Monthly Archives: November 2011

Nov 21 2011

OTR Links 11/21/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

By dougpete • Posted in Links
0
Nov 20 2011

ICT Integration

At the Partners in Learning Forum, I was with a small group of the media who received an overview of the results from the 2011 ITL Research Report.  A summary of the research findings appears below.

  • Innovative teaching supports students’ development of the skills that will help them thrive in future life and work.
  • However, students’ opportunities to develop these skills are typically scarce and uneven, both within and across the sample of schools in the study.
  • While ICT use in teaching is becoming more common, ICT use by students in their learning is still an exception.
  • Innovative teaching practices are more likely to flourish when particular supportive conditions are in place:
  1. Teacher collaboration that focuses on peer support and the sharing of pedagogical approaches
  2. Professional development that involves the active engagement of teachers, particularly in practicing and researching new teaching methods
  3. A school culture that offers a common vision of innovation and consistently encourages new types of teaching
  • Researchers observed examples of innovative teaching at the classroom level.
  • However, coherent and integrated support for the adoption of innovative teaching was lacking in most of the schools and all of the systems in this study.

The entire report is available at the link above and is interesting reading.  Schools from seven countries participated to generate the research data that lead to the report and this summary.  While the focus was on innovation, I suspect that the results above could be drawn from most research into the use of technology in the classroom.

During the overview, I took a picture of one of the slides.  The question was “Why is ICT Integration Hard?”  (Please excuse the light fixture creeping in on the picture.

My first reaction, and I made the point to the presenter was the word “integration”.  It’s one of those words where I think we know what it means but its very use implies something else.  It’s the implication that it’s something added to the educational process.

We don’t talk about integrating pencils or paper or basketballs or lathes or calculators or so many other things into classroom instruction.  It’s just the way that things are done.

I showed this picture to a friend of mine whose reaction was interesting.  He indicated that, as long as we’re researching this topic and presenting these results, they serve as an excuse for not using technology.  As we talked, we went through the list and substituted “basketball” into the chart.

Why is Basketball Integration so hard?

  • lack basketballs for students - we can’t do drills unless we have 1:1;
  • insufficient time to prepare for the use of basketball - what happens if a student comes up with a unique way of dunking a baseketball?;
  • not enough professional development on the use of basketballs – we need to fully understand everything that could happen with a basketball before we use it;
  • lack basketballs for teachers - how can I teach it if I can’t prepare at home?;
  • basketball nets are not reliable - often they’re torn;
  • outdated basketballs - these things are often up to 10 years old – I know they still bounce but not as well as the newer basketballs;
  • difficult to access basketballs – the other phys ed teacher has them booked;
  • lack basketball-supported resources - we need a source of best practice lesson plans for the use of basketballs;
  • weak basketball courts - some are wood, some are rubberized, some are tiled;
  • not enough technical support – what happens when something goes wrong? There is absolutely nothing I can do with a basketball and students if one of the nets is broken;
  • basketballs vandalized - they are often under-inflated or dirty;
  • basketballs not supported by my vice-principal or principal – dribbling is not on the standardized test.

As we were creating the list, we were laughing at the images that came to mind.  In reality, we would never accept any of those excuses for not using basketballs in a physical education program.  And yet, somehow it’s perfectly acceptable to use these as excuses for not using technology in the classroom.

Now, obviously, there are some scenarios that make it difficult (like not having any technology at all) but when I think of people who are successful, they don’t consider that they’re integrating anything.  It’s just the way things are done.  Very few people have the luxury of a 1:1 program and the resources needed to sustain it.  However, good and powerful teaching methods make technology an integral part of everything that happens.  It’s just the way they do business.  There are times when things go wrong but that’s real life.

The report is focussed on innovative use of technology but that will only happen when the technology starts being used in a meaningful way.  Schools can’t sit around waiting for the perfect combination of everything; chances are it will never happen.  If we really believe that technology has a place in the classroom, it needs to be used and celebrated for the success that it can have at the readiness level of both student and teacher.  That makes it so much easier to ask for more and for better.

The next Michael Jordan may just be sitting on the bench chomping at the bit to show what he can do.

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Nov 20 2011

OTR Links 11/20/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

By dougpete • Posted in Links
0
Nov 19 2011

Best Calculator Ever

I’m really picky when it comes to calculators.  I’ve had a number of them over the years but, by far, my favourite one was an HP-21 that I bought while going to university and studying mathematics.  What was special about the HP-21 was that it used RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) logic to solve expressions.

Thanks, HP Museum

I still have this calculator tucked away for memory purposes.  The battery has long since given up the ghost and I have no idea where the charger is anyway.  But, lightweight and powerful, it lasted me for years of calculations and was the source for inspiration for many a computer science problem to be solved.

