Surfing the Waves of Change in Education: No Action is not a Possibility

Serendipity is one of the strengths of a hyperlinked world in which the network is always providing us with learning moments and reflective checkpoints. As I was browsing my wonderful Pinterest network, I came across, by chance, this clean, unpretentious blog http://thingsigrab.wordpress.com/, and I couldn't help but start browsing it, scrolling down, with my eyes glued in interest for the variety of topics and simple interestingness. Powerful.

All of a sudden, a click on the video Surfing Waves of Change, which is mainly about socio-economic change. However, the message is totally applicable to our changing roles as educators and the daily challenges and stages of change we face every single day.

The video zooms in to the need of our being resilient to become catalysts of change. It evokes the power of communities and networks to overcome the hurdles we are challenged with. All with the surfer's metaphor that learns by doing, by getting into action, learning to go with the flow and understanding the waves movements, all relying on how own guts and other surfers for information, support and learning. The main message: a surfer cannot learn how to surf if it isn't by doing, falling, and standing on the surfboard again. It is not about being taught how to be resilient, how to change and become an active player, but getting there and doing it, connecting, collaborating, experimenting...Then, we can become catalysts of change. No action is not a possibility.

This is a video worth sharing, watching together and deciding for ways in which we can catalyze change in our own communities of learning.

On Online Social Bookmarking, Tagging and Connections

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Diigo. The heart of social bookmarking is its power of a group making available their resources that were once saved on our computers for a very individual use. Now, in online spaces like Diigo, the information out there can be retrieved, mixed and remixed in the ways we need it when we need it. David Weinberger, the author of "Everything is Miscellaneous", says that with folksonomies (people categorizing links), we can filter information, resources in the way out, not on the way in. As we bookmark and tag stuff, the links are there. As we need them, we manipulate information to make meaning, to construct knowledge. Thus, social bookmarking adds value to the information everybody is gathering in the digital world. It's not just the links I have, but tons of collective resources available at a click.

Issues that are the main concern of educators are  related to lack of time and information overload. There are two facets for lack of time. One is educators' busy lives and schedules, and the other relates to the syllabus that they HAVE TO "COVER" within a time frame. My point is that if we use social bookmarking frequently, it becomes a mechanic process. Every time you see something interesting, we press the "share button", add as many tags, keywords as we can think of, and that's it. We'll filter the information later on, no need to deal with it right now. Even if this process doesn't save time right now. In the future, when you need to retrieve information for any kind of project, and if you have bookmarked it before, the whole process could be a time saver. As for the syllabus, I envision Diigo bookmarks as part of a classroom adding a mix of flavors that students' findings could promote. We could have, for example, learners responsible to feed the class bookmarks on a specific topic, learners finding and sharing videos, podcasts, texts based on what they are studying with little notes. How meaningful this could be? I know, I know...time to set it up! Diigo has a Diigo Educator account that you can ask for. A friendly environment for a group of learners where the system to have the class altogether is different. The educator adds all learners to the group and it's a safe environment. 

As for information overload, I consider bookmarking a way to dribble information overload. Why? If you have tons of bookmarks together with tons of people's bookmarks being tagged, you can use those bookmarks to create meaning whenever needed. You save them for later. One day, you can retrieve them and use them as you wish. This is exactly what David Weinberger says about the infrastructure of meaning, "We are building this connected miscellany link by link and tag by tag. Its value is in the implicit relationships that turn it into an infrastructure of meaning". It's an open-ended context in which we're creating streams of information. We can slice up our online resources as we wish according to our needs in a specific moment. A clear example:  to design this online course, I've been collecting lots of resources for the past years, but have not done anything with them. The only immediate action has been to create a specific tag for later retrieval. So, I just used teacher_project. when I actually started putting all together, I got back to all I have tagged with teacher_project to make sense of it and see where I'd head to. Interesting results as I could mix and remix what I was considering for the course and my bookmarks gave me invaluable insights of what was worth keeping in or out. Besides, as I used many other labels (tags) together with the unique tag I created, I could intertwine information. So, I could see what I had for specific topics, like teacher_project + blogs, for example.

On the bookmarking platforms available nowadays, we can really create very enriching networks of information, sharing and knowledge. Diigo is a great example! We've been exploring just the bookmarking part of it, but I must say I also love the highlighting, annotating features, plus the comment area in the bookmarked links. They take learning to where I think it should be, to the collective, social sphere. Just by being social, one might say that we're spending much more time there than we can afford it. I agree it's messy, non-linear. We tend to hop from one place to the other eager to keep learning, and then we get lost. Oh, I've wandered in the richnesses of my friends' bookmarks and lost myself in thoughts, possibilities, accounts sign ups even when I knew time was an issue...There's no easy solution for that. Some possibilities?

