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Tech's Role in Learning is a 33 minute video produced by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach that focuses on the implementation and use of technology in Project Based Learning.  Nussbaum-Beach begins by looking at the TPAC model and the revised Bloom's Taxonomy (http://www.apa.org/ed/new_blooms.html) with an emphasis on students becoming creators (or producers) of knowledge.  She argues that the current model of classroom instruction (desks in rows, learning independently) will not work in the 21st century, and that we need to help our students construct their knowledge in a way that will prepare them for their future in an online world. The main point that Nussbaum-Beach makes in this video is that when our students get out into the real world, they will be connected to a global learning network.  Whatever they do in life, they will be able to connect and collaborate with others around the world.  It therefore becomes our job as educators to not only become connected learners ourselves, but to teach our students how to be connected learners as well.  Our students need to be constructing their knowledge and sharing/publishing their learning with the world.  She presents new "digital literacies" as tools that all students need to know to become members of this new global society and to make a difference in the world.

This paper discusses the significant impact of digital technology in teacher education, and the necessity of having teacher educators model effective strategies for integration of digital technology. The author describes an initiative started in the California education system, called The Digital Flexbook, "The term flexbook refers to the free, nonlinear, highly customizable and easy-to-use nature of open source textbooks (Fletcher, 2010)." Benefits such as collaboration among school districts, interactive classrooms, and increased teacher creativity were observed. Barriers such as lack of funds, lack of student access to technology at home, and lack of PD for teachers were also observed. Further benefits such as the ability to accurately reflect a community, the presence of a collaborative space to construct knowledge in innovative ways, showing multiple perspectives, promoting higher order thinking, and democratising knowledge. The author lists Web2.0 tools such as "...video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites like Twitter (Richardson, 2006a), all of which move students from consumers of information to editors of information. Research and experience show the need to infuse the TPCK model into teacher education, thus allowing students to become generators of knowledge and contributors to the Internet. One more big benefit of such constructivist pedagogy is allows for teachers and students to become more critical of the … intersection of race, gender, and socio-economic status on the writing of history, and integrated a model for how technology can and should be used in the classroom.

John Seely Brown: Tinkering as a Mode of Knowledge Production

This is a different world we live in, one of peer based learning within communities where people learn from each other. Moving into a world of change. "Tinkering is taking your imagination and building something from It". Tinkering with ideas around us, asking good questions, being open to criticism, accepting the criticism and learning from it. Yes, developing critical thinkers." Create, Reflect and Share - peer based learning, kids learning from each other. Working together shoulder by shoulder. Allowing students to find the idea and take their learning where they want it to go. Constructing a new kind of learning environment teaching and understanding each other. The teacher being a mentor in the learning environment, constructing an environment were we are always constructing and teaching one another. Relating tinkering to technology is simple. Tools in the digital world allow learners to take an idea, make change for better or worse, play with knowledge. Developing ideas not necessarily new ones, but grown ones that exist. It allows learners to create knowledge on the fly and foster imagination. What an amazing video, definitely a must to watch, it fostered my ideas of peer based learning. Loved the way it related back to education way back where one teacher taught kids of all ages, where tinkering was definitely the way education was driven. Older kids helping younger. This is the way John thinks we should be going in education, I feel we are moving in that direction but it is evolving. Watch the video and enjoy!

This article focuses on the importance of using technology in schools. The author, Seymour Papert, compares how the introduction of computers into a school setting is very similar to providing pencils to people in a community who communicate entirely using oral language. How will the computers and pencils get used by the people in their communities? Papert expresses the realization that educators are often hesitant to change their practices and sometimes when implementing new concepts or tools, teachers find trivial ways to use them rather than seeing their full potential. Papert goes on to explain how technology can "intellectually engage" those not interested in the traditional learning that schools often offer to students. He gives an example of how a disengaged student can use technology to intellectually challenge himself, develop the ability to persist, and collaborate with people that have common learning interests. In addition, Papert says that the use of project based learning and technology allows students to "acquire knowledge for use" and not to just pass a test. The concept of being able to access learning regardless of the time of day and the learner's location is also discussed. Technology offers greater learning as it allows students to learn from a wide community of people and not just those the same age and grade. Even with the objective reasons provided by educators, to limit the amount of changes in schools, Papert believes that the students' knowledge and expertise that they acquire while using computers at home will drive schools to embrace technology. He knows that institutions believe change cannot happen due to the lack of funding available, limited teacher understanding and assumption of what "school" should look like. However, Papert believes that change will occur because children will require schools to keep up with the learning they are doing outside the school setting when it comes to the area of technology.

