Rambling Reflections

From iTeacher (yet another Australian).

I came across this excellent multimedia presentation on TeacherTube called A New Way to Publish: The Rise of Web 2.0. The presentation is perfect for teachers wishing to learn more about the Web 2.0 phenomenon. It defines Web 2.0, and then it goes on to show classroom examples, as well as instructions on how to begin implementing blogs and wikis. This is really good material for technology novices who resolve to begin using some of these exciting, 21st century teaching tools.

Download Video: Posted by suziea at TeacherTube.com.

An explanation of what Web 2.0 is, a look at how it benefits children, a closer look at blogs and wikis and tips on how to get started.

This video was actually produced by Susie Vesper, a New Zealand ICT facilitator based in Wellington. I follow Susie’s blog and wiki but must have missed this – I think this is a gem to use with those teachers who are not yet convinced about the whole concept of the read – write web! My staff will be watching this before they begin their personal journey into the world of wikis / blogs!

To complement this video I will also direct staff to Andrew’s Web 2.0 Tutorial (he’s the ITeacher blogger).

It was the average, everyday teacher that I had in mind when I created a Web 2.0 tutorial on Wikispaces. I wanted to create an atmosphere where technology novices could get to know some of these new technologies without getting bogged down with computer jargon. I wanted to convey how easy it is to use these technologies, and how the Read/Write Web supports the values and goals of 21st century education.

This tutorial discusses blogs, wikis, RSS feeds and social bookmarking. It provides easy definitions, educational benefits, classroom applications, concerns and solutions, real-world examples from teachers and links to other useful sites. I also include links to more detailed “how-to” tutorials and helpful videos I have found along the way. This wiki is by no means finished, but it is finally in a presentable format. In the true spirit of a wiki, I encourage others to contribute. Feel free to add additional resources and insights. I hope you find this wiki useful in your school as part of a wider professional development program.

You can find the Web 2.0 tutorial at http://web2tutorial.wikispaces.com.

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With reports finished I have been trying to catch up on my RSS feeds and investigating other bits and pieces which I’ve bookmarked.

I have been wandering around the Time4 Online Conference site and ended up at the conference wiki. This wiki would be a great starting point for new teachers to Web 2.0 tools. There are a couple of pages showing teachers what they can do with video and slideshows. I’m even going to point my students in that direction.

Then I read a post from Chrissy at Teaching Sagittarian. She was commenting on the number of new tools available to us.

I’ve been trying loads of new things this year. YackPack, VoiceThread, TiddlyWiki, Wikispaces, CamStudio, FreeMind, Google MyMaps, Scratch, Splashcast, to name a few – and believe me – the list goes on! That also got me thinking – well …. no ….. better than that ….. it actually got me reflecting.

Just how effectively have I been using or teaching my students to use, these awesome new tools? One of her students commented, …… there’s so much going on, and we’re doing so much, we don’t have time to do it very well.

If I’m really honest with myself ….. it’s pretty much the same for me with all these new things too. So I am going to take up the challenge to try something new each week – I’m just going to take it in a different direction.

I’m going to take one of those new things I’ve tried so far ….. and I’m going to do something with it ……. better!

I share Chrissy’s sentiments but I think I need more hours in the day or …. This is something I need to discuss with my students as we seem to doing bits of everything and really need to have a more focused approach to using these exciting possibilities. I’ll be watching Chrissy’s progress and hopefully will gain something from her journey.

After beginning by linking to a host of Web 2.0 tools and then reflecting on Chrissy’s post I’m finishing this by saying that we need to take great care that we don’t overwhelm newbies to this Web 2.0 journey.

From Open Resource Centre by miketemple123

I have just come across an article on The Times Higher Education Supplment that might shed further light on this discussion.

Warwick University has started a project called Warwick I-Cast. The university has been producing videos of various research work being done in the University and putting them up on sites like YouTube, GoogleVideos and several other sites. There are currently over 30 videos by I-Cast on YouTube and they are interesting to watch.

