EduBlog Insights

I attended a great workshop yesterday at GaETC. Vicki Davis presented Easy and Engaging Teaching using Wiki Pages. I got lots of good ideas for possible use with my students. It is nice to meet face-to-face with those educators whose blogs you read. Those connections are the best!  The group in the workshop yesterday ranged from total novice to seasoned wiki users. I think all left excited to incorporate wikis in their classrooms. One part I loved was that Vicki’s students kept Skyping her during the session. These great Web 2.0 tools keep us in touch. Vicki shared how she used Skype for quick question and answer sessions during the day with her students.

Will will be here tomorrow. I look forward to seeing him again!  I’m off to another session!

I just completed my evaluation for the K12 Online Conference 2006. Head over to the conference blog and click on the link that says “fill out the evaluation for the conference.” Wow, what an incredible experience. I enjoyed two more sessions today - Lee Baber’s “All About Internet Audio” and Mark Wagner’s “Blog if You Love Learning: An Introduction to Weblogs in Education.”

I have been astounded by the presentations I have attended and I have only just begun. This has truly been a conference to remember and what a concept. A conference that goes on and on and on. It takes my breath away. Just how many conferences have you attended that stay so available, so free, so timely and just provide so much fun? Accolades once again to Darren, Sheryl, Lani, Wes, and Will!

So get on over to the conference blog and hand in your evaluation! We want these kind of conferences to continue!!!!

I’m headed over to the “Obstacles to Opportunities” wiki to add Terry Freedman’s wonderful resource from the K12 Online Conference 2006. His pdf and podcast of “Overcoming Obstacles: Selling Web 2.0 to Senior Management is a step-by-step process that will be extremely helpful. In his description of his presentation he lists the following knowledge points that delegates will be provided:

- The seven general principles of presenting new ideas
- Objection analysis
- The four main areas of concern usually expressed, and how to deal with them.
- Seven proactive things you can do to get the management (or other influential people) on your side.
- Four reasons why a supportive management is not always a good thing.
- Four tactics to get a supportive administration or leadership team working with you rather than against you.
- Three things to do if blogging etc has already been banned.

Then his 7 proactive things you can do to enlist the support of senior managment:

1. research
2. help your colleagues
3. objection analysis
4. make the school’s issues your issues
5. plan a pilot
6. keep ‘em informed
7. get ‘em involved

Be sure to read the brief descriptions on his paper behind each of these proactive points. Now I have just highlighted a few parts of his excellent resource. You need to read the whole thing.

I especially liked the discussion he had with his wife where possible objections and answers to objections from senior management were the focus of the conversation. They got to the quick but at the same time it felt warm and comfortable. It felt possible. I felt like I had entered a friend’s kitchen and listened to delightful conversation that helped me work out some possible solutions. You know in this wonderful world of learning online we get to be a part of so many different types of conversations. It continues to amaze me.

It was nice this weekend to take the time to listen to one presentation and just take the time to really reflect. Thanks Terry for sharing such a great resource.

I look forward to more pleasant learning trips through the treasures nestled in the K12 Online 2006 blog!

On another note, please be sure to add your thoughts, resources, post links to the Obstacles to Opportunities wiki. Remember the password is o2o (think “obstacles 2 opportunities.”) And if you have turned an obstacle into an opportunity be sure to share so we can all celebrate!

My mind is filled with so many thoughts that it is close to total anarchy! Overload, but oh what a good overload! Are many of you feeling the same? I have hardly begun to scratch the surface of all the great presentations.

I am also totally immersed in my research which requires constant attention and care. The kids are amazing and we are beginning to take off in ways that are really, really good. But I can’t stay away from the great conversations going on about the conference.

I’ll think…… I have to post about this, this is incredible. Then I’lll think……. this is top notch. I need to share with others what I learned here. I love reading the comments about what people have thought about as a result of reflecting about a particular part in this conference. but each time I start to blog I am pulled away to read more and learn more and my brain has way too much in it right now that I have to just pause….
I also know that Darren, Sheryl, Wes and Lani must be close to total exhaustion because they have been going non-stop and they are not at the finish line yet. But they are due first class accolades because this conference is going to have such lasting effects. The quality, the authenticity, and well it really is of, by, and for the people who are truly trying to make a difference in the lives of their students. Wow!
I thought I would post a few thoughts and please know I’m going to miss some important parts because I have not been able to enjoy each piece in the manner it deserves but I will post more later so here goes……

