Tweets–They’ve got to mean something

Twitter is different way of writing: Recently I received a mention from a man I have a great deal of respect for. It said …

As result of this I have been reviewing why Sam would say this.

I Click, Publish, Send, Upload, Tweet and Chat.  My thoughts, ideas, images, voices, opinions are public and read by my PLN and searchers. I try to stay involved in this stream of information because I value it. I put tweets and posts into this stream to express what I am thinking to those who I would like to hear me. When I am reading observing or learning from this stream; putting back makes me feel like a true participant. I have always thought myself an OK writer but never a good editor.

@Samjarman made me realise I shouldn't just say anything, in any form I like; when others are going to read it. The implications for me are important enough to make this post necessary.

What had Sam seen in my tweets?

 

“So there is someone reading my tweets and they want something to be there”

My thinking is that the following might be important:

• Consider literary discipline to communicate effectively within 140 chars ie tighter not looser.
• Punctuation and intonation are my friends.
• Consider what the audience will need to understand what the tweet means.
• What purpose does the tweet have beyond self expression.

I like the idea of action: “Don’t think Do” Ewan McIntosh, “Ready, Fire, Aim” Michael Fullan and “Planning is Guessing” Jason Fried @jasonfried. These ideas are about the importance of doing.

What I am seeing is that audience and peers create a standard though under which efforts and actions will quickly try to navigate, realign and improve. This is the aim part that Fullan talks about. I hope that  the firing off of Tweets has help me aim via feedback.

On the bright side
I am motivated to get better at this so feel free to follow me @davein2it

Links:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9132410/Twitter_Tips_How_to_Write_Better_Tweets
http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/01/how-to-write-better-tweets.html

The Form of the Message

I have been lucky enough to work with some students creating a message for the leaders of Independent Schools of New Zealand.
The theme of the conference this year is Understanding Generational Diversity. What I like about this is that the people have asked for a message from the students of these schools in a video form. This topic would not work without student voice being present.

I am working with a group of Southwell Students to develop a presentation of their message.

We started last week with an Eliminator (see Below) as to what they thought should be the message

The winner was

Modern Day technology allows access

to advanced learning

 

Other ideas are found in the picture:

• Boys and Girls work differently
• Adapt teaching to meet individuality
• Social Networking helps with learning
• Listen to us about how we would like to learn
• We want work to be slightly challenging

The Next step is to choose a form for the message and they have discussed
having a Digital Story or Movie.

When we next meet we will view the following three movies that show student voice and possible ways of
creating a visual message to support it.  I wonder what thinking these videos will create?

Michael Wesch

A video I produced about motivation

A look at the power of Google Docs

Digital Citizenship – a big ask

We have students with connectivity and a number of choices to make.
We can protect them to a certain extent and of course we do by filtering and
education B U T in the end we can only do so much ….

I have spoken to students about this and asked them to collaborate on a document where they are asked

What we think as students about digital citizenship.....
What the school should do about students who download age restricted material is ...
How the School should try to protect students from things on the internet is ...
Should the school lock down computers so that we can't install anything ? Why ? Why Not?
What we should be able to do with our computers is...
What we shouldn’t be able to do with our computers is...
Questions we have around digital citizenship are.

Will post back what this group thinks soon

digital citizen ideas from Derek Wenmoth

Reality Check -Inventions

After a long time of being busy helping setting up a new professional learning community I finally had a chance to work with students again. So what Am I trying to concentrate on.

• lots of opportunity for students to contribute, think, do and to create flow
• using visual material and offering some choice for students to select material
• reflection on what we have created and opportunities for students to outline where their learning is at
• looking at habits of mind as prompts for just in time learning opportunities “what habit of mind do you think could have helped you get past this point?” “taking responsible risks”
• letting student thinking and communication exist in its own right ie not all thinking needs to be reported on or commented on it can just “be”.
• integrating literacy work into just in time teaching moments with questions like “If this is going to be read by others what might we need to in terms of editing?”
• Having student share reading and retelling of others oral and written ideas

 

The investigation prompts and some outcomes are below

 

 

We are going to look at a couple of movies to find out.

 

Here are a few more links to inventions, and kid inventions; have a look.

