Digital Learning Environment Blogs

Get the RSS feed

|

Jon Orech Archives

A Master's in Digital Storytelling?
by Jon Orech

Friday I had the opportunity to present “Digital Storytelling NOT Digital Spectacle” at the ICE Conference in suburban Chicago. The premise of my presentation was to send the message that Digital Storytelling is not about fluff or flash, but instead is about thoughtful writing, imagistic synergy, and sharing to create community.  As I continue to explore the power of DST, I am continually in awe of the implications this medium has.

About the same time I was contacted by Susan Smith, a tech trainer in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who was developing an idea of a graduate class in, well, Digital Storytelling, and whether I thought it should be a 2 or 3 hour class.  I had always toyed with the idea of a DST course in high school, but this idea intrigued me.  Following is the email I sent back to her with my initial ideas of how to make this work, and what might be included:

“The question between 2-3 credits is an interesting one.  If I were asked to put together a curriculum, I could definitely put together enough for 3 hours.  Off the top off my head, here's what I'm thinking:

• Explore the role of Story in cultures. Use Christina Baldwin's StoryCatcher. (The idea is start with story, NOT technology.)

• DEFINITELY get all participants blogging, sharing ideas about DST, but also to begin developing ideas for stories; participants need to respond to each other's posts.

• Look at the genre of Digital Storytelling, and how it differs from just "filmmaking." (See Joe Lambert)

• Look at elements of story in other parts of society: advertisements especially.

• Perhaps teach a short segment on visual literacy.

• Go to Storycircles.org to see lots of examples. Open an account.

• Start with a 1-minute single-image story.  Taking portions of a complex image and narrating a story.

• Do a story of only images, no narration or text.

• Review and implementation of the "Seven Elements" of Digital Storytelling."

• Develop an actual Digital Story from start to finish. Include lots of emphasis on narrative writing, sharing, image gathering, making the project, narrating, music, image manipulation. (This can REALLY be expanded...examining image composition, cropping, movement of pan and zoom, using text as art, transitions, creative editing, then there's the narration: pacing, volume, affectation, rhythm, tone...lots of room for expansion.)

• Share and critique stories to help build community. Publish on line (I would recommend a public location to increase chance for feedback outside of class.

• Take a metacognitive approach to ask: What did I learn? What would I do differently?

• Explore how to teach this in class.  What should be emphasized?  Where are the problem areas?  What are the possible applications? What about age appropriate?

• Perhaps another individual project geared toward the type of DST that teacher would be likely to use.

• Consider alternate tools to assist.  Where do we get additional pictures?  Royalty-free music?

• Include a section on attribution, safety, and Creative Commons.

• Consider another project exploring the use of video as an accent. Analyze the differences.

• Create a project and story of drawings or caricatures only...still a personal narrative, but drawings take on more of a "thematic" approach.

• Explore online resources and collect those that would help (Delicious? Google custom search engine?) OR create an online resource for class or others to use.

Who knows, maybe this will develop into a MDST program: Masters in Digital Storytelling.

Digital Learning Environment Blogs

Get the RSS feed

|

Jon Orech Archives

Whose Learning Is It?
by Jon Orech

As a former English teacher, I love metaphor, allusion, and analogies. That being said, I am looking for a metaphor to capture something that has happened to me in the last two weeks.  Perhaps you can help. On three separate occasions, I witnessed evidence for the need of a drastic change in teaching and learning.  “Perfect Storm” comes to mind…but that implies they all came together.  “Snowball” suggests momentum, but is a bit cliché. How about…”triple play” (talking about cliché!)?

Here goes:

Two weeks ago, I attended Educon in Philadelphia (my last blogpost details the experience).  Educon is driven by “five Axioms,” one of which is, “Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen.”  To some, this seems like a noble cause, but highly impractical.  Our educational system has been based, right or wrong, on authority and passing of information.  The idea of sharing the creation of “how” and “what” to learn with those who are learning is discomforting to many. I myself worked to relinquish power throughout my last four years in the classroom; there is no denying students rise to the occasion when asked to be responsible.  The teachers at SLA were really pushing the envelope with students: co creating “Senior Projects” and developing science experiments, that the teacher truly was not sure of the outcome ahead of time.

