"I've Been Globalised"

@Mr_Lincheck edcampGlobal Badge

As a long time EducampNZ fan I was keen to participate and contribute to edcampGlobal this year. A 24 hour learning experience edcampGlobal took the traditional edcamp unconference experience to another level of ubiquitous learning and networking.
The programme over 24 hours included a host of sessions to select from via Google Hangouts on Air, Twitter chats and Periscope.

I posted an invite to our educampNZ community and was joined by awesome kiwi educators and educampNZ organisers +Philippa Nicoll Antipas +Juliet Revell +Barbara Reid +Annemarie Hyde +Anne Kenneally

Below are Google Slides we used to guide our conversation and share strategies and resources for organising an unconference event, plus a recording of the Hangout on Air.  Can't thank the team enough for stepping up at 11am NZT on a Sunday!

I also took a couple of minutes to share some of my thinking about the value of social networking and user generated professional learning. Starting at 5:52 in the Hangout, notes are below.  

If we were to use pop culture and the celebratory tweet to measure the value of social media for professional learning I suspect the majority of my online professional learning communities would be gathering dust by now. However social networks that enable educators to connect, collaborate and engage in conversations that matter to their learning are recognised by many educators as critical to improving professional practice.

The belief that great learning is social is a concept that continues to resonate for me (via Dr Claire Sinnema... "Because context matters... inquiry is important")

This is in reference to Teaching as in Inquiry in the NZC… "a framework that teachers can use to help them learn from their practice and in response to the needs of their learners."

The teacher uses evidence from research and from their own past practice and that of colleagues to plan teaching and learning opportunities aimed at achieving prioritised outcomes. 

While Teaching as in Inquiry is informed by research the value of a teacher's past practice and that of colleagues should not be overlooked. 

"What good are the approaches, principles and mechanisms in the research? Why inquire if we know what works? ... Because context matters. 

The framework provides us with a common understanding and language for inquiry into our practice, the context is what brings life to the inquiry and to the learning." Dr Claire Sinnema

I believe this is where the true value of connecting and building a professional learning network via social networking, informal and participant driven professional learning can add value. Individuals are able to connect with a far wider community of educational professionals, in their context, while using the lens of their Teaching as Inquiry focus to inform decision making for learning and changing practice.

"There's a #FirstTweet for everything"

Seven years ago today I sent my first Tweet... a time before the RT, #tags, clickable links, @usernames and the celebrity Tweet! 

It's interesting to look back at those first few Tweets and the beginnings of a truly inspirational professional learning network.  Try it, especially if you've been Tweeting for a few years. 

Find out the date you sent your first Tweet here

Personalise the bold text below with your Twitter username and a date range that includes your first Tweet.

from:username since:yyyy-mm-dd until:yyyy-mm-dd

Copy and paste into the Search Twitter field from your home page at Twitter.com

My first interaction on Twitter was with @mguhlin ( +Miguel Guhlin ) 

Plus some familiar faces popped up when I checked out my first followers and my first follows using Tweet Tunnel.  

Twitter has certainly been a game changer for my learning.

How I manage my Twitter in 2014

There are only two types of people in this world...

A few years ago a guest speaker at work tried to persuade us that there were four types of people in the world …powerful, peaceful, precise and party.  No surprises what type I was ;-). A decade ago I guess I did approach decision making with some precision… I had a plan! Not sure whether it is as simple today. Change is fast and there are a lot more unknowns. So maybe there is another type of person…a person with 'pull'.

The power of pull is a concept that resonates with me and has helped me make some sense of navigating this rapidly changing world. From the book The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion ( Hagel, Seely Brown and Davison, 2010) pull is described as:

"… the ability to draw out people and resources as needed to address opportunities and challenges. Pull gives us un-precedented access to what we need, when we need it, even if you are not quite sure what "it" is. Pull allows us to harness and unleash the forces of attraction, influence and serendipity."

How are you "harnessing your ecosystems?" How are you scaling up your connectivity and attracting the people and resources you need to find your potential?

