"Work with the Living" - A week with Gary Stager

Qatar Academy are preparing for their 1:1 learning with laptops. The school Board approved recently that all Grade 7 and 8 students in 2009-10 will have a new laptop (bought by Qatar Foundation). What this will finally and ultimately look like is under discussion. To promote the use of laptops and online learning in a constructivist mode we invited Gary Stager to visit for a week.

Numerous words and phrases come to mind when I review the past week here at Qatar Academy with Gary as our consultant in residence to help move us closer to a 1:1 and constructivist learning environment.
These include some often-used sayings from Gary himself, adjectives about the week as well as practical and philosophical objectives that have emerged or re-surfaced and discussed, sometimes ad-infinitum.
Gary has a great passion for learning and a straightforward approach to using technology, specifically laptops, in the classroom. His phrase "Don't be a jerk", offered as advice to those who asked certain "What if...." questions inspired many of us to think again the systems for learning with mobile technology and how responsibility for the device needs to be with the user at all times, with a focus on common sense. In terms of moving the school and the teachers forward Gary uses the term "Work with the living, and do no harm", stating that in the early stages of a laptop program (or any new methods relying on technology use) it is best to work with those who are willing and able to take on board new modes.

Resources from the week with Gary can be found on our E-Learning wiki, and also on Gary's website for Qatar.

Can you believe it...the only photo I have with Gary and me......

Here are further essential ideas from the week:

• Gary said "Bad ideas are timeless, good ideas tend to be fragile" in relation to building a sustainable learning environment using technology
• Gary said "Less us, more them" when talking about student-centred learning and building from the learner up
• Challenge the assumptions about children and their capability to survive in a digital world....yes, they can be responsible for their own backups
• Get back to the roots of 'personal computer' meaning an individual device that each learner has/owns privately
• Focus on non-Internet based use of computing and use offline mode as much as possible...bandwidth is finite, no matter how good it may seem to be
• Consider a parent-education program to fully introduce laptops at all levels of learning
• Promote an active classroom and active creativity as opposed to passive 'screen-watching' when using computers
  
• Promote a community of practice (a learning community)
• Promote writing...if kids are writing more it has to be better!
• Consider re-writing curriculum to accommodate the opportunities laptops bring
• Make wise and creative decisions about software use - Web 2.0 will not do everything you need
• Move away from using language such as 'producing content', inspire creative solutions and problem solving using laptops
• Have a laptop expectation for all staff, however for those teaching Grades 7 and 8 next year, make sure they are on board with the 1:1 initiative

There is no doubt after viewing the schedule I put into place that Gary worked hard! His versatility, energy and willingness to take on a range of situations meant that all members of the Qatar Academy community had the opportunity to see him, talk to him, and to workshop with him. Gary spoke to parents, the wider community, teachers at all levels in all sorts of configurations (HODs, early years, subject groupings, 21st century learners, administration); he was in the classroom running model lessons for Grade 5, as well as senior school Mathematics, Science and English; he workshopped teachers in constructivist learning; keynoted "Ten things to do with a laptop - Learning and powerful ideas", followed by a panel session including local teachers and leaders (thanks Jabiz, Mike, Sam and David!) and he met with the Student tech team (quite a highlight, especially when he produced the XO laptop!).

Gary with Grade 5 students

Gary with some Student Tech Team members

Nothing was too daunting or irrelevant to Gary. He spoke to the PE department, the Modern Foreign Languages group, and the school counselors and more...... At each teacher session he spoke with passion and knowledge; at each model lesson he pulled out activities that provided a new way of looking at computers in the classroom; at meetings with the administration he challenged current thinking and reinforced the notion of best-practice meaning student-centered. He even spoke to Qatar Foundation IT Dept. personnel in a teacher/infrastructure joint meeting and we all had the chance to discuss what works best and what we need in a classroom to promote learning using technology.

Dinner at Souq Waqif

What did I learn from Gary Stager?

