Background to the 4E's — Digisim - A Flipped Academic A highly experienced mentor once told me that there are 3 main groups of staff with regards to influencing change around technology use. These are the evangelists, those who will naturally be inquisitive and try new technology; the resistors, those to whom the change model applies (there is a sliding scale for resistors as some will resist for longer than others) and finally the naysayers, those who just don't want to change and are excessive complainers. (This final group I have renamed as C.A.V.E.s - Colleagues Against Virtually Everything.) My mentor also suggested that it's a waste of time and effort to focus attention on the "naysayers" as they very rarely change their minds. So what's all this got to do with the 4E Framework? I began to realise that as part of the change process staff had to take ownership for the rationale behind the use of technology.
A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days – a sobering lesson learned The following account comes from a veteran HS teacher who just became a Coach in her building. Because her experience is so vivid and sobering I have kept her identity anonymous. But nothing she describes is any different than my own experience in sitting in HS classes for long periods of time. And this report of course accords fully with the results of our student surveys. I have made a terrible mistake. I waited fourteen years to do something that I should have done my first year of teaching: shadow a student for a day. This is the first year I am working in a school but not teaching my own classes; I am the High School Learning Coach, a new position for the school this year. As part of getting my feet wet, my principal suggested I “be” a student for two days: I was to shadow and complete all the work of a 10th grade student on one day and to do the same for a 12th grade student on another day. The schedule that day for the 10th grade student: 7:45 – 9:15: Geometry 10:55 – 11:40: Lunch
“18th-c studies” meets “digital humanities” | The Long Eighteenth This post by George Williams. The CFP for ASECS 2010 is out, and I can’t help but notice that several of the panel proposals (including one being organized by Lisa Maruca and me) deal explicitly with digital humanities topics. Details regarding these panels are available after the jump, but before you make that jump, dear reader, please indulge me for a few sentences. Does it seem to you that the various academic disciplines concerned with the humanities are at a turning point with regard to integrating digital tools into their research and teaching methodologies? It certainly seems that way to me: And yet, does it perhaps also feel to you that the benefits of these developments have not yet filtered down to our day-to-day academic lives? This is not meant to be a list of complaints, mind you. Is this new phase a good thing? ASECS 2010 and the Digital Humanities Below are the CFPs for ASECS 2010 panels that explicitly deal with the digital humanities. George H. Like this: Like Loading...
Report highlights 10 trends set to shake up education Massive open social learning and dynamic assessment on the Open University’s list The Open University has published the Innovating Pedagogy 2014 report, which explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment. It proposes 10 innovations that, although already established to some extent, have not yet had what it describes as “a profound influence” on education. To produce the report, academics at the university’s Institute of Educational Technology proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories and practices, which were then boiled down to 10 that it deems to “have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice”. 1. This is all about bringing the benefits of social networks to massive open online courses (Moocs). “Possible solutions include linking conversations with learning content, creating short-duration discussion groups made up of learners who are currently online, and enabling learners to review each other’s assignments,” the report says. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Visitors and Residents: What Motivates Engagement with the Digital Information Environment? Building on research of individuals’ modes of engagement with the web (Visitors and Residents4), and the JISC-funded Digital Information Seeker report5, this project is exploring what motivates different types of engagement with the digital environment for learning. The investigation focuses on the sources learners turn to in order to gather information, and which ‘spaces’ (on and offline) they choose to interact in as part of the learning process. It is using the Visitors and Residents6 framework to map learner’s modes of engagement in both personal and institutional contexts. The project is assessing whether individual’s approaches shift according to the learners’ educational stage or whether they develop practices/literacies in early stages that remain largely unchanged as they progress through their educational career. The pilot phase focused on the ‘Emerging’ educational stage which spans late stage secondary school and first year undergraduates. Objectives Reports Video: Blog posts:
Why disruptive innovation matters to education There is a common tendency at this time of year to reflect and refocus on what matters most and then use that renewed focus to chart into the year ahead. In that spirit of reflection, I want to share some thoughts on why the theory of disruptive innovation, which guides our work here at the Clayton Christensen Institute, is so important to education. If you are not familiar with the theory of disruptive innovation, a brief explanation is available here on our website. For a more thorough explanation, The Innovator’s Solution lays out the theory in a comprehensive yet digestible format. My purpose here is not to explain the theory, but rather, explain in brief why that theory should matter to people who want to improve our education system. First, disruptive innovation is the catalyst for bringing about more equitable access to high-quality education. One of the great tragedies of our time is that a student’s zip code largely determines whether she will receive a high-quality education.
