And it was very good- The Maker Movement

This past week was a very interesting one for our ec&i class. Something is becoming clearer as the class moves forward is that we are directing the learning. And why not? We have over 40 professionals taking this class and there is a tremendous amount of knowledge out there from everyone. People like Kelly Christopherson, Jennifer Stewart- Mitchell, Carmen Holota, Andrew Foreman are just a few of the people that I have learned a great deal from. So many people have been generous with their talents and skills and I have in the last month discovered so many cool resources.

While not the first time I have heard of the Maker Movement, I don't have a great deal of experience with it. As I commented in Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell's post I feel in general we don't give the older kids enough opportunity to play. In early-years education is Saskatchewan there is a focus on play and exploration. At a high school level you would be hard pressed to find many areas in the curriculum document where play is explicitly documented. Many teachers might be using play at the high school level, but in my experience I would say most don't incorporate much play into their lessons? Why is this? We instinctively know we learn better when we play so why don't we allow for exploration and play in middle-years and high school (I understand this is a generalization and does not reflect most teachers taking this course)?

This week I posted a YouTube video of me demonstrating GarageBand on an iPad. I chose to do this as I had no experience with 3D printers, make-make or other tools of the maker movement. However, I use GarageBand and I felt it followed the same principles as the maker movement. I personally have you scratch and another recording program such as logic for years. In fact, my album that I released in the summer was mostly done at home using a program called logic. I have not use these programs much in my classroom because I felt hardware was an issue. I thought it would be wonderful to teaching music class with 30 laptops or 30 standalone computers and then everyone would have access to the music program. Their practical and financial issues with 30 laptops, but what about using iPads? For the last several years I have created lengthy detailed proposals for my school system to purchase these with no luck. It was because of this that I basically gave up on ever doing the project. Imagine having an industrial arts class where none of the students get to touch any of the equipment? That is more or less the reality of what I'm talking about in my music class. It's not that we don't have instruments, but without having the tool of a computer or a laptop to use in a creative way the project could not work. I was really disappointed in this, but I understood the practical problems.

Most students have smart phones and many of these smart phones have the ability to use some sort of musical program that they can use to record music. Last week as an assignment I asked the kids to come to school the next day and we would have a concert where we perform only using our smart phones. To my surprise most everyone did come the next stay with something to play even though they had no prior experience either recording or using their smart phone for making music. It was awesome to see the level of engagement that the students demonstrated. They were so enthusiastic and having fun! As a teacher, this gave me a huge boost the morale. All I want is for my students to be excited in the same way that I am about the material and I saw that finally they had arrived there.
I am looking forward to work the teacher of my lessons might take me and my classes. Today, we had an interactive the class discussion about the rest of the semester in music class using an online discussion board. I really feel that learning these new resources or incorporating the fundamentals of the maker movement have already improve my teaching.

There's An App For That

I am finally getting a chance to get caught up on all of the interesting items people have posted this week. I am doing this outside on my laptop on a beautiful fall day, with some great coffee and my kids having a blast in our back yard. . This is a reminder to me about how far we have come with access. I believe it was our first class that Alec was co-running from his phone in an airport lounge somewhere. This sort of easy access into our lives is incredible! 

There are some downsides to this integration. I can't tell you how many concerts I have been to where it seems half the people are either taking pictures with their phones or tweeting about this incredible time they are having (but are actually missing). I am guilty of this for sure in the past and I do my best to experience those moments without distraction now. A perfect example of this was a few years back I was in a touring act called, "Star Wars Live". There was a touring orchestra, but they picked up a local choir to sing in each stop and I was a ringer for the choir. Anthony Daniels, who plays C3P0, was the host and we got to meet him before the show. As he was speaking to us, there was a young lady who was texting to her friends that she could not believe she was talking to Anthony Daniels. He actually had to go over to her, asked her to put her phone away and told her, "Please try to live in the moment, dear." Burn! 

Jennifer Stewart- Mitchell recently wrote in her latest blog about the ability of technology to empower. With some pretty basic hardware (an internet connection and a smartphone) anyone can access the same information and resources our class can access. We sometimes take the privilege we have of being able to communicate via the internet for granted. We have a voice while many others around the world do not. We also assume everyone we teach in our schools have similar access and this is not the case. While Jennifer's example spoke about her class connecting with student's across the globe, there are many people in Regina who could benefit from simple access such as a smartphone and an internet connection. 

Going back to Michael's presentation, I too was a little dizzy afterwards. While it was cool to watch in real time, I was a little intimidated. Sometimes the best way to learn is rather than a complicated method of wait and I will take you through each step, Michael and the class just went for it. It did show me the potential for Google apps or other similar interactive, collaborative technology. My school system has gone to an Office 365 environment and I am still trying to get my head around that. I am coming off two full days of technology presentations at teacher's institute when all I really want to do and need time for is to play around with what is out there. From Michael's introduction to Google apps I just need some time to try those apps out and see how I can use them to deliver my classes. 

