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Barbara Lindsey

The 21st Century Learning Initiative : The History of Education 2000 and the Explanatio... - 0 views

www.21learn.org/...history.php

education Britian reform

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 07 Jan 10 - Cached
  • The application of "market principles" quickly destroyed the concept of a community of learners that extended beyond the school and effectively turned each school against its "rival"; a preoccupation with the assessment of pupils as a way of monitoring teachers led to even more "teaching for the test," and the relegation of information technology to that of a vocational skill.
    • Barbara Lindsey
      Barbara Lindsey on 07 Jan 10
       
      Are there similarities with the US system? Is this change of perspective necessarily bad?
  • Barbara Lindsey on 07 Jan 10
     
    "By 1988, with increasing pressure with every subsequent year, Education 2000 became evermore isolated by a whole series of legislative proposals made by a Government whose educational policy was increasingly to become prescriptive, centralized, and based on assumptions that originated in the 1950s. Teacher education courses were reorganized to focus far more heavily on subject content and classroom practice, at the cost of a hefty reduction in all aspects of the course dealing with educational theory, purpose and philosophy. Her Majesty's Inspectorate was abolished as being too much on "the side of the teachers," and replaced by a more rigorous assessment and evaluation system. "There is no such subject as education," said Margaret Thatcher, "only subjects to be taught.""
Barbara Lindsey

Ending the semester, Lessons Learned (Part 4: Assessment) | Language Lab Unleashed! - 0 views

www.languagelabunleashed.org/...sons-learned-part-4-assessment

assessment student-centered student-created sawhill

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 30 Jul 09 - Cached
  • I see teaching as constantly re-tooling, tweaking, re-evaluating, scrapping, starting over.
  • One of my goals for this class (and for me) was to see what student-centered assessment would look like in a conversation class. I took a big leap and gave the reigns over to them. The content of the class and flow of the class was based on their interested and idea. They were there because they had personal goals that needed to be acknowledged and realized… or at least approximated.
  • What would happen if I felt they didn’t merit the grade they said they did? what if they all wanted an A+?
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • This is what I asked each student to do: 1) create a series of three goals or metas, one progressively more complex than the other, and each building upon the other, that were to be accomplished his term. The first goal was to be done by the end of March, the second by the end of April, the third maybe by the end of the term…but probably not. 2) create a series of tasks that s/he felt would lead to realizing those goals. 3) blog about about his or her progress at least 2 times per week 4) At the end of the term: write up a final self assessment (in English or in Spanish), reflecting upon the progress completed, including the work done in class that would contribute to these goals, and assign a grade for the term. The students needed to evidence of their progress as a way of justifying their chosen grade. CAVEAT: If the grade s/he chose was lower than one than I would have selected, they would get my grade and an explanation. If the grade was higher, we would continue the conversation and try to see what it was that I was missing. I was willing to be (and wanted to be!) swayed, given that this was the student’s assessment of his/her personal learning goals in Spanish.
  • Some (but very few indeed) met ALL of their goals. Almost all acknowledged that they had set up unrealistic expectations for themselves (in terms of how much they could get done in a semester) and many used their self assessment as a way to set up future goals for their language growth. (Exactly the kinda thing you hope to see happen…learning extending beyond the limits imposed by the classroom).
  • A shy, timid young man, he did not mention in his evaluation the class discussion he led, and managed, and blogged about at the end of the term… nor did he see how any of this was helping him move towards his most lofty goal…to be able to travel with friends in Spain and to be able to communicate with ease and without anxiety.
  • It pains me to read this, but not because of the critiques she makes about me, the tools, or the class. It pains me because Edie passed on an opportunity to try something new, experiment, take a calculated risk…all things she will eventually have to do when she travels in another culture. It’s sad because she was the only student who did not “let go” of something during the semester and instead just held on tight to how she wanted this class to be, vs how it really, truly was. Unstructured to her meant undirected. Allowing the group to decide the flow of the class frustrated her, because the cadence of the class was not one that was controlled by the teacher and therefore predictable
  • In the end, she presented me with a chart that logged over 40 hours of Skype conversations with a native speaker she eventually found, and 110 pages (!) of chat transcripts with others with whom she tried to make regular contact. In class, as a result of her out of class experiences, she became more involved and engaged, eventually leading a class discussion about her interests in music, but doing so such that it wove itself in with the topic the class was discussing that week.
Barbara Lindsey

