Ulearn09

ULearn09

Collective Reflections on uLearn09- Click to contribute


6-9 October 2009

Initial Address; Anne Tolley

Keynote Speaker - Gary Stager - 10 things to do with a laptop link to etherpad
www.stager.org

-less us, more them
-what will the world be likeyears from now? or what is the world like for the children who have not entered school yet?-are these worth asking and addressing?
-the magic of computing: "the pattern on the stone: the simple ideas that make computers work"
-what can students make with computers?
1. write a novel: writing for different media, fan fiction + peer review...research? can't just be for research
2. share your knowledge: changing the nature of memory....no longer need to
3. answer tough questions: evaluate and analyze pictures vs. fill in the blank...view media to get context
4. make sense of data: lots of tools to visualize complex data
5. design a video game: not just consume them...all kids can program...let them do what they are interested in
6. build a killer robot: complex problem involving multi-curricular ideas
-kindergarten: lego ballerina
-3rd: dancing bear, music manipulation
-teen, incarcerated: created a phonograph....good prompt is worth a thousand words(good prompt, adequate materials, sufficient time....kids can go beyond anything you ever imagined)
-computationally rich learning
-authentic problems, real construction materials
-the technology ecology-useable for evaluation
7. lose weight: inevitablity of 1:1...have students keep track of own information-not to the system
8. direct a blockbuster: a. video should be shorter b. it should be edited at least one more time...mirrors writing process, change genre...use machinima, video game characters, etc.
9. compose a symphony...kids can do great stuff with the technology and time they have
10. change the world: citizen journalism, etc
11. be a mathematician or scientist or engineer or.....anything!

-what would happen if our students have the confidence to answer any question they have because of their exposure to technology?
-we need to make memories in our students' lives

Report from NZHerald - Wed Oct 21
Dr Stager said he was constantly amazed by what children achieved when given the technology. Asked to solve a problem, children often communicated over the internet with world-leading experts in the field.
But computers in schools often did not work "because there are policies put in place that treat teachers and children like imbeciles or felons".
"It would be a shame if all the interesting things that kids do with computers were outside of school, because as a result most of what kids do outside of school isn't very interesting.
"It breaks my heart when I am in schools where kids have laptops and are staring at the screen doing nothing and playing some really mediocre game."
These children could be using their imaginations to create their own video games, symphonies, novels or movies to share with the world.
Dr Stager said he kept hearing the next generation of teachers would embrace the technologies available, and open it up to their pupils.
"Well, first of all, an entire generation of kids have lost out on opportunities that they deserve as a result. And, second of all, there's no evidence whatsoever that new teachers are any bolder or more imaginative ... in fact there's quite a bit of evidence to the contrary."


Breakout 1- Julia Atkin
What is powerful learning and how do we know?
Combining 'Mission' with 'Context' and 'Learning Theory' (Personal values/ beliefs combined with curriculum and effective pedagogy)
Referencing teachers PPK with external research- coconstructing knowledge (mutually informing)

Sharon Friesen - Engaging Screenagers - link to etherpad


Breakout 2

Breakout 3
Google Docs - Innovate and Collaborate link to etherpad

Keynote Speaker - Derek Wenmouth - Derek's blog and presentation


Breakout 4
Andrew Churches - Digital Citizenship link to etherpad
The Digital Citizen will follow six tenets of citizenship.

1. Respect yourself
2. Protect yourself
3. Respect others
4. Protect others
5. Don’t steal
6. Honour Intellectual property.” http://edorigami.edublogs.org/2009/05/04/the-digital-citizen/

Citizenship is clearly an important part of the School curriculum (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=citizenship+education&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=) with good resources developed to support it. However, the learning of what it means to be a good citizen implies some sort of active engagement with the ideas, and some degree of flexibility in what might be (un)acceptable.



Breakout 5
Gary Stager - Best Educational Ideas in the World link to etherpad
Gary Stager's article on 'Learning Adventures' about transforming learning environments.
Reflections on this paper;
Interesting reflections focusing on a learner centred approach to learning. Stager refers to 'Learning Adventures' being adopted as a phrase to replace 'project' based units of inquiry or learning. As with Stager's other messages, the individual's passions drive the learning, and focus on their interests- the teacher acting as a guide through the process. Key elements to the learning adventure approach include; the element of surprise, process over product, Socratic teaching, distributed expertise, flexibility, reflection, the use of effective prompts (an element of challenge or a problem to solve). If you can see through Stager's keen interest in computing, this is an interesting read- you won't find any 'tips' or 'ideas' to produce lessons, think bigger issues! 6 pages long.

Gary also mentioned Seymour Papert's work on 'Teaching Children Thinking' (1971).
Reflections on this paper;
Reading the opening parags, it would be easy to be mistake for thinking this was written more recently- goes to show, the best thoughts never go away. The reading contains some interesting notions on constructivism but does have a focus on A.I. and use of programming. However, the thinking that the students are using their experiences to learn is clear. Summed up in the quote, "The purpose of this essay is to present a grander vision of an education system in which technology is not used in the form of machines for processing children but as something the child himself will learn to manipulate, to extend, to apply to projects, thereby gaining a greater and more articulate mastery of the world, a sense of the power of applied knowledge and a self-confidently realistic image of himself as an intellectual agent. I believe with Dewey, Montessori and Piaget that children learn by doing and by thinking about what they do." 20 Pages long.

Breakout 6
Gordon Dryden - Seven Keys to Learning link to etherpad
http://www.thelearningweb.net/


Breakout 7
Glen Davies - Release the Edupunk in You - link to etherpad

Keynote Speaker - Margaret Carr