The Clever Sheep

Un-Blinded by an Eclipse

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:50:00 +0000

If looking at the sun can lead to blindness, maybe looking away from the sun can lead to enlightenment...

Taking advantage of the recent solar eclipse, Mark Day published a short video that demonstrates how dappled sunlight results when interwoven leaves act as pinhole cameras. It's rare and fascinating footage of sunlight, that can only witnessed by avoiding the instinct to look up.

Earlier this month, Punya Mishra was the first person to alert me to this effect, when he shared photos he'd taken in 1994. Just as otherworldly is this 'shadow' photo of the eclipse posted to Twitter by Andrew Rice.

The Big Picture took advantage of the distant alignment of our sun and moon by publishing inspiring photos of the event. The images are for the most part, of the celestial show overhead, and of people from around the world finding ways to see it. Being that an annular eclipse is such a rare wonder, it makes perfect sense, but it has me thinking about the wonders we miss, because our attention is focused in the wrong direction.

The Secret Powers of Gamification

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:08:00 +0000

Not only does Gabe Zichermann know his stuff (you'll notice his presentation just flows without reference to notes), but the content of his presentation is highly relevant for teachers and learners. In this talk recorded at The Next Web 2012, Gabe explains what the most powerful aspects of gamification really are. I guess his sprinkling of a foul word here or there is intended to humanize his presentation, but the stories he shares stand on their own. If you find 30 minutes, you'll encounter powerful examples that demonstrate:

Challenge + Achievement = Pleasure

Feedback + Friends = Fun

Rewards = Status or Access or Power or Stuff

It's a CC World

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:02:00 +0000

Yesterday afternoon at the Learning Forward Spring Conference in Ontario, I had the opportunity to introduce a group of intrepid teachers to Creative Commons. The culminating task was for the group to collaborate on a short video to demonstrate their learning in a 'creative' way. The vision for this project was for each group to shoot footage simultaneously, in one take, using one of a half-dozen Kodak Playsport cameras.

Each group dreamt up a CC themed title, and created a short vignette on the same theme. All of the footage was captured from 3:35 - 4:00 p.m. on May 2nd at the Hockley Valley Resort in Orangeville. Clips were later blended using iMovie, and augmented with the aptly titled 'Freedom in Our Voices' shared by Ditto-Ditto via CCMixter.org

Learning Forward with Punya Mishra

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:36:00 +0000

Note-taking 2.0 at Canada 3.0

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:42:00 +0000

It's not quite live-blogging, but it's close. I've been finding Storify to be a nice way to organize my thinking during the first morning of the Canada 3.0 Conference.

#LitSchool: The Power of Choice

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:24:00 +0000

Serendipitous learning happens every time I dip my toe into the Twitter stream. Although I never know what I'm going to discover, I know I'm going to learn something. Today, I found myself following tweets from Toronto where a literacy unconference was taking place. While teacher-learners around the globe have made time on their own to attend edcamps and other informal professional learning events, it came as a welcome surprise that this highly engaging professional learning was taking place during the school day!

Tweeting educators from the York Region DSB used the hashtag #litschool to share their learning with us, and to allow us to engage from a distance. On site, topics that would frame the day's learning were developed by the participants who soon had a schedule to choose from.

From a few storified tweets, you can sense the engagement of learners who were present both physically and virtually.

In an age where professional learning is often dictated from above, it is refreshing to see a district school board model risk-taking. By allowing a model of inquiry to be experienced first hand, there is an even greater chance that teachers will take steps towards bringing such engaging practices to their classrooms.

#nicemodel #wecandoit #letuslearn #giveuschoice

Followup reading: Is the PD Day Broken?

You Don't Have Time to Read This

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:20:00 +0000

You got past the title?!

I'm taking that as a sign that you may be the type of person who's willing to make a few ripples (maybe even a few waves) to help reshape the educational landscape. We need more people like you, people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world. When you take on the challenge of redesigning approaches to teaching and learning, you are indeed participating in such a high calling.

Back in 2007, I adopted the moniker "The Clever Sheep", a tongue in cheek acknowledgement that I see myself as one who both follows and leads. In addition to towing the line, I'm cheeky enough to try a few unexpected things as well, sometimes things that have never been done before. Like Harold, the most dangerous of animals, I recognize that we're in a situation that requires innovation in the face of numerous obstacles.

As learning facilitators we have the duty to follow the lead of formally titled leaders, but each of us is also a leader in his/her own right. If every teacher (and every student for that matter) simply waits for directions to follow, then how can change possibly happen? How can an entire system possibly grow into the uncomfortable spaces where true evolution takes place?

Modern learning is a question in search of an answer... and there is no single solution that will revolutionize the lives of teachers and learners. There are countless strategies that are superior to last century's models for learning, but it will take a legion of clever sheep to invent, test and modify them.

