Why ISTE? Why Now?

I've never been much of a joiner, preferring to go my own way without reference to a "party line."

Since (semi-)retiring from my position as a teacher/librarian, I've reconsidered this stance and now maintain membership in a few organizations. Of these groups, I am convinced that ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, offers the most significant opportunity for effective change in education.

With the specter of deep cuts across disciplines and job titles, it is imperative that educators take every opportunity to update their skills, thereby proving their relevance and value...not just as window dressing, but as an obligation, in order to best serve the learners with whom they interact.

As a late adopter myself, I understand the fear that this prospect can engender in an established professional. The key is to remember that, in the world of technology, there is room for learners. Further, it is impossible to be an expert in everything. Sharing, collaborating, and creating must be the province of both "teacher" and "student," with these roles shifting back and forth in a facilitated, co-learning climate.

ISTE is uniquely positioned to sustain interactive, supportive experiences, offering Special Interest Groups (SIGs), Communities, professional development resources, and numerous other research and evaluation tools. It provides a vibrant environment in which all learners may thrive.

We owe it to our students to be able to help them locate and access appropriate technology at time of need. As an ISTE member, education professionals can feel more confident that they will be able to deliver this crucial service.



Full Disclosure: I have submitted an application for nomination to the ISTE Board. This is no guarantee that I will be chosen to run for office. However, going through the submission process has helped me to clarify my thoughts about the value of ISTE membership.



"circle of people" by PLCMC training account

The Start of a Journey

I've been home for a few days now, and the ideas and insights generated from EduCon 2.3 are starting to jell in my mind. Reflection is an important component of the education process, so here are some random thoughts I'd like to share.

Sessions
Aside from one presentation that was perilously close to "sit and git," the scheduled sessions were interactive and inspiring. These events are meant to be conversations, and their leaders acted more as facilitators than as experts. Although there is sometimes the hero-worship factor, "Wow, I'm sitting here listening to that Twitter star ________," once things get rolling, there is an ongoing dialogue that energizes everyone in the room. Strangers band together for quick collaborative projects and share their products eagerly. There's a brainstorming mentality: everyone learns from others' experiences and anecdotes.

Among the sessions I attended, I particularly enjoyed

• Design Thinking: 21st Century Skills for the Real World - Christian Long, David Bill, Ethan Bodnar. Participants were split into groups and guided through the process of solving a real world problem for an attendee-volunteer. The five steps - Discovery Define Brainstorm Prototype Test - can be applied to any problem; the design does not need to be for a physical space but can include learning environments as well. Christian gave us one important guideline, "You can only be wrong if you’re not listening to the client/her story."
• The Future of Student Inquiry/Research: Environmental Scanning and Scenario Building - Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones, Shannon Miller. Although the three session leaders are school librarians, the conversation was inclusive of all educators. Participants collected and shared research tools, then defended their decision as to whether a statement like "Wikipedia is a good student resource" should be categorized as "Rocks" "Sucks" or "Not sure." The ensuing mini-debates challenged people to intelligently defend their choices. As with many of the session activities, this type of critical thinking exercise could easily be adapted for classroom use. I know we had fun with it!
• What's Wrong With This Picture? - Darren Kuropatwa, Dean Shareski. An introductory SlideShare was the inspiration for the activity that followed, as participants were invited to "play and learn and talk." Table mates collaborated on a photo challenge ("Create video or image that depicts something unreal, preferably with no post production") now archived in a Flickr slideshow.
• The Power of the Product: Creative, Meaningful & Daring Ways to Demonstrate Information Mastery - Gwyneth Jones, Diane Cordell. Again, two librarians facilitated a conversation for educators in general. This was my debut as a presenter at EduCon, and it was quite an exhilarating experience (thanks in large part to my partner and inspiration, the Daring Librarian). Our goal was to create our own product, a slideshow featuring less-traditional ways for students to explain and illustrate their learning. I enjoyed chatting with participants, including a group of young teachers from New York and Meenoo Rami, the founder and moderator of #engchat on Twitter. The SLA student streaming our session told me about a QR project in her English and Social Studies classes (researching Philadelphia buildings, then generating a QR code to link individual buildings with the students' information); I let her use my iPhone to scan the code on my business card so she could see and feel the scanning app in action. Gwyneth is still tidying up the slides that were created, but the finished product will be available here Additional resources can be accessed via the TL Virtual Cafe Power of the Product page.
  

Commonalities of Successful Sessions

• active
  
• interactive
• inclusive
• universal
• product-driven
  

Stories
A number of session leaders talked about "stories." Schools need to focus more on storytelling: helping students to understand stories from the past, stories from the global community and, more importantly, giving them the tools to articulate, capture, and share their own stories.


