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Saved by 29 people (-6 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-04-06


Public Comment

on 2009-04-30 by azimmer

Isn't what a person is learning about as important as their experiences are???? Shouldn't we all be walking the talk and be the learners we want to see?

Public Sticky notes

Contribution counts for more than credentials. When you post a video to YouTube, no one asks you if you went to film school. When you write a blog, no one cares whether you have a journalism degree. Position, title, and academic degrees—none of the usual status differentiators carry much weight online. On the Web, what counts is not your resume, but what you can contribute.

Highlighted by andrewcohen

So here is the money question: What two things (and only two) would you tell educational leaders are the most important steps they can take to lead change today? I got that one from a professor at Oakland University last week, and after pausing for what seemed like an excruciatingly long time, I answered “build a learning network online, and make your learning as transparent as possible for those around you.” And while I really think the first part of that answer would make sense to most leaders out there, I think the second would have them running for the hills.

Highlighted by lindseybp

What two things

Highlighted by jbrueck

the most important steps

Highlighted by ruthhoward

educational leaders

Highlighted by jbrueck

most important steps they can take to lead change today?

Highlighted by jbrueck

to lead change today

Highlighted by ruthhoward

build a learning network online, and make your learning as transparent as possible for those around you.

Highlighted by ruthhoward

“build a learning network online, and make your learning as transparent as possible for those around you.”

Highlighted by jbrueck

I answered “build a learning network online, and make your learning as transparent as possible for those around you.”

Highlighted by azimmer

think the second would have them running for the hills.

Highlighted by chartzell

I really do believe that in this moment, however, that schools also have a responsibility to help kids lead transparent lives online in ways that prepare them for the highly complex relationships they will be having in these virtual spaces as adults. But to do that, schools have to get more transparent themselves.

Highlighted by lindseybp

But to do that, schools have to get more transparent themselves.

Highlighted by jbrueck

“hypertransparent and hyperconnected world”

Highlighted by sharonbetts

“hypertransparent and hyperconnected world” in which they are going to work and play. His point is that in that environment, “how” you do something is more important even than “what” you do. If you’re not doing it skillfully, ethically, and transparently, you’ll be ceding success to those that do.

Highlighted by ruthhoward

“how” you do something is more important even than “what” you do. If you’re not doing it skillfully, ethically, and transparently, you’ll be ceding success to those that do.

Highlighted by elizabethkoch

If you’re not doing it skillfully, ethically, and transparently, you’ll be ceding success to those that do.

Highlighted by jbrueck

A big part of my decision making process in terms of who to believe and who to trust stems from how willing a person is to share her ideas, what level of participation she engages in, how ethical or supportive those interactions are, and how relevant she is to my own learning needs.

Highlighted by azimmer

A big part of my decision making process in terms of who to believe and who to trust stems from how willing a person is to share her ideas, what level of participation she engages in, how ethical or supportive those interactions are, and how relevant she is

Highlighted by elizabethkoch

A big part of my decision making process in terms of who to believe and who to trust stems from how willing a person is to share her ideas, what level of participation she engages in, how ethical or supportive those interactions are, and how relevant she is to my own learning needs. As I said to the many professors in that presentation last week, there is certainly much I could learn from them if they were sharing. But most of them are not.

Highlighted by lindseybp

The fact that they are veritably “un-googleable” in terms of finding anything they have created and shared and perhaps collaborated with others on troubles me on a number of levels.

Highlighted by jdblack64

there is certainly much I could learn from them if they were sharing. But most of them are not.

Highlighted by plvitf

is certainly much I could learn from them if they were sharing. But most of them are not.

Highlighted by chartzell

there is certainly much I could learn from them if they were sharing. But most of them are not.

Highlighted by jbrueck

Highlighted by chartzell

First, I can’t see for myself whether or not they are learners. And, almost more importantly, I get no sense as to whether or not they are leaders of learners.

Highlighted by jdblack64

The fact that they are veritably “un-googleable” in terms of finding anything they have created and shared and perhaps collaborated with others on troubles me on a number of levels. First, I can’t see for myself whether or not they are learners. And, almost more importantly, I get no sense as to whether or not they are leaders of learners. Whether they are in the classroom or in the front office, I want (demand?) the adults in my schools to be effective models for living in a transparent world. I want my kids to see them navigating these spaces effectively, sharing what they know, teaching others outside of their physical space, and contributing to the conversation.

Highlighted by lindseybp

First, I can’t see for myself whether or not they are learners. And, almost more importantly, I get no sense as to whether or not they are leaders of learners. Whether they are in the classroom or in the front office, I want (demand?) the adults in my schools to be effective models for living in a transparent world. I want my kids to see them navigating these spaces effectively, sharing what they know, teaching others outside of their physical space, and contributing to the conversation.

Highlighted by chartzell

First, I can’t see for myself whether or not they are learners. And, almost more importantly, I get no sense as to whether or not they are leaders of learners.

Highlighted by azimmer

I can’t see for myself whether or not they are learners.

