LightintheWoods

Today, I met with the Centre for Academic Technologies at the University of Regina. The topic of discussion was possibilities for, and the potential of, mobile tools and learning. In preparation for this discussion I prepared this wiki on Mobile Tools. You will find links to stories, possible tools, ideas around teaching & learning, strengths/opportunities & weaknesses/barriers to consider and a selection of related links. In the end we agreed on the importance of remaining current on these technologies and attempting to ensure that courses are designed with possibilities for mobile tools in mind.

Hopefully in the near the future we will see these tools integrated into courses as they are needed and not because mobile seems to be the latest & greatest trend or flashy gizmo. My feeling is that some students are already self equipped with devices that have the potential to expand upon their access to content and overall learning experience. It was evident that his area is ripe for experimentation and innovation, as we generated far more questions than answers. We are continually looking for models of success and ideas of sound pedagogical application, please share if you have any stories of mobile technologies and learning.

There is much more on this topic that I want to unpack and think about. As tools advance, barriers to efficient use of the tools will decrease and learners will continue to find ways to utilize the mini computers that we carry.

I have a related post on MP3 players from January that has more thoughts on possibilities for tools.

Some twitter folks may of followed bits of this scenario if they had been on twitter at all yesterday. If not, try to follow along. Here is how it started…

In that third tweet, I shouldn’t have used the typical teacher talk to refer to the classroom conversation as a ‘lesson’. For this post I will save you the details about the ‘conversation’/'learning experience’/'time together’, but I suspect bits and pieces will come out as I share my perspective.

Anyway, this tweet triggered a few replies. Through the early evening, we threw a few tweets back and forth. Eventually, I picked up a short conversation with @mindelei (that is the only name I know know her by.) As a brand new teacher, I like following and tweeting with Mindelei, because she is a pre-service teacher and writes well. We shared meaningful discussion and questioning on teaching about the ‘idea of cool’.

I claimed that it is important to discuss ‘cool’ with students. That everyone has their own unique sense of ‘cool’. Referring to the students, I tweeted about coolness as part of one’s ’self’. Everyone is cool in some way. I tweeted about modeling ‘cool’ and that students are shown many examples when we teach about hero’s, share best practices and point out ‘cool’ acts.

I wrote that, too often ‘cool’ equates with ‘popular’ and that is false. Coolness is not about social hierarchy at all. It is about strong values/morals/ethics, neat interests, talents, being real. To me it is about being calm, collected and with ‘it’. Again, this is my perception of the concept, if you don’t agree please share. I know this is not the general perception of cool.

Mindelei and I ended up seeing eye-to-eye, I think, and we concluded that the debate we were having was moot as it was hinging on semantics. I have invited her to follow this blog post to discuss further, if she wants.

Whoohoo, success. Learning is awesome! Thanks for making the connection between us Twitter! That is what these social tools are about.

But wait… it is not over.

I came across another recent follower that had a perspective to share. Unfortunately, he was critical of our discussion and tweeted without the @thekyleguy pre-fix to notify me of his issue with the discussion. I was taken back by these public tweets as they insulted my character and incited some further reflection. After a hike to clear my mind, I decided that blogging this to wider forum would create a learning experience. Bringing this issue to light here, ignites the topic of practicing digital citizenship and courtesy. I will share this followers’ perspective and subsequent questions that I am left with.

(Update: Chad admitted he may of mis-understood the discussion tweets and apologized through direct message this morning. I have accepted his apology but feel as though this scenario raises too many valuable topics that do not get discussed enough.)

I have copied & pasted a screenshot of Chad’s tweets from last night. Start with the tweet at the bottom.

Please, keep in mind these tweets on their own are out of context. We don’t know which which part of the discussion @cbrannon started reading my tweets. I want to learn more from this. We need to discuss further. As a sub, I want to learn about being a ‘real’ teacher. Assist me with these issues so I can carry myself better when I enter the classroom and the staffroom.

