always learning

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this is the third international school I’ve worked in – and the third school that I’ve helped shift from the “computer class” mindset to an “integrated” technology program. In all honesty, it’s quite amazing to me that every school I’ve worked in has very similar problems, very similar history in terms of technology education, and very similar ideas of where they want to go. And the majority of the staff has the same fears, concerns and questions about how this “new” technology environment will function.

What’s really interesting to me is that:

• If all of these schools are facing similar issues, why isn’t there a common process or framework to work through them? Why aren’t we more actively sharing (and I don’t mean the individuals contributing here on the blogosphere, where sharing is the name of the game), I mean the schools themselves. We’re all linked by accrediting bodies, councils, etc., why isn’t there any help or insight offered through those networks? Is it competition?
• If all these schools are working through these issues – some sooner than others (MIS started in 2001 – and I’m sure they weren’t the first), why isn’t there a common understanding of what needs to be done to move forward? Why does it always feel like reinventing the wheel every time we move to a new school?
• If the group of international school teachers is a closely connected network, and let’s face it, it really is, why aren’t more teachers arriving at schools with some background in this model of teaching and learning and anxiously paving the way for those teachers that may not have transitioned as recently? Why are we always selling this idea like we’re the first ones to ever think of it? Shouldn’t most of our new teachers (and possibly administrators) have experience in this model already?

As you could expect, each of the schools I’ve worked at has approached this transition a little differently – from administrators mandating change, to allowing the enthusiasm of a smaller group to push the thinking of the whole, to strategically placing influential and enthusiastic teachers in positions of leadership. No matter what the model, I do think there are some commonalities that must be addressed when making the shift to a 21st century learning environment.

Vision & Philosophy

Given the fact that we all need to work together to make change happen, it only seems logical that we need a uniting vision and shared understanding of the goal we’re trying to reach (see: example vision). Expecting teachers to change their practice, without providing a thought-out vision and philosophy for why they should change will only result in frustration. In order to work towards a common goal you need to ensure that all staff have a shared understanding of the school’s vision. Staff buy-in from all levels is essential to the success of institutionalizing this type of change. There are lots of places to get started thinking about this kind of vision, from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, to NCREL, to TechLearning, to the Alabama Best Practice Center, to Apple, to AT&T, to Information Fluency, to the 21st Century Learning Initiative, to the AASL, to all of the wonderful edubloggers that are sharing their vision and their school practice.

Leadership

Although it would be absolutely wonderful if change could spontaneously happen because teachers have a shared vision for their future, the reality is that, at some point, school leadership needs to clarify and confirm that this is the direction the school is heading. There needs to be an official acknowledgment of the vision and philosophy and clear expectations that change will happen. I’ve heard plenty of teachers say, “if the Head of School doesn’t tell me to do it, it means I don’t have to do it.” Right or wrong, that’s the reality of our schools. We have school leadership for a reason: they help us steer the ship, and they define our course. We look to them for the priorities – and they need to take the responsibility to share them with us.

Paradigm Shift and Transparency

Along with a clear vision and philosophy for why this shift is so important and what your desired outcomes are, you also need to develop a clear framework which details exactly what the roles are for each individual involved (see: example framework). From teachers, to teams, to coordinators, to facilitators, to administration – each person on staff will be responsible for some aspect of this transition and they need to know how they fit into the bigger picture. From roles and responsibilities to the process of putting this vision into practice, this framework needs to be completely transparent to all stakeholders (including parents). We all share a common need to understand where we fit in the big picture – laying it all out for everyone involved just ensures that everyone has the same picture.

Curriculum & Professional Development

Embedding this new model for teaching and learning into the curriculum development process is a natural way to institutionalize change – if it becomes part of our curriculum, it becomes part of our teaching and learning practice. As new aspects of curricular units which authentically embed technology are collaboratively planned, these changes need to be clearly documented in a shared curriculum mapping tool (whether it’s Rubicon-Atlas or a wiki – the tool doesn’t matter, as long as the changes are clear and visible).

