1. Our teachers don't have time to learn a new thing, especially not buz words and hype
2. Show me evidence that this will help my students learn
I don't think we are asking too much really.
Good one Leigh!
________________________________
From: teachAndL...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Leigh Blackall
Sent: Mon 4/24/2006 8:03 AM
To: teachAndL...@googlegroups.com
Subject: :: TALO :: Really not asking too much!
<http://flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/4239651/> I was up last night thinking more about the difficulties we all have trying to convince others of the benefits blogs, wikis... web2 ... a networked learning is and could still have for learning in general - in particular I was thinking about the 2 most common arguments I hear from those offering resistance:
1. Our teachers don't have time to learn a new thing, especially not buz words and hype
2. Show me evidence that this will help my students learn
I see red when these 2 statements are uttered. Especially when uttered by teachers who are already practicing some form of online teaching - usually through an LMS or other sort of small fry content and communications management system.
I think it needs to be stated loud and clear that with networked learning we are not asking all that much really. We are not asking teachers to learn HTML, CSS, Flash, Dreamweaver, or any other highly complex content production skills. We are not asking teachers to understand SCORM let alone ideas of sharable learning objects. We are not asking teachers to use freaked out, unusable, cobbled together LMS, DRM - CMS, SMS, or what ever content and communication system we say goes. We're not even asking teachers to Bobby Check everything they produce! All we are asking is that teachers come out into the open, or "step into the light" to quote Stephen <http://downes.ca/> , and learn how to use the Internet the same way as everyone else is using it now.
By doing so we believe teachers will rediscover the relevance in their topics that their students need and crave. By doing so we believe teacher's live's, attitudes and moral will improve. By doing so we believe teachers will discover ways of integrating those "distractions" such as mobile phones, MP3 Xbox, PSP and television players and laptops, into their classroom activities. By doing so we believe teachers will learn how to communicate better in our digitally networked world.
I don't think we are asking too much really.
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Posted by Leigh Blackall to Teach and Learn Online <http://teachandlearnonline.blogspot.com/2006/04/really-not-asking-too-much.html> at 4/24/2006 07:29:00 AM
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Leigh
Why don't you post (here and the wiki) the descrip / blurb for the
teacher audience? All of us could have a collaborative go at
rewriting it. Like you, I've done some workshops for teaching staff
but am planning to do something for incoming students in August, so I
for one would benefit from doing this jointly and I'm sure others in
TALO would too.
Here was the email blurb for the last session I did with a Librarian
colleague on RSS:
Lunchtime Learnshops
**************************
HOW TO SAVE TIME IN STAYING AHEAD OF THE KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION IN YOUR FIELD
Fed up wasting time with repeated searches of the web! Fed up with
email overload!
We are all too aware that in all fields knowledge is being created at
an exponential rate in an expanding variety of formats. As a
consequence, there are increasing demands on our attention and
keeping current within our field is becoming an increasingly
insurmountable challenge. This short workshop will help you to meet
this challenge by showing you how to bring tailored information to
your desktop.
Outcomes
By the end of this 90 minute session, you should be able to:
- locate more relevant information, more quickly
- expand your professional network more efficiently
Outline
1. Participants' current approaches to gathering information in order
to keep up-to-date with their field
2. Basic overview of recently developed, time-saving methods for
tailoring the delivery of relevant content (text, audio, video) to your desktop
3. Information - what's currently out there that you can connect to
4. Tools for getting tailored information to your desktop in a way
that fits your working style
This will be an interactive presentation and demonstration with Q&A
throughout, focusing on RSS-related technologies and opportunities.
FOLLOW-UP HANDS ON SESSION ON SAVING TIME IN STAYING AHEAD OF THE
KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION IN YOUR FIELD
This is a hands on session at the request of participants from the
information session.
Outcomes
By the end of this 60 minute session, you will have:
- created an online account where you can subscribe to information
from various sources
- searched and found information related to your discipline or
research area that you can subscribe to
- subscribed to a few new sources of information for these areas.
This will be a hands-on practice session focusing on the automated
delivery of relevant, new information to your desktop. The hands on
session will be repeated.
Nick
Hi Leigh
There is no doubt that for many, after holding down a teaching job, family & life...once home, the time to look at a computer let alone explore Web2.0 technologies or engage with all the networking 'stuff' of an evening... is probably not a high priority!
We all have different connections to each other (tribe), as we do to technology, what tribe you are in drives what connection you have to change and technology. We all have an 'emotional response' to technology whether it be positive/negative, excited/uninspired, engaged/closed minded politisicised/don't give a damm.Alex Hayes took the above and expanded. Live links and comics
associated at http://www.alexanderhayes.com;
I'm back at the keyboard poring over Leigh Blackall's post which teases
apart what he considers to be the underlying attitude shift that would
need to occur for educators to embrace the use of the global network to
truly grow the online learning eco-sphere. Man o' man am i getting
tired of hearing that my colleagues are still fighting on the front of
awareness.
