4 simple steps to join the mRevolution

For long, we've been talking in our circles of students as producers, not simply audience, and students finding their own voice. Educators know how important it is to move from our classrooms industrial production-like type of education. We've realized that there's much more potential in networking, in giving back to students the control of their own learning. We do know, however, that this is much easier said than done.

students in charge

This is a time of production, way beyond the passive-receptive mode of education. For some time now, we've had powerful tech tools around for the shift, but new devices, which are smaller, portable and in the hands of our learners are bound to give us the support we need for this active, exciting passionate movement towards meaningful learning. The world is more MOBILE than ever before. And we should grab this opportunity to make the move, to experiment, to learn with our students and to give a step forward.

So, here's what I've been doing that might give you some hints of what you could do to start an mRevolution:

1. Give your students a chance to teach you new trick using those portable devices. They are experts! They know cool apps, they are into cool features that you don't even imagine they are there in cellphones, cameras, tablets, netbooks.
2. Don't ask your students to turn off their devices. Ask yourself how you could use them to have exciting, dynamic lessons that tap into students' creativity and make students smile and enjoy themselves while learning. 
3. I've been reading as crazy about mLearning, downloading apps to my tablet and cellphone, testing things out. The most important thing in this first step is to keep a record of all that, using a very visual curation tool, Scoop.it: http://www.scoop.it/t/elearning-mlearning and being closer, interacting with educators interested in the topic:
4. I've been fearlessly trying mPossibilities in my classroom, which requires a lot of planning, but it is totally awesome when you see the positive results and the students' excitement. I had an adult group last year, and I tried different activities with them using the power of what they had in their pockets: cellphones. I had the idea that if they, who were not so aware or comfortable using those gadgets for learning, could profit from the experience, imagine the younger gang! The most important aspect of the trial part is reflecting upon it and keeping a record. So, blogging was an essential part of the process: http://collablogatorium.blogspot.com/search/label/mlearning

This is just the beginning of an exhilarating world of new possibilities in which our learners are truly in charge of producing something meaningful, of becoming active participants in their own learning process. 

What would you add to your mRevolution list?

In the meantime, here's a show I'd recommend following:

Listen to internet radio with Techchef4u on Blog Talk Radio

Professional Development - Do-It-Yourself Approach

Ann Foreman has shared her wonderful presentation about professional development. What she says is exactly what I've been advocating for some years now. Educators need to be in charge of their own learning. They need to understand that PD is not institutionally-bound. We need to get hold of our own professional development perspective and analyze where we want to get and why.

REAL TICE | Making sense of chaos | Madrid 2011 on Prezi

Here are some of my presentations related to the topic that might be of interest:

Share, Connect, Learn

From Incubation to Change

Digital Magic of Professional Development

Summer Makeover

In Brazil, before it is summer time, people start preparing for it. Gyms get packed. We try the latest diet, we go on a bikini project. Well, it is summer in the southern hemisphere and my makeover has just started!

Time to take a closer look at what has been taken for granted for a while. As the teacher challenge advances, I keep checking blogs, commenting and learning that there is always a lot to learn about blogging and the blogosphere. Here's my take on the the pages makeover, or must, I say, creation? For, when I decided to move my other blog in a wordpress platform to blogger in the direction of simplifying the blogging act, I simply ignored the pages feature in Blogger. I had a profile text that didn't tell the readers much about me, who I am, my drives, what I do. So, this was my chance, first to learn how to use the Pages feature. Then, to carefully built upon useful content for the readers. It was well-worth spend the whole morning on the summer makeover project.

Some of the highlights were:

• bumping into Photovisi, shared by Kirby. Photovisi gave the looks I needed to my About Page. I could easily create a photo collage to give a better sense of who I really was. Plus, her About Page was one of a very creative touch that shows how enticing it can be.
• Joe Mcleay's idea of having a lifechanging links page gave me the idea of an Inspiration Page.
• There was also another blogger who totally called my attention. She confessed having a boring About page and even posted how it looked before. The new one is just an incredible lively upgrade. Now, we can really see who she is, her passion, her life. Totally exciting Page now. So many places I've been to that I can't get hold of the blog, but will!

All in all, this is a reflective process of making a visual revamp that will certainly affect content and give meaning to what I've been doing for so long. It is a call for action, movement. Plus, it is a plead to make us reflect upon our professional lives and our persona.


I gladly present my three new Pages!
Contact
About
Inspiration

Always a work in progress as it always is our Brazilian Summer Makeover...

Kids Teaching Bloggers

Kids are an endless resource of learning. They teach us every single day with their body language, words, funny sentences that make sense.

In the second activity of the Teacher Challenge, we were asked to analyze a blog post in terms of its effectiveness.If there's one blogger I don't miss, Darren Rowse from Problogger is the one. He just knows the drill.

One of his recent blog posts that grabbed my attention was

"What My 4-Year-Old Son Taught Me About Successful Blogging"

Here are some of the reasons this is a catchy effective blog post:

• Darren tells a story. He is personal, he connects.
• He starts by grabbing readers' attention through the title. Though it is a big one, it is totally effective into driving his audience to the text and video.
• He gives choices to readers: multimedia with the video, plus the video transcript. 
• The video has a professional look, high-quality end.
• The reader feels as if you were there with him in the room just as if we knew him face-to-face.
• He has momentum in his story and he gets to his main goal stated in the post title. He doesn't disappoint the reader.
• He gives his message in one sentence "Tell something important to the world". He asks for action.

The next time I or you write a post, we'd better take into consideration Darren's 4-year-old son advice of telling something important to the world. Plus, using Problogger's author strategies to masterfully deliver a message. So, I bet you have an important message to the world. We all do. What's yours?

10 Things You Should Know About Blogging

Though I'm late, it is never too late.
As being back to consistency in my blog is a desirable and attainable goal for 2011, I'll follow the Teacher Challenge and kickstart it with the ten things I've learned and wished all bloggers knew about blogging.

1. You never know how your posts will affect readers. Even when they don't comment, you can be assured that there are people out there who care about what you are writing and saying.

2. At first, blogging can feel like a lonely endeavor, but it is not. It is a networking weaver, a reflective step towards your personal and professional life. Through blogging, you connect to yourself and to others.

3. Blogging raises awareness. It empowers. It asks for movement.

4. Through blogging you'll look into yourself and find out what your passions and drives are. Never miss the chance to do it.

5. The three main things I love to blog about is education, gastronomy and culture/people. All that using lots of images, my own images. Does that give a clue of what my passions are?

6. Blogging is not the act of writing. It is all about reading, thinking, connecting, commenting, joining in. Blogging cannot be summarized into your own blogging, but a whole networking ecology that comes with it. In fact, writing is just part of this ecosystem.

7. Blogging is addictive and transformative. That's why I have a personal mission of helping others blog as much as I can. Blogging can change the world, our world. Believe me, I've seen it.

8. There is no formula in blogging if you are passionate about it. No constraints. No right or wrong.

9. Blogging is an open-ended endeavor waiting for new possibilities, opportunities and twists.

10. I still have a lot to learn about blogging...