Teachers: Do You Tweet? (You Should)

“You don't know what you don’t know.”

There are two ways to grapple with the truth of the above quote

1. Embrace this fact. And: Get curious about what it is you don’t know (that could potentially and immeasurably improve your knowledge base, skills, instruction).
2. Be an Ostrich: Stick you head in the sand and pretend that there’s nothing more to learn.

Twitter, for many teachers, represents a vast landscape of knowledge that they have yet to tap into. On a certain level, that makes sense. Twitter seems, on the surface, to be a shallow stream of self-centered ‘reports’ about what’s going in in one’s life. And, yeah, it could be this. But, for the majority of teachers who have twitter accounts and use it daily, it is far from this.

Twitter for teachers who have gotten curious is now (as some have called it) a ‘professional development superhighway’. And it is. The learning potential is literally endless. The collective knowledge represented there is awesome in scope. The isolation so often cited as a problem in Education vanishes when there is sudden and immediate access to other teachers grappling with the same problems and questions you are.

Stop worrying how to use Twitter and other “Tech tools”. Just make an account and Get Curious.

Check out Twitter4Teachers and Tweepml to find teachers to follow. Lurk for awhile and see how these teachers use Twitter. Click out to their blogs. Subscribe to their blog feeds. Eventually, join in on some #edchats.

Get to know what you don't know. Get curious and don't turn back. Create a Twitter account today.

Join Education Chats on Twitter

#Edchat has become an incredible collaborative tool for educators to debate and evaluate solutions to various education, learning, teaching and curricular questions/problems through Twitter.

Chats have now been expanded from the original #edchat’s created by @web20classroom, @tomwhitby and @shellterrell. They now exist for multiple subject areas. Most chats take place at a specific time each week and last for one hour with a specific focal question for the hour.
image courtesy Shelly Terrell

Here is a list of the most popular chats. There is great power when hundreds of teachers collaborate in real time. That’s what chats are-teachers thinking and responding to real problems and questions we all face at once. This kind of collaboration and communication exemplifies what is possible with Web2.0 (the READ/WRITE WEB).

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#EdChat defined by Shelly Terrell

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
#sschat 7pm	#edchat 7pm Archives	#ipadchat 1pm	#artsed 7:30pm	#gtchat 7pm
#musedchat 8pm	#scichat 9pm	#web20chat 6pm	#mathchat 8pm	#elemchat 7pm wiki
			#langchat 8pm #langchat wiki	#midleved 8pm Archives

Making the Case for Technology Integration Without Invoking the Digital Native Paradigm

(Preamble: In this post, when I refer to students, I am referring to middle school-aged students in a rural-suburban area of Western, MA that I teach but I suspect that others may relate to my experience with regard to students and tech. use. I submit that students are NOT as tech savvy as most ed. tech enthusiasts (I am guilty!) would have us believe. The Digital Native Argument is alive and well but in my experience it is erroneous. After spending 3 years of my life as an Educational Blogger blogging about the need to change how we teach to accommodate ‘digital natives’, I have had to stop in my tracks and retreat from my position based on the real students before me. Their lives, experiences and even their interests were not in sync with the Digital Native Argument-a very seductive argument, indeed. So, here's my first blog post from the other side of the fence so to speak. With apologies to Marc Prensky whom I greatly respect.)

How do you make the case for technology integration?

How do you make the case for technology integration? Is it because kids are incessantly using technology, including many multifunctional mobile devices and they ‘demand’ that our pedagogical choices match their ‘digital learning style’ ‘in the 21st Century’? Are they really wired differently?

Most of what I read (and view) on the web regarding the why’s of tech use in education makes this argument. I’ll call it the Digital Native Argument. Videos are put up (copycat versions of original videos) that star ‘wise’, ‘tech-savvy’ children confronting an (apparently) ignorant non-tech using teacher. The claims are that kids spend countless hours immersed in media, texting, 'surfing', etc. and if teachers aren’t allowing them to do the same at school, they are out of touch and, well, ‘bad teachers’. These videos would have us believe that all this time spent doing media is all good. Unstructured, undifferentiated time but time well spent! Hmm.