However, that said, I cast my mind back to five years ago and I must
admit my own use of social networks which interlink by manner of
association and interest were not lacking in interest rather in making
the shift from LMS fishtraps bobbing in the waters of the knowledge
world.
I do think Leigh's right.
It's all about "....the difficulties we all have trying to convince
others of the benefits blogs, wikis... web2 ... what networked learning
is and could still have for learning in general." Great comment and
concurring with my working role, that of my discussion with friends and
family and that of my professional integrity and beliefs for education
ethos in general. I get more blank looks than any affirmative nods
lately and get sick of dumbing down everything in an attempt to solicit
some recognition of what I'm on about.
Graham Wegner puts his points forward as part of his immersion into
what an LMS may look like in the future and the current state of play
for those contemplating how such a concept of an always acessible
e-portfolio could look like. It appears Graham also struggles with
dispelling the myth that blog = poo amongst his colleagues ....i dont
envy his position as he grows his own in a primary education context.
Phew !
Nick Noakes [Wednesday, February 15, 2006v ] on the other hand gives us
this gem for considering what the web mash of a global e-portfolio
might look like ;
".....Now with our online identities being spread all over the net, in
comments in various blogs, flickr, del.icio.us, etc., and at various
events, we need a way to bring these together simply and quickly. And
we need to visually show (semantically, socially and genealogically)
our journey, trajectory and identities all in one ... something that
aggregates and connects our learning into one visual interface for our
lifelong personal portal (side track: I think this means we would need
to be able to tag our own comments, not just our posts)....."
If we take Leigh's perspective on resistance and disenchantment and
that of Graham's and Nick's whilst mixing it with that of say Iverson
you'll see that ( at least i do ) a correlation in the taxonomy of
retrieval, the manner by which the links and semantics make sense for
the future.
Users on any open online learning environment could have a multi-view
ever-evolving e-portfolio simply by hitting the global e-portfolio
portal search function for the term 'mobology' and have presented for
them a chronologically ordered entry for every aspect of my online
presence right back to 2005 when i first started using that 'tag'. This
gives me the view that our repsonsibilities as educators is maybe that
of ensuring ( as Graham Wegner suggests ) that students find cool and
memorable ciphers and signs to 'recall' their learning from where-ever
they were at whatever time it was in the past. The portals for
displaying such waress are ever increasingly hand held .
If Google WAS doing it's job wouldnt we have everything we'd ever done
digitally available through their search facility ? Damn that would be
fine if it was able to be in secure mode.
I replied to Graham's comment in my blog with reference to
e-portfolio's stating that ".....I liken the formative and academic
pursuit of collating, uploading and aggregating my blog posts,
interactive writing and mobile blog data as none other than fornicating
with naive catalytic elements in a reactive soup of electronica.
E-portfolio for me is the conversation we are already having."
I stand by that.
Softwares for e-portfolio's SHOULD NOT be developed rather the
taxonomies for retrieval enabled in each and every learning environment
that we enrol our students / learners in. It's obvious that the
operational / pedagogical / philosophical shift would be immense.
Get it ? How hard would that be to achieve ?
Learners need open courseware and protected windows through which we
can view their learning and they access it all anytime. Learning
management sytems need not be anything more than those needed for
adminstration and enrolment procedural formailities - not for learning
ware.
I'm of the firm opinion that all the above is possible if this
discussion amps up a notch and that the e-portfolio's discussion come
to grips with ;
the always on and interoperable stability of the www
the needs of learners and not that of software / hardware developers
the apolitical stance ( and conservative ) that educators adopt when
faced with students who seek interoperability not sustainability
users wants verses operational needs
the sensitivities of those who live building closed systems to
'protect' their users from unwanted communication
I'm intrigued ......Have we escaped the behaviourists yet or will the
connectivists have their day ?
Can an e-portfolio be invisible and weigh nothing other than a memory
for a key term ?
Some teachers are empowering themselves.
C
fear of the unknown; fear of looking stupid; fear of new technology;
fear of loss of power; fear of loss of control; fear of not knowing as
much as the students; fear of change; fear of getting it wrong; fear of
peers; fear of the speed of change; fear of losing all the work we do;
fear of others stealing our work; fear of students cheating because they
can do hacker stuff; fear of the expectations that may be created by
taking up this new way; fear of not being good enough; fear of those who
are "experts"; and so the list goes on and on and on and on ...
so, i spend my time working to allay the fears of those around me who
are soooooo resistant. they are mostly good people who love their jobs
and the kids they work with but the shift away from their comfort zones
is often perceived as a bigger risk than they are prepared to take. i
can't blame them for not wanting to change, but i think the very
stability they crave will soon be eroded away by the overwhelming
pressure from the "system" for them to be a part of the uptake of all
things "online".
so lets teach them how to use email first, get them comfortable with
that: then introduce them to the web and search engines, get them
finding resources (notes etc) online and get them used to going to the
internet first when they need an answer to a question: and then, once
they are convinced of the power of this new medium, once they have
become used to the words and phrases that make up some of our
technocentric language, once they have become comfortable with keyboards
and mice, then and perhaps only then, introduce them to the magic that
is the new read/write web.