• I was reminded that there is a a complete history of using computers in education that is easily overlooked in the 21st century
• That Web 2.0 is not the only, or in fact the dominant, focus across a school and in relation to implementing 1:1 learning
• That reading research and going to the root of an idea, the original author and proponent, is the best way to understand where we are now and how we got here
• I need to find more time to re-visit Seymour Papert and the many other authors and visionaries that Gary has collected in his online Constructivist Consortium Bookstore
• That good teaching, no matter what century, requires imagination, patience, structure that focuses on the learning and creativity and that students at all levels need to be continually challenged and allowed to construct their own meaning

As a sideline, Gary and I have a similar interest in playing and listening to jazz therefore had some interesting conversations about this....I think he has convinced my daughter (a new convert to the tenor saxophone) to attend the Stanford Jazz Workshop one summer soon when we are in the USA.
Oh, and another thing......I feel like an ice-cream connoisseur after having been out with Gary for dinner 3 nights in a row.....what fun we had! (For future reference, Cold Stone at Villagio is the best!)

More pictures from the week:


Technorati Tags: garystager constructivist qataracademy 1:1 laptop

What have you signed up for this week?

A recent conversation with colleagues at school has prompted this post. They were concerned that there are just 'too many' things to sign into...how can one person cope with it all? ...what is the relevance to everyday classroom education and life as an educator? How can you remember all the passwords and login information?

My response to this is:

1. Don't 'fear' the multitude of online membership opportunities. Embrace them as being part of what you do as an online, connected educator.
2. Make sure when you sign up for something new you a) Bookmark the home page using Delicious and/or Diigo and b) Tag your confirmation email for future reference as it often contains vital login and PW information. I use GMail and 'label' these emails as 'Software'
3. Try to use the same user name. I always use julielindsay now for everything. If you prefer a nickname rather than full name, so be it, but use it consistently. Two reasons for this, you will be easily identified by your online name, and it is easier for you to remember when you go to login in if it is consistent.
   
4. Do not try to remember more than 3 or 4 different passwords! In particular have a different password for your email account to other sites. Rotate your passwords, and change them over time, but for the sake of sanity do not have to cycle through more than 4 to get into anything!
5. Share your new found online resources with friends/colleagues so that together you may interact and decide if the tool etc is worth using or not. It is easier to evaluate if others can join the conversation.
   

What have I joined this week?

1. Edmodo - an educational tool for microblogging. Just joined today, looks like it has potential. Can't work out how to add friends. Love the feature to upload assignment/files and to have the calendar. Will experiment with colleagues and see if it is worthwhile transplanting to a class.
2. EdTalks - a New Zealand initiative shared by ITGS colleague Andrew Churches. NZ and international educators are talking about learning in individual videos. I am having trouble accessing some of the clips but will persevere. Excellent idea, lots of potential.
3. Woices - This one I love! have just joined today but the idea and practice of sharing voices around the world, of sharing unique 'sound walks' and experiences takes me back to my undergraduate music student days! I also love the changing image in the top banner and this one of the young child caught my attention. Thanks to friend Anne Mirtschin for sharing this today!
   

Technorati Tags: annemirtschin woices edtalks edmodo andrewchurches

Laptop and 1:1 Programs and Web 2.0

At Qatar Academy we are trying to define our 1:1 program within the constraints of meeting the expectations of the school administration, Qatar Foundation (our 'mother ship'), parents, teachers and students. Earlier this week I posted a question to the ECIS Moodle IT discussion forum.
How does moving to a pedagogically appropriate Web 2.0 learning environment affect how a 1:1 and/or laptop program is implemented? There are 3 possible scenarios with laptops:

1. A controlled environment where the school purchases the laptops and maintains administrative control.
2. A more open environment environment where the school owns (or purchases for the students) but gives the students administrative rights.
3. A student-purchased environment where administrative rights are always with the student.

I see option 2 and 3 as being more conducive to Web 2.0 learning environment where students have the freedom to download and install software and updates as they need to. A more locked down situation where admin. rights are not given to the user prohibits students from having control of their own learning environment using mobile technology.

What are you doing in your school? What are your feelings about this??

Here are excerpts from the excellent responses I received:

Madeleine Brookes, ICT facilitator from Western Academy Beijing (WAB):
"Certainly option 2 and 3 would be the better option for your students - the line between using the computer for social purposes and for educational purposes is becoming blurred however I believe that educating the students in what not to download and how to use a computer responsibly is better than locking it down."

Harry Bennett, Technology consultant for international schools helping set up 1:1 programs
"The trick is to create an environment that allows your users to do all the things they should be able to do (which probably shouldn't include installing programs that haven't been tested by the experts you hired) as part of the learning process but not able to do the things that will diminish that capability for themselves or others. That is a tricky task but throwing out security because its hard to do right is as wrong as locking down a machine so that no one can do anything."