• It is much too early to really see the conversations that will continue as a result of this conference. It really has just begun…..
• If you have not listened to the K12online Shanghai LAN party podcast #5, put it on your list. Here’s a comment I made about it on Jeff’s blog:
  These conversations are outstanding and I really am impressed with your total honesty and your willingness to share your thoughts, ideas and your fears. I still have many of those fears to this day but I can tell you that the rewards for myself personally and professionally make me push those fears to the side. You all have captured some conversations that will be so meaningful to others. Yes Jeff, as you say there is great professional power in this social network and you know I think we are just at the threshold of the power to come. I am so thankful to be a part of this community. I so hope all of you will keep your voices in the mix. We need them.
• Julie Lindsay is doing a great job giving us summaries of various presentations and that has been so very, very helpful. Her observations and thoughts are so thorough and meaningful. It is great to have these snapshots that let you get there through another’s eyes. Thanks, Julie!
• I’ve wondered if you can get a cold from someone online. I think I have Bud to blame for a non-stop cold and hacking cough that has knocked me for a loop. Just kidding Bud, but you have to read his Friday Night Twilight where he talks about not being able to sleep because he can’t stop thinking about ways to tell the new story in school. I know a lot of us are doing that now.
• That leads me to my next observation that all of this good stuff is going to take some time to digest, assimilate, and then discuss. We really are on the edge, I think, of some good changes. Yes, we are going to continue having our ups and downs but we are making progress and this conference is going to make a big difference.
• I am fascinated by all that is going on with this conference. It does not fit into a neat little box that we are accustomed to.  It is much too early to truly evaluate it. I know we will try but for myself I need more time to sift through all that has been presented, conversations that occur as a result, and then I need to step back and  do some more thinking.
• We’re in a new arena, a new spot where all the traditional rules don’t necessarily apply.
• I find early criticism of this puzzling because we haven’t even had the time to step back, take a look, and learn.
• I again want to thank all the conference organizers who are the trail blazers in a new journey that is going to bring forth much thinking and learning. My hat is off to you all. Talk about making a difference……..

More later!

See Graham Wegner’s interpretaion of the Web 2.0 Tipping Point For Education which was adapted so well by John Connell on his post, What if…? Graham liked John’s improvement, I do too! This got me thinking about the obstackes we still face. At times they can really get you down. However, Graham’s comment pointed to Rachel’s take on both images. Rachel is tipping us in the right direction:

Very good John I saw this on Graham’s site but you add an interesting dimension to it that shows how we really have to put ourselves out their on the edge if we want to make a difference. It’s a little scary sometimes and requires determination & self belief but i wouldn’t be anywhere else!

So I’m staying up even though from time to time we can tip in “down” mode when thinking about the obstacels. I love fusing the humor in with the learning. Humor synthesizes learning. We need more of it. This puts me in the right frame of mind as I am thinking about the K12 Online2006 Conference coming up. Keep all this in mind as we head towards the last part, the obstacles!

I’ve been thinking of ways to take obstacles and turn them into opportunities. I encourage you to do the same. Got any ideas, pass them this way!

I received news of this exciting conference and was asked to duplicate it and publish it far and wide across the blogosphere. Consider submitting a proposal! We will learn a lot! The theme is great - “Unleashing the Potential!” The original post follows:

Announcing the first annual “K12 Online 2006″ convention for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30- Nov. 3 with the theme “Unleashing the Potential.” A call for proposals is below.

There will be four “conference strands”– two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday - Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two-weeks. Each presentation will be given in podcast or screencast format and released via the conference blog (URL: TBA) and archived for posterity.

THE FOUR STRANDS ARE:

Week 1
Strand A: A Week In The Classroom
These presentations will focus on the practical pedagogical uses of online social tools (Web 2.0) giving concrete examples of how teachers are using the tools in their classes. They will also show how teachers plan for using these tools in the delivery of their curricular objectives.

Strand B: Basic/Advanced Training (one of each per day)
Basic training is “how to” information on tool use in an educational setting, especially for newcomers.
Advanced training is for teachers who have already started using Web 2.0 tools in their classes and are looking for: (a) advanced technology training (eg. how to write your own blog template or hack existing ones), (b) new tools they can make use of in their classes, (c) teaching ideas on how to mash tools together to create “something new,” (d) a pedagogical understanding of how technologies such as Weblogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking sites, RSS feeds and others can deepen learning and increase student achievement, or (e) use of assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of Read/Write Web technologies in their personal practice and with their students.

Week 2
Strand A: Personal Professional Development
Tips, ideas and resources on how to orchestrate your own professional development online; the tools that support Professional Learning Environments (PLEs); how to create opportunities to bring these technologies to the larger school community; how to effectively incorporate the tools into your personal or professional practice; or how to create a supportive, reflective virtual professional community around school-based goals.

Strand B: Overcoming Obstacles
Tips, ideas and resources on how to deal with issues like: lack of access to tools/computers, filtering, parental/district concerns for online safety, and other IT concerns while trying to focus on best practice in the use of Web 2.0 tools.

