Challenging Education

Amber Case on TED Talk

2011-01-11T20:07:00.001-05:00

Just watched this fascinating TED Talk - relates perfectly to my interests in terms of the relationship between technology and development.

Google Brand Recognition

2011-01-04T21:04:00.002-05:00

I don't always agree with Mark Bauerline, and actually can't believe he wrote this piece The Brand in the Classroom as it is pro-technology use in education. However it is exactly related to my interests, and the focus of my work this spring - the relationship between digital media use and cognitive development. As teachers how do we leverage the tools students already know and use? Can we help them navigate the difference between academic and social uses?

Beginning again

2010-01-08T17:30:00.002-05:00

The start of a new semester is such a wonderful opportunity to recommit to old practices, like keeping this blog. So here I go again. Thinking about my own beliefs with using computers in pursuit of literacy goals. I have to say it has always been part of my learning landscape, so it feels like a natural part of the way we are literate.

A New Study on Writing

2009-09-16T20:53:00.002-04:00

Just read this great article about the fact that a review of college-student's writing suggests that we are seeing a new literacy - excited to read the research
Article: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson
Study http://ssw.stanford.edu/about/about.php

Google Wave

2009-06-29T20:27:00.001-04:00

Oh wow, watching this video from Google about GoogleWave - the implications for education are huge.

Digital Youth Network

2009-06-16T11:45:00.001-04:00

Just saw information about the Digital Youth Network and the Remix World - looks like a classroom version of Facebook - wonder what the difference is from NING software - I'll have to play soon and figure out if one works better than the other.

The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies

2009-05-01T08:40:00.000-04:00

The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies

As new media shifts how we read, write and collaborate, the definition of what it means to be literate also shifts. This is the definition of these new practices as published by the NCTE. I find it exciting that the list is so full of process and socially mediated practices.

Lingo to Word, for those of us that don't speak text

2009-04-14T11:07:00.002-04:00

Love this site! Lingo to word will translate either direction (traditional text to txt msg or reverse) and help you improve your texting vocabulary. I love that students could use this site to help with code switching, and teachers could use it to learn what students are saying. I think it is really important that we not discount how digital natives use language.

translated to text speak...
lov dis site! Lingo 2 wrd wl transl8 Itha direction (traditional txt 2 txt msg or reverse) n hlp u improve yr txtN vocab. I lov dat studnts cUd uz dis site 2 hlp W cod switching, n tchaz cUd uz it 2 lern w@ studnts r sAyn. I tnk itz realy impt dat we nt discount hw digital natives uz lang.

Conference

2009-04-09T10:24:00.003-04:00

This conference looks amazing - am going to try and think about how to attend. Such good stuff, thanks Travis for the tip! http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/

Great Resource

2009-03-09T19:21:00.001-04:00

Just saw this great website so rich with resources. I am really looking forward to digging deeper.
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/

Siftables

2009-03-02T19:13:00.001-05:00

We Think a good little video

2009-02-28T18:56:00.001-05:00

Tensions of New Literacy in Old Structures

2009-02-28T18:29:00.003-05:00

This week E Sky-McIlvain responded to an earlier post

What is missing, from my point of view, is creativity - a literacy that we seem to be killing, even in laptop classrooms. It is interesting that the new 2.0 literacies can be just as limiting as they can be expanding. Enter the teacher/bar-setter (which can also be student peers) and the platform for creative ideas to be showcased. Are teachers afraid of that? Yes, I think they are. How many history teachers would let students immerse in Vietnam without learning about other 20th century wars? How about just immersing in "war" as a concept, with facts and documents gathered and organized and shared for emotional rather than academic messages? Confining technologies to facts and outcomes has to go if we are to reach those higher, newer, levels of use.

I could not agree more with her sentiments and found myself returning to this post as I was reading a chapter from W Kist's book New Literacies in Action. In the chapter "My Grandchildren's Time Zone" he talks about the tensions inherent in new literacy classrooms and questions if the current structure of schools can support this new kind of learning. Just as Betsy questions above, these new literacies can really begin to free teachers and students to examine ideas and content in new ways, but not if confined to old methods of assessment and understandings of being a teacher. Additionally Kist makes a wonderful point that if we embrace these new literacies and multiple forms of presentation and communication, we must question if we still revert back to text once students have had this new learning. I know as a teacher I have been guilty of this! You ask students to engage, create, explore, all those good things, and then...you ask them to write about. This return back to traditional response and print media has to be examined. I am not sure it is never appropriate, but if we always come back to the same place, have we gone anywhere.

Kist presents many tensions - the role of the teacher, the return to the same media, the time spent on projects, the presence of assessment and grading demands. These realities of how we understand school exist, and as teachers look to change the way we educate students how can we help explore and ease these tensions such that we avoid black and white answers, but instead deal with the ambiguity that is always present in education and life.

What makes something a new literacy

2009-02-23T12:37:00.003-05:00

As the snow is swirling outside my mind too is trying to make sense of how and when we can label something a new literacy. Lankshear and Knoebel (2007) argue that in order to be labeled as such there needs to both new "technical stuff" and "ethos stuff" (p. 7).

The technical stuff side makes more sense to me, I can understand and appreciate new technologies that promote user generativity. The ethos side of things for me is not more difficult to understand, but rather it is more difficult to accomplish and promote in an academic setting. As Lewis (2007) in a different chapter of the same book points out, schools have not moved beyond the technology or technical stuff for the most part (p.230). As I was reading about the new ethos stuff, and the social and relational aspects of new literacies - I am struck by the parallels with Type I and Type II technology integration. Type I is focusing on the tool, whereas in Type II the tool enables a new experience or learning environment that is not possible previously. The movement from an Internet focused on "use, reception, consumption" to one that allows for "participation, interactivity and agency" (Lankshear and Knoebel, p. 16) is a wonderful shift, but one that still is largely taking place in the private lives, not in the educational lives of students.

Why is this the case? Does it have to do with trust in schools? Power ideals of teachers? Outdated policies of Internet use? Lack of guiding standards for education?

Reading the new 21st century Skills Map it is clear that there are those organizations trying to push these new ideas through the standards-based channels. Talking with teachers it is clear that individuals are working to make these changes in their classrooms, but there still seems to be little comprehensive movement to align personal and academic understandings in the 21st century school. I hope this change is coming...

Smartest or Dumbest Generation

2009-02-23T12:32:00.000-05:00

Some new tools for writing

2009-02-22T18:00:00.003-05:00

Glypho: http://www.glypho.com/ multiple users create and write the same story - readers vote on which versions they like

Novlet http://www.novlet.com/ a similar idea of writing by many different people - including across language barriers

Museum Box http://museumbox.e2bn.org/ allows students to create 6 sided cubes about different topics, cubes can be turned and different content can be embedded. Thanks D and T at MBHS for this one.

Disrupting Class

2009-02-22T17:54:00.002-05:00

Just finished reading Disrupting Class and while many of the ideas were fascinating and exciting, it was actually not their ideas about education that grabbed me most. Instead it was the ideas about educational research that I found most interesting. This semester I am undertaking research on Web 2.0 and writing. So far I have found this interesting and exciting. I have begun the interview portion of the research and am really enjoying these interviews to try and get a window into how teachers come by these new tools, and how they deploy them in their classrooms. However in reading chapter 7 i realized that this, and even future research I am interested in is descriptive research. As they argue, descriptive research certainly has a place in building understanding of certain conditions. However, it is more through prescriptive research and examining anomalies and creating better categories that we might be able to offer more people better educational opportunities. Although these categories are but one way to split the different types of research, the investigation was useful to me as it forced me to think about how to make my research personally useful, and useful to a wider audience.

