Learning 2.0 Resources

Nice article! Thanks for sharing.

2009-11-07T01:10:00.898-06:00

Nice article! Thanks for sharing.

Hi John. I am a graduate student at the Universit...

2009-07-18T15:01:22.447-05:00

Hi John. I am a graduate student at the University of Iowa and I’m doing a research project on garageband being an effective tool for the classroom use. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about how you have seen it used. If you have a few minutes and don't mind answering a couple questions, please e-mail me at katherine-merulla@uiowa.edu Thanks for your time.

Katie Merulla

I recently came accross your blog and have been re...

2008-12-05T07:14:00.000-06:00

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Kate
http://educationonline-101.com

Thanks for the help. I think I forgot to sign on t...

2008-09-29T12:08:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the help. I think I forgot to sign on to my Google account. Glad to help out.

Ann,1. you have to have a Google account and be lo...

2008-09-28T11:19:00.000-05:00

Ann,

1. you have to have a Google account and be logged in.

2. You click on an Edit button once you are in the map and then click on the place mark button.

Hope that helps. Thanks for the contribution.

I added a bit to the wiki, but I just can't figure...

2008-09-27T20:21:00.000-05:00

I added a bit to the wiki, but I just can't figure out where to click to add a place mark to the map. Where should I be clicking?

See ya in San Antonio. Ribs await.

2008-06-23T12:19:00.000-05:00

See ya in San Antonio. Ribs await.

Hi!I like your blog and would like to invite you, ...

2008-06-23T05:07:00.000-05:00

Hi!
I like your blog and would like to invite you, to join http://teachersplanet.ning.com

It is an online community for teachers of all levels and curriculum areas.Your visit to the network will provide an opportunity for you to share your expertise with our teachers.At teachers planet you can start your own groups, start/participate in a discussion/ forum, add videos, music, RSS feeds, start blogs and do many more things.

Thank you for your time and consideration

Ed,For the most part, I completely agree that we s...

2008-05-27T16:13:00.000-05:00

Ed,

For the most part, I completely agree that we should be empowering students to create their own ways of learning and allow them the academic freedom to find solutions to their problems. The problem, in my eyes, was two-fold:

1. There wasn't a system in place to allow the student to contact the teacher with a question, much like you said. That is the question most folks here and over at Will's blog are saying. That is totally valid. However....

2. The student committed an act of defiance in a way that, given the limited information about the story, was not productive and was out of line of the current school policy. Should the lines of communication be better established? YES! BUT, what are we teaching our kids if we pat them on the back and say "atta boy, way to go toe-to-toe with that teacher."

As I've said numerous times here and at Will's blog, there is an appropriate way to disagree. Open defiance is NOT one of them. I find it very hard to believe that a teacher who was subject to this student defiance would just idly and objectively look at this situation and say "hey, you know, you're right, what was I thinking?"

And before I get flamed again, I agree that this could have been avoided with better policies that opened lines of communication between students and teachers. I just don't see how downright open rebellion is the answer. We ARE human beings and we react to negative attitudes. If this student needed a question answered, don't you think he could have approached it in a more constructive way? Maybe he tried and failed and this was his only option. Many folks jumped to this conclusion already without knowing the facts. They just looked at it from a disenfranchised student's point of view.

Wow, I thought this conversation was over a long time ago! Glad folks still care. :-)

This is a prime example of W. Edwards Deming's rul...

2008-05-26T11:26:00.000-05:00

This is a prime example of W. Edwards Deming's rule that 85% of the problems are management issues.

That the kid texted the teacher indicates a desire to get help -- good. That the school has no way for a kid to signal a need for help indicates a key problem. While the method the kid used violates some rules, there appears to be no discussion over how the school appears to have completely failed to integrate these technologies into the classroom, or into education at all.

It's a more common problem, and more important problem than appears to me to be recognized. This incident is a small, innocuous symptom.

Most of my kids in economically disadvantaged schools over the past five years have had cell phones. I cannot find anyone in tech support, nor anywhere else in our state's education structure, who can help me use those phones to our advantage -- no mass texts to warn of tomorrow's exam, to remind kids to study tonight; no pod-casts to give kids repeats of key lectures; no "reverse 911" style calls to alert kids or instruct them in anything.

Why didn't the teacher and student both have access to the school's intranet for e-mail on this issue? Does the school even have an intranet? Are students shut out of the intranet? Are teachers discouraged, or worse, punished, if they e-mail a kid with homework help during class?

Technology is whipping the school sytems' butts. School systems are begging for authority to remove the technology. Is something wrong with that picture? Even Jack Lalanne worked out so he could beat the bully, instead of asking for an injunction against sand-kicking.

Didn't any of our administrators read comic books?

I tell ya George, it really tried my patience. Sou...

