Author Archives: brilm

07/12/13

Summative Presentation Week 2

@BrianneMelnyk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With today’s summary, I’m trying something somewhat experimental.  We’ve been told to feel free to try new things, take chances, and expand our educational thought.  I decided to take inspiration from something I’d seen on Pinterest a few months back, but was too late with my class to try.

A teacher had used memes to explain class rules.  Being nerdy like that, I found it hilarious.  Memes have such visual appeal, and I decided to try and create my own, educational memes, in order to present my learning for the week.  What is a meme?  It can be thought of as an element of culture passed from one individual to another, or an image or video being passed on the Internet.  The word meme comes from a Greek word meaning something imitated.  Memes are very popular amongst kids online.  And me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the week started, I had come to a realization.  I love technology.  I use technology.  I’m an advocate for technology.  However, I tended not to use it to create connections.  I used it with students, had students use it, but usually in isolation.  We may have looked at something on Twitter, such as Chris Hadfield’s pictures from space, but didn’t add anything back in.  We were consumers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I realized that this was reflected in how my school district has offered technology pro-d.  There are often some interesting things, usually about how to use a program, and usually never a reason why.  Our last districtwide pro-d was entirely tech based, yet I couldn’t find a single session that inspired me.  Even as I began my inquiry, I was focused on the end product rather than the why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a group, we began researching and pulling in ideas from different sources.  We found that while there are varying opinions on whether the use of technology and social media is positive for students, the gains were far more valuable than the losses.  One article gave an excellent outline for issues to consider when considering using new technology, the first being, why are you using it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How is it better than what you already do?  What new connection or aspect to the project can the technology bring?  This formed the basis for my thought this week.  It is not enough to simply use or consume the technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As educators, we’ve all experienced resistance to change.  This change can be both simple and complex.  This can happen for various reasons.  Some have been frustrated when trying to use technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some haven’t had the experience in using it, or training.  Some simply haven’t ever heard a reason why they should.  Some educators are nearing the end of their careers and have little interest in changing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of us have felt overwhelmed and frustrated in the last two weeks as we navigate Mindmeister, Pearltrees, Diigo, Twitter, Kindle, blogs, and more.  The next time a colleague says they’re frustrated by technology, think back to how you’ve felt and empathize.  It isn’t easy to change.  But change is part of the process of life.  It is our role to help facilitate that change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We change, we adapt, we hopefully try and make things better.  Better isn’t always easy.  However, our students are worth the effort. They’re worth our frustrations as Internet connections grind to a halt, as programs freeze, as we sift through 20 different apps that are all so close, yet not quite exactly what we need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even if Grumpy Cat thinks otherwise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They’re worth sharing ideas and reasoning at a staff meeting.  They’re worth offering a session for other teachers as professional development.  They’re worth spending far too much time on Twitter than could possibly be healthy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When thinking about the why of why we’re using technology, don’t forget our biggest reason why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students.

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07/11/13

Finding What Matters

Today was a bit of a rough one for me. I’ve hit that midcourse hump, the point at which from here on in it’s all downhill, and the momentum can feel a bit much. The information keeps piling on, even as the end seems far too near. As a group, I think we were a bit more reserved than usual, and this was commented on by more than one person. I had a few personal lows – an email stating that at this point human resources will not be looking at filling any more vacancies until the end of August, so as someone on recall and without a position, I’m left in limbo. Having already lost my school permanently, I’ve struggled with shifting my educational thought as I learn so many new things that I’d like to try. Running through my head are thoughts such as, that’d be a great project to do with the grade sevens in the computer lab… oh. The grade eights could use twitter to… oh. That’d be something really interesting to explore as a staff! OH.

The tipping point came during one of the Fame presentations, as apparently we managed to sign up for the same topic, although mine was more specific. I found myself securely in the doldrums, feeling that I had nothing else left, nothing I could do, nothing else worth doing. However, even in that gloomy state of mind, the ideas from my colleagues brought me back.

Cherise really made me think about the importance of our professional communities. I’m going to miss the one that I had, but I need to concentrate on building a new one wherever I may end up. I love learning from and sharing with my peers, it’s been incredibly important for me in my career. I need to look instead at what I can share, and what I can learn. Other schools have no smart boards, no projectors, no wireless connections. How can I teach, and help advocate for those schools? My role may be changing geographically, but that can be an advantage.