Writing to Learn

2009-02-22T17:34:00.003-05:00

Armbruster, McCarthey and Cummins (2005) in a chapter from Learning to Write, Writing to Learn: Theory and Research in Practice review literature on how writing across the curriculum is perceived by teachers and used in local classrooms. In their work they found few studies to support the claim that writing across the curriculum makes an impact on student learning, but did find smaller studies that show support for continuing the practice since teachers perceive it as having a positive impact. Teachers cited reasons of thinking time, creating positions and helping students master content. All these are certainly important attributes of what we hope students will do through learning.

As a teacher I agree that writing across the curriculum has real benefits. But as a researcher i am wondering how teachers can prove this to transform ideas into beneficial practice for students.

So, I am trying to then wrap my brain around how to compare this article with the research brief that Silvernail and Gritter (2007) prepared about Maine's MLTI laptop program in Maine. This brief looked at MEA test data (our state assessment) to see if there was any difference in scores once laptops had been implemented state wide in the 1:1 model. Silvernail and Gritter found that "overall performance on the 8th grade MEA has not changed appreciably since the inception of the laptop program." (p.4). However they did find that scores on the writing portion of the MEA's have increased significantly since the laptops have been in place. This finding held true despite how the students took the MEA (with computer or without) and was further supported by data that students who used the laptops in more aspects of the writing process in school performed better than those students who were not using them for the writing process.

So, on the one hand I am excited to see that there is some data to support the investment in these laptops, but on the other hand I am wondering why the anecdotal and perceived impact of writing and using technology is not more well documented. Is it because of what we are using as metrics? Is it because people have not studied this topic? Is it because it is tool early to tell?

Writing and technology are becoming an intertwined process for those of us that live digitally. I am curious why there was little research to be found about writing across the curriculum, and why the laptop research shows gains in just the writing test, not across the curriculum? Certainly in the Armbruster et al chapter teachers acknowledged that one of the benefits of writing across the curriculum was that writing improved with content knowledge, so perhaps this is why we are first seeing the rise in writing scores with the MEA's. Will evidence be found later that shows growth in all areas of the MEA's? Or, is it that the MEA's may not measure what we are interested in?

Writing in new media - two way change

2009-02-22T17:20:00.003-05:00

"we see technology as an integral part of human experience, not as an outside agency that is somehow changing us against our will. Rather it is out process of using--an re-creating- these technologies that is essential human experience" (p.200)

Bruce and Comstock article, "Why Writing is Technology: Reflections in New Media"

Bruce and Comstock in this short chapter claim that writing and technology have a relationship whereby the user in participating with technologies and writing makes changes on both elements. This two way impact means seeing technology as more than just a tool that enables new forms of writing, but rather shows it to be changed by the ways writers are using the new tools. This picture is a more organic way of seeing the emergence of new media and new technologies.

As they claim "participatory design practices, the tools itself does not remain static, but emerges as the writer and reader interact" (p.201). This idea may be part of why writers feel empowered by using new media or web 2.o t00ls. The participatory nature makes them feel more a part of the organic process of learning and thinking.

Participatory Learning

2009-02-19T19:53:00.003-05:00

Rereading the report that Jenkins et. al. (2008) put out Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture:Media Education for the 21st Century I was struck by the fact that they choose to focus on

Participation as a part of culture
instead of
Interactivity as an attribute of technology

Although all the learning and experiences they discussed relied heavily on new media and new literacies enabled by technology, they choose to focus on the fact that these new forms of learning have to do with participating in learning in a new way, and therefore there are cultural implications and contexts for these new learnings.

In addition the team adds to the New London group's work on new media by stressing that while these are new literacies, they are social in nature. The social realm of learning, be in real or virtual time or space fundamentally shift how we need to educate students to be part of this new landscape.

In reading this article I am excited to see the shift again away from the tools (technologies) that enable the new ways to interacting, participating and exploring education to a focus on creating more meaningful learning experiences. I believe this is similar to the reason I am interested in the TPCK model since it is about the effective integration of elements to produce more meaningful learning experiences. The shift away from the tools to the learning is a positive one, and i am curious how this concept will emerge in the interviews that I am conducting.

Writing in the 1:1 classroom

2009-02-16T16:57:00.002-05:00

According to Warchauer (2006) Internet browsing and word processing are the two most common uses of laptops in the 1:1 classrooms he studied. The word processing functionality of the laptop allowed for writing to be integrated into more areas of instruction, to be an iterative process, to be public and collaborative, to be authentic and allowed for diverse genres (76-79).

However, despite the presence of the laptops the quality of the educational experiences does not truly shift for the students. Laptops do allow for the amplification effect to occur - whereby good teaching and sound pedagogy can be made better through the use of technology to further support and individualize instruction. The presence of the laptops however do not guarantee that this will occur.

In reading this book it is clear that while technology holds a promise for supporting reform, without the foundation of the pedagogy and content knowledge, as suggested in the TPCK model, teachers and schools will not be able to leverage this tool.

Some thoughts about what students can do with the laptops in the writing process
PreWriting

Background research
Graphic Organizers

Writing Drafts

Keyboard vs. Hand
Scaffolding tools

Rewriting

Reading and evaluating
Providing feedback
Editing and revising

Dissemination

Reasons to Blog

2009-02-16T16:35:00.002-05:00

Just reread a great post by Wes Fryer on Google's Infinite Thinking Machine Blog - Blogging Can Make You Smarter. I have to agree with him that the process of blogging about new media and new literacies has really forced me to think about each reading I am doing and try and connect it back to my big ideas about how to we use these new tools to make education work better for all students. As so many authors have pointed out, I do not believe it is the technology alone - rather it is the pedagogy of engaging students in individualized learning with the use of new tools. It is just that the new web 2.0 tools make it so much easier to do this.

2009 Horizon Report

2009-02-04T20:06:00.002-05:00

The 2009 Horizon Report has been released and is always interesting to read. Cool to see what new tools may impact the educational landscape in the coming years. Curious to me was the fact that personal web is in the 2-3 years out...seems that one is already coming and in place.

Professional Development for In Service Educators

2009-01-24T08:24:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post how to introduce and build capacity around the TPCK model is going to be different for different learners, and one factor that will influence this is the amount and length of time a teacher has been a practicing educator. In Chapter 12 of the TPCK book this concept is explored and I really liked the idea of activity types as a vehicle for helping teachers sort through practice, and perhaps move towards the intersection of content, pedagogy and technology. although I think the idea can be useful with pre-service teachers as well, I do think help practicing educators feel valued through scaffolding their experiences with new ideas about how to enrich teaching will be a better model.

In looking for more information about "activity types" (Harris and Hofer) I found this paper which I am excited to spend some time with. I just think that perhaps this approach towards offering multiple new ways (not just new tools) for teachers to migrate practice might be useful. I am curious in my research (and now thinking about developing in-service training as an output of the conversations) how I can apply these ideas.

TPCK in preservice teachers

2009-01-24T08:06:00.002-05:00

In finishing Chapter 11 of the Handbook for TPCK for Educators, and after the meeting with technology leaders at the higher education institutions around Maine my brain is really puzzling through some concepts. As I think through these ideas I am thinking in two different ways. The first has to do with preservice teacher education, which I do think is a different beast than in-service teacher education/professional development. Even the book articulates the fact that there will be fundamental differences in how people understand and move towards the TPCK model based on their own experiences and prior knowledge.

