Konrad Glogowski has an amazing post today about his grade 8 students’ blogging experiences, and it’s one that should be trumpeted far and wide in this community. Imagine being a part of this:

My community of grade eight student bloggers became so big and so engaging that I spent every spare moment reading and writing within this community. My class community suddenly blossomed and I started seeing myself as an important part of the classroom community and no longer as a teacher who peddles content. I became a participant in a series of dialogues. I witnessed the emergence of a semantic network, one where all links, all interactions were based on meaning.

One thing I really like about Konrad’s blogging is that he points me to so much good stuff about learning theory in the context of telling his stories about his students. Here, he references the community as networks of semantic relations that Stephen Downes writes about, Brufee’s “community of knowledgeable peers,” Bereiter’s “progressive discourse,” Scardamalia and Bereiter’s “intentional learning” ideas, and others. It’s a veritable feast for the brain, and it teaches me. And the best news is that he’s documented his transformative experience and plans to teach me, and us, even more in the days to come.

What really jumps out at me here is the power of the idea that we can now create learning communities of meaning that are much more powerful than communities of proximity. This community that I am a part of is testament to that. We are self-directed, nomadic learners, moving purposefully down paths that interest us, engaging in conversations, building connections and networks around our passions and our zeal to know more about them. We share our experiences to confirm our own understanding in the context of the community, hoping to teach, I think, and hoping to move the discussion forward. Is it strange that I get butterflies when I read things as powerful as what Konrad writes? That I can’t wait to make sense of it through blogging, to figure out what about it resonates? That I can’t wait to point others to it? Konrad is writing about his students here, but I think this could easily describe what we as edbloggers do as well:

…the idea of knowing in this community as“the intentional activity of individuals who, as members of a community, make use of and produce representations in the collaborative attempt to better understand and transform their shared world.”

A lot of us will be proximate next week at NECC, and that is always a good thing, but we’ll continue to learn from each other regardless of where we are. As long as, of course, we remain willing to contribute. In the case of kids, Konrad has found the best of both worlds:

That’s when I realized that this class community was truly engaged, that its members were interested in pursuing knowledge as researchers who are passionately involved and not as students who need to absorb the content.

How cool is that? Read the whole thing…

technorati tags:necc, necc06, connective_learning, blogging, education, learning

So does anyone else get a little freaked when the whole Google kingdom seems to be offline as it is at 6:30 am EST?

Or is it just me?

technorati tags:Google

So, using David’s questions about blog assessment, here is how I might assess this post as I write it (with some commentary on the questions along the way.)

1. What did you read in order to write this blog entry? Yee Haw! Blogging starts with reading, and I read David’s post, which leads me to blogging. (I read some other stuff, too. See below.) And I think an even more interesting question to add is “What was your process of reading?” In the previous post about Net Neutrality, I worked between three or four different readings to assemble the ideas contained in the posts. There was nothing linear about it, which is another aspect of reading/writing literacy in hypertext environments that really interests me.

2. What do you think is important about your blog entry? I think the importance here is the deconstruction of the process and the inherent reflection that goes with it. Sometimes blogging is work, and it’s when I’m crafting a post (as opposed to writing it) that I know I’m involved in some real learning. As a blogger/learner, it’s crucial that I recognize and understand the decisions I make about what to write (based on feel and audience), how to write it, and when to publish it.

3. What are both sides of your issue? Well, some feel whatever you do in your blog is blogging. As is well known, I disagree. I do think this reflective assessment about the blogging can point to the power of reading, thinking, synthesizing, writing and reading some more.

4. What do you want your readers to know, believe, or do? I would add learn to that list. And I would also move this up to second in the list (if we are looking at this as process.) The audience aspect of blogging is central to the task, and if we’re not aware of what our purpose is, we won’t communicate it well. This is the Donald Murray school of anticipating the readers questions, responses, reactions. We have to become the audience (if there still is one, of course.)

5. What else do you need to say? I’m not sure this question works for me, because I’d hope that if I had more to say I would say it. What about What have you learned from the process? or How will you find out more?

Regardless, some good initial thinking on how we might begin to teach the metacognitive aspects of blogging.

technorati tags:blogging, assessment, education

Yesterday, the measures intended to maintain “Net Neutrality” failed in the Senate Commerce Committee, meaning it looks like the bill to change Internet access pricing will be headed toward a full senate vote. If passed, telecom companies will be able to create a two-tiered system of Internet access based on how much you can and are willing to pay. Olympia Snowe of Maine co-wrote the proposal to maintain the same access for everyone, hence “Net Neutrality.”

