ask questions in the chat room and learn a little more about online collaboration. Dr. Lowes presented the structure of interaction in threaded discussion. This was interesting to me because I've experienced some of the situations she spoke about in my online graduate courses. She explained that early posters in a threaded discussion get many responses. Those who post later get fewer and thus become "orphans" who may feel isolated from the rest of the class. This makes sense because early posters tend to move on, not returning later to read additional posts. So, the question becomes how to motivate everyone to post early enough in the thread and return to respond to others. One teacher on the conference gives additional points for students who post early.

Dr. Lowes also addressed the quality of student discussion threads. Respondents who question and challenge posts stimulate increased, deeper discussion. Cheerleading (attaboy) stops discussion. Somehow, students must be motivated to post quality content and thoughtful responses that facilitate the learning process. One teacher suggested only giving credit for substantive responses. Attaboys don't count. Another teacher designed a rubric for evaluating the quality of posts and responses.

Grading or rating posts seems logical to me, however Dr. Lowes pointed out that a minimum requirement for posts may lead some students to do a little as possible. I think this can be true of any assignment. I have found that many students will post much more if interested in the particular thread. Designing a good prompt is also important.

Dr. Lowes identified different types of "talk" in threaded discussions.

Disputational Talk - assertions are made in the post followed by counter assertions (arguments)
Cumulative Talk - post says something. Somebody adds to it.
Exploratory Talk - post presents new information. Different ideas are discussed before a decision is reached. This is the optimal threaded discussion talk, but doesn't happen often.

I'm thinking about how I will integrate threaded discussions into the courses I will be teaching next year. How will I create captivating prompts that motivate students to participate enthusiastically? Will these be graded? Will I require a certain number of posts and responses within a given timeline? How can I discourage cheerleading and reward thoughtful responses? What is the best way to design a prompt that encourages exploratory talk? This is a lot to think about. But, it helps to have some focus and direction when thinking about threaded discussion. I also wonder how these principles might be applied in the virtual school I'm observing.

Lowes, Susan. (April 17, 2008). What Works in Student-to-Student Interaction in Online Courses . Retrieved April 17, 2008 from NACOL webinar series in Elluminate at http://www.nacol.org/events/ .

Student-to-Student Interaction and Collaboration

2008-04-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

In A Study of Student Interaction and Collaboration in the Virtual High School, Andrew Zucker's poses the following questions:

Does encouraging online student participation through grading practices increase student interaction and thus increase the value of the course for students?
How do teachers and students assess and value the role of interaction in online courses?
(Zucker, 2005, pg. 49)

Zucker randomly selected 8 pairs of virtual school teachers who taught the same course. All teachers encouraged interaction between students. Half of them gave double point grade values for the following interactions: ice breaker posts, minimum number of responses each week, one or two small group activities, and a student lounge for socializing.

Measures included the number of posts to the student lounge, student grades, quality of communication as defined by the teacher, and value of communication and overall satisfaction with the course as reported by the students. The survey findings indicated high satisfaction with more than 2/3 agreeing or strongly agreeing that "communications with other students have been an important part of my learning in this VHS course" (Zucker, 2005, p. 51). The survey further indicated that interaction is important for getting to know other students, learning the material, and motivation.

Andrew, Z. (2005). A Study of Student Interaction and Collaboration in the Virtual High School. A Synthesis of New Research on K-12 Online Learning, p. 49-56. Retrieved Apr. 17, 2008, from http://www.ncrel.org/tech/synthesis/.

More in the news...
The Winterberry Christian Academy is under construction in Marco Island, Florida. It's on target to open in the fall even though construction will not be complete. The school will initially operate as a virtual school until the building is finished. It plans to continue operation as a blended school once students have been moved into the building. I can't help but think that more and more schools will be using blended learning options. We already know that virtual schools can supplement brick and mortar schools by providing a wider range of subject offerings, keeping students with illnesses on track, and meeting the needs of kids who travel or have special needs. The Winterberry solution is one more item to add to the list.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/apr/15/new-marco-island-high-school-target/

Collaborative Principles

2008-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

I'm led to reflect on many aspects of the educational experience as I observe virtual school teaching strategies and techniques. It's clear that the virtual school applies solid principles of instruction to address the differences between face-to-face and online learning. Yet I continue to hear about the challenges of designing and delivering effective collaborative opportunities, especially between students. I've addressed some of the key obstacles to collaboration in earlier posts on this blog, the most challenging of which is student pacing. However, I think it's important to get a better grasp of the basic concept of collaboration before addressing specific issues. What makes online collaboration effective? Is it possible to design authentic collaboration into courses?

D.R. Garrison identifies the following online collaboration principles for design, facilitation, and direct instruction.

Establish a climate that will create a community of inquiry. In order to build trust, students should have formal and informal interaction with each other.
Establish critical reflection and discourse that will support systematic inquiry. Course design should support the students progression from awareness to knowledge construction and application, in other words through the proper stages of learning.
Sustain community through expression of group cohesion. Group cohesion is built upon a solid educational goal toward which each member is focused. Stronger bonds can be facilitated through calculated feedback.
Encourage and support the progression of inquiry through to resolution. The instructor facilitates conversations throughout the learning process.
Evolve collaborative relationships where students are supported in assuming increasing responsibility for their learning. It's important to define and communicate expectations and help students become more self-directed.
Ensure that there is resolution and metacognitive development.
Recent research has begun to emphasize the importance of strong leadership to ensure discussions stay “on task and on track” (Garrison, 2008, p. 1).

"Faculty may need to be more direct in their assignments for threaded discussions, charging the participants to resolve a particular problem, and pressing the group to integrate their ideas and perhaps, even, to prepare a resolution of the matters under discussion" (Meyer as quoted by Garrison, 2008, p. 1).

Bottom line - Design is critical in the potential success of online collaboration. Beyond that, instructors must monitor the collaborative process, provide calculated, balanced, timely feedback, and communicate expectations. I believe that making this work takes practice and experience. Like face-to-face teaching, it's also a bit of an art.

We as teachers are so influenced by our personal learning styles and the ways we were taught. I'm even more certain of this as I observe the virtual school. I find myself comparing the virtual online courses with those in my graduate program. As I continue to explore the existing research, I can see the foundation upon which our graduate courses are built. I can see how some of the techniques I've experienced as a student and online graduate facilitator might work in a k12 online environment. At the same time, I'm trying to be mindful of the unique challenges associated with teaching middle and high school students as opposed to college students. I have a much better understanding of the benefits and challenges of teaching in virtual school. I just keep wishing that I had the same understanding of the design component. I wish we had the opportunity to observe and interview the instructional designers.

Garrison, D. (2006). Online Collaboration Principles. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(1). Retrieved Apr. 14, 2008, from http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/JALN/v10n1/v10n1_3garrison_member.asp

Making Connections - What are you afraid of?

2008-04-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I observed another Elluminate session facilitated by a virtual school AP U.S. History teacher. The session was scheduled for Saturday afternoon further highlighting the need for flexibility in the virtual teachers' work schedule.

I've been focusing my recent observations on collaboration. This is a good time to differentiate between synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. Synchronous online collaboration takes place in real time with group members engaged via telephone, video conferencing, chat, or some other communication tool that allows real time conversation. Asynchronous collaboration takes place between a group of participants who provide input at different times. It might take the form of discussion forums or contributions to wikis or other shared documents.

Elluminate is a synchronous conferencing tool. About 13 students participated in the AP U.S. History session on the Japanese Internment of WWII. This was an optional session, however students were permitted to attend this session in lieu of completing an AP document-based question (DBQ). DBQs are a requirement of AP courses. Students are given an essay question that must be supported by primary sources or other documentation. Thus the motivation to attend the Saturday afternoon Elluminate session.

The teacher started the session with a question. What are you afraid of? Students wrote their answers on the Elluminate whiteboard. This was an excellent segue into the exploration of fear as a motivation for the Japanese Internment. The teacher did an great job of helping the students make connections. She gave a number of personal anecdotes throughout the session. Adding this touch personalized the experience for the students. All were engaged in the content. She also posed a question about the constitutional limitations of a racially motivated internment in the United States. Twelve blanks were posted on the whiteboard to represent the word c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n. Each student took turns guessing a letter. It was clear that one of the students was not paying attention during this process. This simple activity gave students an opportunity to collaborate while identifying those who were not on task. Virtual school teachers, like their traditional counterparts, find ways to ensure that all students are engaged.