Back in the "real" world
In one sense, EduCon can be almost depressing. As Liz Davis noted in her reflective posting, My EduCon Struggle,

"While I did have a great time seeing people I only see once a year, meeting people face to face for the first time, and bringing a colleague from my school, I'm not sure what I learned. That is very difficult for me to write. I know I learn constantly and I certainly took back some good ideas. But many of the sessions, all of them well done, felt like things we have been talking about forever.

I'm tired. I'm tired of complaining about what schools aren't doing. I'm tired of lamenting what kids aren't learning. I'm tired of struggling to figure out effective professional development. I'm exhausted by the term 21st century skills."

Before my retirement, I also struggled with this. For a few days in January, it seems like you move in a bubble of excitement and optimism. Then you return to your home district, where innovation is an afterthought and no support is given to those who long for permission to tinker and create something new and meaningful for their students.

My professional response then was to chip away at the establishment, connect wherever, and however, I could with individuals, keep petitioning my administrators for more freedom, more tools, more more more. It was frustrating and largely ineffective.

Now, I believe that real reform will not come from within the system but from without. EduCon offers the opportunity to connect with innovators. This year, I've either had direct conversation about, or indirect connection to, several projects that may be game changers. I'm going to use my greatest gift, the gift of time, to contribute what I can to some of these collaborative enterprises.

EduCon is not a destination; it's the starting point of a journey.


"EduCon 2.3" by dmcordell

The Big Society

Can libraries be adequately staffed and maintained by volunteers alone? Author Philip Pullman says NO!

"...Nor do I think we should respond to the fatuous idea that libraries can stay open if they’re staffed by volunteers. What patronising nonsense. Does he think the job of a librarian is so simple, so empty of content, that anyone can step up and do it for a thank-you and a cup of tea? Does he think that all a librarian does is to tidy the shelves? And who are these volunteers? Who are these people whose lives are so empty, whose time spreads out in front of them like the limitless steppes of central Asia, who have no families to look after, no jobs to do, no responsibilities of any sort, and yet are so wealthy that they can commit hours of their time every week to working for nothing? Who are these volunteers? Do you know anyone who could volunteer their time in this way? If there’s anyone who has the time and the energy to work for nothing in a good cause, they are probably already working for one of the voluntary sector day centres or running a local football team or helping out with the league of friends in a hospital. What’s going to make them stop doing that and start working in a library instead?"

Read the entire article, "This is the Big Society, you see. It must be big, to contain so many volunteers" on OurKingdon: power & liberty in Britain





"Volunteer Sign-in" by rkeefer

The Power of the Product: An EduCon Conversation

Gwyneth Jones (the Daring Librarian) and I will be hosting a session, The Power of the Product, at EduCon this year.

We're excited to be exploring this topic and hope you can join us on site or online.

One of our discussion tools will be a crowd-generated Google slideshow. Gwyneth & I will the ball rolling, and then invite you to add your own examples to the slide deck we're constructing. Additional resources are being archived at the TL Virtual Cafe.

A conversation is only as "Creative, Meaningful and Daring" as its participants. Come join us, and see what we can build together!


*and don't miss Gwyneth, along with Shannon Miller and Joyce Valenza, at The Future of Student Inquiry/Research session!



"PowerofProductSodaonDeskH2" by The Daring Librarian

Our Real Reunion

Over the past summer, my high school class held its 45th reunion...which I chose not to attend. I felt disconnected from this particular group of people, not having seen, or spoken with, most of them since graduation.

This situation started to change when a classmate set up a website for the Class of '65. I was contacted by one person on Facebook, and soon there was a flurry of invitations and networking. I found that some of us were kindred spirits, with a lot more in common than I had anticipated.

But the most meaningful connections have been made recently, as one member of our class battles for his life after a heart attack and stroke. Each evening, at 10:00, we share prayers and good wishes, via Facebook, with J.R.'s family (his wife is also a fellow graduate). It has been a profoundly moving experience. Another member of our class shared this reflection:


Reposted, with permission, from Facebook

Classmates with Class by Paul Murray, Saturday, January 22, 2011

It has been my good fortune to shake hands with a former President, a few Governers and several statesman . I've been blessed to meet several pro athletes to include more than a few Hall of Famers in both the NFL and MLB.

After bearing witness to the events of this past week, I am forced to conclude that some of the most impressive people were those which whom I passed in the hallways of CCHS. The faith, love and generosity displayed here the past several days make me proud to call a good many of you friends and wish I had gotten to know others better. Salute!

