The current course I'm teaching on Personal Learning Networks has been discussing the challenge of time quite heavily. Specifically, for those new to connecting to others via web tools, it isn't just the time involved in learning in a new way, it's also the time spent learning the tools to access that learning.
When asking others about PLNs, the message that comes out is to be selective in the tools that you use. Don't become jack of all trades, master of none. Find the tools (or tool... singular) that work for you, and then use it to enhance your learning.
That's why an otherwise powerful video like the one below sends some mixed messages.
There of course are great thoughts about the changing role of the teacher and the power of digital technology over the paper and pencil. But what unintentional message does the beginning of the video send?
And, how do we overcome the anxiety that it causes?
Showing posts with label PLN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PLN. Show all posts
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Learning = Fishing
At Heartland, we are putting into effect learning teams, which 
are similar in principle to professional learning communities (PLCs). The teams afford our consultants the opportunity to learn from other consultants in areas that they prioritize, making them better at their profession.
As any administrator that has tried to institute PLCs can attest (or, anything new, for that matter), change isn't embraced by everyone, even when it directly benefits their autonomy. For many, it is an opportunity, but for others, it is a mandate that they don't have time for...
Wait a second. Learning is a mandate. And some educators have a problem with that?
Well, that's not quite fair. In visiting with some of those who had some concerns, it isn't that they have a problem with learning, per se. They just feel they learn quite well with their current routine.
Unfortunately, that's not what the research in adult learning says. And the difference is perhaps best illustrated with a metaphor. Learning is like fishing.
1. You can't learn much if you don't get off the shore. Learning is an active process, requiring effort and initiative. If you wait for the fish to come to you, you might get lucky and have something wash up next to your feet. But it isn't the effective way to do it; get in a boat and go navigate the big lake. If I told you to go learn as much as you could in one day, you wouldn't do what you normally do in a day. You would change your routine.
2. Learning isn't just quantity, but also diversity. Some beginning fishers like to go to the same hole and pull out perch after perch just to say they caught 50 in one day. There is nothing wrong with catching a large haul every once in a while, but you can't do that all the time. As fishers become more sophisticated, they realize that a diversity is important--bass, crappie, and then walleye, and even muskie.
3. Learning is organic, not systematic. I went through all the checklists of "how to fish" with my kids, be it how to bait, how to cast, how to hold the line, etc. It didn't necessarily lead to catching fish, and that is frustrating to seven-year-olds. Many learners go through the same frustrations. I did the steps someone told me to learn algebra, or to grow tomatoes! What they don't realize is learning must be done multiple times in a variety of ways to be internalized, and there is no systematic schedule to it.
4. Diversity of learning requires different locations. Move that boat around. Put the line deeper. Or in other words, check out different sources of information. Use different tools to acquire information. Including ones you haven't tried before.
5. Diversity of learning requires different times. Saying to educators, "the time you will learn is during this once-a-month, two-hour professional development session" is like saying to the fish, "the time I'm catching you will be at 2:00 in the afternoon". That isn't necessarily when you are ready to fish, or when fish are ready to be caught. Adults must have access to learning at all times in an ongoing basis to truly be most effective.
6. Diversity of learning requires casting
your widest net. Some during our sessions were slightly upset that they couldn't choose to work with those that they were most comfortable working with for their learning teams. But, the reality is people don't learn as much from those who they are closest to, much like you don't always want the fish that are right next to the boat. People learn more from those farther away.
As an analogy, fishing illustrates what George Siemens describes as connectivist learning, how adults learn best in today's age. We don't learn by prescribed times, locations, sources, people, and methods. We learn instead by a diversity of practices and by creating a wider network with more nodes. Wider networks mean learning can come at any time and not always when one is expecting it.
But to create wider networks, we need to seek out new sources, tools and people. And, that includes people we don't know. Developing our own personal learning networks to fully utilize the tools of today. And embracing online communities to interact any time, pace, and place.
are similar in principle to professional learning communities (PLCs). The teams afford our consultants the opportunity to learn from other consultants in areas that they prioritize, making them better at their profession.As any administrator that has tried to institute PLCs can attest (or, anything new, for that matter), change isn't embraced by everyone, even when it directly benefits their autonomy. For many, it is an opportunity, but for others, it is a mandate that they don't have time for...
Wait a second. Learning is a mandate. And some educators have a problem with that?
