Stephen Johnson - Where Good Ideas Come From

Interesting thought - Tim Berners-Lee wasn't intending to create the Internet. He meant to invent something that would simply connect documents. However, he invented something that was remixed into the most amazing tool in human history. 

Apple didn't just study other retailers when they opened Apple Stores. They studied something completely different. Connecting to what Will Richardson said yesterday, they didn't do it better, the did it different. This is significant. When we are thinking about education and how to "fix" it, we really need to think differently. Not just better. 

Great thoughts. I hope this will percolate for a while. 

What Makes a Good Conference Presenter

Good presenters - 

Know who they are as a presenters

Plan the goals and outcomes 

Know the audience

Anticipate questions

Visualize presentation and attendees

Assess themselves 

Practice

Is the presentation for you? Or for the audience? Consider that question when making the planning. Should your presentation tool fit you? Or the audience? 

Abundant Learning: 4 Newish Ideas in Education with Will Richardson

Why are we here at ISTE? Is it to be a better teacher or a better learner? If its not the latter, it's probably for the wrong reason. We all are likely living at the most change-filled moment in education and we must be willing to re-think our educational methods through a different lens or we will be preparing students for a world that no longer exists. 

Margaret Wheatley says "We can't be creative if we aren't willing to be confused. Change always begins with confusion." What am I confused about? I think I'm confused about student motivation. I'm disturbed by a distinct lack of motivation in students. I need to work hard at engaging students and figuring out what I can do to move them to a more intense level of learning. How we get students to embrace the act of learning. More importantly, how do we engage students in designing their own learning AND how do we work on the systems in place to ALLOW that to even happen? This latter question is hard for K-12 and a bit easier for the more autonomous nature of higher education. 

The problem with education is that we are the product of the current system but that system is not relevant to today's students. Students understand the education game. What do I do to be able to "check the box?" 

How do students learn to play (actual) games? They have PLNs and resources that they find/construct on their own! Traditional learning teaches students facts "just in case" but today's learning teaches students how to find information "just in time" and be able to connect that information with other information.  

Think about today's world, who needs a reporter? Reporters are now news aggregators. EVERYONE is a reporter. YouTube is the channel. Even the media markets are beginning to use YouTube. The world is changing. We are now able to print leather and suspect that in the next two years we will be able to print food. We have no idea what's coming. Learning is leaving the institution and is moving into the hands of the learners. Students CAN learn anything, anytime, anywhere - if they are disposed to doing so and have the skills and literacies to do so. 

I think I need to read Mr Richardson's book, "Why School?"

We don't necessarily need to be better. We need to be DIFFERENT. Example, the USS United States (fastest ship to cross the Atlantic in its day) vs the DeHavilland Comet (jet aircraft cut Atlantic crossing to about 10 hours). The ship was better than other ships. But the airplane was different, not just better. 

What is self organized learning? What is networked learning? 

We need to be able to let our kids meet and learn with strangers on the Internet. Think about that. They need to be put into situations that allow (encourage/require) them to connect with people who are not bound by geographical limitations. It's the world we live in. That is what a global market looks like. What if your doctor wasn't/isn't an unlearner/relearner? That's what we need to instill in our students. Make a safe place for students to risk and FAIL. 

The epitome of the honors student is one who is terrified of failure. Students should be encouraged and allowed to fail. 

Check into dual lingo. This site teaches a language and translates the web at the same time. 

Think about the meta-idea of twitter and how that applies to students. It's not a place, an institution, a repository of knowledge. It is a place to make connections with others who have similar interests. This is the analogy of education. Students are learners who need to connect with others to achieve a common goal. This could be worded better, but I think you get the idea. Maybe instead it's a way to connect to team members to solve a problem. To connect to people who are DIFFERENT than they are. Bottom line, it's a medium for connection. 

What is design thinking? Check out designthinkingforeducators.com Discovery. Interpretation. Ideation. Experimentation. Evolution. It's a process that students of through. It's a bit like a pared-down version of the scientific method! The key is that the questions don't have answers. Key component. 

What is the Maker Movement? Good grief I freaking love this guy. We are moving back to the industrial arts classroom and a bit of the cottage manufacturing industry. Students make something as they learn the knowledge. It's a huge shift to students creating artifacts. The skills students learn are the basics of what every student should know.  

I need a 3-D printer. That's my next thing. They are <$2k. I've got to get another Arduino! I may need a Pi as well. 

