Learning About Blogs #1

Will Richardson’s blog “Weblog-ed” is focused on explaining the value of using the internet as an educational tool.  The blog has several tabs allowing for visitors to easily browse through the various elements Richardson wants people to see.  Some of this no doubt is for Richardson’s personal gain such as workshops he is able to give, while the bulk of the other tabs are great ways for visitors to learn about the web.  One tab I liked in particular is a large collection of educational blogs.  I was able to surf through it with little problem to expand where I can go to read interesting ideas in regards to education.  Until taking grad classes involving technology in class, I did not put a lot of interest into reading blogs outside of a few comedic ones; even then I did not read them often.  I plan on looking through several of these blogs, to see if I like any of them.  This makes finding blogs ridiculously easy for me.  His resources tab I am not fond of however.  It seems to be a wiki that after clicking on several links seems to be more of a mash of quick facts written down, so I’ll admit right now I cannot seem to enjoy it much. 

His tab “my stuff” is where he has archived all of his past blogs.  I read through several of them and liked them, one that stands out in particular is a blog in the sense that Richardson describes in his book Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts: and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.  In this post he combines ideas from varioussources to discuss how education will move away from standardization and posts links so the visitor can read his sources for themselves.  The blog does not just end there, as it is filled with responses to his proposition of school becoming individualized.  What I like is that the responses themselves are also well documented, where some of the posts respond with links of their own.  This combined with another post, where Richardson asks for advice in regards to a lesson plan, shows that the informational value for blogs goes beyond picking up handy tips from what the author posts.  The easiest reason for this is the fact that sources are posted by people responding back to the author, so one can link hop readily while following interesting trains of thought.  The second reason is that being an author of a blog gives you a wealth of people to go to when you’re in a professionally tight place and need someone else to lean on.  A friend of mine who is a grad school in education told me she believes that no teacher should feel like an island.  She meant that anyone in education should share and look to each other for help.  Having a blog opens you up to more educators then just the ones in your building or friends you may know from college. 

Richardson definitely practices what he preaches in his book that I mentioned.  His blogs are well laied out and many of them do have links to works that he is referencing.  I plan on returning to this blog when I have a lazy day and the luxury to just go where the links take me.  Hopefully they will yield interesting results for my professional development. 

Why Not Pick Back Up?

     Well, for sometime I have been inactive on this site. I guess its time for an update, on how things are going in my life.  My first post on this site gave the basics on what was going on in my life at that point.  Since then very little has changed.  My son is now 2 years old, and yes I'm still dreading the day I have to put him into daycare.  Only one thing has really changed, and that's my point of view on technology.
     Before my last class, I would openly admit I'm a throw back for my generation.  Technology and me really didn't get along.  I used to say "if its more advanced then a sharpened rock I'm lost".  Now of course this is an exaggeration, but still I was not comfortable or too knowledgeable about computers.  However I have become more comfortable with them since last semester, and have began to realize that with the advancement of communication technologies society is changing at an amazing pace.  Currently students are able to swim through a sea of information, able to read about what they want at the click of a button.  Also with creations such as facebook and phones more conducive to text messaging, student's social lives now revolve around these changes. 
     With that said, I may as well embrace these changes, then try to fight a losing war.  As I still do not consider myself a master of the technological domain, and someone who flourished under the old lecture method, I have decided to sign up for additional courses related to technology and education.  I figure if I learn how to teach using these new tools before actually going out onto the field, it'll be easier to adopt them than to do so after years of practice in the older methods.  With that, here's to my continued growth in technology for educational purposes!

