School 2.0 in SA

I always look forward to Tom starting another “interesting ways” collaborative presentation. This time I actually found some lovely search engine ideas and in fact search engines that I have not used before with some great practical ideas for the classroom. See what you think and if you have any ideas on how to add to the collection, please let me know or ask @tombarrett to give you access to the collaborative google presentation.

Every now and again a really special new tool comes to light which really gives you a WOW feeling and this morning I was introduced to such a tool by Jabiz Raisdana (intrepidteacher via my twitter network). The tool (in context) can be found at (http://etherpad.com/R4WrUC2bwX).  Jabiz used this tool to create a letter to parents regarding “taking his learners and their material online”. The idea is that anybody (and I mean anybody) can just jump in and help him to write the letter- real-time- with no fuss or registration.

The real magic for me is that apart from actually creating the document real-time with others, you can actually see people adding their 2c worth. For the first time I felt as if I am literally working next to someone, watching what they are doing as they are doing it, while working on the document simultaneously.  There is also a space to discuss what you are doing or make comments on what the other person is doing. This tool therefore makes working together really tangible and “connected”.

We have been working together on Wiki’s and Google docs (to name but a few), for some time now, but none of them had the real time power coupled with discussion as Etherpad does. If you think about Google docs, it is always a big process to get everybody onboard before they can contribute. It requires sending an email, and all collaborators must have a Google Docs account before they can contribute. Google Docs also does not highlight who typed what, which makes effortless tracking cumbersome. When I work with groups of people in a workshop/class situation, this process can become a real inhibiting factor to the actual outcome of your endeavour with the emphasis on the tool and not the learning process.

So to summarise the advantages of using Etherpad:

• Documents are created on the fly (No registration needed) – the Url becomes the entry point
• Documents are edited on the fly (No registration needed)
• You can actually see edits being done and by whom as
• Every collaborator’s input is highlighted in a different colour
• Discussion facility
• Instantaneous (real-time)
• Supports infinite undos and ensures that every operation is forever undo-able, even in the presence of other editors.

Cons:

• New free service- might become paid for later
• Security: No choice of private or public pad. The url is the only point of entry. There are (/will be) self hosting/paid for hosted private “pads” available in future.
• Does not support rich text or embedding widgets or html. Only text based

How can we use it for teaching and learning?

I can think of so many ways, I can barely breathe…..

• Creating standardised letters as Jabiz has done: Letter to ask parents’ permission to engage them in social media tools http://etherpad.com/R4WrUC2bwX
• Having a brainstorming session online
• For online meetings
• Creating policy documents
• To see more examples of how people are using it, click here

I am definitely going to start creating standardised letters and material for my teachers to participate in and will give feedback on how it went. Maybe I should hold our next Maths literacy meeting in Etherpad??

I am always inspired by Tom Barrett and what he gets up to in his class and within his e-learning community. This morning he lets us know (via twitter) about his latest collaborative little project (conducted in Google presentation) called “# (and growing) Interesting Ways* to use your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom”

This is the first time I have used Google docs presentation and it was a very enjoyable experience! Very simple and easy to use. So the main aim is to create (collaboratively) a slideshow with ideas for using video capturing devices in the classroom. Once you get to the presentation, you can chat to others viewing it and ask questions.

To become part of this little project…

• Go to the presentation and take a look at what has been contributed.
• Add your one slide, one idea and one image:
  • Direct message Tom (d tombarrett  or @tombarrett) (the creator of the presentation) via twitter or e-mail him at thomasgeorgebarrett [at] googlemail [dot] com and ask him to add you as a collaborator (give him your e-mail address).
  • Sign into Google docs with your Google e-mail address and password
  • Once he has added you, you will see the document in your Googledocs list
    
  • Double click on it, which will open it in a new window/tab
  • Click on Slide (top menu), and choose New Slide and pick a template slide
  • Create your slide and save (As easy as that -for help with how to use google docs presentation, click here)
  • Change the presentation title slide to match the number of ideas.
  • Let Tom know that you have created the page (tweet about it to @tombarrett and don’t forget to add the document address for others in your network to also get involved!)

Check out Thirty Five Interesting Ways to Use A Pocket Video Camera in The Classroom here!

I received a tweet from one of my twitter contacts (loisath) which told me that I have been tagged in her “7 things about me” meme. So the first thing I did was to go and see what it is all about by reading her blogpost about the topic. Basically you have to write a blogpost describing 7 things about yourself that people do not need to know about you. You then tag 7 others to do the same and then let them know. This results in everybody basically spreading the idea virally and it gets promulgated almost in the same way as a chain e-mail letter.

I then looked up what a MEME is (not the sound that sheep make apparently) and found a very good blogpost explaining it in a friendly non-scientific way from Gary LaPointe. According to him it is “lists of questions that you saw somewhere else and you decided to answer the questions. Then someone else sees them and does them and so on and so on”.  In essence it is:

• An idea that, like a gene, can replicate and evolve.
• A unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation.
• A cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one generation to another by nongenetic means (as by imitation); “memes are the cultural counterpart of genes”.

