Educational Technology That Works...

...is the title of a promising wiki (like I know so much about wikis, novice that I am) that is devoted to classroom instruction integrated with Web 2.0 (about which I'm still learning).

I'm excited for several reasons.

Marzano's work -- featured on the wiki -- recognizes the convergence of education research and he emphasizes the practical application of the research.

This wiki may be a good model for the experimental Edubloggers wiki.

And most interesting of all, this wiki is an electronic version of six publications (plastic comb flip-books) that were put out by our district curriculum and instruction department back in 2000 to remind teachers of the main things to remember about the instructional strategies we were then beginning to promote: differentiated instruction; individualized instruction; cooperative learning; brain-based research applied to learning and instruction; multiple intelligence theory application; and assessment literacy (Stiggins, et al).

Those little books were fantastic -- they are collector's items now (for the geeks among us, anyway), but they were expensive and time consuming to produce. The wiki takes the place of all that and even spreads the joy of contributing around to whomever is willing and qualified.

All this discovery is total fun!

All of a Sudden, My Learning Curve Got Steeper

Just when I thought I was getting with the program and into smooth water, I read about all this... Not only do I have to worry about getting left in the behind, but the velocity of the learning curve is increasing and I'm wondering if I'll actually gain on the pitch!

Check this stuff out:

21st Century Collaborative
Changing High Schools
21st Century Collaborative Wiki

Should I be alarmed? Should I go back to NY, where they've been ahead of the standards curve for, like, fifty years?

Nah. I'll get a handle on it in the morning!

New Wiki In Town! 2

Here's an update on our wiki...

First, participants discussed wiki goals, use, and format. Then Eric edited and finalized the Front Page that outlines where we are at this point.

We'll begin our exploration of standards-based grading with a warm up wherein we analyze a couple of grading situations that made major metro papers. In SBG Warm Up Draft 1, we'll look at the articles separately, comment on each of them, then compare the situations and draw some conclusions about what's being described in the articles. (Articles are on this page.)

Standards-Based Grading, or SBG from here on, is also known as "grading linked to standards," and "grading for learning." (Thanks to Exhausted Intern for the new term and three-letter acronym!)

The end goal is to produce a document or series of wiki pages that can 1) serve as a primer for educators new to SBG, 2) facilitate a quick review for educators who have been exposed to the concepts, 3) be a training tool for professional development sessions.

This topic is red hot and ready to roll.

New Wiki In Town!

Eric Turner of Second Hand Thoughts has been hard at work constructing a wiki for edubloggers to share and polish thoughts about the education topics near and dear to their hearts.

While poking around in Eric's new construction zone, I came upon the above image. It's from Eric and it pretty well sums up the aim of the new wiki.

Any more conversation/ideas about how it's going to work? Let's hear from you!

Eric's my choice for ad hoc wiki foreman at least till it's up and running. How does that sound?

A Grading Conversation

I'll be off the grid for a couple of days, but was hoping to contribute something constructive prior to taking off.

Labels/categories/topics in a blog sidebar, although they may be a way to keep track of topical conversations, don't go far enough. A search function also helps. (There's probably an efficient Web 2.0 way to do it, like a topical aggregator, but it hasn't touched my mind yet.) So this is an experiment, a "sticky" post. (I'll figure a way to make it sticky!)

Eric, in Second Hand Thoughts, reinforced my desire to broaden and deepen the conversations on what the Exhausted Intern calls SBG or "standards-based grading," aka, "grading for learning," or "grading linked to standards." (Eric has in mind an idea for focusing conversations that goes beyond what I'm hoping to do here.) Here goes...

So far, I've talked about SBG with the following folks who have "grading" listed on their topic sidebar...

The Science Goddess of What It's Like On the Inside
The Exhausted Intern of Not Enough Hours

...and folks who don't have "grading" listed as a topic, but have addressed the issue in posts or "comments" either on RepairKit or their own blog:

Miss Profe from Hardknock Teacher's Life (See today's knock-your-socks-off post.)
Miss A of Confessions from the Couch
The Midwest Teacher of Teach Me, I Dare You

This is also an open invitation to join the conversation.