Foreign Language Faculty in the Age of Web 2.0 | Educationload.com - 0 views

educationload.com/?p=87

web 2.0 faculty foreignlanguage manuela

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 28 Jan 09 - Cached
  • A keyword search for the word “tech%” and “computer” in the Modern Language Association (MLA) job list1 returns over 43 relevant ads out of 236 job postings (as of November 20, 2007): “familiarity with teaching-related technologies” (tenure track in Spanish, Missouri); “experience with technology in the classroom” (tenure track in French, Michigan); “ability to use technology effectively in teaching and learning” (tenure track in Japanese, South Carolina). The wording varies slightly from one ad to the next, but the message is the same: job candidates are well advised to have an answer ready when asked how they use technology in the classroom.
  • The history of educational technology in higher education provides ample support for the claim that technology should never outstrip pedagogy.
  • many Web 2.0 applications are powerful socialization and communication tools. As such, they have an incredible educational potential for foreign language instruction.
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  • Sadly, this potential often fails to be realized because of the widespread belief that these tools are somehow inherently educational. The iPod might have an instructional potential, but it is the educators who arrange and structure instructional events around it to make learning happen, not the instrument itself. To realize the instructional potential of technology requires a set of skills that can only be acquired through adequate instruction and practice. Just as speaking a foreign language is not a qualification to teach it, knowing how to use a technology does not mean that one knows intuitively how to use it as a teaching tool.
  • a recent MLA report on the status of foreign language instruction in higher education3 underscored that most incoming foreign language faculty would be teaching at the undergraduate level. The report calls for the integration of technology training in the graduate curriculum, asking departments to “take the necessary steps to teach graduate students to use technology in language instruction and learning.” The report, which called for drastic transformations of foreign language academic programs nationwide, also emphasized the importance of providing graduate students with a good pedagogical basis.
  • Few graduate programs include such training as a part of the curriculum. As a matter of fact, pedagogy itself often represents a negligible fraction of graduate program requirements.
  • Because the field of language technology is at the crossroads of technology, instructional design, and languages, it calls for the close collaboration of experts in each area. Today, language centers are the only campus units where such a wide range of expertise can easily be found.
  • The role of language technologists goes beyond teaching what a blog is and how to set up a browser to display Japanese characters. It includes sorting through novel technologies, evaluating their instructional potential, researching current educational uses, and sharing findings with educators. The most promising applications available today were not designed for instructional use and do not come with an instruction manual. To use them in the classroom requires the ability to redirect their intended purpose and, more importantly, to think through possible consequences of doing so.
  • Barbara Lindsey on 28 Jan 09
     
    Technological skills and understanding how to employ Web 2.0 tools to successfully support pedagogy are vital for foreign language faculty today
Barbara Lindsey

Top News - Matrix helps students weigh internet research - 0 views

www.eschoolnews.com/...index.cfm

students Internet evaluate

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 09 Dec 08 - Cached
  • a pair of researchers hopes to give students a method for assessing the reliability of material they find on the internet, whether it's in Wikipedia articles, YouTube videos, or blogs.
  • The professors' published guideline is formatted as a matrix of questions aimed at helping students decipher what should be used in a research project and what should be ignored. The guide asks if sources are "continuously changeable through repeat performances or revisions," "reviewed by someone with authority or certification prior to publication," and "published and revised by the author." It also prompts students to question if the material was reviewed by other experts in the same profession.
  • the end goal is for students to learn how to analyze texts without "pigeonholing the material based on where it was found."
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  • Although today's students are much more likely to begin their research online, Miller-Cochran said students still often perceive the articles, charts, and data found in books as more authoritative than online information.
  • "They tend to be trusting, perhaps even more so, of things they see in print," said Miller-Cochran, who has distributed the checklist research matrix to her students at North Carolina State. "We wanted [students] to be looking at all sources they were finding and asking more critical questions about the nature of what they have found."
jessica mcbride

elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age - 0 views

www.elearnspace.org/...connectivism.htm

shared by jessica mcbride on 10 Nov 08 - Cached
  • In many fields the life of knowledge is now measured in months and years.
  • The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete.
  • All of these learning theories hold the notion that knowledge is an objective (or a state) that is attainable (if not already innate) through either reasoning or experiences.
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  • “black box theory”
  • Behaviorism
  • Cognitivism
  • Learning is viewed as a process of inputs, managed in short term memory, and coded for long-term recall.
  • Behaviorism and cognitivism view knowledge as external to the learner and the learning process as the act of internalizing knowledge.
  • learners are actively attempting to create meaning.
  • Learning theories are concerned with the actual process of learning, not with the value of what is being learned.
  • When knowledge is subject to paucity, the process of assessing worthiness is assumed to be intrinsic to learning. When knowledge is abundant, the rapid evaluation of knowledge is important.
  • Unlike constructivism, which states that learners attempt to foster understanding by meaning making tasks, chaos states that the meaning exists – the learner's challenge is to recognize the patterns which appear to be hidden.
  • Self-organization on a personal level is a micro-process of the larger self-organizing knowledge constructs created within corporate or institutional environments. The capacity to form connections between sources of information, and thereby create useful information patterns, is required to learn in our knowledge economy.
  • Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories.
  • Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical.
  • Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
  • Within social networks, hubs are well-connected people who are able to foster and maintain knowledge flow. Their interdependence results in effective knowledge flow, enabling the personal understanding of the state of activities organizationally.
  • John Seely Brown presents an interesting notion that the internet leverages the small efforts of many with the large efforts of few.
  • Media, news, information. This trend is well under way. Mainstream media organizations are being challenged by the open, real-time, two-way information flow of blogging.
  • When knowledge, however, is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses.
Barbara Lindsey