In conclusion, this is an exciting time we live in. There is so much potential and I really feel the kids are ready, but the thing holding most of us back is the attitudes of the teachers. There is fear of getting outside of our comfort zones that are stopping many of us (including me) from discovering some great ways to engage in a more meaningful way with our students. It is time we take Michael's, Jennifer's and Kelly's advice and just dive in! 

Why blog?

Hello everyone,

I have held off blogging about this week's topic as I am a newbie when it comes to blogging. It was cool to hear Sue's presentation and it seems like many in our class are already benefiting from blogging in their classrooms. I have always considered myself pretty innovative when it comes to technology, but this is one area where I feel out of my element. It is not that blogging is technically difficult, but that I struggle to find organic ways where I can incorporate blogging into my daily routine.

After giving it some thought, I realized that I already have been using "blogging" with my students. As I teach arts classes (music) I have been using journals in my classes for years. I use journals for students to reflect on an issue/ subject or two express themselves on a number of issues. As Sue said, reflection is a huge part of the learning process and I encourage it as much as possible.

I find that many students are reluctant to speak-up in class and journals give students a chance to do this. I have found often students who are the quietest have the most interesting things to say and they seem to be open to expressing themselves when they know I will be the only one reading it. Creating a class blog would be a natural extension of what I already do.

Would these shy students feel comfortable enough to express themselves freely in a blog? This is my concern as a blog is very public and once you have written something down, you also open yourself up public criticism. Would students be honest with themselves in a blog, or just post responses they think either the teacher or the class would want to hear? How authentic are people in a blog? I certainly am on guard when I post anything as I know my posts are public. What I like about journals is it gives the author a chance to be vulnerable as they know the audience. With blogging I personally feel a little guarded as I know my posts are public. Even admitting my reservations and concerns about blogging I hesitate to write as so many of my classmates seem to be prolific on blogging.

I do have some concerns about privacy and Sue mentioned this a bit in her presentation. The question was should student blogs be made public or private? While I see value in making them public, my first impulse is they should be private. At school we are very careful with children's privacy and protection from harm. I can't help but be a little hesitant as a teacher to encourage my students to post things publicly (although I know they already do this through social media). I agree that we need to educate as digital citizens and explain the various issues with authoring work that will be public. This is our world we live in and there is no denying that these skills are as important if not more important than many skills we teach in a school.

In conclusion, I am still sorting out my thoughts on blogging and how it will work in my classes. It helped me a great deal to hear Sue had similar struggles and to see how she is very effectively using blogging today.  

Week 3 blog- The Garden of Creativity

My main aim for continuing my education and pursuing my master's degree was to find the best ways to nurture creativity. Dave's presentation on Rhizomatic Learning at first confused me. While my heart is in innovation and creativity, my head is clearly stuck in the traditional model of education. This idea of branching out and the learning going in so many different directions excites and scares me. In this class I have a hard time struggling with direction as I am used to the teacher telling me specifically what to and then doing it. This idea of picking anything for our major project has been a struggle as where do I start? Dave's concept of Rhizomatic learning is like the roots of a tree this would be how we model education. We can't control where it will lead, but we can influence where it will go.

Speaking of plant metaphors, one that has always stayed with me was a man whom I met at an Apple Computers Education conference about 8 years ago. He was the technology specialist in his district and worked at the board office. He said that we have to stop thinking of a computer as a $1000 pencil and look for ways to make it meaningful. He thought of himself as a gardener. A gardener plants seeds, tends the garden, monitors, nurtures and watches the garden eventually grow. He viewed his job as that as while he was not in a classroom, by helping teachers incorporate new technology this allowed for many students to grow. Classroom teachers generally get continual validation as they work directly with the kids daily and see the progress. For someone in a role at a board office they don't have the same immediate feedback as they might not see the "fruit of the vine" once it blossoms. I know many of the people in this class have a similar role as their current assignment is working outside of a singignitele classroom. I see so many great examples of this daily. I am lucky to work with great teachers who inspire kids (some with really limited ability on technology) and I get to network with awesome teachers in my education classes who are leading the way with student engagement.  

My professional development goals this year are to improve student engagement and nurture positive identity with students. I see so many students tuning out of school as they feel it does not relate to their lives (or perhaps they feel the school does not care about them). With tools such as blogs and social media I see great opportunities to give a voice to students. In having a voice, they will realize that they matter, there are others out there going through the same issues and finding ways to be expressive and creative. That all sounds good, but where I struggle is to how to make that happen. What motivates me is I see the potential of open education and communication and I do feel these goals I mentioned can happen. We can give students the tools (access and literacy in technology), but we need to ignite a fire in kids for them to want to learn to express themselves and communicate with others.

The history of educational technology and The Social Animal

Week 2- The history of educational technology and The Social Animal

This past week we had a guest speaker. Rick gave a good overview of the history of educational technology. One our our classmates mentioned she had a hard time figuring out a way to ask a question. While our forum was functional, it certainly was not intuitive. I too had questions, but never really felt comfortable asking them. My uncle used to build computers in the 1980's. I remember in 1987 this long cable going from the home phone in his living room, down a hall and into his room. When I asked him what he was doing he said he was connecting to the internet. He showed me all the cool things he could do, like check the weather and a conversation with anyone in the world. I had a Commodore 64 when I was a kid and since then always had a computer of some kind. New technology has never scarred me and I gravitate to looking to the latest gadget or software.

