Group items tagged

"In the original 2004 article I stated: "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. A real challenge for any learning theory is to actuate known knowledge at the point of application" (Conclusion section, � 1). I find Verhagen�s (2006) critique falls at precisely this point. The core of what I wrote in the initial article is still valid: that learning is a network phenomenon, influenced (aided) by socialization and technology. Two years is a lifetime in the educational technology space. Two years ago, web 2.0 was just at the beginning of the hype cycle. Blogs, wikis, and RSS�now prominent terms at most educational conferences�were still the sandbox of learning technology geeks. Podcasting was not yet prominent. YouTube didn't exist. Google had not released its suite of web-based tools. Google Earth was not yet on the desktops of children and executives alike�each thrilled to view their house, school, or business in satellite images. Learning Management Systems still held the starting point of most elearning initiatives. Moodle was not yet prominent, and the term PLEs (personal learning environments) did not exist. In two years, our small space of educational technology evolved�perhaps exploded is a more accurate term."

Our pedagogical imperative is to let a course unfold according to the whim and determination of the group - to replace teacher-as-content with learning-community-as-content-maker. Doesn't this replace the content-as-authority with the random knowledges of various members of the group? How does "whim" become "content"? Wouldn't it be better to start with actual, factual knowledge? on Dec 09, 14 - Edit - Remove This is at the heart of what Freire calls "co-intentional education," in which "Teachers and students (leadership and people), co-intent on reality, are both Subjects, not only in the task of unveiling that reality, and thereby coming to know it critically, but in the task of re-creating that knowledge." The collective knowledge of a group of students will almost always exceed the expertise of one instructor. The last sentence is misleading -- not what Freire says. If the teacher is not included as part of the task, the knowledge of the group of students probably doesn't exceed the instructor's expertise.

"The invention of the LMS (Learning Management System) was a mistake. And here I'm not going to make the same frustrated argument made numerous times before now that LMSs are limiting structures, that their interface and functionalities control how teachers teach online (although those things are true). The LMS was a mistake because it was premature. In a world that was just waking up to the Internet and the possibility of widely-networked culture, the LMS played to the lowest common denominator, creating a "classroom" that allowed learning -- or something like learning -- to happen behind tabs, in threaded discussions, and through automated quizzes. The LMS was not a creative decision, it was not pushing the capabilities of the Internet, it was settling for the least innovative classroom practice and repositioning that digitally. As a result classes taught within its structure generally land with a dull thud. No matter how creative and inspired the teacher or pedagogue behind the wheel, the LMS is no match for the wideness of the Internet. It was born a relic -- at its launch utterly irrelevant to its environment and its user." Very thought-provoking article on how digital pedagogy really differs from just "teaching online."

"If you're using it to solve problems in your location, to access information you need here and now, it's mobile, whether pocketable or not. That's what mlearning is, and it's mostly about performance support, or contextualized learning augmentation, it's not about just info access in convenience. "Which actually segues nicely into my main point. So let's ask, when would you want a tablet instead of a pocketable when you're on the go? I think the answer is pretty clear: when you need more information or interactivity than a pocketable can handle, and you're not as concerned about space."

An interesting article on student "addiction" to social media: ""The students did complain about how boring it was [to] go anywhere and do anything without being plugged into music on their MP3 players," says Moeller. "And many commented that it was almost impossible to avoid the TVs on in the background at all times in their friends' rooms. But what they spoke about in the strongest terms was how their lack of access to text messaging, phone calling, instant messaging, email and Facebook, meant that they couldn't connect with friends who lived close by, much less those far away." "Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort," wrote one student. "When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life. Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable." The student responses to the assignment showed not just that 18-21 year old college students are constantly texting and on Facebook-with calling and email distant seconds as ways of staying in touch, especially with friends-but that students' lives are wired together in such ways that opting out of that communication pattern would be tantamount to renouncing a social life."

The idea of "portfolio" implies that the sum of the parts is greater than its individual parts, that there is some benefit to seeing the whole work longitudinally or from start to finish. A portfolio, here, is a collection of written work, related or not, presented as well as it can be, by a student for the purposes of showing, well, the best that the student can do at a given time. ... The idea of "portfolio" implies that the sum of the parts is greater than its individual parts, that there is some benefit to seeing the whole work longitudinally or from start to finish. A portfolio, here, is a collection of written work, related or not, presented as well as it can be, by a student for the purposes of showing, well, the best that the student can do at a given time.

"A portfolio, here, is a collection of written work, related or not, presented as well as it can be, by a student for the purposes of showing, well, the best that the student can do at a given time. Online, portfolios allow wide latitude in individual expression, and can contain a wide variety of kinds of work: research papers, essays, weblog entries, paragraphs, journal entries, summaries or creative work. There is a kind of dynamic tension at all moments with weblog portfolios: on the one hand, they should have visible, from the first screen, all the best of the student's work, properly formatted, edited, looking crisp and nice (defined more carefully below) and properly linked. On the other, the weblog is a dynamic thing, receiving the latest of the student's work, and pushing older stuff down and out of sight." article by Steve McCarty

"Formative assessment is a planned process in which teachers or students use assessment-based evidence to adjust what they're currently doing. "In other words, if teachers or students are not leveraging results/data (from Socrative, Kahoot!, Plickers, etc.) to then differentiate instruction or learning, the app inspired dog and pony show does not qualify as a formative assessment. "Formative assessment is a process…not an event, questions on a piece of paper, or even an app. What makes an assessment formative depends on the context in which it is used." Based on a blog/book co-authored by Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy. You can sign up for more chapters free on the site. The articles represent a measured discussion of how apps and "cool tools" can be used successfully, without hype.

