During a G+ Hangout tonight, Tyler Gayheart had me chuckling as he questioned/ranted about MOOCs. At one point he made reference to Samuel L Jackson’s Pulp Fiction character and what he’d say if he was fed up with hearing about MOOCs. That led to the following image from the memegenerator site.
While thinking I was quite original with this meme photo, I see that the remarkable Audrey Watters had posted the same idea a week ago. She’s incredible. Follow her. Add her to your RSS reader. Never take your eye from her work.
The program described in this article is the one in which I’m enrolled. If you are looking for a graduate program that will transform you and your educational practice, please contact the fine folks at UK.
Most of my focus as an educational leader is on what happens in our public schools. It is important for leaders like myself to notice the shift that Collins and Halverson (2009) describe where education and learning is taking place more frequently in other spheres. Many students are moving to private schools, home school settings, online environments, and private learning centers (like Kaplan and Sylvan). Public education can stay relevant and effective by using the power of technology to customize what students learn (through assessment and instruction), and to also increase the engagement level learning. Technology can also be an aid to expanding learning because it is able to overcome traditional barriers such as time and location.
More than just remaining relevant, my path forward as a school leader is to enable, encourage, and provoke the type of deep and dynamic learning in my staff that I’d like to see for my students. For too long, educators (leaders and teachers) have been cautious in how we go about the task of educating students. We carefully plod along a scripted path, making small adjustments to plans that were thought to be ideal for generations of the past. We seem to keep trying to perfect a system that is no longer relevant, and this isn’t going to cut it anymore.
As leaders, we need to work to establish an environment of experimentation for teachers and students. We should set challenging outcome goals for ourselves and for our students, and then encourage and expect creative and innovative thinking to find solutions that will help meet those goals. We also need to change our fear of failure, because valuable learning lessons can come from that failure. Failure that comes from well-intended effort should be appreciated and praised. As Dave Guymon writes, “If you can’t fail, it doesn’t count.”
Collins, A. and Halverson, R. (2009). Rethinking education in the age of technology: The digital revolution and schooling in America. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
In this episode, Jon Samuelson @ipadsammy, Alison Anderson @tedrosececi, and Curt Rees @curtrees share three apps: Switchcam, Write About This, and Debate Decider. Four Twitter users to add to you PLN, and the book The Third Teacher, the website Pic Monkey, and another #ipdx13 wrap up.
Links to all the resources mentioned in Techlandia Podcast 15 can be found at Learnist. There are apps, educators to follow on Twitter, and web tools to use with your classroom! Give it a listen and follow here: goo.gl/jGbWQ and here on Twitter: @techlandiacast
Gaye Tylka is the early childhood consultant for CESA 4 (regional education service agency in Wisconsin) and put together the slide presentation below. The photos are from the preschool classroom of a teacher (Tracy Hagen) in my district. Both of them do incredible work, so I just had to share this.
This might be the best sentence I’ve read this month.
Perhaps by choosing to watch Downton Abbey reruns instead of playing Candyland with a tot or editing college essays for a high-schooler, they’re actually building their offspring’s independence and confidence.
I remember memorizing and singing the Fifty Nifty United States song. This new 50 State rap is much cooler. I like this video, not because it would help kids be better fact memorizers, but more because of the creativity that went into the lyrics, music, and production. I don’t know if students made the video, but I could see how a teacher might share this video with their own students and then challenge them to make something similar to represent something they’ve learned.
Here is the latest episode of the Techlandia Podcast. Techlandia is the brain child of Jon Samuelson and Alison Anderson. They let me co-host once in a while and it’s a lot of fun to chat via Google Hangout and share great resources for educators.
Featured in this cast: HP Live Photo, Explain Everything, Docotopus script, Wideo, Drop Task, Geek Dad, and NPR’s Tiny Desk music series. You can find all of the shared resources, people, and information over at the Techlandia Learnist page.
