"Independent learning is something that has to be instilled in a student from the moment they interact with you. Independent learning affords them independence in everything that they do and will do.
Some might think that if the above is promoted far too much then surely there will be no requirement for teachers? I suppose soon everyone will be taken over by robots and we will all grow gills and live under the sea! It is farcical to suggest that students don't need teachers. Without my teacher telling me how fabulous learning is and how getting an education will open so many doors for me, I wouldn't be where I am today. I am so proud of what I have achieved considering I was told I was 'not academic'."
"We are social creatures. In most respects humans are an unremarkable species without many amazing abilities, such as great strength, big teeth or flying. But we have each other, and as a result we have prospered. The same is true in the classroom. We can do great things went we work together, but that is only true went we can work independly first. Independent learning doesn't necessararily mean that you must hide away in your hermitage without the aid of the outside world, but instead means that you decide your own path and what resources you need to travel sucessfully along it."
Nice post by Margaret Regan on Edutopia's blog with 3 Strategies to promote independent thinking. With some practical examples and use of a word I haven't heard -- "autotelic" or those happiest when absorbed in complex activities. That would describe many of us coder types. Great post.
This is an interesting article from the Guardian's teacher network about running an independent newspaper using a Grammar school as a case study. I thought this quote is telling:
"The key to the success of the newspaper is to establish a trust relationship with the students involved so that they know the boundaries of their independence and know where their responsibilities lie. The editorial team is appointed and led by the editor in chief, a student selected by an interview with me and the outgoing editor."
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Scholastic's The First Thanksgiving
What it is: Scholastic has amazing resources all year long but the interactive on The First Thanksgiving is topnotch! Students learn about how the Pilgrims reached America, and what daily life was before the First Thanksgiving. Students can take a tour of the Mayflower, take the virtual journey to America, compare and contrast modern life with when the Pilgrims lived (housing, clothes, food, chores, school, games), and the Thanksgiving feast. There is a great slideshow and play a webquest feature where kids can learn more about the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag and the famous harvest feast. The site includes audio for every page and activity. This is great for younger students. How to integrate Scholastic's The First Thanksgiving into the classroom: The First Thanksgiving is a collection of great activities for students to learn about Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims. Students can use this site independently as young as first grade because of the audio features on The First Thanksgiving. The site can be used as a center activity that a few students can explore together, independently in the computer lab setting, or as a whole class with a projector or interactive whiteboard. The webquest at the end of the activity checks for student understanding with a quiz. Increase students participation further with some The First Thanksgiving bonus features and extras. Print out a Thanksgiving Readers theater, door signs, a fact hunt, a vocabulary quiz, and some letters from historical figures. There are also research and historical fiction journals that students can continue learning with. These range from a Plymoth Colony research starter to Our America: Colonial period. Tips: Check out Scholastic's Teaching resources for The First Thanksgiving as well as the literature connections that are available. Leave a comment and share how you are using The First Thanksgiving in your classroom.
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This software lets you take one host PC server and this lets you virtualize servers. In Walton County - have 100 servers and 60 are virtual. All independent and have their own IP address and appear completely independent -- they have 6 blade servers. This does cost money.
This would let me move the Accelerated Reader and Accounting system to separate "virtual servers" and if one needed to reboot, I could reboot a "virtual server" and not the physical server.
This is from an expert IT - Jack Higgins, Network Analyst - Walton County schools in Atlanta, GA -- met by accident in the Atlanta airport. A lot of these bookmarks are from him!
NAIS will host an independent school birds-of-a-feather gathering at the 2008 NECC in San Antonio. The birds gathering will take place on Tuesday, July 1 from 4:45 to 5:45pm.
a learning object is defined as any entity, digital or non-digital, that may be used for learning, education or training. IEEE
ork on metadata and learning object packaging
cohesion
ke any learning object and provide a 'wrapper' around this object
learning object is thus 'packaged' in a standard container format
learning objects must be developed with potential reuse, and especially repurposing in mind. The principal aim of this paper is to explore and delineate principles underlying authoring for reuse and repurposing.
taxonomy
This mapping suggests that each learning object should be based on one learning objective or clear learning goal.
The principle of cohesion, however, indicates that there should be a separate learning object for each type of loop. An immediate advantage is that the tutor can select the order in which these learning objects are combined. A tutor dealing with experienced student may wish to deal with these in sequence; another tutor with a different group of students may intersperse these learning objects with object dealing with other features of the language.
YES! Can we please apply this to items as simple as Word documents and HTML? It would make things so much easier. This also reminds me of good pedagogical design principles BEFORE we had digital learning -- the same should be true for worksheets, handouts, textbooks, etc. It needs to be able to be changed.
adaptation
The challenge is to maintain this richness in a system composed of reusable components.
We must face the challenge of creating learning objects that are cohesive, decoupled and pedagogically rich. This design challenge is associated with the issue of 'repurposability' as we might expect rich learning objects to provide further options for adaptation by local tutors.
quite honestly, I would have preferred a non-computer programming example. These principles apply to all technology design, not just programming. Something more accessible would have made this paper stronger.
