Backchanneling at the iTSummit in Saskatoon
geoff (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 09:49:07
Hello
Black-eye Jack (CA) て｢ 2009-03-24 09:52:32
Good morning y'all!
Sherig (CA) て｢ 2009-03-24 09:53:36
good morning back to all y'all :-)
Violet Smotra-Cook (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 09:55:44
How can I redefine literacy?
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 09:57:38
Literacy is no longer just the 3r's.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 09:58:07
I shopped like that just last week.
Sherig (CA) て｢ 2009-03-24 09:59:08
Are you out there Oopsy?
Cilla (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:00:27
Eldon you're very right
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:01:03
Access is still a huge issue.
And it it continues to change. I blogged a while back about a high school senior who was shopping for colleges, and was keen to learn about student life at one particular liberal arts school. She created a group for the college on Facebook, and in three days there were 200 members of the group -- all students and alum. She then asked members about life at the college. She created a source for the answers to her question. Search today is part knowledge, part skill, and part resourceful inventiveness.
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:03:36
Does that jacket come in school colours?
Interesting concept. One to One may come to refer to smart jackets. You carry your curriculum on your sleave. All kinds of rediculous places to take this ;-)
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:05:26
Answered...I need the GPS toe ring...one every student who wants to go to the bathroom during class.
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:06:05
traditional print was a filter to content validity. what is the digital filter to info glut? smart agents?
"Smart Agents!" An interesting answers which will almost certainly be in our futures, as will authority filters/librarians. However, much of what we need to accomplish our goals will have not authorty flags. Who filters it? We do. How? Literacy! We become our own gatekeepers. Library science becomes a personal skill. Who's going to teach us? ;-)
Black-eye Jack (CA) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:07:17
teach themselves - we'll have no jobs
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:08:28
Darylk, the world at large will help filter...or the teacher following and guiding the students digital work.
Yes! There is a certainly amount of truth to this -- that the community filters. Wikipedia is probably the worlds most vetted source of content. It is actually incredibly accurate and reliable -- considering how it work.
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:09:19
if the tech in ed is simply online content the we are in the cross hairs
You are absolutely right. Librarians are in the cross-hairs, and I'm hearing school board members ask, "We have to cut budget. Why do we need librarians? At the same time that I say that I have to admit that there has never been a more exciting time to be a librarian. You are challenged with reinventing yourself and your library to be meaningful in the information age. We've never needed you more. We just don't know what the questions are, that you can help us answer. You have to figure that out.
I can say one thing. The tradional notions that we all have of libraries, involves a place associate with the first R and the first E. Exposing information and reading it. Library's where you go to find information and to read. I think that you have to find a way to become a place where you do all three Rs and all four Es. It's not just where you go to read and expose, but also to do numbers, employ the information, write, and express ideas compellingly. Thin Kinkos for Kids.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:09:54
teacher as guide - that's our new role
There's lots of them. Guide, facilitator, curator, editor in chief, etc. Our job now is to inventively create and manage learning experiences for our students where they construct their own knowledge
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:11:45
@gaetanh Exactly!!!
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:12:05
the world is a big place. the student is the filter but the world is now full of experts simply because they can publish.
Hmmm! Yes. But I think that we have to also consider that we are not just training scholars. We have always been concerned with authority and expertise. "Can we depend on this source to provide the accurate information to our learners?" However, when we are "working," we have to consider more than accuracy. The question becomes, "Will this information help me accomplish my goal?" I think this needs to be the basis, not just authority. Authority is a crucial element. But if our assignments tend to have real audiences and real goals -- and then Internet makes this possible -- then the goal becomes a perfect and more authentic basis. If I were working on a report about contemporary propaganda, then the white supremacist document may have been perfect
Sir Ken Robinson said it perfectly, that we we, in education, are all doing our jobs exactly the way we are supposed to, all of our students would graduate to be college professors.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:12:31
I hear Google plans to put all books online.
It's going to happen eventually. Will it mean the end of books any time soon. I can't believe that. But an ultimate end of books as we know them? We won't make that decision.
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:14:27
@darylk That is where we come in...The non-experts get revealed by the public at large.
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:15:46
the new literacy is filtering
Cilla (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:16:04
It is called pre-teaching
Bingo! You win the prize!
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:17:44
so why do infomercials still do such a great business. the masses are susceptible to con.
If we're doing our jobs right, then infomercials won't have an audience 10 years from now -- at least among young adults. Perhaps one way to help students, is to ask them to make infomercials ;-)
Black-eye Jack (CA) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:19:53
not all infomercials are cons - look at the ShamWOW
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:20:14
@darylk The uneducated mass. We need to educate the future mass to filter each other and seek truth.
