How to Fake a 21st Century Classroom

I was just browsing the web when I found this wonderful posting by Terry Heick on Teach Thought entitled "10 Ways to Fake a 21st Century Classroom." Terry does a wonderful job of identifying some indicators that are often seen as landmarks for 21st Century Learning. Once they have been listed, he explains how even these activities could be hollow hosts when it comes to actually providing a transformative environment where students are truly engaged in learning.

I am going to list the 10 ways but you will have to go to Terry's posting to see how they are fake.  This way I am not taking credit for something that he has done.

1. "Do Projects"
2. Create a class twitter account
3. Force Collaboration
4. Video Conference with Strangers
5. Be Dramatic
6. Buy iPads
7. Make Students Blog
8. Apps on Apps on Apps
9. Blend, Blend, Blend
10. Add a column for creativity on every rubric. 

I must admit that I do every one of these. I have students do projects but it is usually to solve problems. All of my classes have twitter hashtags. We work in Collaborative groups. We video conference with experts in the field when it pertains to our topic or we have been following their blogs. I am NEVER dramatic!!!! We are trying to get folks to get ipads. I make students blog but I hope that we are doing it for more than just going through the motions. We use apps. Fortunately we all have access to the resources needed to watch YouTube videos for flipped classrooms. And I have added creativity to my rubric.

Am I faking a 21st Century Classroom?  I hope not.  I believe that my students are involved in the learning process to a level that they are creating and learning materials that are relevant to their real-world classrooms and everyday lives.

What do you think?  Are you faking it?  If so, how and why?  If not, how do you know?

BTW, I just did a search on Terry Heick's postings on TeachThought and he has a number of postings that I have found interesting. You might enjoy them too - Heick's postings.

Please leave comments with your feedback.

Magic CAN BE TAUGHT!!!

I was just reading Shannon Doak's G+ postings when I found her posting about Christopher Emdin's TED talk called Teach Teachers How to Create Magic.  In this presentation, he talks about using Hip Hop Pedagogy to engage students in learning.  He is a dynamic teacher who knows how to talk with people.


I must admit that I was a little disappointed in his work because he was just talking about teachers talking with students. His Hip Hop talk was about how to make lecturing more engaging. My question is that maybe the problem is in the pedagogical structure where the basis of the teaching is lecturing. I would like to see less lecturing and more student-based interaction with content.

I found his Dr. Emdin's website and Dr. Emdin is a prolific writer and engaging speaker who makes learning interesting. The only question that I have is that if the students are just listening to a teacher rap, where is their proactive learning occurring? I watched another of his videos where he talked about students sharing their ideas on a blackboard wall, but what were the projects that they were completing? Should a learner's sense of engagement be based upon how well a teacher can speak or how well teachers can challenge students to create projects to solve problems.

I watched another of his videos and he talked about more student-based learning:


I don't know much about Dr. Emdin's Hip Hop learning, but he appears to be a man who is addressing change in education and will be well worth following.

What else should we know about his work and vision?

What do you know?

Looking for a Career? Join Us for the UNI Connect-A-Tech Webinar Series: Instructional Designers

This marks the beginning of a series of UNI Connect-A-Tech Webinars where we will be talking with Instructional Technology alumni who are working as professionals in their fields of choice.

You will have the opportunity to interact with them through a video conferencing system.  Read the information below to see how you can be involved through a video conference, on your phone, or come to our classroom at UNI (Schindler Education Center 405).

If you have questions:  Contact Nikki Lyons or use the comments below.

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UNI Connect-A-Tech Webinar Series: Instructional Designers

Wondering what it takes to be an Instructional Designer?  Here is your opportunity to meet with successful instructional designers and ask them the questions you want to know about the profession.
You can connect with UNI Instructional Technology alumni who work in fields that you plan to pursue after graduation. Through talking with the professionals, you can develop an understanding of the skills and perspectives necessary for pursuing your career. This webinar will feature:

• Nelson Rokke, Instructional Designer with WebFilings, LLC, http://www.nelsonrokke.com/
• Isandra Martinez-Marrero, Lead Instructional Designer, Division of Continuing Education, University of Iowa

When:  Thursday, April 17  from noon - 1:00 (Central Daylight Time) Where:  You will be able to experience this online, on the phone or in a  UNI classroom (SEC 403) Online:      Please click this URL to start or join.  https://uni.zoom.us/j/647853488       Or, go to https://uni.zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 647 853 488 Dial-in Phone:   Dial: +1 (415) 762-9988 or +1 (646) 568-7788      Meeting ID: 647 853 488      Participant ID: Shown after joining the meeting International numbers available:   https://uni.zoom.us/zoomconference UNI Classroom:  Schindler Education Center 403

Follow Us on Twitter:  #UNIConTech

8 Biggest Challenges that Teachers Face Today

The folks over at Emerging Ed Tech recently did a survey of their readers to find out what they wanted to know about education and Instructional technology. They had 160 replies which is a good response.  