One place you might want to start is EduCampNZ. Harnessing the power of connections and conversations, EduCampNZ is an e-learning un-conference where you can harness the power of pull… but that's up to you.

Visit the EduCampNZ wiki to find out how you can participate and harness the power of pull.

By the way, to paraphrase Robert Benchley, there are only two types of people in this world, those who think there are two types and those who know better.

Recommendations for building your PLN...where would you start?

I have had requests lately from educators looking to build their e-learning PLN and asking for recommendations on where to start. Rather than respond individually I have shared as a post.

Connected

This may be a bit of a brave new world for some so I have gone for less is more and what I hope provides a range of options (especially for those who may be starting out) to connect quickly through existing professional learning networks and communities.

Please comment if you have other recommendations that may be curriculum or subject specific.

1. Twitter: there is a very strong group of New Zealand and international educators using Twitter. #edchatNZ - NZ Educators and OZ Educators on Twitter
   
   Useful tips for getting started on Twitter:
   Twitteraholics guide to tweets, hashtags and all things twitter
   The Ultimate Twitter Guidebook
   Using Twitter to build your PLN
The Ultimate Guide to using Twitter in Education
2.  Tweeting for Teachers: A new report published jointly by Pearson and NoTosh recommends that teachers should use Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools to improve their classroom skills.
3. EduCampNZ Wiki: a series of e-learning un-conferences that provide a valuable opportunity to connect with like minded educators interested in e-learning and education. Explore the wiki to connect with other participating educators at each of the EduCampNZ events. 


4. EdBlogNZ  has an online directory of blogs written by teachers and other professionals in New Zealand’s education space.  Use blog comments to connect with others who share your interests. 


5. Online Groups and Communities:

• Google Educator Group GEGs are independently run communities of educators who inspire and empower each other to meet the needs of our learners through technology, both in the classroom and beyond. 
• The Virtual Learning Network (VLN):  A range of professional learning groups from early childhood through to tertiary.
• Google Apps in NZ Schools Group:New Zealand schools keep you up to date with the latest news and technology available for Google Apps for Education
• MLE Reference Group: Discuss the software and digital content that support learning in New Zealand schools. 

"Fantastic turnout for #EduCampAKL" via @lenva

Posting to organise and record some of the excellent contributions from EduCampAKL yesterday. Ka nui te mihi to everyone who participated and contributed, you continue to inspire me.

Also thanks to our hosts @ClaireAmosNZ and the IT team from Epsom Girls Grammar who worked wonders with the network when around 80 of us (with multiple devices) descended for the Smackdown at 10am.

For those of you who like to take time and explore, the EduCampAKL wiki includes a multitude of links and resources shared on the day. I have also summarised and book marked contributions in My Delicious below.

EduCampNZ: Interface Magazine, July 2011

Click to view pdf.

Thanks to Interface Magazine for sharing EduCampNZ story in their latest issue.

Looking forward to EduCampTaiTokerau tomorrow, check the wiki for details or follow #EduCampTT

"EduCampWelly was about wanting to be there, it's self directed and personal"

@teachernz

"Where good ideas come from?"

The e-Learning Lead Team at Mt Roskill Grammar represent a number of learning areas and departments across the school.  Face-to-face time is one opportunity to connect and learn.

Today's agenda included many opportunities for conversations specifically targeted at sharing the impact of the team's teacher e-learning inquiries.

We kicked today off with this short clip by Steven Johnson, and shared some of the ideas that resonated with us on this collaborative Google doc.

"...we have so many new ways to connect, so many new ways to reach out and find other people...that's the real lesson of where good ideas come from, the chance favours the connected mind" 

(Steven Johnson)

A Portal to Learning@School

Last year I created a public portal to the uLearn08 conference in my aggregator, Netvibes. This was useful as I was quickly able to scan updates from the numerous conference feeds including blog posts, tweets, photos etc. Also able to share these with virtual attendees and others who could not be there in the flesh with some interesting consequences (see Reflections and Connections post).


