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Thinking, Learning, Teaching by @vanweringh

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bookmark_border#Abundance; some videos about an optimistic future

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It’s always hard to mark up your mind about the way the world is heading. I am generally quite optimisc, believing in Ester Boserup’s population theories and “necessity is the mother of invention”. With my Year 10 students, we do an opinion line where they place themselves according to the “Boomster vs Doomster” opinion line. The Boomster side is Ester Boserup and Julian Boserup, the Doomster side are the Malthusians and the Neo-Matlhusians. When I do that activity in class, most students cluster towards the middle / optimistic side, while there are always some who choose one of the opposite ends; and are able to defend their position very strongly.

Next time I do this in class, I plan to show them two videos from TED2012. This came from a post by @BiologyStephen on http://i-biology.net/2012/03/02/so-is-the-earth-full-or-is-abundance-our-future-ted2012/

Here are the two videos: Continue reading “#Abundance; some videos about an optimistic future”

bookmark_borderBusy Stanley and Livingston in the Internet Jungle

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Cliches: Time flies. Have been so busy the last month. No time to reflect or to blog.

Stanley explorer

Such a shame really, isn’t it? It’s boring to be busy. Everyone is busy. We only have 24 hours a day at our disposal. The priorities you have, the choices you make about what you do with your precious time, that is what makes us who we are. It makes us the teachers we are.

So with a mere 24 hours at my disposal, I choose to spend some of that time online, on Twitter. What is it that attracts me to it? It’s the social element, and the excitement of discovering interesting links and new ideas. To me the internet is like an amazing jungle of ideas and information, and I feel like Stanley and Livingstone, especially when I stumble upon a new concept or a new way of doing things. So I love it…. but what about other teachers? So many of the people around me do not see the point of it at all. Am I such a nerd?

It comes back to being busy. When you’re busy, you stick to what you know, because it’s quick.

I imagine the many teachers walking along the wide, well-travelled roads that criss cross the Internet jungle, missing interesting little paths that lead to new and better destinations and ideas.  It’s understandable, because wide well travelled roads are quick, comfortable and save time. But those people miss out; there is so much beyond the obvious and the well known.

So, I hope that people will channel Stanley and Livingstone, and try some new ways to explore the online jungle. And as for you, busy reader…. well done on finishing this post and getting to the end. Now, off to the jungle…

 

bookmark_borderHow to move your lessons from good to outstanding | Teacher Network Blog | Guardian Professional

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How to move your lessons from good to outstanding | Teacher Network Blog | Guardian Professional

An “Assessment for Learning” questioning technique to help teachers move from  good-to-outstanding. It also helps address differentiation in the classroom and  encourages teachers to take risks. Time to Pose, Pause, Bounce and Pounce!

How does it work? Continue reading “How to move your lessons from good to outstanding | Teacher Network Blog | Guardian Professional”

bookmark_borderUsing Social Networking to Build 21st Century Skills – Finding Common Ground – Education Week

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Using Social Networking to Build 21st Century Skills – Finding Common Ground – Education Week

By Peter  DeWitt on November 17, 2011

  • 21st century skills are critical thinking, communication, collaboration and  creativity
  • For those of us who have been educators for a long time we have always taught  our students how to think critically, communicate with others, collaborate on  projects and be creative.
  • Today’s students are surrounded by many more distractions than we ever thought  were imaginable. Those new tools that educators often see as distractions need  to be used to positively engage the social network generation.
  • With an increase in handheld devices, does the social network generation have  the same communications skills that we do? Or do they just communicate  differently?
  • Whether we like it or not that is how students communicate with each other  these days. They actually thrive on connecting with their peers in numerous  ways.
  • The truth is, I have become a huge fan of Twitter and I’m inspired by some of  the tools that my students have in our schools.
  • We built an instant community of learners and ended up creating our very own  professional development session that lasted about an hour.
  • I had the opportunity to follow up with some educators in one-to-one  conversations. They sent me blogs that I never would have found on my own. If  you’re an educator who loves education and connecting with other educators, you  should seriously consider joining Twitter.
  • Using these amazing resources allows us to really teach students to think  critically, communicate with others, collaborate on projects and be creative. In  addition, students will see that we are not behind the times because we are  suing tools that we know students enjoy and use every day.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

bookmark_borderResearch: Twitter in Education; another case for the PLN

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Below are my highlights from a research paper about Twitter in educational use. The full report can be found here: JOLT – Journal of Online Learning and Teaching.