Kathy Epps from International School of Geneva
"The kids, teachers, and families are given many many opportunities to learn how to take care of their computers - how to use the admin rights, in effect. Teachers are given nearly limitless support, coaching, etc., to help them make efective use of the computers in the classroom, so that every one is supportive, enthusiastic, and learning and teaching is enhanced - not just more entertaining. (Julie, I have no doubts about what you would do in this situation!)"

Ben Morgan, Director of IT from United World College of SE Asia
"I think that tying students to a single laptop is already technologically and culturally outdated. The question, to me, is how to best provide access to the necessary data/tools via WHATEVER hardware the students may use.
This requires school to create:
- an online learning environment that provides tools for creating / delivering / managing instructional content (this will be an amalgamation of web based portal, elearning system, web 2 tools, MIS system, library system, etc)
- online data storage
- access to specialist software
- through a robust wired/wireless infrastructure that supports a multitude of devices"

My response today in reply was as a summary of essential points with an invitation for more discussion.
Her is a brief summary of the main points you have shared:
Considerations:

• Laptop model and make - most in favour of the same
• Image - standardized that includes licensed software and anti-virus
• Collaborative environment - need to be able to foster this within a secure environment
  
• System security - learning affected if system infected
• Student purchase scheme (lease over 3 years as an option)
• Administrative rights given to teachers/students under certain conditions - security, maintain original software
• Tech support - needs to be a drop-in service
• Systematic approach to laptop service - re-image if issue too time consuming to fix
• Infrastructure - providing re-charging stations
• Storage and backup of files - locally? USB? Server?
• Computer failure - 3-year insurance/warranty, replacement policy
• Professional development and pedagogical support for teachers, students and parents
• Wireless network - continuity of access
• Internet and Web2.0 - access at school and at home
  
• Access to printing
• Other mobile devices - handhelds, include broader mobile computing devices
• Access to data and tools not hardware specific - include ALL types of ubiquitous devices
• Secure network with set criteria for access - devices therefore do not not need to be 'locked down' or even the same model/make/device

The use of Web 2.0 tools came through as part of the overall consideration of what the 'laptops' will be used for and not as a focus of the possible program. Given the sometimes lack of access to online tools (Web 2.0) there continues to be, from what I can tell, a preference for standard software to be installed on each device as a base for classroom use.
Ben, I think your points particularly resonated with me as in my previous school, International School Dhaka, I spearheaded a mobile program that included handhelds and laptops; Palm devices for handhelds and a non-standardized laptop (in other words bring your own with minimum configuration required e.g.XP Pro) with a set of licensed software installed, costs passed onto parents. Since 0607 of course converging technologies has opened up even more possibilities and I agree with you we cannot be just talking about 'laptop programs' anymore.

I welcome further discussion on this. You, the reader of this blog, what is happening in your school re moving to a 1:1 environment while considering access to Web 2.0 and online resources?

Technorati Tags: 1:1 laptop mobile web2.0

Invitation to 'Kick it Up a Notch'

K12 Online is approaching in October and Vicki and I are talking about 'kicking it up a notch'. In the spirit of "Web 2.0 Smackdown" from NECC , we want to give YOU the chance to speak out about change. So, if you wish to participate, please do the following by September 23, 2008 to be included.

Here is the easy task:

1. What is your favorite Web 2.0 tool for kicking your classroom up a notch?
2. We need you to create 1 still photo with the word displayed somewhere in the screen. (one per person may be submitted.)
3. Upload this to Flickr or Flat Classroom Ning - It must be tagged: kick_up_notch_2008
4. Put name and location in the description of the photo as you want it credited.
   
5. It must be licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial or of lesser restriction.

OK, have fun and share your ideas! We look forward to receiving them. Don't forget also the K12 Online Conference is just around the corner in October!

Technorati Tags: k12onlineconference k12onlineconference2008 k12online08 vickidavis

Wikispaces Keeps on Giving to Education

I have been waiting for Adam Frey from Wikispaces to make the announcement this week. Already, the 100,000 free wikis given away over the past 2 years has expired, and the last 20,000 went VERY quickly. So, what next? Start charging? No!

Wikispaces, led by Adam have shown their full commitment to supporting education and teachers by continuing to provide free, advertisement free, collaborative spaces for K-12 - and in fact there are 250,000 more wikis up for grabs as of today! Thanks Adam and Wikispaces!

