How do you empower students to engage with a text in such a way that they can come to their own understanding of it?
I just participated in a fascinating live blogging experiencewith Maura Moritz’s and Karl Fisch’s students at Arapahoe High School. The students were using the inner/outer circle discussion method in their classroom to discuss the book. While the inner circle held a discussion in the room, the outer circle was live blogging their discussion and holding their own with a few of us from outside the classroom (Jen Wagner) that had been invited to join them.
The students probably don’t even think of what they are doing as that extraordinary because they have been using this method for a few weeks to study the book Whole New Mind. But to me, it was invigorating to be listening in and participating with their discussion of Pink’s chapter on “Symphony” from my desk in Austin.
We were discussing Pink’s chapter on symphony, in which he talks about the power of bringing seemingly unrelated ideas together to create something new, to see relationships anew, to re-see.
It was fascinating seeing students struggle with that chapter, trying to determine what it meant to them, and for myself, to figure out what it meant to me in a way that I could communicate.
The multi-layered levels of this discussion were fascinating. Students seemed engaged in the live blogging, and had a foot in their classroom(multi-tasking as an assignment!) Interestingly, their perspective on Whole New Mind differed widely from that of other teachers I have talked to about the book.
Yet, you could witness the students’ understanding grow as they listened to others in the live blog or in their classroom, because it was in written form. I really liked the idea of the conversation being a written one, something that they could refer back to, that their other classmates could read, and that others outside of the school(including the author, I presume) could engage with later on.
I also noticed that students were eager for us to help tie their understanding to things they know and could relate to, like sports, or school. Which again, was an interesting reminder that we need to connect to what our students are familiar with in order to build new understandings. In the book Made To Stick, Chip and Dan Heath write about appealing to a customer’s personal interest as a way to make ideas sticky. And I could see that as we live blogged, my own understanding was also more personal; an interesting point to remember as we are trying to get students engaged with a text–make it personal?
The best part about it as a visitor was being embedded in a discussion with students. (I fear I wrote too much, but it was out of my enthusiasm for Daniel Pink and wanting others to share it, rather than out of a teacherly urge.) The technology removed the barrier of me standing at the front of the room as an “educator” or a “guest” and allowed us to jump right into the discussion at hand. As Arthus talked about at Educon, we were all speaking with an equal voice in the live blogging, all equal partipants, each with the same “rights” to contribute.
And as we explored the idea of symphony, I realized how much I value that trait. I really live for those aha moments when you are able to connect unrelated ideas together and make something new. By live blogging the chapter, I really engaged in it more deeply than I had before, and it reemphasized to me how powerful engaging students in a conversation with a text is.
I don’t often write ’inside info’ kind of posts, but in the last two days, I witnessed an amazing example of a learning network in action.
Twitter, a site I’m a huge fan of as many of you know, announced it would be going down for maintenance for most of Saturday. Since a number of us rely on twitter to keep us “in the loop” with a network of colleagues, a plan spontaneously hatched on Twitter for our whole network to “move” for the day to a different site, Pownce.
However, there’s one problem–Pownce doesn’t give unlimited access. You have to be invited, and each person only gets a few invites.
So, harnessing the power of web 2.0, a wiki was set up(I believe by Derrall Garrison), where you could post your email if you needed an invite to Pownce.
Once on Pownce, our learning network explored the tool and evaluated what they liked/didn’t like about it or how they could use it on their campus.
The amazing thing is that through the power of connections, and knowing a few handy tools, we literally MOVED a whole group to a new site within a day. We problem-solved, collaborated, and brainstormed in order to stay connected because it was important to our own learning.
This is the kind of a learning experience we would want for our students–for them to spontaneously identify a problem and possible solutions, to find the right tools to achieve those, to have the freedom to try out solutions, and to evaluate their choices. Even as an adult learner, it felt so empowering and energizing to be a part of this team approach. Imagine how powerful this would be for our students or other teachers on our campuses.
Do we give them enough opportunities to harness their own learning this way?
(P.S. By the way, Twitter didn’t end up going down, but through networking, we have a toolkit of ideas for “back-up.”)
I feel like a giddy schoolgirl this morning–just having so much fun interacting with other educators around the world who are also giddy about what they are doing.
While most of us in the U.S. were sleeping, Jeff Utecht of Thinking Stick in Shanghai was testing out a new site called WizIq (a new site that is a virtual classroom, with chat, sharing, etc.) and holding a skypechat to discuss it.
