Impressions of EC&I 832: The Internet and Curriculum Integration

Personal Reflections on:

1.) What significant footprints have you made in the sand as a result of this class?
What are you now aware of and familiar with that was not a part of your sandbox prior to this class?
What achievement/progress/insight are your most proud of?

2.) As you move forward from this class, what new possibilities are guiding your thinking?
What new opportunities related to the Internet and your work do you want to pursue?

3.) Who will be walking along side you or playing along side you as you move ahead?
(Will it be students, administrators, colleagues, other educators in cyberspace, blogger etc.?)

I believe I have made many significant gains, and passive and active footprints in in my online journey beginning with just knowing what a digital footprint is. By logging on, I have made a digital footprint and actually knew I was creating one at the time I was doing it, is probably the first and most important realization I arrived at because of this class.

Knowing that I am making inroads into cyberspace willingly by choice to actively be participating,creating, collaborating and even having ideas of where to start looking and connecting on the Net has been a huge step forward because of what I may find there to help me learn,teach and understand are two more big prints in my learning journey. I realize that everyone had to start somewhere and that it is never too late to start learning about Web 2.0 because Web 3.0 is already happening. Sometimes when a person has too many choices, no choice is actively made except to not make a choice and therefore turn off the power. I am still embarrassed somewhat to think that my laptop was used primarily for Microsoft word documents that I created , searching the online libraries of the world for online resources and to play Mahjong before I started this class, even though I was paying for wireless high speed access!

I am now aware of all sorts of Web 2.0 tools and sites that I can access to find resources such as experts and others like myself who I can connect with to actively discuss questions, analyze problems and solutions to help myself and my students on any given day at any given hour. I have learned that "nobody is smarter than everybody" and as Einstein said "We are greater than the sum of our parts" and online access offers us this bonus of 'connected knowledge' quickly, quietly and very effectively. We can all be challenged to make slow and steady gains on the Internet. If I want to learn about something specific, I know it is out there and equally accessible to all types of learning styles. Differetiated instruction is now more easily accomplished with Information Communication Technologies.

The achievement I am most proud of is finding the courage within myself to believe that I could do this class despite feeling that there was tremendous, almost unbearable amount of technological knowledge that I didn't have to start the class with. I know now that by continuing to take a risk to reach out to strangers and even my own students that I will find answers to an ever growing list of questions that crops up on a daily basis when learning about and using the Internet. Fear is based on ignorance according to Vicki Davis and to manage this is to take charge and learn.
I was happy with learning how to create a blog and to accept that the problems that cropped up were manageable but also a necessary part of the learning experience. In addition, I know that any blog I create in the future will be better because I know more strategies now and have more connections to ways to make it better. (Everyone I work with is encouraged to get an email address!!)It is a scary but inspiring and an empowering fact to be able to publish as quickly and easily as a click of a key when something is created.

As I grow in my understanding of how technology is quickly changing the world and how I can utilize the tools to take my learning forward in a positive way, I know that Vicki Davis calls for creating 'intra connections' or working partnerships first with local people then on an increasingly more 'inter connected' or global basis so we can help ourselves and each other to create "flat classrooms". Helping others also helps us to filter useful from non useful information that may or may not have a shelf life as the 'half life of knowledge shrinks' as quickly as new information is created. To collaborate to find better solutions and and new questions that drives us in a new direction in our world development, communicate with others who offer a different perspective so we can help our students see that together we can become better problem solvers using the 'highest order of thinking skills' , critical and creative thinkers, and motivated team players willing to take risks and do things never done before in history.

The new possibilities that are now guiding my thinking are to take advantage of social networking sites like Twitter and Ning in order to make contacts in order to create a 'global knowledge bank' as K-12 online conference participants say where I can go to for ideas and help.
I would like to use wikis and blogs to enhance my students' school experiences ,keep track of day to day gains , keep a paperless archive on my own learning , to learn new knowledge and ideas from other's contributions, give and receive feedback and have support on project based learning activities. With colleagues and community members , I would like to share professional development learning opportunities by creating ,leading, and participating in these learning adventures. Then I would like to collaborate with others on collaborative based projects on a global level.
Because I believe that together we are greater, I am willing to work with and learn from my students, teaching colleagues, and others in the cyber classrooms of the world. I want to build a "Flat Classroom!"

I would like to thank my instructor Marnie McMillan for her encouragement, support, direction, and for sharing her insights, knowledge and secrets for success. In addition, every member of this class through their own pubished works and valuable comments as well as everything that I have read about as a result of this class has added an immeasurable amount to my learning and understanding. Not only have I learned , I feel I have bigger and better questions and my curiosity is larger than life and for that I am thankful and very appreciative.

