http://beta.aalf.org/blogs/ The latest 10 posts from members of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation! http://beta.aalf.org/blog/rose72/view?PostID=501 Innova Primary School in Singapore is looking for collaboration opportunity with US school/s on 121C. A team of teachers who are planning the program would like to embark on a learning journey to US schools to learn more about the program. Currently the school has already started a pilot phase with 2 classes of 10-yr-olds this year. The team hopes to learn best practices in running the program and share experiences. We look forward to a favourable reply to this posting. Thank you. Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:03:00 EDT Rose A (rose72) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/b.fayerman/view?PostID=500 As IT Director in a private coed high school of about 500 students, I was unable to find a perfect solution for automating the tracking of student behavior. In recent years, this was a growing concern: students were presenting with more issues that required the attention of the educators (e.g. poor work habits, disrespectful behavior both online and in school, bullying); teachers were trying to deal with these issues alone – without knowledge of similar experiences of their colleagues with these same students; administrators had difficulty getting information from teachers who were overloaded with reporting on students; and teachers were not getting adequate feedback from administrators regarding follow-up with students and parents. In other words, we were not working effectively as a team. I am working on a solution to this problem. How are others dealing with this issue? Please see my blog article: http://edtechjsbf.com/archives/427 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:13:00 EDT Brenda Fayerman (b.fayerman) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=497 We are currently compiling a list of Storytelling Apps for our upcoming May newsletter. Are there any apps of this kind that you use in your classroom? If so, please share them with us here and we will be sure to spread the word in our next newsletter! Many thanks! Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:24:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/bruceadixon/view?PostID=472 We are indeed living in interesting times. Never before have we seen such widespread agreement across countries around the globe that the key lever for their economic futures is education; just not the type of education we currently have. Such a paradox must surely challenge our long held beliefs in upholding the status quo. Indeed it would seem the question is no longer should we change the education our young people are currently receiving, to rather, by how much should the change happen. To date it’s fair to suggest incremental would be the most optimistic way of describing the change that has taken place in a limited number of schools to date, rather than anything fundamental, radical or disruptive. Yet as we let the years go by, debating the nature of change, its virtue and the possibilities, legions of young people continue to march their way through our schools, tolerating traditions that have long lost both their meaning and purpose. So now we see a new entry point to the dilemma, called Innovation. While it is largely semantics to review to what extent change, innovation, reimagining, rethinking et al are targeting similar end points, though taking different journeys, it’s seem that innovation is the most palatable to educators and educational leaders. I recently asked a global audience of teachers, ‘when was your last failure?’, and was met with largely blank stares. At the recent New York Maker Faire, Seth Godin referred to the value of ‘learning by doing things wrong’…which after all is the way that most of us learn, most of the time? Not just in an academic sense but even more so in physical sports or crafts, cooking or trades we are continually learning by doing things wrong, because…we take risks; we try something out to see if it works; to see if we can do it well…. yet how often do we see that practice encouraged within our schools? In such presentations I like to talk about one of our best known ‘failers ’, James Dyson. While vacuuming his home, he became frustrated with the lousy suction of his vacuum cleaner. The bag and filter clogged too quickly, reducing the suction to the point where it didn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t work. Over 15 years, he built 5126 prototypes before he found the one that worked. 15 years and 5126 failures. How did he find the solution? \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Wrong doing.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His mantra...Fail fast, and iterate to another possibility; be agile, don’t spend all your time planning something that might be based on wrong design assumptions; develop a Minimum Viable Product and try it out. Do we ever think that way about innovation in our schools?.... because that is the way large companies today develop new ideas, new products and new services. I wonder if Dyson had reflected on his school experience as being lousy, would he have innovated for a better solution 5000+ times until he found one ‘that worked’? No he wouldn’t, and none of us ever do…not 5000 times, but sadly for most, not even once. ..and yet we generally agree too much of what we offer is lousy. If you work at Valve, one of the largest online gaming companies in the world, they state very clearly in their New Employees Manual...\\\\\\\"No-one has ever been fired at Valve for making mistakes. It wouldn’t make sense for us to operate that way. Providing the freedom to fail is an important trait within the company. We couldn’t expect so much of our individuals if we penalised people for errors.