• Timing how long you'll spend browsing (even setting an alarm might help!)
• Setting specific goals: "I'll find two useful resources in this specific area"
• Deciding for a specific tag you want to focus on
• Defining a feature in Diigo you want to master
• Changing your email settings to receive only daily or weekly notifications of new resources added to the group

The burning question is how can we better share in the group?

Certainly tagging is a useful way. There are two aspects to it. First, add tags that are meaningful for you, for your private retrieval, and also tags that have been suggested by the group that will help others browse through the treasures you find online. Tag for your private use and for the public good.

Some tips:

• the use of words all together (professionaldevelopment, socialbookmarking)
• the use of webtools4educators unique tag
• the use of as many tags as you can think of 

Check some educators' discussion about educational uses for Diigo

http://message.diigo.com/message/why-would-teachers-use-diigo-29443

The trick of online social bookmarking is to keep sharing and tagging, as well as joining groups of interest to you.

Any other aspects we should consider?

So, why should any educator embrace the idea of social bookmarking and Diigo and why it is an essential tool for every educator?

- It helps us filter information
- It is about community sharing
- It helps us find interesting resources
- It connects us to the community
- It is portable
- It is an extension of our memory

 Parts of this post are cross posted at http://webtoolsforeducators.posterous.com/our-get-together-its-all-about-connection-con 

The Social Wild Web in 2 Minutes and Teachers' Learning Brains

I've produced this quick video as a Wrap up for the online course I am teaching, Web Tools for Educators at Casa Thomas Jefferson.

In the beginning of our online session, teachers are generally in a state of lethargy and disorientation. They are never sure if they should endure in the digital experience or quit. They sometimes have a feeling of being overwhelmed, at other times, at loss... I try to show them that this a common state when we face the new, when we leave our comfort zones, when we are learning, when we are challenged.

In neuroscience there's a common term to express the exact moment when our amygdala sense danger:

FLIGHT - FIGHT - FREEZE

We generally react in these three ways: we can just run away from the new experience as we feel threatened, we might decide to persist and move on against the initial moment of fear and helplessness, or we can just be in a lethargic state of no-action. 

My role as an online facilitator is to give participants the support they need for them to build up their self-confidence and move forward, fighting against their initial disorienting feeling of the non-linear digital world. Isn't that what we all try to do with our students, anyway? In this case, though, it is an even more important mission, for if they see the power of the Social Web in transforming their classrooms and beyond in truly student-centered learning hubs where interaction, collaboration, problem solving, creative thinking, fun-based learning is part of class routine, then my special assignment as an online facilitator is accomplished, and the impact of teachers' newly acquired digital skills is long-lasting and amplified in their local educational communities. 

That's why when they overcome the initial stage of getting their feet wet into learning how to participate in an online community, enhanced by numerous digital tools, they get into the experimentation level, evolving to many WOW moments throughout our 10-week online session and way beyond. 

Of course, there are those who always fly, and those who get stuck, freezing, no matter what you try to do  to give them the support they need. Educators must first re-learn to unlearn. Educators must be open to learning if they want to be part of education. However, what really makes a difference is letting our brains work in our favor, when we fight against the initial fear and sense of being in danger, for endangered professionals are the ones who are not open to movement, change and action.

by Fabrício Freire_WebTools4Educators

The Social Web is full of encounters, learning and networking. And every educator should be part of it in very meaningful ways, and that's why it is part of my job to introduce the educators who start the Web Tools for Educators course to get there in the SOCIAL WILD WEB!

Three Ideas to Foster Self-Directedness through Learning Playlists

Good teachers don't teach or preach. Good teachers guide learners into becoming more independent in their learning process. Though we've heard it a thousand times, we still find it hard to put into practice what we call autonomous learning. Sometimes it is just easier to tell our learners what to do or to do it for them rather than guide them through self-discovery, a bit of chaos and autonomy. We are generally too busy, too tired and on a tight schedule, so excuses abound for taking shortcuts, but shortcuts don't make the citizens we are so much in need, the problem solvers who creatively find their way out when challenged. We need to be diligent in trying to find ways in which our learners have choice, a voice and many possibilities.

Mentormob is an effective starting point towards learners' choice and independence. Students can be guided through creating their learning playlists, giving them time to think about the many pathways they can take and the different perspectives in relation to a certain topic. Of course, there are many digital tools that do the trick, but I just loved the clean layout of Mentormob, as well as its collaborative-enhanced platform.

So, here are three ideas for you to use Mentormob to its best use and most powerful use for learning.