What is a Relevant Educator? - Corwin Connect Contributed by Tom Whitby Education in America has been around for several hundred years now, going back to colonial times in the 17th century. Back then, teachers were not only content experts, but also models for moral standards for children. I imagine that the concept of applying “moral turpitude” as a condition of employment for a teacher started back then. Teachers back then were covered by a common law doctrine of “in loco parentis” which empowered schools, and thereby teachers, to administer corporal punishment (hitting or paddling) to any students whom they felt warranted punishment. Change came slowly to education. Technology slowly crept into schools. Educators were slow in adopting technology beyond the word processor. The picture I have attempted to paint in words is a common experience most educators and parents have experienced in their contact with education. We have in our minds a picture of a successful student of the 20th Century.
OU Digital Tools: Connected Learning Infographic Thanks to Karen LaBonte, I learned about this amazing infographic about Connected Learning. You can see the jumbo-sized version of the graphic for details. I find it wonderful but overwhelming, so I decided to break it up into piece that I can cope with! These infographic snippets will give me plenty to reflect on in the days to come. :-) Connected Learning. Peer Culture. Openly Networked. Academic. Active Relevant Real-World Effective Hands-OnNetworked Innovative Personal Transformative Shared Purpose. Interests. Production-Centered. Collaborate Share Empowered Supported Space Knowledge Achieve Recognition Cross-Generational Expertise Diverse Mobilize Credit: Connected Learning Research Network and Digital Media & Learning Research Hub This Connected Learning Infographic is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
What do students entering HE expect from digital technologies? When we come across new technologies or digital platforms for the first time in further and higher education (HE), how do we decide what the technology does or should do, and how we can use it to help us? In the digital student project we have been investigating incoming students’ expectations of the digital environment in HE. Institutions will be working to meet or manage expectations as hundreds of thousands of new students arrive in September but it’s no small task to build a picture of students’ hopes and aspirations when there are modules to rewrite and technology to update over the summer. Clearly experiences of digital technology while at school will be a major influence, so we have looked closely at the sort of technologies schools own and how they use it. In the classroom Coming to an understanding of the use of technology in schools wasn’t straight forward. Shifting model Digital technologies in HE
7 Pillars Of Digital Leadership In Education 7 Pillars Of Digital Leadership In Education by Eric Sheninger, Principal at New Milford High School in New Jersey As schools change leadership must as well. With society becoming more and more reliant on technology it is incumbent upon leaders to harness the power of digital technologies in order to create school cultures that are transparent, relevant, meaningful, engaging, and inspiring. In order to set the stage for increasing achievement and to establish a greater sense of community pride for the work being done in our schools, we must begin to change the way we lead. To do this, leaders must understand the origins of fear and misconceptions that often surround the use of technology such as social media and mobile devices. Once the fears and misconceptions are placed on the table, leaders can begin to establish a vision for the effective use of technology to improve numerous facets of leadership. From my work I have identified what I call the Pillars of Digital Leadership. 1. 2. 3.
The History of the Future of Education 6 min read (This was delivered at Ryerson University's ChangSchoolTalks.) It's a refrain throughout my work: we are suffering from an amnesia of sorts, whereby we seem to have forgotten much of the history of technology. This amnesia seeps from technology into education and education technology. I've been working on a book for a while now called Teaching Machines that explores the history of education technology in the twentieth century. Of course, these revisionist narratives shouldn't really surprise us. I'm particularly interested in "the history of the future of education," or as what Matt Novak calls his blog, the "paleofuture." This is perhaps one of the most cited examples of the "paleofuture" of education technology. Image credits This 1910 print is by the French artist Villemard and was part of a series "En l'an 2000" ("In the Year 2000") from around the World's Fair and the new century that was packaged in cigar and cigarette boxes. I’m fond of the flying firefighters. Radio.
Students' experiences and expectations of the digital environment Over the last few years, the technology-enhanced learning (TEL) community has made the student digital experience a central concern. Of course we still worry about getting the institutional systems and infrastructure right, but we know that students are using a vast range of tools – including their own devices and services – and that it's how they use these tools that matters. Now with the digital student project we have had a chance to look squarely at how the student experience is changing. What we discovered As we imagined, arriving students' expectations vary a great deal. robust and ubiquitous Wi-Fi across campus locationseasily to connect their own devices to the university network, and access personal/social web servicescontinued access to institutional devices, especially desktop computers with relevant software for their use Beyond these we saw a more varied picture. As we near the end of that process, I think several themes have emerged. Spaces and places of learning Find out more
joanna m-My ELT rambles What makes a good teacher? One of my last lessons of the year was with two boys who are about 12, and I asked them that same question. It was actually part of a reading task but I thought I should start with a bit of a chit chat about teachers and hear their views. So, I posed the million dollar question." What makes a good teacher?' My Young learners:A good teacher: makes you laughanswers your questionsdoesn't shoutmakes the lesson interestinghelps us relax when we are tired (didn't see this one coming!) Boring is a teacher: who is not funny and does not have a sense of humor.who only does things from the book/ reads everything from a book.who is strict (?!) So, looking at their answers, a few conclusions can be drawn. So, as 2014 is towards its end, time to reflect and think about how you teach and how your learners would like to teach. See you in 2015!!