Block Eight Highlights

I understood the term "disruptive technologies" by Dr. Clayton Christenson from Harvard's School of Business to mean that someone from somewhere along the steady flow of progress that we have traditionally followed, will grow from the 'bottom of the market' or go and grow against the traditional and expected grain of progress in a least expected or determined way. This new link provides a more functional and more successful advantages for members who no longer have or want a place in regular mainstream . A great example of this is creating programming via technology for students who want an education but cannot afford the high cost of tuition at a university or meeting the needs of those students whose own school cannot provide the courses they require because of a lack of teachers or service providers. Prince Albert Grand Council and a college in Alberta created a Virtual High School called Credenda. Students in PAGC schools in N.Sask. can take H.S. sciences and math online. THey meet on a regular basis online with their colleagues (teachers and classmates) and many are passing 20 and 30 classes with very good marks because the students love meeting online and they want to learn.

In essence, the failure of educational institutions to do their job of providing an education for students becomes the impetus for business organizations to get involved, take over, and do a better job providing students with an education that prepares them for their future quicker, better, and all the while making a profit. The motto of Florida's Virtual High School is "any time,any place, any path, any pace". This school's disruptive technology offers "personalized instruction" and "dynamic, flexible,engaged learning". The normal 4 walled classroom has become 'flat' according to David Warlick and CoolCatTeacher blogger Vicki Davis and in Oprah's words, the planet's "largest classroom" is created as students chat with professors via Skype, video conferencing, and use a myriad of other ICT's as they take courses with classmates who may never greet each other in real time.

Not using technology also puts us in a predicament when trying to create understanding and place in a world full of "chaos" or 'unpredictability'. By reaching out to others to help 'make meaning and create connections we can begin to make sense of the unpredictability of patterns which are occurring in our technological age. George Seimens stands out most in my mind from the last two weeks as I have heard a podcast by Dr. Christenson mention both words again and again in reference to the changes we need address to keep up with as a result of our dependence and need for technology.

The bottom line is that technology is here to stay and is changing the world as we know or knew it at an incredibly quick rate. Struggling digital immigrants need to grab hold of one's fear and forge ahead anyway in an act of courage and determination. Somewhere along this journey I learned that it is better to 'manipulate technology than to be manipulated by it' and our roles as learners and educators requires that we strive to prepare children ethically and safely as they increase their abilities and opportunities creatively, collaboratively, and in connection with global partners.

As Will Richardson says "teachers must be willing to be connectors...in order to give students meaningful, relevant opportunities to teach the rest of us what they know." http://www.flatclassrooms.com/Reviews

Glogowski's Blog Assessment Findings

Konrad Glogowski did research on 21st C assessment on blogging communities and literacy. Students participated by completing a variety of writing tasks but he soon started to question his own role as a teacher/researcher in the blog process. He said he didn't want to just assign work or evaluate the work and felt his role should consist of something more. During this process, he "developed an assessment strategy" that was more than just a mark! The strategy took into consideration many things such as "accounting for the complexity of student interactions online and recognizing the process as much as the final product."
"http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2009/02/20/thoughts-on-assessment/

Glogowski discovered that his students helped him create an effective assessment tool. In his reflections and by observing the students' interactions with each other he saw the following: Students own blog participation in their written assignments, brainstorming,feedback, engagement in discussions,personal reflections about the choices of work they committed themselves to, and questions and comments they asked and gave to each other.

He realized the students were asking each other rather than their teacher for support because he wasn't writing, 'contributing or participating' in the assignments or an active member in their 'community of writers'. The students wanted ideas to help make their writing better. He realized upon reflection that they didn't yet want a grade which they perceived his only role as being.

Glogowski says that correcting and marking does not 'engage students' in their work and yet that has been the role of most teachers' level of teaching in a student's life. "This kind of practice does not engage our students in those rich interactive processes of talking about their work and their ideas."

K.Glogowski saw himself and most teachers as only being present and confident for the 'beginning and ending' of the student's participation in his class. He introduced the assignment and waited for the finished product. He completely was absent and unsure about his role from the 'rich middle'part of the student's academic practices: 'Online conversations, blogging,brainstorming, giving and receiving feedback, and engaging them in conversations.'

The most obvious thing for Glogowski to do was to engage, get involved, participate in these vital student discussions about their work beginning with the brainstorming of ideas through the process of creativity and "complex and interactive process of knowledge building", as well as making and taking the opportunity to learn more about exactly who he was teaching and how they perceived themselves to be as "students and as individuals."