this is going to take time and patience, its going to involve long and
seemingly fruitless sessions beating our heads against some welding
lecturer's door, its going to involve a whole lot of love and care on
our part as the "experts", but eventually we will help them see that
this networked way is not something that needs to be feared.
and finally, may i be so bold as to remind you all that at some point in
your lives some very kind and patient person came alongside you and
taught you to read and write and add and subtract, and that at the time
the learning of these things was perhaps a very scary thing, perhaps it
was a struggle for you, perhaps you needed "extra" help, but for most
you (i hope) today that same scary reading and writing and adding and
subtracting is something which is second nature to you. so it will be
for the technologically resistant if we show that same passion to them.
have a great day
botts
> and in ignoring the people we also ignore the root cause behind the slow
> take up of networked learning, that being, IMHO, fear.
too right.
> so, i spend my time working to allay the fears of those around me who
> are soooooo resistant. they are mostly good people who love their jobs
> and the kids they work with but the shift away from their comfort zones
> is often perceived as a bigger risk than they are prepared to take. i
> can't blame them for not wanting to change, but i think the very
> stability they crave will soon be eroded away by the overwhelming
> pressure from the "system" for them to be a part of the uptake of all
> things "online".
bring it on.
> so lets teach them how to use email first
OMG no ! what happened to the organisational wiki space idea ?
> that: then introduce them to the web and search engines, get them
> finding resources (notes etc) online and get them used to going to the
> internet first when they need an answer to a question
lost me on that one....I'm more inclined to contact others first then
the www
: and then, once
> they are convinced of the power of this new medium, once they have
> become used to the words and phrases that make up some of our
> technocentric language, once they have become comfortable with keyboards
> and mice, then and perhaps only then, introduce them to the magic that
> is the new read/write web.
phew......so I'll be employed facilitating intro. sessions for the next
decade? * hopes not *
>
> this is going to take time and patience, its going to involve long and
> seemingly fruitless sessions beating our heads against some welding
> lecturer's door
love it. great metaphor and visual dynamic. would make a great comic
too !
> its going to involve a whole lot of love and care on
> our part as the "experts", but eventually we will help them see that
> this networked way is not something that needs to be feared.
phreek ! I remember being called an expert and being introduced at
conferences as such 'working with disengaged kids'. no such disengaged
- they were bored shiteless with the gumf was all.
> and finally, may i be so bold as to remind you all that at some point in
> your lives some very kind and patient person came alongside you and
> taught you to read and write and add and subtract, and that at the time
> the learning of these things was perhaps a very scary thing, perhaps it
> was a struggle for you, perhaps you needed "extra" help, but for most
> you (i hope) today that same scary reading and writing and adding and
> subtracting is something which is second nature to you.
bolf indeed Botts ! TALO serves as my next dictionary.
Regards,
Alex Hayes
No flames here. Just letting my Wednesdayitis do it's thing.
and in ignoring the people we also ignore the root cause behind the slow take up of networked learning, that being, IMHO, fear.too right.so, i spend my time working to allay the fears of those around me who are soooooo resistant. they are mostly good people who love their jobs and the kids they work with but the shift away from their comfort zones is often perceived as a bigger risk than they are prepared to take. i can't blame them for not wanting to change, but i think the very stability they crave will soon be eroded away by the overwhelming pressure from the "system" for them to be a part of the uptake of all things "online".bring it on.so lets teach them how to use email firstOMG no ! what happened to the organisational wiki space idea ?
that: then introduce them to the web and search engines, get them finding resources (notes etc) online and get them used to going to the internet first when they need an answer to a questionlost me on that one....I'm more inclined to contact others first then the www
: and then, oncethey are convinced of the power of this new medium, once they have become used to the words and phrases that make up some of our technocentric language, once they have become comfortable with keyboards and mice, then and perhaps only then, introduce them to the magic that is the new read/write web.phew......so I'll be employed facilitating intro. sessions for the next decade? * hopes not *
this is going to take time and patience, its going to involve long and seemingly fruitless sessions beating our heads against some welding lecturer's doorlove it. great metaphor and visual dynamic. would make a great comic too !its going to involve a whole lot of love and care on our part as the "experts", but eventually we will help them see that this networked way is not something that needs to be feared.phreek ! I remember being called an expert and being introduced at conferences as such 'working with disengaged kids'. no such disengaged - they were bored shiteless with the gumf was all.
and finally, may i be so bold as to remind you all that at some point in your lives some very kind and patient person came alongside you and taught you to read and write and add and subtract, and that at the time the learning of these things was perhaps a very scary thing, perhaps it was a struggle for you, perhaps you needed "extra" help, but for most you (i hope) today that same scary reading and writing and adding and subtracting is something which is second nature to you.bolf indeed Botts ! TALO serves as my next dictionary.
Regards, Alex Hayes