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The definition of literate has changed from simply being able to read, to being able to create meaning from images, to now being able to understand, create, and participate in discussions with information.

I think this is a very important point. Students need to know that many people will be reading what they write. We can not just assume the students understand how blogging and communication via Web 2.0 tools work. We need to spend time teaching, showing examples, and modeling what it looks like to prepare them for success in these areas.

As a mother, this is why I would be fearful of an open blog environment in K-12. What if they post something silly and it comes up in ten years during a job interview? I try to watch what I post about my own kids as I don't want it to be used by someone else later. I actually ask them before I post something on Facebook about them!

I agree with Marie about educating students on the use of Web 2.0 tools and the consequences so as to prepare them for success (thus reducing the risk of wrong / inappropriate use)

I really like this story on how to approach primary student interests when using the computers. I can see many teachers becoming frustrated with their students lack of focus with accomplishing the given task. Instead, I believe this teacher did the right thing in finding the teachable moment in Smile Faces before grabbing the reigns back on the lesson. I can definitely see this happening in my classroom. I believe that is why it is important for primary teachers to start small on their expectations for Web 2.0 tools because we will be spending a lot of time on situations similar to this!

A very good example of how to manage the distraction.  This is a great article and I'm sharing with my teacher friends. 

and in the elementary classroom, a nurse, guidance counselor, referee, and cheerleader!

etc. :)

I agree with this statement...however, someone has to teach these students how to go out and find this information. This is what is wrong with today's technology being incorporated into the classrooms. The teachers are not trained first!

I agree! Training opportunities on how to get these resources into the classroom are needed!

This is true. I agree that there needs to be more training and workshops for the teachers. But that means more inservice days and less school for the kids. It's a trade-off that would definitely need looked at. But Obama's new ConnectED plan does calls for more teacher professional development in the field of technology education. I talked a little about this in my week four blog curation.

I agree the teachers need training first, however don't most teachers take 'work' home with them such as students assignments to grade?  IF that's the case, then why isn't learning new technology part of that?  Is there an attitude that if the administration doesn't teach it to the teachers than they don't have to know it?  This is where the DIY learner should come into play.  Those teachers that want to adopt and try new things will commit their time to do so, meanwhile those that are ok with the status quo will not seek out new methods to incorporate technology into their classroom.  

Traditional teachers feel threatened by tech, when it could enhance their abilities. At what point does the teacher become obsolete, in favor of a less biased Google search? 

Some may think that "finding the needles they care about in a huge haystack" would be a rather time consuming task; however, with RSS feeds like the one we were required to set up at the beginning of this course, the tool does the work for you. You will not have to filter through everything you read for the stuff that you really care about. In the Networked Student Video that is a part of the Week 8 tasks, students now use their iPod or music listening device to listen through iTunesU to literally some of the best professors in the world. You may think that what you are researching or trying to find may be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but you can't be scared to go out and look for ways and people to find out as much as you can. As I read in this article, "It never hurts to ask- people love to share their knowledge in their fields of expertise.

To add, again from the "Networked Student" video from Week 8, "Information management will be a major challenge in the 21st century". Subscribing to RSS feeds is changing the content on the internet that becomes availble to you.

To be honest, I was completely unaware of RSS feeds prior to this class. It was overwhelming to set one up and to think about checking it. I didn't really see the point in it. However, the video clip really put into perspective how important that tool can be as we transition our students to this style of learning and the process of building PLN's.

If this is the case, then why is Google cutting RSS feeds?

Valid question. Cutting Google Reader is one of the stupider things to happen on the Internet recently, like Flash stopping support on mobile devices. They've lost touch with how actual people use their services.

@Marie - yep, RSS saves you the time of having to manually navigate to all those different websites and then also drilling down to that specific blog post.

@cheryl - good question re Google "cutting RSS feeds" The word on the street is money; it's not profitable enough.

