SHARO DICKERSON
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ISTE 2011 The Research Skinny on the 3NETS: Creativity, Communication & Collaboration, Critical Thinking + Cultural Awareness

6/28/2011

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Cheryl Lemke from The Metric Group (CA) and Ed Coughlin discussed about the "truthiness" in cognitive research on creativity, communication/collaboration, and critical thinking, + cultural awareness. NETS*S standards have specific and high expectations when it comes to students level of knowledge and skills in different content areas in a global perspective.

This session started with the definition of creativity and innovation with regard to: (1) novelty + usefulness = creativity, (2) lateral thinking and creativity, and (3) The Girl and The Pebbles story that Ed has shared.

What are some Characteristics of Creative Thinkers? This includes fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. Creative thinkers look at different ways and have very high levels of self regulated behaviors. In building creativity, it is necessary to value it! (Shalley 1991), conduct open exchanges, promote self-regulation, argue!, value and model divergence, and elicit open-mindedness. It was interesting that Ed Coughlin mentioned about mindsets as an important element in developing creativity and innovation. Mindsets is one of the ideas that Dr. Stephen Covey talked about during his keynote speech during the ISTE 2011 conference. In understanding student's mindsets, there will be better collaboration and learning that will occur

Edward DeBono, through the Cognitive Research Trust ( CoRT), mentioned about Congress commissioning a safety study that determined that yellow vehicles; school buses, taxis, city trucks, etc., are far more visible, and have many fewer accidents, than vehicles of other hues. Legislation is being considered to mandate that all cars be painted yellow.

What does technology bring? Technology brings access to diverse voices, tools for lateral thinking (analysis tools, MindMapping), instant access to information, and new means of expression. Technology, when used and implemented effectively, can truly make significant improvements and changed in teaching and learning.

In understanding thinking, we need to analyze how thinking looks like. Is it just pure memory, does it involve complex things? IQ builders are good tools to assess students' brain activity. Some examples are deck of cards, blink, SET, rush hour (there's an app for that!), and brickout (online). Students who played SET, rush hour, chocolate fix, and waiting increased their score to 32%. In processing speed, students who played games like Spoons increased their scores to 27%.

Ed Coughlin adds that opportunity is not necessarily equal to "building" and critical thinking skills can be taught to students.

There are five categories of thinking skills. These include but not limited to verbal reasoning skills and argument analysis skills. In developing dispositions (Halpern), this involve but not limited to engagement and persistence, planning, open mindedness, and abandoning non productive strategies. In this regard, technology can bring diverse points of view, student resources, teacher resources, and opportunities for audience.

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ISTE 2011: What Teachers Are Doing With Mobile Learning in K-12 Classrooms

6/28/2011

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Cathleen Norris from the University of North Texas and Elliot Soloway presented on mobile learning devices as a choice for 1-to-1 and 24/7 roll outs. Learn about K-12 teachers experiences--from challenges to successes--with mobile learning devices.

Mobilism has been adopted by children now a days due their exposure to continuous simulation from various mobile devices. Children are identified as mobilists since they are constantly connected 24/7, from the moment they wake up till the time they are ready to go to sleep.

In 1991, desktops were very important, but in 2008, laptops have surpassed desktop computers. In 2010, smart phones outsold laptops. Amazing fast change! Now, we are seeing carry-along devices such as iPads. In doing so, the age of the laptop only lasted for two years.

People are not browsing the web as much as they used to. They often visit one spot and linger in that spot. Imagine Facebook. Most accessibility to different types of information is made available in Facebook, which results to people staying and lingering in FB than exploring information using a web browser. from June 2010 to June 2011, there is an 88 percent increase in using Mobile apps, versus the 16 percent increase on web usage or consumption.

There are three different ages that are being discussed. These stages are the Post PC Age, the Post Web Age, and the Age of Mobilism. Now, we have to think about bring mobilists and the mobilized curriculum.

Within 4 years, every student, every grade, every school in America will be using mobile devices as part of everyday learning. How will this affect student learning and classroom instruction? We could just imagine the discussions and arguments that will occur! Quite exciting times ahead of us, particularly in changed in education.

Teaching today involves multiple repetitions which does not necessarily mean speaking louder three times. Differentiation and modifications are applied using teaching techniques, technology tools, and collaborative activities that will provide students opportunities to collaborate and communicate among peers.

In the United States, technology is a supplement where it is integrated in different content areas. Unlike other countries such as Singapore and China, technology is the essential partner tool with different content areas. Everyday, students from Singapore and China are constantly exposed to mobile technology. In St. Mary's Ohio, reading increased to 46% (from 15%) and Math increased to 71% with the use of mobile learning devices.