2008-05-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

I tell ya George, it really tried my patience. Sounds like I'm not alone in the quagmire. Thanks for responding. Take care.

I understand completely! I had a user at my K-8 C...

2008-05-08T15:30:00.000-05:00

I understand completely! I had a user at my K-8 Catholic School in CA plug a wi-fi router into her classroom's port. Since it was also serving as a DHCP router, the result was a mass leasing of invalid IP's. It took me half of a day to track down the culprit.

P.S. I have sent you a friend request on Classroom 2.0 and subscribed to your blog here.
Peace!

mindelei,While I agree that students should have s...

2008-04-09T08:33:00.000-05:00

mindelei,

While I agree that students should have some avenues to express dissent, openly disregarding rules is not the way to do it. That does NOT, however, that kids are blindly following rules. For instance, our 8th graders wanted the opportunity to bring a soda to school with their lunch (a policy that the school has). We discussed the wrong way (open dissent) and the right way (having a dialog with the administrators) to accomplish this. So, many students joined in and wrote a letter to the principal stating their reasons why they should be allowed to bring sodas to lunch. And while the students didn't get full reign to bring sodas every day, there was a compromise for some days. The principal was pleased at the initiative of the students and how they RESPECTFULLY demonstrated their dissent.

The comments in Will's blog post are disheartening to me. I'm reading that if you don't like the rules, break them. Seems to me that there are better ways to do this. Frankly, I think it's irresponsible for teachers to promote this type of behavior. What does this teach them for the future? Sad..

While I realize that as teachers we are molding yo...

2008-04-08T23:24:00.000-05:00

While I realize that as teachers we are molding young individuals, I think we must remember that we are molding young individuals. Aren't we supposed to be teaching our students to be good citizens - which does not mean blindly following all the rules. It means acknowledging when a rule should be changed and working towards a means to change it. If we all blindly followed all the rules (which very few do) then we would have no democracy in this country. I seem to remember a quote to the effect that: "Well behaved women seldom make history."

Sylvia,thanks for your comments. I'll post them to...

2008-04-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

Sylvia,

thanks for your comments. I'll post them to Will's blog too...

I concur that perhaps the situation could have been handled better by the teachers. It did seem like a knee-jerk reaction and many times this happens in a school setting. But the alternative of celebrating the genius and creativity in spite of the fact that he 1. broke a school rule and 2. was insubordinate to the teacher is completely unacceptable.

Over on Will's blog, someone compared this situation to Rosa Parks! Give me a break! Basic human rights vs. the right to use a cell phone in a classroom. Sorry, not buying it. Again, I AM a proponent of cell phone (and other portable) technology in the classroom. But it really bothers me that the discussion on Will's blog post has turned to a technology discussion rather than a student-centered behavioral and learning discussion.

My favorite saying as of late is this...

"The genius of the AND vs. the tyranny of the OR" -- this to me in this context means that we should try to advocate new and innovative ways of learning while at the same time working within parameters (sometimes not positive ones) that are set upon us. After all, isn't that life? We may not agree with 55mph on the hwy, but we adhere to it or risk the consequences if we're caught. What would happen if we were as defiant in our attitude toward a police officer as this student was to his teachers? We'd go to jail and we'd have nobody to blame but ourself.

John, I'm going to post a comment here that is sim...

2008-04-08T11:06:00.000-05:00

John, I'm going to post a comment here that is similar to what I put on Will's blog.

I think you are right in arguing against the "isn't the kid a genius" comments. This is not about use of technology, it's about teaching kids.

The student obviously violated school policy, kids do that all the time, but the punishment should fit the crime. If he had stood up and walked out of the detention room to ask for the help, or spray painted “I need help with my Hamlet homework” on a wall, it would (and should) result in another detention.

But that’s not the only problem here we can talk about.

The bigger problem is that the only reaction from the teacher and admin was punitive, not educational. There was enough urgency to rush off “appalled” to the administrator, and the admin rushing to punish. I wasn’t there, so perhaps they did have a quick chat about responding to the student’s request for homework help. But I doubt it.

I think it is an educator’s responsibility to respond to all student outreach on educational matters, even when expressed inappropriately. There could have been a middle road here, but the “crime” became the only focus, not the education.

This has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with misplaced loyalty to the rules over a student’s education.

I would have expected as much (or more) urgency to teach the student as to punish.

And yes, we can all certainly learn something about how blanket rules can result in silliness. But that's another life lesson for the student, too. Building understanding in the student about the world is just as important as trying to put yourself in their mindset. It does a "millennial" no good to just pat them on the head and marvel at how special they are. You have to teach them too.

"The difference between a millennial and yourself ...

2008-04-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

"The difference between a millennial and yourself is that the millennials factor in the real world consequences of their actions"

What? I think the contrary is true. They DISREGARD consequences because they are KNOWINGLY choosing to do something they have been expressly prohibited from doing. You also are missing my point that this discussion is NOT about whether the rules are reasonable or not. I for one would be thrilled if our school allowed for cell phone use as a classroom tool.