From The Digital Reader: Wired has a new article on Google Reader.... They scored an exclusive interview with Richard Gingras, Google's Senior Director of News & Social Products. This article is Google's attempt at spinning the shut down of Google Reader (now only 24 days away), but in trying to come up with an explanation why the Readerpocalypse was a good idea, Google has actually revealed just how little they understand about how we read, and how we find content to read. But there's another reason Google decided to put its RSS reader to death. According to Mountain View, most of us simply consume news differently now than when Reader was launched. "As a culture we have moved into a realm where the consumption of news is a near-constant process," says Richard Gingras, Senior Director, News & Social Products at Google. "Users with smartphones and tablets are consuming news in bits and bites throughout the course of the day - replacing the old standard behaviors of news consumption over breakfast along with a leisurely read at the end of the day." http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/06/06/google-tells-wired-why-google-reader-was-axed-reveals-that-they-dont-understand-how-we-discover-news-articles/#.UdNgpfmmjfw

Since many educators do take this standpoint today, and if much of the learning is done outside of this "classical perspective" of knowledge, you may ask yourself what exactly is the role of a teacher who is encouraging the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom? As I learned from the "Networked Student" video, the teacher has many roles. The teacher helps to take advantage of learning opportunities, build your "network", offers guidance, models, and organizes information. The teacher also assists students when they hit a bump in the road. This shift in "teaching" I believe is a struggle for many educators.

It's easier to adopt binary, all-or-nothing policies (e.g., ban cell phones) rather than approach them in more nuanced ways and explore different learning scenarios in order to see where and/or how they work successfully.

The binary approach is likely more common because we all know that we are distracted individuals. In a formal educational setting, some students just don't want to be there and don't want to pay attention. Providing them a means to "disconnect" from the class through web 2.0 tools (if not used for the proper purposes) just distances them from their education. However, if these tools can be introduced and controlled (although that word is too strong) by the teacher, than learning can be facilitated.

I would argue that the tools AND the content could be introduced differently and could facilitate learning more effectively.

I think that some students are going to find a way to be distracted even if we ban their devices. Doodling, note-passing, daydreaming, and the like can all occur without a device. We may be able to keep students on task better if we let them have their devices because instead of worrying about whether they received a certain email or whatever, they can check. It is hard for me to not look at my phone every few minutes, it is simply a behavior that I am used to!

I, too, think it is important to remember that we are growing up in an age that is filled with multi-taskers. Students today can learn at the same time as doodling or playing on their device. Although we may not feel like the learner is paying attention and absorbing the information being presented, to the learner it is quite the opposite.

Marie: I would also add that it depends on the level and age of the student whether devices are allowed and how much they are allowed. I really feel at the college level that it is the students' responsibility to learn and that I am their guide. If using a device helps them without distracting others, I see no reason to not allow it. It took a while for me to come to terms with this, but several times important information or tools have been shared in class because someone looked something up!

@Jordan - "However, if these tools can be introduced and controlled (although that word is too strong) by the teacher, ..." Yes, that word is too strong. They can't be controlled per se and most advocates don't think that's a productive way in which to think of them. Managed? Yes, to a certain extent. Designed with deliberate learning goals in mind and founded on substantive learning theories? Absolutely. I would say, it's more about parameters when it comes to introducing and using these technologies. Students may take and use these technologies in completely unexpected ways, but in ways that are very creative or insightful. But letting go is difficult for many teachers because their training and prior experience with formal schooling environments (as well as a myriad of other factors) equates good learning with a quiet, well-controlled classroom.

As a huge fan of Amazon and NetFlix, these examples were especially appreciated. NetFlix's variety of films including many excellent not-mainstream flicks has allowed the service to fulfill many consumers' entertainment needs without a DirecTV, Blockbuster, or RedBox. These are fantastic analogies for not-mainstream educational artifacts reaching learners thanks to the Internet. 

David Wiley is pretty well known, especially in the area of "Open Learning" In fact, he spoke at PSU's Teaching & Learning with Tech Symposium in 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcRctjvIeyQ

This is very typical of the "Flipping the Classroom" technique and can just as easily be done without the use of technology, though it does make it a little more interesting. It is interesting to me that we have such a hard time convincing faculty to try this method when schools with little to no resources will try just about anything.

