21st Century Educator

Well once again I have been hit by a great conversation going on Dave
Warlick’s blog. His
recent post on teaching young students about the authority of source is a mind spinner. I don’t want to take away for the conversation on his blog, but this has raised a few issues in my mind that have been floating around upstairs for the last week or so. I just haven’t had the nerve or the time to write them down and float the ideas out there.

Those who know me well, would know that my Christian faith is very important to me. My world view is one of Christian Theism and given that I see the world through my personal faith in Jesus Christ all my opinions and thoughts come from that very underpinning of my life.
So….. what has this got to do with ed tech and this new information age? A question that I have asked myself for quite some time. And I think I am starting to see the link…. Bare with me here…..

In Dave’s post the question of teaching students to evaluate what is true has come up. Many folk have commented and given their own personal stories and how they feel we should be teaching students to think. As I look at these examples I am quickly realising that it all comes down to what is true and how do I see the world? This is an age old question but an even
more hard hitting question in this the age of overwhelming access to information. How can we expect young children to decide what is true and not true if we have a society that teaches us that truth is what ever you want it to be? Actually the very fact that I would suggest that this issue boils down to worldview and a need to have an understanding of worldview and or truth will turn people right off reading this blog. We live in a society that says don’t question any bodies opinion because they have the right to believe what they want.

My theory that I am going to throw out here is that without an understanding of absolute truth we can not expect anyone to honestly have the ability to accurately evaluate the truth or untruth of information. In fact we are heading into an age of complete access to all information and students today have an amazing amount of information available to them. Yes we need to teach the basic skills to work through the information, but what happens when we get to the heart questions of life and quickly get stuck on what we can and can’t believe?

Yes I realise the bleeding hearts out there would cry “separation of church and state” but if you have a real understanding of what that means you will quickly realise that it is impossible to separate church or worldview and state. If we don’t teach a set of solid values to students we teach humanism, which essentially is a worldview that says do what ever you feel is
right. If you are going to teach children in the information age that we are in and think that you can teach such deductive and deep philosophical skills without having a solid underpinning of values and how you see the world, I don’t see how it can work.

The debate on how we can get kids to understand what is true when there is so much information out there for them will ultimately fall back on our personal worldview and how we see the world. Yes we will teach some great basic skills to help with determining which source is correct and which is not but that is not a life long skill that can apply to everything. If the role
of education is to prepare children for life, then what life are we preparing them for when they have no set of values to base their worldview on.

Technology raises so many issues in schools these days, with everything from bullying on myspace to hacking a system. What is really starting to bother me, is that we as educators spend so much time talking about how we can educate the students to make sure that they don’t abuse the power given to them through technology, when it boils down to teaching young people what is right and wrong. If we have a world of no absolutes and more and more power and
access is given to young people then what hope have we got of things getting any better?

So go ahead and continue the conversation….. Am I off the track…. I don’t think so but the beauty of the age we live in is that folk can easily discuss and learn together.

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So there are a number of great educational benefits in having students blog and engaging in educational DSN activities.  Many of us would agree that there are many ways in which we can engage students by using many of these tools.  I have written plenty about this on my blog and am still researching the ways in which it can all be used effectively in the education programs I write and present.

However, as I see more and more negative stories in the media and hear the stories from colleagues I can’t help but wonder - How long will it be before we shut the whole thing down and forget about using it in education?  Have a read of Wes Fryer’s latest post, it scares me that we continue to head down the path of destroying something that could be used for so much educational benefit. 

Wes mentions that teachers need to start evaluating resources such as think.com and the likes.  I couldn’t agree more, but I think we also need to start bringing teachers together to discuss these issues in a forum that is going to look for solutions other than shutting it down!!  What is going to happen when we allow destructive students and their actions to dictate what we can and can’t do in education?  You can’t stop the occasional destructive application of anything, however, schools can educate (well at least I hope they can). 

