Thinking about how this might work for a classroom teacher,

• connecting what the kids are reading with a word cloud
• what people are writing about online,
• what the textbook section is about…
• what other vocab is included that might be a challenge for students…
• priming
• review
• word cloud their paper as the cover sheet

I read this article about Colin Powell

and created this:

My Comments about Study Hall

Someone asked me what I thought of this Facebook service. So, watch the video.

Honestly, it isn’t big enough (today) that it will be of much help to most kids. If a classroom wants to use it to support learning, then it might be cool for those kids, but at this point, it hasn’t hit that tipping point.

Now I realize that kids are more than just hyper-connected.

Yet, sometimes it feels like we make them out to be more than they really are…kids with tools that we didn’t have growing up.  They stay / get connected to people in different ways than we did at that age, not confined by geography but by having their tools charged. ( How many times have they told you their cell phone wasn’t charged as an excuse for not being able to connect with you? )

Yes, their world at 17 is different than mine at 17. I was showing a kid the wiring /server closet this morning, and he called it the command center of the school. I guess I won’t share with the principal that he doesn’t view the principal’s office as the command center. When I was 17, the wiring / server closet would have been where we went if the Russians bombed the school. Now it is where we retreat, to review the video, when something bad happens. Worlds change.

I was at a college today, walking back from lunch, found it hard to pass up this sign. Really? 2008 and we have a room where we do word processing? A room?

And upstairs was a conference about eLearning, ironic.

Michael Wesch was the keynote speaker at the eLearning Summit.

It was quite a treat to listen to him talk for an hour, and then again at a break out session.

He talked about…user generated content, filtering, organization, distribution, commentary and ratings.

What a great way of breaking down web 2.0 into what it means in terms of…education, life, the future, people, and culture.

His kids commented that 1/2 don’t like school, but all like learning.  What could we do with that as we move forward?  If we had the mindset that kids LIKE to learn, how could that change the way we look at our classrooms, education system, and lives?

Presentation Files and Notes from The Minnesota E-Learning Summit

How would 21st Century Learners react if they were able to complete assessments, participate in class discussions, get notes from the class they missed this morning, view the video shared in class - all at home 24/7. Blending online learning with traditional courses changes our roles as teachers. How do teachers adjust their courses and how quickly can a system integrate this change? Eden Prairie High School, a large suburban high school, implemented Moodle, an Open Source online learning environment, at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year. See how it has impacted classroom instruction, professional development, class time, support, and the student experience.

Changing practice, offering the option of attending a staff meeting online! I thought what a great idea!

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to be at your desk, stream in the content, respond with your comments in a forum, take a short poll to weigh in on a question, and did I mention, from your desk? Or deck depending on your level of geekness? As with kids having the opportunity to take online classes (and for the most part, they stick to coming to the buildings) , it amazes me how many people enjoy being in the room, the physical room of a meeting. Maybe it takes more than an offer to start changing practice, maybe it takes people getting online a couple of times to do something such as this, maybe it is May, and as teachers we are tired and ready to be done, just like our kids.

What is rewarding is the number of people after the fact who are coming online to add comments and reviewing the links to things we shared at the meeting!

What an exciting use of simple free technology! Connecting with the composer of the piece this choir has been working on, Stephen Bachicha.  They shared a video conference call, performing for him, having him change the cords as he’s listening.  Asking him what he was thinking as he was creating, what the creation process is like..etc.

The choir conductor did a great job of prepping the kids, they had a great conversation about the music that kept the kids popping and engaged.

I’m sure this will go down as one of those remembered days in class.