• Kid Inventions file

• The Fun Theory file  

• What is happening to mobile phones? Resource  

• Heaps of inventions to look at. file 

• Kid inventors on Ellen Show Resource  

 

This is what 4km thought what  they did was to use typewith.me to describe everything they thought about where inventions come from and then we put them into this Wordle This is what we thought.

Where do Inventions come from? from Media team on Vimeo.

What we think about inventions and where they come from.

Connected Kids Solve Problems

I was at my computer when the noise that Skype makes when a message has arrived did its thing ie announced a message was there. It was from a student who I had worked with using Google Sketch up the year before his computer had a virus.
What impressed me was the language punctuation and genre that went into I have included the conversation below. The student is in year 5 and quite smart. What he managed to do was outsource his issue to me and get my advice to solve his virus issue. We need students who are able to work in this way because they are independent problem solvers. Note the last line of the conversation I even got thanks when the problem was solved.

These are the key competencies in action. Isn’t the action the best evidence of learning.

 

Letting kids learn

“The longer you wait for the future, the shorter it will be”

ThinkExist.com Quotations. “Loesje quotes”. ThinkExist.com Quotations Online 1 Nov. 2009. 28 Dec. 2009 <http://einstein/quotes/loesje/>

I had the opportunity to work with some students who were taking part in end of year examinations. Those who finished early (and in this case most did) were given the opportunity to do something quietly. I watched as they involved themselves in a number independent activities. I took some photos on my mobile which are here in the slideshow. I reminded me of books we used to have like 100 things to make and do. I feel that this sort of activity, scaffolded and enhanced, has the ability to increase the potential of our student’s

literacy/numeracy/operacy .

Have a look at the slideshow (just eight pictures) and I will explain what I mean.

The only instruction given was that the activity had to be silent while others were working on their exams. We have looked at and developed a framework for learning at Southwell where I teach. I highlighted the values and key competencies personal learning time similar to this might support. This is about “learning to learn” and putting the learner at the center of the learning. Accepting where our students are at and providing them with the tools for self improvement but how ….

Quality Assurance
Such a strategy as this independent learning time is now possible to develop and support through the use of ICT tools. I believe the key characteristics of this might be. This is the big disclaimer

• Classroom Climate - Supportive classroom communities where learning modeled shared celebrated etc.
• Reflection/expression/evidence/collaboration portals ie social networks, eportfolios (for lack of better word), gallery spaces, video repositories etc
• Clear goal setting and articulation for learning perhaps SMART Students are asked to check off whether the goal is specific, measurable, action-oriented, reasonable and timely. This could be as simple as What is the purpose of this learning? What will represent success for me? What have I/we done so far? What do I/we plan to do next? with this information in a web environment peers and others can be used to motivate guide learners through this.
• Formative community assessment – embedded teacher,peer and whole class feedback/feedforward
• Time availability for learning to take place – this could be small pockets of time after say maths in an primary/elementary environment as we know that the brain need less intensive work in order for the neural pathways to become entrenched see syn-aps. It could also be represented in a more flexible programme where teachers facilitate learning with significant online support and individual access to personal learning.
• Exemplars, evidence – Examples of tall poppies – growing poppies and aspiring poppies give students a clear direction.
• 1 to 1 Access - to the connectivity, networks, creation tools and appropriate physical spaces and resources.

The place of personal learning can find its feet and show its evidence. I will finish with a building created in google sketch up by a year 7 students and a link to an online novel written by my son Jack (16) both examples of personal learning and endeavour.

Still banging on about it

 

My last post presented a little snippet from a Cellphone policy from Montgomery School District. Essentially it said no phone/mobile device should enter or be used here. The policy was written perhaps four years ago and could have been seen as a safe move given what the perceived possible contribution to learning compared to possible issues unacceptable use might raise. The balance is tipping at lightning speed (and forever) with devices such as the ipod touch, iphone,  android devices, netbooks etc. Their possible contribution is real contribution.

I have said and have to repeat that management issues aside we are forgoing an opportunity to learn to be better; to move into a new paradigm rather than just admire it from afar as the kids get on with it. The steps we need are bolder and quicker. Schools are slowly coming round to the idea of 1to1 provision and here it is in an ipod touch for $300 New Zealand Dollars. The video below looks at the experience of a school in the U.K.

