March 19, 2011
One of the pitfalls to avoid with the idea of being career- and college-ready is just what the term can imply: “This will matter when you go to college.” “This will prepare you for college” … “why can’t what students do matter now?” Why do we as educators default to the response that this material will help you later?
Chris Lehmann:
What technology can allow us to do is to realize the promise of many of our best ideas of progressive education. It can allow students to inquire, collaborate, and connect in ways that allow us to realize the promise of John Dewey’s dream. Moreover, it allows students and teachers to see themselves as real people, defined not just by the power dynamic of the classroom, but through the social networks that should and will and must cross.
Andrew Miller compares learning to shopping:
When you go window shopping, you often spend a few hours walking down the street or the halls of the mall window shopping. You look in the window at a coat you might want to buy. You even enter the store and try it on. You might even try out a cologne or perfume. Or, you might simply admire the iPad that you want to buy at the Apple store.
Conversely, when you go shopping with intent, you most always know you want to buy something. Standards and PBL [project-based learning] is a lot like this. You have the intent to purchase an item. The task is deliberate. You have a mission. You need to buy a gift for a friend, or you want to buy a pair of shoes. These are the ones you take the time to truly explore, think about, try on, and finally purchase with your hard-earned money. It is the same way with standards. There are some standards you “buy.” THESE are the standards you mean to assess. There are also standards you “window-shop.” These are the standards that you might encounter and explore in the project, but do not intend to full assess. As a teacher, you need to think about which standards will your students ‘buy,’ how you will teach them, and how your assessments will demonstrate the learning.
Marc Prensky:
Yes, we need to “out-educate.” But as any business school student or consultant will tell you, when competing it is far better to have a different, more clever, strategy than to just work harder at doing the same thing others do.
Great read.
December 30, 2010
I’ve been toying with this idea for some time now. At first, I thought it was a bad idea. I own an iPad and the first thing I do when I need to type something longer than a couple sentences is pick up my laptop. I’ve been afraid that we’d be limiting our classroom experiences to consumption if we went with the iPad alone.
But, then I read this article and now I’m thinking I was wrong.
Fraser adds that a child starting school today won’t leave until 2023, by which point, who knows what technology will be commonplace? His thoughts are the same regarding anyone who says children should solely work on Windows PCs – instead, he argues that they should use whatever tools enable them to best learn: “The iPad beats a PC because it removes that whole layer of ‘we’re doing computers now’, and you end up with ‘we’re doing maths’ or ‘we’re doing music’.”
One big question on my mind is math homework. I’d have to find a reliable math writing app. Of course, who does math homework on a PC? Definitely something to look into.
December 13, 2010
What should a school do in order to bring its pedagogy and curriculum to a higher level? Begin by constituting a task force and asking it to answer one question: “What skills and values will students need to be successful in future educational settings, as employees in the workplace, as family members, and as citizens?” The answers to that question will point schools in the direction, I believe, of more emphasis on — and more curricular programming for — different pedagogical approaches to problem-solving, ethical decision-making, accessing and discriminating knowledge via the new technologies, working effectively in teams, leadership development, communications skills (including public speaking), and conflict-resolution.
Based on the aggregation of billions of search queries people typed into Google this year, Zeitgeist captures the spirit of 2010.
December 1, 2010
November 20, 2010
M. O. to another O. to the D. L. E.
November 19, 2010
Old news from the BBC, but new to me. We’re talking government endorsed, open internet final exams.
One of the teachers stands in front of the class and explains the rules. She tells the candidates they can use the internet to answer any of the four questions.
They can access any site they like, even Facebook, but they cannot message each other or email anyone outside the classroom.
What about cheating and integrity?
The teachers also think the nature of the questions make it harder to cheat in exams. Students are no longer required to regurgitate facts and figures. Instead the emphasis is on their ability to sift through and analyse information.
Sounds promising.
November 18, 2010
Christopher Dawson:
Last month, Project Red, an initiative to “Revolutionize Education” through technology, released findings on the utility and factors for success in 1:1 computing. Their research, which spanned almost 1000 schools using a comprehensive survey instrument over the 2009-2010 school year suggested that, when done correctly, 1:1 computing can have measurable and significant impacts on teaching and learning. When done poorly, 1:1 is just an added cost without any added educational value.
Of the nine factors listed for schools that do 1:1 correctly, two involve solid leadership. Other top factors include collaboration, formative assessments, and full integration in core and intervention classes.
Engaging, relevant, project-based learning experiences built around standards.
In contrast to traditional classroom instruction, this requires that we put students at the center and empower them to take control of their own learning by providing flexibility on several dimensions.
… students and educators should have options for engaging in learning: large groups, small groups, and work tailored to the individual goals, needs, interests, and prior experience of each learner.
Corinne Alfeld gives makes a good case for more Career & Technical Education, but her argument could just as easily apply to any program that emphasizes project-based learning or 21st century skills.
I am challenging the American public to consider that perhaps all students need to learn useful career skills in addition to academics. Students who might otherwise have dropped out can see that there might be something worthwhile in school after all, while traditional, four-year college bound students can test their interests and skills in a variety of career areas before embarking in one direction.
November 11, 2010
I am a teacher, not a teaching professional. The foundation of my teaching practice is respect for the student. I don’t try to change them. I don’t try to affect them. I don’t try to alter them. I simply try to show them something — to fix a world of ideas and problems and literatures and concerns before them. I let them make of it what they will.
Here’s the problem with prohibiting the use of Wikipedia: We all use it anyway. Look up just about any new term, word, or expression in the search engine of your choice, and the Wikipedia entry for that term will be the first hit. And usually it’s not only spot on but gives you the information you need immediately.
