Virtual Learning Communities...What are they?

This is cross posted at http://21centurylearning.typepad.com

At Iroquois we have taken the professional learning community and taken it to a new level....the virtual level.

Virtual Learning Communities (VLC's) are platforms for social networking that are generally focused on a particular topic. People invite people to their network and they join with a particular focus in mind. They are used to post discussions, resources, links on the internet and engage the participants.

I think that the conversations we have on the VLC are richer because they can include people outside our geographical region. Often times, especially in education, things become "regionalized". Now we can gain a global perspective with fresh ideas. At the least, our approach/thoughts can be validated.

Through these communications, information is shared, research to support a particular theory or approach is offered, or examples of where an initiative has been successfully implemented.

Within a group of professionals, a virtual community seems to give people the confidence and platform to express their ideas that they may not feel comfortable sharing in a public forum. This isn't to say people are hiding behind their computer screens. Some people just don't like speaking in front of groups. We've all met a few of these people. They have a lot to offer and quietly take risks in the classroom, but don't 'brag' about their accomplishments and successes.

Change happens when there are enough people committed to a particular topic of interest. There has to be an environment that is open to that change. Once a platform (environment) is created that is safe and supported, change is more likely to happen. Whether it's a new way to teach required facts that makes learning fun, or a new lesson with integrated technology that captivates students that in the past would remain uninterested.

In order for change to happen, the 'conversations' must take place. As we meet face to face, the ideas and actions suggested in the virtual learning community can be described, listed, and debated without people having to identify who brought the idea to the table. Schools are a perfect example of this. There are the talkers and the sponges. Those that are vocal about their ideas and more than comfortable trying to convince everyone their way is the right way. On the other hand, there are "the sponges". Those individuals that sit in the room, filter the information and go back to their classrooms making significant changes to their instruction that result in improved student learning. That is just one example of how the talking turns into action.

In answer to the question of how do we use our venue for social change? We read, we write, we exchange, we learn. As leaders, the more we are exposed to reliable and useful information, the better prepared we are to 'wrestle' the issues at the table.

That is how we are using the virtual learning community at Iroquois. It is also used as a resource for teachers so that they do not have to 'reinvent the wheel' when it comes to their instruction. Whether it involves theory, videos, power point presentations or class activities, teachers have a place they can go to make their delivery of instruction the best it can be.

Better teaching/instruction translates to improved student achievement.

Thoughtful Education and a Virtual Learning Community

As I look at the date, I can't believe how much time has gone by since my last post. Then I think about how much has been happening in the past month and it's not really any surprise. Our district has been completely immersed in Thoughtful Education practices. Our teachers continue to learns tools that will captivate students, engage them more actively in their learning and stretch their critical thinking skills. Naturally, I'm excited about the changes happening K-12 in how students are learning. What is most rewarding is to see our teachers come together as a professional learning community.
Professional Learning Communities is not new to our district. There have been continuous opportunities for teachers to collaborate. They have discussed action-research, shared data regarding student performance and engaged in book talks. With Thoughtful Education, teachers are coming to during district allocated time and on their own. There is an exchange of ideas, pedagogy and successes. It is not often that a leader has the opportunity to see so many teachers excited about the work they are doing. With the help of our Instructional Technology Specialist, a virtual platform has been developed. It is a place our teachers can post lesson, strategies and resources. I like to think of it as one-stop shopping for our teachers. There are many great minds in the district. One goal is to bring these great minds together. No longer do teachers have to "reinvent the wheel". Teachers now share a common language and their craft. Each day I receive several e-mails notifying me that teachers have posted new information on our wiki. What I see is no less than impressive.
At our most recent curriculum council meeting I asked our members what makes this initiative so different than other initiatives. There responses left me with the feeling that we are truly on the right path. Students are noticing that teachers are taking risks and trying new approaches. They are demonstrating new learning and high level thinking skills. Our teachers feel a renewed sense of collegiality and engage in rich conversations about teaching and learning. Our teachers are to be commended. They are embracing an initiative that is time consuming, stretches their learning, and requires hard work in addition to the planning and teaching that happens day in and day out in their classrooms.

On-Line Professional Learning Communities

This week I had the pleasure of attending a training facilitated by the incredibly talented Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson: Western New York Powerful Learning Practices. In the context of Web 2.0 technology, at Iroquois Central School, we are advocating for the use of technology as an instructional tool that has the power to prepare students for the 21st Century. One way we are doing this is the development of an on-line platform to develop a professional learning community across our district. The purpose of this learning community is to share best practices in our schools and how we educate 21st Century Learners. This platform has no boundaries i.e., grade level, subject matter. The vehicle is a Wiki. There are resources related to our district’s initiatives for the year, lessons that teachers can develop, expand upon and share.

As we know in any business (education not to be excluded as a ‘business’) relationships are the key to success. Through these on-line learning communities, relationships are developed. People begin to identify credible individuals that provide trusted information. These on-line platforms have the ability to ask a person questions and make comments about their work or contributions. As practitioners, we will model exactly the skills we want students to be learning: Collaboration, Literacy, and becoming Global Learners with no boundaries. Your location is no longer a barrier. Whether across town, in another state or another part of the world, there are talented individuals that have a lot to offer educators.

We share bookmarks on line with tools such as del.icio.us. The link will take you to my account. The bookmarks you find are articles and resources on a variety of topics that interest me and that I have used in my learning related transforming how we prepare students for the 21st Century. In my account, I have followers and people that I follow. We each have access to each other’s bookmarks. My learning and resources is then expanded exponentially. In the busy life of a superintendent, time is precious. I would love to spend hours researching a topic. But why should I? I can connect with these people and see if they have bookmarked resources that have topics similar to what I am looking for. If this isn’t collaboration, I don’t know what is. Dare I share for the “digital novice” that MySpace is nothing more than a social bookmarking tool?

I blog. I began blogging the minute I learned who to. Blogs are communication tools. I can instantaneously post current information. Then people read my blog. Some leave comments, others just read it. I never imagined the power blogging until I added clustrmaps, a program that tracks where in the world people are reading my blog. It also tracks how many people are reading my blog. The incredible power of this is not only the shocking reality that there are people all over the world interested in reading what I have to say but that everyone of these people are potential people for me to learn from. And I have. When it comes to literacy, I have read more in the past 18 months than I have read in the previous 3 years. I read a lot. My job demands it. I read research, professional journals and magazines, newspapers. I know add blogs to my reading. Can you imagine how much reading our children can do on the web? What if your child could “publish” on the web, send the link to their parents, cousins or grandparents who can see their work on the internet? How excited and motivated would they be to write? What about their classmates that blog? Would children be interested in reading blogs of their friends? They read their profiles on MySpace of FaceBook don’t they? If this type of reading and writing were expanded, would they increase the amount of material they read? Would they not become critical readers? If a peer published something with erroneous information or misspelling, would they not comment? Would they then question where that peer’s blog is a credible source of information? What if this form of reading and writing was shared with students from another country? Not only are students becoming more literate, they are becoming global learners.

This blog as well as a blog I have cross-blogged this post with Leaderstalk.org. Leadertalk is a blog of educators that share their experiences and resources to help leaders across the country learn from each other. In some ways, this blog is functioning as an on-line Professional Learning Community. I have so much to learn, but not enough hours in the day. After critically determining which blogs provide the information I need and want, I bookmark these blogs and view them several times per week. If this isn’t powerful, I don’t know what is.

I will continue to blog as a means of “spreading the word”. It has been cited by many authors that we are preparing our students for jobs not yet invented. The questions we all need to be asking ourselves include:
• Do we want our children to function in a global society?
• Should “learning” include a global perspective?
• Do we want our children to collaborate with other students around the world?
• As professionals, aren’t we to be models for our administrators, teachers and students?
• Can we not all learn something from someone else?

