Category Archives: ProfessionalLearning

Connected Leader, Connected Learner, Digital Citizenship, Growth Mindset, ProfessionalLearning

DigCit Toronto 18

October 23, 2018 markwcarbone 1 Comment

As excitement builds for first Digital Citizenship Summit Toronto on Saturday October 27th, I look forward to participating, sharing and networking at the event.

Digital Citizenship is an ‘old‘ but important concept – brought to life at the birth of social media. Areas of consideration and discussion included your digital footprint, staying safe online, building and participating in online communications etc. Educators shared ideas and resources regarding approaches to embed Digital Citizenship into the classroom. In the educational context, current work expands to digital leadership, using digital tools to solve problems, expanding understanding (global perspectives) and to move society forward in positive ways.

Context:

I can remember the early adopter days 10-12 years ago. Everyone, at least in my mainly educators circle, was focusing on the potential – new connections, sharing blog posts and resources, kicking the tires on new ideas and approaches, developing your PLN etc. The future looked bright and rosy.

When you consider how things have evolved, the complexity is overwhelming! While I do think the ‘solid base’ I described above is still there, one must contend with Influencers, bots, fake news, the far left, the far right, alternative agendas, promotion of “the negative”, privacy challenges etc. We owe it to today’s youth, our students, to learn to navigate this digital landscape safely and positively with an eye for opportunity and “doing good”.

Check out related blog posts by other conference organizers Jennifer Casa Todd and Tina Zita

If this topic interests you, consider attending the first Digital Citizenship Summit Toronto, this Saturday (October 27th, 2018). I hope to see you there!

~Mark

Presentation Resource, ProfessionalLearning, scaling change, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL

Scaling EDU Change – final update

May 31, 2017 markwcarbone Leave a comment

This post is an update to an earlier post: Scaling Edu Change, with resources 18 through 25 being new since the previous post.

Student Produced Learning Objects
Project Greenlight
Leveraging Technology for Inquiry Based Learning
Deepening Mathematics Understanding with Coding
STEM in a Globally Connected Classroom
Digital Work Flow
Student Writing With Storybird
Helping Little Brown Bats
Tangling With Triangulation
Improving Collaboration For Learning
Learning Through Hyper Docs
Deepening Math Learning
20% Time Project
Coding in the Elementary Curriculum
The Journey to Classroom Learning Communities
Technology Tools for Teachers
A Perspective on Inquiry Based Learning
Growth Mindset Through the Dance & Drama Learning Cycle
Inspiring Learning with TED Ed Clubs
Genius Hour
Google Apps in the Primary Classroom
Pixel Art with Spreadsheets
Flipping Out in Math
A Problem Driven Approach to Learning
Teaching-Coding-Swiftly

I have enjoyed being involved in this project.

Join in!!!. How will you participate in open learning by scaling up?

~Mark

Note: Creative Commons image by Flickr user Paolo Margari

Growth Mindset, Next, ProfessionalLearning, reflection

ISBLbD reflection

April 7, 2017 markwcarbone Leave a comment

The Saturday panel at Learn by Design, brought together panelists Colleen Broderic, Simon Jack, Gary Stager and Ewan McIntosh who tackled two key questions which face all education jurisdictions:

What are 3 things schools should stop doing now?

2. What are three things schools should start doing now to disrupt schooling?

With a talented panel such as this, you would anticipate insightful answers and comments. Conference participants were not disappointed. Some of the perspectives that resonated with me are summarized below.

Part 1: What are 3 things schools should stop doing now?

stop developing long term plans as it kills agility and iteration
stop expecting disruption if you are not going to cultivate the conditions to do so
always think about what to do next
stop teaching old style curriculum
school teaches about 1/billionth of the world knowledge, stop arguing about which 1/billionth
stop assuming we know how other people think
stop thinking you need to understand everything you are working on all the time, the price of not trying is greater
stop having too many meetings

Part 2: What are three things schools should start doing now to disrupt schooling?

