Learning Always
Last week, I attended New Teacher Camp at the Boy’s Latin Charter School in Philadelphia. I attended a session called Creating a Great EdTech College Course run by MaryBeth Hertz and Alice Lesnick. There was a really interesting discussion with a bit of a debate about too much emphasis on tools. I was particularly interested in this discussion because I teach a Graduate Technology Course. I am always looking for ways to improve my class, and often wonder if I am getting it right.
My class is very tool heavy. I get the whole pedagogy side, trust me. Here’s my thought. If I have about 35-40 hours total for a technology class, I am going for the tools. Why? If they don’t know about the tools, how can they use them? Many of my students have never used anything other than the Office Suite of products and email. They do not use social media, other than Facebook for personal use. They have never heard of wikis, blogs, Twitter, Google apps, and oh, so, many more. Many have digital cameras, but have never taken the photos from the camera to the computer. Uploading them to a site is a whole new adventure. So, yes, for me it’s really about the tools. I feel that when I immerse my students in an environment where they have to learn to navigate tools and get a bit messy, it helps them get over their fear of breaking the computer. My main goal is to enable them to feel confident enough to tinker on their own and investigate new tools when they are introduced. Of course, as I introduce the tools, they are required to develop lessons or we discuss how to use them to develop critical thinking and collaboration skills. They also read articles and reflect on blog posts on our class ning.
After the session at #ntcamp, I was really questioning if I was helping my students, or if I was doing it all wrong and doing them a disservice. I decided to ask them. We had a discussion about the session at ntcamp about building a great edtech course. Then, I asked them to write a reflection about our class. They had a choice to post it on the ning or hand in a hard copy. I wanted them to have the option, since the ning is more public. The last night of class, I came home with a few hard copies and knew that the others were waiting for me on the ning. I love getting feedback from my students about my classes because it helps me grow as an educator. That being said, I can honestly say I was not ready to read their reflections. I was feeling very anxious, so I decided to leave them for the next day. On my way to bed, I checked my email one last time, and got one of the nicest notes I have ever received from a student:
Thank you for satisfying my thirst for technology (you’ll understand if you read my blog);
Thank you for being one of the two greatest teachers I will ever remember;
Thank you for always believing in me and my potential;
Thank you for treating everyone the same but minding our individual strength, potentials and personalities;
I feel very sad you won’t be teaching us next year;
You are a great teacher and I hope you know that. I hope every student knew/knows how lucky they were/are to have you as a teacher.
Some comments from the reflections:
“Before I took this course….I was intimidated by the thought of just sitting behind a computer and avoided it as much as I could… This technology course has given me the confidence to try things out on the computer…. Maybe someday I will be one of the teachers who will be urging my school to embrace the transformative power of technology!”
“Overall, learning a bunch of news tricks and tools was more beneficial for me. I now have time to go back and play on my own time with the new sites I learned about. So much about teaching involves figuring things out on your own because everybody’s teaching style is unique.”
“I was very scared to take this class. As I have said in previous blogs, I am not a very tech savvy person, and I get very intimidated by technology. This class has opened my eyes to a whole new world of technology. When I go to professional development meetings, they are always saying how we have to get students attention, and use technology in the classroom more often. I always found this a struggle because I didn’t know how to use technology, or understand how it worked in a classroom environment, besides just letting them use a computer to type on and to do research.”
Needless to say, I was happy that my students felt they learned to embrace technology and not be afraid. Through our discussion about #ntcamp, they also learned that it is not just about the tool, but about how the tool is used to enhance student learning. Many times as teachers, we question what we are doing and if we are doing it right, at least I do. And, when we do get it right it is like some secret that must be guarded closely, lest others think we are tooting our own horn. This does feel like that, but I am sharing this because there is so much negative press about teachers. We need to start celebrating our joy-filled moments so others can celebrate them too.
Now, I need your help. I realize there is always room for improvement and I am hoping to make my class better through my choice of articles. This way, I will be able to expose my students to more theory. I am on a mission to find some really good articles about the theory behind using technology. Is it effective? Why do we use it? Maybe you can help me with that?
I just want to be a better me.
Today, I came back from teaching a technology class and opened my Tweetdeck. I was stunned to see my name added to a contest. People are supposed to go to that list and vote for the most influential educational tweeters. Really. No lie. First, let me say that I have major issues with lists. I never even created any twitter lists because it felt too exclusive to me. What do these lists prove? Why do we have them? So, imagine how embarrassed I feel being added to a list where I am being compared to some real powerhouse thinkers and doers.
I just want to be a better me.
I don’t want to be the next great presenter at technology conferences. I don’t want to be on the best of, most influential, top ten of any list. I just want to learn, to be a better teacher for my students. I want to fail less better. Yes fail better, so I learn and grow as an educator. I want to figure out a way to try and maintain my enthusiasm throughout the school year when apathy surrounds me and sucks me down it’s dark hole. I want to help my students to answer the how do I do this? What if? Why does that happen? How can I make it better? kind of questions on their own.