If you answer yes to all these questions, spend some time on the read/write web. Follow some of the links on this blog and see what is out there. As an instructional leader I will continue to support the use of the read/write web, on-line collaboration for administrators, teachers and students. I will continue to support changes in how students are taught and learn so that they can develop the skills needed in the 21st Century.

Are You Paying Attention?

This year we are meshing three initiatives in our high school. Bill Daggett's Model Schools, Thoughtful Education principles of Strong and Silver and the integration of Web 2.0 technologies. While I was shown this video a few months ago, I had forgotten about it until one of our Elementary Principals sent it to me. If this doesn't illustrate all the things we are talking about this teachers and how we should be changing the way students learn, I don't know what does.
Please take a few moments.....It's worth it!

Email to Friend

Is it really almost October?

It is incredible to me that we have almost finished the first month of school. The problem with blogging is that one should really stay current. So much has happened over the past few weeks, I just haven't had a moment to write. After being so pumped by yet another inspiring conference of High School's New Face, ideas and conversations began to flow and planning for the year took over my thoughts. As with any change, I do believe that it all begins with relationships. They need to be developed and fostered. In a good relationship, there is so much to be gained. Relationships that are less than positive tend to stall progress.
As I looked to begin the school year, I spend many hours thinking about and planning an opening day speech. A privilege Superintendents get to do each year. I spend weeks lamenting over what the topic should be, how to touch my audience and inspire folks to be excited about another year. Typically I make a connection to our district's mission, goals and initiatives. This year was different. It is the beginning of my fifth year at Iroquois. I have shared my personal vision, read stories to make a few shed a tear, shared poetry and yes, our direction for the coming year. This year, I was stuck. I kept coming back to the common factor of relationships. I was also concerned that for a time during our opening day rituals, I have a varied audience. Teachers, custodians, grounds crew, bus drivers and mechanic. Technology specialists, teacher aides and assistants. All the great people that make our school the great place it is. What could I say that would touch them all. That something was so simple yet we never do it enough. That something was to show gratitude. A recognition that it does "take the whole village" and that each of us in the room take a part in educating our students and molding our future leaders of the world. My opening "speech" was to have each group of people stand, hear the contribution they make in the education of our children and have the rest our staff applaud them. The feedback and appreciation has been incredible. It has done more to inspire, make people feel needed and that they make a difference than any other words even my best speech could communicate. If there is a theme, it is "gratitude". With so many changes that are happening in education and the many changes I hope to see this year, the whole experience can be enriched by a simple "thank you". For sharing an idea, for listening after a particularly stressful day, for getting that jammed paper out of the printer....Thank you! With that as a foundation, there is nothing we can't do. My thanks come from having the opportunity to work in a school district that has enormous support from faculty, parents, community members and our board of education. I never take it for granted.
As opening day passed, students arrived. They experienced change immediately. Teachers were excited at the prospect of another year. Technology was improving by leaps and bound. Our campus is on the way to being wireless. Over 360 laptops on mobile carts with printers and a projector arrived over the summer. The issue of "access" is slowly becoming a non-issue. We have a teacher on special assignment that is respected and knowledgeable ready to help our teachers integrate technology with some of the best instructional practices. We are going to have an on-line platform where all teachers can share and gain information about of instructional initiatives. Thank you Pat Aroune! Professional development will focus on the work of Silver and Strong (Thoughtful Education), the integration of technology and literacy. We hope to look at learning styles and how that influences instructional practices. We'll look to see how we can personalize the educational experience of our students and make school more meaningful for each and every student. The Thoughtful Education components will help us engage our learners and teach them critical skills necessary for learning.
In order for all these initiatives to be implemented, teachers need time. Time to learn and time to plan. Tomorrow is the first of our early release days for just that purpose. As I look at the agenda for the afternoon, it is amazing how much is going on. We have a new web provider and each teacher has the ability to create their own web pages. They need to be trained in web design and posting to those pages. We have conversations that will take place at the intermediate level about literature and spelling . Our primary teachers will be looking at our elementary science curriculum that was revised this summer as well as a new spelling approach to enhance our literacy initiative. Our high school teachers will focus on the Thoughtful Education initiative. Each teacher will come having taken their own learning style inventory. This will be used as a springboard to how their style influences their teaching. Lastly, our counselors and related service providers will begin training in Life Space Intervention: techniques to better address students with behavioral difficulties. I cannot think of a more productive way to spend an afternoon.
We have certainly "hit the ground running" and I am proud to be a part of all the changes.

Thank You Kim Moritz ! Meme on 8 Random Facts

First, the Rules:

1. Post these rules before you give your facts
2. List 8 random facts about yourself
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them
4. Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Here are my eight random facts:
1. Grew up in Yonkers, New York. Yes, the city boy went country. Came to Geneseo for college and never left.
2. I have a daughter younger than one of my grandchildren (getting remarried 6 years ago helped that).
3. I freak at the thought of mice in my house. I refuse to set a trap and if one has to be disposed of, my wife gets the honor. I am also afraid of heights.
4. Traveled first to Romania, then Chile until I was successful in adopting my son. Romania was an unforgettable experience, blackmailed 5 times for baby (never!) and saw things that changed me to the core.
5. Prince of Tides is one of my favorite movies and I'm not ashamed to say, it makes me cry.
6. I'm a "closet" pianist. Terrified of playing in public but love to play. My piano teacher was Steve Tyler's father from Aerosmith.
7. I'm still best friends with the first friend I met in Kindergarten.
8. I know the risks but I worship the sun. I feel so much better when I have a tan.

Now you know a little more than I would normally share.
I now tag the following people;
Pat Aroune
Scott McLeod
David Warlick
Rick
Steve Hargadon
Mike Temple
Mike Guhlin
Jeff Utecht

Federal Appeals Court Holds Email Content Is Constitutionally Protected

LAW: CASE: DECISIONS:
Policy Post 13.10: Federal Appeals Court Holds Email Content Is
Constitutionally Protected

Subject: Policy Post 13.10: Federal Appeals Court Holds Email Content Is
Constitutionally Protected

A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online
from The Center For Democracy and Technology

(1) Federal Appeals Court Holds Email Content Is Constitutionally
Protected

(2) IP Addresses, E-mail "To" and "From" Data Not Protected
- Court Ruling

_______________________________________________________

In the past month, two federal appeals courts have grappled with the
Constitutional status of Internet communications. Their rulings have
substantial implications for privacy, and raise anew concerns that
existing law may not be sufficient to protect Americans' privacy in
the digital age.

In an important case, the federal appeals court for
the Sixth Circuit (covering Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee)
ruled on June 18 that email users generally enjoy a
constitutionally-protected right of privacy in the content of their
email as it sits in storage with a service provider. The court also
declared unconstitutional a provision of the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act that allows government investigators to
use a subpoena or court order issued on less than probable cause to
obtain older email without notice to the person whose email is being
disclosed.

The rule established by the court is simple: in order to obtain email
from a service provider, either a) the government must obtain a
search warrant issued under the relatively high standard of probable
cause set forth in the Fourth Amendment, or b) if the government
wants to use a mere subpoena or a court order issued on less than
probable cause, it must provide notice to the person whose
communications are being sought, giving that person an opportunity to
object.

For Internet users, the ruling is a small but significant victory for
privacy. The Justice Department has argued that email, while
protected in transit, loses the full protection of the Constitution
after it reaches a user's "inbox" on the computer of a service
provider. The 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act set up a
complicated set of rules according different protection to email
depending on how and for how long it is stored. The Sixth Circuit
cuts through all of that, bringing email under a single,
Constitutionally based rule.