You, dear reader, have a choice to make. Either limit yourself to doing what you are asked to do; or make the decision to get one with what you are called to do... to be a teacher who models learning, experimentation and risk-taking.

You really didn't have time to read this. You have much more important work to do. Join the crazy ones... get going and change the world!

Photo Credit: slimmer_jimmer

UnPlug'd 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Would you be interested in meeting like-minded colleagues face to face? Are you comfortable amid the hush of nature? Do you like to dine on healthy and nourishing food? Can you go three days without making a phone call or checking your email? Are you willing to join other educators in publishing your ideas?

If so, UnPlug'd 2012 might be perfect for you. This year's UnPlug'd event includes international delegates who will join us from Thursday, Aug 9 - Sunday, Aug 12th, beginning and ending in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Our organizing team has published a short bit of audio that we'd like you to consider as your personal invitation.

To further pique your interest, read a few of the reflections of last year's participants, or browse the hundreds of photos taken by last year's participants.

Consider this opportunity to think deeply about what matters most; to connect face-to-face with other intrepid teacher-learners; to renew your wonder-filled teacher spirit. You are invited to add your profile at UnPlugd.ca and to complete the UnPlug'd 2012 application form.

CC Licensed photo courtesy of Lisa Neale

Stuck in Copyright

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:16:00 +0000

A number of years ago, I fell in love with the work of Trey Ratcliff whose HDR photography evokes memory and emotion in ways that are beyond the capability of most artists. It was because of Trey's willingness to embrace the openness of the Web and the Creative Commons, that I was first able to discover his work. In a recent post at Stuck in Customs, Trey encourages artists to 'Stop Complaining about Copyright and Embrace Pinterest'.

Beyond photography, Trey has a spirit and conversational manner that is approachable, passionate, and knowing. If you'd like to discover this for yourself, there is much wisdom scattered throughout the talk he gave at Google last summer. If you have the time, maybe you'll come to understand why I've chosen to keep his work close at hand.

Finding Lessons in Photos and Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0000

On short notice, I was invited to speak with a dozen student-teachers who are spending the next few weeks at my school. While I've held court on the topic of 'student success' a few times before, I decided to try reaching this group in a new way.

In the past year, I've been consistent in getting audience members to share personal stories at the outset of workshops and presentations. For this group, the prompt I provided led students to introduce themselves by sharing stories of how they 'overcame or succumbed to key educational challenges'. Through a discussion that ranged both across and around the table, teacher candidates spoke of very personal academic struggles and without intending to, addressed many of topics I was going to introduce.

In addition to introducing topics related to student success, the activity modeled for all, that personal stories are compelling; that getting to know your students is important; that each of us faces up to unanticipated challenges; that remarkable wisdom of learners lies waiting to be uncovered. Rich unanticipated lessons were shared at the outset, because I chose to invite conversation, before launching into a monologue.

The remainder of my Student Success story was told through photos I'd tagged the night before. Instead of using a slidedeck or a handout, my presentation consisted of simply clicking through pre-selected Flickr photos. My lesson was instantly personal, because the images I chose to make my points, were those I had taken myself. Each image had a back-story, followed by a point of information. As a result, the students were learning about me, in addition to attending to a philosophy of education focused on the student experience.

Maybe I'm on a Photo Kick?
There was a time when I first entered 9th grade, that I very badly wanted to join the photography club. As a multi-sport athlete living a 90 minute bus ride from school I was unable to join in. I've loved photography from the time I was a 10 year old playing with what I found to be a truly magical polaroid camera. And now, some 35 years later, I find myself caught up in ny first photo club of sorts. In my second connection to the iPhone Photo Project , I'm reconnecting with Andy Forgrave and others to create and share. Join us if you like.

Which Connections Matter Most?

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:24:00 +0000

Over the past week, I've been trying to come to terms why Jabiz Raisdana's recent post, Be More Interesting, resonated so authentically for me. Although many of my colleagues differentiate their relationships depending on whether they take place in virtual spaces or in the physical world, my personal experience tells me that it is the blending of these two worlds that makes for the most meaningful connections of all. Having invested so much time and attention to my own networked learning, I find myself relishing the deepest of these professional learning connections (For more on this idea, see Deeper Connections Matter More).

Multiple interactions over time, when blended with occasional face-to-face meetings, results in a familiarity one might not expect. Now that technology has made it possible for both online and real world conversations to take place face-to-face, ongoing intellectual relationships might grow to be perceived as emotional connections. The more we come to know our online colleagues, the more we come to care about them. In many ways, these relationships of choice are more tantalizing than those relationships we experience by the coincidence of a shared staffroom.