This table is a list of their results.  Some of the issues are standard issues, but it looks like they are feeling the challenges of integrating 21st Century Learning strategies in their classrooms.  Admittedly, this is not a cross-section of all teachers, because there is a specific group of teachers who read their website.  These teachers are forward looking.  They are the ones who are trying to improve their leaching/learning environments. They are the ones who go to conferences and are continually reading and watching and connecting. 

I look at the list and and all of them are concerns of mine.   How does this fit what challenges you in your teaching?

ITEC Student Technology Fair Makes it in the News!

 

The success of the ITEC Student Tech Fair was shared in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in an article entitled Fair Brings Students Together to Share Their Technology Projects.    

Click on the link above to view 4 wonderful photos of students at the fair and read interviews with students, teachers and those who made the fair possible.

TWITTER at the Fair:  View the multiple tweets for all three of the fairs by following the #itecfair hashtag

ITEC Student Technology Fair Showed Exceptional Students Sharing Exceptional Projects!!!!

On Friday, we hosted the ITEC Student Technology Fair at the University of Northern Iowa. ITEC is the Iowa Technology and Education Connection organization for teachers who are interested in educational technology. Every year we sponsor 3 student technology fairs across the state: Ames, Sioux City and Cedar Falls.  These student technology fairs provide a venue for students from 3rd - 12th grade to share what they have been doing with technology.  It's not about the technology but it's about what students can achieve and explore with these tools.

This year's Cedar Falls fair was incredible. The quality of work was beyond anything that I have ever seen at our fairs. The students ranged from 8 to 18 years old. They displayed imagination and innovation that exceeded past years' fairs. Blue and Red ribbons are awarded, but Purple Ribbons are presented to exceptional projects that "stand out" from the rest. The Purple Ribbon award winners are invited to present their projects at our October ITEC conference in Des Moines. Purple Ribbons were awarded to 5 of the 46 projects displayed. This is a higher ratio than ever before.

The projects included:

• A team of 13 year olds from the Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta Middle School (in Waterloo) who had learned the Python programming language on their own and created an anti-abduction program. The intent was to create a program for a safety button that would send GPS coordinates to a parent if a child gets in trouble and presses the button. They were already working with law enforcement to develop this project.
• Students from Metro Alternative High School in Cedar Rapids who were using CNC programming to run a mill to create molds for making candy bars advertising the school. They had just begun another project where they were created molded soap that said "Wash Away Stereotypes." 
• Students from Grinnell High School who had "hard coded" a website entitled Permissions Impossible which worked as an online dictionary describing app permissions. 
• A 16-year "George Lucas" from Maquoketa High School who uses the Adobe Creative Suite to create an amazing video, Technology in School. 
• A 17-year old from Oelwein High School who had created 3D images to redesign a oil refinery for a company in Arizona. 

Beyond that, we had students who were creating solar systems, writing music, developing mathematical games, exploring MineCraft, connecting with President Obama, running robots, designing homes, animating book reports, and informing others about cancer.

 

It was an extraordinary fair with extraordinary projects by extraordinary people. 

I hope that you can attend our fair next year. It will be in early April. 

Do your students get an opportunity to participate in a Student Technology Fair such as this?

Z

R U Following Education Twitter Chats?

Twitter is an exciting means of communication but it is an ongoing flow of information through a twitter river.  You don't always catch all of the posts because you may not be online when  relevant posts flow by.  Wouldn't it be exciting if you could get together with a number of like-minded educators to discuss what is on your mind?

ENTER TWITTER CHAT . .  .
A Twitter Chat (or Tweet Chat) is actually a Twitter conversation that revolves around one unique hashtag.  Like-minded tweeters (professionals, fans, friends) tweet at a predetermined time using a specified hashtag. This can be an overwhelming event with #hashtagged postings hyperspeeding by. 
 
This event can be controlled if you use a Twitter Chat tool like TweetChat.   TweetChat is a tool that captures the relevant tweets and places them on the screen for you to read and reply. 
NOTE: I am now using tchat.io for engaging in Twitter Chats.  I was having some problems with Tweetchat and tchat.io has been problem-free for me so far. (3/1/15)

Even with these wonderful tools, I have lost track of the "Twitter Train of Thought." A friend of mine told me that the strategy for getting the most out of a Twitter Chat:

"To successfully experience a Twitterchat, you should identify a handful of participants that make sense to you and follow them during the session. Find some new people to follow on Twitter for the future. After the session, you can get more information from the event by returning to the transcript and mining more nuggets of information."