From their blog:

250,000 More K-12 Wikis
Like the first 100,000, all of our K-12 wikis feature all the benefits of our Plus service:

• full privacy, only the people you allow in can see your wiki
• no advertising, your online classroom will remain ad-free
• unlimited use, as many users, pages, edits, and files, as you like, no limits
• a customizable look and feel, so you can make it feel like home

You’re welcome to start as many K-12 wikis as you like. Have 10 classes? Start 10 wikis! Want one for your PTA, your school library, or anything else at your school? Start another one!

The offer is worldwide and is available for any wiki that is used exclusively for K-12 (primary and secondary) education.

So, if you want a wiki go straight to Wikispaces for Educators. Also, share your wikispaces in education stories and also join the online celebration with Steve Hargadon and Classroom 2.0 this Thursday.

What I really like about using wikispaces:

• Excellent online support - wikispaces has an amazing record for prompt and useful online support. I know if there is an issue with a wiki (myself, a colleague or a student) we can email Adam and the team and within 24 hours we have a response and a solution! It is really that simple.
• The WYSIWYG editing and page layout - I love being able to easily make each wiki look distinctive by starting with a basic template and working with colour combinations, and if I feel adventurous going in to work with the CSS code
• Easy for students to start editing - All of our students at Qatar Academy in Grades 6-10 this year are setting up a personal wiki as a digital portfolio. We piloted this last year with Grade 8, this year the entire MYP school will set this up. This will be a way for the Community and Service achievements to be documented, discussed and reflected on. It will also be a place for students to work with Web 2.0 tools and learn essential skills for collaborative learning and online interaction
• A quick-fix publishing tool for teachers - to publish curriculum, create a global project, establish a place for an extra-curricular group or communicate with the school community. In fact at Qatar Academy we now have our own Private Label wikispaces account Yes, this does cost some money, but it is great value as we can create unlimited wikis under the one umbrella and control all users. So not only are students starting wikis but teachers in all areas of the school are getting into the act.
  
• Able to run a wiki-centric classroom - For a couple of years now I have run a classroom that is wiki-centric. This year I do not have my own classes as such but my spaces are still all up there. See the ITGS wiki, the Qatar Academy IT wiki, the Digital Citizenship wiki (this is pre-Digiteen Project)
  

Technorati Tags: wikispaces adamfrey qataracademy wikis

Flat Classrooms Ning: Conversation and Collaboration

I cannot help but be totally impressed with the conversations and collaborations occurring on the Flat Classrooms Ning. With an active membership of 286, the Ning is providing another means for educators at all levels to interact, inquire and plan educational liaisons.

The Under Eleven? discussion has 45 responses! The Learning Intelligences for the 21st Century started by Jackie Gerstein is trying to define what it means to be a mobile, ubiquitous, computer-using learner. Members of the Ning also come from a number of different countries.

There are groups created for PYP teachers, Middle years, Researchers, Upper grades and more!

Visit Flat Classrooms

Come and join us and work towards flattening your educational experience by learning from others, finding others to create global projects with, and sharing Web 2.0 resources.
Technorati Tags: flatclassrooms ning educationalnetworking

Sharing my Classroom Part 3: Grade 8

This post, and the next two posts on my blog have been in draft format for over 2 months! I need to post them, get them out there and then I have them off my conscience. They are part of a series that includes sharing my classroom part 1 and part 2
I am determined to get this written up for these reasons:

• I can share what I was doing in my own classes last year, and I taught across 5 year levels
  
• I have an historical record via this blog of development in pedagogical approach
  
• I am leaving a legacy, or at least more descriptive details, of classes that I used to run but this year pass onto colleagues to shape and format as their classes
  

Grade 8 - Digital Portfolios
Digital portfolio creation is a particular passion of mine. I am an avid supporter of Dr Helen Barrett and followed the research and work done supporting digital portfolios using different mediums. I spent hours years ago creating a curriculum and putting it on a blog, only to have it lost in the virtual world through schoolblogs becoming defunct (I have backups). My own digital portfolio has evolved from this static version (about to die for good soon) to this wiki version.

I am also an avid supporter of Bernajean Porter and her Digitales site. I hope to find time this year to explore and learn more about Shaherazade in Second Life and the development of digital storytelling using a virtual medium.

So, taking the digital portfolio concept of publication, artifacts and reflections I have added a dose of digital storytelling (in a very minor way in this example) and asked students to create a portfolio using a wiki and other Web 2.0 tools with the addition of a personal video/story as a personal artifact to share with the viewer.