After thinking, sketching, and thinking some more, I created a diagram to help me make sense of the professional learning connections I've made in recent years. Although the actual placement of items on the grid varies depends on many factors, it's clear that my relationships with those I've met face-to-face or voice-to-voice, tend be the deepest both intellectually and emotionally. Online colleagues like Jabiz, challenge me to think more deeply than most, in large part because I can see his gestures and hear his voice when I read his words.

Have we met face to face? If so, does it change the way you read this post? Which professional conversations are most compelling to you? Do your online relationships matter more or less than your relationships with local colleagues? Can you differentiate between those connections you make on the basis of an intellectual connection, and those where you feel emotionally invested?

We Glow Like Fireflies

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Have you noticed there are more of 'us'?
If you haven't noticed, then you haven't been paying attention.

More than ever, educators have taken to social media in general, and Twitter in particular, to connect with like-minded colleagues.

Like fireflies, we're letting ourselves be known to one another through the use of our own secret signals. Tweets are being used to build communities of learners on levels never seen before. Hashtags are binding learners who share common interests and a common vocation.

If you were on Twitter three years ago, you might have participated in the first synchronous educational chat. Like so many fireflies, we were in wonder at the discovery of so many educators ready to talk about teaching and learning.

After taking time to introduce ourselves to one another, the tweets came so quickly, that it was next to impossible to keep up. Looking back at an interesting parallel, I'm smiling in the knowledge that it was in the quiet of the nighttime that we found one another.

And it continues today...
We use Twitter to hail distant colleagues.
We nudge local teachers to share their own firelight.
We inhabit a digital staffroom where the the lights are always twinkling.

We do deep in our thinking - #edbookclub.
We follow distant conferences - #educon.
We play games - #namethattune.
We think in public - #pencilchat.
We build relationships - #PLN.
We become a community - #ds106.

We find ways to let our light shine... on our own time... in the night time.

And though we sometimes dim our lights, going dark to live in the physical world, we always come back. We're drawn to the light of an ever-growing cadre of educators who, to paraphrase Rob Fisher, "care so much about teaching and learning that it hurts."

Time lapse photos of Japanese fireflies were the inspiration for this post. I first encountered them in my daily 'Wired' news feed, and after following a few links, I discovered that they have been re-posted multiple times by fans. Finding the original images on the Digital Photo Blog, I was happy to discover that the images are licensed for sharing under a Japanese CC license by Tsuneaki Hiramatsu.

Publishing With iBooks Author

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:42:00 +0000

You may know that I have a twin brother, Todd Lucier who is talented in too many areas to mention. The skills he acquires are often ahead of the curve, so sometimes he ends up learning by way of trial and error. His most recent learning adventure was discovering how to make use of iBooks Author.

While many authors collaborated on the UnPlug'd Facilitators Guide: A Strategy for Getting to the Heart of What Matters, Todd took it upon himself to push us, and himself, to republish this work, making it available in Apple's iBook Store. If you're considering publishing your own resources some day, you might just want to bookmark Todd's tips for future reference.

"With iBook software there are four different versions of the finished product.

1. Preview. Your iPad must be plug'd ;) in with the current version of iPad software and iBooks open (updated version). You see the book as it will look in finished form. Best to use this to make all the edits required prior to publishing.

2. Save. (Creates a .iba version for editing in iBook only) - It happens in the background and you don't have to do anything to produce this version. Nice that it automatically saves the current state of your document and the historical versions (Haven't figured out how to do it, but its there). Note the "Save a Version" option creates a new version of this book.

3 Publish. (.itmsb version - itunes music store books? ) This version is great if you are ready to publish your book immediately to your iTunes iBook account. Saves a version of the book ready to post to iTunes - automagically opens iTunes Producer so that you can fill in the meta data and publish! This version puts the book into iTunes!!!! NOTE: You CANNOT use this option if you are publishing a new updated version of your iBook. See 4 below.

4 Export. (.books) Exported version is the way to publish a version of the iBook for sharing on a Website directly or sharing with others by posting to Dropbox or Google Docs so that they can see it. NOTE: If you want to make changes to your iBook after it is published using iTunes Producer, you MUST use Export to get the .books version to replace the original. Then in iTunes Producer, open the original Published version of the book and on the Assets Tab select the exported version of the book.

Whew, it's crazy, but as a rat in the maze I was able to figure it out after a half dozen uploads of the new book without seeing it appear in iTunes.

Final word of warning: If you have multiple accounts, or change your password on iTunes Connect, iTunes Producer will not know this and will continue to try to upload your work - bringing up repeated error messages and a bounce to Apple FAQ's that have nothing to say about the error you are receiving. You'll just have to muddle along until you realize what's going on.

Have fun."

Roll Down the Windows

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:24:00 +0000

Every day brings changes to our world. Tools evolve; ideas emerge; projects are born. Through your personal learning network, you are already immersed in this change; but what about everyone else?