Along with shifting curriculum practices, teachers will need professional development support through technical training, pedagogical training, mentorship, outside voices, on-site experts, and one-on-one support. This could include the establishment of a professional learning network for teachers like Julie Lindsay has done at Qatar Academy, or it could be the creation of streamlined and consistent professional development like we have running at ISB, or developing a formal teacher-mentor program.

Staffing & Equipment

All of this thinking and learning will, sadly, be lost without the personnel and technical resources to make your vision a reality. Although schools usually (but not always) see the need to increase software and hardware purchases, oftentimes, because the expectation is shifting to embedding technology within the core curriculum, staffing can be overlooked. Why would we hire someone with no teaching load – someone who just “helps” people all day? Unfortunately, without the human support (which can range from being a teaching model in the classroom, to curricular or pedagogical support, to technical support, to a “safety blanket”) the technological troubles can end up feeling insurmountable for teachers new to this model of teaching and learning – exactly what you don’t want.

Infrastructure and Communication

Once staffing and equipment are sufficient, clear infrastructure and communication strategies need to be put in place. Who to contact for technology support, or how to book the school’s hardware or peripheral equipment, or where to find the latest information about available resources all needs to be documented, explained and demonstrated to all stakeholders, and then utilized effectively over the course of the school year. Having resources and knowing how to access them or how to get support are all very different things. Oftentimes technical troubles become emergencies simply because the lines of communication or infrastructure are unclear.

Resources

To help teachers and administrators cope with the rapid pace of technological change, developing easy to use resources (like “how to” sheets for both students and teachers, or common rubrics and assessment tools) can make the use of new tools far less intimidating. Keeping these kind of resources in a central location where they can be accessed any time and adapted based on individual teacher’s needs is essential – as is promoting and sharing the usefulness and success of these types of documents. Creating a school-wide technology toolbox takes the pressure off the teachers and allows the experts in each area to shine.

Reflection and Adaptation

No matter how well you plan, it’s only to be expected that we will all face very different individual situations, and anyone trying to implement something new needs to be aware that challenges will need to be faced. It’s an important skill to be able to quickly identify problems or concerns and face them head on. Whether it’s parental questions or difficulties among teachers, it’s important to expect the unexpected and to have adaptive, self-reflective, and changing strategies for dealing with the causes of roadblocks or problems.

Another important aspect of reflection is sharing our successes. Finding consistent ways to publicize success – not only within the school, but also to the wider school community, helps teachers gain confidence, explore new areas of teaching and learning, and promote positive attitudes towards this change. We can often get bogged down with solving problems, but sometimes the solution is sharing success.

Working through these challenges at three different schools in three different countries and cultures, I’ve realized that you really do need all of these pieces in place in order to ensure that change happens and, perhaps more importantly, that new paradigms stay in place after the initial push to change has passed. We all know that passionate voices can inspire and propel change, but what happens when those voices move on? As one of those passionate voices myself, I want to ensure that any changes I help create become a part of the daily life of the school.

I’m sure there are other pieces to this complex puzzle that I forgot. What am I missing?

Tags: 21stcentury, internationalschool, flatclassroom, classroom, 21st century literacy, globalcitizens, collaboration, learning, creating, vision, philosophy, understanding, framework, embed, technology, curriculum, planning, development, professional development, training

Two weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of traveling to Doha, Qatar as a consultant for Qatar Academy. I have to admit, it was a little ironic, being invited to speak about 21st Century Literacy at the school where Julie Lindsay is Head of Information Technology. I mean, really, who knows better about 21st Century Literacy and global collaborations than the co-founder of the Flat Classroom Project? She’s the one mentioned in The World is Flat, not me!

But, that’s the interesting thing about schools, isn’t it? Working together day in and day out, we often lose sight of the experts in our own midst, and can’t see the trees for the forest, so to speak.

One common remedy for this problem, in international schools, is to bring in some new trees every year. We spend about 6 months out of the school year actively recruiting the absolute best of the best, selecting the top candidates in their field, interviewing and weeding through the hundreds of applicants for each position. Then we proudly share our spectacular staffing for the coming year, ensuring that everyone both inside and outside of school knows what amazing new teachers we have on board.

