One of the biggest differences I see with our young people and my generation is a need to interact in their world.  Participation is key to the millenial generation.  I know, this is a generalization, but humour me.

Case in point.  As a young boy, I remember watching hockey on TV with my brother and dad.  Our participation was passive – we watched! Last night my stepson came up the stairs midway through the Eagles-Cards NFL game, carrying his laptop, and sat down in front of the TV.  As I watched, he proceeded to continue to watch while he interfaced with an on-line game linked with the game in progress on the TV. Seems he was participating in the game by “calling the plays” in advance and trying to win a game running parallel to, and dependent on, the game being played.

You see, our kids are not wired to be consumers.  In their world, their experiences, their narrative, they are always able to participate in someway. They are not willing to be simply consumers.  They yearn to produce, to tell their stories.

What does this mean for education?  What opportunities are we providing for our students to participate, to interact with and, yes, even create the curriculum? How can we continue to accept learning environments where everyone is “watching” the same game, without an opportunity to produce and interact with their own learning environment?

Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning

Ran across this link on twitter a few days back and finally got around to watching it today.  It’s a trailer for the video Voices from the New American Schoolhouse.  It reminded me very much of the model of A.S.Neill’s Summerhill School in England that we studies in my undergraduate program in university.

The idea that schools can work when students are more involved in the administration of the school is an interesting one.  I would need a bit more coaxing before I would be inclined to believe that all students can succeed in the setting, but one thing I do know is that the current model of education as represented in our orderly, disconnected classrooms today is doing nothing to help our students learn.

One young students mused that much like we have found out much about what babies need to thrive, she figues that

someday researchers will find out that teenagers need to talk to learn and develop.

Of course, it’s not just teenagers, but all of us – learning comes from conversations.  So, then why do we place so much value on teachers whose classrooms are quiet, orderly, straight and filled with repetitive tasks?

Education is in the heart of the listener, not in the voice of the teacher.

Kids love to connect, either through conversations or – more often nowadays – digitally.  It IS real to them, despite what adults say.  It’s where their heart is, thus it’s where the learning will take place.

Just what would happen if we let them run? Who knows, maybe even REAL learning!

Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning, newamericanschoolhouse

In yet another example of how Google and others are optomizing how users can define how they interact with content on the net, Google rolled out their “Search Wiki” feature late last week.  I first noticed it Thursday when I googled the Christa MCAuliffe Technology Conference, where I’ll be presenting next week in Nashua, New Hampshire.

The search results showed as usual, but had some new arrows and x’s beside the links.  At about the same time, someone twittered about the new feature, so I checked it out.

In short, the feature allows individuals to prioritize individual sites, exclude them altogether or annotate the sites.  All of these features only show in their own searches – as defined by their Google user login – but annotations can also be searched by others.

This short video provides more explanation.

Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning, searchwiki, cmtc08

Last week – as are most weeks – was a waveform.  Lots of crests and troughs (how’s that for Grade 8 Science!) as I work with learners – teachers and students – to promote the school shift.

A couple of highlights are worth mentioning, however.  First of all, last week I had a wonderful (yet brief) conversation with two new pre-service teachers who have just arrived at our school the week previous from St. Thomas University for an eight-week internship.  I had met both of them before as I had spoke to their class about blogging as a literacy tool previously and I know one of them from my church.

This conversation was encouraging.  We spoke briefly about what they saw in their brief exposure to our school. One had read my previous blog post on how we value technology in our business and government, but not in education.  She noted – rightly of course – that it goes far beyond simply putting technology in the hands of teachers, they need to learn skills and – more importantly – shift their mindset.  She writes on her course reflective blog (which is closed, but I am sure she won’t mind sharing)…

My point is that  it is not just about having technology in schools but about educating teachers about how technology can be used to enhance teaching,  to intensify course content and to provide students a unique way to experience learning.

She goes on to point out that the barrier is about more than just skills, but about changing the narrative of learning to one that reflects our new global reality.

I believe that technology is changing the traditional teacher- student interface. Students no longer rely exclusively on their educators to provide them with information and knowledge, they know how to seek out that content elsewhere. I believe that what students need are educators who can move beyond rote memory and teacher centered classrooms to provide students with a skill set to use technology effectively to decipher true from false and to think critically about the information that they are accessing. Of course the basics of schooling should not be overlooked math and science are important, reading and writing are essential, physical education can not be overlooked and of course the need to learn about social studies in a global world is more necessary than ever before. The ways that students experience this learning can be transformed and positively enriched by the use of technology.

You see, the sad fact is that – even in a school as rich as our 1:1 project – some teachers just don’t want to get it.  They haven’t seen the shift because they don’t understand that when kids walk out our doors and hit the streets and their homes, they are powered and connected beyond their comprehension.  They don’t want to get that making widgits in a plant for a living is just not in the cards anymore.  Most jobs of our parents will be automated or outsourced.  For the digital generation, survival will mean being able to manage information, connect to their worlds to learn and manage / promote their own digital footprint. I am sure they know kids have changed, the world has changed, but they don’t want to change!