Often twitter is described as a large virtual staffroom where teachers from all over the world gather to share resources and talk. The problem here is that these patronizing tweets were shouted without direction to the whole staffroom, rather than being whispered about privately as they would likely be in a real staffroom. I come to the virtual staffroom to reflect upon and to question teaching practice and pedagogy, both my own and that of others whom I learn from.

I welcome criticism and questioning of my idea’s and thoughts, in fact I am always calling for honesty and feedback. Usually, I defend my stance or learn from the questioning perspective. In this instance, I don’t feel as though I need to defend myself against Chad’s tweets because we have determined that he mis-understood the discussion. I am, however, interested in the definition of ‘real’ teacher, the manner with which this issue has been raised, and thoughts on discussing the idea of ‘cool’ with students.

<INSERT THEME MUSIC>

Readers, I now pose the hard questions to you.

Is being ‘cool’ important to students?

Should ‘real’ teachers and students talk about the ‘idea of cool’?

Why hasn’t @cbrannon heard ‘real’ teachers talking about it?

Do you talk to kids about being cool, about bringing out their passions?

Isn’t this opportunity for authentic learning experiences?

Are substitutes, ‘real teachers’?

What is your idea of ‘cool’?

and on a personal note, do I come off as an “expert without experience”?

*You can follow all of my twitter conversations in my archive.

As I scanned twitter tonight, I watched as Guy Kawasaki aka. @guykawasaki, the man behind Alltop & Truemors, blew off a request for a website review.

Typical, right?

Who can blame the man, he probably gets spammed with these type of requests all the time. But, I followed this request by @ashvala, who turned out to be a 13 year old, grade 9 student from Bangalore. His site looks sharp and is well designed.

After reading Ashvala’s Bio, I decided to use twitter persuasion to convince Guy Kawasaki to give it a glance. Within a minute he did and tweeted back feedback to the young “techie who loves gadgets and enjoys reviewing them.”

In the end Ashvala received a little feedback & a pat on the back from one of the biggest names on the web. Happy ending to a short story.

This is another demonstration of the power of twitter to connect people. On twitter people become a little more equal. Kudos to Guy for stepping up.

Last week I was helping Moose Jaw teacher, Sandi Kerney, set up Skype. She was preparing for her class call to Sgt. Paul Park in Afghanistan. Unfortunately on that Thursday morning of the call, Paul had difficulty with his connection and Skype. The students were so disappointed and I hope they get another chance to chat with Paul. Visiting a soldier on a foreign assignment is an unbelievable opportunity.

As this was all happening, Sandi contacted me for a Skype call. Not knowing what to talk with the students about I decided on an impromptu virtual tour of the University of Regina campus. (Being a university student is one area in which I excel.) Thanks to the wireless network on campus, I carried my Macbook through the halls showing this group of students a few classrooms. We only lost the signal as I descended from the 6th floor in the elevator. From there, I lead them down hallways and explored the new gymnasium.

Connecting with these students for 10 minutes was the highlight of my day. They were interested in the University and I hope this experience will provoke future questions and investigation of higher education.

This is just a another brief success story of using Skype to connect to people outside the walls of the classroom.

For now I think I should be hired on at the University as a recruiter. Anybody else want a tour?

| View | Upload your own

*note: uploading to slideshare changed the layout and design of the slides

Creation of Bear’s Birthday

The origin of this project lies in my interest in digital storytelling and my lack of having created many examples of quality or substance. A spark hit the paper when Karen, the instructor of my ‘Teaching of Writing’ course, introduced a story writing project for class. I had recently visited Dean Miezienko’s class with Dean Shareski, where Dean S. introduced the class to digital storytelling, naturally I came home with a few ideas for format. Unfortunately, I struggled with character development and the the topic of my piece. At this point, the project was moved to the back burner for a couple weeks.