,think about partnerships differently – engage students and parents as research partners – solve/change something collectively
list everything you are doing, then publicly remove things from the list
begin every decision with a child
don’t redesign schools by looking at schools, start looking elsewhere
storytelling, it is human, value who we are
embrace the joy of learning, happiness, laughter
plan a next

In my view, the comments, counters and exchange were insightful, thoughtful and respectful. Any one of these insights is a prompt to generate in depth probing and discussion.

Upon reflection, I would add self directed learning for staff and students into the mix.

My wondering is: What would you add to the this list? Anything missing? What is on your educational mind these days?

Please comment here or add to the #ISBLBD twitter stream.

~Mark

ProfessionalLearning, scaling change, WRDSB

Scaling EDU Change

February 27, 2017 markwcarbone 2 Comments

Last fall the Waterloo Region District School Board held their third Digital Learning Symposium. Each symposium has focused on sharing effective classroom practice, changing practice and promoting innovative practices.

The series of events has provided an opportunity for educators to come together, share, network and talk about next steps to pushing the envelope, building synergy and scaling change at the system level.

One of the strategies used at this recent symposium was to capture the best practices shared through video recording and create a WRDSB system blog to share the learnings and innovative approaches through other initiatives such as meetings of system leaders, school staff meetings and subject association sessions. It is important to keep the momentum of the change conversation going. This public blog also supports open learning for all educators.

Student Produced Learning Objects
Project Greenlight
Leveraging Technology for Inquiry Based Learning
Deepening Mathematics Understanding with Coding
STEM in a Globally Connected Classroom
Digital Work Flow
Student Writing With Storybird
Helping Little Brown Bats
Tangling With Triangulation

I have enjoyed being involved in this project and look forward to working on the next phase.

Join in!!!. How will you participate in open learning by scaling up?

~Mark

Note 1: The blogging project calls for a post week through until May, so the sharing will continue through to May.

Note 2: Creative Commons image by Flickr user Paolo Margari

GAFE, ProfessionalLearning, sharing learning, Technology Enabled Learning, TEL, WRDSB

Learning Together with GHO

January 28, 2017 markwcarbone Leave a comment

One of the highlights from my week was participating in a “mystery hangout”. This particular (Google) hangout had an interesting twist with teachers and students learning together and collaboratively.

The Plan: Heather Theijsmeijer leveraged her PLN twitter connections with Donna Fry and me to develop a plan to give the G Suite (Google Apps) lead teachers in Rainbow DSB a hands on experience with Google Hangouts to demonstrate the learning, collaboration and problem solving that can occur in this setting. After a call for participants, we firmed up the the Rainbow DSB GAFE lead teachers as one team, and Tania Bumstead’s Vista Hills P. S. class as the other team. Alison Bullock and I played an online support role in the process as fact checkers and communication with each team lead.

Team Vista Hills

Doing a mystery hangout with @amy_mcphee1 today. Great use of map skills everyone! #hangout @aliringbull @markwcarbone pic.twitter.com/NhFdgGtMyw

— Vista Hills Rm 35 (@MrsBumstead) January 24, 2017

Team Rainbow (screen capture)
ghomystery

The task was for each team to determine the location of the other team through a series of yes/no questions.

The experience: When it came time for he actual event, Heather connected everyone into the Google Hangout, and we were ready for a 45 minute learning situation, beginning with some introductions. The Vista Hills class worked in groups to tackle the tasks – receiving answers from team Rainbow, interpreting them and tracking them on Google maps. Another team generated potential questions and determined which question should be asked next. A third team interacted with team Rainbow and posed the questions. The excitement in the room was high, and there was a steady buzz throughout the session.

I was fascinated with the ingenious yes/no questions asked by the two teams as they working through the process of solving the geography puzzle in front of them. Are you located

in Canada
east of the Manitoba/Ontario border
in the eastern standard time zone
within 100 km of Algonquin Park
west of the GTA
located north of the 402/403 highway corridor
east of the escarpment
in a city with a population over 100,000
within 50 km of Lake Huron
…

and finally, team Rainbow asked: are you located in KW? Team Vista Hills pressed on and with a couple more questions and one hint, determined team Rainbow was on Manitoulin Island.

