Thursday, December 26, 2013

Teachers Over Fifty and Technology


It has been 8 days since I last posted to my blog and I feel as though I am getting back in touch with an old friend! I have been on the road visiting family and friends on this wonderful holiday as well as recuperating from a respiratory infection. Over the course of this past week I have been  pondering about how my "Digital Learning Hub"  might begin to focus in on a more specific audience. After reading 5 People To Consider For Your Blog Audience I have been thinking about people I personally know who would love to more fully utilize technology in their classroom but do not know where or how to start. Often, but not always, these people are teachers, like myself, over the age of fifty.

 As I become more and more excited about the work I am currently doing in the Instructional Technology & Digital Media Literacy program at the University of New Haven I am thinking about how I might be able to pay it forward and assist other teachers who want to become more "digitally literate". Over the next week I will continue to process how I might revise, change, edit, or embellish my web site, Teach With Tech 2 .

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Monday, December 2, 2013

Filtering

My thoughts tonight are on filtering.  I have so many channels of information that I am having a hard time figuring out how to discern  what my priorities need to be.  I think this has to do with internet access.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thankful in the Adirondacks

It is so peaceful here at 5 am, overlooking Canada Lake, our Adirondack refuge.   Most in the family are sleeping and a few of us early birds are up reading, reflecting, and getting ready for a crew of 40 for the feast and fun.  I am thankful today for my parents and their love of learning which they have passed on.  I am thankful for the gift of gratitude and those who understand it.

This morning my thoughts are around creative commons...finally have time to read more about it, very cool concept, and how to move towards "automaticity"(borrowed term from math fact fluency) in my own online learning journey.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

On Evaluating Online Resources

Another student in the UNH, IT&DML program sited a checklist to use with students.  I wanted to post it to my blog for future reference.  Evaluating Online Resources Checklist (C.A.R.S.) The checklist was created by Robert Harris and can be duplicated for non-profit and educational use.

Thank you EF for sharing!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Ensuring Safe Internet Use


As I reflect on the reading from Rachel A. Karchmer the first key idea which comes to mind is how the  meaning and details of internet safety has changed since the writing of the article.  The study mentions " a third method of protecting students from inappropriate material was to completely prohibit online searches. The district that Cindy, the sixth grade teacher, worked for chose to do this.  Whenever Cindy wanted her students to use information on the internet for research, she would have to conduct searches herself on the specified topics and bookmark the sites for her students to view during class.  This controlled the students' Internet use and also put the burden of conducting student research on the teacher."  I would maintain that Cindy's approach did not allow the students to learn critical skills such as how to conduct searches or determine the validity of a site.  I am curious to learn more about current trends in acceptable use policies in districts.  I wonder how often they are revised in response to changes in "New Literacies" and "new literacies".

The topic of safe internet use came up this week in my unit lesson on Google + communities for teachers.  We discovered that our students did not have access to Google +.  Our discussion motivated me try to clarify our districts policy on access to various sites.  After three hours of phone calls and emails I learned that we are currently in the process of revising our Acceptable Use Policy.  There are also some "negotiations" or conversations with Google about the long term usage of Google products and the costs to the district.  All of the information learned is helpful in preparing teachers to utilize the internet in compliance with the law and district policy.

Karchmer, R.A. (2001). The Journey Ahead: Thirteen Teachers Report How the Internet Influences Literacy and Literacy Instruction in Their K-12 Classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 36, 442-467.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Digital Learning Hub Feedback and Future Plans

This week I spent some time working on my digital learning hub.
I collaborated with my team today and gained some great feedback.  Now I will attempt to work on the following personal goals to improve my site:

  • I would like to learn more about gadgets and how they "work"
  • I would like to understand more about the options for editing/sharing information on Google sites
  • I want to learn more about how long term managing applies to Google sites 
  • I am curious about importing various calendars into a Google site..ie outlook calendar
  • I would like to have time to explore how to overlap Ever-note or my "saving site" of choice into my web site because now I am exploring too many places and I think I am ready to pick one to be more efficient. 


Thursday, November 14, 2013

EDU720 Week 11 Post




Chapter 36 p. 1128 references studies by Gray, 2002 and Von Sternberg, 2002 where "abbreviations like lol for laugh out loud and brb for be right back' have been highlighted as commonly used.  Yet in this  author's experience the teenagers' use of such abbreviations was almost nonexistent stating, "I used to (use abbreviations)...  . Now I've started to type out "you" and 'are"...  . I don't know.  It looks better.  I don't know, maturity.  You just seem smarter."  This is not the case in the song I choose to share.  A Social Network  For Two: A Modern Love Song by Zefrank   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q06xFf6Xe8o (for some reason the link feature did not work for me?)  I find this point interesting because I have often questioned the use of "invented" or shortened spellings in IMs as potentially reinforcing misspelling and poor spelling habits.

