Pageflakes and iGoogle

One tool just starting to be explored is a customized homepage. This is essentially a page that can hold different widgets or rss feeds. It places those in different boxes on the page, allowing you to see several things at once (and thereby letting you take off in that direction).

There are two top brands of this tool, Pageflakes and iGoogle. iGoogle does integrate well with Google Reader, gmail, and other google programs you are using. Plus, it comes with many more personalized options, as several 3rd parties have created widgets (which it calls "gadgets") for you to customize your screen. Some are very educational (Google Earth map of places in the news), some are more entertaining (all types of games).

But most educators will probably be more interested in Pageflakes for the simple reason that it is easy to share your customized page. Creating a "pagecast", you can share the collection of feeds that you have so your students, using the url, get a head start on gathering the information you would like them to.

I have a sample pageflake I've just created here. But Will Richardson has probably a better example of the education use of Pageflakes with his page on Darfur. Using a mixture of feeds from world news, US news, photos, youtube tags, delicious tags, and search results, he has created a resource that always provides students with the latest content on the topic. Both Pageflakes and iGoogle are fairly easy to put together and can be a valuable resource for the classroom focusing on rss.

RSS: a primer

RSS (which stands for Real Simple Syndication, or in some circles Rich Site Summary) is one of the most valuable tools revolutionizing our world today. Fact of the matter is, without RSS, blogs and wikis would not be used even remotely as much as they are. This is significant because most educators have no idea what RSS is.

The word typically used to describe RSS is a "feed". Using a past example, news stations would have a feed from the Associated Press, and anytime the AP had a new story, it would be sent over the wire to the newsroom. This feed always kept the news room up to the minute in national news, even though they couldn't afford to send a reporter out to national hotspots.

With the read/write web, feeds work in a similar fashion. If a website offers RSS and you subscribe to that website's RSS feed, you will automatically get every update from that site sent to you. You can stay current without having to go manually search all of those places. This works for blogs, wikis, podcasts, search engines, delicious tags, you name it.

The key is what is called an RSS aggregator. This is an online tool that brings all your feeds to you for you to browse. Aggregators have different tools, such as sorting features, ranking features, and more. But, the basic premise to all of them is you log into the reader and the reader will show you every new thing that has appeared in your subscribed feeds.

I have used two readers, Bloglines and Google Reader. Google Reader is my preferred choice, mainly because I find myself on Google for many other reasons. For directions on how to set up a Google Reader account, you can go here.

But, how do you use it in the classroom? Well, certainly if you create a blog or wiki, you are already using it. Still, you are missing out on an important 21st century tool that will help you become a better teacher if that's all you do. The top thing teachers can do is use the reader and subscribe to academic feeds in your field. Find blogs that highlight good pedagogy. Subscribe to search tags such as "elementary + math". The benefit for teachers here is that they connect to other professionals. They are unleashing the power of the web, spending more time learning from information out there than searching for it. A growth in the knowledge base will result in a growth of the teacher.

Still, as David Parry points out, teachers not only have to use it themselves, but also have their students use it. He mentions:

The speed of reading in the age of the digital has changed, and we need to help students navigate this. Reading on the internet requires two separate skills: one, the quick analysis to find what is worth reading, and the second, a switch to slow analysis to carefully consider what has been found. What RSS does is allow students to make this distinction, to receive content as "bits" easy to scan, and then to select what they want to read.

Students need to use RSS aggregators as a 21st century tool to be ready to digest the huge quantities of information the internet churns out everyday. They need to use it to learn the essential skill of shifting from "scanning" to "reading", as Parry points out. The aggregator is the tool that makes that happen.

Parry has another good point:

One of the most frequent complaints of students who have been required to blog for class is that they feel as if what they are writing does not get read by anyone except the instructor. By using RSS, you can syndicate all of the students blogs; every student in the class will get the class “newspaper” with headlines and synopsis of each student's writing, allowing them to scan all of the posts at once, and then decide which ones are most relevant, and select them for close reading. Furthermore, RSS can facilitate commenting, as most blogs will allow you to syndicate the comments to a specific post, so that students can post to a blog and continue to follow up on the comment thread. Again, this will help students to realize how writing for the web is a matter of continous conversation rather than static paper design.

