Week 8: To Collaborate or Not To Collaborate

What are the obstacles of Collaboration, and how do we overcome them, both in our classes (with students) and among our Professional Learning Communities?

In the Classroom:
I think within a classroom setting, there can be different types of collaboration, it is a matter of when and for what it is appropriate.

It goes without saying that Collaborative Learning has tremendous benefit for both the student(s) and the teacher.  Students can benefit from collaborative learning in a variety of ways.  For one, there are many students, when given an opportunity, love to express their thoughts, ideas, and opinions on their thought process and love to show of their problem-solving skills.  It gives them a chance to communicate with their peers.  However, for the student who might be easily intimidated, or "laid back" may not excel in this type of environment.  They may feel like their opinion matters or they might not be knowledgeable enough in the topic to feel confident to contribute to the discussion.

Here are many reasons that can outweigh the down-side to collaborative learning:
Small groups provide a place where:

• learners actively participate;
• teachers become learners at times, and learners sometimes teach;
• respect is given to every member;
• projects and questions interest and challenge students;
• diversity is celebrated, and all contributions are valued;
• students learn skills for resolving conflicts when they arise;
• members draw upon their past experience and knowledge;
• goals are clearly identified and used as a guide;
• research tools such as Internet access are made available;
• students are invested in their own learning.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/coopcollab/index.html

Here are some of the challenges one might face with collaborative work:

• Group Conflict
• Noise Level in the classroom
• Cohesiveness of the group
• "Officiating" group interaction

Here are ways to HELP yourself and students be successful in Collaborative work!

Professional Learning Communities:

What are some of the benefits of Professional Learning Communities and Collaboration among professionals?

For Staff:

reduction of isolation of teachers.

increased commitment to the mission and goals of the school and increased vigor in working to strengthen the mission

shared responsibility for the total development of students and collective responsibility for students' success.

powerful learning that defines good teaching and classroom practice and that creates new knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learners.

increased meaning and understanding of the content that teachers teach and the roles they play in helping all students achieve expectations.

higher likelihood that teachers will be well informed, professionally renewed, and inspired to inspire students.

more satisfaction, higher morale, and lower rates of absenteeism.

significant advances in adapting teaching to the students, accomplished more quickly than in traditional schools.

commitment to making significant and lasting changes and higher likelihood of undertaking fundamental systemic change.

For Students:

decreased dropout rate and fewer classes "skipped".

lower rates of absenteeism.

increased learning that is distributed more equitably in the smaller high schools.

greater academic gains in math, science, history, and reading than in traditional schools.

smaller achievement gaps between students from different backgrounds.

Ref:  Hord, S.M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Some of the obstacles may be difficult to overcome. 

Such as:

• Common Planning Time
• Release Time
• Resources
• Funds for resources

As you can tell, the benefits definitely outweigh the difficulties of creating such a collaborative environment.

Week 8: Connetctivism vs. Constructivism

To summarize, Connectivisim is a learning theory that we gain our knowledge from others and the world around us.

"The biggest question in my mind is whether the theory is powerful enough to have a real impact on main stream education. I see a lot of potential obstacles, especially with younger children." 

This is a great queston.  How much experience and "connectiveness" can young children have?  Can Connectivism be successful with very young children?  I believe that it can.  What is wrong with asking young children "What they think?"  "What are your experiences?"  "Have you been in that situtaion?"  These are just some examples of questions that can be asked to get young students to start thinking for themselves and communicating with one another.  Learning can take place at all levels, one needs to provide the appropriate tools for the appropriate age and ability level. 

Do you consider it "cheating" if students are working together to find solutions to problems?

I think there needs to be a balance between helping one another and finding out things, and thinking on their own.  There are times when it is important that students communicate and solve problems together and learn how others think and rationalize.  However, there are times when it is important that students know how to think things out for themselves.

How can we influence the educational system in the United States or even our own school district to embrace connectivism? Should we?

I think that we can be a more successful society if we learn to work together, and with others (especially globally).  Aren't two heads better than one?  :)

The New Learning Pyramid from the National Training Laboratories shows that the "Participatory Teaching Methods" result in the highest retention rates.  Meaning, we learn and remember more from Group Discussion, Practice, and Teaching Others.  It is important to incorporate all Methods to ensure that all learning styles are met.