And,
We don’t need to teach our kids not to use Wikipedia. We need to teach them to make those extra few clicks and decide for themselves if the Wikipedia entry has merit. It’s a skill that is broadly applicable in an age of information overload and Google’s billions of search results.
November 10, 2010
Great piece by Keith Devlin for the Mathematical Association of America.
In an international survey conducted in 2003, students from forty countries were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement: “When I study math, I try to learn the answers to the problems off by heart.” Across all students, an average of 65 percent disagreed with this statement – which is encouraging since it is a hopeless way to learn math – but 67 percent of American children agreed with it!
In short, by teaching kids basic skills in math, we’re doing it wrong. Students taught this way may see short gains in immediate test scores, but they don’t understand the broader application of the math that they are doing.
When Boaler would visit a class being taught in a [project-based] fashion and ask students what they were working on, they would describe the problem and how they were trying to solve it. When she asked the same questions of students being taught the traditional way, they would generally tell them what page of the book they were on. When she asked them, “But what are you actually doing?” they would answer “Oh, I’m doing number 3.”
For those concerned about teaching success being measured only by standardized test scores, I really like this question:
As a parent (if you are one), which statement would give you more pleasure?:
- “Because of good teaching, my child scored 79% on her last math test,” or
- “Because of good teaching, my child has a much better job and leads a far more interesting and rewarding life than me.”
I just finished reading Michael Fullan’s The Six Secrets of Change, one of several books my new superintendent recommended back in August for insight into his leadership philosophy. It’s a quick and an easy read. I read it in a single weekend while watching football and playing with my kids. I’d recommend it to anyone in a leadership role in education today. Here’s my quick summary of his secrets.
Be proud of the faculty and staff you have and treat them with the care and respect they deserve. Hold them accountable for their actions because you care about them and want to help them grow. Don’t punish or pay them as motivation to change. Show them that you care by being present in their work and giving them opportunities to grow and develop into stronger educators.
Fullan quotes Barber & Mourshed (2007): “the quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.” The lesson here is that while “Put Students First” is a great vision statement for a placard on the wall of a high school, it’s missing a key component. Putting students first requires the maintenance of a highly educated and self-motivated faculty and staff. It doesn’t require putting teachers last.
This secret can be summed up in a single sentence: Collaboration is important for getting teachers to share and learn, but only when focused on work that matters. You can’t simply require that teachers meet in teams once a week and expect wonderful things to happen. They must be engaged in work that has purpose to them. Otherwise, there is no reason for them to meet.
This is a great reason to implement Professional Learning Communities, which encourages the use of protocols to build efficiency and meaning into every teacher meeting.
Effective leaders are not judgmental of individual failings. They treat every misstep as an opportunity to build capacity in their employees (and their students). This goes back to loving your employees a bit, but it’s an important point. If you are a judgmental leader whose methods of school improvement are punishment and fear, you will never know half of the things that go on in your school. No one will tell you anything out of fear of getting in trouble.
Gone are the days of bringing in an outside expert for staff professional development. Unless, of course, that expert is addressing a very specific need, more benefit comes from encouraging teachers to reflect on their practices and student data to improve the work they do every day.
If a high school math department implements a plan to help increase semester test scores for socioeconomically disadvantaged kids, and the scores remain unchanged, something in the plan needs to be changed. No blame. No hurt feelings. Just constant incremental growth and learning.
Transparency about the school teaching methods and the student data provides the positive pressure to grow and change. For example, we have been Writing Across the Curriculum for two consecutive years now. Our writing test scores have increased by 10%. Or, they haven’t. Here’s why. What are we going to do now?
Fullan advocates for strong visions and policies and a commitment to fostering leadership throughout an organization as a way of ensuring continuity from year to year. He cites several successful companies who have been successful because they’ve created a culture of success, not because they had a bold and charismatic leader.
The point here is that it’s not enough for individual leaders to impress their faculty and staff by implementing the first five secrets.
If you love your employees (which you better), you’ll want them to collaborate in ways that are meaningful to them. When mistakes are made, you suspend judgement and build capacity by recognizing the weak points and finding ways to strengthen them for the future. And, you make their lives easier by giving them time and methods to learn from their work. When you have nothing to hide, you should share your methods and results with others. And, last but not least, share these secrets with as many people as possible to inform your theory and build capacity in future leaders in your school.
October 4, 2010
Joseph Thibault:
The absence of a new release may cause new adopters to opt for one of the newer, fresher, more flashy Learning Management System[s] ….
and
Furthermore, once a school has locked into a LMS decision, it’s a much harder task to lure them to another LMS (no matter how much better or even cheaper).
September 29, 2010
Back in August, teacher and software developer, Fraser Speirs, started a new series on his blog about his school’s rollout of 1:1 iPads. What’s the verdict one month in?
So many people have asked me to explain the educational impact of the iPad. I simply can’t yet get to grips with everything that’s happening. Put simply, the iPad deployment has transformed our school. Not evenly and not everywhere yet, but it’s coming.
If you have the time, it’s worth it to go back and read his entire series.
July 23, 2010
Nice opportunity for anyone not in the neighborhood of Goshen, Indiana next week:
Wimba will provide a live webcast of Martin Dougiamas’ keynote address, Moodle 2.0, on Tuesday, July 27, 9:00am – 10:00am Eastern Daylight Time.
I'm an educator, web designer, husband, and father. I believe in lifelong learning, and like stuff that's cool. Read more.