This, in a nutshell, is how teachers should be teaching writing in the 21st century classroom, as a continuous process for a larger audience. RSS makes this process possible. A class fully utilizing RSS would start with a common writing activity where students would need to respond to a question... let's say, "What do we need to do to help the environment?" Through RSS, all students could then quickly scan other students ideas for thoughts that shape their reading. A step in the assignment would be: "Now that you have listed your initial thought, incorporate into your post what another student has said, either modifying your thought or refuting the other student's assertion." Students would have to become good readers in order to become good writers.

Call For Action: Rebirth of the Professional Teaching Organizations

Michael Krumm, former superintendent at Ballard (Huxley) school district, wrote this about education:

In the struggle for the future vision of education, three prominent voices have emerged. Those who idolize the status quo, those who model reform in standardized data and accountability, and those who want education to be open to parental choice. The fourth voice, once the most prominent, is now a distant murmur. It is the voice of teaching professional organizations, who have seen their numbers diminish precipitously. This is truly the most dramatic shift--it is not the rise of the other groups.

The National Science Teacher's Association, National Council for Social Studies, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and National Council of Teachers of English all report decreased membership. Statewide and national meetings are shells of their former selves, some even being canceled. Whereas membership to the professional organization used to be something to receive top billing on a resume, now it is overlooked for being part of building leadership teams or other local groups.

There are many theories as to why this is the case. Gas prices have played a toll. Pella Community School District, for years as progressive a school district in Iowa as you will see, has put a moratorium on all travel outside the district. They aren't alone. Districts can't afford to send teachers to conferences anymore.

Technology has changed things to some extent. With the internet, the free-flow of information and ideas doesn't require conventions like it used to.

Perhaps most important, the profession as a whole has become to be perceived as... well, less professional. And, while a lot of this negativity is unfairly gathered by smear-like techniques of public schools, it does raise some questions. Belonging to an organization used to be a badge of honor for teachers. Many of my mother's age would pay their own way for dues and convention fees if their district could not afford to send them. That doesn't seem to be the mentality now.

And maybe, the professional organizations do not have enough to offer teachers. If this is the case, it is definitely a bad situation.

When you define what a "professional" is, you have to get beyond pay and educational level. Professional connotes a collegiality, a person who engages in a forum of the sharing of thoughts. It suggests that the knowledge and skills of the trade are beyond simple training. They have to be continuously developed and nurtured over time. And, they imply a thirst to improve for the sake of the profession.

I've had the fortune to work with many teachers in different districts, and I will stand by the fact that out of the ones I've met, 90% are doing their best to become excellent teachers. The ones running off the worksheet masters and ducking out at 3:15 every day are the exception. I will also admit that there is a smaller percentage who are unbelievably gifted, so much so that
the local levels of professional development are not enough to help the teachers soar. They are called to be leaders on a bigger stage, part of a professional organization, where they can learn and share with the best.

Krumm, pointing to examples in Japanese history after WWII, says this:

In reality, once professional capital is lost, it is lost forever. In worldwide history, once a professional organization has been weakened, it cannot be rebuilt as easily.

In this case, we are in dire straits. We need to lubricate our mechanisms so that we can grow professional networks again. Teachers have to be able to interchange ideas. And as George Siemens would point out, those have to come from weak connections... in other words, interchange not from the teacher in the next room, but rather one in the next district. That is where growth occurs.

How do we do this? Perhaps technology has the answer. Professional communities can be built online (the popular term is a "Ning", stemming from the website http://www.ning.com). Here, people can build a profile, much as they do in Facebook or Myspace, but unlike the cosmetic applications, Nings can be built around professional missions and goals that the members have in common. A ning could be built for teachers of physical education to share ideas, stories, frustrations, and support. Cutting edge technology could be shared, as well as assessment strategies. And, leaders from the collegiate level and the professional level could join as well. Imagine if trainers, nutritionists, and physical therapists were able to share their thoughts and reflections in this group, how much richer PE teachers would be.