Hmmm! Is there a way to educate the children of Ford? They (we) have skills. It more about attitude. Hey, informercials about literacy!
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:20:23
the skill is inquiry and critical thinking. that is a 21st century skill that is not about technology
Yes! What I talked about was about information, not about the tools. In fact, helping students to develop these skills and habits has more to do with the conversations we have in our classrooms and libraries than the computer assignments we give them.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:20:50
perhaps the masses lack formal training in information literacy?
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:22:16
or even informal training
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:22:35
they are trained to be consumers. in some ways we are now being brought along as consumers of information good or bad
An interesting point. There is a discussion about whether The SIMS is just training children to be consumers.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:25:43
passive acceptance - that's what were fighting
Yes! But when students are engaged in their own work in their social networks, video production, etc. do they become more critical in their research. Is it just school work that they become passive about. That a broad statement for a very complex issue. But consider when a students is researching for ways to earn more currency in World of Warcraft, they are going to be critical, because they are looking for the best tips. They goal is to make the game work for them. When they are researching for a school assignment then their goal is to get the assignment done and behind them.
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:28:11
math literacy of that sort is critical. but given the traditional approach and not one of critical thinking the effort is hollow.
Making the numbers embedded in text, images, sound, and video would not, I suppose, be left to math teachers. Actually, I suspect that students could teach those skills to each other. Our job would be to expect them to use the skills effectively and compellingly.
Sherig (CA) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:33:27
students need to use those 'skills' to be literate and make numbers etc. tell their story, what's the best way to teach teachers to deal with that?
I think that part of it is to realize that the students do not need us to teach them how to do it. They can teach themselves or each other. There is a high school in New York, where students are not allowed to turn any assignments in on paper. Everything has to be digital. With most assignment, the students can choose whether to word process a document, make a presentation deck, video, or audio file. But for each assignment, they have to be able to explain why the format they chose was the most appropriate for the assignment.
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:34:54
We need to get past the idea that textbooks teach. People teach. Teachers teach. Students teach.
This is so true! ...and textbooks are not "sacred" -- except to textbook publishers.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:35:49
textbooks are only one information source- usually not the most current
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:37:44
The teachers I wish were hear listening to David think textbooks do teach. If websites are used, they teach. Handouts the same. Communication?
It's the experience that teaches. Again, our job is to create and cultivate the experience. I also offer, when I'm working for a district, to do an evening session for the community -- free-of-charge. It's just as important for the community to know why education needs to change.
Mavis Hoffman (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:39:57
I was just thinking that. We are the converted already. Maybe we're not the teachers to be at these conferences.
This is probably true. But it's not bad that you are here. We frequently say that we're preaching to the choir. I like to think of it as preaching to the missionaries. I go to these conferences, not to find answer, but to find language -- new stories to take back to the heathen. ;-)
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:40:56
the future is smart agents digital helpers.
This is a cool concept. I'm sure you've seen Knowledge Navigator, produced by Apple back in 1987.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:41:36
how do I share this effectively with my staff? they need firing up
If you have a blog, start posting compelling videos for them to watch. You know the ones I'm talking about. Also make them aware of the TED Talks videos. Perhaps start a study group that discusses specific TED Talks.
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:44:14
it is not a technology plan but a new literacy plan for your division. it has to be a core strategy.
My point EXACTLY. Technology continues to be a hard sell. Literacy is a better leverage point -- I think!
eldongermann (CN) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:45:39
Gaetahn That is the question, Let me know if you get a good answer.
GaetanH (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:50:24
getting admin on board is a big part of the answer, I think
Yes!
Patricia Cone (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:51:02
Who decides what is true?
It's a good question. If I follow my own arguments through, then it's the "outcome" that signifies truth (what ever that means). If the information helps you accomplish your goal within an ethical context, then you have the right information.
darylk (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 10:52:45
they are open to it. but this huge educational reform.
ramona.stillar@lskysd.ca (ca) て｢ 2009-03-24 11:18:45
I am really pleased that David came to SK. What a great conference! Congrats to the planning committee.
Thanks!
wdwdwd (wd) て｢ 2009-03-24 11:38:52
=(
Ryan Hackl (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 11:52:12
How does high school (SK) curricula need to change to encourage the new literacy?
Ryan Hackl (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 11:56:25
(especially in high 'content' areas)?
Ryan Hackl (SK) て｢ 2009-03-24 12:06:26
I think I may have heard the response - 'bring today into the classroom'
geoff (sk) て｢ 2009-03-24 12:43:55
how do we leverage this for students? Stay tuned!