The message is that teachers need to expand their focus from presenting content and assessment to that of becoming an active and willing participant in the learning process- finding out how students learn, engage in the process of learning and initiating "rich interactions" to help support them in their discoveries as students and as people.
Collaboration and co assessment between students and teacher needs to occur to remove the traditional "hierarchical relationship that exists between teacher and learner."
The 'process of learning and assessment' is reciprocal when a teacher enters the students' domain intending to support and engage rather than solely evaluate or judge. The students are also able to voice their opinions and questions about their ideas without fear of being graded solely on the finished product. The process of writing and the conversations held about writing becomes an integral part of the assessment.

The best part of the blog process in this class has been listening to and reading the others' opinions and questions. I have heard others agree that they have never read so much as they have in the last two months and this has led to an awareness and improved practice in the are of Web 2.0 tools. More than a few of us have said it would be great if we all had more time to do more reading, conversing, and writing.Wow! What great qualities for any student to have!!

My own students like submitting ideas for checklists they can follow during a unit study. If they can contribute they can most likely meet that criteria with one or two more in tow. When I hear conversations between two students that are genuine and happen to be about the topic of study without any prompt from me, I feel good. I also feel like they have assumed responsibility for their own enquiries and are searching out a solution or assistance with a collaborator.

K-12 Online Conference Mini Presentation

Class assignment about P.D. online

Reflections on Present and Future Learning Opportunities

The Internet can be used for Professional development in education in the following ways:


1.Introduction to the latest variety of tools which educators can utilize in their classes to help teachers/students learn how to present information, show understanding of new knowledge, create and extend learning with others in the same class and in global learning forums, identify teachers/students' own interests by showcasing their strengths.

2. Create online communities of support for sharing/teaching/learning purposes.
We are no longer isolated in the north.

3. Access the best presenters with the latest ideas/ strategies.

4. P.D. opportunities comes to the school- no financial expense after the initial cost of hardware. Teachers do not have to travel. No more expensive fees for conference organization,keynotes etc.

5. Educators can access info on own time.

6. Contacts and Connections are made on a global basis.

7. Immediate and endless solutions/possibilities.

8. Introduce, and then continually increase and improve own skills with technology.

9. Communication lines are open and problem solving now is available 24/7.

10. No matter where you are: physically-mentally-spiritually-emotionally, your class and school can be involved in some project of your own creation or in the midst of another created by others.

11. Custom made P.D. for your unique group's needs.

12. Continuous upgrade of personal and professional knowledge/skills in many areas.

Personally, I feel that my online learning opportunities for the present and future are 'limitless and endless'. It is a choice we make which determines the route(s) we will follow. I know that by creating a connection with my global community of learners that I will always have access to some one's opinion, ideas, suggestions, warnings, or working partnership(s). I have the freedom to decide, choose, initiate, and participate.

If I choose to not participate in online learning, I am cutting off a huge source and highway of information flow as hard copies of information are becoming less and more limited in its existence. By the very fact that the 'shelf life' is becoming shorter and more expendable, I will be reduced to using outdated or perhaps false information. As an educator, I will not be providing my students with the ways and means to keep up with global changes or allowing them to be active participants in global,national, provincial communities' efforts to improve our living and learning situations. In short we will live and work in isolation,going only with what we know as opposed to putting our creative and connected minds together to increase what we know and absorb new ideas to cocreate new possibilities in all the areas of life.

Lessons Learned on K-12 Online

2007 K-12 Presenter Lisa Durff says students' 'imagination is sparked' when you can use TeacherTube or YouTube to start a lesson. She can evaluate and check on her students' work progress anytime or anywhere by logging onto Google Docs where she requests that every student she works with signs up at the beginning of the year.Rather than wait until it is too late to help her students, she can see the warning signs long before the storm hits on the assignment due date.This is a terrific tool for helping Middle Years and High School keep track of their assignments and due dates like a day planner might help a teacher. Google Reader and RSS are also requirements for her students to use. Once students see everything on one page, their frantic cries for help are quelled.

Her students seek out her help by using Meebo, a texting tool, after hours and she can respond in seconds or not depending on her choice to be available or not.Skype is also a benefit to her students' success as they connect with each via this tool when working on collaborative papers or presentations. She advocates for allowing students time to discover and experiment with the tools. Parents and others may refer to this as 'play time' but it is active, information seeking, problem solving, confidence building work time.
Her consistent message for teacher, students and everyone was " access free software and start practicing today!!"

Sylvia Martinez, another 2007 presenter in the Obstacles to Opportunities Strand for
"Challenging Assumptions About Technology Professional Development" echos Einstein's sentiments and asks 'why do we keep doing more of the same and expecting different results?' in reference to schools wanting to give their teachers more PD in technology in out of community and out of context situations. It does not work!
"Discussion of Practice outside of community DOES NOT create a community of practice."

