Michael Guhlin and I run in the same circles a lot. His name shows up on a Instructional Designer list that I manage for a group in another state. We have some really similar ideas about the role of technology in education. It’s nice having a little external validation in the form of “See?? I’m *not* crazy!”

Focus on Learning not blogging
How can anyone spend time blogging on top of what they do all day? The fact is that some of my best blogging research–when I decide on Future Blog Posts–while I’m looking for something else. In fact, my focus during the day is learning something, either for work, to satisfy my curiousity

While y’all are concerned that you don’t get credit for reading, the actual point of the exercise is that you have to read in order to find stuff to write about. I’m not the only one that says it. Michael Guhlin just said it again. Add his blog and Wes Freyer to your ‘gator and you’ll have plenty to write about.

Posted in Education, Technology | No Comments »

This is such a good point, I thought I’d make sure everybody sees it.

No Credit for Reading
It is a shame that we can’t get any credit for reading. Some days I read through every blog and just don’t find anything to comment on. I enjoy some of what I read, but I just don’t feel like I have anything to add to what the author already said. I don’t want to just rehash or review stuff so I end up spending a lot of time on this class with not always a lot to show for it.

There’s an unfortunate reality to school. It’s one of the reasons I maintain that no class at any school is actually learner-centered. That reality is that you have to show your work. I’m doing all I can to make sure that the work you’re doing is not busy work, is related to the constructs I’m trying to teach, and is relevant to your individual contexts. The grading scheme (lots of little marks all the way thru, instead of a few big marks) is unusual in graduate school, but serves my pedagogical purposes well. But when push comes to shove, you have to show you’ve been here and the only way you can do that is by writing.

Ironically, you can get away in a classroom based setting by doing nothing but showing up. But if you just “show up” in an online class, somebody notices. It’s one of the reasons I prefer to teach online — students can’t just show up and get a grade. Of course, it’s one of the reasons students don’t like the online classes, too.

The issue of ’spending a lot of time reading’ is a good one, too. That’s not “just showing up” but is actual engagement in the content. If anybody can tell me how I can know what you’re actually reading, and what it is you’re thinking about it without your writing it down for me to read, I’d be willing to consider changing the rubric to give credit for reading.

And I’ll echo here the tip I made there:

“If you’re spending a lot of time reading and you’re not finding anything to write about, you need to find some different voices to listen to.”

Posted in Education | 3 Comments »

If you’ve been following along in the comments on the post about my toolbox you’ll see a discussion of the use of audio files. There’s more to be said about audio, and I say some of it in this post from last year about Exotic Tools.

Yes, I believe there ARE good and valid uses of audio in the classroom. My Big Issue is that that *majority* of users are teachers who use it to lecture. While there are some fascinating speakers available (use Google to look up “IT Conversations” and “TED Conference”), the majority of teachers do not fall into that group.

Posted in Education, Technology | 1 Comment »

Several of you have referred to “learning styles” in some of your posts and comments. I know it’s fashionable, but it’s also not supported by any credible scientific evidence. It’s intuitively appealing but it appears to be superstition. For a critique of the extant literature on this see:

Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning. A systematic and critical review. London: Learning and Skills Research Centre.

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences does appear to be supported by some relatively good research but this it *not* the same notion as VAK or VARK models of “learning style.”

Posted in Education | 5 Comments »

Last year I wrote about Podcasting as an exotic tool. I’m interested that the notion of podcasting is moving into the “Basic Toolbox”.

Posted in Technology | 6 Comments »

Whatever is in the water up there in Saskatchewan, I wish we had some down here. Dean Shareski is one of the bloggers in my ‘gator and he has this thought provoking idea that assessing technology use is a lot like assessing pencil use.

Why Technology Assessments Suck
I’ve been asked to try and develop and build something that could measure student achievement in technology. Here’s my issue: First this idea of separating technology from everything is not ideal. We know technology isn’t “integrated” it’s just used. We know the real skills aren’t “the student can save a document” just as we don’t measure, “the student will keep their pencils in a pencil case”. We want to measure learning in deeper ways and to break it down to this, misses the boat.