A separate calculator is really a thing of the past in today’s world.  With an iPod or iPad or smart phone, you just get an app.  I’ve played around with many but broke out in a big smile when I downloaded and tested HiCalc Pro.  I stumbled upon it when it was offered for free instead of its regular price of $.99.

It’s not just a calculator – it’s 11 calculators for the iPad.  And you can bet that I’m smiling because the scientific calculator features an RPN layout!

The calculators are all fully skinable.  In this case, I’ve used a leather look.    I was totally impressed with the Unit Converter.  It converters virtually anything to anything else! Cooking? Electric Current?  Permeability?  Velocity?  Weight?  In fact, there are 113 categories.  They’re all there, loaded and ready to go.

Graphing, solving equations, finances, and so much more.  If it could somehow be loaded into a calculator, it’s in here.  Even a tip calculator!

If you’re looking for a good calculator – actually, good calculators – you need to check this one out.

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Nov 19 2011

OTR Links 11/19/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

By dougpete • Posted in Links
0
Nov 18 2011

Two Great Chats

There is no doubt that Twitter provides an excellent, on-going form of personalized professional development.  The moment that you want to learn something, you just go about doing it.  The whole experience takes on greater value when you gather a group of like minded educators and share a common focus.  On Wednesday evening, Ontario Educators had not one but two opportunities to participate in a Twitter Chat.  I was there for both and it was a terrific opportunity.  After all, as @pmcash notes:

I don’t know how many folks were involved – I had set a goal to try and do a tally but got so engaged with the conversations that I completely forgot.  My bad.

People wanted to make it work and so were checking in where they could.

We had people teaching online classes chiming in and others who were doing school activities but most of us were snuggled in to do some learning in our homes.

#CTChat

The evening started with the Critical Thinking Chat.  Hashtag for this was #CTChat.  Sadly, a search of that hashtag really doesn’t do the chat justice – Twitter seems to have lost some of the content.  But, if you were live, you were in for a great discussion.  The ringleader for the evening was @taniasterling who I had the distinct pleasure to meet at the ECOO Conference.  It was interesting to see her role in the process – she started with a couple of leading probes and we were off.  As a skilled facilitator, her presence was barely noticeable except to redirect the conversation when it was necessary.

As could be predicted since we were all at computers, parts of the conversation zeroed in tactics and resources for helping students to think critically about what they’re reading on the internet.  The chat has also started a space to share resources and ideas for what critical thinking might look like in a classroom.  I really liked the tie-in to literacy and the discussions that took off in that direction.

In a heartbeat, it seemed that the chat was over until next week.  I think most people headed off to the…

#ONTCL chat

Now, this one had my interest when Shannon Smith had originally let us know about it.  It wasn’t necessarily the topic, it was trying to picture all these Ontario Connected Leaders squeezed into one room.  But, somehow it worked.  From the simple question “What do Educational Leaders Tweet about”, the conversation was off and into very interesting areas.

There was one area of leadership that I wanted to know about and so tweeted out a message “how many times have you sent a plea for help out on twitter at home and picked up the answer at school” (or something like that).  It was an interesting bit of conversation that I like to call JITL (Just In Time Learning) Once you’ve cultivated a good support group, it’s amazing how unselfishly people step forward to assist.  Of course, @shannoninottawa had to one up me – indicating that she’s sent out a message and walked down the hall at school and got her answer there!

Equally as quickly, this chat was over.

In both cases, I think that people could have gone on for much longer but just like Twitter works best in small amounts, so does a Twitter chat.  Keep ‘em coming back for more.  #CTChat is scheduled weekly on Wednesday evenings and @ONTCL seemed like an experiment and it will be interesting to see what timeslot it falls in to.

Ontario Educators

From the discussion, there were some new people added to the Twitter Ontario Educator list.  If you’re an Ontario Educator reading this post and want to get added to the list, head over to this link and add your co-ordinates.

The Mechanics

It’s interesting to follow the tips from those who participated.  There were some that were using the Twitter website to participate; some used a separate column in Tweetdeck; I used a separate column in Seesmic Web to capture the conversation but used TweetChat for the actual tweeting (Without it, I often forget to key the hashtag); some were using Flipboard and following the feed there.  It should come as no surprise that all these connected leaders couldn’t agree on one best way!

Once you get the mechanics down, it’s all conversation and great conversation.  There was agreement that face-to-face meetings at PD events cannot be replaced but this was the next best thing.  We can’t all get together in one conference room somewhere, but we sure can meet virtually like we did Wednesday.

I hope that the word of both of these chats spreads.  It is a magnificent forum to devote some time for JITL.