The GenYes organization of which she is the President, staunchly stands for utilizing students as mentors and guides for teaching PD to teachers in their classrooms within the context that they would be using the tools. After all,students make up the NET generation and 92% of the school's population while teachers only are 8% of the pop. Why not use this valuable available resource?

This PD is done before school hours and the PD benefits both students and teachers who sign up year after year. Not only do students learn about curriculum requirements , or how to use clear and concise communication skills, but also develop an appreciation for how difficult it is to be a great teacher. Many students say they feel great that they can share their knowledge and be respected for it even though they are only children.

Technology Allows For Constructivist Learning:
Collaboration
Breaks down the barriers between teacher-learner
Student centered
Teacher/learner; learner/teacher;learner to learner
Project based
Inquiry based
Choices/options to pursue student initiated projects
Experiential
Build knowledge on prior knowledge
Democratic- teacher is now not expected to be the only source of knowledge
Reflective/discussions about learning
Time to process
Mistakes are allowed in learning "looked at as step to understanding" Martinez
Teacher is no longer expected to be ' the sage on the stage'

This model that GenYes particpates in is alive and well in over 1200 schools world wide, is free for anyone to use and it is extemely successful.

Students say to be treated like a colleague makes them want to behave and try their best and as a result , they have created a wonderful change in climate within the school culture and are an instrumental part of a win-win situation. Classroom management issues are reduced and classroom sharing and learning potential is astronomically increased. The constructivist learning environment is now enveloped in a values based practice.

In order to arrive at determining what is needed for your school, Martinez says you should ask questions about what doesn't work and everyone will know that they should try something else such as the opposite of what didn't work and then you will arrive at more possible solutions.

Martinez also says to question whether the pedagogy surrounding the assumption that learning outside of the community of practice is really all that helpful. She uses many research studies to support her findings that teachers cannot transfer their new skills to the classroom despite numerous workshops on the skills because it is done in isolation, there is a division in the learning and this kind of learning is short-lived. The "Theory of Community of Practice" where people learn in a supportive environment with other people through practice in meaningful work is the way to go. All we have to do is look to the past and Apprenticeship Models which practically occurs in every profession except Education, and even long after the apprentice become an adept journeyman they still have ongoing support and development.

This process of questioning, probing and practicing together in community therefore results in the development of new paradigm because the students now see real problem solving in action, how to communicate effectively when asking for help or providing help, and in the working together for the good of the group the teacher and her students become positive role models for each other. Students develop positive life skill while becoming successful community citizens.

S. Papert says "The genius of the idea is not in doing more of the same that does not work- Gen Y goes against the grain of traditional thinking of P.D."

Block 7 Reflections

My first impression about PD online is that 'it appears to be limitless.' As Wesley Fryer notes on one of the Wiki spaces of K-12 Online, you can "learn in your own space at your own pace."
It is also important to note that a person has to be focused in the direction of online PD to know what is out there in cyberspace. I had my own lap tap for two years and it is only this year that I even know about online PD or even where to look to access it.

When you have support and guidance, take the time and make the effort to seek out PD opportunities- the learning rewards are worthwhile. That being said, I now feel that when I take the time to explore, my gains far outweigh the losses that I might incur as my confidence and ability grows. The only real problem I have is regulating my time in front of the computer.

Three main features that I appreciate about online PD are knowing that: I can find support if I start to reach out by asking questions; By taking time to search, I will come across new skills and strategies or issues that make me more aware and informed in my practice; I don't have to know it all because there are others in cyberspace that are willing to share and collaborate. A bonus is that my students are great resources to help me move forward in my online journey.By utilizing their technological skills I welcome them onto the teaching platform. The teacher student relationship becomes reciprocal and the student becomes an ally, mentor and colleague.

Every day that I am online, I learn another skill which leads me towards other discoveries. At times I find creativity deep within my own abilities and other times I am able to create a focus on understanding the broader issues in the world such as collaborating globally, engaging the underused talents of local resources and expert cyber resources,connecting peoples' ideas to some of my own, and bringing in new ideas to help others find their own solutions. Mostly, I feel empowered to share what I find and equally satisfied that I may become the recipient of the next person's take on new found knowledge or skill.

After listening to Podcasts from the K-12 Online Conference, I have learned that true differentiated teaching and learning styles are easily addressed by using the tools of technology.
There are many benefits of becoming a practioner of Classroom 2.0 , Web 2.0,or any online learning opportunity. Most important is the shortness in space and time to which you begin building your repetoire to include as much as you are able to absorb and then some, as long as you have access.