The curriculum is on the class wiki and is written for an MYP Technology class (Middle Years Programme, IBO).

Unit 1: Digital Portfolio
This unit follows the IBO MYP Technology curriculum guide

• Area of Interaction: Homo Faber
• Guiding questions: How can I showcase my experiences and work as a student here at Qatar Academy to a wider audience? How can I best document and reflect on the learning process in order to develop and grow as a learner? How can I best communicate my growth as a learner to my audience?
• Learning objectives: All students in Grade 8 at QA will create a digital portfolio this year. This will be used to showcase their individual learning and to share artefacts, reflections and experiences with their family and other members of the QA community.

Students started by setting up a blog, a delicious account and exploring other Web 2.0 tools such as Animoto. Then, following the MYP design cycle they investigated, designed, planned and created their own portfolios.

One of the most powerful aspects of a portfolio, and this can be done in different ways using digital tools, is sharing reflections about progress as a learner. From the curriculum wiki here is how I set up the reflection part.

Writing a Reflection
Each artifact on your digital portfolio should have a reflection. Once again, be creative about this. A reflection can be written in 3 paragraphs however, if you have uploaded an essay for example, maybe your reflection could take the form of an image (with text) or a PowerPoint embedded on the page, or it could be an audio/video file.

As a suggestion the reflection can cover these three areas:

• What? - Describe what the work is about. For example, this presentation is about a country and the requirement was .......Make sure you talk about what was expected for this work and what time it took you to complete it. Was it a group project? What input did others have to this work?
• So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
• Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?

The final stage of the design cycle, evaluation, is also important as this gives students a chance to peer review each others work. One way I have set this up in my class is as a formative assessment excercise. Students created a personal blog post, describing thier portfolio and discussing some strenghts and weakneses and providing a hyperlink to the portfolio. Their peer then posted a comment to the blog post after reviewing the portfolio.

Examples of Digital Portfolios: Grade 8 0708 Qatar Academy
Many more examples can be found on the digital portfolio school wiki, howevere here are my favourites for last year.

Ali - Good use of Web 2.0 tools, video gives us an insight into his life
Burhan - interesting use of multimedia
Dale - Good variety of artifacts, images and reflections. Shows internationalism
Karen - Blog - vibrant, good video
Lara - An excellent example of creative graphic work and use of Web 2.0 tools
Some others to explore include:
Layanne - Blog, Leila, Maryam - Blog

Useful Web.2.0 resources for digital portfolio creation:

• Wikispaces - a great way to publish instantly and focus on content as well as web publishing skills as needed
  
• Slideshare.net - for uploading a PPT and embedding into a wiki
• bubbleshare.com - for creative use of images and adding a widget to the wiki
• Voice thread - for adding images and voice commentary via a wiki widget...very cool!
• Animoto - for creating 30 sec videos and embedding on your blog (can then link to from the wiki)
• To embed documents try these:
  • Scribd - Publish yourself online....good for uploading essays and other word-based documents
  • Docstoc - Upload and embed docs online
  • Issuu - You publish and embed
  • Calameo - Create and share virtual publications

The challenge with a digital portfolio is to keep it updated (sigh!). With students however I believe it should be part of what they do as an embedded activity across all curriculum areas, not just a unit of work in information technology. That is the challenge for us at Qatar Academy this coming year. The digital portfolio work will now start in grade 6 (the first MYP Year) and, with a push from the IT department, it will be part of what all teachers do. The ultimate culmination within a school is to run student-led conferences supported by digital portfolios. This is where the constructivist part and student-led learning part really comes into play, rather than the focus on the tools and the IT tasks. The opportunity to show others your progress and the learning experiences you have been part of can be a revelationary experience for both students and parents. I have seen this happen before and want to see it happen here as a distinct activity that moves teachers, students and parents away from the marks-based achievement syndrome.

Technorati Tags: digitalportfolio helenbarrett bernajeanporter myp

Flattening the World Again: Flat Classroom Project 2008 Invitation

Flat Classroom 2008 Project Announcement

As a follow up to the award winning Flat Classroom project (see 2006 project, 2007 project), educators Julie Lindsay (Qatar Academy, Qatar), Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, Camilla, GA USA), are announcing the official pre-planning of the Flat Classroom Project 2008. Up to ten classrooms will be selected for this years project from a globally, culturally, and ethnically diverse student populace. Applications are due by September 8, 2008 and classrooms or schools may apply online via this form.