I can’t help but think that we are going to loose the battle here and the innovative uses of technology in the classroom is going to very quickly diminish.  We will continue to spend big $$ on relatively useless pieces of technology (eg interactive white boards) but won’t investigate how inexpensive educationally beneficial tools can become safe and exciting learning experiences.  It is about time that we start to stand up for productive pedagogies and focus on what matters in Educational Technology - Not the gadgets but the pedagogical value in digital tools.  I know the “smart” furniture looks great to parents but educators should be smarter than that (there is an interesting thought….  The furniture is becoming smarter than us).  We should know where educational values lie….  And just like anything of value in life - You have to work hard for it!!! 

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There is a great new site that was past my way by Michael Cridland. The virtual Staff Room has started with 2 great podcasts all about ed tech,

including some great interviews with a range of teachers. Some interesting issues raised in episode 2 about the safety issues involved with publishing student work online. It just reminds us all of how the litgeous nature of our society is destroying innovative learning and teaching stratagies. It really gets to me when I hear about great teachers being held back by the fact that the decision makers are so scared of being sued. I realise it is a reality of life and it would be neglectful to do nothing about it, but it is something that needs to be addressed quickly.

Anyway, I am going to write more about some of these issues soon. In the mean time check out The virtual Staff Room

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Dave Warlick has summed up what I was trying to say during the ACEC conference in his post http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/10/06/sigh/

A conference full of vendors that just try and convince me that their gadget or device is going to change education frustrates me to the core.  Where is the pedagogical thought behind any of it and what about proving to me that this technology is going to enhance literacy for the 21st century.  It is all about information and literacy skills not about engaging kids with a new tool.  That lasts all of 10mins and then the kids are waiting for the next thing.

Dave come and do a keynote in Aus…..  Mind you we had some great minds at ACEC from your way that echoed much of what you preach here.  I think technologists need to hear your message as many of us techno nerds get caught up in gadgets and the integration of technology and forget about the essence of 21st century literacy and or learning.

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So I had 3 questions that I raised myself through out the week of ACEC 06 conference. Ienjoyed the conference and met some great people but the first question thatcame to mind was – Where are all the young minds? Where are the young teachers who are thefirst generation of digital natives? Whyaren’t they at our leading tech conferences sharing their thoughts andpractice? I guess there are a few thingsthat have come to mind to try and answer this.

1) The real techno wizard typedigital natives aren’t actually teaching. This could be an interesting thought as it seems to me that it ispossible that the young generation of teachers are not actually interested inthe power of IT and these new tools. Thefirst generation of digital natives are more than likely in a profession thatfeeds their love for this stuff and pays well. If I am wrong on this one and there are young teachers out there doingsome great things with these tools then why aren’t we having them share theirwork at conferences.

2) Well maybe I am being cynicalhere but I have a feeling that young teachers may not be getting a go atconferences. It is hard to get a spot ata conference unless you are experienced and seem to have some “old age” wisdombehind you. Perhaps we need to re-thinkwho is worth listening to at conferences? I would much prefer sitting down and spending time with a young teacherwho is just giving everything a go, being open to success and failures thananother 1 hour keynote reminiscing on 30years of teaching experience.

3) However, on the other hand perhapsyoung teachers are too busy to even consider submitting items for conference panel’sconsideration. I guess it is one ofthose things that are just too hard or time consuming for someone who is stillgetting use to the everyday work of a teacher.

Finally, I would like to add that whilehaving a great time at the conference I felt like there was no emphasis on whatyoung educators are bringing to the profession. It is great to see experienced teachers getting involved in learningmore about IT and these great 21st century tools, but theseexperienced teachers should be leading the way for the younger generation andencourage them to share their ideas and thoughts. I will never forget having a much more experiencedteacher a few years ago sit down with me and look over what I had been doingwith digital movie making in my classroom. I shared with him the engagement of students and he looked over the workand gave some great advice for the future based on many many years of teachingexperience. This was truly the greatest professionalrelationship that a young teacher could have.