TY @markwcarbone @TaniaBumstead & @aliringbull for getting us connected! Brave teachers: @manitouapril @AllisonM @Mr_Leblanc_cmps @MrLTeach https://t.co/qnfMgH2zJu

— Heather Theijsmeijer (@HTheijsmeijer) January 24, 2017

It was evident to me that a great learning experience had been enjoyed by all, and that more mystery hangouts will occur in the future. Thanks to all the learners who participated in this event!

~Mark

EDUgridlock, Leadership Perspective, ProfessionalLearning

Exploring K12 Gridlock

July 7, 2016 markwcarbone Leave a comment

One of the interesting elements of this past school year for me was weaving together the thoughts, observations and ideas from the many conversations I enjoyed across Ontario via my PLN, both virtually and face to face.

The more I reflect on the conversations, and mull them over, I centre my thinking on the idea of educational grid lock. In many ways, it seems to me that we are in a state of increasing grid lock. There are so many opposing forces and change complexities in the K12 space, to me, many things seem, well, stuck.

This summer I have decided to write a series of posts exploring this idea of edu gridlock, along with some questions and ideas on moving forward.

Photo credit: Flickr user samuel-leo for this creative commons licensed photo.

EduGridlock – up next: career long professional learning.

~Mark
markicon2

GAFE, Presentation Resource, ProfessionalLearning

GAFE Learning in Ontario – Resources

April 21, 2016 markwcarbone Leave a comment

There has been two awesome GAFE learning events in Ontario (Waterloo Region and Thunder Bay) over the last two weekends. I appreciated the opportunity to team up with Donna Fry, Provincial Capacity Building Lead to present workshops at each summit.

The presentation slides from our sessions are published below along with links to resources developed by the OSAPAC committee.

OSAPAC Resources:

a) Digital Citizenship Resources for Educators
b) Digital Leadership Resources for Administrators
c) Digital Leadership Support for Education Leaders

~Mark
markicon2

GAFE, Leadership Perspective, ProfessionalLearning

Learning GAFE Summit Style

April 9, 2016 markwcarbone Leave a comment

On behalf of the Waterloo Region District School Board, welcome to the 4th annual Ontario GAFE Summit. In reflecting back on our 1st summit, this has been an absolutely amazing journey – still going strong with sellout participation each year.

EdTechLogo

Before we begin, I want to extend a sincere thank you to ECI Principal Jeff Klinck and his staff for their efforts and openness to support this event. I also want to thank the many people in IT Services and the EdTech team who have contributed to the preparations for the weekend.

And, thank YOU for giving your time this weekend. Not just any weekend – a historic weekend. Why? Last night SpaceX landed a stage one Falcon rocket on a floating drone barge. Wow! When I watched the recording on YouTube I couldn’t help but make a couple of connections to our Summit event today. One – this is mathematics and problem solving at its best, and two, watching the rockets trajectory reminded me of the many conversations I have had with Donna Fry about the importance of professional learning to fuel opportunities to change the trajectory of a student.

SpaceX1 SpaceX2 SpaceX3

I have a hope for this weekend.

My hope is that as you participate, learn, network, make new connections, discuss and trade ideas that you will TAKE ACTION with what you learn this weekend. I challenge you to share and make your learning visible. Please start conversations, participate in online sharing, and blog about your experiences to support the learning of others. Become part of the Ontario Wave of Change by keeping the ripples moving in positive directions.

Enjoy your learning experience!!!

Ready!

Watch the SpaceX webcast

~Mark
markicon2

Leadership Perspective, OSSEMOOC, PLN, ProfessionalLearning, reflection

Innovators Mindset Panel Discussion 3

March 10, 2016 markwcarbone Leave a comment

OSSEMOOC has been running an online book study based on the Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros. Last week’s activity featured an online panel discussion which focused on exploring some of elements of chapters 8-12 more deeply.

Screen Shot 2016-03-10 at 7.34.14 PM

The panel discussion recording (#3):

In reviewing the twitter conversation that occurred while the panel discussion was live, I wanted to share a few perspectives that I wanted to reflect on. Perhaps these tweets will challenge your thinking or make a new connection that will ignite new opportunities for you too.

My Reflection Prompts:

IM3-1