Your face-to-face colleagues may not truly understand it, but by now, they probably realize that you are part of some larger learning community. I like to suggest that it's time to take these colleagues by the hand, and to introduce them to this dynamic online world of professional learning. The good news is that there is an easy, and not-so-intimidating way to do it.

Like a dog in a car, the world just whizzes by, seemingly beyond our control. Even so, we choose to participate. We engage in conversations that matter. We keep informed about what our colleagues are doing. We amplify the best ideas we encounter. We share.

Sadly, many of our colleagues are so immersed in the day to day experience, that they may as well be riding along behind tinted windows that are rolled up tight. Focusing only on the path they're on, most of our fellow teachers have no idea of the range of thought-provoking conferences, collaborative projects, or innovative tools that are just outside the window.

How do we best introduce teachers to the test pilots among us who are creating and sharing a new vision for education?

My number one suggestion, is to invite your co-workers to roll down the windows in order to get a sense of what's happening in connected classrooms around the corner, and around the world. It's easier than you might think.

You don't have to share a new teaching strategy.
You don't have to impress with the latest gadgets or web tools.
You don't have to coach the development of personal learning networks.
You don't have to introduce Twitter, or hashtags, or social media.
You don't need to teach about curation or subscriptions.

Begin by rolling the window down just a crack, and your colleagues can experience a world of continuous learning. Here are just a few ways to introduce your fellow teachers to people and ideas that inspire.

1. Share the link to one crowd-sourced online newspaper.
The Tweeted Times is where I get my morning fix for the stories I may have missed the previous day. Another I visit for stories shared by my Ontario colleagues, is Doug Peterson's: The Best of Ontario-Educators Daily.

2. Point colleagues to one news feed.
Here, educators can read engaging stories that highlight the thinking of fellow change agents. The stories change every day, but the link stays the same.

3. Share a link to one of the pages you use to collect bookmarks.
Your entire bookmark library may be of interest, but you might also share only a specific tag like 'classrooms of tomorrow'. When you find something, they'll know where its at.

4. Point app-lovers to one education news aggregator.
A few years ago, I developed 'Clever App', a tool I use to access the news from my PLN at least a few times each week.

5. Send your friends to one great blog each week.
If you're a regular reader of blogs, why not share the feeds to some of your favourite writers?

6. Email one story a day.
You have access to dozens, but a teacher who never seems to have the time, might get hooked on one a day if you choose wisely.

7. Pro tip: Automate
If you have yet to discover If This, Then That, you might be interested to know that you can automate delivery of news to your colleagues. If you tweet a link, have it automatically posted to your delicious feed or to your blog. If you bookmark a resource, have IFTTT automatically email it to your friends.

Once they get a breeze in their hair, your colleagues might be eager to join teachers far and wide are learning and sharing everyday. On their very own, they may wind that window all the way down and ask you how they might more deeply engage in this world. It's then that Twitter, blogging, and personal learning networks might become part of the conversation.

What's holding you back? Go ahead and share one resource might lead a teacher to make a habit of professional reading every day. If you roll down the window, your colleagues may well engage in conversation across the hallway... or around the globe! It doesn't have to be overwhelming, just choose a simple way to share the powerful connections you've already discovered.

Photo credits: Zilla in the Car by Vagabond Shutterbug; Sheep in a Truck by smcgee; Coaster rider by Fellowship of the Rich

It's Time for Change

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:12:00 +0000

I recently attended the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, and one of my big takeaways, was that the auto companies have finally figured out that it's time for a change. New cars are digitally smart; environmentally economical; forward thinking. While it took bankruptcy and a threat to their very existence to turn things around, I can't help but wonder why the departments that manage technology in our schools have been slow to acknowledge the need to reinvent themselves.

If you are a person in charge of making decisions about the direction a school or board takes regarding Information and Communications Technology (ICT), I challenge you to plan a way forward from where you are at this moment in time, rather than letting past history dictate where you spend your available resources in time, money and people.

Limit Desktop Software to what the Machines Can Handle
In my school board, like many others on Ontario, we have access to a wide range of OSAPAC-licensed software. While recent web-based resources have been included in educational licenses, it has been common for most applications to resides on outdated disk drives. In my experience, these drives have been very sluggish in delivering apps to the networked computers that serve our students, resulting in slow uptake of the most powerful of tools. The result of populating our schools with refurbished computers, is that students and teachers are commonly working on computers that are 8 years old. (The workstation I am provided through work, is a 2004 refurbished desktop.)
Question: How old is the computer you use?
Challenge: Teachers and students may need to say goodbye to favoured tools. Remember WordPerfect?
Opportunity: By phasing out desktops, you can pave the way for the ideas that follow.