Our class was large for the area, almost 500 members. Since it was a central school, many of us tended to interact with those we knew from our home parishes. Tracking - college entrance, business, etc. - also created artificial barriers. And, of course, there were the standard teenage cliques: jocks, brains, popular kids.

Time, age, and experience have erased most of these differences. Our lives have taken many different paths, but we have a shared history. Although we are interacting virtually right now, I believe that in the future, we will be more likely to seek each other out in real life.

I'm proud to claim these people as friends. We ARE "classmates with class."



"Joy: High School Yearbook" by dmcordell

Here's the Story: Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race to the Big Game

You may have seen references on social networking sites that mention #MBteamS (or 3 other teams I choose not to promote here) and wondered what was going on.

As the Official Team S Storyteller, I feel it's my job to fill you in.

In mid-December, USA Today reported on Super Bowl ads that would "play the social media game"

Mercedes-Benz... plans to launch "The World's First Twitter-Fueled Race," which awards two new cars to the two-person team of social-media wizards that garners for Mercedes-Benz the most tweets, Facebook "likes" and social-media currency by game day.

Today, on its Facebook page, Mercedes-Benz USA issues a casting call for social-media users who want to compete in its Twitter-Fueled Race.

When the chosen teams were announced, I was astonished/happy to see that educational blogger, self-proclaimed "mayor of the Internet" and fellow Packers fan, John Pederson (@ijohnpederson) is co-driver for Team S, along with Todd Sanders, aka @tsand.

In the spirit of competition, fun, and avarice (participants will be eligible to win a V.I.P. trip and/or a Mercedes!), I followed the steps to join a team, claimed a spot as "one of our human resources" (librarian, photographer, and historian were already taken, but "storyteller" encompasses all of that) and stand ready to Tweet my team on to victory.

It promises to be an interesting social media adventure, and beyond all the hype and hyperbole, there is a worthy cause:

At the core of this contest, behind all the football, fancy cars, and social media silliness, is a $25,000 donation that Mercedes-Benz is making to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on behalf of our coach, Pete Wentz, and #MBteamS. Even better, if we do end up “winning” this thing, Mercedes-Benz kicks in an additional $20,000, totaling $45,000, to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. -ijohnpederson

So follow these three simple steps:

1) Twitter. Come race time, your tweets are our fuel. You’ll need a Twitter account. Follow both @tsand and @ijohnpederson.

2) Join Team S on the Mercedes-Benz Facebook page. http://on.fb.me/MBteamS

3) Finally, claim your spot as one of our “human resources” by giving yourself a role on our team. Visit http://mbteams.com/human_resources and add yourself in the comments.

Become part of our team, and help us write this story. It's social media with a goal and for a cause. How wonderful!

Photos from Mercedes-Benz USA

On the Home Front

I sometimes get so caught up in my online life, with its multi-national connections and innovative slant, that I tend to overlook what's happening in my own community.

New York State school districts vary widely in demographics, resources, guiding philosophies. While I worked as a K-12 teacher/librarian in a small, rural, public school (graduating classes averaging about 39), my own children attended classes in a larger, suburban district (graduating classes near 200).

Today, my eye was caught by this item in the "Boos and Bravos" section of the daily newspaper:

"Bravos to the Queensbury Board of Education for coming up with an innovative way to solicit public input and include taxpayers in upcoming budget decisions. In February and March, the board will host three community forums in the elementary cafeteria in which citizens themselves will 'constructively and collaboratively' address issues relating to the budget, employee benefits and the educational direction of the district. Citizens will be divided into groups and asked to come up with solutions to several problems on their own. Board members will not participate in the discussions, but instead will observe and learn. This is a new approach that will get the public more involved in the decision-making. The board deserves credit for its openness and creativity." -The Post-Star

I like the participatory nature of this BOE-sponsored workshop, and the fact that citizens are being acknowledged as both stake-holders and partners in setting education policy. In fact, it mirrors what many of us would like to see happening in the classroom: constructive, collaborative, creative problem-solving.

Bravo, indeed, Queensbury Union Free School District. I'll be there.


"Too many decisions about changes are made by people untouched by the change process." -Peter Block


"A shared vision is not an idea...it is rather, a force in people's hearts...at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question 'What do we want to create?'" -Peter Senge


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead




Image from Queensbury High School Alumni webpage

Aerial Dead Reckoning: E 6-B

It all started with the snow storm...

Since I've been posting 365 Project photos of ice and snow for the past few days, I decided to look for something from inside our home to feature today, for a change of pace.

When my siblings and I cleaned out our parents' home this fall, I ended up with an assortment of mementos. I've begun scanning pictures, starting with my father's WWII album. In addition to the photographs, I saved some other artifacts.