Which brings me to the trough.  This coming Friday is a scheduled school-based PD day for our staff.  As one of the people charged with helping teachers roll the stone up the hill, I proposed a 21st century learning camp, where staff would participate in a number of activities designed to begin conversations around three critical questions; what are we doing to support information literacy skills for our students – as opposed to our past; what are we doing to promote students developing and managing their own personal learning networks; and what are we doing to help students effectively manage their digital footprint?

Response from most was “sounds cool”, but some just rolled their eyes, shook their heads and wanted to know why they had to take part.  They didn’t see the point.

But, alas, we forge ahead.  The day is planned. The dance begins.  Maybe, just maybe, young teachers like our new duo, will carry the day.  Like grapes, knowledge tends to grow in clusters.

It’s can’t be too soon.

Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning

Increasingly, I have been using twitter as my primary networking tool.  It is just easier, quicker, less painful.  But it’s also less intensive and frankly, it’s selfish.  You see, twitter is about me and the people I choose to connect with.  It is tremendously powerful, but does little to help share the ideas I want to promote amongst a larger group.

Case in point – a couple of weeks ago I received an email from Adam Dionne, a grade five teacher in our District. He wanted to let me know that, after reading a post a while back on my blog, he had started recording Math lessons to share via a wiki with his students and their families.  He is using the recording software in the SMART Board tools. Cool stuff.

I had a chance to chat briefly with Adam yesterday at his school.  He tells me that feedback from parents has been very positive and that students are using the videos to reinforce class learning at home.

He set up a channel on TeacherTube, where all his videos are posted.  I know he’s just started and things will change as he learns and adapts, but this spirit of innovation and sharing is exactly the mindset we need amongst teachers in order to prepare our students for their future.  While the immediate project is still teacher-centered, he is already looking at student created videos on the channel, shared with the world via a wiki. Great stuff!

It’s stories like this that remind me that we need to share.  As Will Richardson’s latest post notes, sharing is powerful – for all learners.  Breaking into the locked filing cabinet syndrome of the past is crucial if we are to serve our kids best.

I am also reminded that, while Twitter is powerful it’s also tremendously selfish, and regardless of how many people I touch with blogging, just one idea shared is worth the effort.

Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning

I must admit, we are spoiled in New Brunswick. As I get to connect with learning leaders from across North America and around the world, I realize just how much further ahead of the curve we here in my home province are in terms of creating flatter learning spaces for our students. We have wireless broadband into every school, every teacher has a laptop, and a few schools even have 1:1 projects. But – and there’s always a but – I sense a bit of a stall.

A couple of stories on the local newswire caught my eye in the past week. First of all, Premier Shawn Graham announced that his government will be implementing a plan to bring residential high-speed Internet to EVERY household in the province in the coming year. Despite not being in such bad shape – over 95% of homes currently have access to broadband – this vision will do much to level the playing field for those citizens who live in the more rural and remote areas of the province. As we move forward, access to web-based tools and services will be as important – maybe even more – than is a telephone currently.

Then, just yesterday, my hometown of Fredericton was one of four Canadian cities named as one of the 21 smartest cities in the world.  In addition, our sister city of Moncton – just over an hour away – was included in the list.  This speaks highly of the vision and innovation of both public and private sector leaders at all levels.  I’ve written about this before, but one of the crowning jewels in Fredericton’s municipal infrastructure is it’s Fred-e-zone, a FREE, city-wide wireless network.  Civic leaders view this investment as basic as sidewalks, streets, water and sewer.  Citizens (including our students) and visitors can access this network anytime for work, play or learning.  Viewing technology as a basic service shows tremendous vision of the future needs of our community.

So, our communities are Smart (connected), but what about our schools.  Granted, the school I am most closely associated with is 1:1, but this is the exception.  Most of our schools struggle with access.  Teachers have computers, but most schools have huge students/computer ratios.

Teachers approach me all the time about doing connected, collaborative projects.  The barrier?…access.  Many schools have no access outside the labs they use to “teach computers”.  Others have one writing/research lab shared amongst a couple dozen classes.  With the demands of learning in the 21st century, one class a week just won’t cut it anymore.

What about home?  Just as a measure, over 95% of students at my school currently have high-speed Internet computer access at home. We place a huge reliance on this resource as many teachers require students to do web-based homework in one form or another.  We do try and make allowances for those students who legitimately have access issues but, frankly, access to the web is as necessary a basis service as telehone and television.  But unless they can find other avenues for students within the school, the other buildings can’t depend on home access to carry learning.

So, where does that leave education?  We are preparing our kids to work, play and learn in a connected world, but what are our schools doing to support their learning towards this end?  Do teachers have the resources to teach students how to safely and effectively live in this world? We can start by not resting on our laurels.  Keep moving.  Drive 1:1 across the province from 7-12.  Have laptop pods or labs in every K-6 school. Keep the student/computer ratio lower than 5:1. Our kids are connected at home.  They will be connected when they leave.  They need to be connected at school.

As Chris Lehmann so aptly states, “School is not practice for real life, it IS real life”.

Do our schools reflect this?

Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning

Photo credit: Fibre Optic, Creative Commons non-commercial use, Uploaded to Flickr on February 4, 2008 by Twilight Jones