Acknowledge that the Web is the One App that Matters Most
Prioritize making the Internet the app we serve to all students and teachers. Realizing that browser-based apps are usually optimized for access by multiple simultaneous users, students and teachers are likely to these alternatives to be more nimble than their desktop alternatives.
Question: What is the one app that you couldn't live without?
Challenge: Educators will need to find alternatives for the programs they do use. The ICT department will have to increase the budget for bandwidth.
Opportunity: Educators will eventually discover more online resources than they might have imagined.

Facilitate the Use of Personal Devices
There is little excitement in doing technology based projects when the tools we're using are out-of-date. Move to a model that allows and encourages users to use their preferred devices. Of course such a strategy needs to provide a range of handheld devices to level the playing field for those unable to provide their own.
Question: Does the hardware supplied by your employer meet your personal needs?
Challenge: Someone will need to write a 'Personal Devices Policy'.
Opportunity: Once approved, such a policy will open doors to cross-platform multi-app learning.

Migrate to the Cloud
At great cost, in the name of security and privacy, school email accounts are often managed on board-owned servers. Why did so many boards fail to introduce email to students? In the face of other choices, this tool has become less relevant to the younger generation. Still, providing a collaborative communications suite to learners makes sense... especially if such a tool allows students to take their communications and creations with them upon graduation. It's past the time when schools should have moved to a web-based service for email, calendars, and word processing. While I've been advocating for years that this might best be done through Google, there are alternative web-based office suites available.
Question: Do you access your files from multiple devices?
Challenge: We may have to say goodbye to something everyone has grown comfortable with.
Opportunity: Learners might gain long term access to their work... from anywhere.

Introduce Digital Note-taking
I maintain that the move towards digital notebooks will signal to all that education is changing. The use of web-based multimedia notes can enable the archiving and retrieval of information using a wide range of web-enabled devices. While the saving of content in any kind of notebook may still seem archaic to some, the use of individual collaborative e-notebooks is a skill that I expect will remain relevant for future generations.
Question: Do you collect your learning in a paper binder? Why not?
Challenge: Parents and teachers who prefer paper to bits and bytes will need plenty of handholding.
Opportunity: e-Binders are searchable, shareable, and sustainable.

Focus on Skills Rather than Software
Whether learning takes place in a professional development workshop or during a classroom lesson, the emphasis should be on skills rather than on software titles. Workshops on 'PowerPoint' or 'Smart Ideas' should be replaced with lessons on 'The Power of Presentations' or 'Learning through Visualization' and should be accompanied with access to a menu of relevant apps.
Question: What was the focus of the last tech workshop you attended?
Challenge: Modelling differentiation is a greater challenge than speaking about it.
Opportunity: Transferable digital skills can naturally evolve into differentiated teaching and learning.

Say Goodbye to Desktops; Say Hello to Wireless
By embracing banks of mobile wireless devices, teachers and students will have far greater flexibility in how they do their work. By partnering such initiatives with a movement towards BYOD and ubiquitous wireless, desktop anchors should gradually fade from our classrooms.
Question: Do you still work on a desktop computer? Why?
Challenge: Out-of-date desktop computers have been inexpensive to purchase... but expensive to maintain.
Opportunity: Savings on maintenance will free manpower and funding to pursue the other pieces of the puzzle.

Diversify
There is no one answer for what educational technology should look like. As an organization, I recommend embracing variety and diversity. Allow schools to choose the types of tools they would like to use in their classrooms. Whether you are a fan of Smartboards, iPads, PCs or Macs, there is room for almost any device in a wireless, web-centred system.
Question: What is your vision for the learning space you'd like your child or grandchild to experience?
Challenge: Varied choices and local decision-making will lead to questions about equity.
Opportunity: Through variety, pockets of excellence will emerge.

Recreating our ICT infrastructure for an unknown future is a challenge. Whether or not you agree with these suggestions, I hope these ideas encourage decision-makers to carefully consider how we can best support the learning of our children.

Photo credits: Rodd Lucier, TarynMarie, Burnt Pixel, aperture_lag, binarydreams

Deeper Connections Matter More

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:51:00 +0000

It's been a full four years now that I've been fully engaged in cultivating an online personal learning network, but I find myself finding the greatest value in those connections that have deepened through repeated face to face contact. The heady days of December in 2007, when I first dipped my toe into Twitter, led me to a jaw-dropping awareness that I wasn't alone. There were hundreds of like-minded educators who were yearning to be affirmed in their belief that there were better ways to teach and learn... and I was eager to connect with them.

Fast forward to the turn of the new year, 2012, and my personal reflections have focused on the reality that I'm not so fully engaged in finding people to follow, or in cultivating a tribe of followers. In contrast, I'm reading and writing fewer tweets, and am taking the time to savour those connections that matter most.

How do I know you're one of the key nodes in my network?

1] We've met face to face at at least one conference or event.

2] We've had at least one conversation via Skype or Google Chat.

3] We've shared comments on one another's blog posts.

4] We've collaborated in developing a presentation/document/video/blog.