So what is the point?

So let’s get back to the the question that formed the basis of this meme: “7 things about yourself that people do not need to know about you”. Why would anybody need to know this about me? Isn’t it an invasion of privacy and poses a security risk? Will it be a “cultural unit” as posed in the definitions stated above? Hardly. In a way it does resemble the sheep-like action of sheep following one another in a thoughtless manner. So what would encourage me to immitate this meme and behave like a sheep?

Firstly, I have always liked sheep- they are wooly and cuddly and cute. Secondly, my rule of thumb is to do something if it at all encourage learning and collaboration. So the question for me is did I learn something? The answer of cause is, yes. I learnt a new word (meme) and what it means in different scenarios and I learned about the person that asked me to partake in the meme. From her answer, I at first thought that she was local (from South Africa- especially the bit about her aiding and abetting the theft of a microwave) which made me very excited to encounter another blogging local teacher! But, alas she was not, which made me realise that we indeed live in a global village and have so much in common (especially the cannot-spell-admisssion)! So from a collaborative point of view, she has strengthened her networking with me with her invitation ( I will now keep an eye out for her as I feel I know here just that little bit better). Thirdly by asking people to extend this meme, you can get some exposure for your blog (good old marketing tactic)!

When I started thinking about 7 things that people will not know about me….I realised that I am definitely not shy (as opposed to private), leaving very little that people do not know about me. So here goes:

The Rules

Each player starts with seven random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose seven people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

7 things that you did not know about me… (definitely harder than it looks)

1. I get on with bees (found this out recently as the bees seems to be refusing to leave my washing room ceiling and it does not really bother me anymore)
2. I cannot seem to get plants to grow (so that is why I try to get communities to grow instead)- jip, no green fingers.
3. I hate cooked spinach (much to green), but can eat it in a salad.
4. I love reading forensic crime stories even from before CSI etc, made it fashionable
5. I love maths (everybody knows that) but struggle with doing calculations in my head and goes blank if older people ask me to calculate 1+1 (comes from when my primary school teacher hit me with a stick everytime she asked me a maths question- reminder to self-must go for therapy….;-) This resulted in me wanting to become a maths teacher as a way of learning to cope and making sure that others do not have to live with the same fear.
6. I cannot bake. Cook yes, bake no.
7. I am scared of heights (comes from when I did a bungi jump way back….another sheep-like activity that I regret I ever partook in…)

So how do you choose 7 people? Okay, as I have been trying to get local teachers to blog, I think it will be useful to give everybody a common topic to get us started for the year. Also this can be a good way of extending your network to include people who do not know you.

So here is my tagees, with reasons why I chose them:

• Tateach (will be nice to get to know someone in Tasmania better!)
• Ronan7 (a local teacher and fellow web 2.0 enthusiast
• Melaniedebruyn (another local teacher and fellow web 2.0 enthusiast
• carbru (part of my blogging learning circle and a sweetie pie)
• moondancer (My sister and an avid blogger- would like to see if there is something I do not know about her…
• Ariellah (I hope she is not angry with me any more….)
• janenicholls (a random click from my tweeple network)

(I just love this new meme word and am definitely going to pronounce it mêêêê- mêêêêê (like the sound a sheep makes)

I am busy creating a blogging learning object for use with subject advisors and teachers. It has been a great learning experience for me as I had to actually sit down and think about why we blog. Speaking to other teachers and edtech aficionados, I realised that there are endless reasons for teachers to blog. It also seems that the biggest reason people fail to maintain a blog after creation is because they do not have a clear vision of what to blog about.

I therefore decided to create a collection of reason with examples to help motivate us to blog more regularly for teaching and learning. In my quest I have stumbled upon some inspirational examples of teacher blogs, but was sad to see that there are not enough ordinary teachers blogging. It is mainly web 2.0 convertees, IT, CAT and edtech teachers going for it flat out. I am interested to see how “ordinary” (as in non IT) class teachers use blogs.

My idea list for reasons to blog has amounted to the following and I am looking to link up with exact examples. It has been quite a time consuming exercise (something we do not have a lot of) and am desperately hoping for some assistance in completing my list examples. So if you have written a blogpost that I can use as an example of the following blog post ideas, please add them to a comment here!

Post daily homework tasks (http://smithmel.edublogs.org/2007/11/12/create-a-cartoon-caption-assignment/)

• Reflect on the days teaching
• Post the lesson plan for each class
• Post educational tutorials
• Embed videos and slideshows that you want the class to watch and post comment on. (peer review maybe?) (http://class.huffenglish.com/?p=1115)
• Post newsletters
• Post parent notes (http://art-on-the-move.blogspot.com/search/label/Art%20Room)
• Post sport results
• Post a photo gallery
• Inspirational quotes
• Comment on current educational issues
• Inspiration
• Embed a school radio station
• Share teaching tips
• Share teaching resources
• Share resources and links
• …….?  Please let me know what I have left out….