Last week while at METC, I attended a session by Darren Kuropatwa , a bright, progressive Canadian teacher who espoused that lessons MUST be designed to allow students to create.  The session was called Design Matters. His Wiki Solutions Manual enabled math students to each solve a particular kind of problem, annotate it, and share the solutions with peers.  In another project called, “Developing Expert Voices,” the students design the problems, solve and annotate, and as a result, have a major impact on the design of curriculum.

So now twice, in two separate locations, from different people, I was being told that students need a stronger hand in the creation of their own learning (lightning striking twice?) But these were teachers.  I wonder if students actually share this dream.

Then came last Thursday.

I was asked to come up to a classroom to be interviewed by a number of students who were working on their “Junior Advocacy” project.  This assignment, done by all juniors in our district, asks students to take an inquiry approach to speak on behalf of some “cause” they value, and in some (not nearly enough!) cases act on it.  As you can imagine, some teachers do not relish this task, and unfortunately it devolves into a cookie-cutter research project, painful for students and teacher alike.

Not so for Chris Esposito and Riley Naff, who team teach the social studies/English interdisciplinary “Integrated Studies.” Please understand, that the population in these classes are students who have had trouble succeeding in the “ordinary” class, but are by no means special education students.

When I arrived, I was told I would meet with three students who each had ideas about technology in education…THEIR education.  It was one of the most rewarding hours I have ever spent in a classroom.  All three students were poised, well prepared, asked pointed, intelligent questions, listened thoughtfully, wrote copious notes on their laptop, and followed up with every response I had with another question.  And I thought, wow, Chris and Riley really worked with their interviewing skills.  But then, another thought came to me: Maybe they were so good because they OWNED it…the questions…the topic…the learning. Yes, I like that idea better.

One student in particular really affected me.  He was exploring the idea students using iPod Touches as learning tools.  He talked about downloading podcasts of lessons, audio books for kids who need help reading, and then he dropped the bomb.  His math teacher had asked that all students purchase a $100 graphing calculator for class.  The student purchased a 99 cent app for his iPod that had all the functions of the calculator, and, incidentally, did a better job of graphing than did the calculator. Since our school has a zero-tolerance policy on such devices, the teacher was unable to allow the student to use it in class.

So now I had the student perspective. These kids were questioning, digging, uncovering and mastering something that mattered to them.  I applaud their teachers, Chris and Riley for giving them some say in their learning, and guiding them to a destination.

So do you have a metaphor yet?  When three separate incidents occur and send the same message, I tend to take notice. I mean, you don’t have to hit me over the head.

Wait, maybe that’s it.

Digital Learning Environment Blogs

Get the RSS feed

|

Jon Orech Archives

Educon Reflections
by Jon Orech

Sometimes you need to beat me over the head.

Two years ago, I met Chris Lehmann at our Chicago area Edtech Conference.  I was impressed with his fresh vision and his undying desire to do what’s really best for kids.He said I should come to Educon 2.1 held at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia.  I didn’t go. Then, last January, it seemed that the only hashtag I saw on Twitter was #Educon.  Maybe I missed something.  Oh well, there’s always next year.  I saw Chris again at Techforum in New York. Again, he said “Jon, you should come to Educon.”  I still didn’t sign up.  Then while talking to my predecessor, Dave Jakes , he looked me square in the eye and said, “you need to go.”  So I finally signed up.

I am so glad I did.

Educon breaks the mold of all “conferences” at so many levels.  First there are the Axioms of the conference:

1.  Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members

2.  Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen

3.  Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around

4.  Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate

5.  Learning can — and must — be networked

It doesn’t take a Wordle to figure out something is very different.  Notice the conspicuous absence of the words: “Tools,” “Integration,” “Web 2.0,” and while it mentions “21^st Century,” it’s referring to Citizens, not skills.  The emphasis is on education, not technology.  But the uniqueness does not end there.