The ruling will likely channel more law enforcement efforts to obtain
the contents of older, stored email into the warrant arena -- with
its higher probable cause standard -- especially when government
investigators do not want to give notice to the target of their
investigation. As a result, sensitive email content information will
likely be accessed later in an investigation, when there is
sufficiently strong suspicion to establish probable cause.
Therefore, the decision may make it less likely that law enforcement
will access the email of innocent persons.

> From a corporate perspective, the ruling brings some needed

simplicity to the rules governing disclosure of stored email. The
ruling should be welcome to email providers for another reason: as
Internet users remain acutely sensitive to privacy, this case gives
them some measure of confidence, marking out one area where online
communications enjoy constitutional protection. While the U.S.
Justice Department is likely to seek to overturn the decision, the
case actually should not have a major impact on law enforcement
practices, since under ECPA law enforcement agencies already have to
obtain a warrant to get current email.

The premise of the court's constitutional ruling -- that email users
reasonably expect that an email is a private communication between
sender and recipient -- is obviously true, as reflected in the
widespread reliance on email for sensitive communications in
commerce, government and personal relations. Perhaps the only thing
remarkable about the case is that the regular federal courts had
never addressed the constitutional issues it raised.

The Justice Department is likely to seek to have the ruling
overturned by a larger panel of the Sixth Circuit and, in any case,
the Department will not consider itself bound by the ruling outside
the Sixth Circuit.

Day 2 and 3 of High Schools New Face

O.K., I'll admit it. I'm getting old! Day 2 was so full of information and the evenings went into the wee hours of the morn. I was exhausted! My head was also swimming with so many ideas heard throughout the day, I was concentrating more on how I could bring these ideas to Iroquois that blogging took a back seat. Day 2 was as information (and overwhelming) as Day 1 with Sheryl. The volume of new information and tools was incredible. Several people that attended last year's conference were concerned that they might not be exposed to too many new ideas....Wrong!! Sheryl had the unique ability to continue to stretch those that attended last year and may have been more experienced with Web 2.0 tools. Most interesting for me were the on-line tools available to develop and sustain a learning community as well as the on-line collaboration tools. I have had some experience with these tools but never used them to their full capacity.
At lunch we were entertained with several songs performed by Iroquois' own select concert choir. Mr. Gastle as usually made sure that these gifted students were well prepared and the talent our students display is nothing short of amazing. As usual, they made me feel so proud to be serving such an outstanding district.
The evening entertainment was yet another example that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. If you have not heard "Flame", go out and but a CD. This group certainly knew how put on a performance and warm the hearts of everyone there. The band has 9 members. You may be asking what makes them so unique. Each individual is challenged in some way: physically, cognitively or both. I hope to bring these very talented people to our school. They are an inspiration for everyone who has a dream but thinks they have too many obstacles to achieve them. The members of Flame certainly prove that determination along with the right skills makes the seemingly impossible, possible.
The morning of Day 3 concluded our time with Sheryl, learning more tools and actually using them. An on-line community was formed for attendees on Tappedin and is sure to keep those interested in continuing their learning and collaboration connected. The afternoon gave us an opportunity to work with the team from our school to develop an action plan for implementation at our district. We also had the opportunity to meet as a region to discuss how the momentum and initiatives could be sustained as well as what our BOCES can do to support our efforts.
Once again, the Joint Management Team organized a phenomenal conference. The energy and excitement I heard from so many individuals gives real hope to those of us that know teaching and learning in the 21st Century will be different than that of previous generations.

Day 1 of the Connecting Cohort with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach at High Schools New Face Conference

For those of you that are new to Web 2.0, you may not have heard of Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. She is incredibly knowledgeable and writes extensively about the integration of technology and Web 2.0 tools. Sheryl is professor at William and Mary College. Sheryl is committed to 21st Century learners and how to help educators move to 21st Century “teaching”. I discovered her blog and instantly we were connected. The fact that I was a superintendent interesting and using Web 2.0 in my daily work as well as attempting to have our high school teachers integrate the tools she included me as a “virtual mentor” for a pre-service course she teaches to college students on the way to becoming teachers. I was able to engage with her students, be a resource for ideas and issues they experienced as they were student teaching. We’ve had many interactions since then although we met face-to-face for the first time yesterday. Sheryl invited me to call in using SKYPE about my use of Web 2.0 at a conference she presented at in New Zealand this spring. It is incredible the contacts you make in the virtual world. Just by looking at the map on my blogroll (http:changinghighschools.blogspot.com), you can see how many people from every corner of the world have visited by blog. Often these people will comment on my blog, call me by SKYPE or e-mailed me to set up a time for an interview that would be recorded into the podcast.

Each participant was given an iPod Shuffle for the conference. This was a donation from Apple. The Shuffle can also be used as a 1 gig hard-drive. You need to have iTunes loaded on the computer you will use your Shuffle. Shuffles don’t like to use more than one computer. iTunes on a school computer is “safe”. iTunes has parental controls that can be set to make sure students don’t get exposed to the “radio” or other locations undesirable for students.

Adam Frey is a great resource. 100,000 free wikispaces are available for wikis without any advertising on it.

Sheryl has set up a wiki for the conference.
http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/

If you go to "Resources" you can find a link for wikispaces and many other tools.

Sheryl spoke about our changing world and how we are going to prepare student. Some key bytes:

Knowledge is divergent, not linear

Have you used the new WWW? The new WWW: Whatever, Wherever, Whenever.

iPod + podcasting= Anytime Learning

What about kids using iPods in School?

What about using cell phones?

“This is not business as usual, it’s business as unusual!”

What do you need to know when most of recorded knowledge is a mouse click away?

How do we prepare students for the jobs that don’t exist yet...using technologies that have not been invented yet…?

What does it due to the body of knowledge when everyone is a producer and knowledge isn’t static anymore?

How do we balance safety and access in order to allow the use of Web 2.0 technology.

Are you ready for the 21st Century? IT’S HERE!! We’re 7 years into it!

Web 3.0 is here. Take Web 2.0 and the technical aspects and learn from an Avatar such as in Second Life.

It is estimated that 1.5 exabytes of unique information will be generated this year.

What is 21st Century Learning? (It is so much more than technology)Some say;
The ability to establish ambiguity
Being your own reference librarian
Being able to network with people that have the resources you need


4 Areas that include 21st Century Learning
Digital Age Literacy
Inventive Thinking
Effective Communication
High Productivity

We need to give students a skill set so they are marketable and not competing with jobs that are outsourced?

There are 4 other Iroquois folks here at the conference attending other cohorts. Pat Aroune is here in the connecting cohort. Mr. Kenney, Mr. Esslinger and Mr. Lysiak are also here. I'm anxious to hear what they have learned in their first session.

First Evening at High School's New Face Conference

Talk about changes in the 21st century.......

This evening was an opportunity for planners and presenters for this year's High Schools New Face Conference to get together for dinner and socializing before the conference begins tomorrow. After dinner there was a campfire for folks to get together and chat. As we are fortunate to have someone as talented as Monte Shelby here, Monte brings his guitar to play and sing a little around the campfire. A little girl asks her dad about a far away country. How does Dad answer her question? Retrieve every bit of information he can remember? Tell her they'll go to the library next week and get a book out about the country?

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...



How many of us had our Dad bring us out to a picnic bench with his laptop and showed us anything in front of a campfire?
This is just one example of how kids learn in the 21st Century and why we need to change how students are educated. This will be an exciting three days!

