Comments on: Owning the Teaching…and the Learning http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/ Learning with the Read/Write Web Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:36:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: K Christopherson http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-2/#comment-7183 K Christopherson Sun, 19 Nov 2006 05:20:54 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7183 Well, I've enjoyed reading through the many different posts. Instead of feeling disheartened or crushed, it invigorates me to see so many professionals who are willing to take time from their busy day to discuss what needs to be done in someone else's life. I've posted on a few other of Will's blogs and I don't always agree with him, not because I am against change or technology or .... but because I don't believe that it will be the silver bullet that everyone seems to be saying it will be. If only teachers would get online and learn to become learners who work and learn with their children, discovering a whole new global collaboration that will change the world as we know it. Really? Well, I'm telling my students to stay away from any of that, learn a trade. You see, the world out there may be a great place to visit but we'd better learn to take care of our homes first. Before anyone jumps on me as unconnected or unknowing, I must confess I've been working on the web since 1989, before there was an "internet"! Since that time I've used all kinds of tools to work with my students, discovering ideas and making connections with what they know, challenging their own thoughts and ideas and readjusting. The web is a powerful tool, as is a piece of art, a monologue, a drama, etc. If what we are doing is looking for a truly new way of doing school, then let's really rebuild and allow all students, those who use the web and those who don't, to be successful. I agree with Kelly H that we seem to be creating "throw away knowledge" much the same as the throw away devices that we are using. In all this future visioning, did anyone consider what the consequences of a global economic collapse? What would that make things look like? Better have skills to deal with all futures, not just a tech one. Well, I’ve enjoyed reading through the many different posts. Instead of feeling disheartened or crushed, it invigorates me to see so many professionals who are willing to take time from their busy day to discuss what needs to be done in someone else’s life. I’ve posted on a few other of Will’s blogs and I don’t always agree with him, not because I am against change or technology or …. but because I don’t believe that it will be the silver bullet that everyone seems to be saying it will be. If only teachers would get online and learn to become learners who work and learn with their children, discovering a whole new global collaboration that will change the world as we know it. Really? Well, I’m telling my students to stay away from any of that, learn a trade. You see, the world out there may be a great place to visit but we’d better learn to take care of our homes first. Before anyone jumps on me as unconnected or unknowing, I must confess I’ve been working on the web since 1989, before there was an “internet”! Since that time I’ve used all kinds of tools to work with my students, discovering ideas and making connections with what they know, challenging their own thoughts and ideas and readjusting. The web is a powerful tool, as is a piece of art, a monologue, a drama, etc. If what we are doing is looking for a truly new way of doing school, then let’s really rebuild and allow all students, those who use the web and those who don’t, to be successful. I agree with Kelly H that we seem to be creating “throw away knowledge” much the same as the throw away devices that we are using. In all this future visioning, did anyone consider what the consequences of a global economic collapse? What would that make things look like? Better have skills to deal with all futures, not just a tech one.