\\\\\\\" Could it be that our loathing of failure within schools results not so much in high standards, but rather low ones? You see, I think any discussion around innovation in our schools, across any dimension, within the projects, pedagogy, or whole school reform, but first embrace the concept of learning from failure, from doing things wrong. Building a culture that supports risk-taking..an anathema to many school leaders. Until we can do that, we will continue to be limited to marginal instrumentalism which will aggravate the problem rather than solve it. As always, interested in your thoughts! Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:20:00 EDT Bruce Dixon (bruceadixon) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/SusanEinhorn/view?PostID=109 Economics and economic well-being constantly see-saw – one day you’re on the top of the world and then some bubble bursts or there’s a market ‘correction’ and suddenly, whoosh - everything begins to plunge. Technology changes so rapidly that the minute you buy the latest and greatest something, it’s out-of-date and the next, newest, best thing is already on the market. Our sense of place in the world can change rapidly, too– sometimes so suddenly that within an instant we see the sharp demarcation separating the “us” that existed before and the one that exists now. Change in schools, on the other hand, moves at a much different pace. At a frustratingly slow pace. More an edit than a change, a bit of tweaking here, a minor improvement there. Maybe that’s reassuring. While everything around us shifts, recreates itself, or is ‘revolutionized’, we can always count on school to be familiar, just how we remembered it. Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration – schools have and continue to modify themselves. But too much of this is merely tinkering around the edges, not change so much as enhancements and adjustments. We keep layering on new, somewhat improved, ways of doing the same old things. It’s kind of like the evolution of an old sod shack. Starting out as the only home that someone could afford to build, each new generation added on something - another room, another floor, an extension, a fix for some problem in one corner, a different one in another. Some of these changes were fundamentally necessary (a wood roof rather than a sod one, glass windows) and clearly improved the lot of all those within. But many of the added rooms, or pipes or systems, became totally useless/out-dated, were locked off, boarded up. Patched to allow this or that new functionality to be added, too big for its original foundation, the old sod shack soon becomes both costly and ugly and less a home than a relic. I’m not saying that school has reached this point just yet, but we need to be smart enough to know when something is worth further tweaking or if it’s time to start anew. And we don’t have to wait until the building collapses before we give up the old shack for something that will better suit our needs and expectations today and for our future. The trouble is, when a school does try to make a change, the push back from the parents, the community, and the media can be enormous. It seems that change is constant – as long as it doesn’t enter our schools. Take for example, the district in Oregon that has gone to a 4-day school week. (Not a massive change, more like a tweak, but it is a break from the old scheduling standards.) The students get the same number of hours in school as they did before (with the mistaken assumption that the number of hours is directly proportional to the amount and quality of learning, but that’s another discussion). The fifth day of the workweek is used for the teachers to meet and plan and work together to teach better in order to improve learning. Sounds good, right? So why did this story make the national news? It wasn’t because the newscasters were lauding the school’s efforts – most people interviewed were concerned or upset. (“Well,” harumphed one commentator to the school principal when told the teachers would be working together on the fifth day, “school isn’t for the teachers!” “No,” the wise principal responded, “it’s for the students - we’re trying to do a better job for them.”) No, it was because most people, complain as they may about the state of education and schools today, do not want them to change. Whether from fear, lack of knowledge, or just plain nostalgia, they constantly block new ideas and create barriers. True, there are issues to take care of and questions to answer, but change needs to start somewhere. Problems can be solved and questions answered. More importantly, we must work to overcome our wariness and avoidance of school change. We need to keep our vision and goal in mind and provide all children with the opportunities to be engaged, self-directed, and passionate learners. And we need to communicate a positive message to the media and our communities that change in the pursuit of these goals is essential. After all, we can’t live in the sod shack forever. The question I get asked most often when talking about re-imagining learning and schools is what schools are truly transforming the learning experience for students and exemplify the schools we imagine for the 21st century. Do you work at or know of one? If yes, please let us know about it so we can share this information with the AALF community. Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:20:00 EDT Susan Einhorn (SusanEinhorn) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=470 What constructivist, creative software tools have you been using for iPads or other tablets? To get the discussion started, I recommend Evernote. I find it indispensable for capturing thoughts, information, and images. What would you recommend? Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:43:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/kategatto/view?PostID=462 Hello AALF Community Members! Happy 2013! I hope that all of you are enjoying the new year so far. I\'m posting today to let you know about professional development e-courses that TakingITGlobal has on offer. We\'re planning to offer three cycles of each of our three courses, with the first ones starting in just over a week. Keep reading for more information, or visit tigurl.org/ecourses. If you have any questions, please contact me at kate@takingitglobal.org. TakingITGlobal’s graduate level, accredited e-courses attract educators from around the world. Identifying practical ways to implement pedagogies that reinforce the development of 21st century skills in students is the primary focus of these offerings. Each course is designed to support educators\' unique needs and curriculum requirements. e-Courses feature five weekly classes facilitated online, in real time, by an experienced global educator; and engaging readings, assignments and projects. These competitively priced e-courses will each be offered three times between January and June, 2013: Project-based Learning for Global Citizenship January 23 – February 20, 2013 April 8 – May 6, 2013 May 15 – June 12, 2013 Education for Environmental Stewardship January 22 – February 19, 2013 April 9 – May 7, 2013 May 14 – June 11, 2013 Empowering Student Voice in Education January 23 – February 27, 2013 April 10 – May 8, 2013 May 15 – June 19, 2013 For more information about TIGed’s e-courses and to register today, visit tigurl.org/ecourses. Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:45:00 EST Kate Gatto (kategatto) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/bruceadixon/view?PostID=416 How often do you find yourself driving along the same road, and sometimes you get to your destination and not even remember the journey? It comes from habit, or familiarity, and we all feel comfortable taking that journey down the same road. But what if on our journey we come across a fork? What if we see a road, we have not yet travelled, which has signs telling us it will allow us to go even further than we have before…much further? Will you take it? You can see where I’m going; after years of taking the same road in our schools, integrating technology on top of existing practice, I feel we are reaching a fork. I feel that finally the weight of the world our modern learners are growing up in outside school is forcing us to finally think seriously about taking that fork. If you can stick with me while I stretch the metaphor a little further, I think our travels down “the road so familiar” has only allowed ubiquitous technology to have a minimal impact on the learning lives of our young people; it has allowed us to maybe click into 2nd gear, go just a little bit faster, but basically take the same route...and get the same outcomes…with marginal, or incremental improvement; is that really the best we think ubiquitous access offers? What if we consider the fork? What might be down that road…’less travelled’? Is it possible that it might allow us to go much further than we did before? Is it possible we might be able to do things on that road that we never dreamed were possible? Maybe it is time for us to get serious about taking that fork. When you are investing, as we all are, in a long-term transformation, there comes a time when we must now seriously consider taking that road less travelled…whether that means challenging the very foundations on which we have based much of our teaching to date; whether that means asking serious questions about the relevance of the security blanket we call curriculum; whether it means radically rethinking the way we teach subjects like science and mathematics, or whether it simply means looking more closely at the world our modern learners are growing up in, and learning from what we see there, it is time to change direction. We’ve passed down some rather interesting roads on this journey, and who would have thought that we would have come across the small ‘unmade’ tracks like tablets and e-books that have started many going back to where we came from; that’s what happens when you don’t make it clear to people just what lies for us at the end of this journey! However, we must also embolden our efforts in support of those who have started down the fork; support those who have taken the first tentative steps towards genuine transformation of the experiences their students can now have. These are the teachers who are not relying on the journeys they have taken in the past, but realize there is SO much more to be gained by looking ahead instead. These are teachers who realize that by looking ahead and trying new ideas and taking new directions, they will empower their students to go so much further in their own life’s journey. There is so much to be gained for our young people if we look forward, and take that fork in the road. ….as always, I’m interested in your thoughts. Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:06:00 EST Bruce Dixon (bruceadixon) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/SusanEinhorn/view?PostID=415 So many teachers say they would use technology more often, differently in a more transformative way if only......If only they had more PD, more support, more money, more evidence of its value, more time, more time, and more time. I\'m sure this list isn\'t exhaustive. So, I\'ve been asking educators to let me know what conditions did or should their schools or districts provide that would enable them to really make transformative change? On a recent school visit, I spoke with a teacher who would be an excellent teacher with or without technology, but she wouldn\'t think of teaching without technology because of the abundant learning opportunities technology, and particularly 1:1, makes possible. Her students use their laptops to access primary source materials, reams of data, opinion pieces, etc. With their laptops, they are able to access the same information and materials that professionals in the field use. What\'s more, they don\'t simply use this material to answer a series of teacher or curriculum dictated questions, but to build case studies and develop informed opinions so they can go out into the world and know that they are not only prepared to knowledgeably impact the world today but also help shape the world in which they will be living long after many of us are gone. When I asked this teacher what conditions she considered essential, she first and foremost said the school allowed her to *take risks and make mistakes.