My eyes are always open for teaching resources and at a Apple MacBook Training session, the rep John Maschuk*, shared a file of teddy bear pictures. He welcomed us to use the resource and the spark from my writing course took. I am a visual individual when it comes to these type of creations and I had worked with storyboards before. I was instantly inspired. I worked the slides into an outline of a story and then pulled the pieces together. As I built the sequence I naturally played with the story, character development and word choice. The visuals of this project were created in Powerpoint and I saved many files containing changes to the original drafts.

At the beginning stages of my revision process I shared early drafts with Sean White, a new friend from class. Between Shawn and my wife, Joleen, the story was enhanced by their trusted insight and suggestion. From their feedback I made some key edits to create a more patterned sequence, modified the sentence structure and played with general appeal of the slide design. At this point, I saved the slides as .jpg files, and I imported them into iMovie for narration, transition and sound. As I narrated the story I found more glitches in how the story was written. It is really interesting to reread something out loud and record it to get a different perspective of the voice of the writing. From this experience I had another revision stage and needed to make necessary changes to the slides in Powerpoint and then go through the importing process again.

I had a fun time recording and re-recording the narration as I tried to be vibrant and fluffy as required for such a piece. A point of suggestion is to make short sound bites, I read 2 or 3 slides at a time and then pieced the audio together. In this practice I avoided having to re-read the entire story when I accidentally mis-spoke.

While I was designing the slides I was thinking of adding Batmanesque onomatopoeia through visual sound bubbles and bursts of text. I decided against this because I wanted to keep the visual simple and uncluttered. Ultimately this idea still worked through the recording process as I ‘wrote in’ sound effects and music to enhance the story.

Version 1.0 of “Bear’s Birthday” is born on to the web

At this point I felt the story was ready to publish, but I decided to sleep on it. The next morning I reviewed the story and found another spelling error and changed the text color in a couple places. The story was then ready for publishing. I exported “Bear’s Birthday” as a .mov file and uploaded it to Youtube and disperse to an audience. I shared the story through numerous email, facebook, WebCT and Twitter. I may of been guilty of spam, or maybe it was my marketing background shining through. I told my audience that this was version 1.0 and asked them to participate in a networked revision. The audience grew and I recieved numerous comments through a variety of streams including email, Private messages, Youtube and blog comments. Karen Janowski, even took a few minutes out of her day to call me up on skype to share her interest, encourage me and other suggestions from a special education perspective. All of this feedback demonstrates the power of social media in creating quality web content and I really appreciate the attention folks gave to this piece. From the feedback, I made major edits, including a spelling error, a couple changes to the story and some slide redesign. Can you catch the edits?

After this batch of story edits to the visuals, I had an opportunity to visit Mrs. Lichtenwald’s Grade 1 class to share this story and get their opinions. They were into it and wanted to watch it a couple times. After the second viewing I asked them what could be changed or improved. I received some fantastic critique and feedback, one child even suggested that I add a character named “Mr.Noodle”. I chuckled, thanked him and told him I would think about it A few others liked the sound effects and suggested that should have more. I agreed and invited a few them for their best sound effect to add to the story. We all laughed and had fun.

After publishing the first version of Bear’s Birthday, this story saw a more indepth analysis and polishing. My participatory audience included related professionals from a variety of backgrounds including graphic design, teaching, music recording, ESL teachers, experienced digital storytellers and best of all, the children. This collaborative exercise has many potential applications in my future classroom. The relationship with audience gave me a sense of ownership and mastery with the writing and creative process. I wanted to created the best possible piece and my network of friends, family and acquaintances help make this a reality.

With out further ado, I present “Bear’s Birthday Version 2.0″

I am still welcoming feedback on this story and welcome suggestions for improvement. Enjoy.

Note: I would like confirm John Maschuk’s identity, thank him and link to any web presence he may have. So if you are out there John, leave me a note.

This is my first uploaded draft of this children’s story. This piece has seen much trial & error many edits to get to the stage it is at. I am still not totally satisfied with the final product but am posting it here regardless. It is my hope that some will view the story and decide to offer suggestions on my writing and the design. Together with your input I hope to make this story better and more refined.