High Schools New Face Conference 2007

It was just about one year ago that Western New York educators came together for High Schools New Face Conference in Ellicottville, New York. It was at this conference that I was first introduced to Web 2.0 technology from Will Richardson. The conference energized me and the team I brought from Iroquois and changed the way I thought about technology and how we educate or students. The world of blogging, wikis, on-line collaboration and social bookmarking changed how I use technology, gather and share information.
Tuesday, July 17th, educators from around the region will come together again to expand upon the ideas and information shared last year and for some, it will be there first time. It is sure to be a memorable experience for all. There will be four cohorts this year: Personalizing, Engaging, Connecting and Leading 21st Century Learners. This year, I will have the pleasure of co-facilitating sessions with Bonnie Smith designed to bring the leaders in the region together. The sessions will help leaders focus on the 21st Century learner, determine what new information that would like to acquire at this year's conference and develop an action plan they can return to their schools with and begin to make change. The sesions will also provide time for colleagues to network with others in the region.
Many new blogs will be created by the participants. Dealing with a variety of topics. A blog has been posted for the Leaders Cohort. It can be viewed at hsnf.wordpress.com
As a result of last year's conference, many teachers began to look at technology in a different way and how we have traditionally educated our students. The tools used made learning more interesting, more active on the part of students and broadened the depth of knowledge students were exposed to. I never anticipated the level of interest on the part of our faculty or how many teachers began to use the web in different ways. A grass-roots effort truly blossomed. I anxiously await the conversations and planning for making a significant difference in how our students view high school and learning.

What learning should be about..................

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing a lesson demonstrated by 2 very talented social studies teachers at Springville-Griffith Institute. These teachers were doing exactly what I want to see teachers do.......engaging students in their learning. They chose to demonstrate 2 lessons. The first was using students to address the concerns of Hurricane Katrina. "Students" sat on a panel....the president's cabinet. One student represented the Department of the Interior, another Homeland Security, another the Department of Education and of course there was The President Of the United States. The President had 3 Billion Dollars to give out. Each department head had to make a case for why their department deserved the money in an effort to rebuild New Orleans. What a fabulous way for children to learn. They were actually "learning" about government but a current issue was used. Students created multi-media presentations used to make their case.
Another lesson was related to World War II and the holocaust. The students were able to learn about the war and the holocaust in many ways. Reading, interviewing World War II Veterans (at times their own grandparents or great-grandparents) and recording those interviews to be copied onto DVD for each veteran's family to receive. They also made a connection to current events which their school has focused on: the continuing genocide that occurs everyday in Dafur. Students then drew upon their knowledge of the holocaust and were able to make a parallel between the horrible genocide in concentration camps and those that go on in Dafur. The students in this school then created a Club for Dafur and held a variety of fund raisers. They were learning every step of the way and their learning was active, engaging and no textbook was seen.
I believe that this is exactly the kind of learning we want our children engaged in. Kudo's to the principal, assistant principal and superintendent Dr. Peters for creating the atmosphere where teachers can be excited about engaging students and making little use of textbooks and only as a reference when needed.

Steve Hargadon interviews Susan Patrick on Web 2.0

In reading Steve's recent post, I was so impressed with her interview and this quote. It is truly what we face on so many levels. Whether passing budgets and asking for "extras", increasing transportation routes (when parents have walked 2 miles, up hill, both ways), etc...
http://www.stevehargadon.com/
My only concern is that while many parents have this perspective, if leaders are still functioning in this mindset, they don't belong being leaders in the 21st century.


"Our biggest barrier is our memory of what schools look like. Those of us running the schools have a very strong memory of 'this is how a school looks, this is how it works.' And the system itself is designed to be very resistant to change. But the innovation and the change is going to come very naturally to our students, and if we are going to keep our students in school--which we have to--...we're going to have to make these jumps and these adaptations. And the thing is, if we don't make them, students will simply go around us. We really need to strengthen our public institutions by being open to new ways of doing things and having them adapt to the School 2.0 model.... I don't think those of us in the U.S. understand how stuck we are in the status quo, and how precarious the situation is for our kids to be successful in the new global economy."

Infinite Thinking Machine does it again!

The Infinite Thinking Machine is a blog I follow regularly. The author Chris Walsh has several videos I find so provocative with respect to integration of technology with learning. His latest video can be viewed at the link below. It's worth seeing. The title is ITM: Calculate This!

http://www.infinitethinking.org/index.html

ProProfs Launches Free On-Line Quiz Service

I just read an article by Dave Nagel about a new service which allows teachers to generate custom quizzes online. The new service is available free for educators and students. What an incredible resource for those teachers and students that wish to take advantage of such a free on-line service. Below is a link to the article and a demonstration of the service.


Dave Nagel, "ProProfs Launches Free Online Quiz Service," T.H.E. Journal, 2/22/2007, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/20280



http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/tour.php

Michigan's Merit Curriculum

Last week Michigan's Governor passed into law Michigan's Merit Curriculum. It is the state's attempt to make their high school requirements more rigorous. While New York State has high standards and now the Regents With Distinction Diploma, something stands out about Michigan's new curriculum. What caught my attention is a requirement that all students take 1 credit in online/computer technology. While we are integrating technology into our coursework and students can take courses as an elective, we have yet to make the next leap to make it a graduation requirement. Needless to say, this is something I would strongly advocate for. Not only would this make our curriculum requirements that much closer to what is relevant in schools today, it would be the impetus for all schools to address the need for students to be technologically literate in the 21st century.
Most schools do have keyboarding and have students exposed or required to use word processing or powerpoint. Obviously, I'm taking more sophisticated than that- social bookmarking, online collaboration, video-conferencing, blogging, wikis, etc... Almost all of which is FREE. We all would like computers for every student and more computer labs. Hopefully that will happen. All schools have 'some technology' available to students which could and should exposed them to Web 2.0 technologies. Michigan is taking that leap.
In New York, the Regents have identified technology as an area to address in their P-16 initiative. I do hope that results in requiring students some basic requirement for 21st century technological literacy.
If you want to read more about Michigan's first leap, the link below will take you there.

http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140--152784--,00.html

A New Blog to Watch: Dangerously Irrelevant

On one of those late nights, I came across a reference for a survey that was seeking information regarding educational leadership. It is through this blog that I actually made SKYPE contact with the author- Scott McCleod. As Scott points out, there are "a bizillion blogs about teaching" and the use of technology. What is lacking in the field, are true discussions about change and leadership. Something as you know I have been on a soapbox about lately. People are reading but the "conversations" are lacking. Scott is making an attempt to change that. At first, by 'inviting' people he has come across through blogs and wikis and asking those people to 'invite' others that may be interested in the same topic. Scott's current teaching role is as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota and Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). You can find Scott's blog at: http://www.scottmcleod.typepad.com/dangerouslyirrelevant/

Scott is celebrating his blog's 6 month birthday. Congratulations Scott!! His latest blog ironically was 'dangerously relevant' to me. I find myself in the same place. I have begun several blogs. I use one as an RSS aggregator feed but only post occasionally. This is the blog I post to most often. As I have noted that during those late night blogging sessions, I come across more information than I think my brain can handle. There is also the issue of what is important or relevant to the work I am trying to accomplish. Those of us having conversations about students blogging ask the same question. That is where the critical thinking/analysis piece comes in. In hopes of not offending Scott, but actually a compliment, I would like to share today's post. I feel compelled to share his main points as it will address many of the questions we are asking as we introduce Web 2.0 to our students. I am sure that many of the points will be applicable to students.
Here's how Scott chooses what he reads:

