Category Archives: Leadership Perspective

21st century learning, Connected Learner, Leadership Perspective, ProfessionalLearning, Social Media, Technology Enabled Learning

London PNC: Digging into change

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Last Thursday (April 10, 2014) I had the pleasure of attending the meeting of the London MISA PNC group  to serve on a panel discussion with

L-PNCpanel

Joe Sisco of the WECDSB did a nice job hosting the event and moderating the panel discussion.  My role on the panel was to share some ideas concerning technology planning.

My response:

I enjoyed the variety of  questions the panel addressed.  Two conversations really stood out for me.  First,  some excellent dialog around the notions  of professional sharing:

and secondly, examining comfort with change:

In a rather timely fashion, this tweet from  Donna Fry  was posted just two days later while she was participating as a virtual learner by following the Twitter conversations of  Edcamp SWO  and  Edcamp London  which ran on Saturday April 12th.  I think the tweet captures the essence of the panel discussions in a nice concise way.

LivingInBeta

~Mark

Related Resources: sound clips in a local format

Clip 1:

Clip 2:

Clip 3:

 

Connected Learner, Leadership Perspective, OSSEMOOC, ProfessionalLearning

Your Voice in Connected Learning Professional Practice

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Note: My article for today is cross posted from OSSEMOOC: Day 1 of 30 days of learning.

I recently enjoyed a family trip to China in the context of  “the journey home”  for my adopted daughter.   The trip in of itself was simply amazing. I enjoyed going back, seeing the changes and once again experiencing the culture in such an amazing and historic country.

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Given the 1997 timing of my first trip we essentially survived on landline calling cards as public internet access and early versions of email were just springing up around the globe.  On this 2014 trip, of course the internet as matured and there are many amazing and often free collaborative tools available,  so in that sense the trip felt less isolated.

At the same time,  I had a chance to experience the “internet culture” in a much more locked down and filtered government controlled environment.  Tools that we celebrate, use and promote here in North America were simply not available.   Most social media tools were not available including Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.  Of the Google suite of tools, only gmail and search were available and even these had seemingly limited use.  Gmail seemed to respond very slowly and not all search result  web links were actively available.  I also noted the some, but not all, blogging sites were blocked.  Facetime and Skype worked OK (band width dependent).

The notion of public free wifi as we experience here at locations such as McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s and Starbucks etc. was not wide spread. Yes, the wifi was free but you needed to text your phone number to a service in order to obtain an access code which would be texted back to you.  This is a very different approach to walk in free access for any device culture that is enjoyed in North America.

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Here in Canada, we are blessed with a very open culture and full access to a wide variety of web tools. The bottom line is YOU have a voice – and a choice of tools to use.  Please do not take take this for granted.  Leverage this privilege! Take time and make time to connect with other educators to develop your network and make your thinking visible by sharing your learnings and reflections.  Ask questions,  pose scenarios,  collaborate.  Give yourself a rich experience by starting a blog today!

Related Resources:
Reference 1:  Perspective from the Wall
Reference 2: #OSSEMOOC 30 days of learning

~Mark

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

21st century learning, Connected Learner, Leadership Perspective

Igniting the Spark at OTRK12

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The  On the Rise K12  conference kicked off with a wonderful keynote by  Stephen Hurley.   Several things Stephen talked about resonated with me from a life perspective.

Your life is a journey,  and it is important to share  YOUR  story.  We all have a story to tell,  and we learn from each other.  Period.   So lets unpack this a bit.

Part of your journey is to discover your passion.  In the end, it is your passions that will drive you forward to learn something new,  ask a new question,  explore a new piece of information,  dialog with a new contact … etc.   Each new ‘node’ on the journey is the impetus for moving to the next.  “Passions NEVER die“. 

I loved hearing Stephen telling his own story about his passion for radio – the discovery, the learnings, the explorations, the successes and how technology was an enabler for him to move forward and pursue his passions further.