Elluminate also has a tool that allows for small groups to meet in separate "rooms" to complete an assigned task. This feature was not used in Saturday's session, however we used this feature during the internship orientation. I can see this as another means for engaging students in online presentations.

Thank you to Jay and NACOL

2008-04-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

A very big thank you to Jay for responding to my collaboration thoughts in the post below. One of the limitations of blogging is the inability to respond directly to those who post comments, especially when no website or email address is provided. But, Jay's response also reflects the power of blogging. What better way to compare collaborative activities between virtual schools than to get feedback from actual teachers.

On a related note, one of the news stories from my sidebar highlighted an upcoming webinar sponsored by the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL). What Works in Creating Student-to-Student Interaction in Online Courses will stream at 6:00 on Thursday, April 17. The webinar will include interviews with teachers at virtual schools who are using interactivity and collaboration effectively in their classes. I hope to attend to learn more.

Collaboration at Michigan Virtual School

2008-04-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Dr. Ferdig pointed me to a recently published article in which he, Meredith DiPietro, Erik Black, and Megan Preston discuss best practices at the Michigan Virtual School. I found it interesting that the state of Michigan requires all high school students to experience online learning prior to graduation. I'm assuming that this initiative significantly increased enrollment at the virtual school.

Putting students and learning first is a common theme at the Michigan Virtual School and likewise at the school I've been observing. Other similarities between virtual school teachers at both schools include a general interest in technological advances, the need for good organizational skills, extensive content knowledge, and alternative assessment strategies.

As I reviewed the list of best practices, I was most interested in collaboration and how this is facilitated at Michigan Virtual School (MV). "MV teachers encourage support and communication between students" (DiPeitro, Ferdig, Black, and Preston, 2008, p. 24). This appears to be accomplished via discussion boards. Discussion threads are not used in the courses I have observed. It's not clear how widely they are used in other courses. My supervising teacher explained that collaboration is difficult because individual pacing allows students to be at different places in the course at any given time.

"MV teachers understand the impact of course pacing on course design and the pedagogical strategies they use". The MV teacher quote continues, "in the Flex 90 courses we don't see the strong sense of community that we do in the AP classes" (DiPeitro, Ferdig, Black, and Preston, 2008, p. 19). The reason for this is not clear. Is it because the Flex students are working at a variable pace, or is it because the AP students are better organized and more participatory?

I wish I had a better understanding of the extent to which collaborative strategies are used in both of these virtual schools. At this point, I feel limited to my personal observations and those of my blogging classmates.

Dipietro, M., Ferdig, R., Black, E., & Preston, M. (2008). Best Practices in Teaching K12 Online: Lessons Learned from Michigan Virtual School Teachers. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 7(1). Retrieved Apr. 10, 2008, from http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/showissue.cfm?volID=7&IssueID=22.

Facilitating Collaboration in Online Learning

2008-04-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Some of the upcoming posts will highlight a series of articles from the February 2006 issue of the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks. This issue focuses specifically on online collaboration. I became interested in this topic because the virtual school I'm observing is trying to integrate more collaborative projects into the curriculum. Apparently, this is a challenge. I hope to research best practices for designing collaborative components of online courses and determine if those examples would address some of the issues at the high school.

In the article, Facilitating Collaboration in Online Learning, Caroline Haythornthwaite makes the following recommendations:

Be aware of the model students have of how class work progresses and work with that to ‘sell' the change from individual, proprietary, single-owner work to joint, collaborative work.
Factor in the extra time needed to collaborate and to collaborate online when establishing course requirements.
Make students aware of the collaborative process, including the need to get to know others, create common goals, and establish their own communication practices.
Make students aware of the differences between offline and online work and learning practices.
Keep message load manageable by limiting class or group sizes, and by creating ‘small within the large' both for groups within larger classes, and for message threads within larger topics.
Teach collaborative online skills as part of the practice of being an online student: e.g., use of conventions such as message subject headings, proper message thread use in bulletin boards, topic management. (Haythornthwaite, 2006, p. 1)

The themes that stand out to me include the need for time management, organization, and actively teaching students how to collaborate. If I were to guess, it's this last item that is most difficult for online instructors. Course designers try to incorporate collaborative activities. Yet teachers are already bogged down in the existing curricular requirements.

Considering these constraints, why is collaboration so important? Haythornthwaite points out that collaboration is more efficient than learning alone. It also supports a constructivist theory of learning. "The goal of the collaboration is to create a community of inquiry where students are fully engaged in collaboratively constructing meaningful and worthwhile knowledge" (Garrison as quoted by Haythornthwaite, 2006, p. 1).

In my brief observations I still see some of the same time constraints and limitations in the online environment that I see in the brick and mortar school. Change takes time. Once fully ingrained in the prescribed curriculum, there is just no time for teachers to think creatively. Yet effective collaboration requires time to plan, time to organize, and time to teach students how to do it properly.

Haythornthwaite, C. (2006). Facilitating Collaboration in Online Learning. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Network, 10(1). Retrieved Apr. 8, 2008, from http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/JALN/v10n1/v10n1_2haythornthwaite_member.asp

Facilitating Collaboration in Virtual School

2008-04-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

Collaboration promotes a sense of community in online learners (Swan, 2006). The virtual school I've been observing is trying to encourage more collaboration between students in online high school courses. I hope to focus my research on effective methods of facilitating collaboration in AP curricula. My goal for the coming week is to get some details about the collaborative activities that seem to be working, and those that have been a challenge for the virtual school AP teachers. I learned in my meeting last week that it can be difficult to partner the students because they start the courses at different times. One student might be learning about Colonial History, while another has already progressed to the Reagan Era.

On a related note, this press release from 2003 highlights a program between the College Board and a virtual school to provide online study aids for the AP test. I've searched on the College Board Site for direct references to these aids, but only find study tips and sample questions. I'm curious as to the final outcome of the 2003 announcement.

Swan, K. (2006). Sloan-C - Publications - Journal: Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks - Vol10:1. Retrieved April 6, 2008, from http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/JALN/v10n1/v10n1_1swan.asp

Virtual School Observation and Interview - 3/31/08

2008-04-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

I spent another hour on Monday evening with a virtual school AP U.S. History teacher. I have access to her online course, but not to the student view that teachers use for administrative duties. I scheduled the meeting to ask a few more questions and take a tour of the management side of online teaching. The discussion was extremely productive. We talked about many aspects of online teaching and learning. I reorganized the discussion a bit to try to bring some order to the interview.

Life of a virtual school teacher
The virtual school has a policy to hire only teachers with at least three years experience. Many teachers apply for positions at the school, therefore administrators are able to attract excellent candidates. However, they are finding that an experienced, accomplished face-to-face teacher does not necessarily make a good online teacher. In reality, the jobs are VERY different.

Virtual school teachers manage up to 200+ students. Students can register and join courses at any time during the year. This means that students will be at different points of the course at any given time. Regular contact is essential, especially with new students. Therefore, telephone contact is critical. Teachers work 12 months out of the year with minimal vacation. They are required to be available to students from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Monday through Friday. It's clear that this could be overwhelming for someone who is not extremely organized. There is definitely a learning curve associated with balancing the position. The inbox is never empty. Therefore, teachers compartmentalize tasks and create checklists for keeping on top of the workload. Some teachers are "chippers". Chippers chip away at grading and administrative tasks little by little. Others are "chunkers". Chunkers set aside large blocks of time for grading or conferencing.

The unique requirements of the job along with the work-from-home environment can create a feeling of isolation. In order to address this issue, new virtual school teachers are assigned a mentor. At least one face-to-face conference is scheduled each year in a central location. This gives teachers the opportunity to meet in groups across horizontal and vertical teams. Connections are made that continue after the conference. Teachers are encouraged to reach out to one another for help, guidance, and support.

