New school web Site

I have been busy working on my new website . Our district is rolling out our new web site through School Fusion". One of my responsibilities at school is serving as a "tech rep" which means among other things I get to try out new technology early and then help with training of other staff. School fusion appears to have lots of useful features, unfortunately we have not rolled out all of the features at this point. Next year we hope to have students linked to our sites. I am very excited about what this site may mean for our ability to communicate with our students next year.

Continued concerns

I continue to be concerned about the growing gap between my students who are ready, willing and able to move into the 21st century "web 2.0" learning environment and those deficient in one or more of the "ready, willing & able" . I teach in a large public high school, we have a somewhat diverse (at least in socioeconomic terms) community. Recently I have been spending time learning about the web 2.0 tools and getting excited about bringing them into my classroom. Then reality hits me, I can't get time in one of the schools only two computer labs (for a school of 1800), and if I do get in the internet might be crawling (connection issues are being addressed). I see wonderful places to integrate this work in all I do. But what happens to the kid who either does not have a computer at home, or only has dial up, or may be losing their internet connection due to tough economic times. I have seen the gap between the haves and the have nots grow in my life time and worry that the have nots with out computer skills are going to continue to fall behind.
I also worry that too many of our kids think they have better computer skills then they actually have. They assume because they can get on and communicate with their friends on facebook that they have solid computer skills. Too many of my students struggled with the relatively simple task of finding a digital image on a shared computer drive(on school server) and inserting image into a written lab report. I spent the last couple hours reading all the exciting things people are doing around the globe and then I think of the struggling students in my classroom.

Web 2.0 meets real time CHS style!

In the past two weeks since beginning my latest course, "Teaching and Learning in the Networked Classroom", I have had my eyes open to some wonderful possibilities in the world of "e-learning"! I am a seasoned teacher who has done a pretty good job keeping up with the times. I have tried to keep technology integrated into my courses. I thought I was doing alright, my students can access material from me from my website, my students as well as their parents can access their grades on line. I have encouraged students to create eportfoilos rather than paper portfolios. But now I see how far I have yet to go. I have been inspired by my time reading the blogs we accessed as part of this course. I see the value in this new world, my gears are spinning I see both the importance and the need for this work. .... and then it happened....the real world!
I brought my freshmen biology students to one of our computer lab. I wanted them to complete a brief survey I had linked to my web page. One of my freshman students, who has been in the class since September(we visit the lab at least every other week, did not know how to log on to the computer! He has been in our district schools for years, we use the same system in all our buildings. My daughter could log on to the district computers at the age of six. This young man, comes from a family who does not have a computer with Internet access at home, he more than any other of our students needs to access the Internet in school, yet he sits unable (or even willing to try) to connect. I tell this story not to brag about the computer skills of my daughter, nor to disparage the young man; but rather to point out the growing disparity between the haves and the have nots. In my 25 years of teaching I have seen this gap grow, and the world that this young man lives in breaks my heart. I believe we are only as strong as our weakest members, this experience has brought me down to Earth and reminded me to focus on the kids in front of me and not get too lost in what might be. My first step is to create a new learning plan for this young man that includes daily practice logging on to the school computers and a future weekend meeting with him at the municipal library and helping him access the Internet there.

Did you know 2.0?

I found the video "Did You Know 2.0?" very interesting, scary but interesting. I anticipate using it in some of my upcoming work with my colleagues at Concord High School. I continue to be worried that public education is behind the times and falling further behind. Public education is still tied to a factory model that may of made sense 30 years ago, but does not make sense today. I find myself constantly struggling to find new and improved ways to reach my students and provide an meaningful education for them. The idea of teacher as holder and then transferer of information simply does not work any more. Students need to learn how to access and make sense of the enormous and growing amount of information bombarding us all the time. If teachers are going to be successful in that quest we need new tools and new thinking.

School 2.0 March 8

I found the school 2.0 website very informative. The presentation method/interactive design is a great way to present a bunch of information in a very useful manor. I was pleased to see that Concord school district already uses much of the technology presented at the site. I was recently working on the district technology plan and I wonder if our new technology coordinator is familar with this site. In the past i have often heard discussion about a "tech ready classroom" I like the district or community focus of this site. It does a great job showing the importance of keeping the focus wide when looking at how technology will shape education in the future.

March 7, 2009 Week One Teaching and Learning in a Networked Classroom

Recent Related Reading
I'm wondering if any of my classmates have read any of March's "Educational Leadership" ? The focus of this issue is Literacy 2.0. I have found many of the articles to be very interesting. Below are a few thought on the articles I have read so far:
1. Orchestrating the Media Collage ...This article discusses what is meant to be literate and how that definition is evolving.That many more people are able to be creators of media. in terms of teaching this is certainly a valuable asset of this new technology and one we as educators must harness.The article points our guidelines for today's teachers: 1. Shift to an idea of media as collage 2. the importance of writing and reading 3. more focus on the importance of art 4. remembering to value past as we look to the future 5. blending of the report--story continuum 6. practice private and participatory social literacy 7. develop literacy with digital tools and about digital tools and finally 8. pursue fluency, practicing literacy at advanced levels.
2. Mastering Multitasking....The article discusses the perceived multitasking abilities of today's youth. It certainly is a skill today's kids practice, but to what end? The writers make a few conclusions. First although multitasking does not make learning impossible, it does increase the amount of time necessary to complete a task. Secondly, the multitasker is more likely to rely on different memory systems. And finally, because of a loss of attention there is likely to be an adverse effect on the multitasker ability to learn complex tasks.
3. Let's Talk 2.0 ... In this article I was very happy to see a definition of web 2.0, for although i had heard it used I will admit I did not really know what it meant. According to this article, web 2.0 refers to a business model where Internet companies provide a service rather than supplying a product.A shift in a world view to the practice of participation, collaboration & distribution. That said 2.0 literacy are the tools need to be literate in this new world. These new tools will continue to challenge what it means to read, write, view, listen and record as well as to collaborate, participate and distribute. The article goes on to discuss some of the challenges these new abilities will pose for today's teacher.
4. Becoming Network-wise...In this article the authors call for the need for today's student's to become self-directed, self-motivated, life long learners who are network-literate. Of all the concerns I have after my 25 years in teaching is the growing lack of active self directed learners. somehow we have raised a generation of passive recipients of knowledge, wandering from classroom to classroom waiting for the next "show". Based on that connection I read the rest of this article looking for parts of the solution. The article discusses a shift in time/space connection, learning is no longer fixed to a classroom between the hours of 8 - 3 (a fact that some teachers might be wary of, but that I find exciting). I believe today's youth need to be guided to learn how to be active self directed learners...they will always need "teachers" but perhaps more of the model of teacher as coach or mentor and less of the idea of teachers as holders of the knowledge. I find this very exciting!
5. The Importance of Deep Reading ... First the authors define what they mean by deep reading "an array of sophisticated processes that propel comprehension and that include inferential and deductive reasoning, analogical skills, critical analysis, reflection and insight." I found interesting the fact that ancient scholars worried about having the public learning to read would reduce peoples memory and probative processes. The article goes on to discuss that our brains were not wired to read, but rather to see, move speak and think. The plasticity of our brain allowed us to learn to read and also allows use to learn and process in new ways. What and how we read helps define what type of thinker we will be. The accessing and processing of vast amount of information only a few clicks away will demand new connections in our brains.It is essential that students learn to become critical thinkers, enabling them to sift through and make sense of swirling mass of content one click away