This year's project will incorporate a study of the ten flatteners as outlined in Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat, The Flat Classroom project earned inclusion in edition 3.0 of his book. (pages 501-503). This year's project also includes the six senses of the conceptual age as outlined by Daniel Pink in his book A Whole New Mind. This project already includes schools from four continents but the goal is to include schools from six continents (except Antarctica.)

Accordingly, this project will include four primary components:

1. Editing and updating previously created information (Mass Collaboration, Symphony)
2. Creating Digital Stories using the 6 senses of the conceptual age from Daniel Pink's book, A Whole New Mind
3. Post Project Reflection - Students will post their reflection on the process on the project ning.
4. Student Summits, Weekly Teacher Meetings, Awards Show - Held in Elluminate - check the calendar for links

This year's project has four primary methods for facilitating communication:

1. Flat Classroom Project 2008 wiki - This will be our product.
2. The Flat Classroom Ning (with private groups for teachers, leaders, student groups, and educators).-- This will be our connection piece that will allow us to make and cement the connections and manage the workgroups.
3. The Flat Classroom Google Calendar to create cross-time zone calendaring and Timebridge to schedule meetings.
4. Student Summit, Weekly Teacher Meetings, and Awards Shows - Hosted in Elluminate - check calendar for links.

Interested classrooms are invited to read the requirements below and review the project outline before filling in the online form for consideration. Participating classrooms will be announced on Friday September 12, 2008 on the Flat Classroom Ning. Educators interested in being expert advisors and judges are requested to review the requirements and sign up by joining the Judges 2008 or Expert Advisors 2008 groups on the Ning

Information Session in Elluminate
A teacher information session will be held in Elluminate Monday August 25 at 4pm EDT, 8pm GMT, 11pm Qatar, 6am Tuesday August 26 Australia. After the information session, the recording will be viewable here.

New Face to Face Conference in Planning Stages
Also, look for an upcoming announcement about the first Flat Classroom Conference to be held January 24-26 in Doha, Qatar. Student participants, experts, teachers, and judges from this flat classroom or any of the past projects, Flat Classroom or High School Horizon Projects are encouraged to apply for the conference and are given preference. Space will be limited.

Project Requirements
We are looking for classrooms from around the world and from a variety of educational institutions to participate. Some fluency with online learning tools and experience with creating multimedia is preferred. Access to the Internet in conjunction with availability of Web 2.0 tools for student use including being able to open and use a Ning, wiki and blog. The project in its current form is more suitable for Grades 10 and above. Grade 9 or a mixed age level class may be possible as well.

It is essential that teachers who take on this project are engaged and willing to commit class time as well as personal time to make the project work. Attempting a flat classroom project for the first time can be a steep learning curve. Teachers are asked to attend regular online real-time meetings and to communicate and interact with other teachers and students in the project weekly. As a true 'flat classroom' all participants are on the same level or 'playing field'.

Opportunity for Simultaneous Projects
Julie and Vicki are also willing to mentor additional groups of teachers who wish to create their own "flat classroom" - style project. The only requirement is that best practices must be freely shared and all rights are Creative Commons Share Alike. Email flatclassroomproject@gmail.com if you have a pair of teachers, located in different places, who would like to be mentored.

Technorati Tags: flatclassroomproject flatclassroomproject2008 thomasfriedman vickidavis

On my way to NECC 2008: Face to face has high value

I am in Hong Kong for a few days on my way to NECC 2008 in San Antonio. Yes, I can hear you say, '...but San Antonio would be quicker to get to from Doha via the Atlantic rather than the Pacific route?!', and you would be correct, except that after NECC I then have to come back to Australia for a few weeks before going back to Qatar. In fact, with side trips in the USA and in Australia this year I have estimated I will be spending about 80 hours in the air over the next 2 months, not including time to get to and from airports and wait for flights. I'm looking forward to the frequent flyer points to be earned....or am I?? I hate flying! There is no joy in aeroplane travel, food, comfort (!) or in most respects, convenience, however as an international educator, this is what I do.