This hits the nail pretty directly on the head and underscores some of the issues that I’ve long had with the way we think about technology and the classroom. When teaching reading, we we assess whether or not the student can use a bookmark? Find something in an index? Locate a chapter in a table of contents? No. We *do* occasionally have these skills as a lesson in some other context — one relating to the organization and construction of books — but not when we’re addressing the issues of reading — that is, the decoding of meaning from a systematically coded represention of ideas.

I’ve said it before and I seem to be saying it again.

1. The mere presence (or absence) of a technology in a classroom is not related to the level of outcome.
2. Technology is neither the problem nor the solution.

Posted in Education, Technology | 4 Comments »

One of you asked me how I can write so much. The answer is I read a lot. Things like this little epistle from Chris Lott:

Ruminate » Normative Futures
As much as we like to consider the influence of technology on our stories, fictions and narratives, it is a fascinating thought exercise to think about how some of those fictional and cinematic narratives have come to influence, positively and negatively, our conception of the technological future. Sadly, we get only the tiniest glimpses inside mental wonderland of individuals.

Blogging is not writing a diary. It’s writing to find out what you think about what other people are saying. There’s a reason it’s called the “read-write web.”

Posted in General | No Comments »

I don’t use Powerpoint. I don’t attend lectures that use PowerPoint. I don’t visit online presentations of SlideShare that play PowerPoints for me. To find out how I really feel about it, read Why PowerPoint is Evil.

Posted in Education | 6 Comments »

My posting has been sparse the last couple of days, but I’ve been thinking about something for several weeks as I struggle with the “just tell me what I need to know” attitude that I get from teachers. This is not something new. I’ve been hearing it for years and across a variety of contexts. The problem is one of skill development and what I think of as “voice.”

I’m no MFA like my friend Donal (Learning Aestetics) but it seems to me that every artist has a “voice” — that is the unique characteristic that makes his/her work identifiable as theirs. Ansel Adams’ photography. Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings. Ernest Hemingway’s novels. Monty Python’s animation.

Don’t we each have a similar voice in teaching? My style and techniques are certainly not those of, say, Dr. Miller. We use a lot of tools and techniques in common, but how we approach, develop, and use them is unique. Not just what we say, but how we say it. It’s the idea of “voice.”

The problem and the struggle that all artists face is the development and evolution of voice. Picaso’s “blue period” and Matisse’s “gouaches découpés” are examples of shifts in voice. In the case of Matisse, literally changing media while maintaining a unique voice. So how do we deal with this in teaching?

I hesitate to use the term because of the negative connotations it has in this cognitive space, but the idea of ‘professional development’ is the key. The problem is that — in the case of the artists — that professional development happened alone and without the support of organizational bolsters over a rather extend period of time — weeks and even months. Perhaps that’s the secret to effective professional development. Most “professional developments” happens over a ridiculously short period of time and in too little depth to promote understanding. In a two hour professional development activity, where is the time for practice, reflection, adoption, and adaptation? How can anybody even find out whether a particular tool or technique might be applicable — except in the most trivial and superficial manner in anything less than a day.

Oh, sure, you can get an idea that something might be interesting. You can get a feel for perhaps how it might be used. Your expectations and perceptions are going to be colored by your preconceived notions but you can perhaps become intrigued enough to pursue it later and on your own. That’s what kids do. That’s what artists do. It’s actually what scientists do. But it’s seldom what teachers do. The most common response I get when introducing a new tool or technique to teachers?

“I don’t have time for all this detail. Just tell me what I need to know!”

The problem is that just teaching Matisse how to hold a pair of scissors wouldn’t have resulted in his Blue Nudes or Jazz. Just showing you how to set up a blog or aggregator won’t result in your incorporation of these technologies in your practice using your own “voice.” Only you can do that, and it’s going to take time.

Posted in Education | 1 Comment »

The idea of tools is always interesting. We are all guilty of the “toolbox building syndrome” where we collect tools because they’re neat. I’m guilty, myself. The problem is that we then get caught up in “technology because we can” and don’t necessarily make the best choices.

See My Basic Toolbox for the items *I* need to be effective.

While we do need tools — and practice in their use — the judicious selection of tools becomes one of the skills an expert needs to develop. What that usually means is trying out a lot of tools and discarding them. The larger challenge becomes in gaining the expertise in the tools so that you can incorporate them into your practice.

Posted in Education, Technology | 1 Comment »