Whole-class Brainstorming: EtherPad to Wordle

Posted on May 23, 2012 by tmarch

Real-time Collaborative Brainstorming – What Fun! What Good Learning!

When students have access to computers or personal devices (Netbooks or iPad3+) you can easily create a real-time collaborative writing page that will also generate a word cloud to show the dominant terms students wrote. Here are the steps.

1. Go to PrimaryPad (click on the link or the image below) and then click on the “Create New Pad” button. 2. Copy the URL / WebAddress that is automatically generated for your page.

3. Paste the URL into your Blog post so students can all access the same page.

4. Edit the PrimaryPad page to include any instructions / prompts you want students to respond to.  Then turn off the Authorship Colors so that only students’ writing is colored.

 5. Now you are ready to engage the students in an activity such as this by Year 11 English students who analyzed two scenes from Rebel Without a Cause.  Have students enter their names in the Author Icon so everyone can see who is writing in which color.

6. Once students have completed the writing, you can have them read through it, edit or select the most insightful passages, etc.

7. Now let’s get a snapshot of the group’s thinking by having EtherPad / PrimaryPad create a word cloud including the most used terms. First click on the Timeslider icon. Once the contents of the page reloads, you can run the slider backwards to see how the composition evolved.  It’s cool.  But we want to use the “Import/Export” icon, so click on the two arrows. Next, click on the Wordle export. Depending on your computer’s speed, the browser you’re using and how well Java loads, you should see a word cloud appear in the next screen thanks to the Web site Wordle.net You can click on the Randomize button to change the look of the font, layout and colors. You might want to save the image. If you are comfortable taking and using a screen capture go ahead, but you can also use Wordle’s built-in online gallery to host your word cloud.  Simply click on the Save to Public Gallery button. Go ahead and provide authorship details and description: If you want to include a thumbnail image and link to the full-size image, you can copy the embed code provided at the bottom of the page. Now go back to you own blog post and switch to the HTML view of the Text Editor and paste the embed code. To see what it looks like, just flip back to the Visual Text Editor:

That’s it!  Well done!

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CEGSA MasterClass

Posted on May 18, 2012 by tmarch

Welcome!

We’ve got a great day ahead of us (see the blurb), but as a warm-up and introduction, use the Comments link at the bottom of this post to:

  • Introduce yourself (your role at your school, previous use of ICTs for learning)

Formal Introductions & De-brief

Now that we have used ICTs to support learning, let’s do a face-to-face introduction and de-brief the advantages of online comments and input.

Immersion Scenario

No one has to tell us that technology is changing our culture and the lives of our students. How will it impact education?  How should what we do in schools change to best serve our purpose?  What is our purpose?

  • Presentation: Sixth Sense & Beyond?

Question: if learners have 24/7 anywhere access to information profiled just for them, what are 3 – 5 main knowledge, skills or values they will need to succeed?

Use this Stixyboard to post the ideas generated at your table.

Getting Started

Two main game-changing developments both support and require education to change.  One are the emerging technologies that personalise access to rich information (such as Sixth Sense).  The second area of amazing developments is psychology and the related pedagogies. If we tap into the right research, here’s what we can expect:

Those who know my work are aware that these bullet lists derive from Self-Determination Theory, Cultures of Thinking, Habits of Mind, Flow Theory, Grit and Authentic Happiness.

All of which get integrated through the new Classroom Routines of the Edge-ucators Way and the Seld-managed Learning Process of CEQ•LL

Look to Learn

Getting Started: Tumblr

To “Work the Web” for education, we need a flexible space that empowers us to easily work with rich media.  Our first stop will be Tumblr.

Full Tumblr Tutorial page – new!

Work Period

Task: Create 2 – 4 5 – 10 Look to Learn Activities for your students

Added Bonus?:Web 2 Tools

Online Spaces

WordPress Blog

The ClassPortal Twist

References:

For Ideas

C E Q • A LL / Seek all!

Self-managed Learning Framework for students

Feedback – links!

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CEGSA Spotlight & MasterClass

Posted on May 16, 2012 by tmarch

Spotlight Session: Next Era Education – Are you Ready?