I really liked this reflection from Greg Carroll about his year spent as National ICT facilitator (I think I have that right). Something for myself, and many others in the role of implementing ‘change’ within our schools, to consider as we move into our 2nd year of the ICT contract.

I like Ian Jukes analogy of teachers comfort zones being like a rubber band and that they will ‘ping-back’ to where they were unless we can change their thinking. The most powerful computing tool in the classroom is the necktop, not the laptop. We need to change the ways teachers think about their teaching and their pedagogy – then their teaching will never be the same and their classrooms will be transformed. We need to change the way kids think about their learning – they need to be active and in control, and expect to be so.
We need to change the way families and communities view their schools and education. Kids are not passive, helpless and unskilled empty vessels that we ‘stuff information and understandings’ into until it sticks. They CAN and SHOULD be active, engaged, responsible, self-motivated learners; and deserve teachers who are the same.

The pace of change in education is increasingly rapid. In order for schools to keep up we need to adapt and adopt the best of what is happening for our own purposed. The big issue is workload though. Teachers have only so many hours in the day to give to their professional lives. They will adopt and adapt to changes willingly if they see the benefit for:
Themselves as professionals
Themselves personally
The kids in their classrooms

We need to ensure that changes we are proposing makes learning in our schools better, not different, better! Then teachers will adopt the changes. They won’t if change is adding to their role, they will if it makes it easier or better (preferably both). I see that as the hook and the key thing we need to focus on as we mover forward with ICT PD and the curriculum reforms we are embarking on.

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It’s not hard to get students blogging but teachers? I found this post by Miguel Guhlin and for me it really follows on from what I was saying in the previous post here.

A question that comes to mind after reading this entry is, “Would a school full of teachers who are blogging now, managed by administrators who blog, be any better than a regular school?” You know, would a school populated by folks like Mark Ahlness, Vicki Davis, Susan S., Julie, Jennifer, Mike be a school worth working at?

I’d like to think that these people at this school would:

1. Be risk-takers, willing to try new things and do whatever it took to make them work.
2. Be willing to constantly reflect AND share those reflections with others on the campus.
3. Be easy to get along with but be unafraid of conflict that is a necessary process of a close-working team.
4. Be completely trustable and transparent about their faults, their strengths, and what they each have to offer.
5. Be able to achieve state standards and goals but through completely different methodologies and strategies.
6. Be information literate.

Does such a school exist? Does such a team exist? What other qualities should these folks have?

How do we get teachers to see the benefits for themselves and their students if they too embrace the web 2.0 tools which are available to them? No, it’s not just about blogging, it’s about having an wareness of the needs of the 21st Century learner and being prepared to make the changes in your own teaching style.

A comment to Miguel’s post by Tim probably gives a pretty good picture of what is currently happening

When I talk to teachers and then talk to their students, the gap between their understanding of information and communication is immense. However, while the kids have more web savvy, many are also very naive in their use of the internet.

They need web-aware teachers with the six attributes Miguel lists. So how do we get them there? How do we convince their principals and other administration that this kind of professional development is important?

There are certainly some excellent teachers and administrators who understand the potential power of blogging and other Web 2.0 tools. Unfortunately, there’s probably not a critical mass of them in any one school. Not yet anyway.

And this comment from Vicki Davis gives a really good example of where I would like the majority of our staff to be by at least the end of this year.

I think that most schools are in transition – with a small portion of early adopters leading the way as with any change. Today, I discussed and introduced our teachers to Web 2.0. At the end, our curriculum director, a woman who has been teaching 30 years and who has a lot of esteem in the faculties eyes, stood up and said, “This is important. What we are seeing fits in with everything I’ve seen about research and good teaching. I’ve made it a new years resolution to start blogging. If I can change, you can too. But start somewhere.”

Here’s hoping!