As a parent I have been horrified at the level of addiction my children (3 of them) embraced virtual world gaming with. I have had numerous heated arguments about “what these games are doing to their brains”, not to mention the fact that it was turning them into anti-social maniacs. As a teacher I wondered about how we can channel such “addictions” towards learning. Then, after they turned out to be relatively well balanced, happy, socially adapted, achieving young adults, I was forced to re-evaluate virtual gaming as “not such a totally bad thing”. (Okay sure, my incredibly good parenting might also have played a role..;-) )

I tried to make the effort to spend time with them finding out what all of the hype, that is keeping them up weekends, is all about. Apart from the absolutely horrendous use of language, the endless violence, and people screaming and shouting at one another, there existed an incredibly fair team structure where everybody had an important role to play in authentic (though bizarre) virtual circumstances, for which they were valued and got rewarded. They have to think on their feet and work together or get killed (which is maybe one of the reasons girls are not such avid gamers as boys- we do not like being killed).

This made me think that, if we define education as preparing learners for real life, then surely virtual gaming has all the ingredients of a great educational tool ? Sitting there with the kids I definitely felt that they were using higher order thinking skills that left me feeling both intellectually and technologically impaired! I also realised that they were engaging in very involved social relationships based on not only friendships but skills and expertise that make my face to face bring-and-braai relationships look rather boring!

I was recently pointed in the direction of a blog article which really created a WOW moment for me. It was about how teenagers have used mathematical modelling to figure out how to defeat “the bosses” in their virtual online game. A definite must-read: “Videogames are becoming the new hotbed of scientific thinking for kids today….”

So maybe we need to rethink the role collaborative video games can play, before we go all out to protect our children from becoming “screen kids”. Or maybe we need to become even more pro-active and use video gaming as an essential tool to support our teaching efforts in our classrooms?

One such a virtual world environment totally dedicated to educational goals within the confines of a safe space is Quest Atlantis:

“Quest Atlantis is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-15, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. It allows users to travel to virtual places to perform educational activities (known as Quests), talk with other users and mentors, and build virtual personae. Over the last four years, more than 15,000 children on five continents have participated in the project. Students conduct rich inquiry-based explorations through which they learn particular standards-based content, and at the same time develop pro-social attitudes regarding significant environmental and social issues. Rather than just placing work and play side-by-side, QA strives to make learning fun and to show kids how they can make a difference. We have demonstrated learning gains in science, language arts, and social studies, and students have completed literally thousands of Quests, some of which were assigned by teachers and many of which were chosen by students to complete in their free time. Teachers have also reported increased levels of student engagement and interest in pursuing curricular issues outside of school”

You can learn more about the project at http://QuestAtlantis.Org).

They are currently looking for brave teachers, within the Southern African context, to emerge themselves and their learners in the virtual world learning explorations. So get more information. Go to our wiki for SA schools at http://saschools.wetpaint.com/page/Virtual+worlds+and+education  

How can we use ICT to address the gap in performance of learners going into secondary education?

This is a quick idea that we brainstormed in an effort to come up with an ICT intervention. The idea of an e-portfolio was explored as a way for teachers (school communities) to help smooth the way for learners and address the “performance drop” from primary to secondary school. If teachers have easier access to information in the form of an e-portfolio they will possibly be able to assist learners with problems.

Questions:

• Privacy: who will have access to what information?
• Who will control the information that go into this system?
• How will you incentivize pupils and teachers to contribute to the system?
• Has anythging like this been done elsewhere?

I was scanning over Sherman Dorn’s blogpost on Co Creating with Web 2.0 which resonates with my dream project of getting teachers to co-create learning objects to enrich the curriculum here in our country. But of course, we are currently still in a place where we do not even have a culture of sharing learning materials and co-creation is, at this point in time, just a far away dream.

But I do take encouragement from Sherman’s vision: “Co-Creating may become one of the most powerful engines of change and innovations that the education world will experience. Co-Creating with other educators across the nation is like tapping a knowledge pool of similar interest, a reservoir of creativity that may emerge through an enthusiastic wealth of talent producing warehouses of digital curriculum.”

This statement does however,  ring a slight warning, though. Warehouses of digital curriculum, does not turn me on. We have in the past, even here in South Africa, been hard at work in creating just that. Think of the Thutong portal, which I am glad to report is starting to morph into dedicated spaces where teachers can upload (much improved) and discuss resources. Discussion is the first step to co-creation. If teachers could collaborate in setting tests and exams, just think of what value and time saving mechanism that could turn out to be!

Maybe co-creation could be the missing link? It has been my main frustration to get teachers to share, never mind discuss resources. I know the issue of time is a distinct barrier, but if we could go straight into co-creation, it could address the time issue as well. It is worth a try. With the prelims coming up, maybe we can give it a shot? Any volunteers?