Twitter helps me do that. When I come home, I know that if I sign onto twitter there will be many outstanding educators trying to do the same thing I am. To re-energize for the next day, to search for ideas, share successes and failures, talk about our kids, goof around or yes, sometimes even get serious.
So can we stop with the lists? Do we really need them? We know who influences us, do we need others to tell us that?
Backchannel or Bashchannel?
I attended the keynote speech at ISTE 2010. I am still wrestling with what happened during the Twitter backchannel of the keynote. The speaker, Jean-François Rischard, spoke about global problem solving and the critical role of educators and technology for education. I believe most of his speech was based on his book, High-Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. When he walked on stage, he looked a bit nervous and all I could think was that it takes a very brave person to stand up in front of a crowd that big on the opening day of a major conference. The Wells Fargo Theater has a 5,000 fixed-seat capacity and it looked to me like all seats were filled.
Photo courtesy of jjohnson1120's photostream on Flickr
When he began, Mr. Rischard showed a Power-Point slide and began using some mathematical terms and formulas that made me wish I had more mathematical knowledge. Although, what he said was over my head, I was able to understand the core of his message, that we have major global challenges that need to be solved quickly. I was interested to learn more.
While Mr. Rischard was presenting, I was keeping an eye on the Twitter backchannel. It was not a pretty sight. Things started to turn pretty ugly, pretty quickly. Many commented negatively on his PowerPoint Slides, his lack of energy and his lack of connection to the audience. Reading the negative tweets reminded me of a blog post I had recently read by Danah Boyd, “spectacle at Web2.0 Expo… from my perspective.” In her post, she describes what it felt like to be on stage presenting and know that she had somehow lost the audience. She talked about hearing laughter at moments when there should have been none. It forced her to rush through her speech, just to be done as quickly as possible. She stated, “The Twitter stream had become the center of attention, not the speaker. Not me.” Her post really stuck with me, and I couldn’t help but realize that I was witnessing the same type of situation. Thinking about that, I tweeted out a tweet to try and divert the attention back to the speaker. I am not sure if it helped, but I felt it was something I needed to do.
There are at least two sides to every story. Did the speaker lack savvy presentation skills? Maybe. When presenting at a conference filled with tech savvy presenters, is that important? Maybe. Is it an affront to the message of fostering a growth in technology in education? Maybe.
Here’s my issue. The message the speaker was trying to convey was a very serious one. Do we always need bells and whistles in a presentation? When we don’t get that, can we get past it and pay attention, really listen? Maybe I am way off base, but isn’t the backchannel supposed to be a critical engagement about the message the speaker is trying to convey and not about the speaker himself? Don’t we do a disservice to ourselves and the speaker when engaging in a bashchannel and not a true backchannel?
I would love to hear your thoughts. Am I way off base? Maybe? Maybe not?
Why edcampPhilly?
In one week, edcamp Philly will become a reality!
What is edcamp Philly?
Edcamp Philly is an unconference that will take place on Saturday, May, 22 at Drexel University. It is a day where educators from across the United States will engage in conversations about education. The participants drive the day. The participants set the agenda. The participants choose what sessions they would like to attend. It is that simple. Or is it?
Why edcamp?
Many times in the past few months, people have been giving me weird looks and asking me questions about my involvement in the organization of edcamp Philly. Wait, they say, let me get this straight, you are not getting paid to do this? Then why? I have been thinking about those questions a lot. Why did I get involved in edcamp? It’s funny, but the notion of monetary reward did not even enter my mind. Really. The true reward for me has been experiencing the fun and energy that comes from working with a group of motivated and intelligent teachers, a group of teachers that care about kids, their fellow educators, and the state of education in general.
Aha Moment!
Today, I watched a video that animates Daniel Pink’s book Drive.
As I was watching this video, I realized that my involvement in edcamp is exactly what he talks about in his book. I am motivated by the sense of autonomy I am experiencing. I am part of a creative team that is completely self-directed. We make the decisions in a collaborative atmosphere, filled with the respect that we are equal in our desire, to create a space for educators to celebrate their own autonomy and expertise. A space that is about mastery, about mastering our craft, about learning and growing together. A space that is fun and free, where the rule of economics does not even enter the arena. Edcamp was organized to enable educators to feel a sense of purpose. As educators, we need to move forward with a sense of purpose, to make the educational experiences of our students an experience that we, ourselves, crave. According to Pink, we thrive when we experience autonomy, mastery and purpose. Hopefully, edcamp will be a start, a place where the conversations will help to move us in that direction.
Join us!
I challenge you to join us. To come to a place where autonomy, mastery and purpose will be celebrated!
Life with L 