Highlighted by elizabethkoch

Whether they are in the classroom or in the front office, I want (demand?) the adults in my schools to be effective models for living in a transparent world.

Highlighted by plvitf

I get no sense as to whether or not they are leaders of learners

Highlighted by elizabethkoch

A big part of my decision making process in terms of who to believe and who to trust stems from how willing a person is to share her ideas, what level of participation she engages in, how ethical or supportive those interactions are, and how relevant she is to my own learning needs.

Highlighted by lionsima

I want my kids to see them navigating these spaces effectively, sharing what they know, teaching others outside of their physical space, and contributing to the conversation.

Highlighted by ruthhoward

Contribution counts for more than credentials. When you post a video to YouTube, no one asks you if you went to film school. When you write a blog, no one cares whether you have a journalism degree. Position, title, and academic degrees—none of the usual status differentiators carry much weight online. On the Web, what counts is not your resume, but what you can contribute.

Highlighted by jdblack64

Contribution counts for more than credentials. When you post a video to YouTube, no one asks you if you went to film school. When you write a blog, no one cares whether you have a journalism degree. Position, title, and academic degrees—none of the usual status differentiators carry much weight online. On the Web, what counts is not your resume, but what you can contribute.

Highlighted by plvitf

on 2009-04-06 by plvitf

What a great quote.

on 2009-04-07 by lindseybp

And what academia is fighting against. They are this century's Don Quixote only they don't know it yet.

. On the Web, what counts is not your resume, but what you can contribute.

Highlighted by gilmattos2008

My kids need to be surrounded by contributors, people who understand the nuances of these spaces and relationships that we interact with on a daily basis. And not only do they need to see contribution, they need to see it done well, ethically, honestly, meaningfully.

Highlighted by plvitf

I totally agree

Highlighted by ruthhoward

Transparency can support all of the ways in which my kids must be able to acquire expertise, act ethically, display creativity, respect diversity, and synthesize and make sense of information.

Highlighted by lindseybp

For most principals or superintendents, however, the idea of making their learning lives transparent is not one that sits too comfortably.

Highlighted by jbrueck

The great affordance for teachers, as well, is that the transparency gives us a window into the learner’s mind that we wouldn’t have otherwise. The window doesn’t just let us “catch mistakes.” In fact, I’d argue that’s its least important function. The window allows us to catch great ideas and fruitful directions in early, embryonic form, which is the time we can nudge, cajole, tease, or otherwise influence thought most effectively *while ensuring the learner’s inquiry is authentically self-motivated and self-directed*.

Highlighted by lindseybp

Watch how all of the major cable providers (Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, AT&T) do two things.

1. While your “downstream” connection is 5mb, your “upstream” connection is somewhere in the .5mb range. While you can watch YouTube videos comfortably, it’s still remarkably difficult to upload that same 5 minute video.

2. Each of these companies is testing “bandwidth caps”, i.e. putting a ceiling on the total amount of “stuff” you pull through the connection. A market that used to be “unlimited” across the board is now 250gb, 40gb, etc.

There’s your technical context. Here’s my point. Both of these strategies are attempts at keeping people happy being “consumers” of content instead of being “producers” of content. Watching a YouTube video usually takes less than 3 seconds to begin. Ever try uploading that same video to YouTube? Rethink this now in the context of YouTube’s remarkable growth in the past 3 years. Despite the media companies attempts at discouraging us from being producers, YouTube is huge. They have quickly lost the battle on point #1 above and are gearing up to defend with point #2.

Highlighted by lindseybp

In response to the “not wanting to know” piece, I think that’s all a part of it. We have to learn to separate the streams, both as producers and consumers. And, to be honest, I’m not talking so much about my kids’ teachers’ personal lives as much as I am their professional learner lives. (Apostrophes checked and re-checked.) If you don’t share what you know, what you have learned, or what is relevant to my learning, I don’t benefit, at least potentially.

Highlighted by lindseybp

Let’s take a specific assignment you might give to a biology class - create a course wiki on cancer. Over the semester, the students could research and write articles to post to the wiki, comment on each others’ work, and initiate discussions on the more controversial aspects of cancer research and treatment. They could use RSS feeds to tap into articles from the New York Times and compare those to parallel stories from newspapers in other countries. They could search online for cancer experts and evaluate their respective areas of expertise. They could collect a series of annotated and tagged bookmarks, using Diigo, so that others could follow their thinking trail. Using Skype, they could interview an expert or two and perhaps broadcast those interviews using UStream or Mogulus. Some students could create content modules, using Voicethread, embed them in the course wiki and analyze feedback on their ideas from scientists or other teachers at their school. As the semester draws to an end they have a living, breathing portfolio of their work and their understanding. Online - trasparent - for all to experience, comment on, and add to.

Now, as you read the verbs in that paragraph (create, evaluate, comment, research, compare, discuss, analyze, write), it becomes apparent that these activities are vehicles for the active learning and constructivist approaches that most good teachers want to pursue. By making the parallels to educational strategies already approved and acknowledged to be effective, perhaps we can make inroads?

Highlighted by lindseybp