Guiding question: How do I integrate this into my pre-service science education classes? Small things. Small steps. I can't change it all at once. 

SIGOL Forum: Connect, Collaborate, and Create with a MOOC

This is a panel format, where several people share their learned lessons. 

Tom Woodward - Ds106.com has already been mentioned. @mishelleyb and I have talked about that. It's a place that aggregates using RSS feeds. Students create assignments or choose a Pre-made assignment. Use tags to aggregate and see what others have done. A student created a radio show. It also contains a remix machine which will take two assignments and mix them. Also students have created a "best of" where students showed other students' work. 

Unknown presenter name - university gave grants for game-based learning. Looking at the meta-idea of what online communities look like, what discussions look like, and how this learning can "morph into a guild of educators." Lurkers use social network knowledge construction as a way of learning. Just lurking is a way to get the basics and begin to understand. Badges are a way for people who are over achievers to get what they need when they complete EVERY assignment. 

Unknown presenter - international MOOCs being used in emerging markets (limited) but heavily in higher Ed and some are for credit. Emerging markets do not put as much credibility into online degrees as established markets. Business world thinks this is new. But it's constructivist style learning. MOOCs are not as valued now for what they are doing, but more for how they are CHANGING education. 

Unknown presenter - many in education think that the MOOC is a "sky is falling" kind of mentality. 

However, his main point is the constructivist vs Stanford model (connectivist). There is defined content, but the connections made are more important. Khan Academy has delivered >300 million lessons. How do we build a MOOC that attracts students?

Chunk the information 10 minute videos with inline quiz (engages, not grading) requires students to check understanding. Also offers feedback. Cannot proceed w/o "getting it". Informal presence of the instructor. Think about the "lesson" module in Moodle. There must be deadlines. 

Shifted into breakout sessions - I followed Tom Woodard. How does this thing work? Must be open to change because this will evolve over time. The fact remains that we have a group of people who are engaged in something about which they are passionate. What if our OIT were a MOOC which was done as a cohort? The current group is creating content for future groups. That OIT is a free course anyway. We are using people who may or may not be right for online teaching. If they finish, great. If not, they don't teach. This needs to be something done in conjunction with other CCCU schools. 

One interesting idea of this is that these things can snowball and become much larger than the original intent. Sometimes there is a "creative-spiraling" where assignments get remixed. Students work hard when they see other's work and make it until they get it to the point at which THEY are satisfied. Not the point at which the minimum standard of mastery is met. Tom is self-described as "kind of fringy."

At this point I was supposed to switch tables, but I stayed. I'm interested in what this looks like from both the student and the admin side. Tom keeps referring to the "hippy Montessori" style of learning. The big idea here is to write on your own blog/place and tag it and its aggregated to the course through the RSS feed. The other big idea is to have students pitch assignment ideas. They become the course designers. These ideas then trigger ideas in others. This can lead to the "spiral of creativity" alluded to earlier. 

Linear learning is the fastest path, but is it the best? The less structured learning is slower, but maybe it's better? Are each useful in different situations? It seems the less structured way is good for specialization, while structure is more content driven, i.e. mat leave with "these basic skills."  

Big ideas: the things that yield the greatest results require the greatest risks. AND you must be prepared to fail. You must be willing to risk. How does this play out in a K-12 environment? What one person can achieve might not be possible in EVERY place. Work within your boundaries but push those boundaries to advance students' learning. 

Great thoughts. Interesting session. A whole lot to chew on. 

Opening Thoughts on ISTE 2013

It's the end of June and that usually means the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) annual conference for me. This is my 3rd year, although I did miss going to San Diego last year. We are in San Antonio and the atmosphere here is quite exciting. I'm not sure why it seems different this year, but there's a buzz in the air that seems a bit... I don't know, "heightened" is the only word I can think of. 

Michelle and I arrived last night, late. We did something a bit different, we rode the train to get here. We rode down to Fort Worth and then switched to a nicer train for the remainder of the trip. Upgrading to first class (roomette or bedroom) is worth the money. Meals are included on that ticket which basically pays for itself. We ran late, but who cares? I got to nap instead of drive!

The opening session this afternoon was exciting. There was an interesting/funny MC (@shareski) and two groups of 5 who spoke in an Ignite format. If you're not familiar, you have 20 slides and 5 minutes. The slides advance whether you are ready or not. Brilliant. I'm a big fan. We will definitely be doing something similar at the CCCU COT conference next year. Having your own people share their ideas and passions adds a component to the session which is missing when you bring in an "outsider". Most of the 10 speakers today were enthusiastic and interesting. Well-played ISTE. 