Here’s where I fight a serious case of cognitive dissonance. I want to believe this is true. It’s tempting to believe in the past 9 or so years that students have suddenly and spontaneously evolved new brains; that they are wired differently and we should teach them accordingly. There is something to this but making blanket claims that ALL kids experience this type of engagement with technology all the time is simply untrue. That the time they spend using media is all ‘good’, ‘productive’ and ‘educational’ is seriously misleading, too. I know this is NOT true because I actually teach real, live, students not 'actors' on You Tube Videos repeating words scripted for them by adults. I teach in a technology lab. In the last 5 years, in a class of 20 students, maybe 5 have what I would call basic technological competence. They do not know the difference between a file, a software program or folder let alone the myriad uses and learning potential of blogs, wikis, podcasts and social learning networks. They do not know how to change the volume on a computer and they do not know how to do a basic Google search, let alone fire up a web browser other than Internet Explorer (to get to Facebook). Most, however, have handheld gadgets like cell phones or ipods and/or ipod touches. So, many otherwise technologically illiterate students have the ability to open i-Tunes and use it to sync music to their players.

When students do use technology, what do they use it for?

The middle-schoolers I teach (as did middle-schoolers 20 years ago) have one over-powering objective: socialization and connection with fellow friends and classmates. So guess why they love their gadgets? SO. THEY. CAN.CONNECT. WITH. EACH. OTHER. Once connected, they can spread the rumor about the pool on the third floor or the story about how Mr. Jensen tripped over a dry erase marker 3rd period. Or make plans to play or ride bikes. In other words, the majority of tech use by the majority of students is decidedly low tech. They are simply using tech to do what they have always done offline: connect, cajole, connive, and sometimes create. (future blog post). Mostly, students text or talk into a device that could be considered a tech device. Texting, of course is just typed talking. (Tsup? Nthn. Gowin 2 the game? Na. K. Cya. l8ter).

What’s the other thing students use technology for? MUSIC. Consuming (and making) music. Teens and music have always gone hand in hand. Thanks to technology, they can bring ‘their’ music with them wherever they go and 'share' with friends digitally (remember the mixtape?). There is an element of education and learning going on with all the music downloading and sharing which is encouraging and provides a good starting point for tech use in the classroom. We can examine how students find, download, consume and share music and use that as a model for how they can find, identify, examine, synthesize and share information related to our subject matter. Skilled i-Tunes use, however, does not qualify a student as a Digital Native. But, interestingly, the reason they have become skilled at i-Tunes use despite being decidedly technologically illiterate is that they want access to music and learning the basics of surfing, finding, downloading and syncing with i-Tunes had to be learned to get at it and then have it (music) as their own. Kids are fully and enthusiastically engaged in these processes. There is more to this which deserves another blog post but it illustrates the point that tech use is just a tool for achieving what students want. It's not about technology use for it's own sake. That is a good thing. We can learn from this. We adults DO get to caught up with the technology itself. In an education setting, tech use should rarely be about itself but about the subject matter at hand and increasing engagement and learning objectives through it's use.

So, how do you make the case for technology integration? I submit that one can justify technology use in the classroom for these reasons:

1- Cultural Competence

Technology is here to stay-both gadgets and software. It has become embedded in our social and cultural norms. Businesses are using technologies routinely and require tech. competency in a global climate. Individuals rely on personal computers and devices to absorb, synthesize and transmit information. As educational institutions we should be the ones teaching how to use technology for the highest possible purposes of investigating, researching, creating, thinking, reflecting, writing, documenting, connecting, collaborating, and remixing and synthesizing. In short: learning.

2- Engagement.