NECC 2008 in San Antonio will be the best ever this year! I have been attending NECC for the past 6 consecutive years...Seattle, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Diego, Atlanta and now San Antonio. It will also be the busiest! I have some wonderful sessions to attend and deliver and great educators to meet and converse with. My schedule is full (literally) of meetings, flat classroom sessions, international meetups, ISTE gatherings etc. I really value the face-to-face opportunities NECC provides. These complement the year-long virtual gatherings and interactions and provide an opportunity for cementing friendships further, for planning projects, sharing successes and failures, and moving further along the path of 21st century learning as a professional educator.

Just thought I would share this photo with you...as I write this it is evening in Hong Kong. It has been raining all day due to the tropical cyclone that was meant to have missed here and gone to Taiwan, however we woke up to wind, rain and clouds this morning. Tonight the rain has eased and the lights are on full once again. What a magnificent city! it has been 23 years since my previous visit, and what changes have occurred! What a sophisticated and tourist oriented city, what a fantastic shopping haven amidst beautiful scenery and a juxtaposition of cultures.

So, this is what I am looking at now, the night lights of Hong Kong, seen from my hotel window in Kowloon. See you at NECC!

Technorati Tags: necc2008 hongkong

Sharing my Classroom Part 2: Grade 7

In an earlier post last week, Sharing my Classroom Part 1: Grade 6, I described the units of work created this year and hyperlinked some student multimedia work displayed on their blogs.

This time, let me share my Grade 7 curriculum as it was and as it developed as shown on our wiki-centric classroom website.

We started the year with a 'Dreamweaver' unit. As an application -based unit this is a little outdated and not what I would normally teach, however given certain other extraneous influences, it was a matter of being easier to stick to this 'set curriculum' as the time and work through it. Don't get me wrong, I love Dreamweaver, I just don't like the inward focus of an application-based IT approach.

The unit was called 'Disaster!' and students were challenged to think how an online resource could help people before, during or after a disaster. A community and service area of interaction was discussed (IBO) and students investigated typical disasters such as tsunami, hurricane etc. Three web pages minimum was the requirement. Of course we looked at good and bad web page design, navigation, image placement and editing etc etc. At the end of the unit of course students shared their work in class, but were ultimately disappointed their work was not 'online'!

The second unit for the year was about exploring animation as a way to communicate. From the class wiki:
For this unit you will develop skills using animation tools and explore how animation can enhance communication.
You will have a choice of tools to create your final product. These are:

• Aniboom.com
• Toondoo.com
• Macromedia Flash (on school PCs)
• Sploder
• My Game

To get started with Flash watch and learn from the Atomic Learning Flash online videos.

So, students explored and created their own, self-determined project. This was enormously successful. Even the simple game sites such as Sploder had students creating games of differing ability levels and sharing ideas and strategies. Most chose the online working environment, only a handful chose to work with Flash (ultimately more difficult, especially as the requirement was to 'work it out yourself').

One student Abdullah, in collaboration with Yousif, created a game using Flash and managed to post it online. This online flash game had an operating system theme (see image)

Here are 2 Grade 7 blogs of distinction showing how they maintained their process journal as a blog and posted material to the blog for assessment - Rawan and Dana (both include Toondoo images).

Technorati Tags: qataracademy curriculum animation websitedesign blogging

Sharing my Classroom Part 1: Grade 6

It is assessment and report writing time here at Qatar Academy. I have been in the unenviable position this year of having 12 different classes across 5 different year levels (about 250 students in total). Needless to say this is a challenge and in many respects an unworkable situation for any teacher. However, as I near the end of it all and look towards a completely different working environment next year that encompasses an administrative position with none of my own classes (something I have mixed feelings about), I want to share student achievements from this year.

As in recent years I have run a wiki-centric classroom. My Qatar Academy IT wiki links to all curriculum for this past academic year. I did have some excellent class photos on the home page in bubbleshare, but we had issues with it running through our network so I took it off. Here it is now, with great smiling faces of some of my students (all of whom have given permission to have their photo online).

BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


Grade 6 Classes
In Grade 6 this year, with one 55 minute lesson per week, we completed 3 units that focused on communication and skill building with multimedia tools as well as Web 2.0.

Unit 1: Introducing Qatar and Qatar Academy - using PhotoStory and being part of the global project run by Chris Craft called 'Life 'round here'. Our entries are found here.

Unit 2: Becoming a Web 2.0 Expert - where we explored blogging, social bookmarking RSS and created a start-up page using iGoogle

Unit 3: New Technology for Learning - here the challenge was to investigate an emerging technology and design a presentation to show the class, and Dr Hedger our Director how it could be implemented in the classroom. This unit used the MYP Technology design cycle of Investigate, Design, Plan, Create and Evaluate. The essential tools used were Animoto and Voicethread.