The problem with this is that Nings are very fragile. The typical lifecycle of a ning is not very long, and looks somewhat like this: It is started, word spreads, people join enthusiastically (it's something new), they start to post, they have trouble connecting to a colleague that they couldn't go a day without, they start going a day without them, less posting occurs, other would-be participants looking for activity pass it over, and it finally dies out. I enthusiastically joined 3 nings this fall looking to broaden my expertise in a new area of education (distance learning). All 3 nings have many members but little "must-see" activity on them, and I don't visit them anymore.

It will take dedicated leadership to make nings successful, much like it takes an expert's touch to keep students engaged in the discussion in the classroom. I've seen teachers do the latter many times, so I'm hopeful they can do the former. The free-flow of information and ideas, along with the personal sense of pride that follows identification as a professional are crucial to the well-being of our classrooms.

My question for you: Do you agree with Krumm, that the deterioration of professional organizations is more dramatic than the rise in those seeking school choice, preservation of the status quo, or standardized data accountability? And, what are the prospects for the professional organization voice in the future guidance of education in America?

Read/Write Web - Drawbacks?

Like most things in the world the read/write web has its drawbacks in use in education.

Actually, no it doesn't.

I know, that's a strong statement. But it is the truth. It's not a matter of "the good outweighs the bad, so use it", it's a matter of "there is no bad, so we are crazy if we are not using it". Some of the benefits are well-stated, being free, collaborative, easily accessible, flexible and a medium for communicating your thoughts beyond the walls of your classroom. So, let's look at the common reasons why not to use it:

1. It requires technology, which a resource-strapped school doesn't have.
2. It increases the chance for a student to misuse it, via libel or cyberbullying
3. It exposes students to the outside world, which at the worst could be predatory, and at the least could be critical
4. It creates information overload
5. It creates a bunch of unreliable information
6. It takes time to create web 2.0 lessons

Looking at these critically-
1. It requires technology, which a resource-strapped school doesn't have. Web 2.0 allows for the flexibility to get around resource limitations. No computers in the classroom? Students can use computers in the labs? No computers in the school? The library or home will suffice. Web 2.0 requires no special software and aren't that intensive to run (as opposed to gaming or photo-editing programs).

2. It increases the chance for a student to misuse it, via libel or cyberbullying. Excellent! Not that misuse by students is good, but rather because I as a teacher can help students learn to avoid it.

The thought that schools can't push technology because of cyberbullying makes really no sense. It's like Holden Caufield trying to keep students from swear words. The truth is, people are often mean, both in the real world and in the digital world. How do we teach students to behave correctly in this environment? If we avoid some of the darker realities of human beings, pretend they don't exist, it often does more harm. The way to have students counteract bullying is to show them exactly what it is and talk to them honestly about its effects.

3. It exposes students to the outside world, which at the worst could be predatory, and at the least could be critical. To deny using web 2.0 out of fear of predatory people is lazy. There are privacy features and anonymity features that can take that out of the equation. But to deny it because it exposes student to critical review is awful. We are in the business to help students prepare for the world, to make them realize that their thoughts are valued and that they "have a place at the grown-up table". How do we do that when the only audience a student has is the teacher and the recycle bin?

Exposing students to criticism will help students become more resilient and confident in their abilities. Giving them a venue to speak with others and learn from others is authentic. It is one of the best features of the tool.

4. It creates information overload - As Clay Shirky points out, that ship already sailed with Gutenberg. Once the printing press came out, there was no way we would be able to read everything that was available.

Shirky mentions what we truly have is that our filters for determining which information is important have been broken. We need to find new filters.

This is the definition of "21st century skills"... this is what students need to know in our classroom. How do you determine the quality of information? If we don't use web 2.0, we have no method for developing that skill. Students filters are never threatened if they have one textbook to use as a source. And then when they are in the real world, they are weaponless.