Share. Teach. Learn. Grow.

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07/10/13

Can I interest you in some structural coupling?

Today in our lovely little group, we discussed some of the ideas we encountered as we gathered information for our inquiry projects. One article laid out a process for integrating technology into lessons that was rather interesting. It called upon teachers first to look at their current practices, and then to think about what they wish to accomplish by incorporating a new technology. It then stated that teachers need to research a variety of options, both technological and not, keeping financial considerations and best practices in mind. Resource identification was important, as was comfort level with the new technology. The authors felt that the teacher needed to be willing to learn, redesign content, and prepare a plan of implementation.

This article hit at the heart of some of what I’ve been considering. It is important not to adopt technology for the sake of technology. Technologies come, go, change, adapt. Instead, we need to consider why we’re using something. How will it benefit our students? How does it improve what I’m doing as an educator? How does it expand the thoughts of my students, the exposure of my students? Can I use it to create a connection that didn’t previously exist? As stated today, we are the sum of our experiences. If I can use technology to expand the experiences of my students, fantastic. If I’m using it to do the same old, same old, such as posting stories on a blog but not actually connecting an audience to that blog, what’s the point

The discussion today combined with my visit to Bard on the Beach and Elizabeth Rex created a most interesting image in my mind. While making the note of needing to expand thoughts through exposure, the bear from the play popped into my head. Elizabeth is immediately frightened by the bear, based on her personal knowledge and experiences. However, the bear turns out to be friendly and rather cuddly. Flipping this, if this experience is all one ever had of a bear, it might make for a rather dangerous reaction the next time one met a bear and tried to give it a cuddle.

As humans, we need to grow, to expand. If not, what is the point of our existence?

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07/9/13

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

There is a quote in an article I’m reading for my inquiry project that seemed to fit in quite well with some of the impressive words we learned about in class today, such as sociocultural homeostasis, and institutional isomorphism. Just try saying those five times fast.

The article is entitled The Innovative use of Personal Smart Devices by Students to Support their Learning, by Anne Nortcliffe and Andrew Middleton.

“… the ‘strong’ disruption that results from the advent of ubiquitous, personally owned mobile technologies and how the ‘long-term consequences must be to challenge the authority of the curriculum’ and dominant thinking about the nature of formal learning.”

While I disagree about bring your own device (BYOD) on many levels, including the creation of the haves and have nots, trying to get everything running on multiple platforms, lack of common or shared apps, devices not running at full operation due to battery drain or damage, alright, perhaps I could go on for longer… however, I do believe that the much more affordable portable devices that can readily access the world do create the need to challenge the dominant thinking about formal learning.

If schools are institutions brought to life by those who learn in them, those who work in them, and the community, should not the institution reflect the lives of those souls? When I first typed that sentence I had only included those who work and the community… perhaps my brain associated students with working in the schools, but I felt the need to be more explicit. Marc Prensky creates the image of students as digital natives, in comparison to most teachers as digital immigrants. In reflection of my teaching experience, I think he is for the most part correct.

I like to try and argue otherwise for myself. I had a Commodore 64, and waited 30 minutes for Donald Duck’s Playground to load. I had an Atari, and Intellivision, and argue that Super Mario Brothers 3 is still the best of the Mario games. I have multiple blogs, have created web sites, use facebook, tweet, and get my news from websites as opposed to newspapers. However, I’m still not in league with my students who were born after the internet was available in many homes. I remember how exciting it was when our school was connected to the internet in 1996… but we didn’t know what to do with it. While I may feel a level of comfort, I was not born to it. The disparity is even greater for many of my colleagues.

However, we are strong voices regarding decision making that affects our classrooms. Do we each continue doing our disparate practices? Do we rise as a group and advocate strongly for change? The only certainty I have is that we certainly must not do nothing. We owe our students much more.

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07/8/13

If I may so Inquire…?

Today I tried to place into words what has merely been running through my head. I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that things aren’t quite real until you’ve expressed them to others. I may think in my head that I’d like to run off and join the circus, but until I put voice to that thought, share this idea with others, engage in discussion and debate, it remains a whisper, floating around.