Foreign Language Faculty in the Age of Web 2.0 (EDUCAUSE Quarterly) | EDUCAUSE - 0 views

www.educause.edu/...163095

educause web2.0 highered faculty languages

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 06 Dec 09 - Cached
  • graduate students interested in becoming acquainted with relevant instructional technologies have a limited number of options. Few graduate programs include such training as a part of the curriculum. As a matter of fact, pedagogy itself often represents a negligible fraction of graduate program requirements. The University of Minnesota offers excellent training through its summer institutes,4 but access is an issue. Most IT departments offer training sessions on how to use the university course management system, build a web page, or create a PowerPoint presentation, but technical training is not enough.
  • Today, language centers are the only campus units where such a wide range of expertise can easily be found.
  • The role of language technologists goes beyond teaching what a blog is and how to set up a browser to display Japanese characters. It includes sorting through novel technologies, evaluating their instructional potential, researching current educational uses, and sharing findings with educators. The most promising applications available today were not designed for instructional use and do not come with an instruction manual. To use them in the classroom requires the ability to redirect their intended purpose and, more importantly, to think through possible consequences of doing so.
Barbara Lindsey

The relationship between tolerance for ambiguity and need for course structure | Journa... - 0 views

findarticles.com/...ai_105478978

ambiguity creativity tolerance pedagogy teaching learning

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 27 Dec 09 - Cached
  • Results suggest that tolerance for ambiguity may be an important variable to assess and train so that students are better prepared for unstructured elements of a course that promote critical thinking and parallel the complexities of the applied world.
  • Although many other researchers have theorized that tolerance for ambiguity is associated with critical thinking, empirical evidence to support the relationship between tolerance for ambiguity and critical thinking is lacking (Murphy, 1999). Johnson, Court, Roersma & Kinnaman (1995) have suggested that instructors of undergraduate programs actively examine tolerance for ambiguity as an important element in development of flexible, integrative, and independent thinking.
  • Assessment of the relationship between comfort with ambiguity and affinity to structured elements of classroom teaching and evaluation seem important to address given the changing nature of the classroom environment.
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  • Collectively, these findings suggest that tolerance for ambiguity is a dimension particularly worthy of examination in individuals in training or practice for the mental health field.
Barbara Lindsey

Multimedia & Internet@Schools Magazine - 0 views

www.mmischools.com/...MmisXtra.aspx

media literacy reading education

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 18 Jul 09 - Cached
  • I would argue that postliteracy is a return to more natural forms of multisensory communication—speaking, storytelling, dialogue, debate, and dramatization. It is just now that these modes can be captured and stored digitally as easily as writing. Information, emotion, and persuasion may be even more powerfully conveyed in multimedia formats.
  • Libraries, especially those that serve children and young adults, need to acknowledge that society is becoming postliterate.
  • PL libraries budget, select, acquire, catalog, and circulate as many or more materials in nonprint formats as they do traditional print materials. The circulation policy for all materials, print and nonprint, is similar.2. PL libraries stock, without prejudice, age-appropriate graphic novels and audio books, both fiction and nonfiction, for informational and recreational use.3. PL libraries support gaming for instruction and recreation.4. PL libraries purchase high-value online information resources.5. PL libraries provide resources for patrons to create visual and auditory materials and promote the demonstration of learning and research through original video, audio, and graphics production. They also provide physical spaces for the presentation of these creations.6. PL libraries allow the use of personal communication devices (MP3 players, handhelds, laptops, etc.) and provide wireless network access for these devices.7. PL library programs teach the critical evaluation of nonprint information.8. PL library programs teach the skills necessary to produce effective communication in all formats.9. PL library programs accept and promote the use of nonprint resources as sources for research and problem-based assignments.10. PL librarians recognize the legitimacy of nonprint resources and promote their use without bias.
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  • Culture determines library programs; libraries transmit culture.
  • If we as librarians support and use learning resources that are meaningful, useful, and appealing to our students, so might the classroom teacher.
  • In Phaedrus, Plato decries an "alternate" communication technology:The fact is that this invention will produce forgetfulness in the souls of those who have learned it. They will not need to exercise their memories, being able to rely on what is written, calling things to mind no longer from within themselves by their own unaided powers, but under the stimulus of external marks that are alien to themselves.The Greek philosopher was, of course, dissing the new technology of his day: writing. Plato might well approve of our return to an oral tradition in a digital form. But his quote also demonstrates that sometimes our greatest fears become our greatest blessings.
  • Barbara Lindsey on 18 Jul 09
     
    Thanks to Russel Tarr via Twitter
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