We have come to an end of sorts. We have arrived at our destination and are to set upon other journeys…but we’ll never be the same. Our course is over, our journey is not.

Most University classes create opportunities for working with others…sometimes, some peers may actually become friends. I personally find learning from others’ experiences very enriching, more than reading a textbook. I value the wisdom, perspectives and stories of others. I connect with their words and feelings.

This course exceeded my expectations on this level. As we struggled to wrap our minds around big concepts and new theories, we bonded. Initially, I thought we would have our eyes on our screens for most of class but, as it turns out our use of technology just facilitated the learning we were doing. It enhanced it rather than take away that valuable human experience of learning together. The structure of the course made it possible to hear from everyone both online and in person. I feel fortunate to have had this experience and I am grateful to my peers for their contribution to the new-improved-me.

Before this class, I was not particularly “connected”. I tried to keep my online presence to a minimum. I hesitated to join groups, follow sites, etc. as I put a higher value on face-to-face interactions….but…then I saw the amazing ways my peers were using the internet to connect, band together and share. I also saw how online resources helped them organize their ideas, enhance their teaching and communicate with others on a larger scale. The idea of technology as a gadget or fad had passed–I realized using technology was now an expected way of life. Not just for the keen, but for everyone.

Now, having arrived at a terminus, it’s time to consider our next steps. Where to now? I know my way of thinking about so many things has changed. I know my confidence to take on new technology has improved. I know I have gained some insight into the future of education. I know that I have been in contact with some excellent educators and learned so much from them…and have ways to continue working with them.

My Future Vision Project was to make an e-mail newsletter template and to create a blog for my students’ parents. My goal was to develop a stronger partnership with them through better communication. My hope was that parents would feel more connected to our school experiences and would then be able to understand/appreciate what we were doing all day.

I have made a blog with consideration of aesthetics, ease of use, the kind of information my parents would want to see, security and overall, a site that would actually get used. Photos, reminders, helpful sites, a place to comment among the elements included on my blog site. It’s not done, but I have made a good start…fiddling with widgets and blogging a departure from my old self!

Have a look before I make it totally private:

http://gogriffins.wordpress.com/

We are better together than we are on our own.

Personal Learning Networks

I see two main functions here: learning through collaboration and supporting each other. At the moment I do not belong to an online PLN. My school and colleagues are where and with who I find support, ideas, etc. But, I’m not at school all the time and I’m not really in contact with my staff over the summer. Even during the year there are many occasions when I wish I could I share with colleagues at other schools. For example, since my French Resources (graphic organizers+) are largely made by me, would others want to use them too? I know I would love to “share” their ideas too! Beyond making our teaching materials available to each other we could share articles, useful website, our successes (maybe failures too) which could all create some rich learning opportunities.

After listening to my peers present their various technological resources, I wondered if and which I would actually use. As of now I am not a consistent tweeter and I don’t see myself becoming one soon. I do, however, use Facebook and could see myself using Edmodo as a meeting place for my PLN–at, and beyond my school. So, that is one of my new goals. I can start by inviting teachers I know to join and see how is goes. (Not for my students at this point though.)

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I think I can…I think I can…

Kendra Cherry explains in, “What is Self-Efficacy?” that according to Albert Bandura, self-efficacy is “the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.” In other words, self-efficacy is a person’s belief in his or her ability to succeed in a particular situation. Bandura described these beliefs as determinants of how people think, behave, and feel (1994).

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/self_efficacy.htm

Bandura’s “Self-Efficacy”, as part of his Social Cognitive Theory, makes other words come to mind like: empowerment, confidence, self-esteem…

At school, as teachers, we create opportunities for success and growth for our students. We support them but ultimately, I believe the child should recognize their own efforts, the product of their learning being their own.This process empowers, builds confidence and self-esteem. Ideally, students will also enjoy another benefit: greater perseverance and trust in their abilities when taking on challenging situations.

So, to simplify, by doing, gaining experience and hopefully, finding success, we can be more self-effacacious learners. We can learn we CAN.

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How does Bandura’s notion of Self-Efficacy relate to the blog I’m trying to make? To this class? To me as a efficacious learner?

