Designing an Online Discussion

In the process of exploring Google+, I came to find Emil Ahangarzadeh of the San Diego County Office of Education and became a follower/friend of his. The information he provides is invaluable and allows me to keep up with all facets of technology and education. The two links that are on the left are fantastic examples of the 1-way flow of information that I use Emil and Google+ for. The first blog post strikes home to me (as an Engineer by training) about the use of in-person lectures and those taped and viewed later online. I do want to flip the classroom, BUT I do worry about exactly the “feeling” that students have about the process. The second article speaks of “iDisorder”, the overuse of social media and how it affects us. The information from Emil is timely and immensely useful. Unfortuantely, my reaching out to him in person (he was presenting at the ISTE Conference) didn’t quite work out.

My Google+ learning is that one-way flow however. With the winding down of my education career, I have not had the opportunity or time to “give-back”. Two-way conversations are exactly that, conversations and I will “converse” once things slow down just a bit.

The ISTE San Diego Conference was another “social media” event. Just strolling through the huge vendor area and talking to other teachers about technology and products actually in use in the classroom was amazing and extremely worthwhile. The duplication of the social aspect of a F2F classroom in the blended or totally on-line world still gives me pause for concern.

Student Internet Learning

At the end of the year, I challenged my middle school Foundations Math students to use their Mac laptops to “surf” anywhere they liked. I challenged them to “get through” the county internet filter. While I can report that the firewall held successfully, the dialogs I overheard with tips and techniques to bypass the limitations we place on our students learning (the firewall) was amazing. The clues and tips (from older high school friends and family, I’m sure) will remove in the near future, the learning limitations we, the education system, place on technology and learning for our future generations. I think in spite of what we do as educators, our youth will figure out a way to get their education in an anytime-anywhere learning model IF we provide a solid scaffolding and support system. Sometimes, the education system itself is the biggest impediment to educational technology incorporation into the classroom.

Student PLC Teacher Support

The authentic learning (constructivistic theory, LEC module 1 educational philosophy) keystone will evolve into a classroom website/wiki/discussion board that will promote student ownership of their own learning. The teacher will facilitate student PLC support via demonstration of the LMS tools available.

The use of one iPad/Doceri presentation software/overhead projector in my classroom this year opened my eyes to the ease of learning ownership in Algebra. Students could not wait to use the device and were anxious to critique each other problem solving techniques. The Doceri software allowed easy and quick recording of problems for later students. Without much difficulty, I can see the classroom wiki full of tricks, techniques and problem solutions all authentically generated by students for students. This educational technology revolution is going to be amazing!

The goal of the new Algebra teacher in this age will be to ensure:

1. Open and fair internet access for all, 24/7

2. Age appropriate concepts/knowledge/lessons in Algebra provided as a framework (teacher or district developed, commercial products TBD)

3. Provision of appropriate hardware/software tools (platforms, open/closed source TBD)

4. Sufficient Instructional time/staff and student development to ensure quality products/instruction generated.

5. Ensuring social and emotional support within the blended/online classroom