CONVENERS & KEYNOTES
For organization purposes, each strand is overseen by a conference convener who will assist and coordinate presenters in their strand. The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who has distinguished his/herself and is knowledgeable in the context of each topic. This year’s conveners and keynote presenters are:

A Week In The Classroom
Convener: Darren Kuropatwa
Keynote: Bud Hunt

Bud Hunt teaches high school language arts and journalism at Olde Columbine High School in Longmont, Colorado. He is a teacher-consultant with and the Tech Liaison for the Colorado State University Writing Project, an affiliate of the National Writing Project, a group working to improve the teaching of writing in schools via regular and meaningful professional development. Bud is also the co-editor of the New Voices column of English Journal, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English. A consumer of copious amounts of New Media, Bud blogs and podcasts about his practice and larger educational issues at http://www.budtheteacher.com.

Basic/Advanced Training
Convener: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
Keynote: TBA
Personal Professional Development
Convener: Will Richardson
Keynote: Ewan McIntosh

Ewan McIntosh is an educational technologist and teacher of French and German. Based in the Edinburgh area of Scotland he frequently works around the UK and Europe, leading student and teacher workshops and conferences. He is an experienced workshop facilitator in the area of Web 2.0 technologies in education across stages and curricular areas. Ewan blogs at http://edu.blogs.com

Overcoming Obstacles
Convener: TBA
Keynote: Anne Davis

Anne is known for seeing the educational possibilities in the use of weblogs with students in classrooms, having implemented wonderful ideas and weblog projects with students and teachers in K-12 classrooms and at the university level. She currently works at Georgia State University in the Instructional Technology Center in the College of Education as an Information Systems Training Specialist. Her weblog, EduBlog Insights is a co-winner of the Best Teacher Blog in the second international Edublog Awards, a web based event that recognizes the many diverse and imaginative ways in which weblogs are being used within education.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
We’d like to invite you to submit a proposal to present at the conference. If you have something you’d like to share with the community, both people who are new to blogs and/or experienced bloggers please email the appropriate conference convener above with your ideas. The deadline to submit a proposal (just the proposal, not the finished product) is September 30, 2006. One of us will contact you to finalize the date of your presentation. Your presentation may be delivered in any web-based medium (including but not limited to…podcasts, PowerPoint files, blogs, websites, wikis, screencasts, etc.) and must be emailed to your assigned conference convener one week before it goes live, (see above strands) so that it can be uploaded to the server.

The conference organizers are:
Darren Kuropatwa

Darren Kuropatwa is currently Department Head of Mathematics at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his pedagogical practice and for “child safe” blogging practices. He has more than 20 years experience in both formal and informal education and 13 years experience in team building and leadership training. Darren has been facilitating workshops for educators in groups of 4 to 300 for the last 10 years. Darren’s professional blog is called A Difference (http://adifference.blogspot.com).

Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach

Sheryl is a technology/education consultant for the National Education Association (NEA), the Center for Teaching Quality, SRI International, the Virginia Community College System, the Virginia Department of Education, the Miami-Dade Public Schools, and the Alabama Best Practices Center. She has had several journal articles and book chapters published, been featured on public broadcasting television and radio shows, and is a regular presenter at local, state, and national conferences speaking on topics of homelessness, teacher leadership, virtual community building, and 21st Century learning initiatives. Sheryl blogs at 21st Century Collaborative (http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/).

Will Richardson

Will Richardson is known internationally for his work with educators and students to understand and implement instructional technologies and, more specifically, the tools of the Read/Write Web into their schools, classrooms and communities. A public school educator for 22 years, WillÂ’s own Weblog (Weblogg-ed.com) is a primary resource for the creation and implementation of Weblog technologies on the K-12 level and is a leading voice for school reform in the context of the fundamental changes these new technologies are bringing to all aspects of life. Will is the critically acclaimed authour of the best-selling book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms (March 2006, Corwin Press).

Conference Tags: k12online, K12online06

If you have any questions about any part of this, email one of us:
Darren Kuropatwa
Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach
Will Richardson

I spent some time over the weekend following all the NECC postings. It really is terrific to be able to attend in such a way. It seems the conversations were the best part. I’ve listened to podcasts, read posts and viewed some great pictures. It really is like being there.

There was great coverage from so many bloggers. Wow! Have we come a long way! One standout for me was Julie Lindsay of elarning blog . She did a terrific job of posting about many of the NECC sessions. Thanks Julie, for such great coverage.

Check out these podcasts from K12.org:

Will Richardson on Learning with Blogs

Tom Hoffman on School Tool Project

Michelle Moore on Moodle Course Managment System

Adam Frey on WikiSpaces

Webcasts of many of the sessions are located here and bloggers are listed here. Rolly Maiquez took picture after picture, even one with the url for a great catalog of Open Source Sofware for Education. It is fun seeing all the pictures so thanks to all who took the time to include those.