Internships are new to the virtual school. Administrators are hoping to create an environment in which preservice teachers can learn about online teaching, consider it as a teaching option, and learn the ropes in a way that leaves them truly prepared for the realities of virtual school life. If successful, the school will consider hiring new teachers with the hope of supporting and mentoring them into long term positions.

The only constant is change
The virtual school strives for continual improvement. The rapid growth of the student population combined with the accelerated evolution of technology can create a less than stable working environment. Teachers are constantly reminded that change is constant at the school. Even the management hierarchy changes regularly as the needs of the school change. This can be unsettling for some teachers. It's another aspect of the position that makes it quite different from the brick and mortar school.

The unique aspects of virtual school teaching are not necessarily negative. But, they are very different. New teachers must be armed with realistic expectations about the position as well as sufficient support in their new role.

Virtual World Virtual School

2008-04-01T19:42:00.001-07:00

I really should narrow the scope of my virtual school research. But, I just couldn't resist posting the Virtual Classroom Project on jokaydia.com . Jokaydia is an island in Second Life. The Virtual Classroom Project goal is to "provide a platform for educators to experiment with designing spaces for learning".

I have some definite opinions about Second Life. I'm not sure it's quite ready for prime time, much less K12 virtual school. This comes from my personal inability to navigate without looking aimless and impaired (I run into things and people.) I've tried to visit a number of educational sites within Second Life, but I have yet to get much out of them. So why am I intrigued? Why do I pop in from time to time? Truth is, I wonder if virtual worlds are the future of virtual school. To some extent, I believe that the virtual brick and mortar buildings, avatars, and conversations provide a feeling of being there that doesn't come from discussion boards, blogs, and other virtual school assignments.

Collaboration is all the buzz within the virtual school I am observing. (More on that in a future post.) They are having a hard time getting students to collaborate. My experience in online courses indicates that online collaboration must be facilitated. Students don't do it unless it's required. (e.g. Post your response and respond to at least 2 classmates.) In Second Life, collaboration just happens. Frankly, it's difficult NOT to communicate when you virtually bump into someone. Once the conversation is started, other connections are made.

Check out this example of a Harvard Law course in Second Life. Is this the future of virtual school? Is this the future of teaching?

Kemp, Jeremy, and Daniel Livingstone. "PUTTING A SECOND LIFE “METAVERSE” SKIN ON LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS." Google. Retrieved 1 Apr. 2008 http://64.233.179.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:OuCR9FDE2EwJ:secondlife.com/businesseducation/education/slcc2006-proceedings.pdf%23page%3D22+

Conquering the Content by Robin M. Smith

2008-03-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

I received this notification from Amazon last week. Conquering the Content: A Step-by-Step Guide to Online Course Design by Robin M. Smith will release in April. It looks interesting. I'm anxious to see if it relates directly to our virtual school observations. I'm hoping to get the book before the end of the term.

Amazon's description states:
Product Description
Conquering the Content is a practical resource for faculty who tackle overwhelming amounts of course content that must be tailored for Web-based learning. This important guide offers step-by-step instructions for creating online learning experiences that are manageable, effective, and of the highest quality.

Essential Question - Bonus Post

2008-03-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

This is a bonus post for the week. A thought keeps surfacing as I work on this project. I want to get this down before it becomes mired in the muck of my mind. I could be completely off base here. But, I hope that further exploration and observation will help me address these thoughts.

Background:
The virtual school is a model for other schools. This status allows the school to sell courses to other virtual schools around the world.

Assumptions (Further research needed for support):

Consistency and portability are essential for mass distribution.
Online courses could benefit from the use of certain Web 2.0 tools (e.g. blogs, wikis, Voice Thread, Footnote, etc.)
In order to sell a course, it must contain original material to meet copyright criteria. This is why content is created by internal instructional designers.
Using outside sources or web applications could constitute intellectual property or copyright infringement and/or make distribution more difficult.

Essential Question:
Does the reselling of virtual courses prohibit the use of certain web applications and restrict the creativity and potential effectiveness of the course?

Follow up to AP U.S. History Review Observation

2008-03-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

I received answers to a few more of my questions about the virtual AP U.S. History study/review session (see post below). I was pleased to find out that the interactive Elluminate presentation was designed by the teacher. From my perspective, giving up design control is one of the down sides to virtual teaching. As I pointed out in earlier posts, instructional designers create the courses. While teachers occasionally provide input, their job is primarily to facilitate the content and grade assignments. I was thrilled to see that teachers could supplement the content with study sessions and additional activities to support the lessons. This is not required. But, the students who participated seemed to benefit from the experience.

There were only 4 students in the session I observed. The teacher explained that she had recently taken this class over from another teacher who left before the semester was over. Those students were not familiar with her study sessions, so fewer attended. She generally has 10-12 students participating at a time for her American Government class.

Next week, we are going to meet to walk through the course from a course management perspective. I've had the opportunity to review all of the lessons. But, I don't have access that allows me to see students. I'm hoping to get a better understanding of assignment submissions and grading as a result of our meeting.

Observation: Virtual School AP U.S. History - Study Session

2008-03-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

Last evening, I observed a virtual study/review session for AP U.S. History. The topics were Ronald Reagan and The Clinton Years. Four students were in the session. I was impressed by the level of enthusiasm on the part of the students and the teacher. One student commented in the chat area, "I like these sessions. We should have them more often".

The teacher had an energetic virtual presence. Her voice was upbeat, and she clearly enjoyed the subject matter. Since the content included the mid-80's, the title page of the presentation showed a picture of the teacher's high school graduation. What a great way to relate to the students. They got a big kick out of the 80's style.

I was impressed that students had a number of opportunities to interact with the content. An interactive table was posted on the Eluminate whiteboard in which the students defined their personal history by filling in music, clothes, politics, events, and technology of their time. We all enjoyed comparing answers. Students also had an opportunity to use the whiteboard to vote on which 2 events (Watergate, Clinton Impeachment, or Iraq War) posed the most serious threat to progress during the modern era. A thoughtful discussion followed.

The session lasted about 35 minutes. Students were able to ask questions and make authentic connections to the content. Every student was engaged. I submitted some questions to the teacher after the session including:

Is this session optional for the students? I'm assuming it is since there were only 4 participating.
Did you design the Eluminate presentation or is it part of the prescribed curriculum?
How often do you hold Eluminate sessions? The students seemed to really like the interaction.

I will post her answers when I receive them.

Another Resource:

Christopher Sessums, Director of Distance Education at the University of Florida recently posted "Notes on Workload Management Strategies for Online Educators". I found some useful resources for managing my own online courses.

I was particularly interested in Teaching courses online: How much time does it take?
It stated that online courses generally take between "3 1/2 and 7 hours per week" (Lazarus, 2003, pg. 53). However, I find that I'm spending slightly more than that. I'm still anxious to hear if that rings true for the k12 virtual school.

Lazarus, B. D. (2003). Teaching courses online: How much time does it take? Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 7(3): 47-54. Retrieved 24 March 2008 from http://www.sloan-c-wiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Teaching_Courses_O

Questions for a Virtual School Teacher

2008-03-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow evening I will have my first online meeting with a virtual school class. In the meantime, I had the opportunity to explore an AP U.S. History and American Government course. As a result of this exploration, I had a number of questions for the teacher. Some of her answers follow. I did not publish answers that were confidential or offered from a more personal point of view.

Do the courses ever incorporate emerging Web 2.0 activities like blogs, wikis, or Voice Threads for assignments, or are all activities available within the learning management system?

This is one that is "in the works". We know that these things are essential for our students but we have not yet determined how to best use them. This has especially been a focus in the American Government course since collaboration between the students is required. We are trying to find ways to make the process easier for them.
What is a web inquiry? Is this like a WebQuest? I couldn't see that activity because it was in the SAS section of the course?

Yes, they are similar.
How often do you use discussions in the course? I saw a reference to the College Board discussion. Do they provide guidelines or discussion topics for the AP courses?

We only use the internal course discussion board minimally. I think it was designed to be used with greater frequency but students tend to want more immediate response from us or each other and will use email or IM. Also, yes, the college board site does provide a wealth of review information for the students.
Is the lesson content based on a certain text, written by the course designers, or created by another service or company?

The lesson content is written internally. All our courses are based on the state standards.
What is the percentage of students who successfully pass the AP test?