It is becoming increasingly evident without the need for the Digital Native argument that young people are truly engaged when they are using technology. Student engagement is the number one priority of any educational institution. Sadly, of course, it is lacking in many classrooms which look and feel irrelevant and outdated to young people (whether or not they use technology). Well planned technology use appears to be a cure for disengaged, "bored" students since having a hands-on experience using technology suddenly feels like the "real world" to students.

3. Individuation and Differentiation

I have written before that there is no such thing as a "class". And if a teacher actually utters those dreaded words, "Now class...." they immediately become Charlie Brown's teacher. No student sits in a classroom and identifies with the notion that they are part of this nebulous thing called a class. They are Julie, or Michael, Cesar or Alycia. And they want nothing more than to engage in activities that they can do as an individual...even if they might ultimately contribute to a larger group. Technology, makes this a reality for students-especially in 1:1 environments where students can complete tasks (learning objectives) using a computer, laptop or tablet PC. Once students are working on their own (individuation), we as teachers have the ability to differentiate learning activities as well depending on student capacity. The possibilities for differentiation using technologies are enormous and not limited to one mode (students can read, write, consume and create stories and media among other things).

FINAL WORD: Flip the Digital Native Paradigm

Our curricula and learning objectives should always drive our efforts at tech integration. Not the other way around. But, as teachers, we need to know what is out there. What website, software or app would enhance/enrich a student’s experience with your subject? We must always be on the lookout. Always learning (RSS feeds, anyone!).

We can be the Digital Natives for Education. We should stay ahead of the curve and know what’s out there and how it can best be used in our classrooms to support already existent educational aims, content and objectives.

Technology Is Not the Problem

How much sense does this statement make?

I propose that we outlaw cars because of all the drunk driving.

As unthinkable and absurd as that sounds, the exact same logic is often applied with regard to technology. This is something Nick Sauers recently ranted about on the 1:1 schools blog.

He writes:
My frustration is when the media, or other individuals, place blame on technology for things that truly aren’t new or unique situations.

So true. There are many ways that technology gets a bad name especially when (more) technology is proposed in school settings. Suggesting that social media might improve learning for students sends shivers up some parent's spines because they have been- as Steven Anderson has pointed out-"Dateline-ized". Consumers of traditional media are often given incomplete and highly inaccurate views about technology use by and for teens. (Watch out for them predators!). Without going into a million details, what is important to understand is that teen behavior precedes technology use. Human behavior is an independent factor that when combined with technology use can yield beneficial, creative results or can yield personally damaging results. The choice lies with each individual. As a mere tool, Technology is benign.

So. Technology Is Not the Problem. Inappropriate Use of Technology Is.

When we talk about technology in education now, we are talking about paradigm-shifting, never-to-be-the-same-again kind of learning opportunities. So many emerging technologies, apps, programs that can truly transform teaching and learning already exist or are in development. It is a monumental task to stay on top of it all. It is harder still to take the time to learn what's new and how it can impact learning.

NOT taking the time predisposes one to misconstrue the truth about technology use and it's myriad benefits in education because it's convenient to do so. Convenient but wrong.

To return to the above statement- The car is not the problem. Drinking and then driving one is.

The Power of the Arts for Students

As a Music Teacher, I have been a long-time advocate for the Arts. The Arts make up a significant part of our history and culture. Opportunities to express, create, practice and work toward goals larger than Self are such key factors in nurturing whole human beings. I believe Arts Education has a place for every child in school.

But where do the Arts fit in schools? What does the Federal and State Gov't have to say? I am pleased to be able to report that the arts-including art and music are considered CORE subjects in the Federal NCLB law as well as the MA Education Reform Law. Interestingly, research is being unveiled frequently about how the arts actually assist students to learn and think critically in arts classes as well as other academic classes. Additionally-and this is very compelling!-the field of Neuroscience is mapping HOW the brain processes as a result of immersion in the arts.