If I left anyone out of this conversation, my sincere apology and please mention it in a comment to this post. I'll cut and paste your link above.

My goal is to list, in one place, all of you with whom I exchange ideas about SBG. (If this is a dumb idea, or there's a better way to do it, please tell me!)

This Is a Relief!

Edubloggers go every which way during the summer. A few posts ago, I declared I was easing back on posting while I tried to get a grip an all my edu-chores that lie in other domains, my wife's trackbacks on the household chore pings notwithstanding (I'm still faithful about doing the dishes and vacuuming). ;-)

But I've been climbing the digital literacy learning curve as quickly as I can, and have been unable not to share a few of the epiphanic insights that are coming about because of it. To keep the pings from my darling wife from turning to flames, I shared with her some new learning and she said that's relevant to what she has been doing in ed tech with at-risk kids in summer school. (Turns out we both agree that the students are ahead of the teachers, like Mr. Warlick says! See "Comments" on today's Science Goddess post for details, if you're curious. )

In addition to upgrading my digital literacy, I've been concerned about doing digital publishing right as well. I start a post in WORD, check it for grammar and spelling, then paste it into Notepad to strip out the formatting, and finally paste it into the WYSIWYG window on my Blogger dashboard. I press the "publish" button and off it goes. Then, for a couple of days afterward, I pick at it aiming for conciseness and better diction. I know that sounds a bit compulsive, but remember, I take the publishing aspect seriously.

Today, David Warlick posted an important piece on 2 Cents Worth about the importance of school librarians (aka media specialists) as purveyors of digital literacy. But that's not all that struck me. He also added a piece about blogging, specifically making errors in blogging. It was a great relief to read and I've printed this short section out and put it into my copy of Classroom Blogging as an addendum.

"This brings me to another point. Now this is my opinion, but I do not believe that blog postings are meant to be scholarly dissertations, perfectly considering every point, every example, every definition, every eventuality. They should be better considered than IM postings and better crafted than most e-mail messages, but they (mine) are typically written in one or two sittings and rarely with more than an hour of writing. I leave things out. I leave terms undefined. Sometimes I get it wrong, and I’m happy that I do. Because everything that is not included, that is important, gets added through comments from thoughtful readers and through continuing conversations. If it’s an important addition, such as including librarians in a conversation about video games in schools, I will usually elevate it to a new blog posting to make it available to more readers.

As I’ve said many times before, I write this blog to learn…

I only wish that I had the time to address every question and correction!"

Thanks, David. I needed that!

Cool Tools from Google

Sometime back, I signed up for the Google Educator program, just for good luck, and the education folks at Google emailed me today with some news about their efforts to aid educators in their quest to tame the web and make it a useful tool for student learning (lifelong learners can use this stuff, too). If you've been to the last NECC or know someone who has, this may not be news, but it was to me.

For my own writing, I use a digital notebook that's part of The Journal, but it's not designed to keep track of the tons of info on the web, although I could venture it with cut and paste. But there's a simpler way.

David Warlick, in his book Classroom Blogging talks about digital literacy, and part of that new literacy is learning to find, filter, validate, and organize info from the web. Google has a tool that will help us do that. Funny thing, they call it a Notebook. I started playing with it today. I've already got three notebooks going. I like it.

The other Google tool that caught my fancy will allow teachers to set up dedicated search engines for their students to use in pursuit of their learning. I can only imagine it would be like a grand treasure hunt, custom designed by the teacher.

Google has many more tools for educators, but you have to go there, register, and look for yourself. Best of all, everything's free! :-)

Great Book/New Way to Publish

Just a quick note on a laid-back Sunday…

Yesterday, in the mail, I received David Warlick's book Classroom Blogging: A Teacher's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, & Other Tools that are Shaping a New Information Landscape (2nd Edition).