1. I rarely read blogs that are focused on classroom instruction. Not because they don't have interesting things to say, but because there simply are too many of them and because my focus is leadership. I started blogging at Dangerously Irrelevant because I wanted to try out blogging and because I felt there was a leadership orientation that often was missing from what I read in the education blogosphere. I have come to the pleasant realization that there are more leadership types out there than I originally believed, and I tend to read them and others that are dealing with school-, district-, state-, or federal-level leadership and policy issues.
2. I stick with blogs that regularly cause me to think. We blog for different reasons. I'm attracted to those bloggers that are regularly wrestling with ideas and issues. I don't care if they're re-hashing old stuff; for them that stuff may be new and they may cause me to rethink something. I'm interested in the thoughtful, reflective interplay of personality with problem. If someone causes my brain to say "Huh!" or "Wow, that was good." or "I'm not sure I quite get that. Let me think on that a while." on a regular basis, he or she has a dedicated spot in my aggregator.
3. I gravitate toward bloggers who create resources that are helpful and add value. Many of us blog. Few of us create resources that can be used by others. I am grateful for those who do.
4. I appreciate cleverness and passion. If you are witty, write distinctively or passionately, make me laugh, or are good for a memorable quote now and then, I'm yours.
5. I like bloggers who aren't afraid to challenge the status quo. Some of educators' most-cherished beliefs and practices are up for reconsideration in this new technological era. I like bloggers who are willing and interested in at least rethinking, if not always revising, what we're doing.
6. I follow interesting comments. One of the best ways I find new voices is by clicking on the names of folks who have left an interesting comment on my own blog or someone else's. I'll peruse their blogs and, if I like what I see, I'll add them to the area in my aggregator that's reserved for folks I'm trying out. After a month or two, I'll either move them to a more permanent area or replace them with someone new.
7. I track links from those I trust. If a blogger I respect links to someone, I'll usually follow the trail. If that person is reading you, chances are I might like you too.
8. I don't filter by ideology, but I rarely read bloggers who are grumpy. I try to expose myself to different perspectives and viewpoints, but I don't have time to waste on people who have a tendency to complain or bring down others. I believe in the old saw that one should 'criticize ideas, not people.' If bloggers frequently use personally-insulting language, denigrate others, and/or grouse about stuff, I'm not going to read them much. I try really hard to stick with those folks when I think their content is good, but in the end their delivery gets in the way of their message.

Scott, thank you for provoking even more thought and discussion. I do believe that educational leaders are the key in promoting and leading the use of technology. It is their voice I (we) wish to hear.

O.K....This post has been a long time coming

First, I must say that I am extremely proud of the changes happening at Iroquois. While I a would like to see change happen in several areas, I realize this post is an idealistic view of the world.....I believe that in daily practice I force myself to be "reaslistic", but deep down, I am idealistic and these thoughts are a reflection of..............my 'inner self'.

I address you all frustrated. Frustrated with our system, tired of hearing rhetoric but seeing no action, and disappointed that as leaders of education in New York State we have taken so long to come to this point.

We have made an impact over the past 10 years. We have been successful in doing what has been expected of us. All students are provided a public education. Children that are white, children of color, rich, poor, abled and physically challenged, all have access to school. We have our students meeting “the standards” based on what can be measured as well as what we have been asked to measure. Students are performing better on subject specific assessments. In New York State, more students are obtaining a Regents Diploma and more students are graduating than ever before. We were criticized for a lack of accountability, now we are accountable.

Educational change has largely been a result of a political agenda and national reports that received much attention. First there was “A Nation at Risk” in 1989 which resulted in the COMPACT for Learning in New York State, now by “The Commission on Education and the Economy”. All this information has been made public by the media, become political platforms and tied together with a price tag. Each year the expectation is that we “measure better”…..and we do. I applaud our efforts. We have a job to do- one that we have been hired to do and we work day after day to accomplish that job.

As educational leaders we are all life-long learners and high achievers. We want to do the best and we navigate the obstacles and challenges in order to achieve. However, one perspective may be that what we have allowed ourselves to achieve what we believe (or have become convinced) is “our job”. I have to ask though, are we happy at “the job” we are doing? Do we do what we do because we believe it is the right thing? Or, have we become just like the student that is at least moderately motivated, wants to please his parents or a respected teacher and has figured out the system…. to play the game and produce results that satisfy the requirements? I am increasingly coming to the realization that I may be one of “those” students. I have “figured out the system”.

As a superintendent I am fortunate to have the resources to make sure that my teachers are presented with best practices for reading and math which are essential to build the foundation for other learning, that my teachers are provided the necessary training to instruct in best practices, that my teachers are given the opportunity to align their curriculum to the NYS standards, that my teachers are given the opportunity to map out their curriculum and that my teachers are given the time to create parallel assessments to assess the progress our students are making so that those who struggle may receive extra help so that they learn the material that will help them perform better on our state assessments.

A mouthful isn’t it? Am I cynical? Generally, that is the last characteristic people would use to describe me. Until very recently, I believed that this was the right approach and that I am working in ideal conditions.

Not all of my colleagues can say that. Not because they don’t know how to do any of these things but because there isn’t equity in the system. Because we’re so persistent in “making the grade” we don’t have time to breathe. Not everyone has the resources (money) to do these things and so do the best they can with what they have.

Precious time is spent fighting over limited resources, convincing boards of education and parents that we need those resources to help our teachers help our students succeed. We lobby legislators to give more money to schools with the sincere belief that more resources will make a difference. I too have spent years doing the same thing. Does money help? Of course it does but it is not the only factor that will make a difference in student achievement. In fact, statisticians have time and again demonstrated that schools that spend the most money do not necessarily have the best results in terms of academic achievement.

So, what is my frustration?

