Information Overloaded

You have got to watch this video that one of the Grade 8 students made today. All he needed was his laptop, a microphone, Smartboard Recorder and his script. We are gathering all the videos and putting them on a wikispace so teachers and students can benefit from them. It took him 30 minutes to write his script and get his moves in order….and 10 minutes to record!

http://thelearningfactory.wikispaces.com (click on the math link on the left)

Click here to watch the video.

During a school visit one day I was struck by the talent that our students possess. Their artwork work was smartly framed on the walls for everyone in the school to see.

I thought it would be neat to put this on a website so even more people could enjoy it. I contacted some of the Art teachers in the District and we are now in the process of collecting and showcase their work on our Virtual Art Gallery website.

But it gets better! The Literacy Mentor and I were talking a few months ago and we are hoping to use the site to teach Middle School students how to comment on artwork. We are hoping to be able to link students’ comments about the art to the actual piece on the website!

Cool!

http://virtualartgallery.nbed.nb.ca

Mr. Lessig has hit the nail on the head when he talks about the effects of the read/write web on our kids in his Ted Talk entitled, “How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law”.

Larry Lessig is a Law Professor, and the founder of Creative Commons, a license that enables creators to legally allow their work to be remixed and shared without breaking copyright laws. He talks about how kids today are not willing to settle into the passive consumer role like we were.

That made me think of something….I have been thinking about the old days when people did not question practices or comment negatively on things that nurses, doctors, and teachers were doing. They believed everything they were told!

Today is so different. We are a more critical society and take an active and role in our family’s health and education. We ask questions, do research, and look for alternatives. This is a good thing.

However, when it comes to media, we are much more passive. We accept the bad shows on TV and allow ourselves to be docile consumers.

This is not the case with our kids! They make and watch their own content! They are not passive consumers- they produce and create and are unwilling to just sit back and be entertained. They do it because they have something to say and an audience that will listen.

I think our kids will look back at us watching tv and wonder why were were so passive, and wonder why we didn’t create…

Powerful stuff! You’ve got to watch this one!

I have found an excellent document written by a teacher in the US by the name of Mr. Ben Wilkoff entitled, “101 Tools and Resources For Authentic Learning Environments.”

At a first glance, I was immediately struck by all the great sites and tools listed for teaching and learning. We have already been using some of the resources listed here in our own District: things like Skype, Audacity, Wikispaces, Teachertube and Smartboard Applications, to name a few.

However, the best part of the document, for me, was found on page 3, when Mr. Wilkoff writes about an authentic learning environment:

An authentic learning environment is anywhere that asks students to create products and learning processes with real purpose and real audience. Purposes outside of getting a grade and pleasing the teacher increase ownership of learning. This means that teachers should create activities…based upon the idea that all learning can and should last longer than the course. (I love that last line).

Making learning last beyond the scope of the course! That is what teaching is all about! It’s not about the technology at all. He goes on to explain how he has differentiated between “Tools” and “Resources”. “Tools are not something that challenge thinking. It is something to use within the authentic environment, but it cannot become the reason to do an assignment.”

See, he’s right. We can have all the tools and equipment we want in classroom, but authentic learning is not going to occur merely with these things alone. Good lessons have always been about so much more than that.

Resources [he continues] are places you keep coming back to because there is frequently updated content. They are works that challenge you to think differently and teach differently. They are places that ask you for contribution to the conversation.

In his “Resources” section, he lists ePals, School 2.o, Ted, and various blogs, such as David Warlick’s 2Cents Worth, his own “Discourse about Discourse”, and Vicki Davis’ Cool Cat Teacher. Things that you read and think about, and revise your own methods because of it……

So much good stuff. Thanks Ben! This will Overload my brain for many weeks to come.