E-Learning Summit - Michael Wesch

Most people in educational technology have seen the video, A Vision of Students Today, put together by Michael Wesch and his students at Kansas State University. If you haven't, GO HERE. I saw this video last year, but had forgotten about it. I'm not exactly sure but when I first saw it I never got past the "that's really insightful" phase of recognition. Do you like how I just created the "phase of recognition" out of nowhere? I should have become a psychologist. But let me return from my digression.

My immediate response - "Holy smokes we are doing an incredible disservice to students."
My secondary response - "Holy smokes we need to fix this."
My tertiary response - "Slow down smokey."

I operate my life on the theory that nobody will change their behavior unless they are forced to by a change in situation. It's the reason that spouses think they can change their partners and fail. The other person won't change unless they are threatened with losing something valuable. When I was in the classroom I taught as I remembered good teachers teaching, that is, the teachers that I liked best because I learned from them. I was patient, creative, funny (at least I thought so). I found interesting readings, made real world connections, performed simulations but I still missed the mark on many students. I was still the authority in the class not letting the network of learning relationships develop.

The reason was that I always fell back on my experiences in education as a student - the classes I liked and believed were taught well. I emulated those teachers and classes. I wasn't taking what was in front of me - the change in students' ability to network and understanding that we needed a paradigm shift.

To follow my earlier logic, I wasn't forced to change because I didn't see the same students as others in, shall we say, more fortunate locales. Some stats about the last group of students I worked with:

• 94% free/reduced price lunch (high poverty)
  
• 15% ELL
  
• 25% of my students had internet access at home
• 45% had access within walking distance
• behavior - I ratcheted down rules and structure to keep behavior problems at a minimum
  

They weren't like Wesch's students, at least that's my excuse. Does anyone believe it?

What I want to take from his session:

• Understand that ubiquitous networks are almost here - everyone will be connected and multi-tasking. We need to harness that idea and work it into class structure not try to prevent it.
  
• Platform for Participation
• Use the Web 2.0 and 3.0 tools available - collaborative, constructive.
• Ensure students are using the media for communication and collaboration.
  
• Facilitate - set the stage, direct and let the students learn.
• Despite not wanting to (the tendency is to use an authoritarian system), you need to manage the network of relationships in the class [n(n-1)/2].

To close, I'm a fan of Wesch. As an anthropologist he has a solid understanding of cultural trends including technology in education. I will be happy to continue following his research in the field. More to come.

Epiphany analyzed. End rant.

Scratch it up

MIT, the technical wizards of the United States, developed a programming language called Scratch. It's not for super dorks writing code all day long so they can feel smarter than anyone else. It was designed with education in mind. I am in favor of teaching computer programming as a skill in school but not so they can program a computer for the rest of their lives. Believe it or not, knowing a computer language isn't that important - it's understanding the process of program development that is. Anyone can learn syntax, but the great programmers know how to manipulate commands to do what they want . They are the mad scientists of the computer world.

Relying on rote language and syntax restricts some students from learning well. I previously taught in a large urban district with a high ELL population (that's English Language Learners). I had bright, hard working kids whose grades didn't always reflect that because they didn't have a commanding grasp of English.

Enter Scratch. Students learn problem solving, developmental process, cause/effect, game theory, artistic themes, animation... all without relying on language because of how Scratch is applied.

It's also versatile. You can create animated scenes, slide shows, games - my favorite because of it's nostalgia is a perfect recreation of Nintendo's Duck Hunt, click the screen to go there.



Awesome. As big a Nintendo geek as I was, this is impressive. But it's not just recreating my childhood, Scratch opens the door for students and teachers to use it to teach concepts and skills in a constructive, interactive and authentic way.

I'll leave you with a project I created for the purpose of explaining RSS feeds. Let me know what you think.


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