You Tube - Christine Grenhow 2012 
In this video Ms. Greenhow presents many ways that online activity invites participation.  The fashion works invites people to design one of a kind articles of clothing.  In health, news media, social /political action people are invited to be engaged through online activity.  The huge question is "Can social media help people learn anything about life?"  This question is indeed a good question.  I tried to go to her Hot Dish application on Facebook but could not find it.  The concept sounded good.  
I experienced a situation last week where a "friend" of mine posted something to Facebook which I found to be rude.  It made me realize that at times you are the friends you keep.  For me personally it felt like I was back in middle school where I had to "unfriend" someone and worry about hurting their feelings.

In the article Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens' Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies by Danah Boyd and Alice Marwick I found it very interesting to note that so many of the teens which they interviewed described privacy in terms of having their own space away from their parents. The other key point from this article is the suggestion that privacy is disappearing as a social norm. There is something unsettling about that for me. At this point I can not quite articulate why it is unsettling but it has to do with my own need for some solitude to "recharge my batteries". I also found the Old Saybrook incident interesting because it points out how students do not always make the connection between posting on the internet and how that related to the concept of privacy. I would be curious to see the slide show.

All three sources provided valuable food for thought and further investigation. The topic has also been discussed around our dinner table with our 14 and 16 year old children!



Tuesday, November 12, 2013

EDU 718 Reflection - Week 11


1. Do you agree that schools ought to prepare learners to succeed in the world as it is even if that may not be the world as it should be?    Should all students be prepared to use the standard dialect, wear the standard clothes, and adopt the standard behavior patterns when interviewing for jobs-- (even baby or house-sitting,) crafting the admissions essay, or interacting socially with the community?   How important is fluency in the normative, even if that means learning a foreign language and a wearing a mask?    What are the implications of your stance on this issue?    Notice and name some positive and negative aspects.

I believe that schools should prepare learners to succeed in a way which is true to the person’s identity.  By that I mean acknowledging that we all hold special gifts and talents.  We all have strengths and weaknesses.  As a teacher in a school I try to nurture students to come into their best self.  That may look different for each one of us.  I am aware that there can be enormous pressure for kids to be “normal” or exhibit standard behavior.  If students demonstrate respect for themselves and others than I believe it is okay to be different.  If a student is presenting her/himself for a job interview or college application I have an expectation that that person will represent themselves in a neat, clean, respectful manner.

The questions around following the norms or the standard discourses and Discourses are  tricky to answer.  To be “fluent in the normative” can definitely open doors for students.  If being like everyone else is uncomfortable for a student than I don’t suggest that it is good for one’s self esteem to try it.  If following the norms works for someone or it does not feel uncomfortable for them than they may want to be “normal”.  I have noticed in my own experience that I personally am often attracted to those who “dare to be different”.  For me it reflects a sense of self worth and pride when a person wears a different style clothing , or hair style, or jewelry.  I am not sure but I guess that I am the minority in this regard. As Gee noted in his analysis of the language in the job interviews that there is an expectation that standard English is spoken fluently.  There are often expectations in job interviews that people will look and dress “conservatively” or mainstream.  The negative aspects of daring to be different could be that one may be passed over for an opportunity because they could be viewed as “odd”.  In a positive light an individual could also be chosen for an opportunity because they feel confident enough to be true to themselves.  

I thought the CT Forum on Blackness was a very interesting discussion.  It reminded me of the many rights and affordances which are given to me simply based on my appearance as a white person.  Anita Hill also reminded of the affordances denied to me based on my gender.  Each of the panelist shared some thought provoking  ideas and the discussion provided me with much food for thought.  Also if keen interest to me was the both, Toni Morrison and President Obama made use of stereotypes in their comments.  I personally think that is a dangerous practice. I try to stay away from using racial comments in an attempt to be humorous.




2. As you have explored and worked with content creation tools (or other technology)  what assumptions and biases have you noticed?  What is built into the templates?    Are the online tutorials beginner user friendly or do they assume that all audience members know what is meant by click and drag, menu bar, open, privacy settings, post, etc. etc.    Can you make a list of words that have specialized meanings in the world of now, that they would not have had 30 years ago?   How does command of this vocabulary privilege some and cause others not to belong?    