In thinking about my work with preservice teachers, the following list is a list of big ideas to keep in mind as I plan for future course work. I hope to help students

develop an integrated knowledge base
think strategically
unleash creativity
think critically
"rethink, unlearn and relearn, change, revise, adapt" (p.225)
Understand research as part of the profession of education
Understand affordances and constraints about technology
Plan for the details needed when working with technology - seeing the forest and the trees in planning
Critical reflection

In order to accomplish these big goals I think I need to blend in more of these experiences and events to help students better develop in these areas.

Using case studies
Matrix planning - (p. 232) declarative, procedural, schematic, strategic vs. Content, Teaching and Student learning, Technology
Have students articulate pedagogical choices
Have them do more small group practice teaching and writing of that content

I feel like I have done a good job of bringing the students toward the center of the TPCK model, but a lot of that work has been done without the student realizing this. I realize I need to help students articulate the intersection, their ideas and their beliefs about the WHY it might work or works. By engaging in this discussion and reflection, and then articulation I would hope to help students build their advocacy skills that I think are so crucial for them as they enter the world of practicing educators.

New Media Idea

2009-01-23T13:21:00.002-05:00

Just found a new website that would help integrate literacy into classrooms, and even living rooms. Speekaboos you can listen to stories, get story guides, and even record your own voice. Need to play more.

Is it the new tool or good teaching?

2009-01-19T16:41:00.002-05:00

I just finished reading Penrod's book Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy and she presents solid arguments about why blogging has a place in K-12 schooling. As she highlights blogs help engage student, create diversity in the learning environment and can serve as a bridge between the world of school and the world outside of school. As the book progresses her definition of blog seems to grow (including MySpace pages, IM and texting) and while I am not sure I agree with this term encompassing so many technologies, I can certainly see how maintaining a social network page with notes may be considered blogging - IM, texting and wikis seem to fall under different umbrella's in my book since they call upon related, but different skills.

Regardless of these terms though Penrod argues that blogging and mixed media creation holds great promise for students, teacher, and education. She claims that these modes can bridge disconnects, create student centered learning, promote differentiated instruction and lead to life long learning. I don't disagree with her claims, however, a tool is always just a tool until it is used by real people in context. I am not sure that the tool alone is going to change education - there needs to be a more fundamentally shift in pedagogy before there will be any changes in education. I can see many teachers taking the new technology and simply adapting the 5 paragraph essay - but put it on your blog - this is not going to be enough. Instead of looking at the tool or the software we must think more broadly about the context of education and what do we want students to know and be able to do? How will we know when they achieve? What do we do when they don't achieve? These questions will still plague educators if left unanswered.

I do not think Penrod feels that the tool alone will change everything, but I think too many people reading this kind of material might see it as a magic cure, when really engaging students in school and meaningful learning is going to take a lot more change then just using the new tools. It may start with the new tools, but it is going to take far more than this for lasting change.

This is where the technology, pedagogy and content knowledge (TPAK) model does have strength, since it suggests that teachers must work from all frames of understanding an issue to solve problems. I fear that Penrod's approach to blogs is grounded most in the technology of this new tool, and now we need to talk about how to make the pedagogical shifts necessary for true change to occur.

Demographics of Teen Bloggers

2009-01-19T15:37:00.005-05:00

In D. Penrod's book she explores how blogging might be closing some digital divides and therefore have real promise in educational settings.

In reading her book a few pieces really seemed significant to me
- Gender and blogs
- Ethnicity and Blogs

In her research she cites two Pew studies, but I think in reading both reports the findings really came from one report. I am having a hard time finding the same statistics in her report - even when I look directly at the cited material. She cites Rainie (2004) however, I could not find the statistic that was in the book at that urban youth were the largest block on content creators online. I did however find that among teen bloggers this demographic was reported to be the largest producers of content.

In this report (not the one cited) I can see these conclusions, but they are for youth only, they can be found on page 10). However, for all people (youth and adults) it seems like more traditional patterns still exist, since within this report there is another on Content Creators this study does not at all agree with her findings - and suggest that higher average household income is correlated with more content creation online - what I had thought. However in reading these Pew Reports it makes me realize that the trends in teen blogging may be out of sync with the trends for all bloggers.

She also reports that ethnic divides are closing with regards to blogging - she cites information from 2005 which states 17% of African American students in the study, 17% of Latino/a students in the study and 19% of Caucasian students in the study reported blogging. This move towards a more equal demographic was really exciting to read (and can be seen on page 14 of this report). I wanted to see how this trend had changed or maintained since the book was published. This more recent study showed that there had been an overall increase in blog creation (from 19% of teens to 28%), but no information about ethnic trends in this demographic.

Digital divides exist in many different forms, and the research from Pew is exciting because it suggests that blogging might be helping decrease these divides.

New Media Project at MIT

2009-01-11T15:36:00.003-05:00

In discussing my new interests in Web 2.0 and technology my sister reminded me to check out the work of the New Media Literacies lab at MIT - and their work is so super cool. I need to re-read their white paper and check out their new teacher resource to see how this group helps teacher approach these new literacies in in a concrete way in the classroom. I think this intersection between theory and practice is a critical place to examine in my study this spring because how teachers interpret and practice theory ultimate shapes the learning students experience.

Technology Literacy Challenge

2009-01-10T15:38:00.003-05:00

Just finished reading C. Selfe's Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century (1999) which reviews the goals of Clinton Administrations' Technology and Literacy Challenge. A fascinating book about this ambitious project; it's intended outcomes and potentially unintended outcomes. This book really helped me see how technology and literacy have become joined through many different twists and turns. I think this helps me see where the rise of new media and new literacies has come from.

In the book she calls for teachers of English, language arts and composition to be aware and pay attention to initiatives such as this because while this began about students learning to use computers, the complex definition of literacy is complicated by social constructs, and as technology has crept into the definition of being literate, we as teacher need to be aware of the power and privilege issues that are associated with being literate today.

The legislation in this case was aimed at making every student 'technologically literate' which referred to the ability to use computers for "learning, productivity and performance" (p. 10). At this time the push was not to build, or redefine literacy as including new media, but rather focused on the tools of technology. In an interesting twist the relationship between technology and literacy was further joined with the rise of the standards based educational reforms. As states began to write state wide standards and curriculum these technology and literacy became further entwined (Selfe, p. 77)

As I read this book I guess I was struck by a number of things - biggest of all how conscious the effort to bring computers and technology into schools has been as a governmental initiative to drive our global competitiveness. While I can understand this perspective, I guess I also wonder why educational initiatives have to be linked to global productivity. Even here in Maine MLTI was linked to these same goals.

I also think that because I was a student during the years of this push I guess I just saw the increasing arrival of computers in learning environments happening because they fulfilled a need. I did not see, and did not realize until reading this book how systematically deployed computers and educational technology were as a part of a federal initiative.

Her book follows this initiative to see how to it appealed to business, government, education and families. Although I think her she oversimplifies how this transformation has occurred, I do believe she helped me better understand the very complex forces that have brought technology into new definitions of literacies and how these shifts are and are not impacting practice in schools.

Her call to critical consciousness also was an important part of this work. She outlines the two camps of teachers - those that have embraced using technology and those that have ignored it. However her conclusion that these two groups both ignore the critical issues of what technology means in our culture was fascinating - since I have always thought that those that embraced technology were doing the 'right' thing. As she points outwith discussing how privilege and access and uneven resources in schools are impacting the new definition of literacy we will replicate the same patterns of literacy that are heavily aligned to patterns of race, gender and socio-economic status. She encourages us, wisely in my belief, to make technology visible in a manner which helps us think about how it impacts the learning environment and the wider world.

