It was a lovely autumn day today and a good day to enjoy before the winter doldrums set it. I was very happy to spend time again with my friends who teach in Christian Schools – an hour and a half talking about creativity and learning in a Web 2.0 World.
Welcome to Heyjude 🙂
As promised, here is the presentation – ready for your homework!
I want to thank Julie Lindsay, Vicki Davis and others involved in the Horizon Project for once again showing us the exciting benefits of a global e-learning experience. Aren’t these students just awesome?
Like the award-winning Flat Classroom Project (2006), this new project involves students, this time 60 students in five countries, working together to look into the future of education based upon the Horizon Project Report 2007 Edition by the New Media Consortium and Educause (pdf).
The key trends identified in the Horizon Report which will be explored by the students are:
This project (using Wikispaces, Delicious, Slideshare, Ning, Twitter, Meebo, YouTube and many other online tools) is a ‘trip to the future’ where students will envision, create, and discuss what this future will look like withothers around the world. Through their work on the wiki, the students will be researching and experiencing web 2.0 enabled learning in a global community.
Student work will be assessed against three criteria related to the objectives of the Horizon Project.
The comprehensive rubric is worth reading. They also made use of ISTE technology standards NETS.S (revised) for ‘What students should know and be able to do to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital world’.Explore the Horizon Project, the Teachers’s Page and the Students Page.
The students come from USA, Austria, Bangladesh, Australia and China.
I have been invited to join the group as a member of the Expert Review Panel, supporting and reviewing the section on Social Networking. I expect to learn a great deal from these wonderful educators!
Vicki Davis, from Camilla, Georgia, has a beaut introduction to The Horizon Project available at Ning.
Julie Lindsay, from Dhaka, Bangladesh, (who is an aussie) has put a nice introduction to the project on Youtube. Horizon Project Introduction.
Technorati Tags: horizonproject07, hz07, flatclassroom, socialnetworking
Recently one of my school colleagues, Jan, wrote about Ning on our blog Bibliosphere News – alerting all of a new ‘MySpace-like’ environment that is being explored by educators. As our schools are particularly interested in emerging Web 2.0 tools, she encouraged us to…
Have a look at Steve Hargadon’s School 2.0 social network and see a social network in the making. He’s using Ning, a social network builder, and then look at Bill Drew’s very active Library 2.0 network (includes school libraries but not confined to education).
Certainly Library 2.0 has a great pool of members, (up to 850 the other day) and it will be interesting to see how this develops, and what it offers that is different to blogs and blogging. Like all social networking sites, Ning incorporates flexible ways of communicating and sharing information – easily! I can communicate with my friends, keep track of a number of Ning networks, and use it to create projects of my own.
It is worthwhile checking out Library2.0, Classroom2.0, School2.0 and SecondLife Librarians which is just starting up. There are others too, and (as usual) you can easily find networks of interest via the spiderweb of networks of your friends! (I must say I am not running a seperate blog in each of these – and one of the things I would like is the flexibility to link my blog from each of my networks if I wanted to?)
I really like the use of Ning by the StopCyberbullying network. A beautifully crafted use of Web 2.0 tools to collaborate on this important topic. Great use of Feed Digest to provide the body of content from all the resources that members of the Network have identified as valuable on this topic.
I have already planned to use Ning for a Learnscope project – which will provide the collaborative professional learning environment for teachers involved in VTE Information Technology at Year 11.
LearnScope focuses on work-based staff development. The beauty of LearnScope is that it enables participants to design what, where, when and how their learning will take place during the life of the project (6 months June – November). LearnScope moves beyond traditional expert-centred professional development models to focus on relevant, participant-driven opportunities.
The flexibility of Ning to allow each of the teachers to maintain a blog and share the their own reflections in this environment is a powerful option for this project. In addition, it is easy to share video and photo files, links and other files; embedd other Web 2.0 API such as bookmark tag clouds, clusty search cloud, Google calendar, or whatever; have good threaded discussion in the Forum; have quick comments with chatter……and more! This has got to be a great environment for expert-centred virtual, 21st century professional development.