As I have worked with technology in new and different ways in the UNH ITDM & L program I have noticed some assumptions. I have noticed that there are many powerful affordances that come along with knowledge of all types and this is true for “technological knowledge” as well.  There is a whole world of online savvy people and it is very interesting to “tap into” that world.

I have noticed that more women are visible in the world of technology.  For most of my professional career I was often one of just a few  women at a meeting or event centered around technology.  There is definitely a language, culture, Discourse and discourse around technology and I feel privileged to be in the midst of knowing about some of them.  I am still learning about all the many pros and cons, how to and how not to utilize technology, ethical ramifications, power issues etc. around technology in my personal and professional life.   The language and vocabulary acquisition alone can be overwhelming due to the rapidly changing nature of technology.  

Of keen interest to me is how the “digital natives” such as my 14 and 16 year old children can acquire and gain command of the rapidly changing tech based way of learning.  I can see that they have been raised to embrace and dive into what is often times confusing to me.  That says that they are learning and being taught to learn differently than I was.  Is this good or is this not good…?  The jury is still out.  It is, however, very interesting and I always look forward to exploring new ways to learn in my life long journey to who knows where!



My choice of medium
I choose to write my reflection in a google doc because I am becoming more and more comfortable with the editing features in the google doc.  After I have edited and revised my piece I copied it to my blog where I can retain it for future reference and reflection.

References:
Gee, James Paul. Social Linguistics and Literacies. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together.  New York: Basic Books, 2011. Print.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

EDU 720 Discussion # 6 -




The readings this week were very interesting to me as they reflect topics which I have little exposure to or about which I have not spent much contemplation time.  The research discussed by Margaret C. Hagood, College of Charleston, USA, Chapter 19 , Intersections of Popular Culture, Identities, and New Literacies Research, provided a good historical overview of the types of popular culture, cultural identities and New Literacies.  I was especially interested in learning about how adolescent and cultural identity issues of gender, race, culture and power can be influenced  by online activity.  As the mother of a 13 and 16 year old I am keenly observing my own daughters' "relationships" with technology.  I found it interesting as well to learn about the different ways Margaret Hargood framed types of culture.  She wrote about popular culture as mass culture, folk culture, and everyday culture.  The key question posed in her article is this, "How do readers read and use popular culture to form and inform identities?"  This question is most important to me as I reflect on the interpersonal activities which helped me to form my identity and compare it to the technology assisted interpersonal activities that my daughters are experiencing now.  

Chapter 21 informed me about the new literacy spaces of Anime, Magna, and Fanfiction.  As  mentioned before I have limited exposure to these literacies.  Within the past few months my 13 year old daughter has become an avid fan-fiction participant. I appreciated the historical and cultural information about Japanese Anime and Manga.  I have dramatically changed my understanding of  Anime and Manga since I was under the impression that they were "just cartoons".  One of the overarching questions posed in this chapter concerns how we might, or even should we bring, the understandings learned from online participation to bear on literacy pedagogy in classrooms.  This week's discussion questions  are directed at this key point.

I enjoyed watching the U Media video Connected Learning TV - Brother Mike Hawkins.  It was great to see people form all over the country collaborating and sharing ideas and experiences.  It is fascinating to explore the many ways that innovative people have set up schools of today.   The Adolescent Literacy Development in Out-of- School Time, A Practitioner's Guidebook will be a wonderful resource as I delve further into this topic.  The Connecting Digital Literacy Between Home and School is another resource which I perused and appreciated.

In response to our discussion directors questions I can not respond to classroom specific questions since I do not have my own class as an instructional coach.  I did however, spent significant time looking into the main site that my daughter uses.One of her favorite sites is called "Wattpad" and Wikipedia  explains it in this way. " Wattpad is an online community for writers. Users are able to post articles, stories, and poems. The content includes work by undiscovered and published writers. Users are able to comment and like stories or join groups associated with the website. Around five in ten users are U.S. based; traffic also comes from the U.K., Canada, the Philippines, Australia, and more. [2]"

As far as I can see this is a productive online space for my daughter to explore various genre of reading and writing. I feel fortunate that our school system is working hard to connect out of school and in school activities.  As part of an 8th grade iPad initiative there is definitely a home school connection.  There is a clear set of rules and regulations for the iPad use and my daughter can not use Watpad on the school iPad. I envision becoming more involved  in the discussions around in/out of school internet connections both where I work and for the school district where I live.





Thursday, October 24, 2013

Reflection on Critical Friends Unit Review - 10.23.13 for EDU 718 and 720

The unit review was a beneficial activity for further refinement of my unit.  The following ideas were shared with me by my group and I will consider them when fleshing out and revising the rest of my unit.