The opening keynote is next. Jane McGonigal is up. She's a strong advocate for gamification. I'm excited to hear what she has to say. The keynotes at these always tend to inspire me and my expectation today is nothing short of that. 

ISTE Day 1 and 2

I've been here at ISTE 2011, in Philadelphia, for a couple of days now. It's been quite an interesting journey. I love following the tweets at #ISTE11. There is an overload of information with which to keep up.

We started the day yesterday by just hanging at the hotel and not really getting out until after noon. We took a very short walk to Penn's Landing and had a Taste of Philly, part of the events leading up to the 4th of July.

We got over to the Convention Center and checked in just in time to hear the opening keynote speaker. He was a molecular biologist named Dr. John Medina. A molecular biologist? Yes. He was really great. A very dynamic speaker, in fact. He talked specifically about how the brain process information, a terrific topic for a room (gigantic room) full of teachers interested in how to be more effective. I guess I'll have to read his book, Brain Rules.

Before I knew it, 7am arrived and I had to be up, have some breakfast, and get to the convention center by 0830 to hear Dayna Laur talk about "Meeting the Common Core: Rigorous, Relevant, Project-Based Learning." The presenters talked at length about this site, the Buck Institute for Learning. I was afraid it was going to be about how we needed to pay for their stuff, but it wasn't. In fact they talked about some free resources we can use for PBL stuff, in addition to the fact that all of their stuff if free. I am working to move my class more toward a PBL model. I think my students would all benefit from the model as they are mostly honors students who "just want the answer." This particular demographic is one that has been taught to value the "right answer" above the method by which that answer was ascertained. In PBL, the goal is to have students show their mastery of skills instead of arriving at a pre-determined answer. In fact, in a good problem-solving environment, the teacher won't know the answer since it hasn't been solved yet! A great strategy they talked about was one in which a class is connected (via Skype) to a professional in the field (pertaining to the problem) to give critique and expertise throughout the process.

I then moved on to "Technology to Improve Staff Morale" with Rushton Hurley, a Japanese-language teacher from California. He had some great tips for sharing technology and moving into a true collaborative model with colleagues. The "take-away" for me from that session was to try and share something with my colleagues and let them come ask questions if they want to move beyond just an introduction. My vision for this is to share a 2 minute tech tip during faculty meetings. I can start it and then see if I can get my colleagues to start doing it as they find something they like and feel is "share-worthy." I'll then become the facilitator. I could even begin to video these and post them to "Tech Tools for Teachers."

During lunch, I got to go to the OTA Affiliate booth and sit for an hour to "pay" for my trip here. I am here as a result of being named Technology Teacher of the Year by the OTA. However, it comes with a price. I have to work our booth for two full hours. I say that with a smile on my face, because I would gladly work that booth for an entire day or two to get to come. I met several folks stopping by to say hello. I got to tell them about the OTA meetup at the The Field House from 1630 to 1800 on Tuesday evening. It will be lots of fun, so if you are around, stop in and say hello.

After lunch I had some free time so I went down and sat in the blogger's cafe and tried to process some of what I had learned.  As I was doing this, I began to realize that this conference would benefit so many people who are not here. For someone like me who has been to technology conferences before, I am able to get a few ideas to use tools I already have to be better, but there are people who aren't here who would be much more willing to use this stuff in their classes after hearing success stories. If you are reading this and have never been to ISTE, go ahead and plan to go to San Diego next year. It's overwhelming and one of the best things a technology adopter can do to get out of their comfort zone. During this time, I also got spend some time with @mishelleyb since we both had a little time with no sessions, this was clearly one of the best parts of the day.

The last session I attended was #teach with #tweet. These 3 guys (@joebender, @crafty184, and @brueckj23) shared how they have used twitter in elementary/secondary/higher ed classrooms. They had some great ideas and I was able to think and process about how I would like to integrate it into both my high school physics and university geography classes. I got to attend the session with a colleague from SNU and we talked about online classes over the summer. I'm stoked to collaborate with her (and @mishelleyb) while I teach online during the upcoming summer session. I'm a little nervous, but it should be fun! I almost forgot, there was also a flash mob during this time. A little crazy.

Finally, the kids came in from the hotel and we walked over to the Reading Market. @mishelleyb had been wanting to go and sample the Amish stuff in there and we were all pretty excited about the eats we had heard about. If you want to see what we experienced, click here. We had a great culinary adventure. It seems that much of our travel is driven (no pun intended) by food. We are a foodie family and have some of our best times around the dinner table, whether ours or some restaurant.