Well, that's not quite fair. In visiting with some of those who had some concerns, it isn't that they have a problem with learning, per se. They just feel they learn quite well with their current routine.
Unfortunately, that's not what the research in adult learning says. And the difference is perhaps best illustrated with a metaphor. Learning is like fishing.
1. You can't learn much if you don't get off the shore. Learning is an active process, requiring effort and initiative. If you wait for the fish to come to you, you might get lucky and have something wash up next to your feet. But it isn't the effective way to do it; get in a boat and go navigate the big lake. If I told you to go learn as much as you could in one day, you wouldn't do what you normally do in a day. You would change your routine.
2. Learning isn't just quantity, but also diversity. Some beginning fishers like to go to the same hole and pull out perch after perch just to say they caught 50 in one day. There is nothing wrong with catching a large haul every once in a while, but you can't do that all the time. As fishers become more sophisticated, they realize that a diversity is important--bass, crappie, and then walleye, and even muskie.
3. Learning is organic, not systematic. I went through all the checklists of "how to fish" with my kids, be it how to bait, how to cast, how to hold the line, etc. It didn't necessarily lead to catching fish, and that is frustrating to seven-year-olds. Many learners go through the same frustrations. I did the steps someone told me to learn algebra, or to grow tomatoes! What they don't realize is learning must be done multiple times in a variety of ways to be internalized, and there is no systematic schedule to it.
4. Diversity of learning requires different locations. Move that boat around. Put the line deeper. Or in other words, check out different sources of information. Use different tools to acquire information. Including ones you haven't tried before.
5. Diversity of learning requires different times. Saying to educators, "the time you will learn is during this once-a-month, two-hour professional development session" is like saying to the fish, "the time I'm catching you will be at 2:00 in the afternoon". That isn't necessarily when you are ready to fish, or when fish are ready to be caught. Adults must have access to learning at all times in an ongoing basis to truly be most effective.
6. Diversity of learning requires casting
your widest net. Some during our sessions were slightly upset that they couldn't choose to work with those that they were most comfortable working with for their learning teams. But, the reality is people don't learn as much from those who they are closest to, much like you don't always want the fish that are right next to the boat. People learn more from those farther away.As an analogy, fishing illustrates what George Siemens describes as connectivist learning, how adults learn best in today's age. We don't learn by prescribed times, locations, sources, people, and methods. We learn instead by a diversity of practices and by creating a wider network with more nodes. Wider networks mean learning can come at any time and not always when one is expecting it.
But to create wider networks, we need to seek out new sources, tools and people. And, that includes people we don't know. Developing our own personal learning networks to fully utilize the tools of today. And embracing online communities to interact any time, pace, and place.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Pushing your life's pause button
For the last 10 days, I was up scouring Moose Lake, Minnesota for fish with my 3 kids. Good times to be sure; Hannah (3) caught her first fish and Hailey (8) decided that fish are not that slimy after all and started taking them off the hooks. I am trying to remember if it was Bill Bryson who mentioned that in many ways, an annual summer trip up to a lake fishing gives you a tape-measure of growth of your kids' lives.
Then I returned, which meant checking the cell phone for messages, checking the work phone for messages, checking email, checking Google Reader, checking Twitter, and on down the list. It seems I missed out on quite a bit, which I suppose would be impossible not to do in such a world.
This was the first extended time I've been "unplugged" from my network in 3 years, as the last two summers we were basically vacationless with changes in positions and where we lived. And I have to admit, I'm not sure how I feel right now. Like when people miss an episode of Lost and lament that the whole storyline will never make sense anymore. Or, maybe it is putting in perspective how much a virtual network of colleagues can mean in you life... I mean, it's not as though they can come with you and your 3-year-old in the boat.
I love the graphic below by Jeff Utecht, who describes 5 stages of PLN adoption, a resource we used heavily for the recent course I taught on personal learning networks:
The sage that Jeff already has identified where I am, going through some serious perspective of what I can learn in this lifetime and what I need to live in this lifetime.
Undoubtedly, many Iowa educators will take off on the upward slope of the PLN adoption journey this year, taking the plunge in online tools such as Twitter and RSS aggregators to connect to other thoughts and thinkers out there. Some will fizzle out immediately in the face of other time commitments, and others will find success, adding more and more in their climb. But all who do continue must know there will be a time when unplugging will challenge the important and relevance of the network in their lives.
Then I returned, which meant checking the cell phone for messages, checking the work phone for messages, checking email, checking Google Reader, checking Twitter, and on down the list. It seems I missed out on quite a bit, which I suppose would be impossible not to do in such a world.