A Safe Step may be to allow these touch devices which though not a phone are all but and use our schools wireless networks for connectivity. The next generation will undoubtedly have cameras and mics making them a reasonably solid platform for learning especially once a few apps come down from the appstore. What I think we need to realise fast is that we if we converge some of the functionality we have been get elsewhere into one of these devices they are not as expensive as they first seem.

This to me is one device format that we will see in almost everyone’s future and generally it will contain a phone as well.

These devices will undoubtedly enable learning, save lives and change lives.

Are we big enough to let them change our schools?

When will we let this take place?

Here are some of the things an iPhone can do today. This is a small selection There are 100,000 apps in the store many costing $0.99 making opportunities nearly endless.

Camera		$100
Torch		$20
Notebook		$5
GPS		$200
stopwatch		$20
media player		$60
Games console		$400
Mapbook		$10
Spirit level		$20
TV		$100

 

Others may not agree but a mobile device that has iPhone capability is a point that will soon be achievable for more of the population than having their own pc ever was. To me the important thing is that it will be personal and so will the learning.

Mark Prensky is debating should we give a four year old an iPhone?

Some other links

Elsewhere we can find out about 5 (Free) iPhone Apps Every Parent Should Have.

Exams  phone a friend

Looking for acceptable use with head in sand

I was at the Ulearn conference recently where several learners were talking about having a voice, being heard and saying what you think. In these times of change; debate and honesty are needed because the present reality is not the preferred future (the outcome of these debates will determine our direction into the unknown.)
In one workshop, on edupunk a discussion was raised suggesting that because of the danger of pornography and misuse students should not be allowed to have mobile devices in the learning environment. I found myself getting agitated while listening to someone outlining the issue who seemed incredibly reticent to allow mobile devices within the school system due to this risk. Mobile devices are ubiquitous and they are becoming “T H E  M A J O R  P E R S O N A L” connectivity mechanism.
There is much talk about schooling becoming irrelevant and while I think this is far from the case I would like to argue here that these risks may gain traction in an education system that doesn’t accept its role has changed and that an approach to internet safety must embrace change from within; utilising an ecological approach.

Engage or lose relevance

On a weekday 6 hours is the average time spent in school 18 are spent in the outside world. Sure there is the little matter of sleep and eating but the figure above speaks for itself. When we consider that access to learning technologies is probably greater outside of the school we have a curriculum of self direction. The options for good and bad, sustainable and unsustainable, moral and immoral, positive and negative, creative and consumerist are boundless outside of school. Students are learning more than ever outside of our gates. Our separation of the technological means used in the two environments is an untenable position in the long term and I propose - in the here and now. In waiting to be prepared we may lose our opportunity be part of the ecological development.

The Youth/Teens ie our Students have A participatory culture.

This participatory culture is “a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support
for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what
is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices.A participatory culture is also
one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection
with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have
created). Forms of participatory culture include:
Affiliations — memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered
around various forms of media, such as Friendster, Facebook, message boards,
metagaming, game clans, or MySpace).
Expressions — producing new creative forms, such as digital sampling, skinning and
modding, fan videomaking, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-ups).
Collaborative Problem-solving — working together in teams, formal and informal,
to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia, alternative
reality gaming, spoiling).
Circulations — Shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging).”  taken from the confronting the challenges
report from the Mc Aurthur Foundation

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century

The same report suggests the following and reading it helps me think what our preferred future might be:

“Rather than dealing with each technology in isolation, we would do better to take an ecological
approach, thinking about the interrelationship among all of these different communication
technologies, the cultural communities that grow up around them, and the activities they support.”

My Beliefs are that given the cultural communities that exist for young people are so connected they have the potential to bypass and ignore a formal education system.

Our steps towards a preferable future

• Engage with students in the creation of an AUP that focuses on a vision for digital citizenry
• Understand and explore what kids are doing in the 21st century
• Help learners to learn from each other and from wider connections
• Develop utility and understanding of the contribution points for connected mobile devices
• Allow students to develop and explore suitable ethics and use
• Provide faster cheaper safer (ie filtered but not stifled ) connectivity for mobile devices in our school
• Learn ourselves
• Accept new curriculum
• Take risks (“the best way to predict the future is to make it”)

What this does not mean

This does not mean that learners can have whatever content they like on their phones etc but rather that we understand we will maximise both learning and shared values through adopting acceptable use based on http://www.utechtips.com/aup-driven-by-vision-not-protection/