Hypocrisy in the Profession of Education June 12, 2012 by tomwhitby Whenever I think of a teacher, I also think of a scholar. It has always been apparent to me that if one is to be an effective teacher, one must continually learn. Of course that is not always a path that individuals are able follow as a straight line. Often things, or situations get in the way over the course of a lifetime and many stray from that path for the sake of time, money, or most often family. I attended a retirement party recently for some retiring colleagues, and I engaged in several conversations with a number of teachers who were attending the party about various education topics. I brought up topics like authentic learning; project based learning, the flipped classroom, and connected educators. I clearly understand that teachers are under attack, both locally and nationally. As educators, we strive to create life-long learners in our students. As educators we must be learners first. Like this: Like Loading...
Digital Literacies in Transition – A Model for Transforming Graduate Attributes Summary Learners have a common goal - to succeed through Higher Education and into the global market. This once meant attaining a level of academic competence, this definition has become fluid both in the eyes of the learner, those involved in delivery and future employers. The aims of this project will be achieved through a series of workpackages overseen by the central Educational Development Unit (EDU) alongside the university’s newly launched e-centre, in conjunction with institutional champions and a five-university ‘Benefits Realisation Camel’. This project will employ cross-university studentships to foster a community of student-led research to support and feed into all other aspects of the work. Objectives Develop strategic understanding of digital literacies at critical moments of transition, informed and supported by internal and external stakeholders, to transform programme development around graduate attributes. Anticipated Outputs & Outcomes Project Staff
21st Century Learning…blah blah blah cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs Right now you probably hear as many people talk about how annoyed they are with the term “21st Century Learning” as you will hear people talking about the importance of it. I will have to admit, I am in the “annoyed” camp. We often talk about these ideals of what “21st Century Learning” will look like but I think we can start with something much simpler. I was reminded of this the other day while at a conference and the presenter started the session by saying, “I would like to start by asking everyone to put away their mobile devices.” How many educators could sit through 4-6 hours of lectures daily, with worksheets, for 180-200 days of the year? The more I go to conferences, I often see many people skipping sessions to talk and connect the material. Now I really do not believe that you can just switch schools to this more “adult” way of learning overnight. How do we like to learn? Thoughts?
40 Future Uses for Educational Technology [Infographic] Educators spend entire careers writing lesson plans and curricula to better prepare students for challenges they’ve yet to encounter. With the rapid advancement of technology, the nature of these challenges changes almost daily. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that 65 percent of grade-school students will end up in jobs that haven’t been invented yet. So, what exactly will the jobs of the future look like? Teachers Are Poor Consumers of Learning July 24, 2012 by tomwhitby There are only a few explanations that many educators offer up as reasons not to learn and use any technology as tools for learning. One of the most popular excuses, frequently cited by educators, is that there is not enough time to learn all of the stuff that is out there. It certainly is true that there are a huge number of things to learn out there that are linked to technology. When thought about as a complete package, it most definitely can be overwhelming, and I wholeheartedly agree with that. Where I disagree however, is in thinking about all of this technology stuff as a complete unit that must be learned all at once. In sales people are taught that if you can answer a customer’s objection to a product, you are more likely to make the sale. As educators, we deal with information, and once that was a limited commodity. Why don’t educators learn from their own teaching? Like this: Like Loading...
Google launches YouTube curriculum to educate students on digital citizenship (video) Google has developed an interactive curriculum on YouTube to support teachers in educating students on how to be safe, engaged and confident model netizens. The initiative is aimed at students aged 13 to 17 and will help them to develop digital literacy skills on YouTube that would be applicable across the web. A list of 10 lessons has been devised, in which students can learn about YouTube’s policies, how to report content, how to protect their own privacy, and how to be responsible YouTube community members and, in the broader picture, digital citizens. Each lesson comes with guidelines for teachers and ready-made slides for presentation. There’s also a YouTube Curriculum channel where videos related to the project will be posted. Elaine Burke
Wrong Focus: Teacher-Centered Classrooms and Technology There is a buzz around me these days about how EdTech is failing to live up to its promise fueled primarily by the In Classrooms of Future, Stagnant Scores. What is surprising to most when they share this piece with me or ask me my opinion about the failures of EdTech is my response. For the most part, I agree that it is failing but that failure has more to do with us than with the technology. Why? We continue to focus on the value of EdTech by what the teachers do with it NOT what the students do with it.We continue to focus on the value of EdTech by what happens to high stakes, standardized test scores. Teacher-Centered Classrooms/Technology When the focus of technology is on the teacher and teaching not learners and learning, it is easy to see EdTech as a failure: a waste of time, money, and resources. Is it any wonder we find ourselves unable to fulfill the promise we’ve preached about EdTech? Look at the front of the classroom from the students’ perspective. Now flip it. Paper. Really?