Why Blog?

2009-01-06T07:17:00.002-05:00

In her book Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, Diane Penrod (2007) begins with an investigation of why students are already blogging in their personal lives.

She claims these are the five basic reasons (p. 3)
1) Easy to publish
2) Information reformation (I love this term - for me captures just what I am doing here in my blog- taking new information/ideas and playing with them until they feel like mine, there is really joy for me in this process of making sense)
3) The genre is changeable
4) Allow writers to experiment
5) Empower marginalized by giving voice

I agree with her reasons thus far, and am anxious to read the rest of the book because I believe she is going to explain/push for blogging to enter classrooms. I think the biggest concern I have is what happens when teachers who want to promote 'traditional' literacy get a hold of this genre - will it take these good elements out of the process? How do we keep the joy, pleasure and creativity alive that already exists in this medium and use that for the benefit of education. I'll be curious what she says regarding this issue.

4 reasons that new ICT tools and powers change literacy

2009-01-06T06:35:00.002-05:00

According to Warschauer (2006) there are four major shifts that new ICT tools allow

1) interactive written communication: "these bridge the historic divide between speech...and writing" p.7) - this statement is certainly supported by Jacob's (2008) findings about IM (see my Dec 24th Post

2) allows for the creation of hypertexts

3) democratizes multimedia creation

4) many to many communication

These changes are massive and certainly classroom practices can now make use of these powerful transformations in helping students build literacy skills, but how do teachers learn and become comfortable with these tools and this new form of knowledge production?

ICT Skills Assessment

2009-01-06T06:28:00.003-05:00

ETS now offers an ICT Skills assessment test that is supposed to evaluate a student's ability to perform critical ICT skills that might be different from the everyday technologies they employ. In reviewing the information presented by ETS it looks to be a good test of skills and knowledge related to ICT, but as always the more critical question is what can an institution do with the information it gets from such a diagnostic. Having multiple tracks towards gaining more competency or building more skills is needed once we have the information that students are struggling or strong in a given area. Additionally I would be curious if there is any correlation to performance on this test, and performance on other standardized tests.

3 literacy challenges of today?

2009-01-06T06:23:00.004-05:00

In reading Laptops and Literacy (Warshauer, 2006) he separates literacy into two different literacies: academic literacy and digital literacy. As he says " literacy is not a singular, but rather a plural construct. There are many types of literacy for different situations" (Warshauer, 2006, p.3). While certainly this point agrees with others that I have read thus far, by naming digital literacy as a different set of skills. However, after he breaks apart these different forms of literacy he also suggests that " learning cannot be reduced to skills and competencies, it must be centered on content. But mastery of content is best achieved through collaborative critical inquiry and in-depth analysis of challenging problems related to that content" (p. 9). He believes that "how schools can become more relevant by teaching the kinds of literacy thinking, communication, and productivity skills as well as academic content, needed in the 21st century" (p.9) is the first literacy challenge for today's schools. He also argues that the disconnect between home and school, although with the digital divide between rich and poor represent the other major challenges to literacy in our school's now.

These challenges resonate with my experience, and the other readings I have been doing. I look forward to reading more from him and discovering how he see technology (specifically laptops) as having the potential to meet these challenges. Although I believe that the hardware and tools represent a crucial element to meeting these challenges, I also think that educators need to build TPCK to better use the tools we have available to meet these challenges. I think only by building capacity in the intersection of technology, content and pedagogy can we begin to address these concerns.

New Literacies, New Genre: The Wovel

2009-01-05T12:57:00.002-05:00

This morning driving into work I had to smile at the NPR report about the Wovel. The Wovel is a new term that describes a new genre of writing - a serial book that is released in weekly installments on the web. Much like the Choose Your Own Adventure books the Wovel also has a voting option for readers to direct the flow of the story.

Interesting to see that new forms of writing, and new genres are popping up as a result of the rise of Web 2.0 tools. Additionally in the report one woman commented that the short format appealed to her busy life as well. The changing conceptions of reading and media certainly seem to be growing.

Only problem...I guess a wovel is also the name of a funny looking snow shovel. Perhaps they should have googled the term first

A broader definition of computer literacy

2008-12-24T16:34:00.003-05:00

In Chapter 5 of Multiliteracies for a Digital Age (2004) Selber explores how instruction in english, composition and ICT tools should be integrated in higher education. This chapter examines the requirements for change in order for this shift to occur. Although much of his exploration and reasoning are related to higher education, I believe many of the arguments could be applied to how the literacy classroom in K-12 education will also need to shift as a result of the growing importance of ICT in daily life.

In his examination there are five nested and spiraling contexts that must be examined and utilized in order to make change; these are technical, pedagogical, curricular, departmental and institutional (Selber, p. 185). Certainly these 'nested contexts' (yes there is that context word again) ring of the elements involved in TPCK - where change of instruction to a more powerful model with the integration of many quality aspects of teaching and learning results from the interaction of many forces, not a simple switch to a technical solution.

In his analysis I really appreciated two elements that I have not yet found in the TPCK model literature. First he acknowledges the struggle and needs of change in an educational setting. Although the TPCK model can be implemented by a single teacher, this chapter helps to explore how to make the change process more systemic in nature. The second elements, which is certainly present in the TPCK literature (but I haven't read anything on it explicitly yet) is the fact that the 'nested contexts' mean that teachers and those in education need to shift away from 'either/or' to a more systemic approach. "Systemic approaches offer teachers a conceptual frame of reference that shifts attention away from oversimplified cause-effect relationships, often between just two variables, and toward networked conceptions in which causation is considered to be a mutual, multiple, and contingent phenomenon, one that can be difficult to trace and pin down" (p. 190). I love this move away from simplification of solutions and towards a realization that in order to make change in educational settings we will need to approach and development many layers at once.

Another point that is emerging in much of this literature on changing the nature of literacy instruction with the inclusion of multiliteracies is the fact that these shifts will cause fundamental shifts in the authority of the teaching position and teachers will need to be able to embrace their role as co-learner in the educational process (p. 201). It seems to me that this shift in role is a salient point to discuss with preservice teachers as it may be in conflict with the model they experienced as a student. Another avenue of exploration for me might be to consider having students redesign an existing unit from practicum in 302 - as way to help them take a static form of teaching and shift it (this idea came from a project that Selber has his students do - a webdesign project for a 'client' in the local area - I love the idea and think it could foster great development and conversation on many levels p. 220).

His ideas were exciting on many levels to me. He agrees that there is a shifting landscape in what it means to be literate and that shift means a shift in the teaching and learning contexts must occur. I believe his ideas could be taken out of higher education and considered for education in general, but certainly appreciate his passion and interest in shifting how english departments and technology infrastrutres, personnel and curriculum interact.

Instant Messaging

2008-12-24T10:31:00.002-05:00

Similar to my last post A. O'Connor in her article Instant Messaging Friend or Foe of Student Writing? (2005) suggests that the either/or approach to formal writing or informal communication does little to help students navigate the worlds they live and learn in. Instead perhaps there is opportunity to teach the role of audience in writing and engage students in more learning through this conversation.

She has a great analogy in her piece - about how we dress - we dress differently to do yardwork than we do to go out on a Saturday night. Somehow we learned this difference, and teachers today may need to engage with helping students learn this difference as we all confront the world of multiliteracies.