The school has a tremendous pass rate over all (through our AP courses).

I'm particularly interested in learning more about how Web 2.0 tools might be incorporated in future offerings. I imagine that some of the difficulty lies in the lack of control.

A hundred bucks to go to virtual school?

2008-03-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

I would love some input on this one. South Dakota received a $2 million National Math and Science Initiative Grant to pilot a program in which students receive $100 upon passing AP math, science, and English courses. The course must be taken through the state's virtual school. Apparently, the teachers will also receive $100 , though it is not clear whether they receive $100 for each child who passes, a one-time $100 reward if anyone passes, or $100 reward if everyone passes. Hmmm. Without revealing my personal opinion about this, I wonder:

Will this program motivate students to take an AP course who would otherwise not consider this path?
Will it motivate students to take an online AP course if it is not offered at their home school?
Will it motivate teachers to teach differently in the hopes of having more students pass the AP test?
Is this the best way to spend a $2 million grant to enhance math, science, and literature education?
Does this in some way diminish the credibility of AP courses and/or virtual schools?
What does the research show regarding payment for passing grades?
Is this incentive likely to increase attendance in AP courses, increase attendance at the state's virtual school, both, neither?

Should virtual school teachers have special certification?

2008-03-18T19:57:00.001-07:00

While exploring Virtual High School Meanderings I found an article from The Journal discussing the need for K12 online teaching endorsements. K-12 Teaching Endorsements: Are They Needed suggests that "skill sets acquired for teaching in face to face settings are not adequate preparation for online teaching or online course development" (Deubel, 2008). Experience required for the endorsement might include online professional development (this ensures that the teachers have experience learning in an online environment); understanding of legalities around copyright, intellectual property, accessibility, and privacy; and working knowledge of learning management systems and Web 2.0 tools. Georgia is one of four states that already have online teaching endorsements. I wonder if other states are considering this requirement.

Patricia Deubel. K-12 Online Teaching Endorsements: Are They Needed? The Journal. January 2008 : Retrieved March 19, 2008, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/21804_4.

An Ed Tech Professor's Virtual School Blog

2008-03-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

Michael Barbour is a native of Newfoundland, Canada who recently earned a Ph.D from the University of Georgia. He currently works at Wayne State. His blog, Virtual High School Meanderings, offers a number of valuable resources including a Virtual School Wiki and a Virtual Schooling Ning networking space. I'm hoping to explore these sites further to determine if there are resources that will provide background for the internship observations.

European Virtual Schools

2008-03-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

With all of the talk about virtual schools in the U.S., I started to wonder about virtual schools in other countries. The European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-Learning published an overview of Online and Virtual Schooling in Europe.

Some of the European examples from this article include:

Examples of current and recent projects include:

Netd@ys Europe: An initiative promoting the use of new media (multimedia, Internet, videoconference or new audio-visual facilities) in the area of education and culture culminating in a showcase of online and offline events. Recent developments have focused on the quality and educational content of associated ventures and promotion of partnerships between educational and cultural organisations
myEurope: A safe web-based project designed to raise children's awareness of European issues, via innovative class activities and school projects
Celebrate - a project based on what electronic content may look like in the future. The project includes the provision of an online database that will include learning objects for education
Xplora - a gateway for science education for teachers, students, scientists, and others, containing activities, resources, tools and community links
Spring Day in Europe - project in which schools learn about EU developments and incorporate them into the curriculum. It emphasises cooperation, communication, and the sharing of ideas between teachers and schools across Europe.

Russell, Glen, (2005) Online and virtual schooling in europe. European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-Learning. Retrieved March 16, 2008, from http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2006/Glenn_Russell.htm.

In the Headlines - See Newsreel in Sidebar

2008-03-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

I added a newsreel in the sidebar to track virtual schools in the news.

Notable today:

Wisconsin
Status of Wisconsin Virtual School's 3500 students - Wisconsin Radio Network.

Roanoke
Roanoke Considering K12.com Virtual School System - Roanoke Times

Side note - Google Alert for "Virtual School" turned up a classmate's virtual school blog along with mine. What do you know, it works!

Virtual School Kick Off

2008-03-11T19:09:00.001-07:00

The kick off meeting for the Virtual School internship was last night. I had the opportunity to partner with an AP History teacher. She is conveniently located right across the Bay from me. As I listened to the presentation, a number of questions came to mind. I'm going to list them here in the hopes of reflecting on them later in the process.

Teacher/student ratio is between 100 and 200. The teachers take great pride in the personal connections they make with the students. There is an administrative process in place that is managed from the virtual school website. It appears to be very organized. I'm interested to see first hand how these contacts are managed.
Courses are developed and designed by curriculum specialists. The teachers have limited input on lessons and how they are presented. This is one of my favorite aspects of teaching. I wonder if teachers miss the creative process.
FVS is a leader among virtual schools. Curious about other virtual schools, I did some research and found that many states also have similar programs including Georgia, Texas, Minnesota, Louisiana, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oregon and the list goes on. I'm interested in learning a little bit about different virtual school philosophies.
I set up a Google Alert for "Virtual Schools" to keep track of current press and blog coverage.
I found Dr. Cavanaugh's Development and Management of Virtual Schools. I hope to use it as a resource.

Exploring a Virtual School

2008-03-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

The blog will take a slightly different focus over the next 8 weeks. Instructional Computing II is one of the courses I'm taking in the Educational Technology graduate program at the University of Florida. As part of the course, I have a unique opportunity to intern with a virtual school. This school is part of the Public School System. It is currently serving nearly 100,000 full and part time students who are taking over 90 courses in grades 6-12. (View demographics.) During the internship, I will be observing an online AP History course. This is especially valuable because I will be teaching AP Human Geography for the first time next year. There will be an online component, so I'm especially interested in course design and management.

I will share my reflections and insights here.

Does the Research Support the Plan?

2008-03-08T13:17:00.000-08:00

In 2004, the United States Department of Education, in compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, submitted seven major recommendations for a National Technology Plan. Suggested steps included strengthening technology leadership, developing innovative budget plans, providing professional development for teachers, increasing eLearning opportunities, expanding broadband access, relying more on digital content versus textbooks, and integrating district, state, and national data systems (US Department of Education, 2004). A review of the research on computers in education uncovers a debate that has been brewing for over 20 years. It also offers insight into the components of the plan by providing evidence that weighs in favor of technology use in the classroom while highlighting issues that slow its progress.

Computers and Instruction

Nearly 100% of public schools have Internet access (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2005), Yet, traditional instructional strategies persist. Only computer and business teachers report using computers in the classroom more than 50% of the time (Peerless, Feldman, and German, 2003). This is not surprising considering that the concept of school is deeply ingrained over a lifetime of attending school and teaching the way one has always been taught. Larry Cuban is famous for his position that the benefit of computer use does not outweigh the cost. He further argues, “kids don’t need years of computing exposure to succeed. People with no computer background generally catch on in a few weeks – a few months tops” (Cuban, 2001, p. 1). However, he also concedes that the “actual impact is limited by virtue of the fact that teachers tend not to incorporate computers in their instruction” (Peerless, Feldman, and German, 2003, p. 3). Whether teachers are using computers effectively versus the potential value of computers in the classroom are very different arguments. Cuban’s concerns are well founded if the measure is the actual use of computers. Personal experience supports the notion that numerous computers sit untouched during an average school day. When one considers the expense of such equipment sitting idle, it makes sense to question the investment.

On the other hand, the nature of computers provides a virtual playground for constructive learning. If teachers start to view the computer as a constructivist learning tool through which students can explore, experiment, create, and gain access to current content, the potential becomes much more valuable. Once we move beyond drill and practice, the evidence begins to weigh in favor of educational technologies. More research is needed, but Gavriel Salomon highlights current research that may support computer use (Peerless, Feldman, and German, 2003). If learning is viewed as a constructivist process where problem solving provides a means for synthesizing knowledge, then the computer becomes a doorway to that learning experience. Social networking and online collaboration may serve as tools that facilitate learning as an interpersonal process. Finally, learning “should take place within rich and complex real world contexts” (Peerless, Feldman, and German, 2003, p. 5). Salomon points out that the educational potential of technology “depends largely on whether we view the use of the computer as an end in itself, or we see it as part of a larger educational vision” (Salomon as quoted by Peerless, Feldman, and German, 2003, p. 5). If seen as a tool to support and execute the latest research outcomes, technology becomes extremely powerful. Further more, the combination of open source and countless user-friendly web applications provide even more opportunities for using the computer as a learning tool. When viewed from this angle, research in support of educational technology far outweighs the counter arguments.