Here’s one way of looking at it: before this course I was not particularly comfortable with new technology. I was slowly experimenting with new devices and applications, but was overall not feeling too confident. By the middle of this course, I found myself using more technology I could have imagined and…I wasn’t struggling to use it! I was having some success! Why? I had examples of how to use it, peer and teacher support, opportunities to practice and I was able to notice my own growth. (Bandura’s four main sources of Self-Efficacy: Social Modeling, Social Persuasion, Mastery, Psychological Responses.) Now, as we are nearing the end of the course, I can say I am more resilient when facing ‘new technology’. I have more of a “can do” attitude and my experiences in this class have made me more a more efficacious learner.

Before this class I was reluctant to use a lot of new technological resources. I dreaded the process of trial and error and error and…??? I had been gradually learning new things until…this class started and bammo! Here I am, fears of technology being stress-invoking and confidence-stripping are realized. Why? Because I am trying to create a blog today after fiddling for some time on a newsletter template yesterday. Eventually, I made it work. Hopefully, the blog will come too.

I won’t give up! I value the possibilities the blog will offer me to communicate and connect with parents when it’s done. I am still motivated to make it work…IF I CAN MAKE IT WORK.

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MY PROJECT: A SECURE BLOG ON WORDPRESS FOR COMMUNICATING AND SHARING WITH PARENTS + AN EMAIL NEWSLETTER TO BOOST SUBSCRIBERSHIP

My blog: visual and textual, static pages and connected links, ongoing posts with photos/text about our school day, reminders, Q&A, etc. TBD.

Format: simple font, short texts, easy to navigate, cheery appearance and will ‘look’ the same over time.

For who: primarily for the parents of my students.

Special considerations: security (I want it to be completely password protected) and setup is challenging and there will be some ongoing maintenance for me in the future.

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I see another possible benefit to starting up this blog: if parent involvement increases, will student achievement also improve? We know that the parent-school connection can have a significant impact on a child’s success at school and I think more effective home-school communication can definitely nurture this relationship. Here is some evidence gathered by two Harvard students from their study on: The Effect of Teacher-Family Communication on Student Engagement. They determined that there were decisive improvements in terms of student achievement when parents were contacted regularly.  They state, “we find that frequent teacher-family communication immediately increased student engagement as measured by homework completion rates, on-task behavior, and class participation.” 

http:www.scholar.harvard.edu/…/kraft__dougherty_teacher_communication_jree.pdf

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Does all this communicating with parents through ICT create/improve Structural Coupling? I think so. If my simplistic understanding of SC implicates that the more we talk, the more we are one, then I’m sure a dual-directional blog can produce this result. For example, if I hear feedback from parents and I consider it, apply it and make changes and likewise, they do the same, on a continual basis, are we not becoming more aligned? Are we not more connected, influencing each other, and better working towards our common goal of their child’s success? In this case, we don’t use ICT for the sake of it. We use ICT for what it can allow us to do, together.

Jenny would ask: “are we broadening perspectives and deepening connections?”

Yes, we are.

As per our discussion in class, I decided that I could use an e-mail newsletter to connect with parents. In addition to giving them some information about what’s happening at school, I hope they would then want to connect with the class blog I am creating.

So, today I went looking for Newsletter templates online. I found lots and decided on this one and I modified it to my needs:

I took the standard template and made it my own template, more or less ready for my use. I  have made some adjustments to the text, size and number of text boxes, image sizes, etc.

My Search for the Right Template:

First, when I was searching for templates, I took into consideration my audience: my students’ parents. Since I’m offering them a service I want them to actually use (read my newsletter/blog), I ended up thinking of it in terms of a business: “Treat [my] customers right and they’ll always come back”.

So what do they want? (I think) My parents want a quick snapshot of what’s happening at school. In particular, they want to see photos of their child. They might also like some related text but they will have to go to my blog for more information. I think this newsletter should be more visual than textual. I chose this newsletter because it has cheery colours, lots of white space, an appealing font and overall balance of writing and pictures. And, I clearly advertised my class blog on top!! In terms of using technology, parents can access the newsletter by opening an attachment on their email (which I suspect most of them can do.) If I know a student doesn’t have internet access I can give them a hard copy.

Second, I wanted the template to be manageable for me. As this newsletter is intended to remind parents to visit the blog, I wanted it to be short…a hint of what else they may see. Also, If it’s simple enough, I will send out newsletters more often.