1. I do believe we have wasted millions of dollars. While we all know of collaboration and we do collaborate to a point, over 700 districts (an approximate number of school districts in New York State) spent money to unveil the standards to our teachers. Over 700 districts spent time and money revising the curriculum to meet the standards. Over 700 districts attempted to find districts doing better than them in order to discover the “best practice” in hopes that they can adopt similar practices so their students could perform as well as their neighboring district. We are in the job of educating students. I dream of a system that could have done the work for school districts and allow the practitioners to spend time on developing creative, motivating and differentiated lessons to teach our students. It is almost as though as are all having to invent the wheel and we have succeeded. Most of us have that ‘wheel’ now and most of them look pretty much the same.
2. I am disappointed in myself and I’m disappointed in our system. We have yet again allowed a political agenda to dictate what it is we do on a daily basis. NCLB and IDEA are good ideas. What their intentions are in principle, none of us would argue. However, it is in the detail of the legislation that has been allowed to overshadow those great ideas (developed in many cases by people with very little experience in education demanding proof of results and justification for giving funds) and the fact that we have allowed a system that not only doesn’t reinforce our work, but punishes us if we fail to follow the pack. We are educators. We are leaders. We know better. If it is all about ‘playing the game’, why don’t we teach our students what it is they need to learn and just give “the tests” to fulfill the mandates? I often wonder how students would perform on the assessments if we took such an approach. The problem? While we have “standards” depending upon your personal beliefs, your position in society, or an economist or CEO of a major business, we would all struggle with agreement on what it is that students need to learn. It is just now after Tom Friedman’s “The World is Flat” and years of criticism by the business community that we are ready to have those conversations. Did it take a book with a doom and gloom perspective on the slow disintegration of the strongest country in the world because our students will be unequipped to work in a global economy to get people to act?
3. We talk about content. We talk about performance. We talk about “best practices”. What about learning? What about what ‘it’ is we want children to learn? Do we want them to know that Columbus discovered America in 1492? Do we want them to know that water freezes at O degrees Celsius? Do we want them to know that the square root of 36 is 6? Maybe. Why? Is life a jeopardy game? Before we put an ice tray in our freezer do we take the temperature to make sure it is 0 degrees or lower? Has anyone every interviewed for a job and been asked what year Columbus discovered America? When we’re at the mall and there’s a sale, are their signs that read, “The sale price is the square root of price marked”? We may very well want our children to know these facts but when was the last time we had a conversation about why we teach these facts. Do all teachers know why we teach these facts? Right…..because it’s in the curriculum! When are we going to have a real conversation about what it is our children need to learn? What are we doing about it? We are told that one of the most important skills aside from reading and writing is critical thinking. How well are we teaching students to be critical thinkers? Do we really know? I say no. No, because we haven’t found a statistically reliable way to test critical thinking. Since we can’t measure it and because it is rarely if ever assessed, we don’t spend very much time on it. The real problem. Ask 20 people, even educators what critical thinking skills are and I would bet you would get as many answers. We are at a crossroads where we need to have a conversation, an initiative that takes a good hard look at what it is we want our students to know and what is this thing called “critical thinking”.
4. Reform. We all want to reform school. We want to create learning environments conducive to learning. We want to have more technology available to our students. We want to have more time on instruction. What are we reforming? How our buildings look? That each student has access to a computer in school? That we adopt block scheduling to increase the length of classes. Is that reform? Or are we just changing the side of the rubric cube that has all the green squares? What have we reformed? What is school reform? Is the goal of reform to get all schools to look the same? The movement and increasing popularity of Charter schools would validate the contrary. Oh, I forgot…. to perform equally as well on state assessments. We need to go beyond the desire to change schools and define what reform really is. What do we want or need to truly ‘reform’ our schools. At the risk of sounding cynical again, I certainly hope that as we look for the answer, we aren’t all working in another high-speed race to create that same wheel again!
5. Teaching, instruction, educating. All verbs and all by definition an act that one delivers to others. What of the other side? The learning side. Is it more important to ‘teach’ or more important ‘to learn’? Who should be doing most of the work, the teacher, or the learner? What about the value of self-discovery? Are we more likely to sustain learning after coming to conclusions on our own or if we are spoon-fed information? I truly believe that teaching is an art. A craft that one develops and refines over time. An artist creates and generally one person is the creator. The creator certainly appreciates their creation but what of ‘the work of art’. The ‘work of art’ can be appreciated by hundreds, thousands, even millions of people over generations and even millennia. What if our teachers were to change their focus? Yes, have goals but rather than give the information to students, have teachers become facilitators of learning. The students doing the discovery. Come to think of it, hasn’t this concept been used before? Hundreds of preschools and kindergartens actually swore by this concept. It was called the Montessori approach. I don’t think the intention was that the concept disappeared after kindergarten. However, I may be ignorant but I don’t ever recall a conversation about using the Montessori approach with high school students. My question? Why not?
6. Technology. The internet can be more effectively use, especially as a motivating vehicle for students to gain information, share information, create learning communities and in the end, have a more active role in their learning. Web 2.0 is what is now being referred to as ‘the next generation’ of the internet. The read/write web is by far taking the use of the internet to levels that not only we have not realized yet but will continue to evolve at rates beyond our comprehension. ABC, CNN, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have all gone to web-based applications. The information is presented in a webblog (commonly referred to as a blog) and are now syndicated and sent to on-line ‘subscribers’ everyday around the world. Information is relayed often times faster than what one would wait to see on the six o’clock news and most certainly faster than the next day’s newspaper. The web is active 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. News stations (once they hopefully validate their source) often obtain their information (news) via blogs. When the Tsunami hit, immediate images and information came to the world via blogs. Politicians running for office not only establish websites concurrently with announcing their candidacy, progressive politicians are communicating via blogs.

As with anything on the internet there are positive web sites and those that are less savory. We can educate and address the concerns about students viewing information on the internet but we cannot, nor should we ignore it. Billions of dollars in business is conducted over the internet each day. Products are purchased and sold on E-Bay or Amazon.Com. Video today such as video-Conferencing is used to bring together businessmen, entrepreneurs and bankers from all corners of the world. What if students were brought together in the same manner? In some schools they are. It has been announced that MIT within the next year will have every course offered at the university available on-line, for free! Whether you will earn a degree for free is unlikely but in terms of personal or professional growth the potential by just having a computer with internet connection is incredible. Technology can no longer be ignored and if used to its potential, those with access will most certainly have an edge for learning and success in a global economy versus those that do not.

7. The deterioration of family. This is not going to be a perspective of why things were better in “Mayberry” or when “June and Ward Cleaver” were mirror depictions of the American family. This will not even be an argument about the divorce rate and the need for 2 parent households. I don’t care if a child comes from a family a single parent home or a family with same-sex parents. What I care about is that we do make every effort to communicate and expect parents to parent. Monitor the amount of television watching, ask everyday what they learned in school, read in front of their children and tell them to read. Finally, take responsibility for their child’s behavior. Appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Most times, school personnel spend more time dealing with discipline than any other issue. While I won’t make assumptions regarding the percentage of parents that support school officials but it seems there is an increasing number of parents that blame the school for how they handled a situation and the child’s behavior becomes secondary.

There used to exist an ultimate respect for teachers, schools and administrators. The opposite of what I see today was the norm. “They” were to be respected and “they” were right unless proven otherwise with unquestionable evidence. That rarely happens in American schools today. Now, it is the student that is right and the school that has the burden of proving that a child has broken the rules or been disrespectful or has disrupted the learning environment. Many colleagues will tell you that it is less than 5% of the students that engage in inappropriate behavior on a consistent basis but that it is the same 5% that consumes more than half of their day. If schools need to be lead and are often criticized for a lack of ‘leadership’ as it relates to teacher performance and student achievement, how can leaders lead if the window of opportunity to lead is automatically cut in half? Parents and their involvement are essential for student achievement. Research has proven it.

Whew! I finally got it out…..well, at least most of my frustrations as they relate to schools and where we are. One might be asking themselves why I bother to be involved in education if I am that frustrated on so many levels. The reasons are simple. I believe in education. I believe that in a free, democratic society the opportunity to be educated exists for every individual. I believe that the profession of teaching is one of the most rewarding professions one can be a part of next to saving a person’s life. I also believe that we know the most about teaching and learning that we have ever know before as a society. From how the brain functions (or doesn’t) to successful pedagogy. We also know about change and the human spirit and how difficult change can be. How long change can take. How resistive people can be to change. However, we also know about successful change and the climate, factors and conditions that help foster successful change. Talented business leaders have known and used this information for years. As educators we have read and learned how to bring about change. Why change may be perceived and handled differently in education than in business. Many leaders in education have actually made change using successful principles.

I’m constantly told by friends and colleagues when I talk about my beliefs, desires and frustrations that “change takes time”. We don’t have time to wait!! Every year that we wait for change is another class of students that graduate and are expected to be successful in post-secondary schooling or careers. Every year that we wait another group of excited kindergarteners enter our school systems held back in their potential by waiting for the change process to take hold. I’m tired of waiting! I want change and I want it now. Successful corporations would not continue to be successful if their supervisors awaited change. If the competition starts selling the same product, the corporation gathers its resources to either make their product faster, better and less expensive than their competitor or the corporation goes bankrupt. The alternative to bankruptcy is to move on. Find another product that is needed in the market and make ‘it’ the best that money can buy and start selling it. We wonder why Charter Schools are increasing. This is a free country and parents can now send their child to public school, charter school or the unthinkable………..home school. Those of us in public school have their competition. The question is, what are we going to do about it? Take another 10 years to change schools, what and how we teach? Or, do we institute substantial, research-based change now? In my opinion, the answer is obvious. We must change and for the sake of our children and our children’s children, we do it now! The only question that still exists is how??

