Information Overloaded

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.

…that there was a movie that you were able to mix and re-edit and win a prize if it was good?

Well, Bruce MacDonald, Canadian director of “Tracey Fragments” has done just that. His movie about a 15 year old who loses her brother and tries to find him.

What is neat about all of this is that Bruce MacDonald has allowed his movie to be produced under the Creative Commons license. The movie footage is available so people have the ability to change, adapt and make their own version from the footage. The winner can win an Apple’s “Final Cut Pro” package and have their creation appear in the bonus features when the DVD is released.

Cameron Parkins writes in the Creative Commons Blog:

McDonald’s decision to embrace CC-licensing for The Tracey Fragments is remarkable in both practice and scope. Fans can choose to do what they will with the massive amount of assets provided ( under the terms of the BY-NC-SA licence), interpreting and re-envisioning the the film and its subject material in what is bound to be a variety of ways. By putting the film’s assets in the hands of would-be-editors and film-makers under CC-licences, Tracey: Re-Fragmented recognizes and embraces the concept of a hybrid economy, allowing people to experiment freely with the content around them while retaining the film’s commercial interests.

Okay, how’s that for collaboration! Kudos Mr. MacDonald! I can’t wait to see who the winner is…or maybe I should give it a try myself.

Interested? Click here to read more.

This has really made me think. I think about what my 12 year old daughter’s future will look like. Another great video from Michael Wesch, a Cultural Anthropology Professor at Kansas State University.

It was made by Michael Wesch, the same Professor that made the video “The Machine is Us/ing Us” which is excellent.

I was looking at the website www.slideshare.com and found this great slideshow.  Check it out.  [slideshare id=104848&doc=i-am-knowledge-worker-20786&w=425]

I found this quote on weblogged and thought it pertinent to thoughts these days on communicating with technology:

If teaching is an exchange of ideas, the ways that people convey their
thoughts in this day and age — text messages, podcasts, the Internet,
instant messaging — must find a place in the modern classroom. …If we don’t do it, who is going to teach our students to leverage the technologies they already use for 24/7/365 learning?

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