Webinar Review: "Digital Nation-Education in the Digital Age"

This Webinar was an interview of Rachel Dretzin-PBS Frontline Producer conducted by Steve Hargaden of Classroom 2.0, discussing her new project "Digital Nation".

Here is the projects introduction video:

This webinar was helpful in pointing out a few videos that I found interesting that I would love to share with you.  They highlighted many valid points and raised many questions that I have had, and still struggle with.

Is it Multi-tasking or Distraction?:

Here are a few questions that came to mind:

1.  Do we, as educators (no matter what level) have to just accept the fact that "digital natives" do this during our classes?

2.  Where do we draw the line?

It is true that we ("Digital Immigrants") had our version of multi-tasking...such as taking notes during a lecture (by hand of course), or maybe even making our shopping lists and "to-do" lists during lectures, but is the new form of multi-tasking becoming more a distraction?

3.  Yes, our students are different, and need to be stimulated, but how does an educator prevent the technology and the need for stimulation from driving the course and the content?

The other video, that focuses on the positive side of this new "Digital Nation" is a Video clip of "Bubbe":

Now, if at 83 years of age someone can "immigrate" into the Digital Nation, why can't we.  Yes, like Bubbe we still long for a "voice call", a hand-written letter and an actual face-to-face visit, but if you can't beat em...join em!  It seems that Bubbe's life has been enriched in such a short period of time, imagine what it can do for us and our children if used the right way!

Needless to say, this webinar has introduced me to a brand new resource and given me access to so much more useful information on many different points of view of our "Digital Nation"!

My Screencast

Ok, well, I did it.  My first Podcast/Screencast.  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  The toughest part, figuring out what to do.  I am just starting to get used to blogging/rambling about things when it feels like no one is "listening", nevermind doing a presentation that you wonder who will be watching or even care.

At least I'm not in front of the crowd!  :)

I created the screencast using Screen-cast-omatic.  Very user-friendly.  I discovered this site in a preivious course I took at Plymouth.  I hope you enjoy!

Week 6: Whose Driving?

So, you have this wonderful idea for a project.  Students working in groups (collaborating), doing research, collecting data, taking surveys, analysing data, and presenting thier product to the class.  Sounds like a great plan...but according to the new 21st Century Learning ideas, there is one thing missing from your wonderful list...TECHNOLOGY!

How will they work in groups?  How will they conduct their research?  How will they collect data, take surveys, and analyse their data?  Finally, how will they present their masterpiece?  There are tools to help educators and students for each aspect of this "project" that you have in mind.

Online Collaboration Tools:
An example of this:  Edmodo Edmodo is a free and secure social learning network for teachers, students and schools. Edmodo provides classrooms a safe and easy way to connect and collaborate, offering a real-time platform to exchange ideas, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices.  Students use MySpace and Facebook on a regular basis.  They are used to communicating and sharing videos from youtube and sites that they find.  Why not do it in a safe, controlled environment. 

I want to share with you a list of free online collaboration tools.  There are countless resources that educators and students can use.  These are just some of them.

Conducting research:
The web is nothing but research...research at your fingertips.  It is extremely vital that the teacher be specific in the sources they want their students to use.  Perhaps a good idea would be to narrow the students options by giving the students a list of sites they want them to use.  If they feel brave, the teacher can let the students venture the net on their own. However, it is important that the students realize that just as a written/hard copy of any project, report, or research assignment that student note their sources (web sites).
Here is a list of research sites (to name a few)
http://www.archives.gov/research/start/online-tools.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/
http://www.noodletools.com/

Analysing and discussing Data:
How will students analyse their data.  Compare, and organize what they have discovered.  Especially if they are in groups, and not in the classroom.
Google docs is one example of how students can share spreadsheets, word documents and files and make changes based on their analysis.
Office live workspace:  Access, edit and share documents from anywhere.
Keep and Share might also be useful in classroom settings.

Presentations:
Prezi:  Presentations have not evolved much in the 50 years since the slide was invented, but Prezi is changing that. Prezi lets you bring your ideas into one space and see how they relate, helping you and your audience connect. Zoom out to see the big picture and zoom in to see details — a bit like web-based maps that have changed how we navigate through map books.

