Here’s a great spoken word performance regarding testing, education and changing times. That’s all I’m going to say. Pretty sure this will go viral.
Thanks for the share Kim!
In this film, architect Randall Fielding demonstrates the connection between where and how students learn in the 21st century. (You may also watch it here)
Buck has collaborated with TakePart and An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim, to create this info-graphic describing the education crisis in America for the upcoming documentary, Waiting for “Superman.” Watch the video graphic below or the documentary trailer here.
TakePart: Participant Media – Waiting For ‘Superman’ – Infographic from Jr.canest on Vimeo.
I often feel disappointed when I hear teachers discuss how they can’t find web resources for a topic. At times, teachers expect an ICT Facilitator to find these for them. Finding free resources sure is a lot easier now, but I am referring to going beyond Google. Do you have time to go beyond page 1 of 1.5 million sites (but that’s another blog entry)? What are some other alternatives?
Of course, video helps a lot now with YouTube, TeacherTube, SchoolTube and Vimeo readily available. I don’t know why I feel sad when teachers don’t use or search these options. Your internet connection isn’t so good for viewing? You don’t like the ads/comments that appear? You don’t like the related videos that appear? These are all valid points but then why not use Tooble or KeepVid to download the video onto your computer or embed it onto your own site (great reason to start a blog or wiki)?
Better yet, if teachers are struggling to find resources, why not get your class to create their own resources and then upload them to these sites, or to Slideshare, or to Issuu, or to a wiki, or to Voicethread? To me, they would be perfect opportunities for class projects as well as for assessments. Fair enough, it may take some time to get it set-up but in the long run, wouldn’t time be saved?
Students could have a sense of ownership and leave a legacy of knowledge and learning behind once the unit is finished and then students in the following years could use it or expand on it. Viewers may then rate it, comment on it, embed it or reuse it themselves. The author then slowly builds a network if they comment back and learning continues outside of the classroom. Teachers could then share it with their followers on Twitter or on a Ning they belong to. You see, not only does this benefit the student, but also the teacher. Teachers could use these sites as a source of inspiration to generate ideas or to find examples of and create a digital portfolio or an online presence.
If teachers are going to simply create text projects, why not upload them to Issuu or file2ws or to a class wiki or blog at least? That could involve peer editing wouldn’t it? We hear know and see that media collage is dominant, but at times teachers are the last ones to adapt. Why is that? Simple answer: Fear. A lot of teachers don’t wish to put their stuff out there (though we’re one of the first to snatch them up). They feel exposed. Naked. We are the knowledge kings and do not wish to be discovered as false prophets. Sorry, I sound negative and this wasn’t meant to be a rant. Give it some thought. Start small.
(photo credit)
We are about 2 months into school now. I don’t know about you, but I am BUSY. Swamped actually. Every year seems to grow and get busier and busier. More stuff gets added but it feels like not much is taken out. With this, I ponder if I continue to challenge my students out of their comfort zone in Art. Are they challenging themselves or simply giving me what I want for assessment purposes? Do I encourage them to experiment enough or do I rush them?
I was flipping through some bookmarked videos and stumbled across this one again (video below). Not fully related to what I am writing but it made me wonder if I am understanding my students. I can’t remember who passed it on to me, so apologies. It’s in Japanese with Korean and English subtitles. Some food for thought.
Stimulating Imagination Through Constraints is an interesting article from Psychology Today. As a specialist teacher who often visited classrooms in the past, I have seen several teachers simply ask their students to “be creative” or “use your imagination” for project tasks. Too bad it’s not that simple. Students will not usually know where to start. Nor would I.
In the classroom we need to be ‘clear and explicit about definitions, concepts and processes.’ Being creative does not simply mean to create something with no limits in mind. Usually such an open task will lead to more frustration and poorer quality of work. How will you then evaluate when all was simply asked was to be creative and imaginative? Providing some constraints can help define the problem and assist in solving the problem in creative ways.
(Read the full article through the link provided above).
Since a new school year is upon us, Edutopia recently posted this. Click the link for more in-depth explanations and exampels. A brief and quick summary is below.
10 Rules of Engagement
1. Start Class with a Mind Warm-Up
2. Use Movement to get Kids Focused
3. Teach Students how to Collaborate Before Expecting Success
4. Use Quickwrites When You Want Quiet Time and Student Reflection
5. Run a Tight Ship When Giving Instructions
6. Use a Fairness Cup to Keep Students Thinking
7. Use Signaling to Allow Everyone to Answer Your Question
8. Use Minimal-Supervision Tasks to Squeeze Dead Time out of Regular Routines
9. Mix up Your Teaching Styles
10. Create Teamwork Tactics That Emphasize Accountability
It’s a New School Year!
For the best professional development this year, start twittering and get a strangle hold of your RSS feed/Reader. I find Google Reader the easiest. If you already have a gmail account, you are pretty much set.
(video link here)
Everyone asks me for good blogs to follow in order to get information, tools and ideas etc. Some of my choices are:
Art/Design/Culture Related Blogs:
IT/Educational Blogs:
Other Great Websites/Blogs/Nings I follow/belong to: Tuts, Art21, Flowing Data, Art Education 2.0, Daniel H. Pink,
I hope this helps and you find what you are looking for. I’d love to hear any other recommendations you might have as well.
How has reading and writing been transformed by the web?
Thanks to David Warlick for the post.
Above is a video created by Stephen Heppell and prepared for the Department of Children, Schools and Families to engender a debate about 21st century schools, personalisation, etc
Untitled from Christian Cerrito on Vimeo.
Shouting and waving your arms at buggy technology doesn’t normally do anything useful. With these robots, it makes art. FULL STORY FROM WIRED HERE.
Lastly, the Globe and Mail will run multipart features under the umbrella “The Download Decade.” Part 1 is on Napster. (Can you believe that was 10 years ago already?!) There are a few other interesting side stories as well. GO HERE.