Browse through the session descriptions (notice I didn’t say “presentations”) and two points jump out.  First, the quality of presenters is jaw dropping.  Usually, you get one, maybe two of these people delivering a keynote address to hundreds of people…and good luck talking to them afterwards.  But here you get ALL of them in a classroom setting of twenty or thirty participants. Oh, and by the way, the “participants” are all really, really smart people. I was lucky to sit in a session on teacher training presented by Alec Couros and Dean Shareski that was informational, inspiring, and thought provoking.  If those two weren’t enough, who else was in the “audience” but Jon Becker, Will Richardson, Jenny Luca, David Warlick, and yes, my pal Dave Jakes was there too to engage in the conversation. I guess what struck me the most was that THESE people were as eager to learn from us, as we were from them. And I guess that's what makes Educon different: the "us" and "them" just becomes "us."

Did I mention these are conversations?  “Presenters” are very careful to make the sessions completely interactive, they are truly “conversations” not “presentations.” During the two days, there are several 9o minute sessions with 30 minute breaks (equally valuable for networking).  The best thing is that no one feels intimidated to bring up questions and points. It was refreshing and encouraging to have these people talk “with” me and not “at” me.

Then there’s the school. The SLA is smack in the heart of Philly (my first time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the history, restaurants, and hospitality in the City of Brotherly Love) and is a “magnet” public school of about 475 students.  So much of what is “wrong” with education is extinct here. Students focus on all problem-based projects as opposed to memorizing meaningless facts.  Kids are in the hallways working with each other and their provided Mac laptops, and seem to be working “with” teachers.  There is a comfortable, casual respect for this bright, innovative staff, as they create and discover together.  Hmmm seems like the axioms of Educon are also present at the SLA. Students here have a large, genuine role in the Educon experience.  From giving tours, to planning meals, to checking your luggage on Sunday to take to the Philly airport, kids are trusted with adult responsibility.  And love it. And you read correctly, on Saturday and Sunday, there were many, many, SLA students in white lab coats there to help.

Time prohibits me to elaborate on everything I learned.  Bet here are the recurring messages I heard again and again:

·         The importance of building relationships with students

·         The need for teachers to have an online presence in order to help our kids connect with others

·         The critical need to evaluate the value and purpose of student assessments

·         The power of tinkering to learn as opposed to a “scientific” approach

The final note is that I came home with zero papers. No handouts, yes is quite green, but also supported the notion of “conversations.”  I mean, how many of you bring handouts to a conversation.

Educon was the most valuable conference I have ever attended.  I highly recommend it. 

Wait, strike that.  If you all sign up for Educon 2.3, I might get nosed out.  It wasn’t that great.

Digital Learning Environment Blogs

Get the RSS feed

|

Jon Orech Archives

Are These Forbidden? Think Again
by Jon Orech

On more than one occasion, I have heard these phrases spoken by teachers:

“Do not use Google when searching.”

 “Do not look at Wikipedia.”

Hmm. My first reaction is usually, “What are you afraid of?” But the bottom line is teachers are not afraid, they have their own concept of research and communication.  Also, they see some of these tools and applications as distracting from learning.  True, a quick, single word search in Google will return meager results at best, and Wikipedia is not always the best source, but instead of shunning these tools, teachers need to better leverage them to not just improve, but to transform learning.  Here are five tools and ways that they can be utilized in the transformation.

Google: True, most kids type in a couple words or a phrase, hit search, and roll the dice.  Instead, we need to educate students on how to get the most out of searching.  First, as in any search tool, teach kids to use the advanced search feature to limit results. Also, teach them the purpose of quotation marks. A search for Chicago Bears may show results of a recent bear cub born at Lincoln Park Zoo, while “Chicago Bears” will result in information from my team that, yet again, did not make the playoffs. There’s also the “site:” search tool that can really help.  Using this followed by a particular code can limit your search to a particular domain (“site:.org”) or results from a particular country (“site:uk” for results from Great Britain) Then there’s the Google options that enable the “Timeline,” “Wonder Wheel,” and other tools.  (See my previous post on Google options). And then there’s the custom RSS feeds, Reader, Docs, and…well, you get the idea.  The point is that we need to teach kids how to maximize their searching through this powerful search tool.

