McBloglin

Like many, I have looked to post-NECC postings as I try to sort and sift information. I am still working on some thoughtful reflections to jump start initiatives for next year. It’s a lot to process. Going to NECC, San Antonio was an amazing event, and I am still riffing on it. Immersing in a different country, with hordes of like-minded professionals, both on and off-line is my kind of fun.

That being said, I was rather taken aback at the Twitter, as quoted by David Warlick here, “that as One commenter said, in explanation of a Twitter post she’d made during the conference, “I wonder if Canadian schools really get it.” I think Mr. Warlick”s response was a defense of us cousins.

Then I happened on to Clarence Fischer’s blog here , the title of which is “America …. You’ve Got Trouble”.

So I’ve got two questions.

Firstly, what does it mean to “not get’ something? I seem to hear that phrase a lot. Does it mean that one does not understand something? Or is it that it’s an easy way to dismiss people who understand, and consider, a point of view, and then choose to not stop there intellectually?

Secondly, and a little more personal, what is it that Canadian schools don’t get? And if the Twitterer thinks that American schools have the answer, PLEASE SHARE!! We’re trying real(LY) hard.

Barb

Trying to get the most out of what presents to be an amazing wealth of information, expertise and shear humanity in San Antonio, I have spent some time on the NECC website, mulling over sessions, poster presentations and hands-on playgrounds. What brain candy!!

I have watched with interest the growth of the Ning, as it evolved from a bulletin board of sorts (”anyone want to share a taxi?”) to the emergence of grouped interests and ad-hoc SIGs. Many of the events are going to be streamed, podcasted and shared in numerous blogs (I’m going to do my best!), so if you can’t make it, the collaborative knowledge should be accessible to all, and available for futher discussion and use.

This, in my opinion, is key. Conferences are great, but there needs to be reflection, attempt, revision and re-trial of new ideas, so that we all don’t get lost in rhetoric and discussion, without sound efforts to ask “What then are next steps!”

BTW, Commun-IT is in the news on the Necc2008 homepage! Way to go homies!!

Today captured in many ways the path we have walked since Fall 2007 in supporting teachers with IWB’s and tablets. Believing that technology, whatever that may be, can only be used successfully as a tool for integration if dedicated professional development is attached, we gathered a group of teachers together, with a complete range of experiences. From our initial meeting, then on-site release time, and to our final reflections today, a dedicated and diverse group showed a commitment to collaborate and connect. A Professional Learning Network is a dynamic and organic entity, and ours has ebbed and flowed, but in the end has grown in numbers, has a commitment to sustainability, and has a mandate to facilitate other teachers with like technology throughout the system. Must tell you, it was all pretty cool!

Keep an eye out for videos, lesson templates, learning objects and personal reflections in the Interactive Whiteboard conference on Commun-IT http://www.commun-it.org/community/whiteboards/files/

My thanks to all my colleagues who gave their time and dedication to this project.

Barb

I was surprised actually at the lack of comment about Arthur C. Clarke’s passing (at least in my rsses). Mostly known to me as a science fiction writer, he was rather prescient regarding “geostationary orbit”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C_Clarke#Concept_of_the_geo

As a kid I avidly read science fiction, but never Arthur Clarke. However, I can remember so well watching “2001: A Space Odyssey” and just getting such a buzz when the ape “got” it (that musical score didn’t hurt). Never really understood really what was going on, but Hal was cool; 2010 seemed anti-climatic and even more confusing really.

I decided to pick up “2061; odyssey three” and “3001: the final odyssey”(*) for some fun reading this weekend, and to pay tribute to a great mind.

Here’s a couple of quotes from page 15, “2016: odyssey three”:

“….the political tectonic plates were moving as inexorably as the geological ones….For in the beginning, the Earth had possessed the single supercontinent of Pangea, which over the eons had split asunder. So had the human species, into innumerable tribes and nations; now it was merging together, as the old linguistic and cultural divsions began to blur”

and

“With the historic abolition of long-distance charges on 31 December 2000, every telephone call became a local one, and the human race greeted the new millennium by transforming itself into one huge, gossiping family”

This was written in 1987!!!

I am spending entirely too much time this week enjoying my RSS feeds and direct delivery of comments that are filling my inbox. Fascinating “debate” going on at http://weblogg-ed.com/ where Will Richardson has hit several hot buttons. I sifted out 3 key points: the frustration of the converted in trying to understand why everybody doesn’t get it and use Web 2.0 tools exclusively, some name-calling between the bloggers and the academics (bloggers are winning that by sure numbers, obviously…it’s a blog), and a few tentative notes by teachers and administrators who are down in the trenches, trying to be agents of change amongst the realities of bandwidth, RFP’s for hardware, cranky images, creaky AUP’s, parent councils, EBDM’s and sometimes yard duty. I’m in that little group of reality-pushers. Between that debate and all of its jump-outs, and the Ryerson thing, my head is spinning. So I thought I’d share an interactive game, that I came across when I was roaming around the TED lectures. Enjoy! http://www.etchy.org/single.php There is also a LightBrite sim, but I didn’t Del.cio.us it and I have to get out of this chair and go ski or something!

Challenged with the responsibility of moving a system along the continuum of adoption, I have spent some time giving presentations to pre-service and practicing teachers regarding the seamless use of technology as a tool for learning. Web 2.0 literacies are a part of that tool kit, and I have found a few pockets of interest, less sustainability and general dis-interest in learning something new. This from teachers who may use audio and video applications, simulations, or whatever technology they have internalized and are able to incorporate into engaging, authentic and assessible lessons. But holy cow, do they want an interactive white board!!

Very real concerns of Web 2.0 tools are privacy and safety for students and the impact on teachers and administrators if the fortress of learning is breached. I think it is time we moved the discussion forward to the realities of students using Web 2.0 tools, their abilities to sort through the incredible bombardment of web influences and our responsiblities to be knowing guides through these interesting times.

Your mission, should you accept it, is to initiate creative thinking, authentic publishing, collaborative thought and acceptable use of the internet with your wonderful read/write Bloggers. Return to Jack Donohue and receive the documents that will ensure your success in this endeavour.

Welcome all Gator bloggers to the wonderful Read/Write Web. Your students, and you, are going to have a ball, and they might just learn to think critically, authentically revise and edit their work, and realize that there is another side to the Internet.

Barb 

Acceptable Use Policy
Acceptable Use Procedures

The current OCDSB AUP is in need of reflective revision. Are the Web 2.0 tools the problem? Do we ban outright all cells, handheld devices, cameras? Or do we just continue to require appropriate classroom behaviour regardless of media? Do we ban the pen that wrote the word, or do we teach etiquette, respect and tolerance?

What do you think?

There is a growing body of research demonstrating that blogging provides authentic publishing, encourages pride of ownership, improves student writing and encourages reluctant writers and readers. Should we be including blogging in an already overactive Literacy curriculum? Does it encourage critical thinking or are we just buying in to the wazzzzzuuuupp???<3 cyberhand writing style of the wee-webbers? Can we put the capital back in i?

 Barb