]]> By: Finding Our Way Off the Plateau « Musings from the Academy http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-2/#comment-7138 Finding Our Way Off the Plateau « Musings from the Academy Wed, 15 Nov 2006 03:33:44 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7138 [...] I have been feeling a little defeated lately.  This happens occasionally for brief periods of time because I get overextended, stressed out or tired and then something happens and I am reinvigorated, but unfortunately I haven’t fully shaken it yet.At times I am not really sure what it is exactly that is plaguing me.  I love my school, the kids are great, the teachers and administrators I work with are outstanding, and overall, we do a great job… better than most schools (at least I like to think).  So, I should be content.  Maybe my expectations are too high, but I think we should be doing more.  My school is six years old and it is our sixth year with our one-to-one laptop initiative, and I feel like when we started we were continually growing and actively striving to learn and improve.  We went above and beyond to learn new and innovative ways to implement technology in the classroom, to actively engage students and to make the curriculum relevant, but I feel like in the last year or so we have reached a plateau that we just can’t seem to find our way off.Don’t get me wrong… there are certainly still teachers on my campus who go above and beyond “the call of duty” to teach their curriculum in innovative and relevant ways and there are teachers who are using technology in amazing ways, but there are also teachers who are stagnating - teachers who feel there is nothing left to learn or nothing worth learning.  I no longer feel the climate of continued growth and optimism for learning that I have felt in the past and I want it back, but it seems to be ever elusive.I know my teachers are working hard.  I know they want what is best for their students.  I know they are tired and feel pulled in too many directions with preparing for TAKS testing, AP testing, SAT preparation and simply trying to help their students achieve basic math, science and literacy skills.I need to know how I convince them to take some time for themselves to help them grow and improve professionally.  I would love to convince them that introducing some Web 2.0 technologies like blogs and wikis might actually help students prepare for the TAKS test and add some relevancy to their curriculum, but I only have a handful of teachers that seem to be buying in to the concept.  And although I didn’t comment on Will Richardson’s rant, I appreciate his post and the eloquent way he verbalized my thoughts.Speaking of rants, thanks for listening to mine.  I would love any suggestions you guys might have…  Maybe it is just time for my Thanksgiving Break. [...] [...] I have been feeling a little defeated lately.  This happens occasionally for brief periods of time because I get overextended, stressed out or tired and then something happens and I am reinvigorated, but unfortunately I haven’t fully shaken it yet.At times I am not really sure what it is exactly that is plaguing me.  I love my school, the kids are great, the teachers and administrators I work with are outstanding, and overall, we do a great job… better than most schools (at least I like to think).  So, I should be content.  Maybe my expectations are too high, but I think we should be doing more.  My school is six years old and it is our sixth year with our one-to-one laptop initiative, and I feel like when we started we were continually growing and actively striving to learn and improve.  We went above and beyond to learn new and innovative ways to implement technology in the classroom, to actively engage students and to make the curriculum relevant, but I feel like in the last year or so we have reached a plateau that we just can’t seem to find our way off.Don’t get me wrong… there are certainly still teachers on my campus who go above and beyond “the call of duty” to teach their curriculum in innovative and relevant ways and there are teachers who are using technology in amazing ways, but there are also teachers who are stagnating – teachers who feel there is nothing left to learn or nothing worth learning.  I no longer feel the climate of continued growth and optimism for learning that I have felt in the past and I want it back, but it seems to be ever elusive.I know my teachers are working hard.  I know they want what is best for their students.  I know they are tired and feel pulled in too many directions with preparing for TAKS testing, AP testing, SAT preparation and simply trying to help their students achieve basic math, science and literacy skills.I need to know how I convince them to take some time for themselves to help them grow and improve professionally.  I would love to convince them that introducing some Web 2.0 technologies like blogs and wikis might actually help students prepare for the TAKS test and add some relevancy to their curriculum, but I only have a handful of teachers that seem to be buying in to the concept.  And although I didn’t comment on Will Richardson’s rant, I appreciate his post and the eloquent way he verbalized my thoughts.Speaking of rants, thanks for listening to mine.  I would love any suggestions you guys might have…  Maybe it is just time for my Thanksgiving Break. [...]