I enjoyed Stephen’s exploration and emphasis on the “metaphors we live by”.  Well done.  As educators considering the 3 key engagement elements of social, institutional and intellectual, I encourage you to consider these points:

    • how do we best ignite the curiosity spark to help students find their passion?

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    • within our educational context,  what actions do we take to keep student passions alive?

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    • how can we be flexible enough to create the path forward for  students to pursue their passion without being in their way?

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Many thanks Stephen for prompting more thinking on K12 education. I hope this blog post captures another piece of the educational journey.

Share your comments here, or perhaps in a blog post of your own (include a link please!).

Related Resources
Follow the conference twitter chat:  #OTRK12

~Mark

Leadership Perspective, OSSEMOOC, ProfessionalLearning, Social Media

Focus on Beginners: What do you Need to Start Connecting?

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Donna Miller Fry's avatarOSSEMOOC

As we have travelled throughout the province this week, we have heard loud and clear that we need an easier entry point for our education leaders to start the connecting process.

Last Tuesday, connected leaders met to discuss how they became connected leaders – the catalyst that got them started.  Here are some of the things we learned.  Which of these do you need?  Which of these can you bring to a leader you know to help them connect?

1. TIME!  When can we possibly find the time to connect?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76818399@N00/4536146692/

Educators are busy.  Nobody disputes that!  But could connecting actually make your life easier?  YES IT CAN!  You can pose a question on Twitter 24/7 and get an answer in minutes.  We have heard many stories with this theme.

Learn to make time.  Start with 15 minutes each day.  Some of us do “Tea and Twitter”,  some of us start…

View original post 441 more words

21st century learning, Leadership Perspective, OSSEMOOC, ProfessionalLearning, Technology Enabled Learning

Mobile Learning with OSSEMOOC

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Last night I enjoyed the mobile learning session presented by  Rob De Lorenzo  as part of the  OSSEMOOC  professional learning series.

mobile_learning_RDL

After the session I went the the chat transcript and picked out a few phrases that resonated with me.  They are:

  • it is so important that community creates the learning
  • the “any’s” — anytime, anywhere, anyone, anything learning
  • love that idea – learning languages on social media.
  • The need for administrators to be involved in the process is critical.
  • technology empowerment of teachers is critical to reach our tech hungry students
  • The computer lab is an artifact. We’ve moved beyond the need for it.
  • Wifi is a game changer.
  • No need for uniform platform anymore – different tools for different tasks
  • let them bring the devices they are comfortable with.
  • You choose the device that will best let you do that”
  • No tech can replace carefully thought out lessons and teaching strategies!
  • mobile productivity

Which phrase(s) resonate with you? Why?

invitation

Now, an invitation, or perhaps a challenge depending on your viewpoint.  Share your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post or consider writing a blog of your own to share your thinking.  If you choose to blog,  please share a link to your post.

Additional Resources
Listen to the  archived recording of  Mobile Learning .

~Mark

21st century learning, Leadership Perspective, OSSEMOOC, PD, ProfessionalLearning

EdCampWR: What next?

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EdCampWR

Ed Camp Waterloo Region, held yesterday – Feb. 22, 2014, was an amazing day for many reasons.  First off, a special thank you to organizers for arranging the day and bringing so many passionate educators together. Each of the sessions I attended had deep, meaningful and thought provoking discussion. I appreciated the openness of the educators who attended to share their thinking and insights with confidence.

The day also turned out to be a great example of connected learning. Many thanks to the educators who joined remotely and contributed to the discussion via twitter and text messages.

The day after a successful event like this always begs the question: So what next? I hope each of you will turn “what next?” into “what can I do?”   Please consider:

      • how to keep the conversation going
      • demonstrate your connected learning
      • share through blogging, G+, twitter etc.
      • continue asking questions
      • nurture someone around you, bring them into the conversation
      • promote and attend other edcamps

Resources

Check out my Storify of  EdCampWR  tweets
Read  Where to now?  by  Donna Fry
Join in the free professional connected learning with  OSSEMOOC

Keep the learning going.

