catching up to the dream

When I was first hired at the local band school (the Nuxalk Nation school called Acwsalcta), a quarter of a century ago, we were given a tour of the newly built beautiful building by the Chief.  Along with the sight-seeing, we were lectured on the dream of the Chief and Council to be able to do away with teachers by having video conferencing by experts with local people hired to be monitors.   Being polite and fearing to be fired on our first day on the job, no one chose to say a discouraging word.
   Now we can have a virtual classroom with smartboards and Elluminate conferencing (and School Board #49 does) and the whole world wide web at our finger-tips.  But I don't think the role of the teacher is gone.  The Chief was making the point that it would be cheaper to have one central teacher cover hundreds of students with someone to police the rowdies and to keep the students on task in the room.  But Wesch has demonstrated that that would just recreate the 19th century industrial-style classroom in a modified form.  What we can have now that wasn't even imagined then and that Wesch is advocating is a collaborative exploration of all that the students can bring to the problem posed by the teacher or by the student.  Wouldn't Socrates have been excited!

#plenk2010 paradigm shifting

#plenk2010 This is really exciting.  We are like those first university professors who gathered around Homer either congratulating him for writing the first book or excoriating him for ruining people's ability to memorize (and ruining their careers).  It's like the moment when Chaucer brought out his stories in the new-fangled language he was calling English.  It will take about a generation to get to the point where everyone says "Of course!" about it.
   Katarina Way suggested that we watch Michael Wesch's presentation to the University of Manitoba.  I was blown away.  I get excited over reading a good book.  This new medium has so much potential.  Wesch has put together a system that enables all of his students to become a single study group.  They have become part of the book.  http://umanitoba.ca/ist/production/streaming/podcast_wesch.html
 

making progress

#plenk2010 I was able to make a little movie today using the online program that Patricio recommended.  It was just a little reminder about an up-coming meeting, but I hope it proves effective.  I am very interested to learn about wikis because they seem to be useful when you want group input.
   I may not be following the program in discussing PLEs, but I feel I am in one.  Thanks.

Ed Techie

Chris Jobling tells me that Martin Weller is the Ed Techie and that he'll be at the Wednesday Ellumination.  Have I got that right, Chris? 

Martin is writing a book based on compilations of student courses similar to PLENK2010.  I want to tell him that this is exactly what Dr. Spock did to write his baby books.  He asked the mothers of his pediatric patients how they handled so many common baby issues, and then he wrote a book about what they had told him.

I am all in favour of asking the students how they learn best, and asking front-line workers how to improve the workplace or the service.   They deal with it every day.  They know what it's like to do the job. 

the lending library

We have been lucky to have had our little library for the last quarter of a century.  Before that, the building was a bank, and there was no library.  The library system will only rent facilities, not own them (no budget for capital expenditures I guess), so it has to move.  I hope it isn't just stored in boxes somewhere for a few decades until something else, maybe the same building, becomes available again.

For us the library is a source of books and a meeting place.  It's too small of course, but we love it.

Many places in BC don't have a library at all.

Why don't you use the school libraries?  Well, one is welcome--with limitations.  They don't really want adults wandering in and disturbing the classes.  Then, one would be limited to school hours, or half an hour after the final bell.

We do have a virtual library and can order books by mail, but we like browsing and talking with our good friend, the librarian.

standing on the shoulders of giants

Here is an interesting website.  I like seeing what people in other countries are doing. 
http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/
He calls  himself The Ed Techie, but I believe he is a participant in this course.  I'm glad because he gives good advice.

#Plenk2010 What's the problem?

#PLENK2010 I was just re-listening to an interview from the CBC Radio 1 The Current with Dr. Fraser Mustard on Early Childhood Education.  He was recommending "problem-based" education.   That is what we are doing in our MOOC.  Right now, in this first week, we are milling about, talking to one another.  Some people are talking about the correct definitions of PLEs and PLNs.  Some are talking about networking.  Some are talking about the technical aspects of Web2.0.  We are all seeing this course according to the problems we are having communicating with the worlds (various groups) of people that we deal with. 

Some people want to convince their colleagues in universities or schools to loosen up and let their students use the internet; so, I guess we need to discuss rather thoroughly how to evaluate research in PLEs.  Many of us are teachers.  I'm sure we can develop a theory and a variety of rubrics.  Of course, we need to have a clear definition to present to those who are not taking this course; so keep on working away at it those who want to.

Some people, like myself, need to learn how to use the wonderful applications and programs available to enhance communication.  I am so grateful that those who know about them are mentioning ways they communicate and directing us to their own efforts for models.  At the end of this course, I hope I can use them.

No doubt, some people are here to acquire and build a network of like-minded colleagues.

By the way, I am horrified that my Adult Basic Education students thought that Mathematics was a game about number manipulation.  How could their teachers not have mentioned that number manipulation is a tool for solving problems about quantities, statistics, measurements and such?  You know they never attempted Word Problems because they didn't think it was important.  The word problems seemed too much work with no pay-off.  And I blame those who design the courses and the texts and the tests; when only the final number-value "answer" is given at the back of the text for a word problem and only 1 or 2 marks or credits are given, equivalent to that for a calculation example, the student thinks that Word Problems are pointless.  But those who are taught and follow the traditional method, find the the lay-out of a science experiment note obvious, and find writing an essay easy.  Why?  They are all written in a format that follows the Steps of Scientific Problem Solving. 

There!  That's my lecture for the night.  Tomorrow we get back to solving, solving, solving.