A more detailed post on my reflections and procedure for preparing this story will follow. I have had a lot of fun creating this story from the photo’s of John Maschuk (whom I haven’t found an online link for yet, but will).

*NOTE: Please click through to the YouTube Page. The pesky You Tube image embeded on my video within the blog detracts from the graphics and covers my writing.*

During my first degree, I was fortunate to participate in a co-operative work experience program.  I had the opportunity to learn the introductory ropes of the administration profession by building relationships in the organizations I worked with.  Then, just this fall I completed my teaching internship in a Moose Jaw school, where I was able to observe the professionals around me.  These types of hands on, in person learning experiences have guided much of my development and I think apprenticeship is an important stage of development in each of our chosen fields. We ask experts to lead us.  The faculties that I have studied under have done a fantastic job of creating these face to face mentorships.

Future students are going to have many opportunities to meet mentors in virtual spaces, by using virtual tools.  The  potential for this online mentorship is too large to disregard. In the future, training teachers will be introduced to experienced teachers from around the globe.  Apprentice engineers will correspond with industry leaders.  More and more people will learn from qualified people that span geographic boundaries.  This is the way it is for me, and the way it will be for our future colleagues.  We develop a inner circle of contacts, folks we connect with frequently that contribute to our professional growth.  In return, students participate in pushing discussion, by questioning practice and eventually entering their workforce with an experienced viewpoint.  A viewpoint that has heard and reflected on the various pieces of the profession.  By reading and chatting about best practices and observing exemplary models online, students develop a matured perspective of their chosen field.

I think it is important for teachers and faculties develop a strategy for connecting their students to experienced experts.  We now have tools that allow for communication, for collaboration.  New learning possibilities abound.

I’ve have been drafting a lot of posts recently and publishing none. I am becoming more critical of my own work and am making a conscious effort to ensure the pieces I create are high quality. Their are a few forces driving this process.

1. It started with “The Cult of the Amateur” By Andrew Keen, his vision reaffirmed that there is a lot of content to weave through because many are creating lousy work.
2. I joined the 366Photos project, and have been developing my eye for good images. I am finding that this skill is moving outside photography, and sharpening my awareness of detail and function. This is part of what D’arcy was alluding to as ‘mindful seeing’.
3. Through participation in a writing course, the last of my degree, I am learning about the art of this skill. As I read and listen, my perception of good writing has changed. The course has given me an opportunity to examine my writing. Through these enhanced eyes I am expecting more of myself as a writer.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to listen to Stuart McLean, of CBC’s Vinyl Cafe, speak to a large conference of South Saskatchewan teachers. I was eager for this because I’ve been a fan of his radio show and stories for a few years. He started with couple stories and wrapped with a Q & A.

The interesting part was that the teachers primarily asked questions about his fame, about his experience in the ‘Biz’, not so much about learning or teaching. I was near the front of the auditorium and asked Stuart about inspiring our students to be better writers and storytellers. He referred back to the time when he taught at Ryerson.

He spoke about having patience with his students and their work, he spoke of collaboration, about re-doing pieces of work. Stuart alluded to a Mountain of Mastery parable. He said, students have to reach the pinnacle of the mountain to know what it means to achieve mastery (sorry if this is too Harry Wong for you). He went on to say that instructors are too often batting students off the Mountain of Mastery by rushing through projects and not aiming goals high. While this happened in other classes, his approach was to wait at the top of the mountain as the great sage. On the way up the mountain, Stuart encouraged students through drafting, conversation, and reflection. The writers worked together to progress one another in their writing endeavors. Often some would do 10 drafts before finally achieving the true brilliance the piece deserved.

Following this presentation, I caught up with Stuart McLean in the Lobby. I introduced my self and thanked him for his insight. I had been hoping for an autograph and he obliged, I thought his comment was most appropriate, he wrote “Happy Trails”.