I just spent an hour with Iowa Educators at #iaedchat tonight.  They had 5 questions that were used to direct the discussion throughout the evening.  There were a great number of dedicated educators who were sharing their ideas and opinions on good teaching.  GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

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Here are a number of Education Tweetchats listed by day and time (Eastern Standard Time.)  There are MANY more Tweetchats available in the resources at the end of this posting: 

Sunday
9 pm ET            #iaedchat        Iowa Education Chat   (Bettendorf & Fairfield)

Monday
7 pm ET            #engchat         English Chat
7 pm ET            #sschat           Social Studies Chat
8 pm ET            #edtechchat    Educational Tech Chat
8 pm ET            #flipclass         Flipped Classroom Chat
9 pm ET            #kinderchat     Kindergarten Chat
9 pm ET            #tlap                Teach Like a Pirate Chat

Tuesday
12 pm ET          #edchat           Education Chat
7   pm ET          #edchat           Education Chat
9  pm ET           #spedchat       Special Education Chat

Wednesday
9 pm ET            #ECETechchat  Early Childhood Ed Chat (added 3/1/15)
2nd & 4th week #digcit             Digital Citizenship Chat
@ 7 pm ET

Thursday
Noon ET            #edtechex      Ed Tech Examples
8 pm ET             #tichat            Technology Integrators

Friday
7 pm ET             #gtchat           Gifted and Talented Chat
7 pm ET             #satchatOC    Saturday Ed Chat in Oceana (Around Australia)

Saturday
7:30 am ET        #satchat                  Education and Leadership
2 pm ET             #globalclassroom    Global Classroom (2nd Sat of month) 

References
Bearden, S.  (9/23/13) 13 Great Twitter Chats Every Educator Should Check Out  
ChatSalad     Realtime Homepage for Twitter Chats
Cybrary Man    Education Chats on Twitter 
Smarty, A (May 8, 2012) 5 Steps to Hosting Successful Twitter Chats: Your Ultimate Guide. 
Weekly Twitter Chats   - This is a schedule of chats on a weekly basis.  HUGE list of topics.
Which TwitterChats do you like to follow?  Share your suggestions in the comments section.

Cult of Pedagogy ROCKS Diigo Tutorial for Education

Wow!!!  I just found a trilogy of YouTube videos done by the Cult of Pedagogy that do an awesome job of giving educators an introduction to Diigo.    This is an endeavor by Jennifer Gonzalez who proclaims "Teacher Nerds, UNITE!!!"

Do you use Diigo?  I have for many years for personal use, but I don't think that I ever really appreciated what I could do with my students. Yes, I have taught about various tagging strategies et al, but I didn't really "get it." Having watched Jennifer's videos on Diigo, I am further along the journey now.  

I know that Diigo has their own tutorials, but they seem to be more interested in selling the product by overwhelming you with all of the bells and whistles rather than providing us with useable instructions.

Tutorial Trilogy
This 7-minute video provides an introduction to using Diigo to research.  She takes you through the sign-on process. She does a good job of showing us how to bookmark a site. It's quick and easy.  She even shows how you can include a highlight and sticky note in your newly discovered website. I like that her demonstrations are well planned and not too entailed. I like how she shows you how to add links to a list and how to organize them once they are there. The only piece that could have been improved would have been to spend a little time showing newbees how to add the Diigo apps (Diigolet, etc) to your browser. 

Part 2 of this trilogy is an important video. It shows how to use Diigo Groups to engage in online collaboration.  This is quite valuable in your classes. She shows how students can join Diigo Groups that are relevant to what they are studying (i.e., Hamlet). As students research, they can Diigo-mark a site and then share it with their group. (i.e, student finds an analysis if Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy, Diigo-marks it and then adds it to the Hamlet group so that the other students have access.) She even explains how this can be the basis of an on-going, online discussion between the students on specific topics concerning Hamlet.

  

 The final episode of this trilogy is unique because it explains how teachers can use the special classroom organization tools that are available through a free Educator Diigo upgrade. She tells you how to upgrade your account to an educator status and then how to use those tools.  She demonstrates how educators can use the Teacher Console create student accounts and organize them in groups. This system has a strong privacy system that will protect student's identities. I haven't seen this demonstrated before and found this quite informative.

  

How are you using Diigo?  Are you using it to support your students doing collaborative research?  If you don't think that you are doing it "justice",  review these videos and  forge ahead.

Please share how you use Diigo or how you envision it making a difference in your learning environment.

