למידה, אינטרנט ... ומה שביניהם

Learning involved every subject and students were more self motivated to do quality work because the work was more creative and was usually published online for all to see ... so it better be good. (And note that direct instruction was not and never will be abandoned, just more opportunities for students to build knowledge, use and share what they know and learn in creative ways).

Their excitement, focus and requests to work extra outside of school on their research reminded me what we had been onto previously. We didn’t have this new pedagogy down to perfection, but we were well on our way, and with some support we would be even closer to being there now (not that you would ever get to perfection mind you).

The almost total lack of autonomy because of a daily schedule designed by my administration that only includes reading, writing and math ... and most taught with prescribed programs or specific direct instruction pieces that MUST be included literally leave no time.

So together, that's three and a half hours. Add in one hour for lunch, and forty minutes for art, music, or physical education, and I am left with one hour a day for all the fun stuff. It used to be the whole day was fun. Now it's not.

And I am determined not to let the government, administrative initiatives, and test scores to let me veer from that goal.

תוויות: הוראה, למידה, מורים

Whether or not educators are catching up with technology, they don't feel like they are.

The more they do, the more they're aware of how much more they should be doing.

תוויות: מורים, פער דיגיטאלי

In one lesson I observed, Donnelly began class with a review of yesterday’s material on photosynthesis. Afterwards she had students open their laptops to watch animations of photosynthesis that she had loaded on their machines earlier. A pop-up quiz appeared after the animations. Donnelly walked around and checked student scores on the quiz. She then summarized the concept of photosynthesis by questioning students. Finally, she collected homework assigned the previous day.

Donnelly’s classes remind me that thoughtful teaching and smooth weekly integration of laptops into biology lessons –within a five period workload and three preparations across different levels of students–can be done with finesse, humor, excitement, and-yes- within a blend of teacher- and student-centered pedagogy. Like many teachers, she hugs the middle of the spectrum.

דיגיטלי כבר פסה. פדגוגיה סוציאלית היא רדיקליזציה של הרבה מגמות שהתחילו מאז ג'ון דיואי עם הקונסטרוקטיביזם שלו ופדגוגיה חברתית.

ההמון תמיד יותר חכם מהגאון

Educational technology use, it turns out, is no Trojan horse, despite the wishes and hopes of many of its advocates.

תוויות: 1:1, חוכמת ההמון, מורים, שינוי

Want to instantly create better teachers? I know how. One word. Blogging.

I sort of understood the concept but other than simply thinking about what you did in the classroom, I wasn't at all sure what to do with this term.

When I discovered blogs almost five years ago, I soon figured out what that term meant. Since that occasion I have sat down to write close to 1,000 pieces of reflection. While not all would be considered deep, most take me anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours to craft. It may not always look like it, these are generally borne out of the times I spent observing, thinking and working in classrooms. The reflective writing has been valuable but definitely the nearly 4,000 comments have been even more of a learning experience. This is the single best professional development experience I've had.

תוויות: בלוגים, מורים

תוויות: 1:1, מורים

One-to-one computing programs only as effective as their teachers

In summary, looking across the collection of 1:1 programs and studies presented in this special issue, it is evident that teachers are on the implementation front lines of any 1:1 initiative.

In schools with cognitive tools, teaching, learning, and technology are more than blurred. They are integrated, and they are inseparable. No question arises about getting teachers to “use the computers.” With the practice of teaching and learning so deeply embedded in the rules, design, collaboration, schema, and feedback processes of the school, its capacity to function is only possible using those tools. When a school reaches this point, it is a self-organizing learning enterprise.

תוויות: 1:1, הטמעה, מורים

The report highlighted the "adverse effects" that often flow from a target-driven school culture and criticised Ofsted (ה-Office for Standards in Education) for taking a narrow, results-based view of learning in schools.

The report did not argue for an end to all external assessment. But it called for a shift toward more within-school, teacher-led assessment. This, it said, would not only save money but also a lot of the teaching time that is lost to exam preparation and administration.

And this is the key point: it is not about dropping school accountability altogether, but about making sure it does not obstruct teaching and learning.

"Hey Mr. Spencer, why do we have the Galileo if we already have common assessments and quizzes and projects with rubrics."
"Great question."
"If the purpose of an assessment is to see if I'm learning, isn't assessment happening every day?"
"Uh  huh."
"So, would they rather spend our time on teaching instead of assessing what they already assessed?"
"Yeah, you would think."

תוויות: מבחנים, מורים, סטנדרטים

How has my work both online and face to face made an impact on you or your classes? Which projects or ideas of mine have inspired you to go on and do wonderful things in schools?

I got the job :-D thanks to everyone for all of your support.

תוויות: מורים, Twitter

Scott, the authors of this book have used questionable research to attack public education for years. I can't comment on the research they're talking about here, but I'm surprised that you have devoted so many posts to people with such a questionable history.

If elementary students spend but one hour a day learning electronically, certified staff could be reduced by a sixth. At the middle school level, two hours a day with computers would reduce staff requirements by a third. High schools, with three hours of usage, could reduce staff by up to a half. This level of computer usage is quite feasible given instructional technology that exists today.