Repetoire of Writing Practices

2008-12-24T10:17:00.003-05:00

In a recent article We Learn What We Do: Developing a Repertoire of Writing Practices in an Instant Messaging World (November 2008) G. Jacobs researched the social practice of IM and engaged in a case study of one young student to learn how the formal writing process of writing and online chatting interacted and impacted each other. She argues that CMC (Computer mediated communication) " is not poor writing but is a response to social needs as mediated by technological constraints" (p.204). At one point in the case study she presents she is talking with the subject of the case who maintains that IM is not writing, "it's talking". I found this distinction fascinating since it makes sense given the slang, interruptions and nature of the communication, but because it was put down with a keyboard - I considered it writing.

Similar to my post on identity I think the key here to better understanding these tools socially and educationally is to begin by talking with those students and people who use them, to better understand the perceptions at play. Jacobs argues" Good writing then, is writing that meets the purpose of the author and fulfills the requirements of the audience as defined by the social and cultural expectations of the community in which the writing is used" (p. 205). In these conversations about perceptions it would also be appropriate to discuss the role of audience with students such that they can be explicitly taught when and why certain forms of communication are appropriate in certain contexts. Instead of just simply correcting or dismissing these conventions Jacobs suggests engaging students in conversation and allow the student to develop a meta-awareness of the context and audience issues.

In addition to engaging in conversation Jacobs also suggests, and I agree that teachers must try new forms of media to better understand the medium before dismissing it as having no place in school. Perhaps students today have the potential to develop more forms of writing than in the past, and we as teachers can help this process.

Bloom's Taxonomy Revised

2008-12-24T10:11:00.003-05:00

In reading an article from EducationSector - Measuring Skills for the 21st Century I discovered that former colleagues of B. Bloom's had proposed a revised taxonomy for learning. Their work was published in the book a Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing.

Although the idea of levels remains the same, how they are presented and worded has changed. A quick visual here might help.

What was also interesting to note is that the article, and I think good practice suggests that students do not need to learn in 'order' of the levels, but rather the levels should be integrated to provide richer learning experiences for students and to engage them as thinkers.

Literacy and Identity

2008-12-24T09:39:00.002-05:00

According to Williams (2008) "today's online technologies have young people reading and writing far more than they were 20 years ago" (p. 682). As she goes on to explore in her article "Tomorrow will not be like today" Literacy and identity in a world of multiliteracies this change means that students have more opportunity to create and shape their identity than before. And while the opportunity might exist for more play with identity; Palfrey and Gasser (2008) in Born Digital found that " young people tend to express their personal and social identities online much as people always have in real space, and in ways that are consistent with their identities in real space" (p. 21). Regardless of how much students choose to play with identity Williams suggests, as do Palfrey and Gasser that students need to engage with caring adults in dialogue on what it means to have the options and opportunities, such that we can learn from them, and they can learn more about future implications from adults.

I have to be honest that this dialogue does not seem to occur as much as perhaps it should, and perhaps it is because there is such a divide between the languages and experiences of the generations involved. I therefore think that this must all begin with listening to experiences and sharing understandings about digital identity. Once we have listened then perhaps we can begin to have the conversation about how to better use these tools to engage and transform learning.

Mutliliteracies Framework

2008-12-24T09:14:00.002-05:00

The multiliteracies framework proposed by the New London group suggests that people today (especially traditional aged students) are constantly involved with many forms of communication media. The richness of these forms of communication media necessitate the use of new pedagogical approaches to designing instruction for students to be engaged. They suggest this definition for these new literacies:

The new literacies of the Internet and other ICTs include the skills, strategies, and dispositions necessary to successfully use and adapt to the rapidly changing information and communication technologies and contexts that continuously emerge in our world and influence all areas of our personal and professional lives. These new literacies allow us to use the Internet and other ICTs to identify important questions, locate information, critically evaluate the usefulness of that information, synthesize information to answer those questions, and then communicate the answers to others.

The design framework proposed is a pedagogical approach to planning instruction that is in line with new media developments. The framework of planning for engagement with multiple modes of language suggest that students should learn through engaging projects with more than just written language as both the form to learn from, and the way to document learning. The approach has three stages and seems similar to the work by Wiggins and McTighe on Understanding by Design with attention to multiple intelligences. Additionally this work certainly seems in line with the TPCK model. Certainly the multiliteracies framework suggests using pedagogical approaches to reaching students that will be in line with their experiences, and using many forms of technology to accomplish this goal. Also the model gives consideration towards planning with a strong content knowledge background to ensure that students achieve the desired goals. Leu et al. also argue that simply using any technology to teach does not represent teaching within this new framework - a perspective consistent with the TPCK model that it is not to use technology for the sake of the tool, but rather the goal of the learning. In this example it appears that the students through flexible grouping might experience extremely varied instructional experiences, and little thought is given to designing these experiences to match the goals for each students. There seems to be a more haphazard approach to planning, and then hoping that the students each get the desired learning from the experience.

More investigation into this model will be helpful to see what is said on designing with students in mind. This model does suggest five domains of meaning: visual design, spatial design, audio design, gestural design and linguistic design that comprise the multiliteracies. These five domains stretch my understanding of literacy and really do suggest that the new forms of literacy are about interpreting and using much more than just written language.

Additionally in reading the work of Leu, Kinzer, Coiro and Cammack (2004) it is clear that the role of the teacher will change with these new literacies, because the teacher will no longer be the most ICT literate person in the classroom, and therefore the relationship between teacher, students, content and learning shifts.

Leu et al. http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/leu/

Ryan, M. (2008). Engaging Middle Years Students: Literacy Projects That Matter. Journal of Adolescent

& Adult Literacy, 52(3), 190-201

Participation Gap

2008-12-22T12:37:00.002-05:00

Another way of looking at the digital divide (or divides) is through what Palfrey and Gasser call the Participation Gap. As they suggest in Born Digital "the harder issue arises when you realize that access to technology is not enough. Young people need to learn digital literacy- the skills to navigate this complex and hybrid world" (p.15). On a wiki of the Digital Natives Project they pose these questions:

Questions for Discussion

How do we explore the nuances of the participation gap, taking into account the impact of social inequality and parental fluency?
Who is our digital native? Do we accept the premise that digital natives process information in a different way than immigrants? How do we empirically explore the digital generation gap?
Does the technology develop first, or the social norms about how the tools are used? Are the technological limitations of these tools transforming the way natives socialize and understand themselves?
How do youth in different countries use online socialization tools differently, and what is the significance of these differences? How do on-line social activities affect off-line identity development?

New Literacies Are Deictic

2008-12-22T11:43:00.007-05:00

In Chapter 4 of the TPCK Handbook for Educators Hughes and Scharber present two cases studies of English teachers and examine these against the TPCK model. They also suggest that the TPCK model can be further understood through the multiliteracies framework proposed by the New London Group. In this work they support the claim from Leu et al that new literacies are deictic, meaning they have context that is important in understanding.

Additionally in this chapter Hughes and Scarber argue that preservice teachers need to exposed to teaching within the TPCK model in school so that they will be able to apply this mode to their future classroom. An example given reminds me of the project that we did this fall with EDU 302 and EDU 388 students in developing the HeartBeat units. However I can now see that the way we approached this project was in using technology as a vehicle to present learning and not as a way to approach learning. In the future better application of the TPCK model could help to strengthen these preservice teachers conceptions of teaching with technology. I am excited to share these ideas with my colleagues.

Context, through all this reading seems to be rising to the surface as an important consideration for learning and using technology - social contexts and the context of the schools where learning is happening. I plan on continuing to follow this idea to see how others interpret the importance of context.