The fact is these two days have been a tremendous amount of fun, work, and learning. I'm sure many people think "Who in the world wants to go to Nerd Camp for 4 days? Especially with your own kids and wife?" I do! These trips are some of the most rewarding of my life, both professionally and personally.

ISTE - Denver, CO

Next week, (actually starting this weekend) a huge number of techno-geek educators will descend (or would it be ascend) on Denver, CO for the largest technology conference in this part of the galaxy: the International Society for Technology in Education Conference. Best part? I get to attend! We are going to make a family road trip out of it (why fly 3 hours when you can drive 12 right?). Seriously, though, I love road trips with my family. They are the best part of my life and spending several hours in the family mini-van is actually a lot of fun with @mishelleyb, @justjessa, and @JCismyname. I spent several hours yesterday (instead of doing homework) planning my conference attendance so I thought I might do some pre-flection on my plans.

The conference officially kicks off on Sunday so there will be the usual keynote speech and stainless water bottle giveaways. I might even win an iPad! Monday starts the real business of learning, however. I'll begin the day by having breakfast with the president of SchoolCenter and their PR person. They are being very nice to me because I am going to help them out with a presentation on a new product we beta-tested last semester. That promises to be an adventure; even my kids are going to get involved, although I'm not really sure how they feel about it. I'll continue Monday with a session on how to "Creating a Google-Enhanced Classroom". I love the idea of Google and I've already ingested a significant amount of their Kool-Aid. That really about wraps up Monday, other than my SchoolCenter responsibilities, unless you count the reception the Oklahoma Technology Association is having that evening. Maybe I'll have time for a nap in the middle of the day.

Tuesday starts bright and early with (wait, it starts at 11 am.) "10 Web Tools to Make Learning in Your Class Even Better". I honestly have no idea what this one is about, so I am prepared to be surprised and hopefully learn something new. I really hope I am able to take something home that I can implement and possibly even share with my colleagues. One thing I have found with technology: if you find something that works, you cannot be selfish, you HAVE to share with everyone. It's all in the spirit of creativecommons and open-source. That afternoon will be filled with "Thinking Spatially: Using Geographic Tools to Enhance Learning". This smells of GoogleEarth, but we'll see. I want my students to become more spatially aware, so surely there will be some good nuggets (get it? Denver? Nuggets?) in this one! Then, that evening, I'm attending the "ISTE/NCATE Accreditation Standards and Program Reviewer Preparation". Yes. I know. It sounds like its over my head, but I'm on the accreditation team at PCO next year and I thought anything I could do to increase my knowledge of the subject would be beneficial, even if its only tangential knowledge. I'm strongly considering continuing my education beyond the Master's level and I feel fairly certain I will do that in Instructional Technology, so this seems right up that alley.

Wednesday is the final day of the conference and its a full day! I start the morning with one of my favorite subjects: "Wonderful World of Wikis: Practical Classroom Wikis for All Ages". I already use a wiki heavily in my class, but I have no doubt I can learn to do it better. I thought SNU had given me my fill of reflection during my undergraduate, but I am learning the value of true, focused reflection in education. That's why my next session is "EPEARL (Electronic Portfolio Encouraging Active Reflective Learning K-12)". I always want to find a way to make my student's and my own reflection better and more valuable. Since I just can't get enough Google, I'll continue the day with "Using Google Apps Education Edition to Improve Learning". Then, my final session of the conference will be "All Digital: The Paperless Classroom for Less Than $100". I dabbled with a paperless classroom last semester with my AP Physics class and then made a serious move towards it with my Physics 1 classes, so this one should be intriguing. My main concern is simply having enough technology to go around on a mission such as this. At least I can do it with the adult learners I'll be teaching during August.

So, there you have it. I hope I make this experience worth the money the district is spending to send me. I am so blessed to have the confidence of my district. I mean, I'm just a classroom teacher (yes, I know how that sounds). I simply mean I'm not necessarily someone who's job it is to teach other teachers. I feel that is my intrinsic responsibility (and some times there are extrinsic reward$), but I recognize there aren't that many folks who get an opportunity such as this. I'm ready to attend my first "big" conference as a full-blooded, tenured teacher! PC teachers, get ready to hear all about it when school starts up again. After all, it is my responsiblity.

p.s. - I'll be tweeting, so follow me if you don't already!