I would like to get some feedbackhere. Am I missing something or is theremore to it than what I have observed?

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Download a copy of the conversation (26meg mp3 file)

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I am about to add an audio file of this presentation…. But I had to share this website that was created by one of our presenters today. http://pencilsdown.org/ anyone who has a problem with state wide testing needs to check this out…

Audio file coming soon…. Garage band is mixing it down right now.

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I have always enjoyed the education.au presentations.  They have just launched a new site for edna.edu.au….  Not sure when it will be up live and active but it looks great.  It looks like it will be a great online portal for educators across all sectors. I have just written some rough notes and thoughts here….  I will add the presentation and perhaps some audio from the presentation when I return home.

Edna Podcasts…  feed2js.edna.edu.au

mobile.edna.edu.au - Education headlines to your mobile (mobile.edna.edu.au/schools)

Emerging Technologies - What the 21st Century will bring…
Why use ICT:
   Real Cost benefits - 1% increase in skilled workers = .65% in GDP
   Benefit-to-cost value of at least $10 for every dollar invested

Where are we today…. Interactive, Publishing, Multimedia, Sharing (The new media platform)

Social learning and personalisation of learning - Question about the quality?  How do I judge the authentic nature of information….

And it all comes down to broadband
Access, Equity, firewalls (AHHH the devil in schools), digital literacy, home and school - In the year 200 we were number 5 in connectivity now we are number 17.  However, devices are becoming much cheaper.

What we know about learners
-  Internet is more popular than TV
-  Internet access in schools is limited
-  Not interested in technology (simply what works)

What are we doing about the creative side of the learner?

ischoolwebboard - Philippines:  An education portal of all educational resources - checked and verified….  COmpletly free.  (Freewebhost.com)  (ibiblio.com)  The university of Adelaide library…. (This is certainly worth look at)

ischoolwebboard.orgfree.com

Partnerships with industry is important accessing the resource.
htc (handheld)

LMS…  works for distance ed but it is very modular and no different to old school teaching style.  Vendor packages not developed by educators
Personalisation is the key and users drive demand.
Pervasive computing - computer devices in everything.
Lifelong Learning - personalised teaching, just in time teaching

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I thought I would wrap up day one and what I learnt with a cartoon I found quite some time ago. It is a theme that needed refreshing in my own personal thought. Perhaps the learning experience many who put these conferences together (especially sponsors) would not want me learning….

All this technology does not make great educational process…. If I see another interactive whiteboard I think I will……. ??????

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Gary Stager
www.stager.org/acec
Has educational technology jumped the shark?
Digital Hand out – www.stager.org/acec
Disturbing Trends – over emphasis of ICT
•    Absence of memory
•    False complexity/hierarchies
•    Refusal to connect to the world of children
•    Supporting dreadful practices
•    Lack of innovation
•    In ability to articulate goals
Interactive whiteboards
•    Which problem are they solving?
•    Pre-Grutenberg technology – Too much sage on the stage
•    Reinforce the dominance of the front of the room
•    Overemphasis on ICT/IT
•    Confusion over difference between teaching and learning
•    Instructionsism over constructionism
•    Less us mort then
         What are we doing with the stuff

Hysteria of the real power of the internet
•    Emphasis is on
         Looking stuff up
         Delivering content
         Sharing lesson plans
         Surveillance
•    Should focus on
         Democratisation of publishing
         Unprecedented opportunities for collaboration
21st century skills
•    developed by the hardware and software companies
•    seem similar to 19th century skills nothing truly this century

Some interesting thoughts here.  Not sure if I agree with it all but our presenter has made some good points on how we think about good teaching, especially when we start using tools for the sake of using new tools.  I have always been susceptible to the new gadget because I am a techno nerd.  However, as we discussed in the opening session it is the pedagogy behind it all that matters….  Not the gadget.  I guess the question now is what is the correct pedagogies to focus on….  And how do we as educators develop required skills?

I recorded the session and will seek the authors permission to post as a podcast in the coming days. 

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