The project involves intervention in syllabus development, the social organisation of learning and the introduction of new eLearning materials. The eLearning resources are being based on the authoring of rich, reusable learning objects. This development provides the focus for the present discussion.
The learning objects are being developed both to meet immediate pedagogical needs and to serve this larger goal. This produces extra pressure initially. However, it provides the potential to divide the eventual task among a number of contributing partners, exploiting considerable advantages of scale.
A key challenge for the project is to resolve the tensions in a creative and productive way.
This is so crucial. Each educator must be able to restructure it, use to his/her advantage within context.
main types of binding: navigational bindings through URLs and non-URL based content bindings. This design pattern deals with the issue of URL based bindings.
we must have a design mechanism for managing these bindings.
learning object consists of a core and zero or more expansions. A default object is presented with the core with certain expansions added. These expansions aim to provide added pedagogical value to help in attaining the learning objective.
the relationship between learning objects and the syllabus, course or other higher organising structure in which they are delivered.
the syllabus navigation structure operates at a different layer of organisation for the learning object resources
. These syllabi objects operate at a different layer from that of main content objects
The key message is the need to establish distinct layers of organisation in eLearning
The central challenge is to design for reuse and repurposing.
painful reading with the example of Java - but the point remains that all learning objects should be managed and designed with the purpose of being able to use them in the future in ways that are dynamic and reusable. This means de-coupling them and ensuring they are made of distinct pedagogical units.
"Learning is class or as a staff is great. The learner is guided through the process by expert educators to reach a new goal together. But not everyone is going in the same direction, so it is important to have the skills, ambition and discipline to learn independently."
The nowness of now rut occurs when students seek relief right now from anything that makes them feel uncomfortable when they should be doing an assignment, going to a class, meeting people to work on a project, etc.
If you aren’t sleeping, eating well, and generally taking care of yourself, then learning is negatively affected. If you are completely dependent on a parent/caregiver to set your goals and coach you through the action, then your chances of independence diminish greatly
adulthood requires finding a balance in this independence trifecta: 1) establish a work or career path, 2) seek and maintain relationships, and 3) pursue leisure activities simply for leisure. The tricky part is balance. If one’s leisure activities, for example, gaming, overtake work or homework/studying, then one may not be considered capable of living independently
doing the preliminary work outlined in these 10 levels will help prepare them to succeed in the transition to adulthood on whichever route—university or work life—is traveled
For middle-class students, college is “the ultimate symbol of independence” and also allows students to “distinguish themselves from their parents and realize their individual potential.” By contrast, students from working-class backgrounds are likely to have been socialized with different “rules of the game” —rules that emphasize interdependence with others (i.e., being part of a community).
“Many students from working-class families are influenced by limited financial resources and lack an economic safety net, and thus must rely on family and friends for support. Thus, these students’ expectations for college center around interdependent motives such as working together, connecting to others, and giving back,” said Stephens. “Given the largely independent college culture and the ways in which students’ social class backgrounds shape their motives for attending college, we questioned whether universities provide students from these different backgrounds with an equal chance of success.”
Admissions materials and university mission statements could be revised to reflect the importance of interdependent norms In the classroom, professors could emphasize the importance of collaboration, require more group work, and seek to develop ongoing relationships with their students. Universities could provide students with more structured opportunities that encourage ongoing connections with peers and faculty.
Diane Ravitch calls it. Read her blog post on this major ethical issue. I think we need an independent testing company. Isn't there a conflict of interest here when a company creates textbooks and the test?
"I am an 8th grade teacher in Xxxx, NY. On Day 1 of the NYS ELA 8 Exam, I discovered what I believe to be a huge ethical flaw in the State test. The state test included a passage on why leaves change color that is included in the Pearson-generated NYS ELA 8 text. I taught it in my class just last week. In a test with 6 passages and questions to complete in 90 minutes, it was a huge advantage to students fortunate enough to use a Pearson text and not that of a rival publisher. It may very well have an impact on student test scores. This has not yet received any attention in the press. Could you help me bring this to the attention of the public?"
"Mastery - an approach to teaching maths commonly used in East Asian countries - can significantly benefit children in UK schools, a University of Exeter academic has found.
The independent research, conducted by the Oxford University Department of Education, is the first academic study to show this teaching method, now supported by the UK Government, can be effective."
Very proud of my dear friend Cheryl Oakes from Maine who is on the Official Google blog with her work with those with disabilities. Cheryl is an amazing woman who loves children. My youngest son has met her only once (in San Antonio at ISTE) and still calls her Aunt Cheryl. She has that effect on people. Great post.
"One teacher who has taken advantage of the web as an educational tool is Cheryl Oakes, a resource room teacher in Wells, Maine. She's also been able to tailor the vast resources available on the web to each student's ability. This approach has proven invaluable for Cheryl's students, in particular 16-year-old Morgan, whose learning disability makes it daunting to sort through search results to find those webpages that she can comfortably read. Cheryl taught Morgan how to use the Search by Reading Level feature on Google Search, which enables Morgan to focus only on those results that are most understandable to her. To address the difficulty Morgan faces with typing, Cheryl introduced her to Voice Search, so Morgan can speak her queries into the computer. Morgan is succeeding in high school, and just registered to take her first college course this summer."