And then the new year comes, those outstanding new hires get to work, prove themselves, show their stuff, and by October or so they’re part of the institution. Everyone’s heard their message, their voices become routine, their ideas stitched into the fabric of daily life at school.

Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a little longer than those first few months to create change, sometimes it takes a little more than those first few months to really get that message across, sometimes those first few months go by in a blur and you’ve really only scratched the surface. Yet once someone is established within the daily routine of a school, their voice becomes less powerful to those who work in close proximity to them.

So how should schools go about fostering constant change and growth within the faculty, if, as seems to be the case, even expert teachers gradually stop feeling energized by each other’s ideas the longer they work together? The answer can’t be to simply wait for the new hires to inject some excitement every autumn. Schools need to keep their teams of teachers working productively for personal and institutional change throughout the year, whether they’ve been working together in the trenches for two years – or twenty.

That’s where the power of the “outside voice” can really make a difference. There’s something special about having someone who doesn’t sit in all the faculty meetings, who you don’t see in the hallway every single day. There’s something exciting about knowing that there are other “experts” that are recommending the same thing that your stellar staff are talking about. There’s something enticing about that “outside voice.”

So, although I am fairly certain that I didn’t say anything that Julie hasn’t already said, and while I know that there are a number of amazing staff at QA that have been working diligently on the exact type of issues I raised during my two days on campus, I think that my “outside voice” was able to make an impact – just by virtue of the fact that it was an outside voice.

Julie and I talked about creating a network of “outside voices” that can come and inject some excitement into our international schools. Teachers who are currently in the classroom, working with these tools every day, who know the ups and downs and ins and out of teaching and learning in a 21st century classroom in an international setting. Instead of (or in addition to) sending groups of teachers out to conferences, from which new information can be filtered back to the rest of the staff, what if we brought these practicing experts in, to deliver a consistent message to the whole staff within the comfort of their daily working environment, with their tools and their on-site experts? What if we could rotate through each other’s schools, presenting and consulting on our individual areas of expertise, ensuring that the momentum that starts each August continues through until June every year? What if all of the teachers in our schools (those with an RSS reader, and those without) could benefit, in person, from the learning that some of us read about online every day?

What do you think?

Image 1 from docman
Image 2 from hebedesign

Tags: julie lindsay, qatar academy, 21stcentury, consultant, professional development, training, internationalschool,  21st century literacy, collaboration, learning, creating, vision, philosophy, understanding, framework, embed, technology, curriculum, planning, development, professional development, training

Mrs. R’s grade 5 class participated in Mr. Mayo’s fantastic @manyvoices project a few weeks ago.

This was a wonderful project for us for quite a few reasons:

1. The focus on good writing, in an easy to complete, quick, exciting, globally collaborative project.

We were able to complete our portion of the project in only 2 class lessons. In our first 75 minute lesson we read through the existing story, discussed the possibilities for our section, and determined our writing expectations for our chapter. In this first lesson, we covered:

What’s happened so far, after reading the first 9 chapters:

• A mermaid is running through NYC
• She worries about her past
• A fisherman chases her and catches her, but she escapes
• Her legs are revealed
• She is trying to save her parents. A snake attacks her
• She meets a doctor who takes her to his laboratory
• The doctor gets knocked out and she goes back to NY – to the Empire State Building where she hears the screams of her parents

In our chapter we want to make sure that:

• She has to get by the monster to open the door – all of our statements will lead up to this final event.

