Digital Teaching and Learning

My video is viewable at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSU69G-ba1c

I realized as I put together the “static-dynamic continuum” that I don’t think it is a continuum that I intend to move along at all. I found it is difficult to think of any collaboration that is not dynamic. The very nature of collaboration—as distinct from cooperation where each participant creates a separate part of a whole—means that people have to be in a dynamic situation. Thinking will change as different perspectives are realized and explored. If we are all thinking alike, someone is not thinking.

I also found that content generation that is dynamic may also suffer from being like jello—it looks firm until you poke at it, it disintegrates in heat (translate to criticism), and it is often unsatisfying if you are really hungry. I do not want to “begin to move toward the dynamic end” of content generation completely. I want to be able to see the published version of ideas even when, or especially when, they are wrong or I disagree with them.

Communication is sometimes best when it is not dynamic. Sometimes a school simply needs to get information out to parents; a newsletter or electronic phone call, both static forms of communication, may be the best option. If there is a nut with a gun outside the school, I do not want to discuss it with parents; I want them to stay away and know that their children will not be released to them until it is safe to do so.

I am glad there are ways that classes can operate on the dynamic end of the continuum WHEN IT IS APPROPRIATE. But I do not want revisionist history or weird science to become the norm; I do not want stale, pale male literature to be omitted from curricula. I think we need all the tools and toys to motivate, inspire, and acculturate students in our arsenal to battle ignorance, illiteracy, and lack of motivation.

Responses

I responded to http://lkortecc.blogspot.com
and
http://farawaylearning.blogspot.com

Using technology in schools

On the left side of my graphic organizer, Content, there are qualities needed in any F2F class, but they are also important in a distance learning section. Adding technological tools that learners are using in their non-school learning makes sense (Soloway, 2009). They already own cell phones, iPods, and MP3Players, and in some schools, these devices are seen as a danger (Macleod, 2009). Cell phones can be used for calendars, homework reminders, and connecting to teachers and classmates regarding class work, in addition to connecting to the Internet and adding pictures to writing assignments (Prensky, 2005). Email, blogs, and wikis can and should be used for information and discussions; they can also be used for collaboration and assignment submission. Many of these same features are part of iPods and MP3 Player capabilities. It behooves teachers to create assignments at suggest to students that they could choose these tools—if the teacher and the school allow them, the students will find ways to use them.

Soloway, C. N. (2009, January 14). Get Cell Phones into Schools. BusinessWeek: Technology. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2009/ tc20090114_741903.htm
Macleod, F. (2009, October 31). 'Treat mobiles in schools like offensive weapons' - Scotsman.com News. from http://news.scotsman.com/education/39Treat-mobiles-in-schools-.5783435.jp
Prensky, M. (2005). What can you learn from a cell phone? Almost anything! Innovate Journal of Online Education 1(5). Retrieved from http://www.innovateonline.info/

Storyboard for 8842

I think that I got the chart into GoogleDocs for my video. Find it at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddng8qg6_3cfzgcqcq

Cynthia

I think that both the individual and the group work are important, but I lean toward allowing students who are unwilling or unable to work as a group to have some alternatives. The goal of any class is what goes on with the student singular. In work, such as designing a bridge or organizing a business, the individual is not as important as the final product. So, while students need to learn to play well with others in order to do well in a job situation, their individual ability to think critically, understand deeply, critique others honestly and fairly, and evaluate the critiques of others without being rude or over emotional are all needed for our final product to be able to compete in a global economy.

There are in my mind issues with group formation. Last quarter in Walden I was assigned group members within the first two weeks of two classes. One of those groups I found rewarding and valuable to my learning process. The other group was total frustration. I spent so much time and emotional energy on that group that I was not able to complete KAM as I had wanted to do.

So back to assessment of groups, I applaud peer, learner-centered, and self assessment of the functioning of the group and instructor assessment of the work product using a rubric. I base these ideas on using collaborative learning in F2F classes during my teaching experiences. I used Daniel’s Literature Circles, Reciprocal Teaching, and Socratic Seminars as tools to help my students own their own reading and interpretation of text. I monitored and used rubrics to assess the learning of my students, and I was pleased with the results.