Being a newbie in this arena, I skipped around the book, vacuuming up tidbits that seemed immediately relevant to my blogging needs, and some that confirmed that I am somewhat on track. I'm happy to say, there's still a lot more to read and absorb.

This isn't a book review, so much as an expression of excitement. Both to get the information from a well-regarded authority, and to get it in a form that is so "cutting edge"…a book.

But, mine is a copy of the book that didn't physically exist two weeks ago. Before that time, I imagine, it was just code stored in a server at Lulu, a partial roll of page paper, and a couple of linear feet of cover stock. This is a "print-on-demand" book. My first ever.

Ordering from Lulu.com was like ordering from Amazon, but with different titles. This is a self-publishing facilitator, as well as a web retailer. The book was $20.95, just a few cents more than the 1st edition currently being sold on Amazon. (Warlick says edition 2.0 will be available there soon, but why wait? It will be the same price, and Lulu doesn't charge as much for shipping.)

The book arrived just three business days after they emailed me that it was in transit. From the time I ordered to the reception of the email was not more that three or four days.

The book arrived in a standard cardboard book jacket that featured extra cardboard top and bottom, and it was carefully wrapped in a piece of foam sheeting that insured perfect condition upon arrival.

I was impressed, and you will be too if this is your first experience with Lulu.

Authors need to check Lulu out as well. What a deal! When I'm ready, they'll be my first choice of publishers.

(Image credit to David Warlick on 2 Cents Worth.)

Lifelong Learner 2.0

David Warlick, who writes the blog 2 Cents Worth, provides some stimulating follow up to the concerns I voiced yesterday about raising awareness in school districts about what he calls "learning literacy." These are perennial questions, but no less relevant in the world of Web 2.0, the interconnectivity of people as opposed to the exchange of electrons between digital machines.

If you haven't scoped it out today, now would be a good time to beam over to 2 Cents Worth and then help me answer the next logical question: how do we get the school district patrons on board?

Does Everyone Know This Stuff?

I'm not easily aroused to a state of anxiety, but I can see a cloud looming on the metaphoric horizon.

Our district Information Services (IT in the rest of the world) executive director and I had lunch a couple of days ago and discussed everything from simplifying (and making more meaningful) monthly departmental reports to the board, to blogs and wikis for school execs, teachers, and students. I was looking for an idea of where we are going with educational technology, and as always, my focus is on instruction. In this case, instructional technology.

We had a very satisfying and fruitful conversation. But now I cannot wait to call him (and the supe) in the morning and ask some questions I hadn't thought to ask.

The IS guy, a former teacher and very early adopter and innovator, is up to speed, I'm sure (he attended NECC), and we talked about board reports that dealt with concepts rather than out-of-context departmental activities, and all the things that lie ahead for the district and the kids. But since this afternoon's edublog net surf ending with 2 Cents Worth, I realize that the board has no clue about what's ahead in terms of the uses of 2.0 ed tech, and if we don't get up to speed ourselves, we will fail our kids.

We board members all have laptops, a few PDAs, and cell phones all around, but I guess that's Modern Life 1.0. Maybe 0.5. Wish us luck.

Here's the video on YouTube that got me fired up. It's called Did You Know 2.0 . Thanks for the heads-up, David!

An Edublog in a Different Dimension

Because Guy Kawasaki's blog How to Change the World is listed in the Technorati top ten is not much of a reason to plant his blog in my list of go-to sites for good reads. But, although I'm stuck in a PC platform, I'm really an Apple guy at heart, and Guy played a huge part in popularizing Apple computer products. He's graduated from there to become a commentator on technology marketing, entrepreneurship, and the significance of digital technology in our culture, which in no small way relates directly to education. He's an educator in his own right.

Teacher/Student Blog Interaction

Here's Miller's English 10 Classroom Blog, which is a nexus for communication between teacher and students. Talk about a way to stay in touch. I wonder how Mr. Miller deals with kids who don't have access to technology. Public library? School library/computer labs?

In any case, it's worth a serious look. I'm going to check with Mr. Miller to see how he deals with student access. I'll report back.