The National Education Technology Plan

If we assume that there is great learning potential in the use of technology, then we must revisit the other side of the issue. Teachers aren’t making the most of the computer’s potential. “The barriers to teacher use of computers most frequently mentioned in an NCES survey were lack of release time for teachers to learn how to use computers, not enough computers, and lack of time in schedules for students to use computers” (Peerless, Feldman, and German, 2003, p. 6). Two components of the National Education Technology Plan address this challenge. The plan suggests that strengthening leadership through an investment in “leadership development programs to develop a new generation of tech-savvy leaders at every level” (National Education Technology Plan, 2005). There is also a full section on improving teacher training. In this regard, the writers of the plan recognize this as a key element in increasing the use of technology.

The plan further confirms that there must be an infrastructure in place to support all of this technology. It calls for increased broadband access and compatible data systems. To some extent it recognizes the need for funding, however the phrase “innovative budgeting” leaves a lot to the imagination. Suggesting that districts consider “reallocations in expenditures on textbooks” (National Educational Technology Plan, 2005, p. 40) offers an option for locating funds.. It is further supported by the recommendation to move toward digital content.

Finally, the report calls for expanding eLearning and virtual schools. It highlights the importance of both student and teacher access, as well as proper accreditation and teacher training.

The plan makes sense. However, it could go even further by stating the importance of technology as a global communication tool and specifying that as an outcome of both student and teacher training. Culture and attitudes are other components that must be addressed in order for change to occur. Yet even in the absence of these recommendations, the plan provides a foundation for further discussion moving forward.

References

Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920. Teachers College Press.

Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and Underused: Computers in Classrooms, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

National Center for Educational Statistics. Retrieved March 7, 2008 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=46

National Educational Technology Plan (2005). Retrieved March 7, 2008 from http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/site/docs_and_pdf/National_Education_Technology_Plan_2004.pdf

No Child Left Behind Act (2001). Retrieved March 7, 2008 from http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/states/index.html#nclb

Peerless, S., Feldman, E., & German C. (Spring, 2003) Digest of Literature on the Impact of the Computer in Instruction, Jewish Educational Leadership (1:1). Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www.lookstein.org/online_journal.php?id=61

The Hiking Metaphor

2008-03-02T07:24:00.001-08:00

My posts are always inconsistent. I've been so busy this semester that I haven't had time to put together coherent thoughts much longer than my 140-character Twitter posts. But, I was recently inspired by a grad student who marveled at the transition from teachers telling students what they need to know to students taking more of the responsibility and rewards of their learning. The following is my response. It's posted here so I don't forget the vision. We're all on this trail together. Some of us are just up ahead paving the way for the others.

I have really changed my view of teaching and learning through this educational technology journey. I see all of us, teachers and students, as co-learners navigating a complex terrain with lots of side trails and potential dead ends. The only difference between us and the children is that we are the guides. We've seen parts of this trail before. We have enough experience to recognize some of the dead ends, even though we haven't been to that exact spot on past hikes. If we get lost, it's ok to tell our group and ask for ideas that will help all of us find our way back on the "right" track. For this trip, every hiker is important. Every hiker must contribute, and every hiker is responsible for getting us to our destination. Once we get there, we all celebrate our collective success!

Voice Thread Presentations

2008-01-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

I'm experimenting with Voice Thread as a presentation tool. The best thing about it is the ability for audience comments. This presentation if for a graduate course I'm co-teaching. We're starting with the Read Web and moving on to the the Read, Write, Create Web. As I listen to myself drone on, I realize that the "me" part is quite dry (if not boring). But, it all definitely comes to life when everyone has a change to comment, reflect, and add fresh thoughts. I'll definitely be doing more of this.

Art meets Technology - Beautiful!

2007-12-18T13:45:00.001-08:00

This is a "web graph" of the Teach Web 2.0 blog. Isn't it beautiful? The blue dots represent the links on the blog. You can create a web graph of your blog here. You will also be directed to Fernando Luis Lara's incredible art project 365specialdays.com
Creative idea, really.

2007-12-12T17:31:00.000-08:00

Twitter FINALLY makes sense to me. For the longest time, I couldn't get past the fact that none of my personal contacts use Twitter. I figured that meant that I wouldn't have anyone to "Twitter" with. Now, I can humbly report that I am following 21 people. I even have 6 people following me! But, there's more. After following "edtechtalk", I learned last evening of an online chat about the OLPC program. It was very interesting, and I made a few more contacts. The best way to find people is to "people" search with keywords for which you have an interest. For example, I started with "educational technology". Any organization or person who lists this as a keyword will come up in your search. You can choose to "follow" that person. In settings, you determine whether you want updates sent to your email or phone. If you are worried about being inundated with text messages, you can just set it up to read on your twitter page. Pretty cool, short and sweet, and easy to maintain.

I'll have a GREEN Christmas

2007-12-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

I feel fortunate to have placed an order for the XO laptop on the first day of the Give One Get One offer. This makes me a "Day 1 Donor", an honor for which I even receive a badge. (See badge in blog sidebar). Apparently, this means that I will have my little green laptop before December 24. I say "apparently" because I won't believe it until I see it. But, that's ok. I've done a little volunteer work on the project by posting some content to the educators page on the OLPC Wiki. I hope that actually having the laptop will provide some insight and inspiration for further content contributions. If you are a teacher, and you would like to contribute, just visit the educators page at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Educators

Educon

2007-12-02T07:36:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited that Anna and I will be traveling to the Educon Conversation/Conference in Philadelphia in January. Our proposal to share and invite others to join the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki has been approved. The meeting sounds really interesting. It is set up to be a conversation about education rather than a technology conference. We hope to get participation in our project from teachers outside of our school. We're also looking forward to a tour of the Science Leadership Academy.

Collaboration Beyond the Classroom Walls

2007-12-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about collaboration. Trying to find a class outside the United States to collaborate with my kids has actually been frustrating. You would think that a teacher who champions educational technology and participates in educational online communities would have no problem. Here's the reality. After a number of false starts, I have yet to identify a good project. I've even been trying via iEarn, an organized collaborative community. The project initiator has not returned my email. I'm going to keep trying, but I've had similar issues with other organized projects.

There is a series of steps to this process, all of which have to work out, for an online collaboration to take place. First, you have to locate another teacher who shares your vision or interests. Once you make contact, it's important to communicate effectively and work together to set up realistic time lines. Finally, both sides must be flexible when obstacles pop up that change the original plan. I can't seem to get past step one.

So, this leads to another thought. Perhaps collaboration begins at home. Maybe I don't have to go halfway around the world for effective collaboration. (Though, I am going to keep working on this.) My third graders are working with another class of seventh graders at our school. They are writing about what life would be like if you lived in a .... This is taking collaboration beyond my classroom walls and benefiting both groups here at home. I'm learning a lot about running a good project that will hopefully help once we find a worthy online project.

Consortium Update

2007-10-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I posted anything, so I thought I would check in. The consortium is going well. I'm happy to report that we still have about 20 people showing up consistently. We'll be covering VoiceThread in our next session.

I'm taking a Teacher Leadership course at UF. The professor approved a continuation of the Teach Web 2.0 project, so I was able to do a lit review focusing on what motivates teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. One common thread is social interaction. I'm posting that lit review here in the hopes that the blog can continue to serve as a history of this experiment.

Teach Web 2.0 Literature Review

Introduction

The Teach Web 2.0 Consortium is a wisdom community of teachers and administrators who research new Web 2.0 resources, evaluate their appropriateness at different levels, and collaborate on innovative curriculum design. The project is taking place at a K12 independent school in St. Petersburg, Florida and seeks to provide a resource of information about social networking for classroom teachers and administrators. It also offers a democratic process for evaluating social networking sites and their potential use to determine whether blocking a site is warranted. The consortium meets bi-weekly and collaborates via an online wiki. The wiki serves as a repository for group findings and a means of capturing historic data that can be updated as new resources come available. It is also on the Internet providing an avenue for those outside of the school to participate.