Nov 18 2011

OTR Links 11/18/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

By dougpete • Posted in Links
0
Nov 17 2011

About Klout

David Truss posted this image on his blog

Recently, I had the opportunity to think seriously about Klout.  Like many people, I had checked out my Klout.  I tracked it over a couple of weeks and noticed that it did, in fact, seem to adjust itself based upon the interactions that I was having online.  When I had created an interesting blog post, it generated some Twitter discussion and the count would go up.  When I missed the mark, it went down.  It seemed to make a great deal of sense.

In fact, I had started to imagine how one could use Klout as part of the educational experience.  I started to look at the Klout of world leaders.  Stephen Harper has Klout of 61; Barrack Obama has Klout of 48.

As I’m creating this blog post, I’m also participating in the Critical Thinking chat.  #ctchat  Certainly, the concept of Klout is a little off the wall and an interesting concept.  In fact, many Twitter clients and you can get Twitter itself to post a Klout score beside message posters via a Google Chrome plugin.  Presumably, this would let you understand the importance and credibility of the poster.  But, should we let a service generate a number between 1 and 100 or should we read and make our own decisions as to the credibility of someone who posts online?

I know that Klout means a great deal to some people and they’re actively giving and getting Ks to try to raise that score.  Many hang their hat on that magic number.  As their Klout goes, so do they.  But, is there a price to be paid?

Recently, there has been a rash of reports like this one.  We are living in times where information and the use of it is exploding in new directions.  The developers at Klout are creating something new from the information that we’re offering up for free.  Is it a game to get ahead?  Is it really a true representation of your online influence?  Will the big influencers get perks for being so influential?  Or, is this just another way to build an online profile that would be worth money to advertisers?

Where is the value in influence?  Where do you check in with the chart above?

p.s. literally seconds after I queued this up for posting, I read this post.  No question about a position here!

Nov 17 2011

OTR Links 11/17/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

By dougpete • Posted in Links
0
Nov 16 2011

Western RCAC Symposium 2011 #rcac11

As I drove through London this afternoon, it was 14 degrees.  It’s hard to believe, given that temperature, that we’re just a few weeks from the Western Regional Computer Advisory Comittee’s Symposium 2011 but we are.  Perhaps the weather people haven’t heard that I’ve been asked back to help co-chair this year’s event.  Usually, my name elicits snow, sleet, ice, …

The date is December 8.  In the days leading to and on the day of Symposium, look for the Twitter hashtag #rcac11.

The setting is very unique at the beautiful Lamplighter Inn which is always decked out in its Christmas finest.

The Western RCAC is very excited to welcome its keynotes and breakout speakers to this year’s event.

Who hasn’t experienced and learned from a CommonCraft video? How about Cloud Computing, for example?

Lee LeFever will set the tone for the day with his open keynote address “The Art of Explanation”.  What is the genius behind his product?  How are these videos created?  More interestingly, how do you create a profession like this, using the new media, when it didn’t exist before!

Later in the day, Dr. Helen Barrett will share her insights and research on the use of ePortfolios in education.  Think about it…in this day and age, is it important that the learning stops so that a test can be given to assess at one point in time?  Isn’t portfolio evaluation which is ongoing and more reflective a more powerful approach?  Read my thoughts about Googlios from earlier in this blog.

If these two speakers don’t set off a terrific day of learning, consider the other sessions offered by Ontario educators.

  • Story Telling the Common Craft Way – Lee LeFever
  • Edmodo – Social Networking for Students, Teachers, and Parents – Peter McAsh
  • Using Twitter to Develop a Professional Learning Network – Danika Barker
  • The Idea Hive: Connections in the Thin Walled Classroom – Heather Durnin
  • Riding the Video Stream  (Video Streaming) – Kenji Takahashi
  • Facebook Part II – WRDSB’s Board Wide Facebook Rollout. – Mark Carbone
  • Primary Digital Literacy (Pixie 3) – Elaine Ernewein
  • Writing Conferences with the new Lightscribe ‘Echo’ Pen – Trevor Hammer
  • ePortfolios in Greater Detail – Helen Barrett
  • Early Years iPod Touch Literacy Project – Gidget Davidson
  • Why the Tools Matter, Technology for use in Special Education  – Kim Gill
  • The Future is Now ( Future Forms Project) – Harry Niezen
  • Project Based Learning: Rich and Relevant  – Peter Skillen, Brenda Sherry
  • Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) – Marc Lijour
  • Unplugd.ca Why BLANK Matters – Zoe Branigan-Pipe, Rodd Lucier, Ben Hazzard
  • Frames 4 (OSAPAC Movie Production Software) – Janet Ewaskiw
Registration is still open.  Details are at the Western RCAC website at:  http://www.westernrcac.org