Transliteracy- QR Codes and Art Transliteracy is defined on Wikipedia as The ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. The modern meaning of the term combines literacy with the prefix trans-, which means “across; through”, so a transliterate person is one who is literate across multiple media. Ryan Nadel, in an interview on Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning, defines transliteracy even further: “The most fundamental notion of transliteracy is the ability to adapt. It’s creating a literacy and fluidity between mediums that’s not tied to space or modality.” I agree with Ryan: Transliteracy is closely related to “fluency“: Let me share a transliterate learning opportunity with you that I created (Art, iPads, QR codes, Language Arts and Digital Storytelling) in collaboration with our Art teacher, Mrs. Related My World of Reading- Part I 9. In "Books" Designing New Literacies 17. 18.
Five-Minute Film Festival: Flipped Classrooms I really enjoyed Mary Beth Hertz's excellent blog published earlier this week, "The Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con" -- one of the most concise and balanced views I've read on the buzz-wordy concept of flipping the classroom. Advocates say that "flipped classrooms" help overburdened teachers differentiate their instruction to reach more learners, provide an avenue into more hands-on and student-driven learning during classtime, and shift the teacher's role from "sage on the stage" to learning coach and facilitator. Critics say it's just a fad, relies too heavily on rote instruction, and doesn't go far enough in making the needed changes for teaching and learning reform. I've rounded up this list of videos so you can learn more about the challenges and benefits of flipped classrooms. Video Playlist: Flipping the Classroom Keep watching the player below to see the entire playlist, or view this playlist on YouTube. More Flipped Class Resources Flipping the Classroom Guides and PD
Social Media For Administrators (Blog Posts) cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by Ken Whytock I recently decided to compile some of the blog posts that I have written regarding social media and administrators on my own blog site. I have created a “page” for these articles that I will continue to update as I write posts that may be helpful, but I just wanted to share this as a blog post to those people who may subscribe to this through an RSS feed or email subscription. There are so many good articles out there but I wanted to compile the ones I have written to help to continuously develop my own portfolio of work. Please see the articles with brief descriptions below: As I have done a lot of work with school administrators on why they should be using social media and some practical ways to use it within their schools, I wanted to compile some articles together that will help schools/organizations move forward. The Why The How What Should A Networked Educational Leader Tweet About?
The Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con In 2012, I attended the ISTE conference in San Diego, CA. While I was only there for about 36 hours, it was easy for me to pick up on one of the hottest topics for the three-day event. The "flipped classroom" was being discussed in social lounges, in conference sessions, on the exhibit floor, on the hashtag and even at dinner. People wanted to know what it was, what it wasn't, how it's done and why it works. What It Is According to the description on ASCD's page for the newly released book, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, by flipped-classroom pioneers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann, "In this model of instruction, students watch recorded lectures for homework and complete their assignments, labs, and tests in class." The authors go on to explain that the model is a mixture of direct instruction and constructivism, that it makes it easier for students who may have missed class to keep up because they can watch the videos at any time. What It Isn't
ICT in the Early Years It's the Pedagogy, Stupid: Lessons from an iPad Lending Program Recently, we were tasked with developing policies and procedures for an equipment lending program initiated within the Faculty Technology Resources Center at the University of Cincinnati. The program was conceived as a method for encouraging the use of technology in the classroom. By loaning equipment to faculty for an academic term, we would encourage them to evaluate—and hopefully innovate—the utility of various "cutting edge" technologies with no financial risks to themselves or their departments. Some colleges and universities are already providing all incoming students with iPads. Generally, these tend to be smaller, private institutions or individual programs within larger ones. However, as a large, public, urban institution, the University of Cincinnati is in no position either to "give" all its incoming first-year students cutting-edge devices like the iPad, or to require students to acquire the devices themselves. We're Here, Now What? How to Lend an iPad References
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