Even though the newsletter is one-directional communication, I hope, it will create a greater sense of connectedness with parents. I think that in addition to improving communication with updates/info, it could also improve our rapport. In particular, parents who are unable to visit the school and see what we’re doing or have questions regarding our learning may be able to get some of what they’re missing this way. Hopefully the newsletter and blog will be informative, entertaining and help create an appreciation for the work we are doing at school.

Why reach out to parents? Why now?

It seems to me that parents are becoming more and more removed from our school community. There are the few that make it in to chat, volunteer and participate in our events but most of them are not able/willing to do so. Since I started teaching I have seen relationships with parents become more and more limited. We are not connecting the way we used to…and it’s not because I’m becoming a worse teacher!! Last year’s strike didn’t help either. Unfortunately, the respect and gratitude I used to feel are dwindling. The parent-teacher relationship seems to be shifting and it’s happening in other schools too.

I’ve asked myself how to improve this distance parents are feeling/creating. I know having more information about what happens at school is important to them. So seeing (even through newsletter or blog) what we are doing at school is a step in the right direction.

We know student success is connected to parent involvement. We know parents are important partners so why not provide communication “services” that make them feel more connected? (Like keeping a customer happy…)

Big question: If the public image of teachers and community support are deteriorating, what can we do about it?

Our challenge: designing a simple, accessible format for communicating with parents. Seems simple, but, we have concerns about security, different “platforms”, user/manager-friendliness and above all, will anyone even look at what we create??

In this design process we are to consider the linguistic cognitive domain and ask ourselves: what we are putting out there? How can we create a form of communication that is inviting for parents based on their social/economic demographics? If our goal is fluency and readership, how do we best reach and engage our audience?

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“Cognitive Load” is discussed in Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning by Richard E. Mayer and Roxana Moreno. The authors contend that “the cognitive load is a central consideration in the design of multimedia instruction.” Not that our website/blog is not meant to “instruct” exactly but there is an important message here…

Here are the Three Assumptions About How the Mind Works in Multimedia Learning as discussed in the article:

Dual Channel: Humans possess separate information processing channels for verbal and visual material.

Limited Capacity: There is only a limited amount of processing capacity available in the verbal and visual channels.

Active Processing Learning: requires substantial cognitive processing in the verbal and visual channels.

www.uky.edu/~gmswan3/544/9_ways_to_reduce_CL.pdf

How do I relate this to my design for my blog/website to communicate with my parents? How does “Cognitive Load” figure in to the Cognitive Linguistic Domain?

1) There needs to be a mix of visual and written data on my site. 2) There needs to be a suitable amount of each visual and textual information on my site.

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Today we talked about creating a newsletter that is emailed regularly as a good place to start in getting parents engaged. The benefits of a digital newsletter are: parents can access it at their convenience, it won’t go missing like paper ones do, it can be linked to a blog or other sites, students can contribute/create the newsletter. Sounds good, now…

…back to the Linguistic Cognitive Domain and considering the design of a newsletter, I got from reading, Communicating with Parents: Strategies for Teachers that newsletters should consistently have the same font, style, layout, and use everyday language and be well-proofread. www.adi.org/journal/ss05/Graham-Clay.pdf

My interpretation: keeping some things consistent from newsletter to newsletter makes the reader (parent) feel at ease, and more likely to engage with the information given.

Communication via a digital newsletter encourages better relationships with parents, even if it’s only one-directional. Parents will see photos with captions, updates on learning progress and goals we’re trying to meet, thus making them feel more connected. Seeing their child in context of their school day will additionally (I hope), foster a greater sense of community and appreciation for the work educators are doing.

Our discussion in class today led to many questions about accessibility. “World Libraries” can make more resources, more available IF you have access to the internet.

The Promise of Digital Libraries in Developing Countries by Ian H. Witten et al., points to a shift from “haves” and “have nots” to “knows” and “knows not”. This information-based society demands that we are connected, that we are informed, that we have the skills to operate in cyberspace and use technological devices. These capacities are becoming requisite to participation in our society.

Here is a related quote I got from our Diigo group. Thanks to Anne-Marie for posting it:

“Opportunities available online have become so important to individual and community development that a 2011 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council by the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression declared Internet access to be a fundamental enabler of human rights.”

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries

Our group talked about a lack access to technology as a form of poverty and the Gates Foundation takes it a step farther and makes it an issue of Human Rights. Wow.

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Another area of discussion today was the value of hard-cover books. I have no doubt that four boys would gather around an i-pad the way they are gathered around this book. In reality, they could develop all the reading skills and attitudes they need from digital media.