  • When: Thursday, 17 May, 2012
  • Time: 4.30pm – 6.30pm
  • Where: Immanuel College Function Centre, 24 Morphett Road, Novar Gardens

The Edge-ucators Way is a comprehensive model that whole schools can use to effectively integrate technology for classroom learning. But more than a set of strategies and techniques, the Edge-ucators Way is a pedagogically-sound, evidence-based framework to achieve what’s been missing from technology-enhanced learning: technology’s power to transform the education of our children from calendar-based topics that are “covered” to inquiries where students discover meaning in a spirit that honours the personal joy of learning. With the right mixture of emerging technologies and pedagogies, we can realise such an outcome. In fact, we must if schools are to make the transition from the 20th Century’s Industrial Model of Schooling to the 21st Century’s Digital Era. Why? Because personal learning works better and feels great. Isn’t this what we want for our schools? For our children? For ourselves?

Teachers and students need new routines that support advanced learning and take advantage of both the 1:1 and collaborative nature of digital learning. Three such routines comprise the Edge-ucators Way: Look-to-Learn Activities, ClassPortals and WebQuests. In addition much of traditional teaching focuses on classroom management techniques based on a one-to-many instructional model. When students work independently via 1:1 devices, they must take control of their own learning or fall victim to distractions and amusements. Without a framework for self-managed learning students are “left to their own devices.” The fact that students’ learning situation is already 1:1 outside of school should motivate us to provide a framework to support and scaffold student autonomy and self-directed learning.

You’re invited to consider whether the Edge-ucators Way resonates with your calling as a teacher and if it does to join in this re-imagining of our profession. In this new era, there is no one way to do things, and the new model we create will benefit from all of our contributions. What piece will you add to the Next Era of Education?

Masterclass: Building Next Era Ed

  • When: Friday, May 18, 2012
  • Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm

Premise: When students have 1:1 access to rich digital resources, the technology can disrupts the traditional one-to-many teaching or render it less effective. For a 1:1 approach to be successful, four critical aspects must be addressed. Leaving any one of them out undermines the entire effort.

  1. Rich Digital Learning Spaces: The classroom is the traditional location for learning in a school. When students have personal digital devices, they similarly need a place to meet to engage in meaningful learning experiences. A school must provide a secure online space that supports rich media and intuitive publishing and collaboration. Without Rich Digital Learning Spaces students cannot meet and work as a class.
  2. New Routines for Cutting Edge-ucators: The common routines of “chalk and talk”, group projects, research and discussions are all either undermined or under-utilise technology. Teachers and students need new routines that support advanced learning and take advantage of both the 1:1 and collaborative nature of digital learning. Without New Routines teachers will under utilise technology’s potential for powerful learning.
  3. An Empowered Vision of Curriculum: A Board of Studies Syllabus or an Australian Curriculum provides the framework for teaching practice and learning outcomes. When teachers are the source of the information, they do their best to anticipate and modify their instruction to suit their students. When students have 1:1 access to learning, how do we know what they have learned? How do we help them progress? An empowered vision of curriculum provides multiple pathways through content, skills and understandings and presents learning in the disciplines as a continuum where students can achieve at their own pace and fulfil their potential across a matrix of competencies. Without an empowered Vision, students will be left with a one-size-fits-all Curriculum.
  4. A Framework for Self-managed Learning: Much of traditional teaching focuses on classroom management. Orchestrating more than 20 students to move in the same direction requires considerable skill. When students work independently via 1:1 devices, they must take control of their own learning or fall victim to distractions and amusements. The fact that students’ learning scenario is already 1:1 outside of school should motivate schools to provide a framework to support and scaffold student autonomy and self-directed learning. Without a framework for Self-managed learning students are “left to their own devices.”
Posted in Keynote, NextEraEd, Tom's Work | 3 Comments

Schizophrenic Ed

Posted on May 11, 2012 by tmarch

File this post in the “It would be funny if it weren’t so sad” category.  Today’s ASCD’s email “SmartBrief” inadvertently juxtaposes two articles that highlight for me exactly what drives me crazy:

Here are the links:

The real question is whether we are working to prop-up Assembly Lines Schools or support individual student learning.  For me the answer is found in today’s date: 19?? or 2012? Nothing more needs to be said.

 

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Recent Look to Learn Posts on Rebellion & Conformity

Posted on April 30, 2012 by tmarch

I’m working with some Year 11 English students who are studying Rebel Without a Cause and The Catcher in the Rye.  I have created a WebQuest called Fit In, Break Out or Break Down that explores the culture of 1950s America.  You are free to use this.

