Comments on: Local Or/And/Before Global

By: Craig McDonald

Craig McDonald — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:50:21 +0000

Thanks, Graham, I really enjoyed reading this post and the comments that followed. I agree that there are so many tools available now, and so many options for their use, that it’s easy to get carried away with the bells and whistles and lose sight of the actual learning objectives. On the one hand, teachers who are new to using web 2.0 stuff in their classes do need to be encouraged to experiment and see what the possibilities are, but like you say, it always has to come back to learning.

Do you think the bells and whistles effect (the BWE??!!) can come about in some part because of a kind of pedagogical peer pressure, to be seen by other teachers to be up to speed with the latest tools and use these visibly. Do we end up with too much icing and not enough cake?

I certainly found the post challenging for my own classroom practice. There must be meaningful connection, genuine creativity and collaboration which is not just for the sake of it but truly adds value to the learning experience.

By: Allanahk

Allanahk — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:31:47 +0000

One of the joys of our kiwi system is the CORE led L@S and ULearn conferences where we can come together nationally with leaders in their field. These funded events let us participate and learn from each other in a way that would not be possible with smaller more local events. I fear however that their days might be numbered with 2009 being the last year of the ICTPD contracts being let.

That marriage of pedagogy and application is a good mix as one without the other would be futile. As an example I have the loan of an interactive whiteboard for my classroom for a few months before having to return it. I have had a half hour lesson in how to work the software etc but without more PD on how I can develop it I am tending to use it as a rather flash whiteboard. Having a tool on its own isn’t enough. We need to be learning how to do new things in new ways, not old things in new ways, to quote somebody whose name I can’t remember.

By: Doug Noon

Doug Noon — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:27:13 +0000

Graham, just to verify, I’m in full agreement with your assessment of our experience with the wiki. Looking back at it, I see a need for a big disclaimer to be pasted across the front of it warning people about gross distortions and generalizations. But maybe that’s obvious.

It might be fun to see kids collaborate on creating a fictional world, which would probably have more truth to it, and might prompt them to think critically about real world conditions. Seriously…

By: Graham Wegner

Graham Wegner — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:45:38 +0000

@Wes. Thanks for dropping by – I always feel semi-apologetic when referencing someone else’s experiences because I might mis-interpreting their perspective and I am not “having a go at you” to use an Australian term for unfounded criticism. You do confirm what I suspect in terms of many American teachers delivering pre-packaged scripted curriculum instead of designing the learning themselves to suit their students. And although the Kiwis are probably a bit ahead of us here down under, the Australian education system follows a similar path. I do recommend that if possible you buy yourself a copy of Mark Treadwell’s book “Whatever – School V 2.0″ which places the NZ and hopefully the Australian future in context with the biggest shift in human learning via the internet that we’ve ever seen. (It does come in a digital format.)
I do have a concern with some of the videos being touted as being important (like the NetGenEd one recently making the rounds) where students are depicted as pleading that if only they are allowed to access technology then their ability to create, collaborate etc. will be complete. But if you are a teacher shackled to a scripted curriculum, I can perhaps see how this sort of video can seem inspirational. But for teachers in NZ and Australia, the creative freedom to utilise inquiry learning and to be innovative has been there for a long time. It’s two different mindsets who don’t realise really what the other is like – you’ve seen and experienced both sides of the fence – both are typical of the average teacher in respective parts of the world and the mistakes some of these videos make is assuming that their viewpoint is the dominant or only one. Or the bigger mistake is assuming that experiences beyond the typical American classroom don’t count and the rest of the world better get on board with their vision, regardless of the fact that (as Tom Hoffman regularly points out) proessive education has been doing many of the things being called for already.

And no, Idon’t believe we should overlook the tools – teachers not using web based tools in their classroom are practicing a form of disservice (is negligence too strong a word?) to their students. We do need to be strategic and purposeful in their classroom application. Now I do need to go and listen to your Learning@School keynote later today. I could be singing your praises sooner than you realise!

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:34:51 +0000

Thanks for the link to Artichoke, too! I wasn’t subscribed to it but now I am in my Google Reader Education feeds.

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:31:36 +0000

Graham: I definitely agree with the idea that "toolishness can be foolishness" (Jamie McKenzie) and the focus of discussions/keynotes at conferences should focus most prominently on learning rather than technology as an end itself. I was having a moment of cognitive dissonance during Pam's keynote, however, since the focus seemed (at least at that stage where I made that comment) as being pretty removed from technology integration. As the comment thread revealed, this was not an unusual thing for this audience. While I was in NZ I was very refreshed by the focus on teachers as designers of the curriculum and learning tasks, rather than the deliverers of scripted curriculum, which is the model I've experienced and seen often here in the US, especially in many Texas schools but also in Oklahoma. I think we need a balance in discussions about technology between tools and learning. I don't think it is categorically a bad thing to discuss and focus on tools, especially when people are very new to the tools for learning. There is a wide digital divide today between many teachers when it comes to the tools of networked digital learning, and I think it is important to bridge that gap. As Pam reminded us, however, it's all about student learning and the ways we're asking students to be aware of and responsible for their own learning.