Then as I was just getting up, my Skype started ringing, and Chris Betcher(in Australia) was inviting me into a Skype conference call. So I woke up this morning chatting with educators in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Thailand, and Pennsylvania and Maryland, about projects they are doing in their schools or are involved with, and am already trying to hook up some of them with teachers in our district.
I left my computer later thinking we were like giddy school kids, just so excited about the idea of connecting and learning.
And then I started wondering where that expression even comes from? Are most school kids we know giddy about learning, and if not, what can we do about it?
Can we bring this excitement into classrooms in our schools so that our own students feel like giddy school kids?
Some elements that get me giddy that I wonder if we can replicate in schools –
the collaboration piece–when you are working with others on something you are passionate about, and it starts clicking, it feels very energizing.
the online piece–it’s exciting to bring the collaboration online because of transformative abilities the technologies now have to connect us.
the adventure piece–trying something for the first time, exploring it with others, and testing the limits of it can be really energizing.
the challenge piece–when something is challenging, and you figure it out as a group, (or on your own), it feels so rewarding.
the global piece–this may or may not be as “mind blowing” for our students, since they have Facebook, Myspace, etc., but learning from others around the world is exciting. It’s illuminating to get different perspectives, but see what problems we also share across borders. And it’s just really cool to realize you are talking to someone in Thailand or New Zealand before breakfast
the curiosity piece–having some basic curiosity about how things work and discovery creates more enthusiasm.
the spontaneity piece–being able to spontaneously check something out, ask someone a question, hop on the internet to look something up, collaborate on the spot, or contact someone creates a tremendous feeling of ‘point of need’ learning–a feeling I think students are accustomed to having in their “real” lives due to texting, Facebook, etc.
There are so many tools now, as we were discussing in the Skypecast, that allow you to share with students and other teachers or experts this way. Skype, Elluminate, Flashmeeting are just a few worth exploring.
I think one thing that is difficult to sort out if you are new to this is where to start, and where to find projects to participate in, or people to contact. Ning has some great groups to use as launching points–like Classroom 2.0 Ning, Edubloggerworld Ning, or Global Education Ning. Taking IT Global is another resource that Sharon Peters mentioned in the Skype chat this morning. Blogs are another great source of information about global education projects, like the ones mentioned on Always Learning or on Beyond School.
And I have to say that Twitter or any source that lets you network with other like-minded folks is a great resource for connections and ideas. I am not incredibly familiar with Facebook, but I think it has that same sort of ability for sharing. Using a resource like this to network is like having a constant live-feed of ideas from other professionals.
But I think the key thing for me is not the technology, but is thinking about those qualities above that make me feel giddy as a learner, and then figuring out how we can bring more of those things into our classrooms and libraries. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have learning that wakes our students up in the morning and makes them WANT to come to school?
As I have been doing some reading all summer, my whole notion of research is shifting somewhat. Maybe it is reflecting the shift that many of our students are living, as well.
I’m coming to realize more and more that although in schools we treat research as a somewhat solitary activity, in its true form, research is a very networked activity.
As George Siemens writes, in describing Connectivism, “learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity.” He goes on to point out that learners “remain current in their field through the connections they have formed.” I often think of how scientists or historians conduct research, not in an isolated bubble, but in a network of colleagues, acquaintances, librarians and in the company of information from the past.
Siemens goes on to cite Karen Stephenson, who writes:
“Experience has long been considered the best teacher of knowledge. Since we cannot experience everything, other people’s experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge.”
Our students already practice the power of knowledge sharing because they use their social networks not only socially, but in order to help one another….in the olden days, via long phone calls about homework, and now via Facebook or MySpace or IM. But do we ask them to employ those skills DURING the school day, officially, particularly when they are engaged in a research project?
As I read more and think about research projects, and then think about how my own approach to learning has changed the last few years with the increasing ability to network both within and outside of my campus, I am realizing that we need to be addressing those changes in library research programs as well.
What ways can we support students in drawing on the knowledge of both experts and of one another?
Some practical ideas I am considering that would allow students to network more:
Using message boards or forums during research projects so that students can give one another research tips is a way to engage students more actively. We tried this last year during our Vietnam Wall project and it worked well. Students enjoyed giving tips to one another.