"To summarize, then, we might say that (1) the skill of guessing from context may not be as helpful in the real world as previously imagined, (2) it may not be as useful in acquiring vocabulary items as previously imagined. When a teacher is asked by a student for the meaning of a word in a text, the reflex response of 'try to work it out from the context' may also not be as helpful as previously imagined. Translations and / or dictionary advice may well, at times, be more appropriate." An interesting view of an activity that has been considered significant by many reading teachers. More research is needed!

I have put together a Wiki for my students to use. I have stressed that it is not part of their regular course but is there for them to visit and assist them in learning English. It goes for 16 weeks (the length of their course) and every week it has sections on Reading/Writing, Grammar, Litsening and Speaking. I also included sectioins on TOEFL, Environmental video and Pronunciation. There are exercises (links) for the students and all in all, it is a fun site to visit. If you want to join the Wiki and make material postings... make yourself at home. Please keep in mind that I AM in Oman and most of my students are young Omani university girls 18-20 years old. They are not the most liberal minded people and not prone to Adult entertainment. They are great students who are willing and eager to learn and a true pleasure to teach. Check it out and tell me what you think. Positive and Negative comments are welcome. So, send your students, send your enemies and even your enemy's students. Feel free to post bills on the local Metro, buses and outside your favorite adult beverage establishment. Gary Harwell www.teachergary.com

"Many students (and teachers) will begin the calendar year with a goal-setting activity. They will take time to reflect in class on what they hope to achieve in the twelve months that follow. They will, for the most part, set achievement goals linked to their academic life, the sort of goals that are achieved through diligent application to classroom learning. They will decide that the way to accomplish these goals is through a commitment to hard work, maintaining focus on the task of learning and effectively managing their time. They will evaluate their success through increases in their assessment results and the hopefully positive feedback that they receive from their teachers. "In but a few weeks, if not days, these goals will have been forgotten. It is not that the students have lost motivation or have abandoned their hopes for a successful year. It is that the goals set in this way, this structured and forced manner, do not connect with what truly matters to the individuals who set them. "

"Educational Origami is a blog and a wiki, about 21st Century Teaching and Learning. This wiki is not just about the integration of technology into the classroom, though this is certainly a critical area, it is about shifting our educational paradigm. The world is not as simple as saying teachers are digital immigrants and students digital natives. In fact, we know that exposure to technology changes the brains of those exposed to it. The longer and stronger the exposure and the more intense the emotions the use of the technology or its content evokes, the more profound the change. This technology is increasingly ubiquitous. We have to change how we teach, how we assess, what we teach, when we teach it, where we are teaching it, and with what." A most interesting site that tells us what the learner needs to know. [Thanks to Bee.]

"The Frayer Model is a vocabulary development tool. In contrast with a straight definition, the model helps to develop a better understanding of complex concepts by having students identify not just what something is, but what something is not." This is an example of a worksheet, which I wasn't able to download in the other citation. The sheet is quite straightforward, and looks useful, insofar as vocabulary can be taught through direct method. Good for important concepts, class discussion, and work with definitions.

A good discussion of what PBL is and how to implement it. "I see a lot of claims about PBL that are just not true. What bothers me about these claims is not that they are wrong but that these misconceptions lead to further problems when implementing PBL. I'd like to take some time to dispel some of these misunderstandings in hopes that they clear up other issues teachers may have with PBL."

""Always on" access has created an abundance of learning potentials that scarcely existed even a decade ago. "No, this is not the picture most of us painted for ourselves when we went into education. Most of us went into teaching understanding that school was pretty much the only education game in town, the place where kids came to get information, where, at the end of the day, we were responsible for disseminating the knowledge, we assessed whether our students got it, and we stamped it "an education." For that vast majority of kids (and for us, too) who attended a brick-and-mortar school, that's been the unbending, monolithic vision of schooling for 150 years. "So what do we do when that vision begins, finally, to be undermined?" Technology is changing what it means to be educated. Thoughtful article.

For very advanced students only. Gives sample thesis statements and sample discussion questions, but the site is not interactive at all, and not reading based.

"Too often we have hung our hopes on an amazing piece of technology to improve our training outcomes, when all we have succeeded in doing was improve our access…our ability to track…our ability to test…our ability to organize…and our ability to report on…training that still did not sustain improved human performance in the workplace. My point…technology is not a solution to a restricted paradigm." A little dense in the writing, but Gary Wise makes some good points about learning/teaching/training.

SWBAT (students will be able to . . .) is not a bad idea for ESL/EFL. This teacher makes the students repeat the goal/objective of the lesson. The Teaching Channel has a number of good videos for managing classrooms and content. Not necessarily technological.

"Your place for software recommendations for educators. See a piece of software that you use and love not listed? Add it by clicking on the EasyEdit Button on the appropriate page. " Another useful resource for educators, but not focused on language teachers particularly.

Very practical classroom ideas to help students get the creative juices flowing. "You will have seen, there is a strong collection between imagination and creativity. We did not want to get bogged down with the neuro-science behind how imagination works (click on the links above if you want to read further about this), but the need to encourage imaginations should not be left behind in Early Years settings. Allow time and space for imaginations to flourish is a tough demand within modern schools, but the importance of finding time is crucial, being something which all educators can play a part in."