Our chapter will:

• Use good description by using the best descriptive words
• Use punctuation
• Use imagery: paint a picture in the mind
• Use internal dialogue to describe thoughts, feelings and hopes the character has (what would our mermaid be thinking now that she knows all that separates her from her parents is the monster)
• What does the monster look like?
• Our ideas follow logically from one thing to the next (so the reader doesn’t think “that will never happen”)
• Stretch out the action, tell it step by step,
• The reader doesn’t know what’s going to happen next – use suspense so that the person wants to keep reading

2. Providing an authentic audience for our writing.

In our second 75 minute lesson, we were able to complete our entire story and post each 140 character statement by individual students on Twitter. We were able to complete our goal for our chapter (Chapter 10) by having each student write their story line one at a time, with the entire class following along on the SmartBoard. The mood in the classroom was one of excitement and enthusiasm about writing, creativity and collaboration about a common goal, and a real motivation to share our talents with a global audience.

3. Allowing us to be reflective writers by publishing the story in drafts.

After our chapter was finished, we took some time to discuss our thoughts on the entire story and to share ideas for how we can improve on this project in the future. Here’s what we came up with:

• The story didn’t make sense mostly. Classes didn’t read the story carefully enough and so things don’t make sense that follow. It jumps around a lot.
• In future stories, collaborators need to read carefully and include details, events and actions that make sense and are connected. This will make the story believable.
• Why would a mermaid be walking on land? It’s too bizarre/unbelievable.

What we learned:

• How to write with other people. You have to talk with them to write your part so you understand their meaning.
• Too many writers make for a very confusing story.
• Writers need to meet in one place to discuss how the story might go (could be a chat or skype conference to plan it)
• Next time, the writers really need to spend time editing the story before posting it.
• Our chapter was pretty good. Probably because we planned it and communicated about it.
• The idea was fun.
• We’d like to try it again with fewer writers.

4. Giving our Grade 5 authors a chance to be published writers

The next stage of this project will be to complete a full edit of the story, and then publish the completed volume through Lulu.com on March 1st. The book will be available for the exact cost of printing: $5.37. View the rough draft version of the book here.

How could you not absolutely love a project that takes no longer than 4 lessons, yet provides so many opportunities for authentic writing? Way to go Mr. Mayo! We can’t wait for the next version of the project!

Tags: elementary, 21stcentury, globalcollaborations, internationalschool, collaborations, @manyvoices, mrmayo, writing,

I just made a fabulous discovery!

Earlier this year I discovered the power of linked accounts in G-mail for elementary students. Today I learned how I can leverage that shortcut into individual contributing authors for our Grade 3 BlogPals blog on Edublogs. Here’s what I found out:

I would like:

• One class blog – not individual student blogs.
• The teacher or administrator to approve all postings.
• The students to be able to write whenever they want – not just in class, but I want all posts moderated by the teacher before they are published.
• Not to have to deal with individual student e-mail addresses.
• The students to have to log in so I can track who posts what, so students can’t “impersonate” each other, and so students can learn about usernames, passwords and responsibility.

So, here’s what I did:

• Created a class blog on Edublogs (in retrospect, it would have made more sense to use Learnerblogs, since this blog will mostly be authored by students. Ah well, live and learn, right?).
• Created a class e-mail account on G-mail that I have access to, as well as the class teacher.
• Created an Edublogs account for each student using the linked G-mail account feature. For each Edublogs account, I chose “Just a username, Please.”
• Logged into the main blog as the admin user and went to the Users tab.
• Added each student as a Contributor to the blog with their new “e-mail address” (which is really just the one class e-mail address using the “+StudentName” linked account option) under the “Add a User” function.

Now we have:

• Individual student log ins WITHOUT individual e-mail accounts.
• Individual student contributors to the blog WITHOUT their own blog.
• All posts approved by the blog administrator before posting.

Perfect!

This seems like the natural next step in our BlogPals project – once students are comfortable adding comments and writing posts as a “center”-type activity, we will give them individual log-ins so they can manage their posts independently.

Tags: elementary, blogging, grade3, blogpals, edublogs, contributors, student, authors, gmail, linked, email, learnerblogs,

A little over a week ago I was honored to be invited to Qatar Academy, workplace of the amazing Julie Lindsay, as a consultant for a 2 day 21st century literacy training.

While I’m there, not only do I get to spend some quality F2F time with Julie, but hopefully I will also spend some time with my good friends Jabiz and Mairin from my last school!