Synthisis #4

I enjoyed the work that I put into my webquest.  Creating a webquest challenged me to think about how to use technology in order to prepare my students for the future, with the current trends in mind.  First it will give students practice with using communication technology to work alongside students miles away.  As communication technology improves, this will be as vital of a skill as working alongside someone in the same building.  It was not just the gap in area that the students were forced to overcome, but also the cultural divide.  By creating groups composed of northern and southern students engaged in creating a project on the Civil War, students were able practice working with different cultures.  This I considered a practice run, as all students lived in America and were from the east coast.  This meant  that generally they would all speak the same language (I say generally as northern Virginia is a very diverse place that will only get more diverse, same with New York depending on what part of the state you are involved with), have similar customs, and have the same time zones.  The difference comes in with how both states traditionally view the Civil War.  Last year I had an assignment where I had to look for bias in history text books.  So the first thing I did was grab a U.S. history book from a Virginia middle school and looked up the Civil War.  I had noticed then that the language was far different from the language used in the northern text books I grew up with.  The subtleties of that day, reminded me how the divide between north and south still exists today, and felt it would be a great practice run for the students to deal with.  By having different views and having to come together, students to analyze information and agree on how to present the Civil War, and all the information relating to it.  Increasingly businesses will be hiring employees from all over the world, bringing people together to create finished products, as mentioned in The Nine Shift, with its knowledge workers.  In the future there will be a demand for individuals who can work from a computer screen with teammates that they may not be able to interact with in person to create finished products.  My webquest I believe will be perfect practice for students in such an economy.  This project also helps students develop two of their “minds” as per Howard Gardner.  The synthesizing mind will be exorcised since like most school projects in social studies, students will be taking information from multiple sources and sorting through what they feel to be the most important and accurate information to bring together for the webquest.  Information on the Civil War will vary wildly depending on the political leanings of the source.  Individuals such as Lincoln can be hailed as a hero according to some people, while reviled as a villain in others.  Students will have to decide what is the most accurate information as a group for their project.  Gardner’s Respectful Mind will also be developed through the use of working together as a group.  The members of the group may have wildly different interpretations and thoughts concerning the Civil War, and to create this project they will have to negotiate how to deal with these opposing viewpoints.  If students spend the bulk of their time arguing with one another, they will end up wasting valuable time they could spend on their project.  Also how the group works is a part of their grade.  Teachers will be able to monitor communications, and students will be assessing one another on how well their partners worked on the project.  For a student to get full credit in this area, they will have to be productive equitable members of their groups.  This again goes into the idea that in the future employers will be teaming up a wide range of individuals, with differing strengths, views and ideas.

            This webquest is also very useful for teaching about social justice.  When one hears a debate over the Civil War, at least in my experience the most common arguments always boil down to the issue of State’s rights versus slavery.  Those that are pro-confederate tend to argue that the war was over the South believing in a State’s rights and fearing the encroachment of a growing federal government.  Many of the pro-Union individuals argue on the basis of slavery, and that it was in the best interests of this nation to end such a barbaric institution.  Students will have to look at both sides or the argument, as both were factors in causing the war.  At the end of their webquest, students are then asked to sum up the Civil War in discussing how it applies to America today.  Students will be able to write about issues concerning “big government” and analyze what is the role of government in their opinion.  They also could write about how the issues with slavery and the laws passed were the beginnings of today’s racial relations, and how we have gone from a society treating African Americans like property, to electing one to the highest office in the land.  Perhaps students will see in this case, it was in the best interest of this nation that the federal government got involved in slavery, allowing for the growth of equal rights; or they could hold a strong opinion that no matter what the south was right to break away from the Union. 

            The Civil War was also selected because it is one of the best moments in American history that highlights the importance of technology.  Technology affected the cultures of the opposing sides in the Civil War.  The North with its industrial economy, and inventions such as the steam engine, abandoned what little slavery was already occurring in its territories.  Slavery was simply not an economic viable option.  Slavery was even dying down in the South, until that is the invention of the cotton gin, that made agricultural slavery espeacially in cotton a viable option.  Technology also played a part here with the invention of the steam engine also played a part.  With the advent of the train and the steam powered ship, the market for the sale of cotton grew for the South, making Slavery the only way many of the plantation owners could make a great deal of money.  Soon the issue of how a state made its money began to define its political culture, and the race for states to be either slave states or free states began.  Each hoping to create more like minded states so as to not be over powered in Congress. Students will see how technology affected how Americans viewed the very institution of slavery.  Some such as abolitionists viewed it as an evil to be stomped out, others as an economic weapon used to gain control of the nation.