Moving Away from "Teaching" Toward Empowering Students

Vicki Davis is a Cool Cat Teacher.  Actually she is THE Cool Cat Teacher.  You may have heard of her blog, CoolCatTeacher.com  It is the most visited education blog followed on the planet. 

Fortunately I had the opportunity to meet Vicki a few years ago and become good friends over the year. I am in absolute awe of her as a teacher, blogger, educator, motivator and organizer (do you know that she has over 100 people come to her house for Thanksgiving and she LOVES it!!!)

One of Vicki's latest projects is her Every Classroom Matters Podcast through the BAM!RadioNetwork. Vicki uses this podcast to interview a variety of educators from around the world about their areas of passion. These 10-minute interviews range from 21st Century Learning to Financial Literacy to Empowering Students.  Fascinating stuff.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Mrs. Davis.  She asked me some interesting questions about my teaching philosophies and practices. She wanted to know about how I interact with students and what happens in my classes. In listening to the interview, it turns out that she didn't have to ask me too many questions at all because I just kept talking . . .

Anyway, here is the link to the interview.  I would suggest that you click on the iTunes link to listen to it.

Listen to the podcast by clicking below: 

It is #6 in the iTunes list. They named it "Steps away from Teaching . . . "

Moving Away from "Teaching" 
Toward Empowering Students
Audio Interview with Dr. Z

Has the Knowledge Navigator Come True with Siri or Her?

Way Way Way back in the late 80s, Apple had a vision for computing called the Knowledge Navigator.  This dream had a certain 2001 Space Odyssey HAL aspect to it because you, the user could hold a discussion with your computer as it helped you solve your problems.

I was watching an old 12-minute Apple video called the Knowledge Navigator (1987) where a professor is working with his DynaBook to plan his day. (The DynaBook is a laptop conceived by Alan Kay in 1968.) Wouldn't it be wonderful to have this type of interaction with your computer?




Did you notice that the professor said that the article he needed was 5 years old?  When his DynaBook found it, it turned out that that article was written in 2006.  Add 5 years to that and you get 2011. That's not very far away from today. Are we actually living that today?

I have been exploring the many faces of Siri on my iPhone. I have been amazed about how I can ask Siri to set an alarm, search for a recipe, add an expense to a specific note, make a call to my wife, but I was BLOWN AWAY by some of the options I found when researching this post.  Here are some of the requests you can ask of Siri: (Found these at Imgur.com)

• Show me the roster for the Giants
• Did the University of Northern Iowa win last night?
• What does the rest of my day look like?
• Where is my next meeting?
• Move my 3:00 meeting to 4:30
• Tell my wife I'll be right there.
• Open Facebook

The one that really knocked me on my ear was when I said "Phone my wife, Kathy Klink-Zeitz." Before Siri made the call, she said "So Kathy Klink-Zeitz is your wife?  I will make a note of that." Ever since, I don't need to mention Kathy's name.  Just need to say "Phone my wife."

This is VERY close to what we saw the professor doing in his office in the video above.

I just saw the movie, "Her", where a whole operating system is blessed with artificial intelligence and a specific human (Theodore) falls in love with his computer because she (Samantha) is listening to everything he is saying and responding.  Is this our destined future?  How will education be affected by such a system?

Imagine an interactive system that would listen to the voice of learners and provide learning opportunities (notice that I didn't say "Instructional Programs" because it can be SOOOO much more) that will fit our learners' needs.  This doesn't mean that these systems would give the answers.  It just means that it could provide additional challenges and scaffolding as necessary.

What do you think?  Where is this all going?  

Have we achieved the Knowledge Navigator level or is there far to go from here?

Z

What Happens in the Internet in a Minute?

We all know that the Internet is a busy place.

It is difficult to comprehend that 1,407,724,920 people use the internet each day.  Sometimes it is necessary to reduce the frequency of activities down to a more understandable level of a single minute.

What really brings it home is an Info-Graphic like the one below. This image is filled with content that you might appreciate on your own or use them to amaze your students or your next keynote audience.

 Click on the image to enlarge it.

lifehack.org

Send Dr. Z a VoiceMail

I was just reading a posting by my friend, Vicki Davis (AKA CoolCatTeacher). She was mentioning that she had been having a lot of fun with her readers sending her voicemail through her blog.  She was using the SpeakPipe voicemail gadget.

Seemed like a lot of fun so I just installed it on Dr. Z Reflects as well.
Look to the right you should see a black tab that says "Send Voicemail".

Click on the tab and you follow the directions to send me a voicemail.  I would love to learn what you would like me to share on Dr. Z Reflects.

Have a wonderful New Year and I hope that have been able to spend the holidays with those you love.