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."