ISTE - David Warlick: Cracking the Native Information Experience

Cracking the Native Information Experience
(Description) We know our students are natives to this new information landscape. But what is the code of their experience, and how do we hack it?
Handouts available at: http://davidwarlick.com/wordpress/?page_id=325

First off he sees that kids today have "No Ceiling" - that means that kids before today had limits and barriers . Today kids are networked, digital, abundant, and hard to contain so the question presents then is "what is school?" School once was where learning took place. Now though kids are learning everywhere. Kids used to be forced to learn via the textbook and teacher now they learn from each other. So, can we "Crack the Code" that kids put time, effort, learning into video games, and other tech stuff today?

Google has turned us into a Question and Answer culture. Before we never asked as many questions and the ones we did we often could not find those answers easily. Now we have those answers at our fingertips, literally in our mobile devices.

We have wanted to teach students the way we learned, but the landscape is considerably different now.

We need to now look at the opposing view of  teaching to them with how they already learn.

 
 
For example, can learning be fun? Look at a Scantron and ask "is this fun". NO but our kids are learning today because what they learn is fun to them.

 


One idea that he mentioned I called BLOG POPCORN!
It is a blog idea for notes (treat it like popcorn reading) each student is required to take notes for the day and then at the end of the lesson they write a blog post about it on the class site. Then at the bottom of the post they write one students name and that student is then required to do the next post.

Another interesting point he made was about scoring guides and rubrics. Looking at an example scoring guide about the Renaissance a project and creating such detail (i.e. 5 points for this, 10 points for that). What this does is that it eliminates QUESTIONS.

He uses a Barbed Wire picture as an example. He said to post the image and then say Nothing. - No prompting - kids would then begin to ask questions... what's the name, where is it, what is it used for?  Kids are tough often trained in needing step by step instructions for learning. For example if you ask them to write what they think about something they demand detail i.e. "how many pages should it be... etc"

He then left us with a few questions:

How am I daring my students to make "Mistakes" to feed the learning dialogue

How can I make my students learning ready

And lastly, Ask A Student to "Surprise Me!"

ISTE - Change from the Radical Center of Education

Change from the Radical Center of Education

(Description) This presentation suggests 10 principles to follow from the radical center of education that will result in positive change in education 

Its always easier to steer the camel the direction its headed.

I loved this camel quote since it is how I feel about the direction that technology is going. I see it that we are being guided by forces that are not always in the best interest of education and what best for kids. These forces can be IT departments who have different concerns such as security and stability of a network and product vendors who are interested in the bottom line.


Anyway, here is some of the links from this presenter whom I was pleasantly surprised by.
http://www.doug-johnson.com
http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com
http://dougjohnson.wikispaces.com/Changeradicalcenter


The presenter Doug, labeled himself as a "radical centrist in education, who subscribes to the following principles:"

1. Adopt an "and" not "or" mindset.

2. Look for truth and value in all beliefs and practices.

3. Respect the perspective of the individual.

4. Recognize one size does not fit all (kids or teachers).

5. Attend to attitudes.

6. Understand that the elephant can only be eaten one bite at a time.

7. Make sure everyone is moving forward, not just the early adopters.

8. Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know."

9. Believe measurement is good, but that not everything can be measured.

10. Know and keep your core values.

Here is another quote that he used which really applied to the collaborative steps we need to start taking:
 

"If you want to travel fast...travel alone.

If you want to travel far...travel together."

African Proverb.

Doug also spoke about what gives school value?
1. School climate
2. individual teacher quality
3. libraries and technology
4. elective and extracurricular offerings
5. commitment to staff development

Quote from Kim Confino
I sometimes need to remind myself that the most critical part of my job to inspire change in the real world, not just within our connected group of educators. The reality is that those of us hoping to be voices of change need to make sure that we’re not speeding ahead on our own, but must always work to bring everyone else in our school environment along with us.
This is from Doug's blog (below) and it strikes a cord that as I try to push myself farther and farther it is nothing if I do am not an agent of change to help bring the rest of my district, teachers I meet in my trainings and my Personal Learning Network with me. This truly is what the African proverb above talked about.


http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2007/12/31/rce-7-and-8-moving-with-others-and-admitting-ignorance.html

And lastly, this presenter talked just a bit about how his district has just recently made the switch over to Google Apps. 

I had a conversation with him afterward and we pointed me towards his site and blog which cover their journey. I am excited to read more about this as we at Rocklin Unified continue to move forward with Google Apps.

ISTE - Google Wave

Google Wave for the K–12 Classroom 
(Description) Learn about Google's game-changing communication and collaboration tool, explore setting up and using Wave, and discover practical applications for use in the classroom

This was the first time I have tried out the Google Wave after hearing so much about it. It has often been described as revolutionary in term of re-defining how we will communicate but also as confusing and over complicated. Well after sitting in the session for the hour I am taking the side of the "Complicated" - and more importantly I don't see this as a very practicle piece of software for educators. This in part due to its complexity, but also I see it as almost "too real time", meaning that I like the idea of taking some time to formulate thoughts and ideas instead of the being so on the fly. So, although I am a Google fan boy I am not going to use this at all.