]]> By: Swimming In The River » Complain, Quit, or Innovate http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-2/#comment-7135 Swimming In The River » Complain, Quit, or Innovate Wed, 15 Nov 2006 01:12:58 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7135 [...] Another of my favorite educational bloggers, and one whose work appears all over current technology education publications is edublogger Will Richardson. One of his recent posts captures the dire need for change in educators. I wanted to select a meaningful quote to include from his post, but thought the entire thing was necessary to share: Owning the Teaching…and the Learning I’ve been growing more frustrated lately and I’m feeling more pessimistic about the prospects for any serious change in how we as an education system see teaching and learning, and I think I’ve figured out why. I hate to generalize, but the thing that seems to be missing from most of my conversations with classroom teachers and administrators is a willingness to even try to re-envision their own learning, not just their students. Many will say that they understand to varying degrees the changes that are occurring, that the Web is in many ways rewriting the rules of communication and socialization, that the world our students enter when they leave us will be much different from the ones we ourselves were prepared for. But it feels like there is this unspoken belief among most that we can deal with these changes without changing ourselves. And that’s is a huge problem. Lots of teachers I talk to want blogs and podcasts and wikis. Without question, there are thousands of teachers, tens of thousands in fact, who are already using the tools with their students. I see new examples every day. But I’m still bothered by the fact that very, very rarely do I see new pedagogies to go along with them that prepare students for the creation of their own learning networks. That allow them to take some ownership (or at least envision the possibility of it) over their learning. That help them learn self-direction and get them to stop waiting for someone else to initiate the learning. And even rarer is to find one of those teachers exploring his or her own learning through the tools. More than anything else, I think, teaching is modeling. As a writing teacher, I wrote with my students. As a journalism teacher, I wrote for publication with my students. As a literature teacher, I practiced and modeled reading for my students. Modeling is teaching, and never has that been made more apparent to me than when my own children act out and reflect my own bad behavior back to me. (It happens more than I like to admit.) My own kids, it has become clear, learn less when I talk, more when I do. And so it is with me. We go back and forth in this community about whether teachers who use blogs should blog, or podcast or read RSS feeds. I’ve always hesitated to come down on one side or the other in that debate for a variety of reasons. But it’s become clear to me that the answer has to be yes. If you are an educator, I think you have little choice but to choose option 3 in the Marco Torres mantra: “You can complain, quit or innovate.” I know in many ways it stinks to have to be an educator at a moment in history when things are changing on a glacial scale. But what you signed up for is preparing kids for their futures. You have little choice but to deal. Why won’t our kids be as well served if we don’t change ourselves? I mean we’re all products of the system, right? We all did ok. Things were changing when we went through school, right? Um, no. Not like this. Our students will by and large have the ability to learn anything, anywhere, anytime (if they can’t already.) The level of their collaboration and connections with colleagues and peers in online environments will be of a type that is hard for most of us to imagine (myself included.) The information and knowledge that they will be awash in will require skills and literacies that most of us simply do not have. Their futures (and to some extent their “presents”) look very little like our vision of what it means to be educated. (And if you don’t believe that, spend some time reading “The Education Map of the Decade.”) And so here is the friction: Recently, I had a teacher tell me that she spent about 10 minutes a day online and that frankly, that was quite enough. She said that she’s not going to sacrifice the other things that she already does in her life to spend more time on the Internet. I wanted to say, as Yochai Benkler says in the Wealth of Networks, you have the “greatest library in human history” at your fingertips. You have a billion potential teachers. You have an opportunity to learn in ways that you or I could not even have dreamed of when we were in school. And you have an opportunity to shepherd your students into a much more complex, much messier, and much more profound world of learning in ways that will help prepare them more powerfully for the world they face. Many of our kids are already doing this without us. Many of them have much more of a clue of what it means to learn using these tools than we do. Imagine if we could teach them to leverage their connections even more powerfully, if we could show them how powerful they are in our own learning. That we are not just engaged teachers but engaged learners. That we’re not afraid of what’s ahead because we know how to learn. Surely, that’s worth more than 10 minutes a day. But the litany of reasons why this can’t happen are on the tips of too many tongues. Today, in our parent conferences, I asked my daughter’s teacher if there were opportunities for her class to work on extended projects, projects that in the end would have a purpose beyond the grade and the classroom. Projects that, to quote Marco again, would “have wings.” The response I got was this: with all of the objectives that must be met for the state tests coming up in the spring, there just isn’t time for it. When I asked my son’s teacher whether she had read his blog, her answer was that blogs were blocked at school and so, no, she hadn’t. And so I am frustrated, and I am wondering what will it take to make our classrooms places of learning rather than places of teaching. And I’m wondering if teaching really is dead. And I’m wondering, like the survey question from a few days ago, what classrooms might look like 10 years from now, if they will be fundamentally different from what they are today. My guess right now is not much. Listen to this podcast [...] [...] Another of my favorite educational bloggers, and one whose work appears all over current technology education publications is edublogger Will Richardson. One of his recent posts captures the dire need for change in educators. I wanted to select a meaningful quote to include from his post, but thought the entire thing was necessary to share: Owning the Teaching…and the Learning I’ve been growing more frustrated lately and I’m feeling more pessimistic about the prospects for any serious change in how we as an education system see teaching and learning, and I think I’ve figured out why. I hate to generalize, but the thing that seems to be missing from most of my conversations with classroom teachers and administrators is a willingness to even try to re-envision their own learning, not just their students. Many will say that they understand to varying degrees the changes that are occurring, that the Web is in many ways rewriting the rules of communication and socialization, that the world our students enter when they leave us will be much different from the ones we ourselves were prepared for. But it feels like there is this unspoken belief among most that we can deal with these changes without changing ourselves. And that’s is a huge problem. Lots of teachers I talk to want blogs and podcasts and wikis. Without question, there are thousands of teachers, tens of thousands in fact, who are already using the tools with their students. I see new examples every day. But I’m still bothered by the fact that very, very rarely do I see new pedagogies to go along with them that prepare students for the creation of their own learning networks. That allow them to take some ownership (or at least envision the possibility of it) over their learning. That help them learn self-direction and get them to stop waiting for someone else to initiate the learning. And even rarer is to find one of those teachers exploring his or her own learning through the tools. More than anything else, I think, teaching is modeling. As a writing teacher, I wrote with my students. As a journalism teacher, I wrote for publication with my students. As a literature teacher, I practiced and modeled reading for my students. Modeling is teaching, and never has that been made more apparent to me than when my own children act out and reflect my own bad behavior back to me. (It happens more than I like to admit.) My own kids, it has become clear, learn less when I talk, more when I do. And so it is with me. We go back and forth in this community about whether teachers who use blogs should blog, or podcast or read RSS feeds. I’ve always hesitated to come down on one side or the other in that debate for a variety of reasons. But it’s become clear to me that the answer has to be yes. If you are an educator, I think you have little choice but to choose option 3 in the Marco Torres mantra: “You can complain, quit or innovate.” I know in many ways it stinks to have to be an educator at a moment in history when things are changing on a glacial scale. But what you signed up for is preparing kids for their futures. You have little choice but to deal. Why won’t our kids be as well served if we don’t change ourselves? I mean we’re all products of the system, right? We all did ok. Things were changing when we went through school, right? Um, no. Not like this. Our students will by and large have the ability to learn anything, anywhere, anytime (if they can’t already.) The level of their collaboration and connections with colleagues and peers in online environments will be of a type that is hard for most of us to imagine (myself included.) The information and knowledge that they will be awash in will require skills and literacies that most of us simply do not have. Their futures (and to some extent their “presents”) look very little like our vision of what it means to be educated. (And if you don’t believe that, spend some time reading “The Education Map of the Decade.”) And so here is the friction: Recently, I had a teacher tell me that she spent about 10 minutes a day online and that frankly, that was quite enough. She said that she’s not going to sacrifice the other things that she already does in her life to spend more time on the Internet. I wanted to say, as Yochai Benkler says in the Wealth of Networks, you have the “greatest library in human history” at your fingertips. You have a billion potential teachers. You have an opportunity to learn in ways that you or I could not even have dreamed of when we were in school. And you have an opportunity to shepherd your students into a much more complex, much messier, and much more profound world of learning in ways that will help prepare them more powerfully for the world they face. Many of our kids are already doing this without us. Many of them have much more of a clue of what it means to learn using these tools than we do. Imagine if we could teach them to leverage their connections even more powerfully, if we could show them how powerful they are in our own learning. That we are not just engaged teachers but engaged learners. That we’re not afraid of what’s ahead because we know how to learn. Surely, that’s worth more than 10 minutes a day. But the litany of reasons why this can’t happen are on the tips of too many tongues. Today, in our parent conferences, I asked my daughter’s teacher if there were opportunities for her class to work on extended projects, projects that in the end would have a purpose beyond the grade and the classroom. Projects that, to quote Marco again, would “have wings.” The response I got was this: with all of the objectives that must be met for the state tests coming up in the spring, there just isn’t time for it. When I asked my son’s teacher whether she had read his blog, her answer was that blogs were blocked at school and so, no, she hadn’t. And so I am frustrated, and I am wondering what will it take to make our classrooms places of learning rather than places of teaching. And I’m wondering if teaching really is dead. And I’m wondering, like the survey question from a few days ago, what classrooms might look like 10 years from now, if they will be fundamentally different from what they are today. My guess right now is not much. Listen to this podcast [...]