When students are engaged, there is more learning happening in the classroom and extends further outside of the classroom. As Educators, we are responsible in providing opportunities for students to learn and for teachers to teach quality education.

Use technology as a medium to ask higher level of thinking such as the How? and the Why? questions. Learning should be more student centered than teacher centered. Curriculum and pedagogy need to change to accommodate these changes.

I teach. We learn.

Additional resources:
--RIM
--Wired magazine: "The Web is dead."
--Katy, TX TAKS scores using 2010 Windows Mobile and Android Devices

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ISTE 2011 Digital Learning Farm: Students As Contributors 

6/28/2011

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Alan November from November Learning discussed about six highly motivating learning jobs: tutorial designers, official scribes, researchers, global communicators, learning documentary producers, and solvers of real problems.

This session demonstrated how students can serve as positive collaborators to fellow students in learning new lessons or reinforcing lessons that students had difficulty in mastering.

Mathtrain.tv contains different videos as tutorials to different topics in Math. It was interesting how fluid the videos are and the rendition or delivery of the content that have been developed by students. Alan November explains that students learn better and collaborate more when they are given opportunities to become problem solvers, content contributors, critical thinkers, creative writers and developers, and be inspired to do more meaningful work.

Dgh.wikispaces.com focuses on social studies topics where students who have graduated three years ago continue to contribute to the 7th grade history content. When students are motivated to become active participants in a lesson, and not merely as passive learners, more meaningful and lasting learning occurs.

Apcalc.blogspot.com also shows active participation of students as content contributors of this blog. Students not only post lessons that fellow peers read, but they also provide quality videos, audio, images, etc. that make every lesson more interesting. Students who have ownership in their learning will be more willing and motivated to collaborate, communicate, create, and contribute to real learning.

Alan says don't forget the kids. Better yet, don't underestimate the kids! Children, as young as they are, are willing learners especially when their curiosity is sparked with new ideas. This is a great opportunity to share more in-depth learning with the use of technology in an effective and efficient manner.

Alan shares too that whenever he visits a campus, he asks about the district's mission and vision to see if it contains the district's technology learning and expectations. Then he checks on the district's policies to see if the policies and regulations support the district's mission and vision.

Every librarian should be a master teacher. Every campus should have a twitter hash tag to connect faculty together especially in sharing ideas and collaborating together.

Additional Resources:
-- Novemberlearning.com
-- Mathtrain.tv
-- Apcalc.blogspot.com
-- Diigo.com
-- TEDxNYED; TEDxTalks in YouTube

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ISTE 2011 Privacy in the Digital Age: Policy and Practice in Schools

6/27/2011

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Panel Members:
  • Jeff Mao (moderator) - Maine Department of Education
  • Jennifer Leach - Federal Trade Commission
  • Carrie James - GoodPlay Project
  • Kristin Hokanson - PA Association for Educational Communications & Technology
  • Shira Lee Katz - Common Sense Media

(1) What is important about privacy?
(2) Case Study
(3) Key Questions
(4) What can we do?

Privacy is important to ensure protection and safety of student's identity and intellectual rights in the Internet. There is also the concern of lending students with campus owned equipment and making students understand it's proper use when brought home.

What is your biggest concern about online privacy for your students? There is a significant concern in using the Internet when it comes to sharing information, using campus devices to demonstrating presence online, documenting personal accounts online or comments on professional environment, to name a few. These different issues are growing and are affecting the learning climate in schools, at work, and at home.

Some facts taken from a study conducted by this panel: 90% of parents are concerned that kids share too much information online. 65% of teens are concerned about their privacy. 85% of teens thunk social networks shouldn't consent tones personal info for marketing. 70% of parents think schools should educate students about privacy.

What is privacy? Privacy and Security, Privacy and Reputation, and Privacy and Advertising are three huge groups that contribute to the determination on the identification and understanding of privacy. Privacy today is identified through information being searchable, information being replicable, issue on scale, notion of persistence, and websites being non-transparent.

Unfortunately, there is still a significant number of parents who are not aware of what their children are doing online. These parents are still in the belief that their children are not capable of doing harm to themselves and/or to others online. Likewise, parents are not aware of the consequences of their children's actions, especially when there are records or documentation that can be retrieved online to demonstrate the different web sites visited and being accessed by their children. Parents don't have to be tech gurus in order to be mindful and aware of their children's actions online. What parents need to understand that they have thebpowerto be vigilant and consistent in knowing what their children are doing. This includes finding the resources to use to support the need to monitor their children.