In saying this, I can’t help but apply it to my students. Far too often, their only form of publishing is within the classroom. In some ways, this may not be much better than in their heads. Try as I can to value their work, I am only one voice. They may eventually share the work with their parents, a few friends, although I do wonder at the statistics on doing so.

For my inquiry, I would like to look at using social media as a way to connect students to the world. The world has changed so much since I was a student, with many more avenues for connections, yet many classrooms remain unchanged. Social media being a rather large environment, I think I may end up focusing on Twitter, as previously mentioned.

What I’d really like to do is explore the whys of doing so. Why should I use Twitter with my students. With every how that I encounter or conjure, I’d like to look at a reason for why. Some of these reasons will hopefully be backed by research stating why it is important to engage a student in a particular task. Some of the reasons may be based on BC curriculum. And perhaps there may be a study out there that actually looked at the benefits of social media use for students.

I plan to look at my inquiry through the mindset of creating a presentation for my peers. Consistently when I attend tech Pro-D within my district, they speak of all the wonderful things that we can do… and how it engages students, and how much they enjoy it. I’d like to create a better WHY. Why are we doing this? What is the benefit? How does it improve the minds of our students? How is it different than traditional methods?

Why do I get the feeling this could be a large research study, not a week and a half project? Eek!

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07/6/13

Random musings of a developing mind…

As I move through LIBE 477B, I cannot help but be inspired by my classmates.  To a one, they are all so passionate, so willing to try, to innovate, to create.  I truly believe that they will return in September full of energy to try in their schools all that they have learned.

Some are in a similar situation to myself in that they do not hold what the future holds.  I believe this to be a fallacy.  The future holds innovation, creativity, and an exploration of the future that will benefit the students be it as a teacher-librarian, a TOC, or as a parent.

I was reminded to remain aware of why I am doing this, what the pedagogy is, what the learning outcomes are.  I took a look at the admittedly ancient IRP for  English 7.  Students are explicitly expected to explain connections to the world, yet how can they do this when they are excluded from it?  That might be a bit of overuse of alliteration, but this thought is beginning to shape what I’m doing as an educator.  How can I connect my students to their peers, their families, their communities, their world?  ICT has made this a possibility that didn’t exist when I was a child.

I believe that each generation should seek to improve things for the next.  I would like  to establish my part in doing so.

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07/5/13

As the week draws to a close…

For this post, I chose to focus on two of the six questions that I found most intriguing, along with some personal reflection.

As the week began, I felt overwhelmed. I consider myself quite technologically literate, yet it felt like so much was coming at me from different angles. The communication prism shared in class today illustrated this – so much, everywhere around me, leaving me unsure of where to turn.

As we moved through the week, a level of awareness began to engage. I realized that while I was a happy consumer of many of these technologies, I didn’t necessarily use them in the classroom or teach my students how to use them. I did model the use of applications such as Twitter, show and discuss TED talks, access and share news stories from newspapers around the world, yet I didn’t fully engage my students in this process. Moving forward, I want to focus on ways to bring my students in, while keeping at the forefront why I am doing so.

How were your ideas about ICT in school settings influenced by Will Richardson’s book, “Why School”?

I found the book somewhat problematic. Many of the concerns we’ve addressed in class and on Twitter, namely increasing the number of students for whom a teacher is responsible, lacking a proper infrastructure to support increased technology centred learning, lack of teacher time and training, and concern over not losing many of what we find valuable in the current education system. I’m hoping perhaps that his book was meant more to shock and intrigue as opposed to form a basis for a new educational system. There were many ideas that could be brought in, such as student centred learning and teaching students more independence and focus on what they want to learn.

What issues, interest, or opportunity have you identified as a key topic for your inquiry work next week?

For next week, I believe I would like to start looking at connecting students with the world, and alternative ways of publishing work. I’d like to do so focusing on the use of Twitter. I need to learn more about potential pitfalls, merits, different ways of doing so, thinking about different ways to target audiences, how it can be used curricularly, and more. When looking at my personal Twitter account as a potential topic for 10 Minutes of Fame, I had never realized some of the amazing connections I’ve made. Twitter is part of the reality for our students, and could be an amazing way to bring more of the world in, send them out into the world, rather than just following their friends and a few celebrities.

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