Today, my attention was caught by a gadget in a leather case, a U.S. Army Air Force "Computer: Aerial, Dead Reckoning" tool. A little research yielded a huge amount of information.

My initial keywords were "Aerial Dead Reckoning;" then I zeroed in on "E-6B."

I learned that this pocket computer is actually a circular slide rule:

"These flight computers are used during flight planning (on the ground before takeoff) to aid in calculating fuel burn, wind correction, time en route, and other items. In the air, the flight computer can be used to calculate ground speed as well. The back is designed for wind correction calculations, i.e., determining how much the wind is affecting one's speed and course." -Wikipedia

Included in the results, I found a forum discussion, an instruction manual, and an aviation blog with a photo of Dr. Spock using an E 6-B! There's a YouTube how-to clip, and a book that serves as both a history and a tutorial. Modern versions of the E6-B are still being sold to pilots, although the case is now vinyl, not leather.

After his discharge from service, my father studied engineering, graduated from RPI, and became a metallurgist (how I loved to fill that in on school forms asking for your parents' occupations!) for the General Electric Company. I'd like to think that this fascinating little metal "whiz wheel" contributed to his survival during wartime, and fueled his lifelong interest in science and mathematics.

A snowy day treasure hunt yielded a sweet little reminder of my family history.



"My eyes are dim I cannot see, I have not got my E-6B with me, over the Valley of the Ruhr." (World War II USAAC ditty)

"His computer is the instrument on which he stakes his life ... Don’t ask for his computer, for he’d sooner lend his wife." (Navigator's Song, 1943)


Related posts:
The Navigator's Daughter

"Computer: Aerial Dead Reckoning" by dmcordell
"Over the Atlantic" by dmcordell

Club Click

One of the benefits of semi-retirement is having a flexible schedule that leaves time for interesting new ventures.

Shannon Miller is an online acquaintance who became a friend when we got to connect in real life at the SLJ Leadership Conference this fall. She and I decided to collaborate on a project: we would become co-advisers for her school photography club - Shannon, from the school library media center in Van Meter, Iowa; and me, from my home in upstate New York.

We Skype at times that fit into her students' schedules, keeping in mind the one hour time difference as we plan. Although an Internet problem forced us to cancel one meeting, Shannon, some Van Meter students (in grades 6 - 12), and I have managed to make a good start on organizing Club Click. School administrators have given their approval, an explanatory letter went home to parents, and we have about 20 enthusiastic members.

The Van Meter students are respectful, creative, and fun to interact with. Some have moved ahead quickly on their own: Kylee (who is old enough to have her own Flickr account) has been building an impressive collection of photographs. Alissa includes lovely photos in her blog postings.

And then there's Emma, who not only has a blog of her own, and a Twitter account (with her parents' knowledge and approval), but also has volunteered to set up and co-administer the official club blog, which will feature students and their photographic work.

Our Club Click Flickr group has more adult than student uploads right now, but that will change as Shannon and I determine the best way to allow younger members to share their photos.

In our Skype sessions, we've discussed some of the possible directions in which the club might move, from choosing themes to constructively critiquing each other's work to community service projects. I talked about the importance of tagging, and displayed some of the tools available on Flickr. Shannon and I have been stashing relevant resources in diigo; we want to offer students as many options as possible to feed their obvious enthusiasm for taking, editing, and sharing photographs.



For most Club Click members, this will be a fun hobby. For some, it may grow to be a lifelong passion. Either way, it's a privilege to be part of the adventure.




"I wish more people felt that photography was an adventure the same as life itself and felt that their individual feelings were worth expressing. To me, that makes photography more exciting." -Harry Callahan


"What is art but a way of seeing?" -Thomas Berger




"Skyping with Van Meter" by dmcordell
"Some Flickr options" by dmcordell

Pieces of the Puzzle

As the new year begins, many of us have started, or continued, participation in 365 (photo a day) groups. A Twitter friend was lamenting the fact that she couldn't use Flickr for this activity - she doesn't have a Yahoo I.D. and therefore was unable to create a Flickr account.

Her comment triggered a vague memory, so I did a bit of searching. It gave me great pleasure to to inform her that new Flickr users can now sign up - and sign in - with Google OpenID.

This little interaction highlighted for me one of the huge benefits of a PLN (personal learning network): it allows you to tap into the collective wisdom of your colleagues. In our information age, no one can be an expert in everything...but everyone can contribute something to the conversation, frequently more than they realize.

That trick or tool that's been in your repertoire for months may be a revelation to some in your network. A frustrating technical problem could be a quick fix when you crowd-source the issue.

It's nice to know that the answer to your quandary may only be a click away.




"Puzzle pieces" by liza31337