Thomas Carroll wants the reader to truly think about this question and if your answer is no then he wants to know what are you doing about it.  It is discussed that today's schools bring the learner to the knowledge and tomorrow's schools should bring the knowledge to the learners.  To do this several things have to change such as teachers and schools.  If we want schools to be different we have to prepare teachers differently.  A Network Learning Community is suggested.  Its members would collaborate to achieve common goals, learning together as they develop solutions for problems they are addressing in common.  Everyone becomes a learner and the distinction between students and teachers fade away.   Within this Network Learning Community there would be expert learners, novice learners and mature learners.  An expert learner would help others learn through collaboration to solve problems and achieve goals they have in common.  They would organize and manage the learning.   Everyone would start out as a novice learner at birth and may remain a novice learner in on field while becoming a mature or even an expert learner in another over time. An ideal setting would be a problem in the middle, several learners surrounding it and an expert learner as well.  The learners would be novice up to mature learners and the expert learner would be the person that structures the learning activities, but is also constantly learning more and modeling the learning process, as oppose to the teaching process.

This article begins with a discussion of "connectivism" as a learning theory and it's acceptance by the educational community. It extends beyond the traditional theories of behaviorism, congnitivism, and contructivism to describe learning within a network. Connectivism is a theory in which complex learning occurs through recognition and adaptation of patterns in social, technologically enhanced networks. He explores the overlay vs. transformation paradigm now occurring in education and provides an interesting historical perspective, the introduction of electricity to factories. Originally factories were designed to take advantage of a single power source. Electricity was introduced and replaced the original power source but was simply overlaid - used to power the original device on which the entire factory was dependent. If a problem occurred with this device, the entire factory was incapacitated. It took a complete redesign of the factories, utilizing multiple power sources, to fully realize the improvement brought by the new technology. Next, Siemens examines the various metaphors for educators in recent literature. The first is of the master artist, as in the atelier or studio model, in which the students learn from each other and are guided by the more knowledgeable and experienced teacher. Another is of the network administrator who assists students in forming connections and creating learning networks. Next is the concierge who acts as a tour guide, assisting with resource acquisition and permitting student exploration. Finally, he settles on his preferred metaphor of the educator as curator who creates learning spaces and allows learners the freedom to explore and make connections. Siemens proposes that we should consider the change caused by our networked society and rethink and reconsider our view of learning and knowledge, as well as our approach to teaching.

"Computers have had a transformative impact on many fields, it is thus natural to expect that they are having an effect on educational practice leading to a dramatically fresher, more engaging and more powerful process of learning -educational wonderland." Two observations: 1. Computers do very little to aid learning. Their presence in the classroom along with relevant software does not automatically inspire teachers to rethink their teaching or students to adopt new modes of learning. Teachers do not radically transform what they would do without computers, although it may make things more efficient and fun. Computer technology may provide interesting and powerful learning opportunities, but these are not taken automatically, teachers and learners need to learn how to take advantage of them. 2. It is the whole culture of a learning environment, with or without computers, that can affect learning in important ways "It's not what technology can do, but what learning demands, best points up to the potential contributions of technology." Technology is helping things along, sometimes in crucial ways, rather than in itself doing the real work of teaching. Computers can become partners in cognition with learners, rightly used computers can enable what needs to happen in knowledge networking. Computers can make easier and more efficient what might need to be done in more cumbersome and convoluted ways.

Jacky, This article seems to fit well with your flipped classroom page!

This article tries to answer the questions "What kinds of products should we consider having our students construct as a result of PBL and what factors should we consider as we design project tasks. " Some examples of artifacts would be: physical model, theory, multimedia project, Web site, video or radio program, lesson for younger learners, computer program, robot, or hypermedia. Whatever the end product, it is in the process of construction that their knowledge is forming and it is in the design phase that "learners construct their initial understandings." The product should come about through these 4 things: * an extended time frame (a few weeks to an entire year), the goal is deeper understanding and this takes time * collaboration, this will enhance the learning process * inquiry/investigation/research, this an active search for explanations * and a consequential task. The end task is considered by the article as just a ploy to trap students into thinking deeply. The article also gives examples of successful artefacts. One was a geometry project where students had to design a case to carry 18 cans. They needed to use their school mascot in the design (cowboys) and consider marketing, geometric factors, as well as write a persuasive letter to sell the product. They also talked about a web page where women were interviewed about their experiences during the second world war. They learned not only about that time in history, but about interviewing and listening skills.

I launched my knowledge of PBL via this website. They offered free, online courses on this topic. They have numerous pre-constructed plans available to facilitate learning how to run PBL in the classroom.