Are you ready to have the serious conversations necessary to change? None of what I’ve written is new. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I do believe that I have the ability to think out of the box and network with professionals from a variety of disciplines that can help make the change. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to be”. Are you ready for change? I am.

.........and yes, the silence still bothers me.

So many people, looking, reading, taking it all in.............but still, there's silence.

More on Connectivism

The incredible thing about blogging is that through blogs, I learn an unbelievable am0unt of new information. Sometimes my head feels like it's going to explode. This notion of connectivism, which I am just beginning to understand is the notion that while everything is connected, we need to make sense of all of the information we read and learn. We need to make connections with people, with information, and with prior learning. The digital age has put a new twist on connecting. I came across a reference which I believe to be one of the first articles dealing with connectivism. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

George Seiman is the author and the article was written two years ago (humbling as I sometimes wonder how out of touch I am). While it may be too technical for some, there are basics to be read. Behaviorism, constructivism and learning theories are compared which all, in some fashion form the basis for connectivism. Will Richardson just participated in a conference dealing with connectivism. There even appears to be schools that tie their curriculum into connectivism theory. I'd be interested in any examples or opinions as I attempt to make sense of yet another theory. One google search and there are many references.....again, feeling out of touch or behind the times....how does one keep up?

Alex shares his blog

Alex is a student in Mr. Zybala's class. In an effort to show elementary students the power of blogging, I was invited to teach Mr. Zybala's class how to start a blog. Alex has just shared his blog with me. He is very excited and would love for people to check out his blog and leave him comments.
As you can see from the title of his blog, Alex really likes Lego's. I took a vacation with my family to Disney this past summer and took pictures of a lego display. I thought Alex would enjoy seeing some of the pictures so I told him I would post them and dedicate them to him.
http://legoman.learnerblogs.org

Here you go Alex..........these are for you. The little girl with the lego dogs is my daughter Madelyn. She will be five years old next month.

For those of you that read my blog, please check out Alex's blog cited above.

Connectivism: What's it all about?

If we are to look at what is being written and discussed about reforming schools in general, connectivism is something you are likely to come across. And so, after reading several blogs about a conference in New Zealand, I found that the entire conference was dedicated to this concept of connectivism. Naturally, I needed to read more in order to understand it.

Connectivism is a learning theory for the digital age. Learning has changed over the last several decades. The theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism provide an effect view of learning in many environments. They fall short, however, when learning moves into informal, networked, technology-enabled arena. Some principles of connectivism:

• The integration of cognition and emotions in meaning-making is important. Thinking and emotions influence each other. A theory of learning that only considers one dimension excludes a large part of how learning happens.
• Learning has an end goal - namely the increased ability to "do something". This increased competence might be in a practical sense (i.e. developing the ability to use a new software tool or learning how to skate) or in the ability to function more effectively in a knowledge era (self-awareness, personal information management, etc.). The "whole of learning" is not only gaining skill and understanding - actuation is a needed element. Principles of motivation and rapid decision making often determine whether or not a learner will actuate known principles.
• Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. A learner can exponentially improve their own learning by plugging into an existing network.
• Learning may reside in non-human appliances. Learning (in the sense that something is known, but not necessarily actuated) can rest in a community, a network, or a database.
• The capacity to know more is more critical that what is currently known. Knowing where to find information is more important than knowing information.
• Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate learning. Connection making provides far greater returns on effort than simply seeking to understand a single concept.
• Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions.
• Learning happens in many different ways. Courses, email, communities, conversations, web search, email lists, reading blogs, etc. Courses are not the primary conduit for learning.
• Different approaches and personal skills are needed to learn effectively in today's society. For example, the ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
• Organizational and personal learning are integrated tasks. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network and continue to provide learning for the individual. Connectivism attempts to provide an understanding of how both learners and organizations learn.
• Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning.
• Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate impacting the decision.
• Learning is a knowledge creation process...not only knowledge consumption. Learning tools and design methodologies should seek to capitalize on this trait of learning.

The concept makes so much sense as we begin to introduce the tools of Web 2.0 in schools. The notion of not necessarily having unlimited and sometimes irrelevant information may not be as important as know where and how to access knowledge about a particular topic seems much more appropriate in a world that is ever changing and that with the internet, access to information is limitless. This idea of a flat world and needing to educate students how to collaborate in such an environment is exactly what we are doing when we teach students about blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and on-line collaboration tools such as SKYPE and VYWE.

Now that I know what "connectivism" is, my interest in learning as much as possible about the theory has been peaked.

---

Silence is deafening

For some time now I have been blogging in an attempt to expose educators and leaders in education to the possibilities that exist if one were to change how we teach using the read/write web. Many people that I know have praised and encouraged me for the support I give to this initiative. Occasionally I will receive an e-mail from someone I don't know and we exchange some thoughts. The real conversation that I am hoping for has not been occurring through this blog. I can see from cluster maps that many people are in fact reading the blog......but they're silent. Why? I have always been a risk taker and I think that the teachers and administrators know that to me, no idea is a bad idea. That taking risks is something I encourage and admire. Is there something about putting ideas in "print" that scares people?

It's time for a challenge. Time for the dialogue to really begin without fear of criticism or retribution. What is is that people are thinking when we talk about changing our high schools and instruction? We are all aware and I think believe as educators that there needs to be more relevance and rigor (coined by Bill Daggett). How do we do it? IF you had the autonomy to change what you teach in your respective course, what would you change? What "content" are you teaching that you feel has little relevance to your subject area? In other words, what would you stop teaching? What would you replace it with? Why are you teaching it to begin with?

If we are to make fundamental changes we need to have the conversation. At the same time, I will continue to maintain the the read/write web has so much to offer our students. The amount of information they can be exposed to exceeds anything we can do in a 50 minute period. They need to read critically and determine if the information is reliable, useful, applicable to their learning. We also know that to be successful in life, in work, individuals need to be 'team players', collaborators......the read/write web offers many opportunities.

Lets see your thoughts. Never mind thinking 'out of the box'.......throw the box away!

Web 2.0.....Can we even try to keep up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&eurl=


This video is incredible! I think it speaks for itself. For those that think writing is "linear", this teacher from Irvington, NY (my neice both attend Irvington Schools!) I'm excited to think they may have the opportunity for such forward thinking.

All it takes is a group of dedicated individuals.........

As superintendent of a school looking to make some meaningful change in what and how students learn, I could not be more please with our professional development day yesterday. While many teachers were involved in scoring state assessments, others worked in teams related to our district goals. One in particular set up a rotation for interested teachers to learn about blogs, wikis and pod casting. Not only has the feedback been extremely positive, not one presenter was brought in from out of district. Talented and knowledgeable faculty presented to their peers and that is where the power lies in schools. A lot of time and money is spent looking "outside" for the answers when most of the time, the answers are right under our noses.

If you are interested in reading more about yesterday's experience, go to Pat Aroune's blog below.


http://classroomchange.blogspot.com/

Tough Choices for Tough Times

It's been quite a while since my last post. Life has been busy. I promised that I would summarize The New Commission on the Skills of The American workforce. The summary can be found at http://www.skillscommission.org/index.htm

While the commission has painted a grim picture of how America will be left behind in a global economy if drastic changes aren't made, I'm not convinced that as a country we would let that happen. That being said, there are merits to some of the recommendations.

1. Assume that we will do the job right the first time: This refers to the graduation rates at institutions of higher education. As school leaders, we have always insisted while there should be a minimum level of competence in our students, our country is not "one size fits all" and there is the assumption that every individual must attend college. There are many alternative paths where people can and will be successful. This is not to say that a college education wouldn't help you get further in a global economy but it may be presumptuous to think you will never be successful without a college education.