5] We've sought one another out to share 'big ideas'.

I think it's these meaningful connections with other change agents that I was most looking for in the first 25 years of my career. Now that many of the teacher-learners I first met on Twitter have become my trusted friends, I don't so much miss the one-way interactions with the more widely scattered nodes of my PLN. I still leverage the wisdom of my network on a daily basis, but rather than dipping into a never-ending stream of tweets, I am more likely to check the pulse of the group via a daily check of my personal news: The TweetedTimes.

Without question, Twitter is the glue of my personal network. But the connections I value most, reach well beyond the Twittersphere.

The Digital Story of the Nativity

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:45:00 +0000

It makes me smile to realize people keep forwarding the link to the Digital Story of the Nativity... via email. Even if you've already seen it, I hope you'll appreciate this video as a 'social media' Christmas card. Merry Christmas!

Lessons in Karate

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:43:00 +0000

Since the late summer, our 8 year old, Michael, has been taking Karate lessons. Taking him to classes a few days each week, I've come to appreciate a number of lessons modeled by Family Karate that are worth sharing with teachers everywhere.

Lesson 1 Transparency Matters
Classes at Family Karate take place in an open space that allows outside observers to take in the lessons. Teaching isn't secretive. Up close and personal, parents can observe the work of students and teachers alike.
What would happen if the doors of our classrooms were open to any parent, any day?

Lesson 2 We Learn Best with Peers
In academic classrooms, the grouping of learners as Robins or Rockets may be seen as 'old school', but ability grouping in karate is the norm. Classes are divided by belt colour allowing instructors to address the KYU Belt Curriculum with similarly skilled students.
How do you ensure apt challenges for each student?

Lesson 3 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Movitation are Connected
Within any given colour, students earn experience 'stripes' as they master skills within the curriculum. Vertical strips of coloured tape on a learners belt indicate when a student has mastered specific karate skills. These readiness markers are used by instructors to ensure students are appropriately challenged during drills. Did karate masters begin as 'sticker' kids?
What if scholastic learning was highlighted through public signs/symbols?

Lesson 4 Students Lead
Beyond karate, our club emphasizes the development of social skills and leadership skills. Respect for self, parents and peers is reinforced daily, and students with advanced belts are expected to assist the Renshi, Sensei or Sempai in working with less-experienced students. This leadership expectation is one that reinforces skills in addition to providing a service to the club.
What can happen when advanced students spend some of their time teaching others?

Lesson 5 Make a Choice
Individuals attend karate classes at a schedule that suits the family and the individual. Students can pursue traditional karate skills, or they can choose to focus on self-defense. Students can advance to sparring and recreation or they may pursue competitive karate. Regardless, the pace of one's learning is dictated by skill development and interest rather than by age.
How authentic are the choices you and your fellow learners are allowed to make?

Lesson 6 Learning is a Family Affair
Healthy eating, respectful behaviour, and diligence in schoolwork are a few of the social skills reinforced and rewarded at Family Karate. Through the use of home tracking cards, parents can reinforce positive behaviours that are later recognized at graduation ceremonies. In addition, monthly 'special events' including sleepovers, movie nights, and pot luck events reinforce the community nature of the sport.
How does your school engage members of the community?

Lesson 7 Reserve a place for Ceremony, Symbolism & Tradition
The skills of karate have been practiced for a few hundred years and the respect for the art is central to the teaching and learning of skills. Beyond the cap and gown, I'm hard-pressed to find ceremonies or symbols that represent the rich history of school-based learning.
What traditions make your school a special place?

Lesson 8 Words Dictate Actions
At Family Karate, the Student Creed is a hallmark. The words appear on the walls and are emblazoned on the back of every student's shirt.

I will keep my thoughts positive
because my thoughts become my words;

I will keep my words positive
because my words become my actions;

I will keep my actions positive
because my actions become my values;

I will keep my values positive
because my values become my destiny.

Does your classroom/school/board have an axiom that frames all learning?

K 12 Online: Are You For Real?

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:44:00 +0000

Have you noticed that the #k12online hashtag has once again come to life? This free online event allows educators from around the world to participate asynchronously in presentations on a wide variety of topics. This year's theme, "Purposeful Play", has been divided into strands that include "Storytime", "Sandbox Play", and "Leveling Up".

Today, my presentation, "Are You For Real" goes 'live'. I'd love to know your thoughts. Do you have a story to share?

Are you in search of opportunities to make authentic connections with students and teachers? Why not surround yourself with prompts to remind you of compelling stories? Learn how aptly chosen artifacts, deliberately placed, can promote story-telling and relationship-building. Play along and consider how you willing you are, to be ‘real’ with your fellow learners.

Are You a Virus?