There are a lot of pros to libraries going digital, on a local and global level, but our group pointed out some potential drawbacks:

-Elementary school libraries have books written for children at their reading level. We would hope that appropriate materials would be available to young readers via a digital library not like the average internet search that locates texts beyond our students abilities.

-We have a connection with books. The physical book. Its illustrations, its pages to turn, its wonder…We liked the idea of incorporating digital media into the library, especially in cases where students need some adaptations (more or less advanced texts). Our libraries would not be exclusively digital.

-We looked at paper resources (yes, books!) that were connected to the internet. (The books themselves created in such a way that direct, student-friendly links are connected to the text.) Videos, websites, games…all connected to the book in front of you. We thought books of this nature were useful though we wondered about their web links eventually disappearing.

-We know not all students are connected and some have limited access to the internet (maybe just at school) and we think these students should be able to borrow books from their library.

We understand that we will move from browsing shelves to browsing files but for now we see libraries having both digital and hard-copies available to our students/families.

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How do “World Digital Libraries” connect to our Inquiry about creating communication links with our students/parents through websites and blogs? We aren’t exactly sure.

Some potential connections:
-add a link to world digital libraries on our sites (ex. International Children’s Digital Library)
-we can inform students/parents about The World Digital Library and how it can be used as a resource for research

Overall, the goal of our inquiry is to foster communication and connectedness. Digital Libraries would do the same, no?

There is hope for change despite our reluctance, despite the challenges, despite not always knowing where to start…

Cultural change is changing social connections, how we do things, policies and guiding constructs, maybe even power distribution.

Here is an example of a cultural change that could happen in my professional practice: Our school’s view shifts from technology not just being an add on but as essential in our educational practices. –>All members of our school community will be a part of this shift, we will create it and negotiate it as we go. The use of technology will become integral to the way we do things and it will adapt through the people who use it. The school community will undergo “cultural change”.

Cultural change through my inquiry:

If you think of classrooms as who is on the INSIDE vs. who is on the OUTSIDE, I think parents very quickly would view themselves as outside.  The culture of my school is very collegial, open and very friendly. Parents are in and out of our school and classrooms at all times of day. (At least the ones who can be around.) These parents champion the efforts of teachers, support students and participate in the school’s day-to-day workings. What about those who are still on the “outside”? They cannot be present, make contact, see for themselves what going on on the “inside”.

My inquiry, that of creating a class website/blog, can shift that “inside-outside” position of parents. Making our “inside” experiences visible via the internet can open up lines of communication to those on the “outside”. As far as my inquiry goes, I haven’t decided to which extent the parent-teacher or student-teacher dialogue will actually happen on the site. I like the idea of leaving a reply though I feel some coaching about how to use this function appropriately would be in order. (For example, if a parent had a concern, they should email me rather than post in the blog.)

So, on a limited basis, if my website was to simply share information I still think it would effect positive change. It might be a place to start. My over-arching goal would be: bringing those on the “outside” to the “inside”, creating a culture of open communication and sharing.

Cultural change at my school:

“21st Century Learning” is coming at us whether we like it or not. I can see some teachers being thrilled, while others will be desperately full of dread. As far as I see it, here is what can’t happen: teachers working in solitary rather than solidarity. –>My District needs to support teachers beyond sending us new devices without any instruction/ways of implementing their use. –>My school needs to band together and those who feel competent with technology need to give a hand to those who do not; we need to learn together. –>My classroom needs to become a laboratory where my students and I are trying new things–with technology. If everyone involved in education actually participates in the “change” and the support for “change” is there, it will happen. If not, there will be a number of educators who can adapt on their own and the rest?? The technologically-able will influence the others but change in this way would be gradual and not nearly as powerful as if everyone worked together.

Big Ideas:

The idea of a unity to a composite unity…we are connected and constantly interacting with our environment/eachother. (Humberto Maturana/Autopoesis)

We initiate and sustain connections in order to survive (Structural Coupling)

We are linked through language (Linguistic Cognitive Domain)

What is Inquiry?

I went through Grad school at SFU not too long ago and the vast majority of our work was inquiry-based. It was highly practical and had a lasting influence on my teaching practices. I couldn’t locate an image of SFU’s Inquiry Process so I borrowed this Stripling Model of Inquiry from the Library of Congress site:

If our intentions this week are to pursue an inquiry into how we can shift school culture through technology then I suppose I’m on the right track. Or am I? My mind right now:

I do know that the Inquiry Process begins with a question, a wondering…

My Question so far: How can I use a class blog/website to communicate with parents to improve their involvement and appreciation for what we are doing at school?