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has put a hold on the bill, intending to fillibuster it. But it’s uncertain whether or not the opposition has the votes to break it. Wyden says:

The Internet has thrived precisely because it is neutral. It has thrived because consumers, and not some giant cable or phone company, get to choose what they want to see and how quickly they get to see it. I am not going to allow a bill to go forward that is going to end surfing the web free of discrimination.

While this bill does not in any way regulate what Internet users can access, it does begin to set up a system where the haves get more in terms of faster and better connectivity for video distribution, multimedia sharing and more. To me, at least, it feels like a dangerous precedent, and another way potentially for some of our more fortunate kids to get a leg up on those who may not be able to pay.

Just like with DOPA, this needs our attention. For more information, check out the Wikipedia entry or head on over to Save The Internet where you can get a rundown on the potential threats. You can find your Senator’s phone numbers there too.

technorati tags:net_neutrality, blogging, education

So we’ve got buttons! 1,000 of them to give away at NECC in fact. They’ll be at the Open Source lab starting on Tuesday. (And Steve Hargadon was nice enough to ante up the $335 to get them made, so maybe we can figure out a way to make sure he gets paid back.) The Support Blogging wiki site was Steve’s idea, and since it’s going to be mentioned in this month’s School Library Journal, he’s urging edbloggers to go over there and add their names to the list. In case you’ve forgotten, the point of Support Blogging is:

“…to provide an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and others to help promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.”

And while you are there, you can check out the “official” NECC EdBlogger Meetup wiki page for our Thursday night event. If you are not already listed you can either add your name in a comment here or even get an account to the Support Blogging wiki and add yourself.

Let’s make some blogging waves at NECC! Go Blogs!  Go!

technorati tags:necc, necc06, blogging, education

The third time in two years the Delaware has flooded. This is about a 1/4 mile down the road from my house. Thankfully, we’re on a little rise… There is a house just to the left of this shot that the owners have been restoring since the last flood. They just got it finished. Oy.

More at my Flickr photostream.

technorati tags:flood, Delaware_River, New_Jersey

I just realized that I don’t know of anyone co-ordinating any after hours edublog meetup type stuff. Not that I’m volunteering, or anything, but has anybody taken charge? Anyone!?!?
If you’re gonna be at NECC, leave a comment. If we get critical mass…um…somebody (maybe you?) will do something. Maybe a DOPA protest or something fun like that. I promise. Spread the word.

>Technorati Tags: necc necc06 necc06prep

So despite writing this while sitting on the tarmac at Midway (Chicago) airport after being canceled out of flying home last night and now being delayed AGAIN, I’m in a downright giddy Read/Write Web mood. Maybe it was spending the day with a roomful of energetic, geared-up Discovery educators yesterday who despite the roadblocks and barriers being thrown in front of them by their districts REALLY want to get their brains around these technologies. Or maybe it was listening to Hall Davidson talk about the ways in which we can integrate digital storytelling into our curricula so easily and effectively. Or maybe it was getting a chance to chat with Steve Dembo and Eric Langhorst (another logger added to my life list) about the stupidity and growing irrelevance of standardized testing and NCLB. Or maybe it’s just the affirmation of these ideas that can be found all over the place in this month’s Wired magazine (which, btw, has a picture of Ruppert Murdock with the words “MySpace” in huge print across it on the cover.)

Personally, I am happy as heck that MySpace is getting sued,that DOPA is floating around out there, that districts are blocking, filtering, shutting down, turning off, locking up everything in sight. (Boy, did I collect some stories from the DEN folks…) Everyone is up in arms, and that’s the first sign that people are finally waking up to what’s going on. They’re jerking their knees at all of it, but at least the discussion is starting, and now is when we have to engage it. Who was it that said “Bring it on?” (Just being giddy…)

Which is why I’m looking forward to NECC next week as a chance to get really energized about getting this message out there even more loudly and more convincingly with the growing number of educators who seem to be coming into the fold. David Warlick, Tony Vincent and I (among others) will be doing a panel with 150 technology leaders at the Wednesday morning ISTE breakfast with a heavy “Web 2.0 in Ed” emphasis (regardless of what the program says.) There are bloggy, podcasty, social Web sessions all over the place. The “Ed Tech Coast to Coast” crew will be doing a live podcast on Wednesday night, and Tim Wilson and I will also be doing a “NECC Live!” Webcast with Chris Walsh and Tom Marsh to talk about our favorite topic. There’s a whole slew of people blogging and podcasting the sessions, David is aggregating it all, and it’s just feeling more and more like the time for serious, broad discussions about the Read/Write Web has finally, really arrived. San Diego is looking like it could be a MAJOR event for this community, and I am loving the prospect.

