Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Interesting use for Wikipedia...

Those of you who have talked to me about Wikipedia know that I rant and rave about my displeasure with the whole notion. However, my son's friend at school, Beth, sent me an interesting thank-you note, as you can see from the picture below. (I felt so wicked going into Wikipedia to delete it!) Who imagined there would actually be an entry for this?




Kathy Schrock

Thursday, November 16, 2006

David Warlick's Keynote

Literacy and Learning in the 21st Century

http://handouts.davidwarlick.com

You can go into the wiki and add content.
There are related Web sites included from his bookmarks that he finds when researching on the Net.

Workplace of the Future

Cell phones are changing the culture-- think about all the men grocery shopping.
We have made a decision that we want communications carried with us.
Workplace will no longer have a desk phone
Most of what we publish is not on paper, but digital- get rid of the paper.
Much of our interaction is moving towards video interaction-- get rid of the chair.
We are going to want to carry our information technology with us-- get rid of the traditional workplace computer

"For the first time in history, our job as educators is to prepare our students for a future that we can not clearly describe."

Conclusion: We should stop integrating technology....instead integrate literacy. Teach kids how to teach themselves. Anyone that is literate within their information environment is ready to do anything.

It is important that students understand the place to look for the information based on the strength of the source-- sometimes Wikipedia, sometimes books, etc. (I still do not agree with this.)

Never assume the authority of the information. Teach students to prove the authoruty. (I do agree with this-- use Wikipedia as a source consulted but NOT as a source cited. Andy Carvin has a great lesson on this, which I have in a previous blog entry.)

(David uses the phrase "cool beans" all the time, just like I do...funny!)

For math literacy, use the numbers to tell the story. (Did a data important of earthquake data into a spreadsheet, plotted it, and saw the "story")

Processor information --> employ the information to answer a question. solve a problem, meet a goal (What is interesting now is that almost everything we use is digital and made up of numbers.)

Writing: we are going to be producing multimedia: how do we get our message through the storm of information

Stop integrating technology and instead, redifine literacy, and integrate that!

Kathy Schrock


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Wednesday, November 15, 2006

MassCUE: David Warlick DEN Talk

Sitting here at MassCUE while David Warlick is presenting, via WebEx, a Discovery Education EdTechConnect Webinar. We are lucky enough to be in the room while he is presenting while the other participants are on the phone.

He is presenting to a group of 7 of us, while the other 100 listen online...this is great and we are very lucky!

"The shape of information has changed. The whole information landscape has changed."

Interesting that he asked both who has READ the World is Flat and who has HEARD the World is flat, to include the audiobook listeners! I love it!

Globalization: A world that is learning to cooperate.

"What do we need to know to faciliate this kind of supply chain?"

Google: position of the information is based on the users. (Popularity with numbers of links to it helps determine page ranking.)

Information has changed in the last ten years: it has become more networked, more digital, and has become more overwhelming. As educators, these three elements are part of what makes up literacy. Expand the skill set.

Network: expose truth
Digital: employ information
Overwhelming: express ideas compellingly

How do I, as a teacher, get my message through this storm of information?

Technorati (blog search engine) allows you to tap into the "conversation" of the world

Blogosphere is doubling in size every six months

The digital conversation with each person talking from their own perspective is IMPORTANT!

We need to teach our kids the best place to look for information...Wikipedia, encyclopedia, etc. (I am not sure that I agree with this part, but I will give it some more thought.)

Teach them how to work the facts...teach them to add value to the facts...how to draw conclusions from the facts. (No longer a need to teach kids the fact--- operant word-- teach)

Richard Florida "The rise of the creative class"-- there will be many jobs in the creative arts of music, art, drama, creative arts-- to provide the content that runs on all the new technology

Classrooms have become flat...the conversation continues...



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MassCUE Breakout Session : Deneen Frazier Bowen

Engaging the Digital Mindset: Conversing with the "Savages"

"Using the technology as a fast track to involving students to promote the student voice." The discussion needs to be at the system level and students can play a big part-- they have good ideas about learning in the digital age.

Nike shoe: instructional feedback unit to help you "learn"

Used a CPS system to poll the group from the NetDay SpeakUp Day session.

"Which of these statements best describes your feeling about using technology?"
24 entries and a histogram of the results was shown-- this room used it a lot.
From the student data (K-12), more of a middle of the road use, enjoy it but don't use it all of the time.

"Do you have a cell phone?"
Everyone in the room had one.
Student responses from 2004: about 50% did not have a cell phone

"How many email accounts do you have?"
Teachers in room: most 1-3, some 4-6
Student info: most 1-3, 2% had 10+

Student voice
We are not leveraging this to the maximum in our schools.
How do you recognize when students have a voice? What does it look like?

Three part strategy (do each of these in a new way)

Ask with: use their techology to ask also what they are doing with tech outside of school; have students help you design questions to make sure you get the context
CULTURAL AND CURRICULAR REALMS
Think about existing mechanisms for gathering feedback from students
Think about undeveloped mechanisms for gathering feedback from students
How can we think about using technologies to ask questions about the curricular side

Listen with: give them a voice in their learning-- both content and process; give them a voice in their area; let them tell their stories; How do we listen in various realms? Curricular feedback usually through testing; perhaps think of other ways

Act with: get students to brainstorm and bring their projects to the classroom
Project-based learning, if it is systemic, and meaningful to students, is more common. Culturally, the tech groups in schools are happening. How do you "bleed" this out to other students to bring the cultural and curricular ideas of students forward

Choice and access are the two things that students say they have outside of the classroom, but they don't have it in the classroom. The teacher often decides when they get access and how they use it. How can we bring in choice?

CPS: Immigrant Status II

"Thinking about the other people at your work, do you consider yourself...(level of technology use)"
Most in the room are high level users.
The student responses: most said average users
Perhaps students perceive that there are higher levels, and you find this out in the conversation

"How often do you access the Internet?"
Everyone in the room: several times per day
Student responses: several times per day (41%), about once a day (24%); several times a week (22%)

"How many IM names do you have?"
In the room: 0 was a high percentage (non-users)
Students: many had 1-3 and 4-6

Help students understand how to make themselves more in control of the technology

Taking IT Global: more about students being who they ARE versus who they WANT to be

Want to manage their life by using a different name for study groups, family and friends, etc.

Perception Gap

Taglet.org: suite of assessments that you use within a single district and correlate the data (Gates Foundation uses)

The Big Disconnect: access and choice are what transform the learning environment both curricular and culturally

Why should we care? 88% of kids who drop out have passing grades--> boredom
Technology is the highway to engaging student voice


www.actwith.com
Web Site






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Sunday, November 12, 2006

SearchMash by Google

Give Google's new test search engine, SearchMash a try here: http://www.searchmash.com/

I like the images showing up at the bottom of the search results page!

Since SearchMash is in testing stage, certain features may come and go as you use it. I am hoping an advanced search page shows up sometime soon to allow more refined searches.

Remember to provide the developers with the simple feedback they are requesting on your search results page. It only takes a second...

Kathy


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