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:48:00 +0000

Recently, I had a chance to hear Ron Canuel from CEA speak about the need for change, and the barriers faced by change agents. In viewing the change agent as a virus, he observed that it is common for innovators to be attacked while followers prosper. Finding it easy to relate to Ron's words, I'd like to extend the metaphor.

Viruses often innovate in the relative safety of a closed door classroom. If you use attempt to use technology in unexpected ways, or if you use tools before they become the norm, you may be a virus. There are many innovators out there, but most, like viruses, are difficult to see. It is only through the sharing of stories, that they become visible.

Virus can replicate but only within living host. If you are a virus, do you dare share your strategies and learning experiments with colleagues? In my experience, viral replication begins through such conversation and conversion. Open sharing may be just the thing that ensures that your district; your school; your department remains vibrant.

Once your peers or members of the ICT department identify you as a change agent, it may trigger the natural defenses of your school or system. The immune system is made up of those who want to maintain the status quo. It might be the technicians who place limits and filters on the tools you use, or it may be the colleagues who aren't ready to adapt their practices to the realities of a changing world. Regardless of the antibodies you face, know that it is natural for any body to defend the status quo. The most intrepid change agents are used to barriers, and though they may be slowed, their viral nature will be resistant to the system's natural defenses.

While viruses are immune to antibiotics, they do need to be aware of vaccination programs. Innocuous policies are commonly adopted in order to protect the system from disruptive change. "Personal devices are not allowed on the network." "Facebook and other social media sites are filtered." "Cell phones will be confiscated if they are seen." While effective in protecting the system in the short term, such inoculations tend to expire as neighbouring school systems evolve.

The metaphor leads me to believe that our education system is in need of an epidemic. Innovative practices will have to go viral in order to infect the practices of educators at all levels. If we are to re-imagine education, schools will need the services of an ever-evolving range of viruses. Care to join me for an educational pandemic?

Image credits: Viral Flu via Novartis AG; Ambulance by chriswong3238

We Can All Do Better

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:12:00 +0000

Do you have a blog? a wiki? a social media site? In posting to your online space, how good are you at modelling the appropriate use of content? Do you take advantage of Creative Commons resources? Do you attribute your sources?

Just as it's important to hold students accountable in the appropriate use of previously published materials, educators have a have a moral obligation to the model the ethical use of online content. While 'fair use' policies may give educators permission to use a wide range of materials, this doesn't negate our responsibility to recognize the creators of such works. In failing to acknowledge our sources, we miss out on opportunity to lead by example.

We All Fall Down
I acknowledge that I have at times used the work of others in inappropriate ways. I've used original pieces of music without permission; I've downloaded YouTube clips in violation of the terms of service; I've grabbed screen captures of images otherwise protected by copyright. But over the past few years I've been really conscious about acting justly with regard to rights of content creators, and have worked to inform others about their obligations with respect to copyright. For the past four years, I've also chosen to freely share my creative work with through the Creative Commons. Others are free to use and remix my photos, writing, presentations, publications so long as they attribute my contribution.

What Got Me onto this Topic?
If you've visited this blog in recent years, you'll know that a few of the highlights in my career as a learner have taken place at Educon, a conference of conversations, held annually at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. As a model learning event for teachers, administrators and librarians, Educon hits the mark in a great number of ways.

Upon visiting the Educon 2.4 website two weeks ago. I couldn't help but grin to see highlighted on the banner, a photo I took at last year's event. It's a group photo from a conversation I hosted with Zoe Branigan-Pipe called "Classrooms of Tomorrow". I clicked on the Creative Commons licensed image expecting it to port to the original shot, but instead, it led to the registration page. Without the intent to do so, the Educon 2.4 website was claiming ownership of my work.

Uploaded with Skitch!

While I await an update to the Educon banner, it leads me to reflect:
How good a job do I do in providing attribution to the work of others?
Do my public websites (blogs, wikis, social media pages) use content without consent?
Can I be more effective in acknowledging the contributions of others in my work?
Am I doing everything I can to model the appropriate and fair use of media?

Whether hosting a large conference website, or an obscure resource wiki, our public faces to the world must demonstrate appropriate attribution when we choose to use Creative Commons licensed content. At the very least, an incidental lesson will be taught to anyone who takes notice. In the best of circumstances, visitors will be inspired to follow a hyperlink to the creator's work. Uncountable ripples will follow as acknowledged creators will be more and more likely to share future works.

Can You Do Better?
The idea behind attribution is simple: If you use the work of another creator, give the person credit. In doing so, you'll be modelling for learners the appropriate way to recognize the contributions of others. In a world where creating and remixing is open to anyone, it's time to hold ourselves accountable and to model the ethical use of online content.