* To continue to try new ways to really stretch what she\'s doing to create a deeper,richer learning environment. This doesn\'t mean the school has given her a license to do something absurd, with no link to pedagogical best practice. Rather, she\'s able to explore new ways to apply best practices to meet her goals. And if something doesn\'t turn out perfectly the first time she tries it, she isn\'t told to stop, but rather given the space to analyze what worked and what didn\'t in order to learn and grow from the experience. Her goal is always to make more and better learning opportunities available to her students (A further note: her students were so engrossed in their work, they didn\'t leave when the class was over. The teacher had to hurry them out finally so they wouldn\'t be late for their next class.) So, her essential condition was being allowed to take risks in terms of her teaching practice. When we spoke to the school principal and asked her the same question, she responded the same way. She recognized the importance of letting the teacher try new, pedagogically sound practices and explore the possibilities. So support from the school leader was also present, providing another key condition. So, what are your essential conditions? Were there conditions you would add to my list? Why do you consider them essential? How would they help bring about truly transformative change? And, finally, how can you articulate your needs to help put in place the conditions you need to explore how you can make these learning opportunities possible? I look forward to hearing from you! Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:04:00 EST Susan Einhorn (SusanEinhorn) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/nahbel2/view?PostID=414 In his recent article in the New York Times, entitled “Is Algebra Necessary?”, Andrew Hacker makes a strong and provocative statement: “There are many defenses of algebra and the virtue of learning it. Most of them sound reasonable on first hearing; many of them I once accepted. But the more I examine them, the clearer it seems that they are largely or wholly wrong — unsupported by research or evidence, or based on wishful logic”. In this article I will use the word Algebra to mean the traditional curriculum found in the courses typically called Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Pre-Calculus. The name Pre-Calculus can be used as a synonym for Algebra when grouping all these courses together because the primary purpose of these courses is to prepare students for Calculus. Surprisingly, my research indicates that only about 8% of people in the US take and pass Calculus. It seems that we are failing, both literally and figuratively, the vast majority of our students. They sense that the traditional mathematics curriculum is not for them, and they are correct. When it is proposed that the US mathematics curriculum should be overhauled by eliminating much of the Algebra currently taught, the typical rebuttal is to point out that when students learn Algebra, in addition to being prepared for Calculus, they learn how to think quantitatively. I agree, but suggest it makes more sense for students to become quantitatively literate while studying topics that are relevant to their everyday lives. To get a sense of how irrelevant the current high school math curriculum is, look at the SAT Math Level II questions on http://www.analyzemath.com/practice_tests/sat_subject/level_2_sample_1.html. Most of the problems on the SAT II, Math Level I and Level II are not applicable to real life. There are some potentially useful topics included, namely Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis, but unfortunately they represent only 10% of these standardized assessments. The College Board, as well as the Common Core Standards, emphasize pure mathematics almost to the exclusion of real-world applications, forcing the math-teaching community to spend the vast majority of class time on traditional, Calculus-driven “skill & drill”, which hasn’t changed much in over a century. What is particularly bizarre about the preoccupation with the teaching of Algebra/preparation for Calculus is that very few of the 8% who do take and pass Calculus actually use it in their professional lives. Most engineers and doctors, for example, use Statistics on a daily basis, but rarely or never use Calculus. Unfortunately, colleges view students’ success in arbitrarily chosen Algebra/Pre-Calculus curricula as a proxy for intelligence. It is time that educators, administrators, and policy-makers wake up and smell the Statistics. It is time to turn the tables on the standard math curriculum by spending the vast majority of our time teaching Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis; these are the topics that help students make sense of what politicians say, decide whether to buy a lottery ticket, and plan for retirement. When that is accomplished, the general population will become quantitatively literate, will see the relevance of math in everyday life, and will enjoy mathematics for a change. To a large extent, the current mathematics curriculum limits students’ access to educational and occupational opportunities. Let’s instead inspire students with intriguing, powerful, and useful mathematics that prepares them for the 21st Century; if we do they might be motivated to continue studying mathematics… including Calculus! Nils Ahbel is a mathematics teacher at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, MA. His free, full year high school math course available at https://dalearn.deerfield.edu/login/index.php; click “Login as guest”. Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:48:00 EST Nils Ahbel (nahbel2)