            This is not the only way students will learn about the impact of technology.  Students are asked to analyze the strengths of both sides in the war.  The Union’s industrialization is perhaps the biggest reason as to why it won the war.  Students will see how industrialization helped the Union arm its men, how rail roads helped them relocate their soldiers to where needed, and how the telegraph information was able to travel from the officers to the Lincoln and back.  Also during the Civil War, General Sherman specifically targeted rail lines and telegraphs as a part of his tactics to bring the South to its knees.  This is why I mandated that the students discuss the strengths the North had, and how it helped them win the war.  In this way students will see how changes in communication and transportation, even back in the 1800’s changed the way people did everything.

            Creating this webquest I feel was very beneficial to me, as I am now looking at topics and figuring out how different forms of technology that students love today can be used to capture their interests and prepare them for a technology heavy future.  As we have said in class, information and communication technology is growing at leaps and bounds.  This needs to be seen as an alley to capture student’s attention and interest, instead of a rival.

Sythesis #3

                America is changing, both technologically and culturally.  As a result schools will have to evolve in order to prepare the students of the future for the world.  Currently as illustrated by Oakes, there is a strong lobby for the traditional mold of schooling.  However it has become apparent that this mold is quickly becoming obsolete.  Draves and Oakes both agreed that the current model is built on the concept of a factory, in order to churn out students as a finished product for the industrial era.  This attempt at a homogenized product, I would say did not provide education for all the students, even in the most homogeneous student body.  The student body however is becoming increasingly diverse, along with an increasingly globalized technological based economy. 

            The structure of schools will have to change.  As I mentioned before, the current model is based on the factory model with the intent of churning out a homogenized product.  However students are all different with different strengths and weaknesses that they bring to the table.  What is important is recognizing this and making changes to accommodate for this in ways that encourages students to work.  This can be done with a multitude of different policies.  However perhaps the easiest way to go about assisting students to learn is to have a prolonged contact with their subject teachers.  Graduating classes can be assigned certain teachers in each subject who they have throughout their career at that school.  Oakes writes on page 442 “Research has shown that students do better in school when their teachers know them well and when they work with the same teacher for two or more years”.  Having the same teacher only represents one minor problem for a teacher, which is having to prepare for new subject matter each year.  However the advantage is that the teacher will know their students more with each passing year and have a better handle on how each of them learn.  Teachers will be able to personalize their lessons and assessments to their students, instead of grasping at straws each year.  This makes basic sense to me, based on one of my hobbies which is Dungeons and Dragons.  In the game the Game Master (aka DM) creates a series of puzzles and other problems for the players to overcome.  I found that as time goes by with the same group of players, creating new puzzles and problems for them to enjoy becomes easier and more enjoyable.   I have so far likened creating lesson plans and assessments to planning for Dungeons and Dragons.  In both you are supplying the individuals with what they will need to later solve problems to prove that they are able.  It only makes sense that having the same students for more than one year will make creating lesson plans for that class far easier.  Another advantage is that by having the same students for a longer period of time, the teachers are able to aide students in ways other than academically.  By having the students, teachers are better able to get to know their personalities, and what they may need emotionally.  This could range between noticing on going trends, and being there for support, or noticing sudden changes.  This reminds me of an ex-girlfriend I had back in high school.  She was normally a very good student, hardworking and cared about her classes.  However her junior year events happened within her family that caused her a great deal of emotional anguish.  Her problems went by rather unnoticed by faculty who just assumed that she had an attitude problem, and that her apathy was normal.  She was stuck dealing with her issues on her own wit my help.  The problem is that at the time I was only 16, and in no way able to really help her continue on with school.  Her grades never recovered and she barely graduated.  Now if we had the same teachers that we had our freshman year, or even sophomore I firmly believe that teachers would have noticed that something was going on, and would have stepped into make sure she got the assistance that she required. 