]]> By: Weekly Roundup (11 November 2006) - Personalising Learning at teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-2/#comment-7096 Weekly Roundup (11 November 2006) - Personalising Learning at teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:16:54 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7096 [...] The problem is, as Will Richardson mentions in his post Owning the Teaching…and the Learning, teachers have forgotten how to be learners: I hate to generalize, but the thing that seems to be missing from most of my conversations with classroom teachers and administrators is a willingness to even try to re-envision their own learning, not just their students. Many will say that they understand to varying degrees the changes that are occurring, that the Web is in many ways rewriting the rules of communication and socialization, that the world our students enter when they leave us will be much different from the ones we ourselves were prepared for. But it feels like there is this unspoken belief among most that we can deal with these changes without changing ourselves. And that’s is a huge problem. [...] [...] The problem is, as Will Richardson mentions in his post Owning the Teaching…and the Learning, teachers have forgotten how to be learners: I hate to generalize, but the thing that seems to be missing from most of my conversations with classroom teachers and administrators is a willingness to even try to re-envision their own learning, not just their students. Many will say that they understand to varying degrees the changes that are occurring, that the Web is in many ways rewriting the rules of communication and socialization, that the world our students enter when they leave us will be much different from the ones we ourselves were prepared for. But it feels like there is this unspoken belief among most that we can deal with these changes without changing ourselves. And that’s is a huge problem. [...]