על פי רוב, בתי הספר עומדים כחומה בצורה נוכח התקדמות הטכנולוגיה, מחוזקים על ידי השמרנות הטבעית של המורים.

תוויות: הרהורים, מורים, פני החינוך

It would be impossible for the information revolution to unfold and NOT have transformative implications for how children can be educated

תוויות: הרהורים, מורים, סטנדרטים, פני החינוך

להבין את השילוב המיוחד בין הפדגוגיה לטכנולוגיה.

קליק אחד במחשב, והתלמיד יודע את כל מה שהמורה רצה ללמד אותו ב-45 הדקות של השיעור. בתחרות הזאת המורים נשארים לרוב מאחור.

החלום התחיל עוד כשהיה באינטרנט זהב, כאשר במסגרת העבודה נעשה ניסיון לחבר קבוצת מורים לעיסקת אינטרנט. מהר מאוד התברר שאין עם מי לדבר - שהמורים רחוקים מהאינטרנט כמרחק מעבד התמלילים "איינשטיין" מאייפון.

אני רואה אישית שהישגי התלמידים עולים וגם העניין שלהם. למשל, כשלימדנו על נושא משבר המים, הכנו מצגות וסרטונים. זה תפס אותם הרבה יותר מאשר אם סתם הייתי עומדת מולם ומדברת

תוויות: מורים, מחשב לכל מורה

I believe that if we truly choose the less traveled (though with steadily increasing traffic) road of conscientious innovation in the classroom, we must be willing to say goodbye to lesson plans and hello to lesson paths.

The students were not alone in their excitement. I was so enthused by their reactions, day after day hearing comments of “this is awesome!” and “Mrs. Buck, you’ve got to see this article that I found” and “what do we get to do next?” Get to do, not have to do. That is path versus plan right there.

תוויות: למידה, מורים

The report finds that the underutilization of human potential as reflected in the achievement gap is extremely costly.

With Wall Street’s decline, though, many more educated and idealistic youth want to try teaching.

תוויות: הרהורים, מורים

My biggest challenge as a teacher-researcher was to figure out what kind of role I should play in the community. The traditional role of the teacher seemed inadequate. I knew that, as active bloggers and communicators, the students would not respond well to a teacher who enters the class blogosphere only to assign work or to evaluate their writing.

Once I started responding to student work in a readerly fashion and participating as a contributor, reader, and not just an evaluator, I realized that it would be unfair to the students to reduce all their rich interactions and complex online presence to a B+ or a 13/15. I realized that I needed to develop an assessment strategy that would take into account the complexity of student interactions online and recognize the process as much as the final product.

Then, I realized that none of the children asked me for feedback. It didn’t take long to realize that, a) they didn’t see me as a contributor in the community, and b) they associated me with corrections and grades. At this stage, they were not ready for corrections yet - they were simply interested in having conversations about their ideas. They needed somebody to talk to and, as their teacher, I was not at the top of their list.

... a teacher who enters a community of independent learners/writers/researchers to support and encourage student learning removes that hierarchical structure and encourages students to become more involved in the assessment process.

תוויות: בלוגים, הוראה, מורים

Facts and ideas, in my experience, are more likely to sink in if introduced in group exercises, exploiting the adolescent urge to belong. Teachers have their classes organize book clubs, recreate the Constitutional Convention, raise animals, write and perform plays, publish online magazines.

תוויות: דיגיטאליות, מורים

It starts with loving and respecting your students, recognizing that they are very intelligent, important people who have a lot to share with you and the world, and thinking about how you can unleash that.... There's a big difference between treating them as empty heads that you're going to fill with information....

תוויות: הרהורים, טכנולוגיה, מורים

Although I have witnessed radical and ubiquitous family, community, business and society wide adoption of ICTs in New Zealand in this time, I have yet to observe any significant school wide adoption of effective use of ICTs in teaching and learning.

• Professional development
• Time
• Hardware, software and connectivity
• Technical and infrastructure support
• Management strategies when students are learning though ICTs.
• Money.

However, given the improvements in; professional development, time allowances, hardware, software and connectivity, technical and infrastructure support, and management strategies available to teachers and schools in 2008 compared to what was on offer even ten years ago it is tempting to suggest that some of these barriers are “in the eyes of the beholder” barriers rather than actual barriers.

It seems likely that this focus on finding and identifying barriers has prevented us from understanding what is really going on when teachers fail to collectively adopt the effective use of ICTs in teaching and learning.

I suspect this focus on barriers has prevented us from asking the right questions ...

If everyone else on the planet is integrating ICTs in their programmes of living then something more is at work when teachers do not buy in to ICTs in their programmes of learning.

תוויות: מורים, שימוש בבתי ספר

Students come into the edublogosphere and then they leave it just as quickly.

So do students belong in the teacher eat teacher world of the edublogosphere? Can you really trust us to care for long enough?

תוויות: הרהורים, מורים