(Rough) Hypothesis: I can imagine parents deriving both amusement and understanding from the communication I can provide via a website. I expect that they will have fewer questions and therefore, will have less need to ask me and other parents about what’s happening at school. I know that parents have requested more information from me about what we’re doing in class and an open site would address this need/desire. I feel that sharing our learning more effectively will allow parents to see all of the wonderful things we are doing at school and thereby enhance their interest/enthusiasm about the offerings of school. I believe, in some cases, parents will be able to better support their child’s learning.

**Will having a class website/blog foster cultural change between parents and school? Will creating a class website/blog improve communication and relationships with those who participate? Yes and yes.**

Now how does all that relate to the Linguistic Cognitive Domain??

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I have been asked to try to understand Humberto Maturana’s theory of language and cognitive science. (Probably why my mind feels like a whirlwind!!) I do not have any background in this and I am slow to understand these complex theories. Here’s what I have understood though I am quite sure I am may be incorrect in these interpretations:

From class: the linguistic cognitive domain relates to creating feelings through the way we communicate, speak (i.e. speaking to parents in a way that either creates/improves relationships or pushes them away)

From Humberto Maturana:

-living organisms are self-sustaining (autopoiesis)
-organisms create their world rather than the world creating them

-we use language as a way to navigate/create the world (ongoing interactions)

-language creates our connections and causes structural changes based on these interactions

-Composite Unity: Individual unities compose a composite (individuals working together)

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I am still trying to make sense of these theories so I have cited Vincent Kenny’s interpretation of “Languaging” and other theory by Humberto Maturara to remind me:

‘”All that takes place in human life is languaging, and all that takes place in languaging is conversations”‘.

“‘These are continuous mutual grooming interactions. We immerse ourselves in structural drift contingent to the conversations in which we participate and which we generate through our structural dynamics'”.

“‘Thus we say that the words were smooth, caressing, hard, sharp, and so on: all words that refer to body touching. Indeed we can kill or elate with words as body experiences. We kill or elate with words because, as co-ordinations of actions, they take place through body interactions that trigger in us body changes in the domain of physiology.'” (1988:p 48).

“-Languaging interactions are powerful perturbations.
-These trigger structural changes.”

http://www.oikos.org/vinclife.htm#sum

As usual I feel like I have more questions after class than I do answers.

I need to focus on one. What topic do I want to pursue for my inquiry?

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m interested in considering the ways I can use technology to connect parents to our class. Whether it be a class website or blog, I think informing parents will help us better work together to support our children/students.

Once again I find myself returning to the copy of Learn magazine that I quoted in my first blog post. Yes, yet another article about technology! (Of three main articles, three are about technology!) I appreciate the practical uses of technology it discusses as well how technology enhances communication and thereby improving the parent-teacher/parent-school relationship. I especially like the idea that conversations can happen at home about our school experiences–because parents will be in the know. If parents are informed about what we are doing at school they can better support our learning. Also, I think parents will feel better. (I know my parents in Primary French Immersion can be anxious at times about their child’s progress…) I think parents would really like having a window into our classroom activities that can be easily accessible at home or work.

Create a class blog. This is one of my goals.

I wonder about how involved and interactive parents are to be on the blog. Would they participate in useful ways (i.e. not just complaining)? Would it be best to it set up so that parents e-mail me rather than just leaving a “reply” directly on the blog?

Also, I have questions about of which type of blog would best suit my needs. WordPress seems good and I am learning how to use it through this course. I have some experience with Blogger too…there are a lot of choices as my group and I discussed today.

Other questions/concerns I have:

Can I put student work and photos online? (Privacy issues around media.)

How could I get students involved on the blog? (Riddles, math problems, questionnaires students can do with their family? Are they authors of the blog too?)

Should the blog become a part of my Language Arts/Science/Socials/Math program? (The parents could view the work in its various stages.)

What goes on the blog and what does not? (I can imagine creating more questions for parents if I posted too much/too little in some situations.)

Overall, I expect that creating more connections with parents will lead to positive changes. Being “transparent” supports student learning in many ways and using technology (a blog) may be just what I was missing…