            In fact it is this ability to care for the students that bleeds directly into how curriculum must be modified.  Perhaps the first thing that needs to go is the use of high stake tests to measure student performance.  The problem with standardized tests is that, first just like students learn in different ways; they also express what they know differently.  It boils back to students having different strengths.  What I suggest then is that schools rely on traditional tests less, and integrate more authentic assessments.  The video “Educational Futurists” covered this at great lengths.  They discussed how students become excited and more involved when they are actually doing what they are learning.  I agree with the one teacher who made the comment about how he remembered the projects he did in school, and referenced when he traced his hand to look like a turkey.  This was backed up by the teacher who made a comment about how students are always asking her “do you remember that one project we did...” and that no one ever asks her if she remembers a test.  Students remember projects because they find them interesting, and like they said in the video, there is a finished product they can be proud of.  As a result of the students remembering their projects, they are also more likely to retain the information used to accomplish the project.  Aside from that, it helps students develop problem solving skills, forcing them to think critically.  The one man interviewed in the video from Harvard who commented about how critical thinking is imperative for prost-scholastic life.  Testing skills are vital for tests only, however what is learned in the class room can be translated over to a broader range of uses.  This however would require that teachers force students to perform different tasks with the information used.  Students preparing a presentation on the American Revolution for example are not only showing what they know about history, but also perfecting vital research, and public speaking skills.  By having students produce authentic assessments instead of standardized tests, students are going to retain a greater amount of the content taught, as well as develop other skills then just testing skills.

            Lastly certain aspects of pedagogy could afford to be modified.  Aside from teachers making more of an effort to show that they care, all teachers could afford to use their class time to convey the importance of social justice.  I may find this to be important because I am hoping to teaching history or civics.  The purpose of these subjects is to convey the importance of ethics, justice, and how a democratic society should act.  However I do not feel that these topics can only be taught in those the social sciences.  Gardener makes a mention of different kinds of minds, and among them is the ethical mind, and talks about how a world without ethics would not be a world worth living in.  Students need to think about social issues to decide for themselves what it means to be ethical.  While the social sciences draw heavily on historical events, and politics, other subjects are also full of potential.  Students can create projects in math regarding economic issues, such as capitalism, or the issues with outsourcing jobs.  Science is a subject that brings up ethical issues all the time, be it evolution, or the ethics behind stem cell research.  By eliciting students to think about topics on an ethical level, they not only become more civic minded, but also the subjects take on another dimension of life.  This in turn will further increase their interest, and allow them to think about adult issues instead of being children practicing their times tables. 

            The world is changing, through a combination of new technology and more students of different backgrounds.  For America to maintain world dominance, the school system will have to evolve to help students meet the new challenges of the future.  America as a nation will benefit from the increased number of more capable high school graduates. 

Sythesis #2

I believe the role of schools in 2025 will be to develop students in three different areas which are skills, character, and content knowledge.  Content knowledge is what school perhaps is most famous for.  No one would argue the importance of being taught content knowledge in Math and language arts.  It is important that students to learn the basics in these classes as their importance is more readily apparent, so much so that the government readily funds these programs.  However it is also important that students learn the content of other classes if not for the simple reason of knowing, but that the content of history or music helps student develop in skills and character. 