Rather, the discussion is about whether it's OK for a student to disregard any rule they themselves deem inappropriate. What I'm hearing you say is that it's OK to just ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

How is wanting to respect rules not understanding the digital native? Does that "right" overrule everything else? Can we teach students to think creatively and independently without resorting to maverick behavior? I think so. I know so. I strive for that everyday and you know what, my students have a solid and grounded view of learning.. both in the way they learn academically AND with the way they navigate the policies of the school..it's respectful, not to me as their teacher, but to the learning process that is more aligned with the real world. I don't agree with all the policies of our school (especially cell phone use..or lack thereof). But how can I be a "good" teacher if I allow students to disregard rules for the sake of instant gratification. I would rather use that incident to teach students how to disagree appropriately and to find avenues to promote policy changes that they don't agree with.

BTW, next time you comment, why not identify yourself? I stand by what I say and I'll respect your opinion more if you stand by yours.

It's absolutely fascinating that you should bring ...

2008-04-08T09:45:00.000-05:00

It's absolutely fascinating that you should bring up the lack of discussion of consequences. The difference between a millennial and yourself is that the millennials factor in the real world consequences of their actions, whereas you are still operating under blanket rules. A millennial says "is it appropriate for me to use my cell phone right now? Yes, because I can do it for a good reason (contacting a teacher about classwork) and without disrupting class." An anti-millennial says "is it appropriate for someone else to use their cell phone? I say no, because that's the rule, and the rule is in place for a reason. The rule is more important than the reason for it."

"I'm all for promoting and acknowledging the digital native and the ways they learn and acquire information." Please re-evaluate this. You're in favor of technology...look at you! You posted a lengthy blog post in response to something Will Richardson posted. But you're not actually trying to understand a digital native student. The only mention you give to the student's train of thought is suggesting bad things they weren't said to be doing: texting other people, intentionally defying authority, being sneaky. You might think that you're just asking questions to further the discussion, but when all those questions are negative, you're building fear/uncertainty/doubt, not building understanding.

Hi John,My name is Christopher Lawton. I am a repo...

2008-02-14T12:11:00.000-06:00

Hi John,
My name is Christopher Lawton. I am a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and based in San Francisco. Sorry to post this directly on your blog, but I couldn't find an email address for you. I am researching a possible story about digital citizenship and I wanted to connect with you briefly about it, but I was hoping we could connect in private as opposed to through the blog. If you get this and wouldn't mind, please email me at christopher.lawton@wsj.com. If you'd like, you could also call me in the office at 415.765.8200. Thanks. Hope to hear from you.

Best,
Christopher Lawton

Christopher send me an email with a private

The Google Apps are amazing.I didn't know where el...

2008-01-10T17:21:00.000-06:00

The Google Apps are amazing.

I didn't know where else to put this, but in your profile it says you are interested in digital storytelling. Mixbook.com has been getting some attention from educators and was thinking that you would be able to utilize it.

Thanks!

-Travis

Scott, yet another thing to chat about at TCEA! Lo...

2008-01-10T11:53:00.000-06:00

Scott, yet another thing to chat about at TCEA! Love to pick your brain about the pluses and minuses. Take care.

Those are the same tools I would like to see added...

2008-01-10T09:16:00.000-06:00

Those are the same tools I would like to see added, John. What is cool about having them all in one place inside our "network" is that I can share pretty much anything with anyone with the same @woisd.net extension. That would ease the movement into Reader if it were in there. I could share my feeds list with them inside our own system. One campus has already taken off with the Google Docs by creating tutoring lists, detention lists, etc. and sharing with the entire campus to update. We are moving our lunch calendars into Google Calendars and using the provided code to make them visible via a link. Much easier than what they were doing.

Anyway, enough Google praise and worship from me. Let me just tell your staff, they will not regret the change. Even our biggest tech doubters have nothing bad to say about it all.

Thank you Anonymous for pointing out that my code ...

2007-12-29T08:58:00.000-06:00

Thank you Anonymous for pointing out that my code was hosed. I went back to Quintura and re-grabbed the embed code and it had all the div tags you mentioned. Looks MUCH better now. Thanks for watching out for me!

John

Hello John!To make your cloud look better, enclose...

2007-12-29T04:52:00.000-06:00

Hello John!
To make your cloud look better, enclose the script into the div tags
div style="height:420px;width:100%;" and make sure the div height is at least 200 px. Thanks :)

Thanks for the comments Scott and Julie. It defini...

2007-12-09T19:55:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the comments Scott and Julie. It definitely inspired me to pursue opportunities like this more. I drank the Kool-Aid and the Kool-Aid is good!