This alone would provide a useful service to the school and community. However, the desired outcome and ultimate goal of the consortium is to increase use of technology among k-12 teachers thereby positively impacting student learning. Effective cultural change in a school takes place from the inside out (Norum, 1999). Teachers should buy in, and they must accept change on their own terms. This literature review explores what motivates teachers to increase their use of technology so that these principles can be applied to the Teach Web 2.0 project.

Rationale

Web 2.0 represents a more collaborative, interactive Internet where individuals can easily share and contribute to global conversations. This new web offers so many opportunities for educational applications, but teachers are challenged by their resistance to change, the rate at which new tools are emerging, network security issues, and Internet safety concerns. Despite these challenges, students have embraced social networking and are actively using these tools in their private lives (Goodstein, 2007).

It would be impossible for just one or two teachers to stay abreast and evaluate all of these resources alone. By establishing a consortium, more individuals are available to assess these tools, examine options, and consider their potential use in the classroom. In addition, the consortium will provide a relatively safe and non-threatening learning environment where teachers and administrators can work collaboratively.

Literature and Project Design

Common barriers to technology integration include lack of a well-defined vision, limited skill, and lack of administrative support (Finley, 2004). Before launching the consortium, the project was pitched to the head of school and principals of each division. All agreed to support the project, sign for FCIS accreditation points, and include participation as an indicator of technology leadership on yearly teacher review documentation. The vision was presented to the entire faculty during pre-school week with obvious support from administration. Teachers were assured that participation was voluntary and that minimal technology skills were required. One of the key components for change is administrative support (Norum, 1999). The faculty would not accept this project without the critical approval and participation of the administrators.

We must also recognize and respect the teacher learning process. Sahin identifies five stages of technology adoption: teacher as learner, teacher as adopter, teacher as co-learner, teacher as reaffirmer or rejecter, and finally teacher as leader (Sahin, 2007). The consortium design facilitates a journey through these stages. New technologies are presented with resource links for participants to review. Individuals in the group come together as co-learners to figure out how the tool or site works. Some members of the group will choose to adopt the new technology, others may choose to affirm or reject it. Those who follow through become the leaders from whom the others learn. The process is repeated for each new social networking tool or site.

The collegial aspect of the consortium provides a support structure for participants. “Support is a major part of making changes, particularly when the change alters your professional identity and role. Learning from the experiences of each other can alleviate discomfort and anxiety associated with such changes” (Norum, 1999, pg. 187). Wesley Fryer further asserts, “teachers are best convinced by other teachers” (Fryer, 2004, pg. 12). “Those who are forced to use technology will use the minimum required” (Fryer, 2004, pg. 12). The consortium is voluntary and teachers are expected to work together, helping each other learn. It is pitched as an experiment with all the possibilities for success and failure in a non-threatening, nurturing environment.

Project TALENT, a pilot program in California, used a learning community of k12 master teachers, student teachers, and supervisors to model effective technology use in the classroom (Sherry, 2004). A number of important findings emerged from the project. Teachers were enthusiastic about their experience. Participants in the learning community started using various tools such as digital cameras and iMovie in their teaching. A teacher who moved to another school began to pass those experiences on at the new school. Other teachers began to show a greater interest in technology. Students in these schools began using technology in different ways more often. Sherry found that “implementing learning communities at the school will increase technology skills and leadership skills for the members of the learning community” (Sherry, 2004, pg. 294).

While there is structure around the consortium research process, teachers are encouraged to explore beyond the formal meeting sessions. Informal conversations take place throughout the weeks between sessions. This is important because teachers believe informal collaboration is more effective than that in a formal group (Stevenson, 2004). It should take place spontaneously, not separated from other professional conversation. The amount of collaboration is influenced by time and teachers’ perceived value (Stevenson, 2004). Stevenson also points out that informal collaboration with regard to technology is focused in two areas, sharing curriculum ideas and figuring out how to use a technology. Teachers discern between teacher-helpers who provide curriculum ideas and those who provide user support (Stevenson, 2004). The facilitators of the consortium are fellow teachers who are recognized as helpers in both focus areas.

Conclusion

The Teach Web 2.0 Consortium is meant to be a learning community of volunteer teachers who are interested in exploring social networking sites and tools in a non-threatening collegial atmosphere. Principles highlighted in the literature have been applied to create an environment conducive to the ultimate adoption of new technologies and transference to the classroom so that student learning is impacted. The hope is that even a handful of teachers who embrace these new technologies will influence those around them. If the project is successful, it has been designed to transfer easily to other schools and districts.

REFERENCES

Bebell, D., et. al., Measuring Teachers' Technology Uses: Why Multiple-Measures Are More Revealing. Journal of Research on Technology in Education v. 37 no. 1 (Fall 2004) p. 45-63

Finley, L., et. al., Institutional Change and Resistance: Teacher Preparatory Faculty and Technology Integration. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education v. 12 no. 3 (2004) p. 319-37

Fryer, W. A. Working with Reluctant Teachers. Technology & Learning v. 25 no. 11 (June 2005) p. 12

Goodstein, Anastasia. (2007). Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online. New York. St. Martin’s Press.

Hughes, J. E., et. al., Content-Focused Technology Inquiry Groups: Preparing Urban Teachers to Integrate Technology to Transform Student Learning. Journal of Research on Technology in Education v. 36 no. 4 (Summer 2004) p. 397-411

Norum, K. E., et. al., Healing the universe is an inside job: teachers' views on integrating technology. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education v. 7 no. 3 (1999) p. 187-203

Sahin, I., et. al., Analysis of Predictive Factors That Influence Faculty Members' Technology Adoption Level. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education v. 15 no. 2 (2007) p. 167-90

Sherry, L., et. al., Project TALENT: Infusing Technology in K-12 Field Placements Through a Learning Community Model. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education v. 12 no. 2 (2004) p. 265-97

Shuldman, M. Superintendent Conceptions of Institutional Conditions That Impact Teacher Technology Integration. Journal of Research on Technology in Education v. 36 no. 4 (Summer 2004) p. 319-43
Stevenson, H. J. Teachers' Informal Collaboration Regarding Technology. Journal of Research on Technology in Education v. 37 no. 2 (Winter 2004/2005) p. 129-44

Vannatta, R. A., et. al., Teacher Dispositions as Predictors of Classroom Technology Use. Journal of Research on Technology in Education v. 36 no. 3 (Spring 2004) p. 253-71

Zhao, Y., et. al., Teacher adoption of technology: a perceptual control theory perspective. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education v. 9 no. 1 (2001) p. 5-3

Animoto Rocks!

2007-09-16T07:12:00.001-07:00

I made this video in less than 5 minutes.

Here's what I did, and it was all prompted by the site.
1. Selected some Florida pics from a folder I already had on my computer.
2. Picked a free song from the site.
3. It made my movie...special effects and all! UNBELIEVABLE - in a FEW MINUTES!!!

http://animoto.com/

Teach Web 2.0 Consortium Kick Off

2007-09-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

Anna and I kicked off the Teach Web 2.0 Consortium at our school yesterday. The wiki has 44 members, all colleagues from school, spanning early childhood, lower, middle, and upper division teachers, staff, and administrators. It's really a good mix. I'm blown away by the interest and proud to be working with such a group of professional educators who want to provide the best learning environment for their students. The purpose of the consortium is to explore Web 2.0 social networking tools and determine their educational value. We will research wikis first because we will be using a wiki to collect our ideas and document our work. We started by introducing the wiki and helping the group get familiar with the layout and research format. It went better than anticipated. Everyone was able to join the wiki with limited technical issues. Visit the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki to track our progress. Next topic - blogs.

First quarter - We're in the game.

