Opportunities

“You know the No. 1 complaint about school is that it’s boring because the traditional way it’s taught relies on passive learning,” Mr. Noguera said. “It’s not interactive enough.”

Pedro Noguera (NYT)

I just watched David Warlick‘s K12 Online Conference Keynote: Inventing the New Boundaries.

Then I got an e-mail from Kris about an article coming out in the New York Times later today, titled: In Some Schools, iPods Are Required Listening.

They both reminded me of this post,

“Kids are going to text message.
How are we going to make that work in our school?”
– – –
“When someone wants to ban something, I ask myself,
how can we use this to help us in education? ‘It is a new tool’. Not obstacles but opportunities.”
Chris Kennedy

Which takes us back to the New York Times Article:

Ms. Poli said her Spanish-speaking students — known around the school as Pod People — have been able to move out of bilingual classes after just a year of using the digital devices, compared with an average of four to six years for most bilingual students.

Winnie Hu


Access

We have the capability to access like never before! Recently I have thought a lot about how things have changed, about how we digitally engage and interact in our world. There are so many opportunities available to us.

• Our lives are open, public and on display.

For under $100 you can have iLife ’08 and produce, publish, print and share what ever you want with the world. Fifteen years ago $10,000 couldn’t have given you the same opportunities… and there are free versions of similar (and some better) tools popping up all the time.

• Online networks help to define us.

My Blog, My Flickr, My Space, My Facebook, My Friends, My Profile, My Second Life, My del.icio.us, MyBlogLog, My Ning Network, My Twitter, My-Whole-Life-Connected-and-On-Display-For-Anyone-And-Everyone-To-See…

• Growing access to customizable tools and networks.

Maps of the future are being used as a catalyst for conversation. As Mark Van’t Hooft of Ubiquitous Thoughts notes, the map “…lists half a dozen external forces that will affect education in the next decade in the areas of family and community, markets, institutions, educators and learning, and tools and practices. With regards to digital tools, it is noteworthy that the focus seems to be on mobile and connected devices, in an environment that favors personalization/customization AND networking/connectedness at the same time.”

• Personalized learning that responds to a learner’s needs.

Machines are finding creative answers to problems… This site, Think Artificial, also introduced me to Virtual Tutors: Launched in March, uMind “…employs AI to create a virtual tutor that recognizes and adapts to the student’s limitations and emotional distress. The instructor knows when a student is stumped and activates extra teaching modules on the specific subject.”

• Life extended beyond the physical world.

Moving beyond just Web2.0 sharing. The first time I saw Gary Hayes‘ “THE CHANGING INTRAWEB – FROM 1.0 to 3.0” was the first time I considered the possibility of Web3.0. Today there seems to be a very real weaving of real-life and virtual realities for more than just entertainment. We will find ourselves engaging in, and fully integrating with, a digital universe — a metaverse — “This ubiquitous cloud of information is like electricity to children of the 20th century: essentially universal, expected and conspicuous only in its absence.”


Obstacles

Yes there are Obstacles … and they aren’t going away fast enough. The most basic one is once again access- (or at least lack there of). Carolyn Foote‘s post on The disconnect notes the many roadblocks teacher face, (“the disconnect between “the possible” and what’s permitted in schools”).

Here is what I said in a comment on Carolyn’s post:

I’ve been limited by the technology my school can provide time and again:-(
About a year and a half ago, I got out of Plato’s cave, saw the vibrancy technology can provide in a student’s learning experience and I have been constantly thrown back into the cave to watch the technology-less shadows… A disconnect indeed!

For me the (hardware) tools are computers, ideally wireless laptops.

For many others, as I have been learning, the (web2.0/software) tools themselves are unimportant compared to access, opportunity, and COLLABORATION TIME. Tools are getting so much more user-friendly, but using them for learning (rather than just to teach old things in new ways), that is the trick. Case in point: I have seen a few blogs where students answer a teacher question, but don’t interact with each other in any meaningfully way.
So for many teachers collaboration time, or training, or professional development opportunities are more important than tools (in my humble opinion).

Put 2 or more well-intentioned teachers in a room and practice will improve. Don’t offer specific tools, offer opportunities for people to Connect & Collaborate & Creatively engage with tools of their choice.
Oh yeah… but make sure they have the technology available to make this time useful when they get back into their classrooms!


Access Granted

On many levels, ‘access issues’ are key obstacles. Yet, opportunities abound! The web lets us collaborate in many different ways! So now I have to wonder: Do we want our discussions to be around what we can’t do?
It isn’t so much about ‘New Boundaries‘ as it is about removing boundaries. There were holes in the Berlin wall for years… innovative teachers today are escapees from behind similar walls. It is time to tear the old ideological walls down. Teachers and students need access granted!

Originally posted: October 9th, 2007

Comment on the original post:

I’m just discovering this post after you shared it on twitter during Educon! It is such a fresh way of looking at the issues involved. I’m going to add it to the wiki for reflection.

I think identifying this as an ideological battle is significant. It’s about the difference between fear and opportunity. I think we have to be informed, and inform our districts as well, and we each have to help on the front lines by spreading hope not fear.

Carolyn Foote on Monday, 28 January 2008, 14:05 CET

Reflection upon re-reading and re-posting:

One of the most amazing things about our district is how open it is… and we are building an infrastructure designed for our students to be able to bring their own hardware!

In 5 years, a teacher won’t need a 1-1 laptop program, but instead just 2 or 3 ‘computers’ for those that do not bring their own to class. Why? Because I figure in 5 years instead of carrying around an MP3 player and phone/camera, almost every student will have a jazzed up iPhone or equivalent tool. They will be bringing their own tools to class. With the hardware obstacle out of the way, we can start focusing on the use of technology to Connect & Collaborate & Creatively engage the learner… allowing our student to Construct their learning and Create meaning.

I’ve seen a real shift in my own thinking recently. Forget whining about access, disregard the slow speed of change, get over the obstacles! Go after meaningful results. Engage and empower students. Be a leader and a role model.

3 comments on “Opportunities, Access & Obstacles

  1. David
    You make some great points, particularly about viewing the shifting landscapes as points of possibilities, not barriers. Yes, access and equity as still huge issues that we all need to pay attention to and deal with, but there are so many possibilities for engagement that teachers need to be aware of, working with and bringing into the classroom,
    Kevin

    1. Hi Kevin,
      Interesting that you’d stumble upon this, a post that is just over 5 years old… and mention the idea of viewing the shifting landscapes. Think of how different the landscape was when I wrote this post! Still, there is part of me that is disappointed that things haven’t moved as fast as I had hoped for. And despite saying that, it truly is an exciting time to be an educator! 🙂
      Thanks for the comment.
      Dave

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