My world on the web
Secession is extremely improbable. But looking at what could ensue if it happened underscores some fascinating truths about the US – and where power really lies.
One of the interesting abnormalities associated with moving from the classroom to a project environment has been the ‘project manager’. These people run around making sure that everything is running as expected. The catch though is that they have very little content knowledge, instead they are focused on process.
What I do not get is why structures could not be set to support users in managing projects themselves? In the place of ‘managers’ we could instead have growth coaches who instead of managerial check-in focus on developing agency and capacity?
I am sure that I am missing something. Would love to hear.
I was listening to a recent episode of RN Future Tense talk about developing a digital construct of ourselves that would exist long after we die. The idea of this virtual self is so that people could ask our opinion long after we die. This is something captured in a few ways in the Black Mirrors series. However, what I was left wondering is whether such virtual selves, based on understanding of the way we think, could sit a standardised tests, such as NAPLAN etc, for us?
It seems that from a number examples shared on online that it is a lot easier to bring about change and transformation in a new school without the supposed baggage of embedded behaviours. This makes me wonder though whether a new school with the ‘best’ teachers as the answer for change is akin to those diets which provide initial success, but are more often than not sustainable in the long term? Those sorts of diets that people follow to loose 10kg for a wedding and then put on 20kg after all the gloss has worn off? Not sure, but I think that we need a more nuanced approach to change. One that celebrates, builds and supports what is in place, rather than looks for solutions on the outside. What about you?
Many make the argument for collaboration, for the development of social capital, for communities of practice, what if this is all in vein because we continue to come back to the same system in place, same purpose for showing up. What if changed started with why, started with not only knowing that there is another way, but being clear about what that might be?
I was browsing a bookstore yesterday when I came upon an ‘Essential’ pile of books. One about Economics, another about Physics. Then there was one about remembering all the things that you learned in Geography at school, but have forgotten. This got me wondering about what would and would not be in these books and all of the ones that I had bought over time on philosophy, psychoanalysis, literary theory, religion etc … What if all these books were feeding our desire to be in control and own something that simply cannot be owned? I wonder if NAPLAN preparation books fit this mould as well?
There have been a lot of companies of late that offer fast and efficient delivery of a wide range of things. People seem to be carrying parcels on their back, on bikes, however possible. The problem with this is that such disruption seems to only occur in high-populated inner city spaces? What if such change and disruption was only afforded to a particular class of people? What if innovation was in fact inequitable?
A dominant model for online learning too often is focused on applications and transactional processes. For example, how to use Google Drawings or manage Google Drive. This is useful in knowing what to do and how to go about it, but it does not necessarily capture why. A different approach to structuring online learning would be through the use of Open Badges.
As I have explained elsewhere:
Open Badges are online representation of a skill you have earnt. … They allow you to verify different information, such as a description, issuer, criteria of achievement and standards met.
One of the challenges is that Open Badges need to be managed as they require a certain level of authentication.
Doug Belshaw outlines this in a post on some work with a school in implementing G Suite, in which he states:
My aim in any badge system is to encourage particular types of knowledge, skills, and behaviours. Whatever system I come up with will be co-designed and go beyond just the use of G-Suite for Education. As the TPACK model emphasises, the system will have a more holistic focus: integrating the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge required for purposeful educational technology integration.
What such an approach offers is a focus on the pedagogies and behaviours, such as analysing data, identifying trend growth and collaborating in the classroom. This allows technology to be properly integrated. It also allows you to add on any additional badges as they may arise.
flickr photo shared by mrkrndvs under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license
In response to Donald Trump’s recent accession to president of USA, danah boyd said that social media is responsible for the creation of this spectacle and it is time for a reality check. This made me wonder, maybe we are all each in our own way responsible for this situation? I am not saying that we are all fueling the fire, but we all make choices about what it is we choose to pay attention to. Sometimes the choice to get involved can in fact be the most profound choice we can make.
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What if we had binge learning 100 years ago? In Holly Clark’s keynote she shared the idea of binge learning, that type of instantaneous learning made possible by applications like Periscope and Snapchat. The example shared was of a crowd of Syrian refugees cramming onto a train seemingly escaping. Watching it is a bit different than reading about it in a newspaper or several years later in a text book. The question was posed as to what would have happened in 1936 if the atrocities in Nazi Germany was telecast?
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In his keynote for Leading a Digital School, Derek Wenmoth warned that if anyone says that they have the answer to be suspicious. I wonder if ‘the answer’ is in each of us as learners? Explorers of our own practice? In our own context? Working collaboratively and critically with others? I often share the Modern Learning Canvas and wondering if I do so as an ‘answer’. I think that answers are those which support us, provide tools and scaffolds, to find our own answers. Not sure if that makes sense, thoughts?
So today is Friday, I decided to send out a #FF (Follow Friday). My intent was to celebrate some of the voices whose voices (both physical and virtual) have impacted my thinking this week. As I do, I recognised the power of the village. In response I got some feedback that maybe it is really about empire building? I don’t think that it is, but then if others do what does it matter what I think? So what if all my actions are about empire building? What impact does this have on networks and community? Just wondering …Â
What if we flipped the keynote, provided a short provocation and from there used the time allocated for the keynote to model authentic problem solving in real time? Is this beyond the realm of possibility? Would this be useful? Just wondering.
In a recent post by Peter DeWitt he reflects upon learning styles suggesting that our focus should be on learning strategies. I Wonder though whether talking about ‘strategies’ in themselves misses something as well? What if instead of dipping into a pre-concieved bag of what worked, teachers had the capabilities to build and adapt strategies to the specific needs of the learner?Â
There is nothing more frustating than opening a link only to find out that there is linkis comment down the bottom. I really don’t get the point of Linkis.com. If I share a resource, why do I need to remind people that I share it with people? Beyond the element of spamming, I wonder if there is a potential to use the funtion in order to give voice to random people in your PLN?
I have been thinking a bit about Creative Commons lately in response to Alan Levine’s recent work, I got wondering about the implications of a certification program. I have been through various programs in the past, such as Google Teachers Academy. and am told again and again about the community that will be made availible because of it. However, this is so often overlooked. What if, rather than a badge to go on a website, the focus of such certification was simply about community, about shared interest, a group of people with whom I we can learn with together? If content is people, awesome content is people working as a community.
Pasi Salberg talks about the pedagogical love that Finnish teachers have. I wonder what teaching might look like if every teacher had heutagogical love? A love of learning? What would be the impact of this on learning?
What if we replaced static school science fairs where students show their projects with an event where students are involved in activities where people can interact with different things and get hands on? Taking this a step further, what if schools opened their doors after hours to become a community hub for making?
As I progressively go through and archive a plethora of student blogs I am let wondering if we have gotten it right? Many of these spaces have been abandoned. Hours spent building them up, only for them to be left to silent. It makes me think about why we do it. This led me to wonder what if students and parents were responsible for the online presence? We ask students to do a lot already, why would managing a blog be any different? Also, this seems to be the fix for many schools in regards to iPads in that it puts the control in the hands of the students. This is an idea that Audrey Watters talks about in her book Claim Your Domain.
Steve Brophy sent the above image to me today with the challenge to identify the biggest problem in my classroom. I was intrigued by who was attached to the message and left thinking that the biggest problem in the classroom is the lack of student action. Too often the conversations that really mater a devoid of those who the decisions actually apply. Therefore I wonder, what if students had a central role in deciding what works in the classroom and what doesn’t? Maybe that itself would be the real learning?