Skills are important because they are able to be applied in multiple settings, knowing how to analyze a document for bias is valuable in more settings then being able to recite the Rome’s Five Good Emperors.  The question however is what skills will be the most important in the world of 2025.  The skills that will be most important will center on interpersonal skills, and technological I believe.  The Nine Shift really made a lot of sense when it talked about the Internet Age.  Students will first off need technological skills taught in school, and have their assessments involve technology.  It can be too easy to assume that students will develop these skills on their own, or in another venue.  However these skills are too vital to leave up to assumption.  Just as students used to learn how to write in cursive (The Nine Shift asserts that this isn’t the same anymore) elementary students should be taught typing skills.  Students should be around technology as much as possible in order to give them plenty of experience and time to think about how new programs and devices maybe used for school projects as well as for life after school.  The next skill is interpersonal, since the work place is becoming increasingly group orientated.  The work place is a gathering point where people from an assortment of backgrounds and skills will come together to solve basic problems and create products to help our society.  If a student is not taught or does not have practice in how to treat people or even communicate they will be lacking in an essential skill that even employers today are looking for.  I wrote earlier in this blog about how increased globalization will also place added pressure on interpersonal skills.  I repeat this issue in this blog because I do feel that this is perhaps one of the most important things a person must learn.  All the problem solving skills and content knowledge in the world does not do any good if a person is not able to communicate the solutions nor motivate those around them to comply.

Character is the last point here that I will write about concerning the role of schools in 2025.  This is because the character of the young decides the fate of society for the next generation.  The point of all species is to propagate the next generation.  For simpler organisms this means merely passing on your genetic code, and hopefully it will be the winning code to further the species.  Humans however are nowhere near as simple.  We are a species that regularly adopts other species (pets), so genetics being passed on to the next generation is not necessarily what we worry about, we worry about our values and culture living on into the future. Gardner in 5 Minds for the Future wrote that a world without ethics is a bleak place to live in, and I agree.  Now many people would assert that this is really the job of a child’s family and not some stranger like a teacher.  As a parent myself I am inclined to agree, however not every child is blessed with parents that care to teach them positive character traits.  For this a child does need another role model to look to, and this is where school steps in as it traditionally has.  Though when I say that schools should teach values, I mean some of the overarching themes of being a good citizen.  Students should be aware of some of the United States’ major values such as equality, and natural rights.  After teaching students about these themes, then teachers especially social studies and language arts teachers should prod students along using their classes to help students figure out their own values and what is right and wrong. 

I also believe that it is important that students be taught in a way that skills and knowledge come together in meaningful ways for them.  By striving to make learning experiences more authentic students will be more receptive to the material, and it will reach a wider range of students.  Too often teachers revert to the sage on the stage, leaving out students who do are not talented at learning from only hearing and watching.  Those who do not do well, Jeannie Oakes writes often get written off as just not talented in that subject.  I can relate to being one of these students as Math did not feel relatable to me.  Teachers in my high school were content with just letting me get by in math, and since I did not feel that the subject was going to relate to my future I blew it off so long as I maintained a “B”.  I think one way to make learning experiences more authentic is with collaborative efforts by teachers in different subjects.  In middle school I was lucky enough to have my social studies and language arts combined into a “humanities” course.  In 7^th and 8^th grade history, reading and writing were closely linked.  We read a great deal of historic fiction such as My Brother Sam Is Dead, and Red Badge of Courage.  These books helped history come to life for me, and were the beginning of my interest in the subject.  For the history part of the class we were expected to give presentations, and write reports instead of take multiple choice tests.  The presentations forced me to draw links between the various historical facts being taught, and I had to synthesize themes that could be drawn from the units and draw a conclusion.  From there I was then expected to not only write about it but then explain to the rest of the class what I felt was important about the unit.  As corny as it may sound, it made me feel that I was learning about life, and not just names and dates.  Looking back on these memories I really feel my passion for history and people came from this interdisciplinary class.  I bring this up because while I felt that I could not relate with math, I was an avid fan of the sciences.  Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, I enjoyed them all; I enjoyed learning about how the world worked around me.  I often joked that I was an “A” student in physics, but never had a desire in fact dreaded the concept of entering pre-calculus.  I wonder how things could have been different if my math teachers worked together with my science teachers in the same manner as my “humanities” teachers did in middle school.  I believe that you have a higher chance of reaching more students if teachers worked with teachers of other subjects to create unique lesson plans that showed the value of the information being taught.  If a student is not necessarily interested in one of the subjects, its ties to the other could spark a new interest.