]]> By: Jeffrey Young http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-7090 Jeffrey Young Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:41:17 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7090 Will, I was inspired by this discussion about owning our learning and modeling openness to learning. So much so that I created my own post on the Future Learning Network blog, titled "Owning the Process of Learning" It is a challenge and an invitation to engage fully in the question of how do we go about co-creating the future you describe. I hope you and others will see my response there at: http://futurelearningnetwork.typepad.com/future_learning_network/2006/11/owning_the_proc.html. Will,

I was inspired by this discussion about owning our learning and modeling openness to learning. So much so that I created my own post on the Future Learning Network blog, titled “Owning the Process of Learning” It is a challenge and an invitation to engage fully in the question of how do we go about co-creating the future you describe. I hope you and others will see my response there at: http://futurelearningnetwork.typepad.com/future_learning_network/2006/11/owning_the_proc.html.

]]> By: Future Learning Network http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-7089 Future Learning Network Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:27:56 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7089 <strong>Owning the Process of Learning...</strong> I recently read a post on Weblogg-ed titled Owning the Teaching and the Learning talking about teachers and administrators not owning their own learning. It also surprised me that this post generated 48 responses - some of them rather long.... Owning the Process of Learning…

I recently read a post on Weblogg-ed titled Owning the Teaching and the Learning talking about teachers and administrators not owning their own learning. It also surprised me that this post generated 48 responses – some of them rather long….

]]> By: Joel Rainbow http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-7080 Joel Rainbow Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:48:35 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7080 Will, I share in your frustrations. As I work on a doctorate in eduction (Ed.D.) my writings have touched on what I think might be a reason for delays and reluctance in the "reformation" of public schooling. Maybe it will give you or others an idea to build upon: I have an idea of how current thought continues to be influenced by practices from the past. One reality tends to frustrate me; the idea among our public that schools today should be just as they were “when I grew up.” I like to jest that anyone who has been through school may feel they are an expert on schooling. After all, they spent at least twelve years in school. Continuing, I point out that there are four sides of a teacher’s desk. As students, they have only seen the student’s side. They have not seen the sides of the teachers, administrators, or the school board/governmental sides. Each of those has their own influences and priorities. If one is to completely appreciate public schooling as an institution, they must understand each perspective. If those who are decision makers are without these insights, they cannot effectively lead such an important institution forward as it attempts to meet the disparate needs of a vastly different client, our students. Will,

I share in your frustrations. As I work on a doctorate in eduction (Ed.D.) my writings have touched on what I think might be a reason for delays and reluctance in the “reformation” of public schooling. Maybe it will give you or others an idea to build upon:

I have an idea of how current thought continues to be influenced by practices from the past. One reality tends to frustrate me; the idea among our public that schools today should be just as they were “when I grew up.” I like to jest that anyone who has been through school may feel they are an expert on schooling. After all, they spent at least twelve years in school. Continuing, I point out that there are four sides of a teacher’s desk. As students, they have only seen the student’s side. They have not seen the sides of the teachers, administrators, or the school board/governmental sides. Each of those has their own influences and priorities. If one is to completely appreciate public schooling as an institution, they must understand each perspective. If those who are decision makers are without these insights, they cannot effectively lead such an important institution forward as it attempts to meet the disparate needs of a vastly different client, our students.

]]> By: Jay http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-7067 Jay Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:12:03 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7067 I agree. It also disapoints me that the educational system fails to teach us bout personal finance and home economics. The whole reason that we get an education is to make money. But, once people make money, they have no idea what to do with it. The usually do something stupid with it like invest in the stock market when they know nothing about the stock market. They then wonder why they loose money and thats because they buy and hold. It is buy and homework. As a highschool student I am forced to study personal finance and the stockmarket on my one. I agree. It also disapoints me that the educational system fails to teach us bout personal finance and home economics. The whole reason that we get an education is to make money. But, once people make money, they have no idea what to do with it. The usually do something stupid with it like invest in the stock market when they know nothing about the stock market. They then wonder why they loose money and thats because they buy and hold. It is buy and homework. As a highschool student I am forced to study personal finance and the stockmarket on my one.

]]> By: Weblogg-ed » So What Do We Do Now? http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-7044 Weblogg-ed » So What Do We Do Now? Thu, 09 Nov 2006 12:11:47 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7044 [...] My brain feels as tired as it has in a long time, and it’s a combination of the challenging (at least for me) discussions that I’ve been having both on and off blog this week. I’m still humbled by the fact that over 40 people responded to my vent last week. In some ways it’s inspiring and overwhelming at the same time. To me, it captured very clearly the complexities of this moment we seem to be at. The ground is shifting, but it feels like we’re stuck. [...] [...] My brain feels as tired as it has in a long time, and it’s a combination of the challenging (at least for me) discussions that I’ve been having both on and off blog this week. I’m still humbled by the fact that over 40 people responded to my vent last week. In some ways it’s inspiring and overwhelming at the same time. To me, it captured very clearly the complexities of this moment we seem to be at. The ground is shifting, but it feels like we’re stuck. [...]