I have also combed through recent Look to Learn posts I’ve made that show examples of Conformity and Rebellion.  They are linked below.  Individually, many are great.  Taken collectively, the sparks are amazing and rich!

Take a look and add your comments about specific examples in space provided below.

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Tumblr: New home for Look to Learn

Posted on March 22, 2012 by tmarch

From “All Rights Reserved” to “ReBlog?”

Background

When I first heard about Tumblr, I had little interest because I thought, “why do I need a more limited version of WordPress (of which I am a long time fan and user)?  Read this as “slow to get” emerging technologies or cautious in frittering away my and other educators’ limited time.  I’m hardly a “bandwagon” figure in the Ed Tech arena and am often a voice in the wilderness or ICT Cassandra sitting in my little Australian corner of the world (see The New WWW – Whatever, Whenever, Wherever).  But when I see a new tool or platform make teachers’ jobs easier and their students’ learning better – I can get pretty vociferous.  And now I “get” Tumblr – so WATCH OUT!

To get started use the detailed Tumblr Tutorial, but read on to see why this is so great.

A bit of background in case you’re even slower than me.  In a New York Times article Tumblr’s “media evangelist,” Mark Coatney, describes it as “a space in between Twitter and Facebook”  because it promotes minimal-click uploading and sharing of images, videos, audio clips and quotes in addition to Twitter’s short text bursts.  Like Twitter, Tumblr users also “Follow” other “tumblrs” which appear in the familiar “follow quilt” of icons in a member’s sidebar.  Like Facebook, Tumblr also promotes social networking.  Neither of these are a really big deal to me.  Here’s what is: Perhaps fear of missing out on “the next big thing” – and Tumblr’s popularity with the sought-after youth market – has prompted many media giants to post all or some of their content on their own Tumblr accounts. Big Media seems to go through split personality swings of protecting their content and joining in the Web sharing fun: at present, many major media players who publish significant images on their main “All Rights Reserved” Web sites also have Tumblr sites that share the same images.  At present this list includes Reuters, Time / Life, Newsweek, Aljazeera, The Guardian, PBS NewsHour, National Public Radio and The New Yorker (see the more extensive list below).  Why this is important to us – developers of learning?  In a word, “Reblog.”  When you are logged in to Tumblr and view content from another Tumblr site, all you have to do to transfer the content of the post to your site is click the “Reblog” icon in the top right corner (as seen on this screen grab from the Time Magazine Tumblr site).  This immediately opens your Tumblr dashboard, embeds the content, links back to the original source and enables you to add further text.  For me this means a Looking Prompt in order to turn plain old engaging rich media into a creative thinking activity that can shift the entire culture of a classroom, school and student’s life of learning.   To make this process even easier, I have created a Look to Learn Tumblr site as well as the Sample Prompts page from which you can copy / paste / edit some Thinking Routines straight into your reblog. While copying prompts or visiting the Look to Learn Tumblr site for posts to reblog, also explore the “Follow Quilt” for content providers you might be interested in.  The benefit of following is that each time you go to your Tumblr site, you’re welcomed with the latest content from those you follow.  At the first instance, it makes sense to follow the Look to Learn Tumblr site because it shares everything I’ve considered valuable from those I follow and to which I’ve appended an appropriate prompt.  This way, a steady stream of potential activities arrives directly to you for use in your classroom and that you can share with colleagues in your school and professional online network.  This is a perfect example of how – in the Digital Era – we can work smarter and simultaneously help students become smarter.

In summary, every so often a new tool comes along that positively changes how we can “work the Web for education.”  Before that tool we could do the work, but it took a few clicks too many to really make it part of our daily lives.  Tumblr is such a tool because with it we now have one platform that easily sources content, posts it and enables sharing and community.  Previously, this required email or RSS feeds, a blog and a social network.  For the keen among us, working across these three platforms was no barrier because we knew the real challenges we faced before even they existed when we had to scan images, write in HTML and disseminate through email lists.  What’s great about Tumblr is that it erases the obstacles so that all every teacher can not only participate, but create!

What about WordPress?

The incredible wealth of great content and the ease with which you can both discover and create new posts may make some consider switching to Tumblr as the preferred platform.  For me, no.  There’s a lot more I like to do with a Web space (see ClassPortals and WebQuests to name 2), but the advantages offered by Tumblr have prompted me to switch to it as the medium for the main Look to Learn Web site.  In just the past week I’ve increased my creation of new “L2L”s tenfold so the decision was easy.  I look forward to sharing this approach with participants in upcoming workshops.