THE ERA OF DIY and CONTENT CREATION
As is frequently noted on this blog, the paradigm has shifted in the world and Education must play a crucial role in adopting and exploiting new ways of doing, learning, leading and creating. Parallel to the shift to Standards-Based (Student-Centered) Education, a shift made possible by emerging technologies is the ability for individuals to create their own content (images, videos, music, etc..). This is the commonly called D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself). Education should embrace the DIY movement and allow students and teachers to create as learning process. (Note that creation here is not necessary the culminating activity--but an embedded WAY to learn).

A great example of Combining the ARTS and the DIY Movement comes from students at Boyertown High School in Pennsylvania. Art programs were in danger of being cut, so the students made a video to show how they feel about their art classes. Great work for a great cause! Arts Education.

Misinterpretation of '21st Century Skills'

21st Century Skills

It means something. But what? For those that haven't had time to explore the phrase's meaning, the specifics are slippery. Even Harvard Scholars use the term tentatively (in quotes-see page 24).

Consider 21st Century Skills a 'flavor'. A flavor that spices up, updates and globalizes the Educational Landscape. However, I have heard some interesting takes on '21st Century Learning' lately. Interesting and disconcerting. I have heard a version of this more than once in recent months:

"21st Century Skills! I do that! It's just a new name for what we've always done. Collaborate and Communicate. I communicate objectives all the time....." Then I think (but don't say) "Uh Oh".

Yes, Collaboration and Communication are 2 of the '4 c's' identified as a part of 21st Century Skills. (The others are Critical Thinking and Creativity). 21st Century Skills demand more though. 21st Century Skills demands an expanded definition of Literacy. One that 'doesn’t merely refer to the ability to read and write but also the ability to evaluate and synthesize information, media, and other technology.' (-Ted Lai )

Creating and Connecting to the real world outside of school is a big implication of 21st Century Skills as well. Underlying this, though, is the implication of 21st Century Skills that the creating and connecting is done using technological tools and apps.

21st Century Skills is not old wine in new bottles. 21st Century Skills is a whole new vineyard.

Whose Definition of (Educational) Technology?

A challenge that I see emerging is that there are multiple definitions of the word technology in the Education Community. These definitions are based entirely on and limited by an individual's experience with computers/computing devices and [proprietary] software . Here are some personal observations noted recently:

• A curious dichotomy between 'great teaching' vs. 'technology' seems to creep in to many conversations. As if the two are mutually exclusive. (They're not)

• Those with limited experience with current technologies tend to believe that those with successful experience using technology are biased because they "like" technology/computers. (Actually, in many cases, education technology enthusiasts are only enthusiasts because they have seen remarkable results along the lines of engagement and learning with their students while learning with technology)

• Those with limited experience with current technologies believe all technology/technological applications are expensive. (Wrong. Most web applications and many cloud-based programs are....FREE. Many of these rival proprietary programs like Microsoft Office).

• Those with limited experience with current technologies make no mention of web-based, networked online learning spaces. The conversation remains in the realm of hardware and internet access. (Yes, you need to be able to access the Internet to use any cloud-based app but the hardware/device being used to access the web is beside the point. The learning moments happen in those networked spaces.)

• Those with limited experience with current technologies scoff at the idea of using Twitter or other social networking platforms as a Professional Development tool or Learning Resource. (Twitter is, to many education professionals a "Professional Development Superhighway".)

• Etc...(Add your observations in the comments below)

Here's one way of describing the problem:
Those with limited experience with current technologies are like people who stopped learning the alphabet at the letter "C". Knowing only 3 letters of the alphabet, they will argue that the alphabet is a limited resource. After all, you can only craft so many words with three letters.

They're right about that . (CAB) But guess what? There are 26 letters. And so it is with technology, except that the technological alphabet is ever-expanding. Which is why Lifelong Learning is imperative now. It's not just an option to stop learning and impose your limitation on those who know better. It's an indefensible position.