Zoho Show: The online tool for making powerful presentations.Whether you are a professional, a teacher, a student, a businessman, a salesman or anyone looking to put together a cool presentation, you have come to the right place. Zoho Show's pre-built themes, clipart and shapes coupled with features like drag-and-drop makes it an easy application to use.

Wikispaces and PBWorks: As in many cases, it is nice to have ONE place where students can communicate, collaborate and present all in one place...A wiki might be the answer.

I have listed for you MANY resources to utilize and consider...the most important thing to keep in mind..it should be the project that drives the tool...not the tool that drives the project.  You want to choose user-friendly and appropriate technology for your students.  The idea is to make them comfortable and confident, not stressed and defeated by the technology!

Enjoy!

Week 6: Chapter 3

This week's reading gave me some GREAT resources.  Chapter 3 in "Web 2.0-New Tools" focused on just that.  New tools that are being used in the classroom or as resouces for teachers to network with colleagues and educators around the world.  In fact, many of those resources I have added to my Diigo library this week!

Many of the tools, such as this (Blogs) and wikis (wikispaces) I have been using for my own personal use, and with the classes I teach.  What do I like most about the tools featured in this chapter?  They are for the most part...FREE!

What is the biggest problem with many of the tools featured in this chapter...TIME!  I love the fact that there are many open-source items out there..but where do we find the TIME to self-teach/learn how to use them?  And..the bigger question..how do we know when it is best to use what tool?  (This will bring me to my next posting.) 

Also, if we as educators need to spend a lot of outside time learning these tools and how to apply them properly and effectively to our lessons, how long will it take our students to learn them and be comfortable with them in class, completing projects.  Just because they are the "digital natives", that does not mean they will be comfortable using every piece of technology.  And, if they are not comfortable, how will this effect their project/assignment outcome?  Will they be so stressed about using/learning to use the tool that they will lose focus on the assignment at hand?

Overall, I am glad I took the time to read this chapter.  If anything it gave me more resources for my library, and it has raised new questions in my mind...

If we, the self-disciplined, self-motivated, and life-long learners don't have the time and get frustrated with the applications of all of these tools...how can we expect our students to embrace them?

Week5: Social Bookmarking and Readers

Whe I was first introduced to social bookmarking through Delicious for one of my grad courses, I viewed it as another thing to log into.  Something else to keep track of.  Why couldn't I just use my "favorites"?  I already had a huuuuge list of links saved into my favorites on my desktop at home, and even more on my laptop.  As I went through the course and was introduced to so many web tools and sites, I began to see the NEED for a social bookmarking site.  There were times when I wanted to work on my class away from home, and of course I didn't have my desktop, and my laptop was not available, or the particular site had not been saved on my laptop.  There was a time when I did get a little creative and emailed the links to myself, but that became a little out of hand as well.  I started to have to many emails and I had to dig through the emails to find the right link that I sent to myself.  So, I broke down and setup my first Delicious account.  At first I found it a little confusing.  Not the bookmarking part, but the "Tagging" part. I didn't know what to Tag it as, and how would I remember what I tagged it as to find it later?  I still struggle with this today as part of organizing my links.  But I have to say that this tool has helped me tremendously.  Especially moving through my online grad courses! 

I have recently transferred all of my Delicious bookmarks over to Diigo.  What I have liked about diigo is there are groups and networks that can be formed and joined so you can connect with those with the same interests.  This makes finding resources even easier.  I wish I had more time to search through and connect with more people, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.

Another tool that I have recently been introdued to is "Google Reader".  This has been amazing!  I have been getting more and more into the Blogging world and reading posts and articles that have RSS feeds.  I had been saving the links to the sites (even so much as putting them into my bookmarking account(s)) and clicking the links daily and logging to my blogger account to see if there were any new postings.  This was becoming time consuming.  I would go through all that I was following to find out that half the time there weren't any new posts daily for many of the articles.  Google reader, along with other RSS feed programs makes my life so much easier.  I like google especially because I have many things "housed" there and I only need one account login and password.  (Things are getting out of hand with logins aren't they?)

Overall, with the class I am taking I have found many useful tools.  Some are replacing the old tools that I have been using, and many are making what I am already doing better!

Been a great adventure so far.