Here is my proposed outline for the two days of training:

Day 1:

Introductory session: Developing the Global Student: Practical Ways to Infuse 21st Century Literacy into Your Classroom (75 – 90 minutes, full group with Q&A)

Breakout sessions:

2 options (60 – 90 min sessions – conducted in small groups, either grade level teams or subject area groups):

• Globally Collaborative Projects: best practice examples and how to get started.
• Web 2.0 trainings – groups for blogging, wikis, social networking, RSS, etc – curriculum/standards based, practical and hands on in a lab setting

Closing session: The 21st Century Educator: Embracing Web 2.0 in your Professional Practice (75 – 90 minutes, full group, with Q&A)

Day 2:

Introductory session: The 21st Century School: Making the Shift Happen – an overview of what current best practice in international schools looks like, the roles of technology facilitators, curriculum coordinators, classroom teachers, and administrators. Sample facilitation structure shared from ISB, MKIS and MIS.

3 options (60 – 90 min sessions – conducted in small groups, either grade level teams or subject area groups):

• Curriculum planning to authentically embed 21st century literacy – practical questions, successful framework, examining current standards and topics and developing ideas to embed technology (60 – 90 minutes per grade level/subject team).
• Developing a framework for successful technology integration with tech team
• Mobile computing – the changing classroom, facilities management, practical tips

Closing session: ???

I would love to hear your opinion! What do you think I should cover? What’s missing from this list? What would you like to see presented at your school?

Tags: julie lindsay, qatar academy, 21stcentury, consultant, professional development, training

I have been looking forward to this project all year! We just got started on Friday with a wonderful group of fourth graders, and their very flexible classroom teacher, Sonja. I’m so excited to be able to collaborate on this project a second time. I hope I’ve learned from my mistakes the last time around, and have set up this workshop for success.

We’ve been doing a lot of planning at the elementary level in order to avoid some of the confusion and frustration I experienced last year – mostly due to lack of planning. Here are the key structures that we’ve put into place so far:

Grouping & Coordination

At this point we have determined that we will split the 20 elementary classrooms that are participating into a number of smaller sub groups. First we divided by age level, then by writing style or curricular focus to ensure that the peer editors will be knowledgeable enough to offer constructive advice. We also wanted to keep the groups no larger than 3 schools collaborating together so that it is easier for the students to offer thorough peer reviews.

We have created one page where all of the student stories can be linked and easily accessible. Also on this page, we have all student partners clearly laid out in a table, so that students can quickly find the work of their partners. Regardless of whether the individual student pages are part of the same wiki, or actually hosted on another classroom wiki, they are all clearly linked here.

Time Lines & Expectations

We have laid out and agreed upon our expected deadlines for each phase of the project: 1st draft, peer reviews, 2nd draft, final story, and awards. Though the dates vary for each sub group, a great effort has been made to ensure that the smaller groups have identified specific dates that the work will be completed. Hopefully this will allow teachers to better plan their classes and complete the project in a timely manner.

Assessment & Curricular Focus

Given that the various sub-groups are working within the same curricular focus, we have begun to develop common procedures and assessments so that all students are clearly working toward the same goal. In order for the peer editors to be truly helpful, they need to be looking at the stories through the same lens.

Practicalities

Wiki Memberships: All teachers have been made “organizers” of the wiki. This will allow them to add their students as members as they see fit, without having to wait for one organizer on the other side of the world to approve the requests. Teachers are welcome to create their own class wiki and just link their pages here, or they can use this wiki as the actual work in progress. When I add students, I open the Members and Permissions page and have students come up and type their e-mail address into the “Invite New Members” line. Then I show them how to become a member of wikispaces as a class, and they join the wiki. This allows all the students to join the wiki within one class period, but does not send those annoying “request for membership” e-mails to all organizers.