2. Make much better use and efficiency of resources. I do believe we need to be more efficient in use and availability of resources. Why should 700 school districts all align curriculum to the state standards? Why should 700 schools develop parallel assessments to the state assessment? Why should 700 schools seek best practices in a given curriculum? All this should be provided to schools. It is not necessary for us all to recreate the wheel. At the same time, if someone has found a way to do it better and more efficiently, there should be a vehicle to share that information.

3. Recruit from the top third of the high school graduates going on to college for the next generation of school teachers. I completely agree that we need to do a better job of recruiting potential teachers into the field. As educators, we may very well see future teachers and should encourage those students that teaching is a viable career path. However, I don't believe that their is a shortage of teachers because people don't want to teach anymore. Personally, issues of violence in urban schools, salary and a system continuously under public criticism are facts that contribute to the lack of new teachers coming into the field. Lets face it, money does talk and if one can be an engineer driving the BMW, house in the suburbs, 1.2 children and a dog...........After all, isn't THAT the "American Dream"?

4. Develop standards, assessments, and curriculum that reflect today's needs and tomorrow's requirements. While I believe in the standards movement wholeheartedly, I do have many concerns regarding how and what we assess in state assessments. We are still asking students (for the most part) to produce previously learned facts. Critical skills is one of the most important skills identified by colleges and employers as a skill lacking in high school graduates. We need to teach critical skills analysis and then find a way for students to demonstrate those skills.

5. Create high performance schools and districts everywhere - how the system should be governed, financed, organized, and managed. School boards as we know them would no longer exist. New York State has charter schools "competing" with public schools and communities where resources are generous. We do need to find a way to improve resources in urban schools but it is not a reason to blow up the entire system. The commission also refers to a "board" that would oversee schools. I would be concerned who the makeup of that "board" would consist of.

6. Provide high-quality, universal early childhood education. Few will argue that quality preschool programs would benefit many students. That being said, there are many students that come to school well prepared because of their socio-economic status and experiences. I know many parents of such children would be opposed to mandatory preschool. Parents should be able to provide alternatives to formalized preschool programs.

7. Give strong support to the students who need it most. I do believe that all schools try to provide the best they can for their students with the resources they have. In my opinion, this comes back to equity, best practices and quality teachers.

The points made can be found in the executive summary- I encourage you to read it. While this document is supposed to be so important with a strong imperative, you must purchase the entire report if you want to read it. The report can be purchased through amazon. The commentary in this post are my reactions and opinions. I welcome anyone that would like to engage in such discussion. I do believe there are many things that we can do to improve America's schools. I do not feel that all is lost and that all schools are failing.

Steve Hargadon Shares Interview with Will Richardson

As we continue to discuss the use of Web 2.0/Read/Write Web, there are a few main topics that should be addressed with students that are growing up and will work in a global economy. Students need to be taught at least how to;

~ Access Information

~ Determine Trusted Resources and Internet Sites

~ Collaborate/Network via the net

~ See the limitless value in what can be learned using the Web

Steve Hargadon was interested enough to respond to my last blog where I referenced his interview with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach . He had recently interviewed Will Richardson. Will was the “teacher” at last summer’s “High School’s New Face” that ignited a team here at Iroquois to see the value of blogs, wikis and podcasting as an instructional tool. I thoroughly enjoyed the interview and it has addressed a major question I am confronted with when asked, “So what’s the big deal about blogging and why do it?”

Why Blog with students?

First, blogging gives students a way to publish to a larger audience than the classroom. These opportunities can be a powerful motivator and an effective way for students to learn given the feedback they may get from other readers of their blog.

Second, gives students the opportunity to be a part of a “community” that network with each other discovering new tools and connect to people of similar thoughts and passions. Again, this has the potential to motivate students to be a part of this collaboration, to learn from each other and to “teach others” at times.

Will Richardson was a Journalism major prior to becoming a teacher. He was therefore immediately drawn to the internet for obvious reasons and integrated the use of the internet in his instruction. When he first saw a blog he became a ‘blogger’ and “got hooked”. The key motivation was that he could “publish” immediately have people read his work. He then felt that the potential was limitless for his journalism students. Will was then prompted to find other educators using blogs. At the time there were only 4 or 5 people using blogs actively. The community built itself but in 2003/2004 something began to happen: Will learned he was one of the first teachers using blogging for instruction. As people began to see how blogging impacted the media, the media began to look at what was out there for blogging in education. Will received some immediate publicity and the conversations “exploded”. At that point there were 20 or 30 people he was communicating with and that it was something that was not possible with face to face communication. There was no one in his school using blog. Blogging was then viewed as professional development.

To write a blog and realize that there are people around the world reading your work is “transformational”. People around the world have much to offer each other. Blogging is a way to bring people and ideas together that may never have been brought together.

Blogging is becoming a way for students to develop reading skills, critical thinking and writing in a way to attract, sustain and connect with audiences.

When Will was asked if a teacher is interested in blogging, and where should they start, his response was interesting. You may think he would say, “just start blogging”. His answer was to “just start reading blogs”. Whether it be blogs that address your hobbies such as knitting or photography or academics…….read, comment and observe the interaction.

Will is now advocating that teaching folks RSS (Real Simple Syndication) that enables you to easily keep track of blogs as a first step before actually teaching about Blogs and Wikis. This helps you to read and follow blogs you’re interested in (likened to having an on-line subscription to a blog). The next step is to recognize the "connections" that blogging can provide to students.

There is so much to read now, Steve asked Will about how many blogs he reads/follows now. It can be overwhelming to keep up with the amount of blogs on the web. Will has now filtered down to reading about 20 blogs that he follows to make it meaningful as it relates to education. He now would like to expand the audience outside of education as a means of spreading the word.

Bloglines is one of the biggest RSS feeds used. It does tell Will that somewhere between 5 and 10,000 people read his blog regularly. As one that blogs and has added a Clustrmap to my blog, to see that there are people in China, Japan, Australia, Egypt, England and various other countries not to mention throughout the United States is just amazing to me. To think that people have visited my blog and read it provides an audience that I would never imagine. What attracted them to my blog probably varies: a tag line that interested them, the mention of my blog by another blogger, to use my blog posts as a means of learning about the instructional value of blogging.

Will Richardson cautions that while you should be looking for an audience, of “teachers” or readers, you can’t assume that people will read your blog. However, the 'audience' aspect is important because if our students are “clickable” (found on the Web by the click of a mouse), anyone that responds is a potential “teacher” to our students.

A major question is how do you make sure that students are safe on the internet and are protected from predators? Will responds as I have to parents- our students are already reachable/clickable on the web. It happens through MySpace and other social networks. We need to educate people how to use the social tools safely and appropriately. Blocking their access is not the answer as many districts are doing.

One of the most interesting was a question that Steve posed to Will that I could relate to: What position does the use of this technology from a school leader's perspective in dealing with how to make such substantive changes in how we teach? Will believes that if we don’t change schools and the typical paradigm, students will go elsewhere to learn. Perhaps even homeschooling or on-line schooling.......Students need to learn how to build their own learning communities, students need to learn how to be creative, how to find reliable sources, to be “clickable” to be more responsible for their own learning as just a few changes that need to be made. This will require allowing teachers to be more flexible in how they teach, how they explore professional development opportunities and how they can model for students.

If you are interested in hearing Steve’s interview with Will Richardson, you can find all of Steve Hargadon’s interviews/podcasts at:

http://edtechlive.wikispaces.com/Recordings+List