Photo credit: London Bridge is Falling Down by Forty two. Creative Commons icon by jorgeandresam

A Lesson in Murmuration

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:23:00 +0000

We live in a world where any extraordinary event captured on video must be viewed with mind of a skeptic. This once-in-a-lifetime video, I choose to watch with my heart.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

The creative collaboration of the starlings is awe inspiring. On top of that, the willingness of the videographers Liberty Smith and Sophie Windsor Clive to release the video with Creative Commons license; and the open sharing of the original music by Emmett Glynn and Band, make my sharing soul smile.

Flocking behaviour has evolved in fish and birds to a level we as human beings can only hope to emulate. Still, I can't help but wonder what might be possible if teachers and students could mimic the murmuration of starlings. This video provides a powerful metaphor for how willing collaboration, distributed leadership, and shared responsibility can bring our classrooms to life.

Caging the Mockingbird

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:26:00 +0000

Whether physical, virtual or systemic, when you attempt to move forward, or to move in new directions, you are bound to bump up against obstacles. As an advocate for making school more relevant for learners of all ages, I'm feeling a like a bird stuck in a shrinking cage.

Case in Point
This semester, a colleague of mine took a leap of faith to introduce a collaborative project to his English students. Students were grouped and assigned rotating roles that involve writing, drawing, recording, designing, and leading. The multi-week project is focused on the novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and has resulted in the development of group websites at Wix.com. While you can see some of the work students completed in the early days, network access to the site has now been blocked.

After reading Chris Kennedy's How to Stop Good Ideas Getting Shot Down, I have come to realize that many of John Kotter's 'blocks to good ideas' are serving as barriers the use of technology in my school:

Fear Mongering: "The website puts the security of the network is at risk."

Death by Delay: "If you review your unfiltering request with your principal, and your principal makes a recommendation to program council, and program council approves the use of the site, then a communication to ICT will allow us to consider whether or not we can provide access."

Confusion: "Facebook is the problem. If they do this, then that, while visiting that URL, then students would be able to access their Facebook accounts through the site."

Do those making the decision to modify filtering policies even consider the ramifications? Working to engage in his students in this rich project-based learning experience, my colleague ensured that student roles addressed expectations in reading, writing and media. He had to ensure his classroom could accommodate a range of production team roles; had to book computer lab time, and had to find a way to assess the differentiated contributions of participants. More than that, he had to take a huge risk attempting a project he'd never done before.

It's been three school days since access to Wix has been blocked. If things change, I'll add an update in the comments below. In the meantime, I have no idea what to suggest for the lessons lost, or yet to come. Should we encourage the students to work at home on these tasks? Do we complete the tasks offline? Dare we re-invent the project?

Maybe it's just not worth trying to be a mockingbird?

"Please take out your pencils and notebooks and copy this note from the board... There will be a test on this material next week."

Put Your Mark on the Map

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:20:00 +0000

One of the things in education that makes little sense to me, is that in general, students have to prove their knowledge by writing things down. If it's not proven on a test or written assignment, it doesn't count. When this 'proof' of learning is only seen by the teacher, I'm doubly dismayed.

What if students could highlight their knowledge digitally, and then communicate their learning with a global audience. If you'd like to test the motivating factor of the 'real world', you now have access to an on-going ready-made project:Google Map Maker has just launched in Canada.

What if students:

1] plotted bus routes;
2] mapped local playgrounds;
3] charted neighbourhood hangouts;
4] added historic event markers;
5] posted photos of the area;
6] showed the best places to park your car;
7] plotted fire hydrants;
8] highlighted the best places to experience nature;
9] identified the stores, churches, public spaces;
10] thought about what others would appreciate having on a map...

Contributions will be reviewed by map experts at Google, and maybe, just maybe, the work of students will become a permanent fixture on the world map. Now that's something that might engage a learner a bit more fully than sharing knowledge by way of exam or essay.

Dear Teacher...

noreply@blogger.com (Rodd Lucier) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:17:00 +0000

I saw this note to Nazhir, and though I don't know him, I couldn't help but pen a response on his behalf.

Dear Teacher:

I know that you like to share your wisdom by speaking;
but do you realize that I like to talk too.

I know that you like it when we write neatly in our notebooks;
but can you tell that I don't like scraping a pencil on paper to make words?

I know that you have many answers;
but when will we have time to pursue some of my questions?

I know that rows of desks and chairs can be orderly;
but do you really think you could handle sitting for one full day in my chair?

I know that you care about how I do in school;
but do you care enough about me to know what I most like to do?

I know that you found school interesting enough to start a career here;
but do you love it enough to keep on learning?

I know that you are giving us skills to help us be successful in school;
but can you also give us the keys to being successful at life?

I know that you're working in a system that is less than perfect;
but what are you going to do today, to help me realize you care?

Dear Reader:

I know you read blogs, at least on occasion;
but do you have any ideas to add in using the pattern: "I know... but..."?

I know that you know that Twitter exists;
but did you know you can tweet with the tag: #dearteacher

Image credits: subewl, Nationaal Archief