2007-09-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/487337624/

I always forget how busy the first few weeks of school are every year. It doesn't matter how much I prepare. There is always something else to do. Thank goodness for Labor Day weekend. I slept for 11 hours on Saturday night. Two weeks into the year I have set up the class blogs, a spelling wiki, a Back to School Video Time Capsule and a Web 2.0 WebQuest. With all there is to do, we teachers sometimes continue to beat ourselves up over what isn't finished instead of remembering all that we've tackled in a few short days or weeks. Shout it out - I AM TEACHER!!! To every teacher out there on Labor Day...celebrate what you've already accomplished!!!! You are AMAZING!!

Eight Random Facts MEME

2007-08-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged for the 8 Random Facts MEME by my new blogging friend, David, from Ed Tech Learning.

My blog is very new, so I don't have many readers. But, I have a lot of great blogs that I really enjoy. So, this will be fun. Here goes...

Rules:
1. Post these rules before you give your facts.
2. List 8 random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them.
4. Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Eight Random Facts About ME

I love heavy metal music. That surprises most people who know me.
I play the piano badly, but I really wish I played well.
My undergrad degree is in Criminal Justice. I never used it, but I think that's why I love those crime shows on Court TV and A&E.
My favorite tv shows are The Daily Show and Colbert Report. I hate reality TV.
I have an awesome son who is about to turn 14.
I have three step daughters (also wonderful) who are like my own children.
Knitting is one of my obsessive hobbies.
I'm one of the few Florida natives.

Eight great ed tech blogs I'm tagging...

Elementary Wiki Ideas

2007-08-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/grenade/177953735/

What are some ways to effectively use the collaborative aspects of a wiki with elementary curriculum? I've been pondering that question and jotting down some ideas. I'm thinking of setting up a class learning space wiki with pages for each subject area. My thinking so far...

Writing - Introduce the six traits of writing by posting an excerpt for each trait. Students change the text to improve upon the trait in focus. We can refer back to these examples as we apply the six traits to our writing over the year.

Spelling - Our spelling lessons are organized by rule. Wouldn't it be interesting to post the rule, then ask students to find words that reflect that rule? As the year progresses, we have documented all of the rules along with examples. Think wiki word wall.

Math - Create number collection boxes in which each student posts a different name for the number. Example: 64 is... 8x8, 60+4, 100-36, a photograph of 64 toothpicks. Another collaborative idea - each student creates a number story. Students go back and solve someone else's story. As part of the geometry unit, students find or take photos representing shapes, parallel, perpendicular, angles, etc. The photos are posted in a visual geometry museum.

Social Studies - We study Florida, Native Americans, and explorers. Students create collaborative journal entries for historical figures or fictional members of a culture. Each student contributes one or two sentences reflecting upon the life of that person. Collectively, we end up with a more complete view of the world from another's perspective.

Still thinking about science and reading. Ultimately, I want to push the collaborative effort beyond the walls of our classroom. There's a lot of talk about this, but it's difficult to get other students and classes out there to contribute without planning ahead. Even then, teachers often have different views of how a collaboration should proceed. So, I'm still noodling it over and keeping an open mind. In the meantime, we'll start locally and encourage others to contribute globally...that's a first step.

One Laptop Per Child - Interns Wanted

2007-08-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://flickr.com/photos/mburns/790743951/in/pool-onelaptop/

OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) is hosting a Summer of Content to facilitate the development of educational content for the program. This is a unique opportunity to make a difference in a big way by directly contributing lessons and curricular units.

If you're not familiar with OLPC, you can learn more about the vision here. The goal is to "provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves" via a $100 laptop, designed to transform education for the world's poorest children. Nicholas Negroponte (founder) views OLPC as "an education project, not a laptop project." I love this viewpoint because hardware alone will never make the impact that a full educational revolution can make. In order for that to happen, people need to get involved.

Any Resemblance?

2007-07-28T11:51:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about ways to allow the kids to have a presence on a personal blog without using an actual photograph. One idea was to edit the photos to make them look like pencil drawings. I still may do that. But, wouldn't they have some fun with these avatars? As far as I can tell, the program is easy and clean.

Speed Matters

2007-07-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Speed Matters is trying to:

identify educators who would be interested in talking about their vision of what they could do if every child had home access to a computer with a real high speed connection (think FTTH [fiber to the home] with speeds of 30 mbps or more).

To contribute ideas visit http://www.speedmatters.org/contact.html

You can also test the speed of the last mile of your Internet connection and compare it to other countries. Here is my result. Not too shabby compared to Canada, Germany, and Iceland. Whoa...what's up with Japan?

Here's my vision...
I am a teacher. If every child had high speed access, I would disregard the textbooks. Children would learn and work collaboratively on real problems posed by other children. They would speak directly to experts, work with primary sources of information, create new content for others to learn, and navigate the read, write web with intelligence, finesse, and responsibility. Their parents and extended family would participate in their learning no matter where they live. They would learn diversity by communicating with children across socioeconomic and physical boundaries. They would start to solve the world's problems with dialogue across these boundaries, as well. They would debate, argue, agree, and disagree passionately with support from an endless supply of sources. They would learn how to tell the difference between reliable and unreliable sources. They would use this power to create new ways to communicate and change the world.

You are my hero, Bernie Dodge

2007-07-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

One of my third grade colleagues creates the most interesting, exciting learning environments for her students with great colors and clever motivating ideas. I'm jealous! Bulletin boards have never been my strength. In fact, I've just had to resign myself to pre-made posters and colorful kites. But, I must thank my friend, Anna, for her input on this one. We were brainstorming Web 2.0 bulletin board ideas and this web emerged. Yes, I know it is not very colorful. But, I like how the words just POP out.

By posting the words on this board, I force myself to apply these technologies in my classroom in the coming year. My students have been blogging for the last two years and Google is an everyday tool. However, in the coming year I hope to expand the student blogs and have the class explore some kid-friendly alternatives to the Google search engine. As I consider podcasts, wikis, and Scratch, I realize that I have a lot of creative thinking to do, not to mention coming up with an effective way to teach all these tools without side tracking the curriculum too much.

At just about the moment when my head was about to explode from all this thinking, an old friend surfaced on the KidCast Podcast. (No, I'm not really a personal friend of Bernie Dodge, Father of the WebQuest. But, the first time I tried to use QuestGarden, I sent him an email and he responded personally. I found that very cool. He was in the Peace Corp, too. Also very cool.)

HEY!!! Why am I hurting my head struggling with how to spoon feed my students when they could be feeding themselves? That's it! I'm going to make a WebQuest to introduce these tools and let the children teach themselves and each other. Once they're all comfortable with the tools, they can decide how we should use them creatively and educationally in the classroom. They ALWAYS come up with better ideas than me. I'll post the link when it's finished. THANKS BERNIE!

Strengths 2.0

2007-07-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Doug Johnson of Blue Skunk Blog recently posted about Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. This book is targeted toward business readers. But, as Doug points out, it really applies to anyone who is a creator of ideas. I thought it might help me figure out how to get my teaching to "stick".
I often read business books that I think will help me in the classroom. In addition to Made to Stick, I recently read Strengths Finder 2.0. The book includes access to an online test to identify your top five strengths out of a list of 34 themes and ideas for action. I wasn't too blown away by my top five, but I did find them interesting from a professional perspective.

Learner, Achiever, Futuristic, Ideation, Intellection.

My guess is that many teachers have the "learner" strength. We love to learn and teaching gives us the chance to be a lifelong learners. Futuristic certainly explains the interest in technology. I love ideas, but don't always follow through. For that, I need to buddy up with an "activator". Intellection doesn't necessarily mean I have a great intellect. It just means I like to think. (Hmmmm, I'll have to think about that.)

What does this mean for the classroom? To me, it's just another tool (like MI or learning styles) that highlights human diversity. If I'm senstive to my students' strengths I can better help them appreciate the strengths of others. But, I also remind myself that my students' strengths are still under construction. They need opportunities to try them all.

Teach Web 2.0 Teacher Consortium

2007-07-20T10:29:00.001-07:00

Anna (our lower school technologist) and I are building a Wisdom Community within our school. The idea is that a group of teacher volunteers will review social networking sites and tools, conduct a SWOT analysis (strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats) and determine creative educational applications. We're planning to start with wikis. We've designed the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki to collect our thoughts and ideas. For now, wiki participation will be limited to members from the school. We hope to open it up to everyone once we have a little more content to share. We welcome discussion posts and email suggestions. We documented the ID process used to create the consortium as part of an Instructional Design course that we are taking at the University of Florida.