Naming Policies: In an effort to more easily find student work (just in case links break, or students forget to create the right links) we have developed a page naming format: SchoolInitials_StudentName. Not only will this place all student pages from one school right next to each other in the List Pages view (which was essential when we had student issues last year), but it will make the linking process easier since there are bound to be multiple students with the same first name in all of these classes. Last year we had students naming pages with file names that had nothing to do with their own name or their school’s name and it made it increasingly frustrating for their partners or the classroom teachers to navigate through their work. The more transparant the file naming system is, the easier it will be for all these 20 different teachers and classes of students to manage.

Communication: Although we have been communicating mostly by e-mail I’m finally now trying to move discussion to the participating schools page discussion tab – this way new teachers can follow along with the conversation as well. It makes so much more sense to have the conversations in a central and open place, plus, with the ability to RSS wiki discussions (and changes), students and teachers can keep close tabs on all updates anytime.

Parental Permission: Despite the fact that absolutely no personal information will be shared during the course of this project, I always like to ensure that parents are not only aware of what is happening in the classroom, but that they formally allow their children to participate. Given the concern about online projects, I would much rather deal with any questions before the project starts than after students have become invested in their work.

Getting Started

Now that we have some of the basics for a successful globally collaborative project lined up, Sonja and I have been planning how we will approach this project with our students. Here is our planned schedule:

Lesson One

Introduce the project. Share the global scope by showing the Participating Schools page and exploring all the different countries involved. Make connections to students prior knowledge by sharing student-friendly pop culture references to Arabian Nights (Disney’s Aladdin comes to mind). Build interest by reading aloud the frame story for the project and discussing ideas for how to persuade the Alien King to let the human race live.

Get all students signed up for the wiki. Split the class into two groups – one that has e-mail accounts already and one that needs help creating an account. Have the classroom teacher read an excerpt from the Arabian Nights frame story (appropriate for elementary, we used the Eyewitness Accounts series) while the other group is dealing with the technical steps to sign up. Once one group is finished, swap.

Lesson Two – Four

Brainstorm ideas. Each student will complete an Inspiration mind map, or other graphic organizer, of their ideas for their story. Ideally we will share these brainstorms with our partners around the world, but if time is short, we can discuss these in class. Students will use their experience with persuasive writing, as well as the rubric and expectations for quality persuasive writing as they brainstorm to ensure that their story will meet the project requirements.

Lesson Five

Online safety. We will watch my two favorite Public Service Announcements (Think Before You Post & The Talent Show) to discuss appropriate and safe behavior online. We will use the Online Safety guidelines as posted on the wiki to ensure that students are prepared to work and learn in this environment.

Lesson Six

Wiki basics. Demo the main features of a wiki and allow students to post an introduction to themselves that uses all of the basic wiki techniques (formatting, inserting images from a website and the desktop, and linking). These pages will be an introduction for their collaborative partner, as well as an authentic way for students to learn how to manipulate wiki pages.

Lesson Seven – Ten

Write. Complete the first draft.

Lesson Eleven – Thirteen

Peer review collaborative partner’s work. Edit and improve their story based on collaborative partner’s feedback. Post second draft

Lesson Fourteen – Fifteen
Peer review collaborative partner’s work. Edit and improve their story based on collaborative partner’s feedback. Post final draft.

Lesson Sixteen

Awards and celebrations.

One thing I would really love to have time for is either narrating the stories by podcast, or adding images to enhance the stories, or creating a never-ending story by linking all the various stories together, or even creating a video of individual stories. At this point I’m waiting to see how the students do with the basic tools needed to collaborate on a wiki. Any students that are interested in taking their ideas farther or brining a multimedia element to their story will be supported either in small groups or individually.

I can’t wait to see what they all come up with! No doubt there will be some very exciting and unique stories appearing on these very pages over the next few weeks!

Tags: elementary, 21stcentury, globalcollaborations, internationalschool, flatclassroom, collaborations, 1001 Tales, wiki, writing, workshop, persuasive,

I am constantly inspired by the supportive and encouraging environment out here in the education blogosphere. After reading Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0 (so nice I have to mention it twice), I am reminded of the power of the social learning going on in this environment.