  • I will develop a "plan B" in the event that I get no response to my call for participants 
  • I will offer some type of incentive to participate in my voluntary professional development classes to be help after school, perhaps food or a teacher store gift card
  • After listening to how Roisin will flip her class I have begun to think more about building in structure for flipping the lessons in my unit.
  • I would like to check out a web site mentioned by Nancy, "thing link"  to explore different ways of graphically organizing and labeling
  • Beth's lesson was very thorough and reminded me of the need to identify standards in my unit plans, perhaps I will look into the CT Teacher Technology Competencies Performance Indicators (2001-Revised 2012)CT Teacher Technology Competencies Performance Indicators ( 2001- Revised 2012) and/or the Ct Technology Standards which are more about the indicators for student proficiency

Sunday, October 20, 2013

EDU 720 - Unit Outline

Google Tools for Collaborative Inquiry and Professional Development

A Unit of Study
Joan Robinson - October 2013





The goal of this unit is to teach teachers how to set up an infrastructure to share instructional resources, processes, content, technological tools and collaborative online spaces.

The unit is primarily skill based and is intended to be taught over an 8 week period with teachers meeting once a week for 45 minute. There will be a brief mini lesson and then teachers will have a week to practice or “play” with the new skill learned over the week.

Assessment will take place on the last class when participants share “lessons learned”.

Lesson Topics/Goals

  1. Setting up individual google accounts
  2. Creating a Google Circle, posting and sharing in a Google Circle
  3. Sharing through Google Hangouts
  4. Google files -  documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms, drawings
  5. Providing feedback on shared Google docs, written and verbal -using Kaizena
  6. Google Groups
  7. Ground rules/ethics of internet collaboration
  8. Sharing lessons learned -demonstration of lessons learned - plans for how to utilize skills gained

Friday, October 18, 2013

Kaizena Tutorial

On Allowing Introverts the Autonomy They Need in Our Classrooms - Open Mic # 2 EDU 718

This week for EDU 718 we explored a series of very interesting readings, videos and songs.  They were:

Required:
Additional (optional):

Here is my reflection on the information.

I found all of the readings and videos to be very informative.  They inspired me to reflect on the ways which our classrooms often honor and reinforce extrovertedness.  I appreciated the distinction made in several articles between the terms shy and introvert.  I find it especially helpful to think of introversion as having to do with how one re energises her/himself.  In my family there are two of us who are typically considered introverts and two who are typically considered extroverts.  When I consider introversion in terms of “alone time needed to re energize” I categorize us all as introverts.  Thinking of my family members and how we all learn best helps me analyze how our classrooms can be more conducive to affording introverts opportunities to flourish.

There are several teaching techniques for Introverts listed in The Forum- By Susan Cain The Power of Introverts which was one of the optional readings for this assignment.  There was a common theme throughout most of the suggestions and that had to do with offering students a choice in both how they work and how they present their learning.  In designing classroom instruction the teacher will honor all styles if she/he allows for different ways to process and presenting information.  There were also several references made to how technology can afford differentiated opportunities and modes of presentation for students.

In the blog post Techniques In Learning & Teaching Where Transformative Learning & Scholarly Teaching Meet  Ilene Dawn discusses undergraduate and graduate level courses and how to nurture both introvert and extrovert styles.  Of particular interest to me was her proposition to encourage people of each style to grow.  She stated  “The Courage to Optimize the thinking and acting modes embedded in both introverted and extroverted processing, and to Optimize ways of building and using skills across the collected capacities infused across extroverted and introverted preferences, these fuse to create these new capacities:
Courage to speak – softly.
Courage to listen – mindfully.
Courage to ask questions – reflectively.
Courage to synthesize – collaboratively.  “
I am grateful to this group for choosing this topic.  I have learned about several ways to honor different ways of “being” and learning.  In summary there are two quotes from Manifesto, by Susan Cain - 16 beliefs regarding introverts which I will quote:

9. Everyone shines, given the right lighting. For some, it’s a Broadway spotlight, for others, a lamplit desk.
16. ‘In a gentle way, you can shake the world.’ – Gandhi “


Thursday, October 17, 2013

So begins the "diving in journey" with Google Sites

Today marks the fifth time I have sat down to "play with" Google sites.  I have finally chosen the template I want to use.  I have several paper versions of what I want my site to include and am now experimenting and reading many of  the "how to" links.