As I climb my Mountain of Mastery, I will continue to look down to see where I have been, look up to see where I am going and look inside to see where I am. This awareness will ensure “Happy Trails”.

I was inspired by this blog by Anne Collier, which was written in response to Andrew Keen’s Cult of the Amateur. I am part way through this book and felt as though it was time for a brief rant. In his book, Andrew argues that all of the with the millions of people using the social web we are creating a plethora of poor content. Further, he persuades readers by claiming that mediocre pieces distract from the important research and creations that professional organizations create. While this is true to some degree, it doesn’t out whiegh the benefits we reap from this new age of media.

In response to the cloud of gloom that Mr. Keen blows over the idea of online creation and participation, I offer these reasons of why I see web 2.0 tools to be an integral part of education as we continue to live our days on this planet. I believe that these tools provide both the teacher and student with new opportunities that rarely existed in schools as recently as 3 years ago. These web 2.0 tools open the vault that is active student directed participatory learning. Users are encouraged to participate, to produce for an audience, to collaborate with peers and experts in virtual spaces. Often like minded folk share highlights of successful pedagogies and practice. Teachers are using web 2.0 tools to empower and engage students in these new skills. It must be understood that in order to do this successfully they must be willing slowly adopt tools into their personal tool belt in a methodical and reflective process. It must be understood that these tools are not going to go away until a new media invention makes them irrelevant.

Good teachers will realize will promote these tools in classes because they provide another reason to reinforce fundamental life lessons of etiquette, morals, values and privacy. By having dialog about these concepts with regards to the tools, students are given opportunity to reflect upon and evaluate their real life morals and values. In our role as as the grand sage we strive to mold learners to practice self assessment to continually strive to produce quality examples of their learning.

In some ways, I agree with Mr. Keen, that their is much rubbish floating around this WWW. It is time we began to investigate how these tools can be used not only by our students but by society. In the past I mentioned that I don’t hold the crystal ball, but I don’t see social media evaporating soon. My complaint is that Mr. Keen does not offer suggestions to improve the social web. Nor does he aptly recognize the positive contributions of amateur participation to society in terms of learning, discovery and collaboration. As the world shrinks we need to adapt.  Let us talk about how we are going to do that.

As part of my writing course, we participate in mock writing lessons. Yesterday was letter writing, and the assignment was to write a simulated letter from the perspective of a grade 5 student. This letter was in response to a new intern inquiring about student advice for new teachers. Here is my simulated response.

Dear Ms. Adams,

Hello Ms. Adams, thank you for writing. I think we have a lot that we can learn from each other. You seem to be very eager about your training to become the best teacher possible. You have already nailed one of the things so many teachers miss, you asked for student opinon. I really believe that more teachers need to listen to the students voice to really be able to facilitate optimal learning.

My favorite subject is Science, but I really enjoy when the teachers relate all subjects to a common theme. I also like being given choices about the types of information that I want to learn and how I am going to learn it. Sometimes I get bored because lessons are not very interesting and seem to be all lecture, all the time. I want a teacher that inspires me to learn and facilitates that process. A teachers that prepares me to make connections and links between different topics and subjects. I also must share that I like when I can collaborate with students from our class but also from around the world. I think that in order to make learning fun and engaging you need to empower the students. Yes, sometimes this means trusting us more. We need our teachers to guide us to learn how to learn. My advice is to use tools and lessons that engage your students, provide them with skills to find relevant information and conduct personal learning journies.

My advice for you is this commit yourself to being a life long learner. Model learning for your students. Relate classroom learning to real life experiences and connect students to experts in the field. Find examples of other successful classroom experiences, we learn well from other models. Connect us with other students, guide us, give us the strategies and skills to be effective learners.

Sincerely

Kyle Lichtenwald

I composed this letter and then read it to my class as part of the authors chair. Their eyes bulged out, they heard the student, they understood him. I am trying to share the idea of shifted learning with my real life network, including this second year class of soon to be teachers and this was a great opportunity.