Time To Think session

Posted on September 19, 2008
Filed under Conferences, Learning 2.008 Shanghai, session notes and tagged china, conference, learn2cn, learning2.008, shanghai

I’m here in Shanghai at the Learning 2.008 conference. I’ve been to one session and already ditched the second – not that there wasn’t anything that I wanted to see. Probably too many things (thankfully they are all being podcast), but I’m sitting here now in the lunch tent really relishing the time to have a few minutes just to think about a few things before I launch into the next conversation – which is in about 10 minutes and is about mobile phones in learning. Something that is of great interest to me.

Anyway, this post may be a bit a bit messy, but that would indicate the state of the thoughts in my mind at the moment. The questions I am asking are:

how can i make better connections with my students?
how can I do that in a way that is meaningful to them? they will have betteer answers than me I’d say!
what is the real potentioal of social networking in the classroom?
Educational networks restricted only to classes are wasting their potential.
Do we REALLY want to creat FLAT classrooms? What does this really mean? Do we have to say we are flattening something in order to indicate that we are creating strong connections?
Digital Immigrants and natives don’t exist in my humble opinion, so is there really a divide? Is it an issue of exposure? of education? of learned helplessness? is it really an issue that is worth ‘naming’ at all? is is a matter of more professional development? Is it an issue that lies solely with the sufferer – for want of better phrasing there!

Right, that will do for now. It helps to have some of those things written down – none of which are particularly small questions, so I might be writing for the next few weeks to get some understanding of the answers – if there are any. Will let you know.

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3 Responses to “Time To Think session”

José Picardo on September 20th, 2008 6:54 pm

Hi Jess,

I find myself asking almost exactly those same questions when I think about the topics you mentioned. There are two things that jump out at me from the above:

1.- I entirely agree about the Digital Native vs Immigrant question. I think it’s a phrase made up to justify the fact some people will not make the effort to learn some basic ICT skills…. Oh I’m a digital immigrant…. I couldn’t possibly tweet…. it’s beyond me!

2.- I think improving communication with students is the key to the teaching of the future and I believe social networks such as Ning or the newly launched Edmodo offer the most intriguing possibilities for a students – teacher network that is both safe and useful.

Have a look at what I have been up to with my students in Ning and in Edmodo and see what you think.

José
Bill Genereux on October 2nd, 2008 6:00 pm

Jess,

The answer to this question “how can i make better connections with my students?” may not rest with a technological solution in a face to face classroom, and is a question that has long been in the minds of the very best teachers. Building good relationships with our students is vital to our success as teachers. Technology may assist us with this task, but ultimately I think tech is a tool.

I think these two are related: “what is the real potential of social networking in the classroom? Educational networks restricted only to classes are wasting their potential.”

I think the real potential of networking in education is in the ability to connect with other learners around the globe, to try to understand what cultures are like having different belief systems than our own. The real potential is in having potential access to real scientists, real professionals who love to share their knowledge and expertise with students who love learning. I want my students to put their very best work out there for feedback, not just from me but from a variety of sources of feedback. When the teacher tells you something it is much different than when a disinterested third party tells you something.

And yes, I agree that the digital natives/digital immigrants discussion is too broadly a sweeping generalization. I wrote about it from another angle when I noticed that not every student in the current generation is a technology enthusiast.

Great questions!

Bill Gx
jessmcculloch on October 9th, 2008 12:04 am

@Jose I agree – communication and building relationships with students is key. I’m keen to check out Edmodo (it won’t load here in China) and also to really explore the possibilities for ning and social networking between students and teachers in general. The ning I’ve got for the program I’m on here in China at the moment is going really well insofar as being a place where the students, teachers AND parents are meeting to catch up on what is going on here. The site for that is: http://gariwerdprogram.ning.com

@Bill Tech is definitely a tool and not always the right one to use! I agree with you when you say that the real potential of networking is to connect learners with other learners around the globe. It so important for our kids to learn about a life other than their own, and how other things and people may effect them.

Hmm there is still much thinking to do about these questions. When I get back to Australia and settle into what is left of Term 4, I want to focus on keeping the momentum going with what I am currently trying to do with Year 8 – get them connecting with me and each other though a ning and also trying to get them to engage with Chinese language outside of the classroom with that ning as well as mp3 players and mobile phones. One of my focus questions will then be for them whether or not they thought there was any improvement in communication and connection with me or not. Stay tuned…