]]> By: Sean FitzGerald http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-7007 Sean FitzGerald Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:54:08 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-7007 I empathise with where you are at Will. I've left the industry because I was sick of beating my head against a brick wall. I scanned the comments and noticed mentioned of the need to create alternatives, rather than try and drag the current education system kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. I totally agree - I don't think the latter will ever work. I thought you might be interested in this alternative model - <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/evolution-of-education/2006/10/09/1160246042551.html" rel="nofollow">E-volution of schools - Technology - smh.com.au</a>. A little ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and gloomy world! I empathise with where you are at Will. I’ve left the industry because I was sick of beating my head against a brick wall.

I scanned the comments and noticed mentioned of the need to create alternatives, rather than try and drag the current education system kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. I totally agree – I don’t think the latter will ever work.

I thought you might be interested in this alternative model – E-volution of schools – Technology – smh.com.au.

A little ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and gloomy world!

]]> By: Jan Davis http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-6988 Jan Davis Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:38:57 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-6988 I read your article and the responses, it is nice to know that I am not alone. I am currently using Moodle with all 3 of my 10th grade classes, and now have moved the venture to a private site not supported by the district so that the students and I may model an ELA unit in a server supported arena. I have even created an online children's novel based on a web 2.0 concept. I think it is time to model the school of the future, the past and those who continue to state they only have a few more years until retirement, so why bother with technology, should be asked how will they keep up in retirement years with the changes in technology. Thank goodness that there are leaders out there such as yourself and others who will continue to light a torch for others of us to follow. Don't get discouraged, better days are coming, who knew youtube would be such a success? May we all design a youtube for schools, teachers, and administrators to follow... As always just my 2 cents... I read your article and the responses, it is nice to know that I am not alone. I am currently using Moodle with all 3 of my 10th grade classes, and now have moved the venture to a private site not supported by the district so that the students and I may model an ELA unit in a server supported arena. I have even created an online children’s novel based on a web 2.0 concept.

I think it is time to model the school of the future, the past and those who continue to state they only have a few more years until retirement, so why bother with technology, should be asked how will they keep up in retirement years with the changes in technology.
Thank goodness that there are leaders out there such as yourself and others who will continue to light a torch for others of us to follow. Don’t get discouraged, better days are coming, who knew youtube would be such a success? May we all design a youtube for schools, teachers, and administrators to follow…
As always just my 2 cents…

]]> By: Will Richardson http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-6981 Will Richardson Tue, 07 Nov 2006 01:20:05 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-6981 I just want to chime in here once again and say that I am absolutely amazed by this discussion. The mere fact that so many of you felt compelled to share your thoughts to these ideas is inspiring. And quite amazing. Something has resonated, obviously, and I'm left wondering if it's a good thing that so many others feel this sticking point and are working on ways to get past it or if it's a bad thing that so many others feel this sticking point and that reality really is widespread. Hopefully the former. Thanks again all for your thoughts...it will take me a few days to digest. I just want to chime in here once again and say that I am absolutely amazed by this discussion. The mere fact that so many of you felt compelled to share your thoughts to these ideas is inspiring. And quite amazing. Something has resonated, obviously, and I’m left wondering if it’s a good thing that so many others feel this sticking point and are working on ways to get past it or if it’s a bad thing that so many others feel this sticking point and that reality really is widespread. Hopefully the former. Thanks again all for your thoughts…it will take me a few days to digest.

]]> By: l’Ancien Régime… « Mr W’s Blogging Great Thing http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-6980 l’Ancien Régime… « Mr W’s Blogging Great Thing Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:51:02 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-6980 [...] I keep being impressed by the clarity that Will Richardson brings to the debate on Webblog-ed and elsewhere. He is capable of asking the really uncomfortable questions, whilst at the same time, pointing us at possible solutions. [...] [...] I keep being impressed by the clarity that Will Richardson brings to the debate on Webblog-ed and elsewhere. He is capable of asking the really uncomfortable questions, whilst at the same time, pointing us at possible solutions. [...]