One of the best parts of blogging is the lessons you can learn from those who are taking the time to enjoy some side trips during the conference. Eric Langhorst of Speaking of History provided a great podcast of a tour he and another educator took of the USS Midway. Eric said:

It was such a thrill to walk on the flight deck and think of all the amazing history that took place on this ship. Not only did this ship see action in war, it also picked up the astronauts as they returned from the moon. The Midway was in service for 47 years and was home to over a quarter of a million sailors in her career.

The podcast is great. Don’t miss it! Eric is an eight grade history teacher from Missouri. He has a great blog.

Jen W of technospud provided an interesting male vs. female post that is an interesting read. And the NECC Edblogger meet up at Rock Bottom sounded like great fun. I wish I could have been there.

And Kathy Schrock closed the session with a wrap up that is highlighted by Suzanne on In the Heart of a Teacher is a Student. Now the fifth grade blogging video that Kathy used just happens to be my kids from J. H. House Elementary School so even if I couldn’t be there, my kids were! How cool is that! Here’s the video, Possibilities, from my Wrinkles blogging group featuring Emily and Jennifer!

Now, how could I have missed this wonderful blog created by a superintendent? I’m always on the lookout for good examples and I love this one! Her name is Dr. Joni Samples. She is superintendent of Glenn County in California. The name of her blog is EdSuccess. Her tagline reads “Stories of learning, teaching, schools and growth opportunities for all ages.”

I was hooked when I read her very first post from October 2005, as she took some excellent advice from her son Christopher. Here’s an excerpt:

“Mom,” said my son Christopher when I told him I would be writing a blog in place of my Dr. Joni column, “interact with your readers, don’t try to teach them stuff.”

He’s right you know. Learning is about interacting. Kids are interacting with books, writing, math problem solving, and science experiments in school and out. We think we’re teaching when we lecture and give assignments at school or lecture and have them take out the trash at home, but we only know children are learning when they actually use what they’ve taken in. Christopher is right and this blog is about kids and adults interacting with learning. So….

In my opinion, this one of the best examples I have seen from an administrator. She does indeed interact with her readers. Read her post on lifelong learning where she share how and why she learned about blogs. Wow, does she get the learning part and her blog is filled with posts focusing on just that. Then her Follow-up to lifelong learning.

I found myself reading her entire blog. Then I learned she would be stepping down as Superintendent. Too bad! A recent post talks about Politics and Education.

Two years ago I realized I could not be Glenn County Superintendent of School forever. I needed to find someone to replace me. This job has gotten so complex it would take time to help someone else learn all the ins and outs of budgets, programs, requirements, and policies so I needed to identify someone I could work with to learn how to do this before I retired. I didn’t want a clone. I wanted someone who would be their own person, but who could understand all the intricacies of what goes on everyday and who could make decisions that would benefit children and families.

My choice was Coleen Parker. It still is. I have had the opportunity to work with her for two years, and the more I know her the more I realized how dedicated she is to kids and families, and to making sure the budget can support programs that can support those kids and families. She believes in the things I do, but she’s different. She is the reason I can let go and trust we will be okay.

You have not read political statements or rants in anything I have done in the last 10 years. I try hard to separate politics and children’s learning. My only reason for breaking my rule today is knowing how much the job of County Superintendent affects learning in our county. I have loved doing what I have done for the last 12 years. I want it to continue in a way that will help the community and to make this a special place for our children. I hope you feel the same way.

And as she exits she even has the courage to take a stand…. I like that, too. I checked and it looks like there will be a run-off to determine the next Glenn schools chief. I hope the new superintendent will also blog.

Tomorrow I’m headed out to Seattle to attend a Learning and Technology Conference. sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. It’s a conference to examine current ideas, research, and practices for using technology to enhance student learning. It was my second choice as we just get funding for one conference yearly now and at the last minute we discovered we couldn’t go to NECC as it begins during a new budget year! Technicalities!

This conference has many interesting topics on the agenda though. I’m looking forward to the learning.

Researcher issues warning: Refresh schools or lose is an article in Kearneyhub.com in Nebraska. Bryan Goodwin is the director of communications for McREL, an education research and development organization. He spoke at the Nebraska Department of Education’s Excellence in Education conference in Lincoln about diverse student identities and changing expectations. He noted that minority enrollment exceeds white enrollment and at least 20 million Americans identify themselves as mixed races who believe that census categories don’t apply to them. He talked of technology and how it is changing. Students have more choices and prefer multitasking and parallel processes. Students thrive on instant gratification. He feels that American schools must change or they will be left in the dust.

Doug Christensen, Nebraska’s education commissioner, pointed out how high schools haven’t changed since the early 1920’s. He reiterated the need for change in high schools and believes public high schools will lose if they don’t reform.

More voices in the mix….