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deixis

Linguistic definition http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsDeixis.htm

Teachers and Machines...20 years later

2008-12-22T11:43:00.004-05:00

Just finished reading Chapter 4 from Larry Cuban's book Teachers and Machines. This chapter, published in 1986, looks forward to predict how computers will impact or change the educational landscape. He suggests that "In all of the enthusiasm for classroom computers, an assumption that has gone largely unchallenged is that these machines with appropriate programs, could teach student knowledge and skills efficiently and effectively" (p.84). In this instance and others throughout the chapter is seems he was suggesting that by investing in computers in the classroom we would be replacing teachers. He speaks of how these computers cannot possibly form the relationships that are at the heart of teaching. In addition he predicts that by using computers in this manner educational reformers will seek to make the art of teaching into a science. He suggests that the computer as an aid to teacher productivity and a tool to reduce the amount of skill and drill a teacher must be involved in, are good ideas.

It is fascinating now to read his ideas and see that the future in 1986 may have appeared to some as replacing teachers with computers. I guess the framework I have of understanding technology as a tool for teaching and learning is drastically opposed to this early concept of how computers might influence the classroom. Although I do believe that computers can serve productivity functions, I think the more powerful learning comes as students are able to construct meaning, manipulate knowledge, interact with others and showcase learning.

Cuban talks about the unexamined danger of collateral learning with computers, and the fact that students might learn dangerous other unintended curriculum. He goes on to explore the fact that students learning with the aid of the computer might not learn important other skills. I certainly agree that the use of technology needs to be balanced with multiple forms of learning and engagement, but hardly see the dangers he does - in fact the collateral learning of skills to me seems one of the real benefits of using technology in teaching and learning.

He predicts that computers will not fundamentally shift instructional practices and will be used in limited capacity. He predicts that teachers, administrators and school personnel will yet be accused of limiting the growth of another innovation. Now with hindsight, he is in part right - the impact of technology on the classroom is widely varied and represents a spectrum of implementation.

However this chapter was fascinating to read at the same time as I am reading Born Digital because this book, published in 2008 describes the reality of life for those people who are the digital natives. Defined as those people born after 1980, Palfrey and Gasser make a point to show that they are a population not a generation (p.14). They are a generation because not all people worldwide born in 1980 or later have the same access to the digital landscape.

In examining this population Palfrey and Gasser present the reality of these people's lives as being immersed in this digital landscape - so much so that they do not consider what it means to not live this way. Their portrait and lens to view these digital natives was informed by research and communication with these digital natives. It is strange to consider that Cuban's book was predicting the reality of these exact people, and then this book looks at the life they know.

I guess what amazes me in reading about the digital natives (oh I guess I am digital settler by definition) is the fact that the huge amount of time and skills they have with technology are not really being taught or used in schools. In this sense Cuban's prediction feels right. But as a person involved in educational technology it is such a shame that the inherent skills and knowledge and curiosity of these students is not being harnessed effectively by schools.

More on the Digital Divide

2008-12-22T11:33:00.004-05:00

In thinking about the Digital Divide (or the multiple divides suggested by Kelly) I consulted this reference source DigitalDivide.org and began by reading about what this organization sees as the fallacies to cl osing the divide. It is a really interesting list and according to the list fallacy number 5: "The key to closing the Digital Divide is investment in literacy and education." Arguing that attacking literacy may not be necessary to closing the divide. While it may not be necessary, does that mean that strategies to deal with the divide should bypass the importance of literacy (and especially now that technology skills could be considered a larger subset of what it means to be literate today?)

In terms of the 'truths' about closing the digital divide this organization seems to believe that closing the digital divide is about building a world economy and stopping terrorism. They claim it is the solution to growth in world markets.

I guess I have not thought at the digital divide on such a global level - I had been thinking about it in the State of Maine and how access and experiences might benefit all students - I guess it is time for me to think about situating these goals within the larger context to examine why I believe this is necessary and good. Reading this organizations materials is challenging the way I think about this issue.

Digital Equity

2008-12-21T15:05:00.002-05:00

In reading Chapter 2 by M. A. Kelly of the Handbook for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) for Educators I was struck at the expanded way of considering digital divides in education. He suggests that there are at least three divides that teachers need to be aware of. These divides are not necessarily an either/or situation, but rather exist as a divide continuum.
1st: Access to technology hardware, software and the Internet (p.33)
2nd: Access to achievement-enhancing TMI (technology mediated instruction) (p. 39)
3rd: Access to culture-sensitive technological pedagogy (p.43)

His exploration of these divides includes suggestions for teachers to reduce or mediate the potential divides and the effects of these divides. As I think about preservice teacher education I had been thinking a lot about ways for prospective teachers to learn about the community and context of a school and its students. I had not considered folding a technology access survey into this context discovery previously, but now think it is important to have future educators learn about these issues so that they can more effectively plan for instruction with technology integration in a manner that is senstive to the social justice implications of technology use.

I had thought about this issue before with the article Paul Gravelle had written for USM's Center for Education Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation: Impact on the Digital Divide. However this article was written in 2003 and I would very much like to know what has changed since then. Regardless of the changes though it is important inMaine for teachers to be aware of how issues of access can greatly impact the learning taking place and the hidden messages that students learn with the use and requirement of technology. Considering these issues is a vital component of trainging new teachers, and I look forward to blending this into my instruction.

Just found this article as well from PBS: The Digital Divide
What is Maine doing about this issue LD 2080

International Reading Association Standards for ELA

2008-12-21T14:51:00.003-05:00

In thinking about the teaching and learning involved in writing I am wondering at times how to separate the skill/knowledge of writing from the larger collection of skills that fall under the umbrella of English Language Arts. Looking at the IRA website they have established these 12 standards for ELA this may be a helpful place for me to think about how the smaller skills interact with the larger set of skills.

There is also a special interest group within IRA Technology in Literacy Education with some great ideas and resources. The Resources look like a good start, but I wonder about how teachers use and implement these - a list of hotlinks is such a common place to start, and maybe works, but it seems like we need to work towards continuing to think about why we use these tools (the TPCK model).

The Research Section also looks like a good place to find more information about how the literary world approaches the ever shifting definition of literacy in the 21st century.

ReadWriteThink

2008-12-21T14:34:00.002-05:00

ReadWriteThink

What a great resource for teachers and students interested in literacy instruction ReadWriteThink offers helpful information and lesson plans. I like this overview of the different ways students engage with literacy: Learning Language, Learning About Language, Learning through Language

Learning New Languages

2008-12-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

Right now I am engaged in thinking about technology and literacy instruction, while at the same time continuing to perform my regular work. My regular work has recently necessisted that I learn how to use a database more effectively, and use a web creation software more effectively. I love the challenge of new problems and have been happily engaged in problem solving.

As for learning a relational database I had some basic knowledge of using filemaker, and tried to work on my own to learn Access, the software that I have as part of my work. It's been interesting and finally after a few hours of going nowhere, enlisted the help of a willing colleauge. In an hour she was able to walk though and problem solve with me in such a great manner - I could feel the new ways of thinking sinking in, and was ready to continue to play. This manner of learning (try, get help from an expert, play more, and then perform - it's cyclic) is my preference for learning and has reminded me of how I like to learn.

Learning to use Dreamweaver on the other hand I have gone to reading a manual and using online tutorials (with book support) to begin to learn these new skills. However I also have some experts waiting in the wings to help with the learning process here.

Regardless of the application I have been struck in both cases that both feel like I must learn new languages to make things work, and not only do I need to be able to program or output these languages, but I have to train my brain to think about issues in a different manner than I had previously. Although these might not be revolutionary insights, they do make me realize that learning for me needs to have social and practice applications, and needs to allow me to think internally in new ways and express this in new formats.