I have created a portal for the Learning@School 09 Conference in Rotorua next week to keep track of the various conference channels and 'back chat'. I have previously blogged about the value of using an aggregator to manage online learning and maybe a conference portal could also be useful if you can't make the conference and want to personalise the conference channels you follow.

Looking forward to seeing my virtual learning network face-2-face and also collaborating with Rochelle Jensen to facilitate a few breakouts. Rocky and I are very excited to be working together over the next couple of years and will be utilising the Software for Learning wiki to learn more about how teachers are utilising e-learning to support student learning.

See you all next week,
Hei konā

tags technorati : learningatschool

World Maths Day

World Maths Day - March 5 2008
Students from around the world are invited to join with others to take part in the free online World Maths Day Challenge to break last years record of 38 904 275 questions. This year the goal is to answer 50 million mental arithmetic questions in one day. The event has been designed for 5-18 year olds.

Find out more and register here

Learning through socially networked media...Part 2

After reading the LearnOnline blog for a while it was good to meet the author Leigh Blackall and his partner Sunshine last week when Leigh spoke to a group of educators in Auckland. Leigh has been researching and developing models for learning through socially networked media... from free and open source software, de-schooling, and networked learning and explored and challenged these concepts in the context of New Zealand education and the widening use of the Internet, social web and 3D virtual worlds in schools.

Just that morning I had read a thought provoking post by Sheryl on progressive education that included a clip from the 1940s where I seemed to be hearing the same questions and conversations we are having today (recommended reading). A clear message from Leigh was the importance of us as educators taking control of our networks,rather than letting others make these decisions for us and blocking sites verses facilitating and modelling socially responsible strategies for using web based environments... this took me back to Stuart Hale's keynote at the Kapiti-Otaki Cluster conference last month when he said "the server is there to serve us".

I have also become aware lately that some of us didn't realise Wikipedia is " written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world" and consequently is viewed by some as 'not a reliable resource for use with students'. An idea from Leigh which I think might be worth pursuing as an authentic learning context, is to use wikipedia to connect with experts. For example... if students were to author an entry in wikipedia with the teacher facilitating a connection with a local expert or associated organisation that can then work collaboratively with students to develop the validity of the entry...in the words of Konrad Glogowski...

"I do not want to create a community or a social network for my students. Instead, I want to create the conditions necessary for the right kind of environment to emerge. Building an environment for the students is likely to result in failure: environments and communities need to be build with the students, with their full participation, through their work and their interactions with and about texts."

If you are interested in accessing more of Leigh's recommended blogs and resources he has kindly set up a delicious tag here

Student Voice

Thanks to Will Richardson (via an email from Artichoke) for this one...


...Voice Thread - Basically a Web 2.0 tool that allows you to capture numerous voice responses to a single digital image and then post to your blog or website. What I like is that as an author I can post this and invite other (registered users) to also respond to the image and to what has been recorded by adding their own voice. Also it can enable many voices to be heard in response to the same photo...almost like hearing the individual thoughts of a group, aloud, as they simultaneously respond to an image.

Apart from its potential as a collaborative online tool that anyone can access Will considers that Voice Thread could take us past..."creating and publishing" and "enable the conversations and connections that occur around the content, where the most potential for learning lies."

...and in an email from Artichoke..."It is like being able to scribble in the margins of an image...Voice Thread takes everything that I reckon is shallow in podcasting and liberates it...And why do I think podcasting is shallow use of technology? If we continue to focus on the changes in technology rather than the changes in teaching and learning we simply use technology to “recreate education as it is.” What is so profoundly innovative about recording voice and sharing it?"

....fair question...and one that we should easily be able to defend...if not to others at least ourselves and our students whenever we utilise technology to support learning. I know there are some innovative examples of the impact podcasting has had on student learning and I believe if you delve deeper you will find it has not been driven by the technology but rather in response to the learning purpose and through facilitating experiences that both challenge and support students to think, reflect and make new connections both virtually and F2F.