Giddy, I tell you. (Someone bring me to my senses.)

technorati tags:necc, necc06, Read_Write_Web, Denri06, DOPA, How_many_tags_can_I_have?

So, twenty five points to the first person who can correctly identify the back of the head of this somewhat geeky celebrity spotted at the magazine rack in a Newark Airport kiosk this morning. Beg for hints if you like…

And if you really beg I’ll tell you my incredibly embarrasing moment with this person…maybe.
P.S. Post created by taking photo with Treo 650, e-mailing it directly to Flickr, then using free wifi from a Chicago Panera to drag the thumbnail from my Flock Flickr toolbar directly into the Flock blog editor. Bliss.
P.S.S. I really need to get a life…

technorati tags:flickr, celebrity

Clarence shares some answers to his Podcasting, Blogging Exam Question, and my favorite without question is

“…..now that we have podcasting and blogging anyone can do it. You don’t need to be some rich person in New York, you can produce from your own home. It has also changed how we can learn in today’s society.”

Amen. Amen.

technorati tags:blogging, education

Yesterday, Bud pointed to the work of Karl Fisch in Centennial, Co, and although I had seen Karl’s name popping up in various spots and I think even linked to him on a couple of occasions, Bud urged me to “Pay attention” to Karl’s work. So, this morning, I did some digging around “The Fischbowl.”

The latest post on Karl’s blog is a really interesting explanation of a staff development program with real vision, and how blogs have become pretty central to the way he and his teachers reflect on their practice and create community around common goals which were to “improve teacher and student use of technology, to achieve curricular goals, to help transform our school to a more student-centered,constructivist approach, and to prepare our students to succeed in the21st century.” The program has been funded by a couple of grants, so the teachers who are involved have been given some time to meet and think and focus on those goals. And if you read some of the end of the year entries in the individual teacher blogs along with Karl’s summation, it seems to have been a very successful undertaking. I was especially struck by this description:

What we are asking our teachers to do is to examine all of those assumptions they have made about education, instruction, and their classes and really think about what they feel is important and what the best ways are to achieve their goals. For many teachers, they really haven’t thought about a lot of these issues since their methods classes in college. Once they were actually in the classroom, it was survival mode at first and they naturally did many of the same things their more veteran colleagues were doing. After a while the focus was often just doing those things better when what was needed – sometimes – was to question whether those were the right things to be doing in the first place. While I as the “leader” of the staff development certainly have strong opinions, we’ve all agreed that we will continue to be individual teachers with differing opinions, styles and ideas about what is “right”. My role is to get them to think about their instruction, to “push” their thinking and make sure they are not only doing the best job they can, but that what they are doing truly aligns with their beliefs. In the end we will hopefully do a better job of working together to achieve our common goals for students. And we will discuss freely and openly the issues facing our students in a time of rapid change.

How cool is that? Now I know that in most schools, there is little time for discussions of this type, for real reflection on practice. But when you look at some of the work and the writing that these teachers are doing on their own personal and class blogs (see the links in the right hand column) it pretty easy to be amazed at the results. I’ll just to point to one interesting post from early in the school year titled “Will Blogs Take Over the World” by one teacher who writes

…twice already members of the outside world have commented on our class blogs (though one was actually helpful), and some of my students have used the blog to passive aggressively attack each other. I’ve addressed these situations, and I think use of the blog will continue to improve, but I think that so many students are accustomed to blog sites like “MySpace” that the line between the personal and the academic blogs can be fuzzy, especially in a course like English. But for the most part, I am blown away both by my students’ perceptive comments and by their honesty. I feel a little closer to them now, and I look forward treading their entries.