An Instructional Design Model for Building Wisdom Communities

2007-07-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

WisCom – Instructional Design Model for Virtual Wisdom Communities

Many teachers are unfamiliar with emerging social networking tools. Those who are aware have legitimate concerns about appropriate use in the classroom. Creating a K-12 Web 2.0 consortium of teachers who will research new social networking tools, evaluate their use, and brainstorm educational applications would provide a knowledge framework for those who want to learn more. The goal of this article review was to explore possible instructional design models that would maximize the learning potential of this community.

Most traditional instructional design models are adaptable to a wide variety of instructional situations. All seem to require some level of planning, design, development, and evaluation. Some variation of this process could be applied to create a learning community. But, might there be benefits to custom design methods created specifically for building effective virtual learning communities? This question prompted a search that initially spanned three topic areas: creating virtual learning communities, instructional design methodologies for learning communities, and social construction of knowledge as a pedagogical foundation for instructional design. A number of articles were reviewed that provided a deeper understanding of the pedagogical foundations in constructivist theory and computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL). However, the literature was narrowed to focus on two articles, one that defined the educational design of different virtual learning communities, and another that outlined an instructional design model for building wisdom communities.

Categories of Virtual Learning Communities for Educational Design, by Rocci Luppicini identifies the following categories of virtual learning communities: knowledge building, inquiry, practice, culture, socialization, and counseling and development (Luppicini, 2003). While Luppicini does not define an expressed instructional design model per se, he does offer distinguishing characteristics of each type of learning community and necessary elements for successful implementation. These are certainly useful components of design.

Participants in virtual learning communities of knowledge building may initially work independently or in groups with the ultimate goal of contributing the collective information to all participants. Used primarily for formal learning, design elements include active moderators and opportunity for input from outside the community. Virtual learning communities of inquiry bring people together with a common purpose or goal. Everyone shares the responsibility for contributing content conducive to meeting that goal. Also a formal learning environment, members are encouraged to collaborate to meet the goal. Virtual learning communities of practice provide a means for practicing a role or learning a skill or profession. It can serve as an apprenticeship for those roles or professional practices. Designed for a structured, formal learning experience, the goal is to assimilate into the professional practice by collaborating with others while following the structured guidelines. Virtual communities of culture bring together people with similar histories or traditions to share values and customs in an informal learning setting. Virtual communities of socialization focus on participants with common interests who seek to communicate or socialize with other like-minded people. Virtual communities of counseling and development provide group support. Their purpose is to facilitate individual growth (Luppincin, 2003).

Our proposed K12 Web 2.0 Consortium overlaps the virtual communities of knowledge building and inquiry. Knowledge building “allows members to construct communal databases of information” (Luppincin, 2003, p. 411). One group goal is to research and archive information about Web 2.0 applications. Another group goal is to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats posed by various social networking tools and make decisions about their use in school. Inquiry communities apply the principals of problem-based learning. “Participants in problem-based learning work in groups to solve real problems that are often complex and require seeking out a variety of resources to generate possible solutions” (Luppincin, 2003, p. 412). The following design elements should be considered when creating the K12 Web 2.0 learning community: active moderation, focus on learning goals, relay importance of individual expression while emphasizing responsibility to contribute and collaborate, and opportunity for outsiders to participate (Luppincin, 2003).

Once the virtual learning community is defined, and design elements are considered, a formal instructional design process provides a framework for executing the project. New Model, New Strategies: Instructional design for building online wisdom communities by Charlotte N. Gunawardena, et al. defines learning innovation as the “purposeful creation, sharing, and preservation of meaningful, socially constructed ideas” (Gunawardena, et al., 2006, p. 221). It further asserts that “the practical benefits of knowledge innovation include the ability to get the right information to the right people, ensure that knowledge is not lost (even when community membership changes), and enable communities to more readily build on past successes and learn from challenges” (Gunawardena, et al., 2006, p. 221). Knowledge innovation unfolds in phases. Community participants create knowledge. That knowledge is then recorded and accessed by others. Knowledge is enabled once participants know how to use it.

Gunawardena, et al. identifies five steps in the instructional design process of building wisdom communities. The following is a summary of the WisCom process:
1. Learning Challenge – Participants view a case study, identify a problem, or expose and issue. Design should include open-ended, authentic performance tasks that benefit from sharing opinions. Skill level and prior knowledge must be considered. The communication model should promote creative, orderly discussion and input.
2. Initial Exploration – Individual ideas are shared with the goal of fostering a shared group identity over time. Expectations, ground rules, obligations, and communication avenues are defined and communicated. System for recording is established with provision for feedback cycle. Evaluation method is considered.
3. Resources - Individual perspectives are challenged and negotiated. Mentors with appropriate level of expertise are selected to help facilitate this process.
4. Reflection – Time is allotted for individual reflection and thinking. Some structure and guidance may be provided.
5. Preservation – Share content is recorded and preserved. Concept maps were provided as one useful tool for constructing and preserving knowledge.
(Gunawardena, et al., 2006)

Other instructional design methods may be applicable to components of the virtual learning community. However, the WisCom Model provides enough structure and guidance to initiate and support the development of our K12 Web 2.0 Consortium. The learning challenge for this wisdom community is to research new social networking tools, evaluate their use, and brainstorm educational applications. Each of these goals also represents the open-ended tasks assigned to group members. A context and procedure for identifying and researching social networking tools will serve as the initial exploration. A wiki or collaborative blog could be used as a system for recording. Technology experts within and outside of the school will be selected as potential resources for the project. Once the initial review is complete, time will be allotted for reflection with a structured rubric for completing this process. The wiki can further serve as an archive for the preservation of project outcomes and recommendations from the consortium. It will be interesting to apply the model to this and other projects to determine its applicability to different types of virtual learning communities.

References

Gunawardena, Charlotte; Ortegano-Layne, Ludmila; Carabajal, Kayleigh; Frechette, Casey; Lindemann, Ken; Jennings, Barbara. (2006) New Model, New Strategies: Instructional design for building online wisdom communities, Distance Education. 27:2, 217-232.
Link:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content?content=10.1080/01587910600789613

Luppicini, Rocci. (2003) Categories of Virtual Learning Communities for Educational Design, The Quarterly Review of Distance Education. 4:4, 409-416.
Link:
http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/1034849635.html;jsessionid=CC33FC8913D2BD813294FB0FA1F85FD0.ehctc1

You say you want a revolution...

2007-07-15T19:27:00.001-07:00

This is not my first blog attempt. I find that I do much better blogging about topics that can be covered in a few sentences. I'm a high level writer. My knitting blog is easy because I just post pics of projects and brief comments about them. Professional blogs have been associated with specific projects like my students' collaborative blog with preservice teachers from the University of Florida. I ran out of content for my geocaching blog when I ran out of time to geocache. It takes time to maintain a blog. So, why start again with Teach Web 2.0?

Recently, a number of events have converged to light a fire under my keyboard.

I just completed an Ed.S in Ed Tech from UF. I tend to get reflective upon completing a major goal (maybe because I actually have a minute to think). I've been contemplating what is really important to me personally and professionally.
I learned about and became very interested in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. I realized that children in third world countries will be using Web 2.0 tools to learn. Yet, even the most technologically progressive schools in America remain chained to textbooks and industrial age methods of instruction.
After reconnecting with some old corporate friends, I remembered my day-to-day activities...web conferencing, teleconferencing, instant messaging, emailing, collaborating in online workrooms (think wiki). My 13-year old does all of these things...at home... and virtually none of them at school. Is that a good thing? Just about the time I was thinking this, I read Alan November's "Banning Student Containers". Not every social networking tool is appropriate for school. But, many of them could be. Ten years ago my students were creating web pages. Why haven't things changed more quickly?
I started an instructional design course toward my Ph.D and recruited a colleague to join me. Two heads are definitely better than one when it comes to strategies for change.

I hope to use this blog for three primary purposes:

Share ideas for teaching for the future.
Share brainstorms and Web 2.0 projects that I'm doing with my own students.
Post papers and assignments related to ed tech.

Here goes...