This was the first extended time I've been "unplugged" from my network in 3 years, as the last two summers we were basically vacationless with changes in positions and where we lived. And I have to admit, I'm not sure how I feel right now. Like when people miss an episode of Lost and lament that the whole storyline will never make sense anymore. Or, maybe it is putting in perspective how much a virtual network of colleagues can mean in you life... I mean, it's not as though they can come with you and your 3-year-old in the boat.
I love the graphic below by Jeff Utecht, who describes 5 stages of PLN adoption, a resource we used heavily for the recent course I taught on personal learning networks:
The sage that Jeff already has identified where I am, going through some serious perspective of what I can learn in this lifetime and what I need to live in this lifetime.
Undoubtedly, many Iowa educators will take off on the upward slope of the PLN adoption journey this year, taking the plunge in online tools such as Twitter and RSS aggregators to connect to other thoughts and thinkers out there. Some will fizzle out immediately in the face of other time commitments, and others will find success, adding more and more in their climb. But all who do continue must know there will be a time when unplugging will challenge the important and relevance of the network in their lives.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Professional Development Opportunity: Subscribing to Blogs
If your district has made a commitment to develop teachers' personal learning networks (my standard reminder in effect), and you have explored your existing networks, one of the next steps you will want to do as a staff is have a hands-on session to subscribe to RSS feeds.
Some things to think about:
• You will want an hour minimum for this activity. You will want more if you haven't a) created Google Reader accounts previously, or b) introduced what RSS is. If your district uses a 1-hour early dismissal each week model for professional development time, you will want to do those activities in one inservice and the workshop in the second.
• Below, I have added the slideshare I use to introduce what RSS is (tied in to the concept of PLN's). Download the power point version to get the transitions.
• For the workshop, you will want one person per 10 participants who will be on-site troubleshooters in addition to the facilitator. If you don't, be pre-emptive and explain the need for patience beforehand.
• Before the workshop, determine which browser you will support. There are differences between the layouts of Safari, Firefox, and IE, and teachers often get frustrated if what they see on their screen doesn't match what they see on the projector. I use a "customize at your own customer support" model when I work with staff.
• The facilitator needs to 1) give an overview of the steps to subscribe to a feed and 2) an overview of how to navigate Google Reader. In my PLN slideshare, there are some slides which structure the subscribing process.
• I can say that if there is enough time and the network is working sufficiently, the workshop works very well. High-flyers tend to get the basics quickly and start searching on their own, while there is enough simplicity in the process for those that need repetition to learn.
• I'd have everyone walk away from the workshop with 3 blogs that they subscribe to (including any district-level blogs your district might have), and one Google or Delicious search.
Places to search for blogs:
Some things to think about:
• You will want an hour minimum for this activity. You will want more if you haven't a) created Google Reader accounts previously, or b) introduced what RSS is. If your district uses a 1-hour early dismissal each week model for professional development time, you will want to do those activities in one inservice and the workshop in the second.
• Below, I have added the slideshare I use to introduce what RSS is (tied in to the concept of PLN's). Download the power point version to get the transitions.
• For the workshop, you will want one person per 10 participants who will be on-site troubleshooters in addition to the facilitator. If you don't, be pre-emptive and explain the need for patience beforehand.
• Before the workshop, determine which browser you will support. There are differences between the layouts of Safari, Firefox, and IE, and teachers often get frustrated if what they see on their screen doesn't match what they see on the projector. I use a "customize at your own customer support" model when I work with staff.
• The facilitator needs to 1) give an overview of the steps to subscribe to a feed and 2) an overview of how to navigate Google Reader. In my PLN slideshare, there are some slides which structure the subscribing process.
• I can say that if there is enough time and the network is working sufficiently, the workshop works very well. High-flyers tend to get the basics quickly and start searching on their own, while there is enough simplicity in the process for those that need repetition to learn.
• I'd have everyone walk away from the workshop with 3 blogs that they subscribe to (including any district-level blogs your district might have), and one Google or Delicious search.
Places to search for blogs:
- Broken down by grade level and content area
- Long list not broken out by grade level and content area
- 100 Top Educator Blogs - (Because 100 sounds impressive)
- 100 Music Educator Bloggers - (I use this site to illustrate to the large group you can find anything on any subject if you look hard enough)
- Iowa Educational Blogs
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