I wonder then about students in school transacting with new softwares and how much is shapes both their output of content and knowledge, and the internal wiring of thinking. "Hypertext and Hypermedia have signifigantly changed how we can read in digital environments and how we create paths to search for that information" (schmidt & Gurbo, 2008, p. 68). I couldn't agree more and think about this video The Machine is Us/Using Us. It is such a great video that really makes me think about how new mediums create new patterns of thinking in students (in anyone really). However understand the relationship between new media and brain/thinking patterns seems like a challenging problem to say the least. How do we begin to understand this dynamic realtionship between the form and the user and how each impacts the other (okay it feels weird to talk about impact between a human form and a non-human thing, but I do believe it is not just a one way relationship.

Measuring, describing and understand the ways we interact with computers and the shifts we make in thinking and practice is such an exciting topic.

New Technologies and Writing Instruction

2008-12-21T13:45:00.000-05:00

As part of my doctoral work and my interest in educational technology I have decided to spend time thinking and reading about how new technologies (and even older technologies) are impacting writing instruction and writing achievement in schools. There is a lot of learn and think about in this field and topic, and so I am beginning with reading as much as i can on the subject.

I have just begun to read Handbook of Technological Pedgogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) for Educators. In reading this book I am incredibly excited to see so many great ideas connecting in a framework for understanding these issue.The TPCK Model suggests that teachers use different, overlapping sets of background knowledge to effectively plan for instruction. These areas interact in a complex and shifting manner that is context dependent. The framework is therefor NOT a blueprint for implementation, but rather a way to think about and examine practices.

"One of the most important things to understand about technologies is that particular technologies have specific affordances and constraints. Technologies are neither neutral nor unboased" (AACTE, p.5). Certainly I agree with this statement and just like any pedagogical choice the use of a particular technology needs to be considered in light of the context, student, resource, goal and more.

As a teacher and teacher educator what I am left wondering is how to help teachers build these knowledge bases in a manner which encourages the application of the knowledge, rather than a blueprint fashion. Teaching teachers to be creative seems to be the first step in instilling imagintation, inquiry and innovation in students.

Science Pre Test

2008-11-12T10:31:00.002-05:00

ACTEM Top 10 List

2008-10-18T10:21:00.000-04:00

My 10 Ten List From ACTEM: What a great day!

1. The Concept of Learning Ecology: I really found this concept fascinating as a way to think about how we want schools to be. The idea appeals to my desire for learning to transform with the idea of ecology as a web network. I found this article super interesting http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/learning_communities.htm

2. Comics in Education – I was aware of the growing field of graphic novels, but not as aware of the growing content literature done with graphic interface. I liked the idea of students using comic life to prepare students for writing a science lab- take photos and then have them narrate as a pre-writing stage. URL for her presentation: http://tiny.cc/OIB0e

3. Creative Commons – I was reminded today that we need to spend some time talking about creative commons licenses and making sure our students know how to publish with this attribute and use it in their work as teachers. I want to look at this resource more: http://creativecommons.org/

4. Scratch – I have used Logo in a few different settings, and had learned about SCRATCH, but not seen a demonstration. I was excited to see how it was being used, and how it is more user friendly than Logo. I would like to play with it more to consider applications in the classroom. http://scratch.mit.edu/

5. Curriki – Wow, this is a new resource that offers so many resources for teachers with actual usable materials – so many sites like this require the teacher to modify and recreate. I was thrilled to find this and will need to play more with it. http://www.curriki.org

6. Google Doc – Enjoyed seeing this overview of the different features, but wished it had gone into more depth with some of the tools and collaboration features, rather than just the file sharing, portability aspects. I was so excited to learn about the ‘form’ function and how you can easily build a survey and install into your blog, and the results come out in a spreadsheet- I can think of so many applications for using this.

7. Concept of GeoGebra- During the math presentation I attended I was introduced to the term GeoGebra and the software that goes along with supporting this concept. I love the interactive tools that were focused on specific skills – so much potential to differentiate. However would need to think about assessment as I am not sure viewing many, many Jing videos done by each child is a realistic assessment tool. http://www.geogebra.org/cms/

8. Google Talk – I downloaded this software and am thinking about how to use this. I am trying to find an alternative to Skype, but have not found video functionality in GoogleTalk. I will keep exploring. http://www.google.com/talk/

9. Jing – I had seen this tool before, but then had forgotten to download it. I did not realize there was also the screen/image capture which is great – because I love this functionality on a MAC and will often use a MAC just for this feature that I do not have on my PC. I have downloaded JING now and can begin to take screen captures instead of screenshots. http://www.jingproject.com/

10. Overall Reaction to the Day – I love conferences! It is always reenergizing to be around other people who have great ideas and want to do work in the same way I do. It is wonderful to see so many people thinking deeply about how to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Maine schools. It was a pleasure to see the UMF students at their first conference and see how professionally they conducted themselves and the observations they made throughout the day. I am very optimistic about the future of education with committed and thoughtful students choosing to pursue this career.

Webquest Ideas

2008-10-01T21:22:00.000-04:00

My overall interest in this webquest is to have students study the natural resources of Maine.

1. Why is this town here?

Topic: Have students explore the settlement of different areas in Maine based on the natural resources that place has to offer
Grade Level: 4th
Task: You are applying to the King for a permit to begin a colony in Maine, you need to write up your choice for location of the colony and what resources you can use to live and make money.
Roles (at least 3):

- tax collector - you need to keep an eye on if the site will make money
- map maverick - you need to make sure your location is accessible to new
comers and protected from others
- peacemaker - you need to keep an eye on who else is nearby and choose a good
location

2. Move to Our Town!

Topic: Students will explore 5 existing towns in Maine and produce short commercials about the town
Grade Level: 8th grade
Task: After researching a town students will work in groups to produce a short movie about the town they researched to convince a new family to move to the area based on available resources
Roles (at least 3):

- Green police - you are trying to show off the environmentally friendly elements of
your town
- Industry - you are trying to demonstrate what industries thrive in this place
- Historian - you are interested in promoting the history of your town

3. What resource is most important in Maine? (this is the one I would like to do)

Topic: The year is 1940 and the governor has just announced a giant grant to support one of Maine's natural resources. You are working hard to convince him that your group deserve the grant money because your industry is most significant.
Grade Level: 7th
Task: Produce a grant proposal that states why your resource is most and important and how you will use the money to support the resource in Maine.
Roles (at least 3):

- the negotiator - you need to make sure you do not put down other groups/resoucres
- the money maker - you are focused on the money that your resource produces and
how the grant money should be spent
- the nature lover- you are focused on the natural beauty and value of these resources
4.

Topic:
Grade Level:
Task:
Roles (at least 3):

New Project Idea

2008-07-15T19:20:00.001-04:00

Always looking for new projects that build on community history and knowledge. This one looks like it has great potential for being a model of how to pull in many different aspects at once. http://swedishcolony.mainememory.net/page/67/display.html Additionally the fact that it builds on oral histories and families makes this even richer. Great idea

Informal Curriculum

2008-05-20T22:52:00.002-04:00

Learning to love books was modeled by many and nurtured by more. The love of books and reading has not always been part of my life. In fact, I hated reading for some time. But as the youngest member of my family, I knew at some point I had to love reading. I remember summer vacations with my family, and each was engrossed in his or her book. I would bounce from one to the other, looking for an easy moment of distraction. My books did not seem to be filled with the same excitement that theirs did. And then the switch was flipped in 3rd grade. A patient teacher found the passion for reading that I still have today. The first time I really got lost in a book, so lost I wanted to enter the book was with Harriet the Spy, I made my family call me Harriet for days. Books now are a huge pleasure in my life, one that I cannot image living without. The smell of old books, the feel of a new book and the secrets that lie within. I’ve travelled many miles with my books, and plan to travel many more. Books keep alive the many other lessons of my life.