Wikipedia: Do kids rely too heavily on Wikipedia? Maybe.  Do some teachers prohibit Wikipedia because of a perceived lack of credibility? Definitely.  To some people, an online encyclopedia edited by the whole world is considered les reliable than a bound book.  Here’s what I would suggest: challenge a teacher to find an error in Wikipedia.  I have tried this several times, and I have yet to have a teacher find an error that Wikipedia had not already discovered.  You will see the warning plastered on the top of a page.  Conversely, students need to be aware that while Wikipedia can be a great place to get started, it is by no means the only source on the topic.  I tell kids that they can cite Wikipedia once, the same way it would be for any other source.  For those of you who really want to transform learning, I challenge you to have kids write a Wikipedia article on, perhaps a local notable.  Now THAT”S writing for an audience.

It all goes back to LEARNING first. Neither of these resources is a panacea nor pariah. Teaching kids how to use these tools just gives them more ammunition.

Digital Learning Environment Blogs

Get the RSS feed

|

Jon Orech Archives

New Years Resolutions for Teachers
by Jon Orech

Now that we’re back to school after a well-deserved break, and a new year is upon us, many of have resolved to exercise more, lose a few pounds, live a “greener” life style…or all of the above.  As long as we are in the self improvement mode, I have a proposed a few “teacher resolutions” for the 2010.  Here they are:

Develop (or or begin) your PLN: In the past year, I have learned a great deal from other teachers and administrators I have met through online tools such as twitter and Classroom 2.0.  Although Twitter has the reputation “celeb following,” an incredible network of educators is out there sharing and collaborating with each other. Here’s a list of the “Top 100 educators who tweet,” as well as a list of “Twitter apps.” Another great resource, Classroom 2.0, created by Steve Hargadon, can be best described as “Facebook for teachers. Create your own profile page, join or start your own groups, and take part in some great webinars.

Relinquish some control to students: If we want to create “student-centered” classrooms, we need to require kids to “own” their learning.  Instead of “conducting” from the Smartboard, have kids do most of the exploring, and, yes, touching.  I’m sure you have large units that require days of direct instruction.  Instead, create a “jigsaw” system, where students research segments, become “experts” and in turn, share their knowledge with the class.  So you don’t like Wikipedia? (I happen to be a big fan) Have students research a local notable person and WRITE a Wikipedia entry.

Create a “Collaborative” classroom: Everyone today seems to be abuzz about all the “collaborative” Web 2.0 tools, yet seem to take the “If you build it, they will come,” philosophy.  However, if your class has been three months of direct instruction and you turn kids loose on a “collaborative” project, you will soon find that very little learning occurs.  Developing strong Positive Interdependence within your class will translate into true collaboration when kids start working on line.  Two of the leading experts in Cooperative Learning are the Johnsons and Spencer Kagan.  Spend some time developing your own Cooperative Learning expertise.

Have kids write for an “Authentic” audience and purpose:  I think we all agree that we write better when we recognize an important goal in the outcome.  The same is true for students, and, no “a grade” is not a suitable goal.  Strive to develop authentic audiences and purposes for student writing experiences. The “Dear Michelle” project is such an endeavor.  Students in Texas wrote personal letters to Mrs. Obama, telling their own personal stories of triumph and tragedy.

Visit another teacher or school: Perhaps you know an innovative teacher down the hall, across town, or even in another town (someone you met on Twitter!).  Spend an hour, an afternoon, or a day, watching the teacher in action, and sharing ideas.  I am sure if you present this to your administrator, you could probably score a sub for the day.

STOP “Integrating” technology: This may probably be the most important of all. To me, this phrase smacks of artificial implementation.  To think that we can keep the same lessons and simply infuse it with technology is absurd.  Too often in schools, the Curriculum and the Tech folks are often separate and rarely communicate.  I always tell people that in a perfect world my position of Instructional Technology Coordinator does not even exist.  Instead, we need to rethink curriculum to be more student-centered, outcome-based, with technology inherent, transparent, and ubiquitous.  A model school for this concept is the Philadelphia Science Leadership Academy,  where its leader, Chris Lehmann, his faculty, and students are really breaking new ground in education.

Hey, here’s an idea…combine two of the above and go visit the SLA.  I will be there for Educon, January 29-31.

I hope you all will take these ideas to heart…your kids will thank you.

Happy New Year!