Anyone involved in the field of education in general (and technology education in particular) knows that our jobs are changing rapidly. Much too quickly to learn “everything there is to know” before we enter the work force. As Brown and Adler describe,

Mastering a field of knowledge involves not only “learning about” the subject matter but also “learning to be” a full participant in the field. This involves acquiring the practices and the norms of established practitioners in that field or acculturating into a community of practice.

In a traditional Cartesian educational system, students may spend years learning about a subject; only after amassing sufficient (explicit) knowledge are they expected to start acquiring the (tacit) knowledge or practice of how to be an active practitioner/professional in a field. But viewing learning as the process of joining a community of practice reverses this pattern and allows new students to engage in “learning to be” even as they are mastering the content of a field. This encourages the practice of what John Dewey called “productive inquiry”—that is, the process of seeking the knowledge when it is needed in order to carry out a particular situated task.

I am learning constantly, and my job changes just as quickly. Being involved in this social learning environment is allowing me to learn consistently and steadily along with the changes as they come. It is this powerful learning environment that has helped me shape my views on 21st century literacy, keep me up-to-date on the most powerful methods of connecting learners, and push my thinking towards the future.

It is this personal experience of “learning to be” in this environment that makes me realize just how powerful this will be for our students. I am amazed and inspired by the power of this network to stretch my thinking and to broaden my horizons. It is clear to me that this experience of social learning will only become more and more essential to education as the tools become easier and easier to use.

One of the most important aspects of this experience, for me, has been the willingness of others to share their learning, and the encouragement and support that is received when I share my own thoughts and ideas. Seeing as I’m the first-born in my immediate family (and thus, somewhat spoiled) I have never been the best at sharing. But this open network of learning, thinking and discussion has always felt like such a natural place to share.

It continues to amaze me that others find my thinking helpful and that every day I have a new follower on Twitter or a comment from a new reader. I am amazed and empowered at the ability to be both a learner and a leader in this environment.

Two weeks ago I (who, me?!) was a guest on the fabulous Women of Web 2.0 podcast! Jennifer Wagner, Vicki Davis, Sharon Peters and Cheryl Oakes interviewed me? What could I possibly have to tell these superstars of education who I have been following and learning from for years? Just the possibility that this could happen not only makes learning, thinking, and sharing more exciting, but also so much more personal. Being part of a network that grows and shifts and changes as rapidly as the learning occurs means that there is room for everyone – such a different feeling from the traditional classroom.

The week before my WOW2 appearance, Chris Betcher invited me and Susan Sedro on his fantastic The Virtual Staffroom podcast to talk about technology integration. Two people who I constantly look to for advice, who I think of as my mentors, who inspire me to do new things in new ways. And they wanted to hear what I thought!

Around that same time Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach invited me to be an “Expert Voice” on Social Networking for the next month for the Powerful Learning Practice professional development Ning that she is working on with Will Richardson. Just to be involved in something with Sheryl and Will is exciting enough – let alone being called “expert” on something, anything!

Finally, just last week Julie Lindsay invited me to travel to Qatar Academy as a consultant for 2 full days of 21st century literacy training. Not only am I so honored to be thought of as an expert in this field, but to be given the privilege of working with an entire primary school full of teachers for two full days as a consultant – I can not think of anything more exciting!

Looking at the new 2008 Horizon Report, this type of social learning is only the beginning:

The next generation of social networking systems—social operating systems—will change the way we search for, work with, and understand information by placing people at the center of the network….The real value of the network lies in the way it helps us create, identify, and sustain relationships….

Placing people and relationships at the center of informational space will have a profound influence at all levels of academia. It will change the way we relate to knowledge and information; the way we do research and evaluate credibility; the way educators and students interact with each other; and the way students learn to be professionals in their chosen disciplines…

Imagine the impact of tools that place those people and relationships at the center of any research inquiry: concepts clearly linked to people; connections between those people and others clearly indicated; a much more complete picture of the topic would emerge, more quickly than is possible with current tools.