Growing up in suburban Boston I don’t even remember the first time I rode the subway, or walked within the tall buildings. The environment was peppered with green spaces and beautiful outdoor spots, but my love of these spaces was not awakened until much later. My family offered me many great opportunities, but sleeping in a tent was not a part of growing up. The first time I had to pitch a tent it was a long and laughter filled process. I had never known how great sleeping outdoors is, or how comfortable camping can be. The wonder of a restful night after a day of activity. The great taste of food after many miles of hiking. All these things have been learned and relearned with many friends as each patiently taught me one more trick to enjoy the outdoors. None of them had to teach me, or show me, how beautiful the world is when taking time to move into more hidden places. I still remember a friend teaching me to tie a bowline, and the first time I tied one in the presence of my father who couldn’t believe this was now a skill I had. Learning the knot when I did came from the need to know and a good teacher.

Although some lessons have a teacher, there have been many in my life that have come to me through experience. Gardening is another love in my life, and my education as a gardener is distinctly informal and experiential. Each year provides a new canvas for learning, and new frustrations as weather patterns are not static. The joy of seedlings coming up on my dining room table when the snow is still deep outside. Each afternoon checking to see what has grown. The amazement of sunlight and nutrients and photosynthesis, it works, plants grow. And then the tender transplant to the outdoor world of the garden, hopeful for warm days and nights. Each year my joy is the same as plants grow and produce vegetables and flowers. Each night taking a look to see what has grown. The plants telling me which plot of land meets their needs, and how much water they need. Listening with my eyes to the growth patterns brings me great joy. It is not a lesson than anyone can teach, but one which I will spend a lifetime learning.

Morrill Land Grant

2008-05-20T22:52:00.001-04:00

Blog b: Morrill Land Grant Act

The Morrill Act was passed in 1862, after the south has seceded from the Union. Abraham Lincoln passed the act, along with another to expand railroads. Both acts had been opposed by southern states, but could be passed during the Civil War. Both were also aimed at boosting the economy across the nation. The Morrill Act originally gave all western states 30,000 acres of land to sell, per senator and representative. The land could be sold to generate money for state run colleges. These original colleges were for agriculture, engineering and military service. This offer was then extended to all states in the Union, and after the Civil War, to southern states as well. Although the federal government had been involved in issues relating to higher education, this act represented a major step forward. Land was an available commodity in these days. Land had already been tied to schooling with earlier legislation regarding the development of schools as new towns emerged This was one of the first major instances of the United States federal government trying to promote education. This same goal can still be seen today in many different federal programs that support higher education. Although this support has many positive outcomes, there has been a trend in education the federal government now wants to make education accountable to all people. This increase in accountability has had many effects of education, many of which we see today in our schools.

As a result of this act many states were able to begin or expand on state school system There are over 50 institutions across the nation that currently have roots in the passage of this act. This act had direct impact on Maine, as it allowed Maine to raise money for the University of Maine System to begin in Bangor. This generated import revenue for that area of the state, as it still does today. Although University of Maine at Farmington is now part of the University of Maine System, it was not always so. It was originally the Farmington Normal School. It was created from the Normal School Act. These acts are related in that not only did the government want to promote post secondary education for many, it also wanted to ensure that teachers of the future students received a meaningful training. This same desire to prepare quality teachers is still part of University of Maine at Farmington’s mission. The college helps students meet state standards for teaching.

Sources:
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/27.htm
http://www.higher-ed.org/resources/land_grant_colleges.htm
http://www.bangorregion.com/about_the_region/history.html
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=33
http://www.maine.gov/education/150yrs/150part1.htm
http://www.farmington.edu/about/history.php

Influential Educator

2008-05-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Kozol

Jonathan Kozol is a passionate advocate for quality education for all children. He was born outside Boston, Massachusetts in 1936. He attended public schools early on and then attended Nobel and Greenough School, a private school in Dedham, MA (Wikipedia, 2007, para. 1). He excelled as a student at Harvard University and graduated in 1958.

After studying internationally he returned to the Boston area and became a tutor, and then a public school teacher. As he recounts in his book Letters to a Young Teacher, Kozol took over as a substitute teacher in a classroom where he was the 14th teacher the students had had that year (Kozol, 2007). After teaching a Langston Hughes Poem he was fired from his job. The administration stated that the poetry was not part of the curriculum.

Today Kozol is an author who uses his voice to give voice to many who do not have a voice in the debates over education reform. His works are passionate pleas to value each child equally and to examine the broader context of educational inequality.

Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner was born in Scranton Pennsylvania in 1943. His parents had recently lost another child, and only three years previously has fled to the United States to escape the Holocaust (Gardner, n.d., p.1). Growing up he states that he was studious and his parents encouraged his intellect. He attended Harvard University where his mind was awoken by his experience in class and with professors. Gardner (n.d) remembers that he was drawn the social sciences, and is now able to trace a path through his journey that seems clear in its direction.

Gardner has explored many different topics in his work, and the one that has been explored most in the context of education is his theory of multiple intelligences. In this theory he argues that there exist many ways of knowing (Gardner, 1983). He names nine such manners of knowing, and believes that all people experience strengths and weaknesses with these intelligences (“Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences” n.d). His challenge to educators is therefore not to force all students to “know” in the same manner, but instead for educators to learn about each child as an individual and allow them to work with his or her strengths for maximum learning.

Sources

Kozol

http://edaction.org/kozol.php?section=career

Kozol, Jonathan (2005, September) Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s educational apartheid. Harper’s Magazine, 41-54.

Kozol, Jonathan (2007). Letters to a Young Teacher. New York: Crown Publishers

http://ed-action.org/content/NCLBPoints.pdf

Newman, Joseph W. (2006) America’s Teachers: An Introduction to Education (5th Ed). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Kozol

Gardner
Gardner, Howard (1983) Frames of Mind: The Theories of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
http://www.howardgardner.com/bio/bio.html
http://www.howardgardner.com/docs/One%20Way%20of%20Making%20a%20Social%20Scientist.pdf
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_overview.html
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm.

Language Arts Ideas for Units

2008-05-20T22:46:00.000-04:00

Option 1: I am thinking about designing a second grade unit for my literacy unit. The students are learning about different kinds of animals. I am thinking about designing a research unit on animals, with the finished product having the students write a non-fiction description of the animal, and an original poem. Once the students have composed these we would publish a wiki book that could be read by the kindergarten class down the hall. I think that having an audience for the writing would greatly improve the quality of the writing.

Option 2: Another option I am considering is using podcasts with a 3rd grade class. Since I have not used podcasts, I think this would be a fun challenge for me and potential students. Since the students are learning about writing instructions, that I could have students work in groups to write instructions for future students of the school. Since the students are new to the school building in 3rd grade, I am thinking it would be helpful to have a website of podcasts about expectations at the school. Embedded in this project I would want to students to interview classmates about different key terms such as respect, hard work and team work. They could also share these definitions with future students. I would have students publish both the podcast and the written information.

Option 3:

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Option 5:

Growing Your Garden

2008-05-20T22:33:00.000-04:00

Thinking today about how education has many challenges, and how hard it is to envision new solutions to our problems since so little has changed in education. Trying to look for schools that have begun to use new structures to teacher