The challenges of this project were to create a presentation using the essential tools and to document the research and process (as in a process journal discussing deign, plan and creation of the final products) on a personal blog. The final presentation was delivered from the blog where animoto and voicethread were to be embedded. Animoto was going through some changes as we worked on this project. At one point we were able to download the 30 sec. clip, which we did and then imported it into voicethread to create a seamless presentation. However, the next week animoto had blocked this allowing only longer clips to be downloaded. Animoto also started an free referral service where an all-access pass for education was available (thanks to Ewan Mcintosh for sharing this). I contacted them and obtained one of these but my students had already moved on in the project to the next stage so we ended up not using it this time. Some students managed to get the download before it was blocked.

Here are some of the best examples of student work for Unit 3.

Felix - Tablet PCs
Abdul Rahman - Nintendo DS
Jonas - laptops in schools (this one has animoto uploaded to voicethread)
James - Laptops
Manuel - iPhone
William - E-Book
Simone - MacBook
Alexandra - Ninteno Wii
Hamdan - MacBook Air

Technorati Tags: web2.0 curriculum emergingtechnology animoto voicethread blogging qataracademy

A new toy: Read the Words

I found this just now via a Twitter from Wesley Fryer, who found it from Bob Sprankle on Bit by Bit. It is a Beta version of Read the Words (readthewords.com), a Web 2.0 application that converts text into words. Here is a simple example I created of the previous blog post to this.

The voices for selection are an interesting mixture of male and female and there is a real attempt to add inflection and expression to the reading. It provides a downloadable MP3 file and also an embeddable widget for online use. Let's think how many uses this could have in a regular school day or week.



Technorati Tags: readthewords web2.0

Trying to be a 'Better Blogger'

OK, there goes another hour....or more...trying to get my head around commenting and co-commenting while blogging. I admit I am not a diligent commenter. There, I have said it! I applaud those who make the effort to comment and co-comment and keep the conversations going and I love to get comments on my blog! Even though I don't always comment back (another black mark against my name as a blogger). Is it time? Yes....but it is also a certain shyness I still have to be fully out there and interacting.....I think it is also a lack of confidence in what value I have to offer as a commenter. However, my aim is to be a 'Better Blogger' and here is one way we can do this.

I wish to draw your attention to the Comment Challenge created by Kim Cofino and colleagues for the month of May, 2008. Kim has detailed instructions on her blog on how to participate. There are prizes and awards! (I think if you wanted to be a winner you would have started on May 1st however). There are daily activities posted on the Comment Challenge wiki. People are blogging about how to be a better commenter. There are even student and class participants from around the world. This is amazing!

So, what have I done so far? At last I re-found CoComment and added a widget to my blog to track comments I make. It has raised my awareness of how important commenting is and how as a blogging community we need to put in more effort to support each other and to foster conversations.

So, join in, put your name on the list of participants, create a CoComment account and get organized. This is not about being a winner, it is about participation and being a better blogger.

Technorati Tags: comment08 cocomment blogging kimcofino

Get ready for K12 Online Conference 2008

The announcement went out this week for the K12 Online Conference for 2008. The call for proposals to present deadline is June 23.

I really like the theme this year: Amplifying the Possibilities

The conference is continuing with a similar format as in the past two years (2007 and 2006) however there has been a slight change of personnel convening the event and a change in focus for the strands.

The conveners from before include Wes Fryer, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Darren Kuropatwa with the addition of Dean Shareski this year.

The four strands -
Strand A: Getting started
with the addition of Everything you wanted to know about getting started with web 2.0 technologies for learning but were afraid to ask. The presentations in this strand will focus on specific, free tools for newcomers.

Strand B: Kicking it up a notch
You’ve been using blogs, wikis and other technologies for awhile but perhaps haven’t seen them transform your classroom and the learning environment for your students in the ways you think they can. This strand amplifies ways new technologies can be used to transform classroom and personal learning.

Strand C: Prove it!
Although some teachers are excited to “amplify possibilities” using computer technologies, Web 2.0 tools, and 21st Century learning strategies in their classrooms, how do we know if these innovative instructional strategies are really working?

Strand D: Leading the change
Innovative approaches to teaching and learning u