The Evolution of Technology

In our November PODetc Newsletter, Ron Smith, a PODetc instructor wrote:
The watchword of technology in the digital age is evolution. Each new application seeks to serve an as yet unidentified need. Those that are successful are the ones that change the existing paradigm and leave users wondering how they ever got along without them. Most are variations on an old idea, such as Twitter, which combined the ideas of chat and social networking, or YouTube, which allowed users to share video across the Internet for free.

The Survey of Emerging Technology introduces participants to resources available to them right now that they can use in their classes right away. We look at ways to use the Internet to enhance classroom instruction and teacher effectiveness. We look at ways to make teacher time more efficient and practical. We look at ways for educators to tap into Web 2.0 in ways that they may not have considered.

As we all know, a teacher's time is limited by large classes and by scarce resources. By looking at already existing technologies on the web, we explore ways for teachers to be more creative, more engaging, and more effective. Not everything you try will work for you, but simply knowing about different options will allow you offer your students new paths to success.

Through exploration and investigation, course participants will become more in-tune to the innovations in the K-12 education field and developing their skills to be leaders in their own organizations. Educators will examine the latest educational technologies and look into ways to effectively incorporate new technologies into their curriculum.

There has been much research into the ways that teachers have moved into the digital space. A leader in that research has been The Pew Research Center, with it's Pew Internet & American Life Project. A couple of the the most interesting studies look at the rise of the app culture (http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-Rise-of-Apps-Culture.aspx) and how we, as Americans, love our gadgets ( http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Gadgets.aspx) . I encourage prospective Web 2.0 explorers to look at these.

As a biology teacher in my other life, I love the idea of the "evolution" of technology and a kind of natural selection at work. The tools that seem to thrive are those that can adapt to our changing needs much as organisms that are best suited to the environment are the ones that carry on and pass on their traits to the next generation. The problem often is that as consumers we are overwhelmed with all the fledglings before they have been filtered by our peers and it is difficult to know which ones will really serve our needs and which will survive into the next generation. We have that conundrum of wanting to try out new options but not wanting to get excited about something that does not quite make it!

I experienced this first hand last summer. My students had been urging me to try Google Wave throughout the school year last year. I was interested but did not have the time to explore it as I might have liked. Finally, over the summer I had a chance to take a workshop on GoogleWave and was very excited about the possibilities. This workshop was during the first few days of August. On August 10, Google announced that Wave had not been as successful as they would have liked and they were stopping development on it! http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html

The rule of survival on the web seems to be quick adoption or death! So, how do we as consumers deal with this? With the pace of technology we cannot afford to wait until it has been confirmed and tested before we jump in. Conversely we can't afford to invest time and energy with something that may not be around in 6 months. It is all a bit of a gamble but this is where a good professional learning network or community might serve you well. Start to follow blogs, join Diigo groups, sign up for twitter, etc.... so you can meet the people and learn the names of some reliable resources. But also don't be afraid to get in and explore sooner than later. We have to stay current as best we can as the pace is relentless and ever increasing. There are great tools out there but you have to find the ones that will work for you. You do this by learning with colleagues - sharing experiences. Truly the only way to survive the web is with community!

Back to School

It has been a busy summer. I've had the pleasure of attending several conferences and presenting some of our work at two of them. The latest conference was Teaching and Learning Online in Madision, WI. I joined my colleague, Connie Jaeger, in the presentation of her research into Hybrid Systems using online learning, ad we were well received. Next year we may propose to do a workshop for the conference as there was clearly interest for learning more about our work.

Earlier in the summer, I attended the ISTE conference in Denver, CO. I made some great contacts there and had the pleasure of attending some interesting workshops include one built completely around playing with online constructivist and creativity tools!

Meanwhile, back at home, we've continued to add courses to our program and will be adding a course to offer proficiency in the ISTE Student NETS on global and digital citizenship. Our new course schedule is posted so don't forget to visit us at http://podetc.com.

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!

Research and Information Skills

"When I teach evaluating websites, I usually have students select one of five pre-selected websites and fill out a worksheet to determine if the website is valid. The worksheet really just helps students identify certain things about the website and then they give their opinion. It is fairly basic and there is a definite right or wrong answer. However, I would like to do something more challenging as a culminating exercise for this lesson. The website on GolfCross has been suggested to use in evaluating websites but there is conflicting information as to whether this is a bogus site or valid. One site rates this as one of the top bogus sites, , and a travel site on Mt. Cook New Zealand, lists it as an activity to enjoy along with 5 other golf courses. My research question, therefore, is to evaluate the website GolfCross to determine if this is a real site and real sport or a spoof. The Bloom’s taxonomy level would be analysis. Victoria suggested using Intel’s Showing Evidence. The Showing Evidence Tool helps students learn how to construct well-reasoned arguments and prove their case with credible evidence. The tool provides a visual framework to make claims, identify evidence, evaluate the quality of that evidence, explain how the evidence supports or weakens claims, and reach conclusions based on the evidence. This thinking tool supports activities where students debate differences, make and defend decisions, and analyze conflicting information . I would divide the class into groups. Each group would create their own researched evidence and come to their own conclusion. The groups would then compare their conclusions." S. Krueger, student PODetc Introduction to Instructional Technology.

In a recent PODetc course, a student posted this description of her lesson plan for research. What struck me about it was the clear application of analysis, evaluation, and discrimination in filtering information. This is a critical skill we need to foster in our students as we have access to exponentially more information every day!!! The ISTE NETS Students #3 is specific to "Research and Information Fluency" - with the goal that "Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information."

There are a number of tools on the Internet that can help you, including the Intel thinking tools mentioned above. Whatever tools or strategies you provide, it is important to remember that our students who are born to a world that is flush with information on any topic imaginable are not necessarily good at discriminating validity. It is our role as educators to teach students to use their critical thinking skills to filter this onslaught of information and to focus their research on specifics applicable to a specific question.

How do you develop those skills in your students - comment and let us know!

See our January Newsletter to find out how we can help in your professional development in the New Year!

PODetc is off to a great start in the New Year. For our Winter term we are offering our full range of courses beginning next week with Introduction to Instructional Technology in the Classroom. In this highly interactive course, participants will begin to explore tools and technologies that can enhance their own classrooms. In February, we will offer Creativity and Innovation in the Classroom and Technology Literacy 101: Foundations in Collaborative Tools. April and June offer even more options.

Visit our site to see how we can help you learn!!!!