Creating collaborative wikis for projects is another way. Again, we tried this on a government policy project, where students collaborated across class periods on a wiki.
Asking a student to explain to the class how they would approach a research problem establishes that students have expertise as well (a fact they already realize, since students often ask other students for help.)
Asking students to “play” librarian for a class and explain how to use the appropriate databases.
Enabling some sort of “chat” during a research period that could be used for research help from one another.
Making sure that students spent time conferencing face to face with one another every couple of days to share good resources with each other (ala the Cha-cha website model).
Employing a “team” of researchers–assign a research project to a team, much as a team of scientists would work on a research dilemma. Allow the teams to conference with other “teams” from other class periods, via blogs, wikis, Skype chats, chatrooms, or face-to-face meetings.
Posting white butcher paper on the wall where students can write requests for help on a topic and others can volunteer to assist them or write suggestions. (It doesn’t always have to be “high tech.”)
Helping students set up a Pageflakes site with feeds from helpful blogs and links to helpful websites to “display” their learning network.
Having students use web-mapping software like Inspiration or Bubbl.us to map out who their information “lifelines” are.
Teaching them how to use the del.icio.us bookmarks of other experts or their friends as a way to broaden their network and find good information.
Asking them to show you how they use social networking to help them with research–What are the sites they use to share information and help one another?
By redefining research in a more “real world” and connected way, I think we can help it become more integral to our campuses and more integral to the way our students learn.
I’d like to hear of other ideas you may have for helping students “network” during a research process. Thanks to Dean Shareski for the links.
Uber librarian Joyce Valenza has created an extremely helpful wiki listing copyright free music and art sites for student projects. Since it’s a wiki, anyone using it can also contribute sites to it, and create as she calls it, an “uberwikipathfinder” for copyright free media. The wiki’s sidebar lists links for music, clipart, and even image creation sites.
Recently one of our teachers asked me in a workshop why I like blogging. This is why–through the power of reading someone’s blog, I discover a tool that I can share with our entire campus and others in our district. The ability to share resources is an amazing multiplier of our efforts as educators.
In this vein of sharing, another ”uber” site that I know of is one from Scott McLeod, at Dangerously Irrelevant, who is asking for contributions to his Moving Forward wiki of tools for schools addressing school change.
And I’ve been working on a wiki site for our campus as well, which I created to introduce various web 2.0 tools to our staff. I’m collecting some of these uber sites on my wiki, so if you know of one you’d like to share, let me know.
In January, when we began talking with our English 3AP teachers about a way to make their Vietnam Wall project more “reachable” online, the goal was to allow students who were reading The Things They Carried to retell the stories of those individuals whose names were listed on the Vietnam Wall.
Now, our collaborative Vietnam Wall Experience project for English 3AP is almost completed, thanks to the efforts of many hands. (Thanks to the teachers, Becky Stucky, Sandra Coker, and Michelle Crocker, and Joel Adkins, our technology coordinator, Paula Murray, district tech coordinator, and Kevin Schwartz, Information Services department).
Students created a video project, using a variety of software, to tell the story of a soldier’s life and death. Each student was assigned a name from the Vietnam Wall. Some had access to much more information about their person than others from the Virtual Wall site and some were even able to interview family members or friends via email.
In beginning the project, Joel and I worked with all three teachers’ classes to demo software and share examples of how they could approach the project, and to talk to them about appropriateness of tone and music, as I wrote about a few months ago. We began the project using a pbwiki site we had created to host software tutorials and sample videos. Teachers worked with students on the research, bibliographies, and their class presentations, among many other things.
Some students let the text or interviews tell the story, others the music and images. The list of videos is lengthy, so here are a few excellent examples of work students did.
This is by far the largest video project we’ve done, with almost 300 students involved, and only some of their work is represented on the Vietnam site.
We have learned some lessons about helping students more during the editing process(before movie projects are finalized), as well as issues with using photostory (and iMovie which many of our students used at home), as well as about hosting video projects online.
I also wish we’d allowed more time to explore the idea of recording narration. A few students did that, and it added a touching overlay to the video and conveyed more information than text can.
I think students learned how to “drill deeper,” especially when they didn’t have much information on their soldier available, as well as how to tell a story effectively in a multi-media environment, and how to be aware of their audience. And we do have some work to do on the actual classroom presentation of the videos–do they stand alone? Should students speak as well?