This concept is also not new, as video conferencing has been used in distance education for decades. Although electricity and a cable or satellite hook-up is necessary for video conferencing, mobile phones can allow for this type interaction in more rural areas. A 2010 study that I read for another course looked at the use of mobile phones to teach rural women in India about setting up small enterprises in sheep and goat farming. While much of the technology was used for content delivery, it also allowed for some participation by the women. Balasubramanian, K., Thamizoli, P., Umar, A., & Kanwar, A. (2010). Using mobile phones to promote lifelong learning among rural women in Southern India. Distance Education, 31(2), 193-209. doi: 10.1080/01587919.2010.502555

Hannah--I also love "flipping the classroom", as it saves precious in class time for interaction as opposed to delivery. I think I would do much more of it, but my lecture size is between 96-120 for most of my classes. The students feel very afraid to ask questions and engage in that size of a class.

Melissa: Do you think using a system like the above Terra Incognita for small group discussions would be beneficial to your large classes? Have you used anything like that before now?

Karen--I'm not sure as currently discussion works better in the smaller group labs. I have all of the students from my large lecture in a small group lab once a week so that helps. We are looking at doing some "flipping the classroom" types of activities to save lecture time and allow more time for discussion. I don't teach the large size class until September so there is definitely time to change some of the format.

Melissa--That reminds me of one of my professors who gives a lecture to more than 100 students. I am not sure what your subject is and whether you have tried below before. But he uses his website where anyone in classroom ask any questions. His students post their questions a few minutes before break time and during break time, professor checks the comments and pick some questions which is highly ranked.

Amii, Melissa- to engage students in large class you can use back-channels (twitter hash tags, clickers, Blackboard has a feature to collect SMS) that the instructor can flash on a screen

I have colleagues that use clickers, but many of us are not willing to require clickers due to the additional cost. And using something through a cell phone is also difficult as not everyone has one or doesn't have a smartphone that allows for the use of many of these tools. It is definitely a different world in community colleges as we are trying to do the best we can with limited resources. We also have a very different pool of students--from traditional to returning adult. Some of my 50 year old students don't even like to or know how to email.

These comments remind me of an article posted on Wired (http://www.wired.com/2013/10/free-thinkers/all/----same). It is about a school teacher in Mexico that was tired of the standarize testing and teaching. In one year, he took a class of 5th graders that performed badly on the standarized test to having some of the highest scores in the country, including one girl who scored the highest in the country in math. The teacher was inspired by Sugta Mitra's TED Talk titled, "Build a School in the Cloud".

I also love the flipped classroom! We have 2 teachers who flip this year, and I'll be joining the adventure next year. I think it's a great idea to have students learn the basic facts at home. Then while in school, they can complete the reinforcing activities. The teacher can spend class time reinforcing the material, and also pulling small groups to help those in need and give enrichment to those who can gain from it. Too much time is spent in class memorizing facts. I can't wait to use my class time to reinforce what they learned the night before.

I was especially struck with this idea of a shift in pedagogical strategies since in laboratory science teaching there is always a participatory element. The lecture setting does still work to present and transfer knowledge, but the lab setting allows for social interaction in student groups to apply the content. However, in online classes, I have not found a similar way to form lab groups in the laboratory simulation environment.

This reminds me of the old saying "Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I'll remember. Involve me, I'll understand." The traditional "sage on stage" approach to learning is very one way and treats knowledge as an article to be passed from one person to another. I think the social view of learning has more value in that it involves experimentation and trial and error to learn. However, I completely agree with you, Michelle, in that recreating these social/lab groups is something that is lacking in Web 2.0 learning.

Referring to 'We participate, therefore we are" it is fantastic that students can take responsibility for their own learning through the affordances provided by Web 2.0 technology.

I wish I could take information about this approach to my administration. I believe that this selection directly relates to education in America. We have created a "norm" for learning which looks like a single teacher standing in the front of the classroom, lecturing to students who are sitting and listening in nice straight rows of desks. Having the administration come in to classrooms looking for "order" is against this philosophy that in order to create a social/interactive classroom, it may look chaotic!

Another saying that I find relates to this is "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime."  It highlights that by teaching the man to fish, he will be able to fish on his own every day after to feed his family and survive.