But as the spruker says …. that’s not all!
The one thing I was missing was a wiki…not that it is hard to create and link to a wiki as they have done in Classroom2.0 linking to Classroom 2.0 Wiki.
So the email from BillDrew@Library20.ning (yes, you get an email account as well) was most welcome:
Coming in June, the network will have a wiki component added to it. It is currently in development by Ning programmers. I will add a feature on the main page to spotlight a service or a new tool such as javascripts. Please send me items and ideas for such a feature.
Catch yourself some good movies added to Ning via TeacherTube or FlipShare.
Go meet someone new in Ning! today!
While attending the professional seminar at the State Library of NSW, I was not only busy with my presentation and workshop – I was also there to receive an award for
innovative and collaborative teaching practices integrating information and communication technologies
The John Lee Memorial Award is sponsored by Charles Sturt University, and is presented annually by the
Australian School Library Assocation (NSW) President and a representative of Charles Sturt University. It was fun to meet with Ashley Freeman from CSU (pictured) as I have been a member of his ‘marking team’ in the Master’s program in the last couple of years.
It was a special honour for me to receive this award, as I worked with John Lee (in whose memory this award is made) in my early years as an information professional, being inspired by him to “think big” and to be future focussed at all times.
John, I think your inspiration has paid off!
I am attending (and presenting at) the Australian School Library Association (NSW) professional seminar at the State Library of NSW, on Saturday 17th February. Along with me will be two other excellent presenters – Westley Field and Leanne Cameron, who will set the scene for our enquiry into the future of school libraries.
This will be the first of a number of presentations I will make this year on the theme of our ‘uncommon’ future. Though I know that we have many evangelists amongst the global community who present, blog, and otherwise promote the future directions we must take, they are a long way from Australia. So here I am on my soapbox box.
So, welcome to those who are at my session. This post is for you 🙂 as it provides you with the main Del.ici.ous link for the State Library day, as well as a home-base on HeyJude for further reading and exploration of the global debate in this field. You will find my Web 2.0 Toolset at the bottom of the Resources page.
A theme that will run through each of the threads today will be the changing landscape of our digital world – our flat classrooms – and the convergence of technologies and social networking into everyday life providing fsscinating and challenging possibilities for school libraries.
Web 2.0 tools are important, but their impact goes much deeper than their networking ‘novelty’ might suggest. The tools for information seeking, and the spaces for information sharing are also changing and developing. It is important to become familiar with these and to rise to the challenge.
Individuals and organisations alike are finding new and increasingly effective ways of connecting through Web 2.0 technology. Our students are living that connection. This is the human side of this Web 2.0 transformation.
What does Web 2.0 really mean for school libraries? As we create conversations, conections and a Web 2.0 learning community we are opening the door to a better library future.
I am happy to say that this is beginning to happen – and many of my schools are seeking ways to create better learning spaces, better use of Web 2.0, and better ways to collaborate with teachers and promote student learning all the while. Don’t get me wrong – it is a challenge. But my teachers and teacher librarians are responding to the challenge – all in different ways – but all moving forward with curiosity and enthusiasm.
So our libraries and our classrooms need to embrace Web 2.0, and in so doing create new processes and products, leading to new forms of digital pedagogy and digital scholarship.
Let me share Michael’s words (who is a real inspiraton), as he explained how he is using Web 2.0 within our school’s learning management system (CeNet):
I must say this is a really challenging year for me this year, but I’m enjoying it. Here’s a brief snapshot of some of the things I and others have been doing :
- webcams for animations, filming/evaluating student work, podcasting important lessons, etc.
- wordpress and blogger blogs for tasks which neatly incorporate some online work (eg. posting photos, sound files, website references and research and utilising internet related mutimedia like youtube etc.)
- CeNet for online activities, eg. ELFs which enable submission of electronic work
- rss feeding for students subscribing to and commenting on other students blogs as well as other web content, eg. SMH or ABC online feeds
- online web 2.0 tools for scaffolding, eg. gliffy and read-write-think for timelines, concept maps, etc.