~Mark

21st century learning, Leadership Perspective, OSSEMOOC, PD, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL

Connected Learning: A Virtual EdCamp Experience

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Why not make your Saturday a great opportunity to learn.  Would you like to learn from where ever you are?   You just need an internet connection.

EdCampWR is happening Saturday Feb. 22 2014 at Ryerson PS.  I will be attending in person and sharing my experience through  video broadcasting of sessions  and interviews.

Here is how you can learn virtually.

Learn more about  Ed Camp Waterloo.

Sign up for a free account to access the video stream here.

Where to watch:  click here.

Follow the  Twitter conversation

Make it a great learning day!

~Mark

21st century learning, Leadership Perspective, SAMR, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL

SAMR: Fuelling a growth mindset

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The SAMR model has taken the technology enabled learning world by storm. Based on long term thorough research the model offers a new strategy to look at the relationship of technology and learning. The model describes four stages of using technology to support student learning as summarized in the chart below.

SAMRgraphic

Let me say up front that I am a big believer in the SAMR research and methodology. You can read my other SAMR related blog posts  here.  However, I am concerned about the circulation of SAMR charts that slot apps and web tools to a stage on the SAMR chart.

SAMR_apps_chart_blur

The SAMR model is based on the notion of using technology to support learning in ways to deepen learning through opportunities not previously possible – that is, a change in practice.  To my way of thinking, the SAMR framework needs to be internalized in one’s thinking so that you independently examine your lesson, practice, approach etc.  It is NOT about just picking an app from the ‘R’ level and assuming “that is it”.

I think SAMR is a lens, a way of thinking about self improvement.  It is a journey of reflection and getting to that better technology enabled learning place of practice consistently.  As learning contexts change, reflection through the SAMR lens is necessary to keep one’s practice sharp.

Technology is changing at a torrid pace.  New web based tools and apps are born every minute.  Each choice of technology, app and use MUST factor in the context of the learning at hand and the needs of the students.  Recognize that a learning moment is simply that – a moment in time, and worthy of professional reflection. Tomorrow, there will be new hardware, new apps and new web tools.  The SAMR model will see us through these changes by helping us focus on best practice, reflection and a moving through a personal journey.  Sometimes, being at an ‘S’ level might be just the right place to be – part of the journey.

Take the SAMR challenge today.  Become familiar with the model and how it relates to learning and excellent instructional practice. Examine new possibilities for technology enabled learning.  Challenge yourself.  Reflect.  Share what you experience and learn. Internalize it – make SAMR part of who you are!

~Mark

21st century learning, Leadership Perspective, Technology Enabled Learning

Educon2.6 Reflections

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educon26header

Once again the annual  Educon  event was an amazing learning experience.  I decided to share a couple of  learning points by bringing a few reflection points through this video.

On a another note, it was great to have a opportunity to try out Google Glasses too!!!

mwc&googleglasses

Happy pondering and learning.

Related Resources

Learning at Educon by @fryed
Follow the #educon Twitter channel

 ~Mark

21st century learning, Leadership Perspective, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL

Reflecting on Openness

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Educon 2.6 got off to a great start tonight with the panel discussion on creating a more open and transparent world. As anticipated, the excellent panel presented a variety of views and thoughtful insights. I thought I would share a few points in an effort to encourage you to reflect on some of the points raised in the discussion.

  • Define openness.  What does this mean?   What are the different contexts?
  • Learners or students?
  • Valuing connnectedness
  • badges rather than marks/grades/pass. What might this mean for  future employers? higher ed?
  • MOOCs – making them really work and not continuing old patterns
  • vulnerability
  • technology to enable learning – it is all about HOW we use it

I have selected a few tweets from the 100’s that were posted that connect to these points.

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E4

E5

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Will your reflections lead to change? renewed commitment to “the cause”? improved practice? attention to nurturing those around you? a more open approach? It is your journey. Make it worthy of the best student learning possible.

~Mark