Tumblr Archives (all of which allow Reblogging)

The list below are my favorite “Big Media” content providers with Tumblr accounts.  This means that every one of them allows – even encourages you – to embed their content in your own Tumblr stream.  Amazing how quickly things can change from “All Rights Reserved” to “Reblog.”

For Content on Current Events & What’s Buzzing Virally

The first link for each site goes to the account’s “archive” page that lets you see a thumbnail of their recent posts.  This way you can tell if you find the content valuable.  If you do, go to the “stream” and “Follow” the site once you are logged-in to your own Tumblr account.

For Fun

We’ll chat about how Pinterest figures in shortly.

As always, let me know what you think.

 

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Skyping with Christian College Geelong

Posted on March 22, 2012 by tmarch

Welcome

Here are some links you might find interesting

Sugata Mitra, a professor at Newcastle University and MIT, began his “Hole in a Wall” experiments many years ago. This clip shows the computers placed as “holes in the wall” where children accessed them without any supervision or instruction and then he goes on to describe another experiment where Tamil speaking 12 year old children were challenged to teach themselves biotechnology in English.

See-Think-Wonder

  • What’s one significant thing you noticed?
  • What does it make you think about?
  • What does this make you wonder about yourself or the world?
Posted in Tom's Work, Web 2.0 | Leave a comment

Why I Love WordPress (again)

Posted on March 12, 2012 by tmarch

I’ve been using WordPress since 2004 and have become a broken record lauding it as an exemplar of open source software and community.  I’ve used every flavor of WordPress and still do for a variety of different applications: wordpress.com, wordpress.org, network version, softaculous installs, etc.  For this site and almost everyone I create I use my own installation, but for workshops – so that people can get started within minutes and develop content that can later be exported and imported to their own full install – I use wordpress.com.

What’s prompted this post is that I’m getting ready for a new series of workshops and wanted to see how the .com version might handle Pinterest embeds.  Those who use this version, know that embeds can be limited because nasty coding can be injected that could harm the shared hosting and servers.  But the WordPress team has been great about keeping up with the dominant trends in Web 2.0 and creates shortcodes that convert the embed into WordPress-friendly content.  All the major video sites work this way as do Google Maps.

So imagine my delight when seeking new rich media for Look to Learn posts that I learned WordPress.com already accepts Pinterest embeds:

Look to Learn

Imagine this fellows drawing board were an iPad – how might this be symbolic for our “All Fit to One’s Size” digital culture?

Source: domusweb.it via Ben on Pinterest

See-Think-Wonder

  1. What do you see?
  2. What do you think about that?
  3. What does it make you wonder?

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Working with Woodvale community

Posted on March 1, 2012 by tmarch

Whose Side are YOU On?
Getting Ready for Next Era Education

We now live in era when self-motivated students with digital devices can learn more on their own than in many schools. Society has changed around us, undermining cultures focused on standardised outcomes and the myth of uniform excellence.  In other words, a culture like “school.”  The world surrounding education has moved from a “one-size-fits-all” mentality to one where digital customisation enables a world “all-fit-to-one’s-size”.  Although education has tried many reforms in the past thirty years, all have been based on fixing a model designed for 20th Century realities that no longer exist.  It’s time to understand exactly where the old model is broken and to decide what’s needed for a new design.  Next Era Ed provides a comprehensive approach that allows all staff to support outstanding student achievement through a shared culture of inquiry, self-initiative and continuous improvement.  Find out how you can get started today!

Materials

The Edge-ucators Way Strategies

CEQ•ALL

 

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King’s College

Posted on January 30, 2012 by tmarch

Welcome to 2012!

As my first school-based work of the new year, I get to begin on a special initiative.  The principal of King’s College in Warrnambool, Victoria has organised a multi-tiered approach that’s very exciting to be a part of.  First, I will spend the day working with both the whole staff and then two separate smaller groups focused on more beginning and more advanced technology using educators.  What’s we hope will make this day really useful, however, is what comes after:  several staff members will join the 5 Day workshop series I run at Independent Schools Victoria and all Year 7 students this year will get an iPad to support their personal learning.

After a King’s College variation of my It’s Broken (So Let’s Fix it!) presentation, the two smaller sessions will target CEQ•ALL and The Edge-ucators Way.

CEQ•ALL

The Edge-ucators Way Strategies

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