Teens Talk about Educational Technology

One of the highlights of the 2007 AECT International Convention was the fireside chat with Marc Prensky and 5 high school students. Prensky pretty much said the same thing he’s been saying for years (I’ve heard and seen that speech and presentation 3 different times now) but the students brought a fresh perspective to the technology integration conversation. It was great to hear students describe what they consider to be ideal instruction, assignments, assessment, and the desired classroom environment. I sat there thinking that we need to hear from students more often. You can read a transcript of this event here.

Steve Hargadon has recently posted an article (here and here) summarizing his interview with a 14 year old student “who has recently become actively involved in the online dialog about educational technology.” Steve’s summation and the audio of the interview are both intriguing.

I encourage you to spend some time listening to what the students have to say and then share your thought in the comments below.

AECT’s Teacher Education Division’s Online Convention Activities and Resources

Introducing the Teacher Education Division’s most recent venture into the world of Web 2.0 technologies. TED Live! 2007 is a member generated e-newsletter of anything and everything related to TED during the 2007 AECT Convention. TED Live! 2007 has robust RSS capabilities and will mashup blog posts, images, podcasts, vidcasts, social bookmarks, file attachments (slide shows, handouts, papers, etc.), tags/keywords, and more into an easy to use e-newsletter. This information will be archived and will be available on The Playground. Consider the possible benefits of being able to provide your students access to particularly relavent information and materials, for those with research interests related to the social aspect of a professional organization, professional development communities, online learning and callaboration, social networking, and much more.

Virtual Attendance and Participation
We realize that everyone can not make it to Anaheim this year, but you can stay connecTED with us and enjoy the presentations and content via TED Live! 2007. If we don’t see you at the convention then we hope to see you online!

Contribute Content
TED Live! 2007 can only be as rich and useful as we make it and we need your help to make this a valuable resources for us all. Please read TED’s Legal Disclaimers.

$15,000 Interactive Classroom Makeover

TeacherTube and Interwrite Learning are partnering to bring a great contest to classroom teachers. This contest provides the opportunity to win an interactive classroom makeover worth over $15,000. Your video submission could make you an your students the big winner! Contest rules and information are available here and you can check out the contest entries here.

Teaching and Learning in the 2.0 Era

Many of this blog’s readers and many of my students have asked me to provide an overview of the buzz-term 2.0. As you’ll see in just a moment, it is reported to have all started with the use of the phrase Web 2.0 back in 2004 and was soon followed by phrases such as Learning 2.0, Presentations 2.0, School 2.0, Identity 2.0, and Office 2.0 just to give a few examples. All of these are ideas that represent a change/ evolution/ revolution in thinking and practice. Clearly each of these terms has really cool and innovative technologies associated with them, but we must not get distracted by the toys. I think it’s far more important that educators and instructional designers consider the philosophical, theoretical, pedagogical, and pragmatic implications of these ideas as I think each could potentially influence education in the future. I intend on posting more about this later, but for now let’s start at the very beginning. Here are introductions to the terms Web 2.0 and Learning 2.0.

Let’s Set the Scene

  1. If you have access to Integrating Computer Technology into the Classroom, I encourage you to read Chapter 1, Rethinking Computers and Instruction. Otherwise, proceed to the next item.
  2. Consider the information presented in the Shift Happens presentation.

Web 2.0

  1. An Introduction to Web 2.0 – This post includes 2 videos that will provide you with a quick introduction to the concept of Web 2.0.
  2. Web 2.0’s Potential Impact on Teaching Learning – Includes the viral video Web 2.0…The Machine Is Us/ing Us.
  3. Web 2.0 entry from Wikipedia ā€“ Look over this information and become somewhat familiar with the big ideas. Iā€™m not expecting you to become an expert on this. Spending 5 minutes here should be just fine.

Learning 2.0

  1. Learning 2.0 entry from Wikipedia ā€“ This is a very quick read and provides a basic introduction to the idea of Learning 2.0.
  2. Example of teaching and learning 2.0 – 13 Yr. Old CEO of Innovative Educational Gaming Company

For Your Consideration

  1. Do Schools Kill Creativity?

We Didn’t Start the Fire: A Brief History of the U.S.A.

Scott Allsop has taken Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire and created an educational video that depicts all the historical events that Joel sings about. Tracey Osborn uses Allsop’s video and takes it even further. Osborn created this webpage that provides the song’s lyrics and hyper-links all of the historical events metioned to related online resources. Wow!!! I could see some kids just going crazy with this kind of activity. You know they’ll even do this at home and come back the next day still talking about all the history that they’ve absorbed.

You can watch the video here…

…or you can also view/download this video (and many other great videos for use in the classroom) from the awesomely cool TeacherTube.com.

What impact do you think this kind of lesson would have?

Demo of an AMAZING New Technology

Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from around the Web, Photosynth (based on Seadragon technology) creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation. Its architect, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, shows it off in this standing-ovation demo…Indeed, Photosynth might utterly transform the way we manipulate and experience digital images.from TED Talks

The potential implications this kind of technology could have on education are mind blowing. Off the top of my head I can see connections to math, science, geography, art, architecture, photography, mass media and communications, and language arts just to name a few. Then there’s the unbelievable potential for semantic mapping/concept mapping. I’d very much like to hear your thoughts about this. Please leave your response using the Comments link below.

Provocative Quote

“We would never consider teaching children to read without also teaching them to write. In the same manner we must teach our children not just to read electronic media but also to create digital media themselves.”

–from Ann Bell’s new book Creating Digital Video in Your School

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I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts on Mrs. Bell’s claim. Please share your response by clicking on the Comments link below.

Clif

The Crisis in Darfur: A Mini-Lesson that Teaches So Much

I challenge you to complete this mini-lesson and consider the questions below.

LESSON

  1. Watch this news special about the crisis in Darfur.
  2. Play Darfur Is Dying, a quick mini-game that simulates aspects of daily living in this region.

DISCUSSION

  1. What is your reaction to this information and simulated experience?
  2. What, if anything, did you learn from this lesson?
  3. How might this activity be integrated with teaching and learning?

Looking for “The Best” Technology Integration Resources

I encourage you to checkout the discussion that’s underway at The Playground regarding exemplary technology integration resources. I think that you’ll find that it has some excellent suggestions. A few of my suggestions are below. Please add your favorites the list using the Comments section.

Pay Attention

As you gear up for a new school year I encourage you to watch this video clip, Pay Attention, at least once and reflect upon its message. You might find it beneficial to review Karl Fisch’s Shift Happens before you watch this video.