5. It creates a bunch of unreliable information - Just like #4, this is the reality of the world. We have to arm students with ways to determine reliability of sources. And in all honesty, it is about time. We have relied on the belief that our math books are all-encompassing, our language arts anthologies are of the utmost merit in literary selection, and that our history books are correct. They aren't. They are fallible. When have we had students check their assumptions of the textbook? We are setting them up to be naive. And once again, web 2.0 is the tool to bring this to the forefront.

An interesting sidenote: Wikipedia is often attacked as being without scholarly merit because of the nature of its compilation (it is created by lay people for pete's sake!). Is it susceptible to inaccurate information? You bet. But it is even more susceptible to swift correction of inaccurate information. A good activity with your class... inject a rogue piece of information on a page that will be well-traveled. Make it knowingly wrong. See how long it lasts before someone edits it. A week? A day? When we tried with "Arthur Miller" and "Salem Witch Trials", they were edited out before the end of the period. While Wikipedia might have inaccuracies, I know the World Book will have inaccuracies, in anything that has changed since its last publication. Which place is the best to source for election data, for example?

6. It takes time to create web 2.0 lessons - Good. We have an over-reliance on the worksheet masters that are used every year anyways. Nothing will be a better use of your time, in my opinion.

But even the central premise there isn't correct. If you compare the amount of time it used to take to create technology integration, web 2.0 is saving time. I used to have students create web pages for their research projects. This would require the use of Adobe GoLive, which would take quite a bit of instruction time. No reason to do that anymore. Web 2.0 takes the intensive learning curve out of the equation, meaning the benefits of technology are immediately accessible to students. It can take less than 10 minutes to show students what blogs are and how you want them to use blogs in your classroom.

What this all boils down to is that the read/write web is the world we live in, just as literacy is the world we live in. And just as we correctly say that literacy should be infused in all classrooms, not just language arts, the read/write web should be infused in all classrooms, not just the computer applications class.

The key is, as always, proper teaching. It means using the tool and all the "warts" as learning opportunities to foster correct use and growth. This requires professional development, but it is essential. To back down from web 2.0 because of "drawbacks" ultimately shortchanges students for the 21st century.

Prensky

Today, Marc Prensky speaks at SE Polk. Prensky, who coined the phrases "digital immigrants" and "digital natives", stresses the importance of gaming and simulations in the classroom, giving students real-life experiences through on-the-fly decision-making where it is safe to do trial and error.

With the advent of new gaming technology out there, I'm getting more and more excited about this area. For the vast majority of schools and school curricula, gaming is not a feasible possibility. But that is changing. I'm going to follow Will Richardson's advice and give the game Spore a try.

I hope to see you there at SE Polk.

NYC, part 2

For those who haven't read Seth Pearce's passage on the NYC project, here is the excerpt from my response:

I like your thinking, Seth. This is a very logical solution to the problem that we educators have been banging our head's against for years.

The question is, is this what we want? Do we want manufactured test scores? Do the "test prep skills" serve any purpose other than getting us into college? If you're anything like me, those test prep skills will totally be useless when you are 30, as you don't take standardized bubble-filling anymore.

If that's truly the only benefit, I'll raise you... why don't we just cheat? That would be really out there. With the disparity in salaries so stark, I'd say schools are being unethical if they don't do everything to help their students get into college. Let's give them the answers. Not perfect scores, but enough to get into the school. Like you mentioned, that would free up even more time for the most important learning in other classes.

Well... morally, we can't do that. I'd say it's wrong to manufacture test scores just as it is wrong to cheat. It doesn't help student. We need to help students be successful in the world by emphasizing creativity, analysis, problem-solving, and decision-making. Unfortunately, that puts us back in the same dilemma, namely the test scores, and that's where we as educators need to do some soul searching and see if those tests truly are the best thing to determine college-readiness.

NYC project

I stumbled upon this student blogging project, where students reflect upon the NYC school system. I like the purpose of this blog, allowing students to reflect closely on the society they are most immersed in, their school, and critiquing it. While I don't currently have any students, I see the benefit of this reflection in all grade levels and different curricular areas. Pose a challenge to our students. How can you constructively make your school better? See what they say.