It is interesting to reflect on the interplay between the content and presentation format I choose in the development of my Digital Learning Hub. For me, the process involves trying different layout options and then letting it sit for awhile.  When an idea gets me out of bed at 4:00 in the am I know it is time to try that new idea out!

I also am reflecting on a feeling that I have as I work on my Digital Learning Hub.   The feeling has to do with pride.  Perhaps it is a pride that I have something worth sharing with a larger audience?  There also is a feeling of vulnerability that I experience.  Am I ready to put my ideas out there for all to see and possibly criticize?

As I continue to develop "Teachers Curating", (which is the site name...for today), I will reflect on my learning process along the way.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Looking Ahead

Today I read a white paper entitled, Toward a New Learning Ecology: Teaching and Learning in 1:1 Environments for my UNH class ED720, Central Issues and Research in New Literacies class.  

 It makes me want to 
take a field trip to Finland and Sweden to learn about their teacher education programs.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Conversation, Discussion, and Presentation...What Are They and How Do They Play Out for Me Professionally? EDU 718 # 6 Reflection

1.   Conversation, discussion, presentation.    What are they and how do they appear in your professional life?    If you were to diagram the power relationships in each of them,  what would the diagrams look like?     Which are technology-enhanced and which technology impeded?   Is there anything about the current status and role of these in your present professional situation that you would like to change?

Conversation:
con·ver·sa·tion
ˌkänvərˈsāSHən/
noun
  1. 1.
    the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words.
    "the two men were deep in conversation"
Discussion:
  1. dis·cus·sion
    disˈkəSHən/
    noun
    1. 1.
      the action or process of talking about something, typically in order to reach a decision or to exchange ideas.
      "the proposals are not a blueprint but ideas for discussion"




Presentation:

pre·sen·ta·tion

 noun \ˌprē-ˌzen-ˈtā-shən, ˌpre-zən-, ˌprē-zən-\
: an activity in which someone shows, describes, or explains something to a group of people
: the way in which something is arranged, designed, etc. : the way in which something is presented
: the act of giving something to someone in a formal way or in a ceremony

There are the definitions.
Now how do they appear in my professional life?  I have informal conversations all day, most of the day, with all members of my school community.  They are often "light", sometimes silly, and the basis of my relationships with people at work.

Discussions happen at grade level meetings, leadership meetings, and instructional coach meetings where we are working together to solve problems or create plans.

Presentations are often something I do when the principal or math supervisor wants me to explain something to a group of teachers or parents.  They tend to be more formal and are often a one way line of communication.

This illustration diagrams the power relationship between the three ideas.





I would say that technology can often interfere with face to face conversations.  As Turkle mentions in Chapter 8 there have been numerous times when someone will interrupt our conversation to pay attention to their "device" as it vibrates.  I find that rude and inappropriate.

Technology can enhance discussions.  I have a number of discussions via e-mail daily.  Presentations that I do are almost always technologically enhanced.

As I read chapters 6,7 and 8 there were several points which I feel are worth quoting because they rang true to me and they are:

  • "Does continual connectivity produce more productivity and memory?" I don't think so, I think like any part of the body, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets.  The more we rely on devices to remember for us the less we exercise our memories.
  • "Virtual places offer connection with uncertain claims to commitment."  This is scary to me!
  • "We see others as objects to be accessed."  Too much is expected to happen to fast.  People are losing the ability to wait for a response.

I am curious to go on to Second Life to learn what this site is about.  I began to sign up and was stopped because the activation email did not go to my in box.  When I read more the site stated that perhaps the activation email was in my quarantine box decided to do it at a later time.

As I read these chapters I thought of the Ted Talk given by Pernille Tranberg  Fake It - to control your digital identity: Pernille Tranberg at TEDxOxford.  In this talk she refers to her desire to create separate online identities for different parts of her life.  Here personal and professional online identities are completely different.  Something about having to create different identities of myself is unsettling.

I believe that I try to be who I am as one person.  I am the same personally and professionally.  I do not think I would change much in my current professional situation.  I have worked hard to gain the respect of my colleagues and I am grateful to have relationships where there is not much "power play".

 Feedback For Suzanne Murphy EDU 718 -  What are your thoughts and suggestions?


I most appreciate the rubric feedback with specific references to my work and the "comments " on our google docs that we submit because they are immediate and specific. I would keep your feedback as it is.

Reflection On The Medium I choose

I chose to write in my blog for this response because for some reason I feel more relaxed and less formal when I am writing in my blog as opposed to a google doc. I have been sick all week and needed to write in small chunks of time to conserve my energy. The editing feature of the blog gave me that affordance.