Andrew in our class posted a link to a Ted Talk that Rick mentioned. "The Social Animal" by David Brooks is a look at how important non-verbal communication is to humans. I especially like the info about babies and how studies have shown that babies that have a strong bond at an early-age with their mothers are far more likely to be successful in school. Non-verbal, interaction with people is so vital to development, yet we seem to be moving away from developing more face to face opportunities not only in education, but in how we communicate with each other (social media).

One of the fundamental goals of technology should be the betterment of our society. The benefits of the advances in technology are obvious, but what about the importance of non-verbal communication that David Brooks spoke about in his Ted Talk? My family is certainly guilty of it. After a long day of work when we all get home around supper time, the kids and my wife and I frequently take out some sort of device rather than having a conversation about our days. We all recognize the issue, but we do it anyway.

In the future, how will things be different? We can assume we will continue to have have rapid development of technology. How will we interact with one another? What will education technology look like? Will access to proper education technology be more universal?    

How Am I Contributing to the Learning of Others?

This week, Alec asked us to reflect on two questions:
a) How are you contributing to the learning of others?
b) How are you making your learning visible?

I have never really considered those questions before let alone thought about the importance of them. I have been teaching for 15 years and my vision for my personal teaching is in my classes at work. Sure, you make an impression of students and they take that learning with them but this is limited to the kids who are in your physical classroom. Certainly, my employer has never phrased those questions to me. Does all of this mean that these questions are not important? 


No, I think these questions are important, but it is challenging traditional thinking. I consider myself very current in many ways, but perhaps some of my views reflect an old, out-of-date way of teaching. I do see that things are changing and I feel the students are wanting a new way of engaging in their education. 

How are you contributing to the learning of others?
I feel that is is not only my job to teach the academics, but life skills as well. In addition, I have tried to subtly push a personal agenda of having students be more tolerant of others, encouraging creativity, social justice and social good issues. The school where I have taught for the last eight years had up until a year ago very little diversity. The individual students were nice, but in general pretty sheltered and ignorant of not only the world around them, but issues in their own city. In the last two years, we have had many new citizens to Canada start coming to our school and I feel our students are becoming more aware and open to a variety of issues. I take no credit in this, but I do try to foster a interest in these areas and the students are more receptive to these issues.

How are you making your learning visible?
I don't think I am making the student learning more visible. With all of the legal issues of privacy and youth (for good reason) we do not generally make the learning visible outside of our school. Within the school our program is pretty high-profile and we attract students to the program because of it (I am a music teacher and I run most all of the music groups at my school).

Outside of work, I am on social media quite a bit as I am a musician and a big part of that is growing a fan base. In the last year, I have utilized Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and other social media mostly for promotion of my music. I suppose I could use these same areas for education. However, I am nervous of saying I am a teacher as I fear people will not take my music as seriously as they will think it is a hobby. Yes, I am a teacher but I don't think that means I spend any less time on my art as a musician. It is a very tough balancing act. I do see the potential for some really powerful collaborations in education through social media (sharing great resources as an example) and I am starting to engage in these education discussions more through this class.

What's a Mooc?

Hi,

I am excited to have started another on-line class and my first class with Alec Couros. This class is using many forms of technology and while is being delivered as "distance" education (not in a physical classroom) it already is highly engaging and personal. Our first class started this past week with a live session and it was cool to see how the class was going to operate. Even though no one was in the same room (I don't even know if Alec was actually in Canada as I think he was running the class off his phone in an airport somewhere), it was in real-time and highly engaging.

Our first assignments seem simple enough. I think it is more trying to get people familiar with the technology. When I first heard the final evaluation was not a paper I almost jumped for joy! I understand the value of papers, but they never have been a strong area for me (although I do feel I have improved greatly in this area). Truthfully, I kind of resent them. I felt some profs would only be looking closely at APA style and spend little attention on the thoughts and ideas. I understand why that is, but it just never felt balanced.

After thinking about it, it look like the final project is going to be way more thought and time consuming than any paper I have ever done. I am okay with that if it is something I feel I can really grow from and that sounds like what the intention will be. I have never even heard the term "mooc" before so I spent sometime getting familiar with it. I have a great deal of experience with Apple products and in 2007 I was named an Apple Distinguished Educator. Through Apple, I have spent a great deal of time in their iTunes U environment and even started to develop a music course in iTunes U. The concept of open education has the potential to be very powerful.

I did a little digging and came across Coursera. After spending a little time searching classes I felt like signing up for many classes! As a musician, I have always wanted to study music further than my experiences and U of R, but the reality of having a full-time job, family and the expense are factors that make that impossible at this point. I did discover some wonderful music classes offered by Berkley; in song writing and one in music production. I decided to sign-up for both of them. I have no idea how involved they might be (it says it is a six week class with six to eight hours a week) and I am not sure how taking two classes plus this class is going to fly with my limited time?

Regardless, it is really cool to discover the possibilities!