]]> By: Jenine Wech http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-6974 Jenine Wech Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:40:33 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-6974 I see the validity in statements from teachers that “with all of the objectives that must be met for the state tests coming up in the spring, there just isn’t time for it [extended projects, projects that in the end would have a purpose beyond the grade and the classroom]”. Teachers spend a significant amount of time testing, grading tests, meeting about tests, meeting about grading tests, and analyzing the results of the test so they can design another test to test the weak areas. Fact is, standardized tests as we know them are probably not going anywhere for a long time. For some that might be good news. For others, it is a sad sign that our factory-style education system will continue to churn out students as if they were little products to be measured by rigid one-size-fits-all specifications and continuously sent through quality control checkpoints. There is, of course, a place for the quality assurance professional. My guess is that is not what most educators envisioned when they embarked on the quest to become a teacher. I wonder how many teachers the current treadmill of standardized education disheartens. I consistently hear from teachers that they want to put the life back into education. They want to connect with students on a meaningful level and really make a difference. So, what if it were different. I mean, really different. What if there was no position of “teacher” in the schools. I am not suggesting we remove the adults from buildings. In fact, I would suggest the opposite. But let’s imagine for a moment, that there are no teachers. “Teacher” has become synonymous with “quality assurance professional”. So...why not create positions with a title that matches the job at hand. These QA Professionals would be experts in assessment and learning standards. While we are at this business of change, why not take our cue from vocational schools or schools such as High-Tech High where learners are engaged in self-directed project-based learning. Project Coordination involves a whole other set of skills. Schools will need adults in place to provide focus and coordination to help the student plan the learning in context of required objectives. Project Coordinators would bridge the student objectives with mandatory learning objectives. These professionals also foster the development of interpersonal skills through modeling of effective mentoring and facilitation. Notice I am not suggesting that these Project Coordinators be experts in the content. Rather, these coordinators are expert learners and networking (in the human sense, not technical sense). They don’t know the answer, but they know how to find the people who do. The third leg of this model involves the “expert in the field”. These experts are professionals in practice, connected to field experts and engaged in fieldwork. It seems unrealistic to expect our teachers to be content experts, trained facilitators, assessment experts, and on top of it all, keep up with project coordination for every learner. In our ideal education model we want to think of learning being driven by student passion. I believe this starts with encouraging each educator to identify his/her own passion and developing an area of expertise, not in terms of subject area, but in terms of function within the learning process. Technology is part of the equation, but as you say Will, it is "not about the technology". I see the validity in statements from teachers that “with all of the objectives that must be met for the state tests coming up in the spring, there just isn’t time for it [extended projects, projects that in the end would have a purpose beyond the grade and the classroom]”. Teachers spend a significant amount of time testing, grading tests, meeting about tests, meeting about grading tests, and analyzing the results of the test so they can design another test to test the weak areas.

Fact is, standardized tests as we know them are probably not going anywhere for a long time. For some that might be good news. For others, it is a sad sign that our factory-style education system will continue to churn out students as if they were little products to be measured by rigid one-size-fits-all specifications and continuously sent through quality control checkpoints.

There is, of course, a place for the quality assurance professional. My guess is that is not what most educators envisioned when they embarked on the quest to become a teacher. I wonder how many teachers the current treadmill of standardized education disheartens. I consistently hear from teachers that they want to put the life back into education. They want to connect with students on a meaningful level and really make a difference.

So, what if it were different. I mean, really different. What if there was no position of “teacher” in the schools. I am not suggesting we remove the adults from buildings. In fact, I would suggest the opposite. But let’s imagine for a moment, that there are no teachers. “Teacher” has become synonymous with “quality assurance professional”. So…why not create positions with a title that matches the job at hand. These QA Professionals would be experts in assessment and learning standards.

While we are at this business of change, why not take our cue from vocational schools or schools such as High-Tech High where learners are engaged in self-directed project-based learning. Project Coordination involves a whole other set of skills. Schools will need adults in place to provide focus and coordination to help the student plan the learning in context of required objectives. Project Coordinators would bridge the student objectives with mandatory learning objectives. These professionals also foster the development of interpersonal skills through modeling of effective mentoring and facilitation. Notice I am not suggesting that these Project Coordinators be experts in the content. Rather, these coordinators are expert learners and networking (in the human sense, not technical sense). They don’t know the answer, but they know how to find the people who do.

The third leg of this model involves the “expert in the field”. These experts are professionals in practice, connected to field experts and engaged in fieldwork. It seems unrealistic to expect our teachers to be content experts, trained facilitators, assessment experts, and on top of it all, keep up with project coordination for every learner.