More details about the projects, as well as a place for comments can be found on the website or feel free to comment here or at Joel’s tech blog.
Each video tells a story as the student interpreted it. As Tim O’Brien so aptly wrote in the Things They Carried, “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.”
An exciting new project has just been announced–the Encyclopedia of Life, which will be a worldwide clearinghouse encyclopedia for information about all life forms.
Edmund Wilson conceived of it as a way to collect information about every organism on earth, and presented the idea, which was in the works, recently at an innovation conference called TED Talks.
Within weeks, members of TED had jumped on board, collaborating to create a website for the project, donate photographs for the site, and even donating the url for the site.
Today a major announcement heralded the start of the Encyclopedia.
By the way if you aren’t familiar with TED Talks, it is an annual gathering of the world’s most innovative thinkers, who are invited to give the “best speech of their lives” in 18 minutes. Videos of the speakers are archived on their website, and the goal is to spur innovative thinking and collaboration.
The power of the web to spur this innovation is thrilling. Wilson predicts that with the combined power of scientists and contributers worldwide, that all 1.8 million species can be documented in the next ten years. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if with a global effort, it happens far faster than that.
There will be a teacher and student section, and the encyclopedia will be available in many languages, and also in novice and expert variations, so it can be a tool for scientists and our students, alike.
When I think of the potential for our students using sites like this where they may be working with or reading the work of the greatest scientists around the world, I think students are going to have unbounded opportunities for real collaborative experiences that we haven’t even begun to think of yet.
Our campus has talked a little bit about creating an “innovation” group or club. Perhaps sharing TED Talks videos with our students is a place to begin.
I was taking a second look at SlideShare this morning, which if you haven’t seen it, is like a professional’s “YouTube” for uploading powerpoint presentations.
They are doing some creative things there, like holding a “world’s best presentation” contest, and letting users vote. (An aside– I noticed a version of Karl Fisch’s and Scott McLeod’s presentation, Did You Know, is entered in the competition with new graphics from J Brenman.)
I was thinking about a post Joel Adkins (our campus technology coordinator) wrote recently, entitled TechTube. He was asking why educators keep reinventing the wheel, particular on training, and if there couldn’t be a site for teachers and trainers where they could upload their training materials or teaching materials to share with others.
So, this is a shout out for educators to use SlideShare. Why couldn’t we being using it as a place to upload presentations we do for students or for training purposes? If we give them some common subject “tags” then we could easily find the materials.
Or better yet, like the new Teacher Tube for videos, why can’t there be a Slide Share for Teachers that is user friendly? And better yet, why can’t there be one for students?
Imagine how the design quality of student presentations might improve if students could upload their presentations for a “world’s best” competition? (Ok, I know there are a million issues with plagiarism here….) But how about doing this within a class or within a campus? You could feature the “year’s best” student powerpoints or class presentations.
Penguin Books has just completed a fascinating project, at a millionpenguins.com,which was a collaborative novel written entirely by volunteers on a wiki site.
As their introduction notes,
“The buzz these days is all about the network, the small pieces loosely joined. About how the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. About how working together and joining the dots serves the greater good and benefits our collective endeavours. . . .
However, is the same true in artistic fields? We are used to the romantic notion of the artist or the novelist working alone in an attic room, or in the shed at the bottom of the garden. . . . Can a collective create a believable fictional voice? How does a plot find any sort of coherent trajectory when different people have a different idea about how a story should end – or even begin? “
You can read the novel that resulted from Penguin’s experiment here. Also, if you click on the discussion tab, you can view all the different threads of discussion that occurred while it was being written, as well as discussions of the process. (They eventually decided to shut it down for a few hours a day so volunteers could “clean it up” and organize.)
The participants actually worked together across continents and time to sort of the structure of the novel, how to write it on the wiki, characters, etc.
For example, after some struggle about the organization of it, one contributor took it upon herself to help organize the plot:
“Hi All – someone mentioned the idea of a “story arc” to help us get a sensible plot structure. . . .To get round this, I have set up a story arc page and a chapter summary page for each chapter. If people could summarise each chapter and refer to these summaries then hopefully we can build up a sensible timeline for events in the story.”
Others created sections about characters to work out how they would be handled.
It’s a fascinating project. According to Business Week, as of March 5, they had 75,000 visitors and over 1300 contributors to the novel.
What a great project for students, and again proof of the power of collaboration and the role of web 2.0 tools.