You can follow the rest of her journey as she blogs about her year. And make sure to read the comments to this post from last month where she writes:

This year my students have seemed more like actual humans to me…in past years certain students might as well have been 2-dimensional cutouts because the only things I knew about them was how often they turned in their homework and how proficient they were in reading handwriting. When I look at them this year, however, I can see little pieces of the adults they’re becoming. And I’m excited for their futures, even if I no longer play a part.

It’s good, and, I think, powerful stuff. Blogs and blogging can have amazing effects on so many levels…we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface. But with efforts like those Karl and his teachers are putting in, I’m still really excited to see what will happen as more and more teachers start to bring this tool into their practice.

technorati tags:blogging, education, teaching, professional_development

Well, I guess it was bound to happen. My book got it’s first negative (and I mean negative) review at Amazon recently. It was pretty brutal on first read…

• “Lacks focus and a targeted audience…”
• “The big font was easy on the eyes…”
• “Worth skimming through if you find a discarded copy hanging around.”

Ouch. Well, that’s the last book I write, so there. ;0)

After a couple of more readings and some digging into his background, it’s clear that this person wasn’t the intended audience anyway. And there are lots of folks who tell me they’re getting a lot from the read.

I’ll live.

Still interesting to get panned like that though…

technorati tags:amazon, blog_book

George points to a couple of interesting articles that highlight the disruptions going on “out there” and encourages to read with education in mind. It’s something I constantly do, because i really believe that as traditions in those arenas begin to crumble and break down, there will be more and more pressure on the traditions of schooling to do so as well.

Case in point is Jay Rosen’s Washington Post essay titled “Web Users Open the Gates.” So much of it is easily reframed toward schools, as in when he talks about his ability to select the best sources of information for what he is interested in.

Simple example: The Net radically shifts principles of news distribution as all sites become equidistant from the reader.

In2003, I tracked Arnold Schwarzenneger’s gubernatorial campaign by reading California Insider by Dan Weintraub because the Sacramento Bee political columnist seemed more clued-in to the race than top national reporters. That I could choose his coverage (and links) over the Washington Post’s demonstrates the “unbundling” effect of the Internet.

Containers in which news had been packaged broke apart because the Internet could deliver content without the wrapping.

How about “the Net radically shifts principles of curriculum distribution as all ideas become equidistant from the learner.” Think about how much more freedom and choice we have as learners today, and how, if we exercise that freedom effectively, we can create a much more relevant learning experience for ourselves. We’re not hostage to one idea from one expert or one textbook. And in this way, if follows that “Containers in which curriculum had been packaged will break apart because the Internet can deliver it without the wrapping.

If you are interested at all in what the pressures on journalism are, you should give it a read. (I’ve added it to the EdBloggerNews page.)

The other link points to Jay Cross who points to a new book by Tom Johnson about business and the changes that are occurring there. George picks out the following quote:

As networks shrink the world, business priorities change. Efficient production used to call the shots. Make lots of stuff, gain economies of scale, and sell, sell, sell, even if what you were selling wasn’t quite what your customers were asking for. But now customers can buy whatever they want from anywhere in the world, whenever they want to.

So what happens when learners no longer need the business of schools to get the education they want and need? Even in the early years?

Interesting stuff going on “out there”…

technorati tags:read/write_web, education, change, journalism

(via Tim Wilson) So Moodle released 1.6 yesterday with a blog feature that I think is a pretty good start though I wish the following options were available per post instead of globally per blog:

• The World can read entries set to be world-accessible
• All site users can see all blog entries
• Users can only see blogs for people who share a course
• Users can only see blogs for people who share a group
• Users can only see their own blog

Even more interesting, I think, is the discussion that the community has had around how blogs should function in Moodle. Definitely worth taking a few minutes to read the vision of how all of Moodle’s component systems work to supplement the blogging experience instead of combining it into one tool. (For instance, Moodle blogs will not support comments.)

Regardless, I love seeing Moddle moving in this direction, and I love the thoughtful approach the community is taking.

technorati tags:Moodle, blogging

Just a quick update on the Digg for educators experiment. In four days we’ve had about 2,500 views, are averaging over 110 unique visitors per day, and aggregated over 50 articles. There ave been over 100 votes for stories too, which has pushed Steven’s “Adults and MySpace” article to the top of the heap. So far so good.

Remember, if you are going to play, try to make sure that the articles are specific to Education 2.0, meaning that the articles deal specifically with the the Read/Write Web and education. And please, do play. The first few days have been pretty interesting…

technorati tags:social, digg, education, blogging