These are the kinds of experiences I want to ensure that my students have. I want them to experience the fun and excitement and empowerment of learning and mastering a skill. I want them to feel like they are connected to learners just like them, and that their network can grow and change as their needs shift. I want to bring this kind of connected learning to each and every classroom so that all students can enjoy learning the way I do. This is what makes my job so fun and interesting – isn’t that what we want our schools to be?

Tags: chris betcher, susan sedro, julie lindsay, jennifer wagner, vicki davis, cheryl oakes, sharon peters, wow2, women of web 2.0, qatar academy, plp, powerful learning practice, will richardson, social networking, educase, minds on fire, social, learning, 21stcentury, horizon report, future, hz08, flnw08

After an excellent session with parents about cyberbullying and an equally excellent session with our staff discussing the Frontline documentary Growing Up Online, I’ve been thinking a lot about responsibility. As in:

• Whose responsibility is it to teach students about the dangers of social networking (not only physical danger from online predators, but the danger of getting college applications rejected or the danger of getting kicked out of school)?
• Whose responsibility is it to help parents stay informed about these new methods of communication?
• Whose responsibility is it to ensure that students learn how to have successful, productive, and educational online experiences?

I’ve been noticing that many teachers are happy to be ignorant of what goes on online – that “out of sight, out of mind” mentality – which really worries me. I mentioned to Miguel in a twitter a few weeks ago that some really appalling student behavior has been going on for quite a while now, which actually made a little bit relieved to see that cell phone scandal hit the press in the US. On one hand, I can understand just how damaging that kind of press can be to a school trying to implement progressive learning practices, but on the other hand, aren’t these things we need to be talking about? Aren’t these issues that parents need to know about? And aren’t these issues that students should be learning how to stay away from?

I wonder how many schools are talking about this as a whole? Justin, Dennis and I were just discussing how great it would be to watch Growing Up Online as a whole faculty and then have some smaller break-out sessions to discuss what we saw. How many teachers are going to say: “our kids aren’t doing that kind of stuff!” And how many are going to say “that’s a parenting issue, not a school issue”? How many are going to say: “I need to embed authentic learning experiences into my curriculum which help students build their understanding about online safety and appropriate behavior”?

If learning has become increasingly social, and networked learning is on the horizon as the future of education, as so clearly described in the recent Educase article: Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0:

The most profound impact of the Internet, an impact that has yet to be fully realized, is its ability to support and expand the various aspects of social learning. What do we mean by “social learning”? Perhaps the simplest way to explain this concept is to note that social learning is based on the premise that our understanding of content is socially constructed through conversations about that content and through grounded interactions, especially with others, around problems or actions. The focus is not so much on what we are learning but on how we are learning….

This perspective shifts the focus of our attention from the content of a subject to the learning activities and human interactions around which that content is situated.

Then we need to be aware, actively involved, and responsible for teaching students and parents how to participate in these new communities – even if so much of their activity online has been for purely social purposes until now. Isn’t it our job to teach them how to take this social environment and use it for educational purposes? When I think about how powerful my PLN has been for my learning, I can’t imagine not including those experiences in my teaching. This is truly the Future of Learning in a Networked World, isn’t it?

At the beginning of this school year, when I was still adjusting to life in elementary school, I remember realizing just how lucky I am to have switched to elementary. This is the time when I can really make a difference. Students are excited about learning, they haven’t developed many bad habits, they still adore their teachers, they still enjoy having their parents watch over them while they play online, and they are still open to asking questions and discussing the possible outcomes. It is so essential to reach our students before they begin to pull away, to become more independent, to become more reluctant to share all aspects of their lives with the adults around them, in essence, to become teenagers.

This week I worked with a grade 3 class on our BlogPals project. We are using this project to develop our reading and writing skills – through the lens of connecting with others, creating a social learning environment. We are taking the time to teach them about online safety and appropriate behavior, and our third graders are responding with energy, excitement, enthusiasm, inquiry and understanding. This is the time to start developing appropriate behaviors, and I believe it’s our responsibility to teach them.

What do you think?

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