In our ideal education model we want to think of learning being driven by student passion. I believe this starts with encouraging each educator to identify his/her own passion and developing an area of expertise, not in terms of subject area, but in terms of function within the learning process. Technology is part of the equation, but as you say Will, it is “not about the technology”.

]]> By: Thoughts on the Future of Learning and Teaching « Inscape:Landscape of the Mind http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-6971 Thoughts on the Future of Learning and Teaching « Inscape:Landscape of the Mind Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:00:53 +0000 http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/owning-the-teachingand-the-learning/#comment-6971 [...] There is no question that our students, our children, need to be at warp speed in learning to use technology in academic, business, career, and social arenas. The ability to access information and content quickly is increasingly becoming a survival skill. It might be interesting however, to observe over the next 15 years how focusing teaching on creating students who are information bloodhounds, with a just-in-time mentality (that is, searching for and finding information as needed, for a specific time and purpose) affects the character development of students. There was a time when the idea of a “Renaissance Man” (gender neutral of course) was an ideal. A person who had, in their head and heart, poems from Emily Dickinson or e.e. cummings, quotes from Shakespeare and C. S. Lewis, bits of writing from Aristotle or Locke or P. G. Wodehouse. A person who has in their mind and soul visions of great art, knowledge of Rubens or Klimt, things that are a part of who they are, that they can “search and retrieve” from their own mind, for comfort, for laughter, for entertainment, for learning, to be able to keep themselves company when they are alone, to be alone but never lonely because of the rich library of their own mind and soul. How does a change in focus from “having content” to “being able to find content when needed” affect what a person becomes as an adult. In some ways, are we creating people who only have temporary storage instead of a rich personal foundation of knowledge and learning? RAM individuals who don’t keep knowledge on a permanent basis but only in a temporary cache for the immediate need? When I feel my anxiety levels grow after watching the news, when I notice my jaw has been tight all day because my to-do list has been growing instead of shrinking, I can stop anywhere, anytime, with no need for internet access, and in my head recite the Wendell Berry poem, “The Peace of Wild Things” that I took the time to memorize years before because it brings such comfort and perspective to me in my moments of personal crisis. I could rush to Google and search “comforting poems” perhaps, but somehow having it in my head, with me always, my own secret, personal pearl of great price that I can access at anytime gives me a deep sense of personal peace. We only have so much time, so much of a kid’s brain that we can claim territorially. We are driven to try to make the best use of that time and territory. The impulse to align that drive to one purpose, whether it be technological literacy or not, is strong. But the question is, what are we creating? See Will Richardson. [...] [...] There is no question that our students, our children, need to be at warp speed in learning to use technology in academic, business, career, and social arenas. The ability to access information and content quickly is increasingly becoming a survival skill. It might be interesting however, to observe over the next 15 years how focusing teaching on creating students who are information bloodhounds, with a just-in-time mentality (that is, searching for and finding information as needed, for a specific time and purpose) affects the character development of students. There was a time when the idea of a “Renaissance Man” (gender neutral of course) was an ideal. A person who had, in their head and heart, poems from Emily Dickinson or e.e. cummings, quotes from Shakespeare and C. S. Lewis, bits of writing from Aristotle or Locke or P. G. Wodehouse. A person who has in their mind and soul visions of great art, knowledge of Rubens or Klimt, things that are a part of who they are, that they can “search and retrieve” from their own mind, for comfort, for laughter, for entertainment, for learning, to be able to keep themselves company when they are alone, to be alone but never lonely because of the rich library of their own mind and soul. How does a change in focus from “having content” to “being able to find content when needed” affect what a person becomes as an adult. In some ways, are we creating people who only have temporary storage instead of a rich personal foundation of knowledge and learning? RAM individuals who don’t keep knowledge on a permanent basis but only in a temporary cache for the immediate need? When I feel my anxiety levels grow after watching the news, when I notice my jaw has been tight all day because my to-do list has been growing instead of shrinking, I can stop anywhere, anytime, with no need for internet access, and in my head recite the Wendell Berry poem, “The Peace of Wild Things” that I took the time to memorize years before because it brings such comfort and perspective to me in my moments of personal crisis. I could rush to Google and search “comforting poems” perhaps, but somehow having it in my head, with me always, my own secret, personal pearl of great price that I can access at anytime gives me a deep sense of personal peace. We only have so much time, so much of a kid’s brain that we can claim territorially. We are driven to try to make the best use of that time and territory. The impulse to align that drive to one purpose, whether it be technological literacy or not, is strong. But the question is, what are we creating? See Will Richardson. [...]

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