This research again makes a case for the professional benefits that teachers obtain from a PLN (Personal Learning Network).

I have compiled this post using the Diigo highlighting tool in the Diigo Toolbar. It’s a fantastic tool.

Abstract of the research:

This research study provides new insight into how teachers use social networking sites, such as Twitter, as professional learning networks. The researchers surveyed and analyzed the public Twitter feeds of classroom teachers to determine the specific purposes for which teachers use Twitter. The K-12 educators in this study engaged in true dialogue, where evidence of actual conversation occurred in Twitter over 61% of the time. Continue reading “Research: Twitter in Education; another case for the PLN”

bookmark_borderReport Findings: Fostering “Innovative Teaching and Learning”

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This report by “Innovative Teaching and Learning” was sponsored by Microsoft Partners in Learning. It contains very interesting and pertinent points about creating a culture of innovative teaching in schools.

2011 ITL Research Findings and Implications

Full report here

This report provides the findings from the 2011 analysis across 7 participating  countries.  

Key Findings from ITL Research in 2011 

  • Innovative teaching supports students’ development of the skills that will  help them thrive in future life and work.  
  • However, students’ opportunities to develop these skills are typically  scarce and uneven, both within and across the sample of schools in the study.  
  • While ICT use in teaching is becoming more common, ICT use by students in  their learning is still an exception.  
  • Innovative teaching practices are more likely to flourish when particular  supportive conditions are in place: 
    • Teacher collaboration that focuses on peer support and the sharing of  pedagogical approaches  
    • Professional development that involves the active engagement of teachers,  particularly in practicing and researching new teaching methods  
    • A school culture that offers a common vision of innovation and consistently  encourages new types of teaching
    • Researchers observed examples of innovative teaching at the classroom level.  However, coherent and integrated support for the adoption of innovative teaching  was lacking in most of the schools and all of the systems in this study.  
    • Students: efforts to provide ubiquitous ICT access to students must continue  to ensure that all students have equal opportunities inside and outside school  to develop the skills they will need for life and work.  
    • Teachers: they need professional development opportunities that leverage the  most innovative teachers in each school to drive peer collaboration focused on  teachers themselves designing, practicing and researching the innovative  teaching approaches that develop students’ future skills.   
    • Schools: critically, school leaders need to cultivate holistic and shared  visions of innovation that integrate advanced pedagogies with technology.  
    • Systems: innovative teachers and schools need the kinds of assessment and  performance accountability measures that help more innovative teaching and  learning to flourish.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

bookmark_borderTeenage Brains – Interesting reading

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Below are my highlighted sections from a National Geographic article about the teenage brain and how it has evolved to crave the company of peers and take risks. 

So much more out there. Here’s a link to more: http://goo.gl/u4ItD.

Also read: http://diigo.com/0ksxe, which is my annotated link from this article: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/structural-changes-in-teenage-brains-causes-dramatic-shifts-in-intelligence/story-e6frg6so-1226171382504.

Both links courtesy of our Head of PD!

Teenage Brains – Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine

    • To see past the distracting, dopey teenager and glimpse the adaptive  adolescent within, we should look not at specific, sometimes startling,  behaviors, such as skateboarding down stairways or dating fast company, but at  the broader traits that underlie those acts. Continue reading “Teenage Brains – Interesting reading”

bookmark_borderGoogle+ and Facebook, an analogy

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I heard a good analogy, but I can’t remember where. I think it was in a podcast.

The presenter said that Google+ is like the BlueRay discs and Facebook is like the good old DVDs that every one has. BlueRay discs were/are touted as the next big thing, better quality, better storage, better everything, just like Google+. But in spite of BlueRay possibly being better, everyone sticks with their old DVDs. They are cheap, good, plentiful and easy. Same with Facebook. Everyone is on it, we know it, it’s easy. Google+ may be better, but why change? Many of us are already suffering from information overload, you’d need a really good reason to add / replace an online social network.

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