ISTE #1 - Will Richardson

I am here in Denver at ISTE and it is late at night. I took in a full day of presentations. I was hoping to post my thoughts and ideas in between sessions but it was a fast paced day and I found myself with little time. One of the things I need to do tomorrow is give myself more time to process. OK... so here is a recap of my fist session.

My first presentation that I attended was a tough one to choose. Three of the ones that were the most enticing were from three men that have been influential to me in Ed Tech journey. First was Ian Jukes who I first saw back in 1998 when I was teaching in Nevada. Back then it was my first conference and he came in wowed me with the possibilites of where education is going. He is presenting and blogging and can be found here at the Committed Sardine (http://www.committedsardine.com). I didn't see Ian (a big reason for this was that his session was full!) and my second choice was Hall Davidson (http://www.halldavidson.net) who I saw at the CTAP conference two years ago. He was the one how taught and inspired me to begin with podcasting my lectures with a green screen. I saw that Hall was presenting later so I skipped his first and went to see the third of these presenters - the guru of blogs, wikis and podcasts, Will Richardson.

Session: Changing the Climate: How Teaching Social Networks Might Save the World
I have read Will's book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms and been a follower of his blog (http://weblogg-ed.com)for about a year now. Here are some of the points that I wanted to share:

• His final point "BEGIN TO PARTICIPATE". In short, a call to arms that we as educators must act and act now. That we as teachers need to look at these social networks and realize that students are already creating their own Personal Learning Networks and we must do so as well. Plus we should be guiding our students in the PLNs so that the can participate in safe, effective and ethical ways.
• Shared a passage from Daniel Goleman "Know your impacts, Favor improvements, Share What You Learn"
• A lesson to focus on... How do we teach kids to make sense of all the content out there. We should not just trust all that we read but also must not think it is all suspect. Users should learn how to try and make sense. He used the BP Oil Spill and how the Google sponsored links are paid by BP. 
• We all get smarter when we work in the community and share - collaboration is king. I need to spend more time thinking about Will and others' idea of PLN's and also how we at my district are trying to move toward a PLC model. PLN's and PLC's... are they one in the same?
• He used a great example of how the world of technology is re-defining reading and writing. Showed
• There is a polarization out there between those who push for change and those who have not shifted their paradigm that the education is now becoming a different place. 
• Lastly, the walls of the classrooms are coming down. Learning takes place outside those walls but one of the consequences is that teachers are going to need to be more transparent. They need to allow others to see in. This would hold teachers more accoutable and make them WANT to get better.
• And one more time.... "BEGIN TO PARTICIPATE". Teachers it is time to open ourselves up to change and this participation will help us all. 

The network is the most powerful piece of learning

Welcome

Hello there world!

My name is Ryan O'Donnell and I am a teacher at Rocklin High School in California. I wanted to start writing a blog to serve as a place for me to voice my thoughts and ideas. I am a social studies teacher and web design teacher and I am passionate about how technology is changing the face of education.

As a teacher for Rocklin Unified School District, I have been given the opportunity to attend the ISTE conference next week in Denver. I have been to some local tech conferences in California and Nevada but this upcoming one truly is going to be the "show". I wanted to get this blog up and going before I left so that I could have a place to talk about all that I will experience. So, if you are here checking out my first blog, I hope you come back to read some more about my view on some of the exciting new educational technologies, ways in which to utilize them in the classroom, and other musings about how we can adapt the antiquated classroom to the 21st century.

My district is currently going through the process of trying to integrate Google Apps for Education. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Google campus in the Spring and see how the products from Google can be integrated into the classroom and along with that, get a tour of the famed "Googleplex", which was a pretty incredible place. I am helping to try and test out how we can best set up and implement these tools with our teachers and students.

Along with teaching, I also do some work for the publishing company Teacher Created Materials. This work entails doing some writing for publication, but what I really enjoy is doing trainings to teachers throughout the country. Over the past three years, TCM has sent me throughout the country to work with teachers and train them on various social studies products. These experiences and journeys have taken me many places and allowed me to meet many fascinating teachers. At each of the presentations, I like to show how to infuse technology into anyone's curriculum. From websites, blogs, podcasts, wikis, video tips and PowerPoint tricks I find it exciting to see teachers enthusiastic about using new technologies and finding new ways to connect with kids.

So, what you can expect here in the blog is simply the musings and thoughts of my journey through the world technology in education. I will share my own classroom experiences and ideas I've picked up through meeting different teachers throughout the country.  Along with this blog, this site called Creative Ed Tech is going to be the home of a video podcast that myself and my friend and fellow teacher, Ryan Spears will put on where we will go over real tips and tricks that teachers can use. These will feature resources such PowerPoint tips, free Web 2.0 resources, Smartboard tips, and iPhone and Droid apps.

If you like what you see please pass the blog and podcast on to fellow teachers and also feel free to leave a comment on any of my posts or send me an email at ryanodonnell.edtech@gmail.com .

Next stop... Denver Colorado!