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ISTE 2011 Online Learning and Collaborations

6/27/2011

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Global Online Academy

Jill Brown (Albuquerque Academy)

In this new initiative, different committees have been established to addresss the different needs of online learners.

Re-imagine : Ed

Laura Deisley

A company that partners with campus libraries to address Design Thinking, which is the next step in online curriculum design, defining library materials and resources, and designing the future of K-12 libraries. Website is located at http://next chapter.reimagine-ed.org

Other Projects and Happenings

  • George Washington University
  • Paperless Classrooms
  • Flipping
  • TEDxYouthDay
  • Kahn Academy
  • NAIS 2011 Hybrid/Blended Learning in Independent Schools Report
  • NAIS 21st Century Task Fornce Online Learning Matrix
  • Carnegie Mellon online classes diagnostic tools
  • Teaching and Learning across the pond
  • Moodle Moot: Quality Matters - tools for creating and running online courses
  • Courses on online courses for teachers: North Tier
  • Fox croft Academy: Online school for Chinese students
  • Amazon Educational Cultural Foundation
  • Online School for Girls
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ISTE 2011 Intel: Thinking Critically with Data

6/27/2011

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INTEL is aiming to transform education for world of opportunity by teaching different types of elements. This includes, but not limited to Assessment in 21st Century Classroom and Project-based Approaches. Intel provides free professional development and resources for Educators to prepare students for 21st century learning and become the next generation of innovators.

How do you teach students to think critically in an information rich world? Children are constantly bombarded with technology based stimulation and usage. Teachers often find themselves competing for children's attention, as short as it is, with the technology equipment, tools, and resources that children are using daily. Intel recommends, as one of it's solutions, the use of data in the development of a virtual environment where teachers can access web based professional development and share resources with fellow Educators.

Additional Resources:

  • Thinking Critically with Primary Resources
  • Thinking Critically with Primary Resources Webinar Zip File
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ISTE 2011 Voiced Carry: Doing More with Less - Really?

6/27/2011

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Hilary Goldman from ISTE discusses about the latest policy trends "inside the beltway" including ESEA Reauthorization (blog), E-Rate, and Ed Tech funding (Education Week Spotlight). She also talked about ISTE's Voices Carry Campaign and share your advocacy ideas.

It was interesting to listen and find out more about the affidavits of different stakeholders in the education community. Many facts were shared by Hilary Goldman and one of the many facts she shared focused on the budget portion of education in the 10% allotment from the federal budget. Though I have been a strong advocate of preserving quality education in America, I am amazed with the desire of many legislators to target budget cuts in education nationwide.

ISTE Community web at http://www.iste-community.org
Tweet Hilary Goldman of ISTE @hgoldman

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ISTE 2011 Leadership for Rethinking Web 2.0 and Mobility in Education: Protect? Preserve? Progress?

6/27/2011

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Keith Krueger from Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and Lucy Gray discussed about the status of Web 2.0 applications and mobile devices as a threat to schools, something that needs to be integrated into the existing school program, or a basis for school transformation.

Web 2.0 tools in the classroom brings up three areas, namely: Protect, Preserve, and Progress. In the area of Protect, there is a concern on how to protect children from harmful content from the Web. In the area of Preserve, this focuses on integrating Web 2.0 applications with the curriculum and pedagogy. In the area of Progress, schools need to change in order to become compatible with a changed world.

How do we make the learning environment truly engaging and forward thinking when it comes to the use of Web 2.0 in classroom instruction and student engagement? How can we ensure that guidelines and expectations set in the proper use of Web 2.0 technology is not merely improved by simply adding on to what is already there? District and campus administrators need to sit down and discuss the regulations that need to be in place to provide students with opportunities to use technology effectively and efficiently.

District administrators identify wasting time or distraction as the number one problem should Web 2.0 technology be used in daily classroom instruction and student learning. On the other hand, social networking is the top Web 2.0 technology tool that districts do not allow full access from schools.

Below are some Tips for Building Blocks:
*Understand the educational potential of web 2.0
*Improve personal productivity with web 2.0
*Understand role of leaders
*Use web 2.0 to transform teaching and learning

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    Educational Leader. Advocate of Equality and Equity in Education. Photographer. Graphic Designer. Web Developer. Digital Artist. Technology is my medium for creative and artistic expression.

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  • Home
    • Welcome
    • About Me
    • Quotes
  • Blog
  • Profile
    • Digital Citizenship & Literacy
    • ISTE Portolio
    • Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert
    • Professional Profile
    • Technology Integration & Learning
  • Present
    • PD With Sharo
  • Publish
  • Photography