Texting for teaching?

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/NEWS/100429736

In several of our course discussion forums through PODetc lately, educators have been discussing what do to about texting! I have some associates who text their students on a regular basis but I have not yet tried to incorporate the practice as opposed to fighting its use. The above article is one example of a teacher using it to teach poetry with a measurable improvement in test scores. So what are some ways we could use it? Here are my thoughts:
For the group of students in my advisory -

• texting reminders of meetings, important events
• sending important updates on grades (not sure about privacy here)

For my classes -

• homework reminders - but it is already posted on a webpage so this might be too much
• word of the day
• puzzle of the day
• identify an interesting picture (if all phones receive images) - for science
• "chat" about a particular science topic
• identify main idea from a passage

These are a few thoughts but I have done nothing in terms of actually considering implementation. Send me some of your ideas on how you could use texting in your educational practice.

Do we deliver or facilitate learning?

Look at this article - http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/04/07/the-changing-role-of-instructors-moving-from-facilitation-to-constructive-partnerships.aspx

Is what we are teaching information? Or are we teaching how to learn and be "life-long" learners. Isn't it actually more challenging to facilitate learning than it is to merely deliver content? I would argue that it might be a step in the right direction if we can focus on teaching students how to effectively, ethically, authentically, creatively,.....access and use information that is out there than it is to teach course content. The flip side of it is that with technology there is access to so much information that teachers will always be relevant to help students learn to filter and validate what is there. I think with technology our jobs are becoming more critical and essential to the success of the learner but it will take a paradigm shift to understand how our new roles will shape up!

I'd like to hear your comments on this article and this shift in our role as educators.

STEM

PODetc is currently conducting a STEM class and it always provides time for me to reflect on my own practice. I started as a science teacher and continue in the classroom after some 20 years although I have mixed some administrative jobs in there at different times. Most of the participants in our PODetc Focus on STEM class are science educators, but we generally come to the same consensus that STEM is not just about science and math and technology!

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math but what it really is about is focusing on critical thinking and problem solving skills in an authentic environment. Regardless of whether a student will pursue a career in one or more of these areas, you cannot live in our 21st century world without interacting with one or more of these areas. This course gives us a chance to look at ways we can use technology to really get our kids engaged in the learning process and to be students ourselves in learning how to use these tools. Right now we are trying some collaborative concept mapping using a site called Bubbl.us. This is one of many good concept mapping tools available - others include:

• Mindmeister
• CMAP

I find in my work with high school seniors that sometimes returning to a more organic note-taking and organizing tool as mind-mapping is more effective than the linear note systems we start to expect as students get older. The advantage of these Web 2.0 tools is that they are interactive!

We are also playing with the Intel thinking tools. Intel has some incredible resources for teachers above and beyond some great interactive sites. Throughout the course, the emphasis is on sharing resources and dialoguing about how we successfully promote some of these skills within our already crowded curricula. Again, I find that my interactions with the PODetc students teach me as much as I hope they learn!