1. Students find their favorite resources on a certain topic and create their learning lists to share with the classroom;
2. If they are practicing a certain Grammar topic, they can find examples to create their playlists;
3. Encourage students to create learning playlists related to The best videos of ..., The most exciting places to..., The top 10 sites to..., What is..., 10 things you should know about..., 

By letting our students create, share and learn about others' playlists, we are on the right pathway for digital citizenship, self-directedness, and learning autonomy.

But, before they start, what would be your first learning playlist?

Unmissable Social Learning Summit

Last weekend, I had the honor to present and participate in a wonderful whole-day web conference in which participants hopped from one virtual room to the next to learn more from what educators have been doing around the world. Snippets of social learning at its best! All very organized by social media whiz and educator Steve Hargadon.

Now, the recordings are available and you can watch the sessions whenever you feel you have 30 minutes to learn and make an impact on your teaching practice.

Recordings are available at http://www.classroom20.com/page/2012-recordings

What are you planning to watch?

Online Teaching Videos

Curt Bonk is on my list of inspiration when it comes to online teaching and learning. I've gotten some neat ideas for my online classes from his book Empowering Online Learning: 100+ activities for reading, reflecting, displaying and doing.

If you are really interested in becoming more proficient in you online teaching/tutoring/mentoring skills, you might want to take a closer look to Bonk's series of 27 videos on the topic at http://www.youtube.com/TravelinEdMan

http://www.youtube.com/TravelinEdMan

What do you LOVE

Use Google app What do you Love to check for information and resources in a very visual way.
You get the results from a variety of Google sources, which is helpful for you to see what is out there in terms of videos, images, books, all different resources.

Have you ever tried What do you LOVE?

 

Some ideas for the classroom to encourage critical thinking:

Ask your students to look for information on a certain topic. let's say "World Population". 

First, this is a good chance to teach students a bit on how to better search on a certain topic. 

Then, ask them to analyze the results they got: 

• What are the main trends?
• What are people talking about in relation to this topic?
• What do the images tell you about the topic?
• Find one video that is really powerful
• Which book would you read about this topic? Why?
• State 5 interesting findings you had on the topic because of your search results. 
• Is there something that was not shown in the search results that you find really relevant to the topic?

One follow up task would be for students to build a webpage with their main findings and thoughts.
They could use a wiki page, a blog post, Linoit, Popplet or any other authoring tool to explore the subject.

Any other ideas for What do you LOVE?

Posts of the Week Worth Reading

Here are two of the posts of the week that are really worth reading and reflecting upon

• If it is broke, fix it!
  by Lisa Cooley

• The Three New Pillars of 21st Century Learning
  by Rob Mancabelli 
    
  Great texts for reflection and action. If it is broke, fix it!

Guinness Superlatives

Though a common way to teach Superlatives, I felt like sharing this Power Point I prepared for my class to practice the superlatives in a fun and lively way. Feel free to use it.

Superlatives

View more presentations from Carla Arena.

After introducing the topic, I'll have this quick superlative quiz with students. First, they have to take a wild guess and compare answers. Then, they will use their cellphones to look for the answers. Finally, they can create their own quiz for the class.

Simple, but fun!

Explosive Present Perfect Collaboration in POPPLET

Present perfect or Past Perfect are not phrases that reflect the thrilling lesson planning moment I had in collaboration with Tweet mates and my Facebook network.

Collaboration is part of my perfect world of learning mixed with a bit of chaos and fun in which everyone involved has a lot to contribute to the whole, and the final outcome goes much beyond of what was initially envisioned. So, this is what really happened when I was preparing a class for my hybrid class (50% face to face, 50% online) last week. I wanted to do something different and exciting with my students, who are high school teachers. I've been trying to teach English, but also a bit of digital skills for them as I'm sure that their learners will profit from it.

So, as I just got back from the TESOL Conference with some new tricks and tools in my teaching treasure cloud (not box, for it is not self-contained!), I've realized it was time to test what I had heard about.
I went for the web tool and iPad app called POPPLET, presented in the APP fair in the Electronic Village by Suzan Stamper. I'll never be able to thank her enough, for this was the final result created collaboratively in a matter of minutes with my network collaborating from all over the world just because of a simple CALL:

More than words to show how simple, fun, collaborative and inspiring POPPLET is, here's the final PRESENT PERFECT wall we've created:

And here's the one my student has just started after our class:




My idea for them as a follow-up is that each one creates his own POPPLET with their learning highlights for the unit they are studying and invites peers to collaborate with them.

TESOL + POPPLET TOOL + NETWORK = EXPLOSIVE PRESENT PERFECT