- cenet for making electronic material available for all students after hours.
Michael is using blogs with his French class, and subscribes to their blogs with RSS – so all the student work is delivered right to his desktop!
Let me share France’s blogsite, HFS Conversations, that she set up for providing professional discussion for her school staff. An energetic Teacher Librarian, Francis has initiated many projects, but this blog was a nice effort for a staff training session – and will provide a place for ongoing Web 2.0 learning support for the teachers.
Just two examples of many that are emerging – and I love it!
Last week I had the pleasure of joining the staff of The Kings School on the second day of their professional preparation for the new academic year. The Kings School has a reputation for excellence and innovation in boys education, and their mandate for 2007 to explore and adopt Web 2.0 is impressive. The day before staff had been given some time to explore a number of Web 2.0 tools – just to have a ‘hands-on’ taste of the possibilities. On day two I was given just under an hour to present Web 2.0 – the vision, the purpose, and the value for learning and teaching.
While I have done quite a few similar presentations, each with their own focus and purpose, I found the opportunity to work with my King’s colleagues to be exciting. It makes such a difference when leadership has made a ‘decision’ to support staff in developing Web 2.0 knowledge and skills!
There was a lot of enthusiasm generated, and I know that they will be following up with rolling workshops on various Web 2.0 tools to ensure that staff are confident and able to transform their learning and teaching frameworks. Many thanks to Rob Chandler, Director of Staff Development, for the opportunity to assist Kings in this professional development programme.
Things are ‘afoot’ in my own schools as well. This week I visit with two primary schools with a view to looking at how we can change (develop, innovate) collaborative teaching practises and integration of technologies.
I think 2007 will prove to be a valuable learning experience for many of us! I hope I get lots of invites to do lots of ‘fun’ things this year!
We have celebrated Australia Day, 29 January, in style. Google Australia did us proud!
The same aussie day was chosen for launch post of the Aus Mac Ed group blog.
Paul writes:
As promised I’ve been working on a multi-user blog for Australian educators using Macs and iPods (and iPhones). The goal of AusMacEd is to bring our vibrant discussions about the huge potential of Apple based solutions in Australian education out onto the internet in a pro-active and web2.0 manner.
Nice one Paul! 🙂
Come on over, and join the conversation.
Australia Day also saw the news that Edublogs Award Nominee DIGITAL CHALKIE will continue in 2007.
If you aren’t familiar with Digital Chalkie, drop over and read a little about its success and enjoy the interesting contributions in this group blog.
A recent post by John Connell Hexagonal Leadership draws our attention to the use of metaphor in making sense of our actions and reactions in our education endeavours. John was responding to Don Ledingham’s Seven Sides of Educational Leadership.
John’s thoughts on the use of metaphor were timely, and made me realise that in my own way I also make use of metaphor to make sense of and to energise my work in ICT and learning. John referred to Greg Whitby’s Distributive Leadership ideas – and with a certain amount of synergy – here I was yesterday presenting Web 2.0 and some introductory material on blogging to Greg’s leadership team – using a metaphor of creating an impressionist painting together, full of light and shade, energy and vibrancy – new and different and contributed to by each member of the team in some way yet to be defined.
Yesterday’s session was about creating those first sweeping brushstrokes – shaping outlines of our new educational vision for 2007.
Monet himself provided a new vision of movement for Western Artists – drawn from tradition and cultures already in existence. His art is based on the use of color, which has to “draw” the motive without resorting to line.
I see our 2007 Web 2.0 initiatives very much in terms of the colour and vibrancy of Monet, and in the shape of the Hokusai wave! We are poised for significant changes.
Our system of schools will launch into a new era of Web 2.0 with the start of the new academic year. Amongst other things, one of our first priorities will be the use of blogging to empower communication, information dissemination, reflection, dialogue, inspiration etc. We have created a network of leadership blogs that will link the emerging energy of ideas and innovation in learning and teaching between all parts of our educational enterprise.
Nothing new to John and the scottish GLOW initiatives – but a great leap forward for us in our group of schools ‘downunder’.
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judyoconnell.com 