Category: NECC08

Here is the third of five submissions I made for NECC 2008. My previous two submissions were really focused on helping teachers learn – rather than helping teachers to teach. This session, though, is my effort at a more teaching centered session. It combines elements of my three-hour Two-Way Teaching workshops from last year and the new 20 minute Blogs, Wikis, and Google Docs CUE Tips session I submitted last month for the 2008 CUE conference. I hope the combination works. Let me know what you think.

Title:

Two-way Teaching with the Two-Way Web: Blogs, Wikis, & Docs

Description:

Learn when to use blogs, wikis, or Google Docs with your students, parents, and community! Clear up your lingering confusion. Includes pedagogy, ethics, and safety.

Outline:

An interactive welcome activity will begin this session. An overview of the two-way teaching concept (in which teachers are learners and learners are teachers) will follow. The presenter will then briefly introduce participants to the two-way web and it’s effect on education. The specific tools of blogs, wikis, and Google Docs will be briefly introduced, compared and contrasted. This segment will focus on the unique features and limitations of teach tool, and on the ways in which these tools may overlap in function or be redundant. (A comparison chart will be included.) This will be followed by an overview of best practices using blogs in education, including many examples. Next, best practices using wikis in education will be shared, again including several examples. Also, best practices and examples will be shared for the use of Google Docs. Following these illustrations, the presenter will then share several “rules of thumb” for when to use a blog, when to use a wiki, and when to use Google Docs. Before concluding the session, issues related to the ethical and safe use of these tools will also be addressed. Finally, an interactive reflection activity will bring closure to the session.

I also included the interactive elements of a Google presentation, a wiki, and a possible webcast in this submission. And once again, in the interest of sharing – and in hopes of receiving feedback – I’ve made an archive of the complete submission available, too:

Two-Way Teaching (NECC 2008 Submission)

I look forward to any feedback you might leave in the comments.

Here is the second of five submissions I made for NECC 2008. At first glance this session looks a lot like the one I shared yesterday, but I consider the focus and the audience to be different. In the case of yesterday’s session it’s focused on folks who actually want to “Be An Edublogger” so to speak. This one I see more as a focused on a skill that all teachers can benefit from. Too, the previous session was very much focused on the tools of the trade, whereas this session is all about looking beyond the tools to the life-long skills. Also, this session has more of an academic foundation in social constructivism.

In any case, I am indepted to a tweet from Steve Dembo in which he simply pronounced that it was no longer important to teach teachers how to use the tools, but rather we needed to teach them how to access a learning network – or something along those lines. (I’d link to the tweet, but that is no longer possible – at least this morning.) And again, I’d love to hear what any of you think of this.

Title:

Learning to Network & Networking to Learn: Beyond The Tools…

Description:

There’s always new web tools, but it’s more important to become part of an online learning network than to master any specific tool. Learn how.

Outline:

An interactive welcome activity will begin this session. The presenter will then provide a brief overview of social constructivist learning theory, including the concepts of socially negotiated meaning making and the zone of proximal development. This portion of the session will draw on work by constructivists such as Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner – and on work by explicitly constructivist educational technologists such as Papert and Jonassen. It will conclude by connecting these theories to the recent work of read/write web enthusiasts such as Will Richardson and David Warlick. Then participants will be introduced to ways in which tools such as blogs, social networking, social microblogging, and instant messaging can support such learning. The presenter will share anecdotes from his personal experience as a teacher-turned-educational-technologist. The theme of these stories will switch the focus of the session to the overriding importance of making connections and making contributions, regardless of the tool being used. Finally, the presenter will share concrete ideas for how participants, too, can make connections and make contributions as they grow their own online learning network. The session will conclude with an interactive reflection activity.

In the interest of sharing – and in hopes of receiving feedback – I’ve made an archive of the complete submission available, too:

Learning to Network & Networking to Learn (NECC 2008 Submission)

If you check it out, you’ll notice I also included the same interactive elements as I mentioned yesterday: a Google Docs preso and a wiki with a possible webcast. :)

I hope you’ll feel free to leave me any comments, suggestions, or other feedback. Unlike the previous submission, I know I’ll get to give this one a few times. I’ve used a version of this idea for my upcoming keynotes at local CUE affiliates in the Cochella Valley this Saturday October 6th and in San Diego on November 3rd… so your feedback will have a chance to get used – and soon.

Here is the first of five submissions I made for NECC 2008. As I shared earlier, for me this is an opportunity to dream it all up again and infuse new life into my repertoire of presentations and workshops. Like the other four submissions I made, this session is one I have never presented before. (I figure at this point, there are literally hundreds of people who can lead workshops on blogs, wikis, podcasting, RSS, and so forth.) In this case, though, I submitted something very similar for the 2008 CUE conference last month. With a few more weeks to chew on these ideas I think this has become an even better submission. I’m also aware that this could come off as most arrogant submission I’ve ever made – so I hope it’s seen as me just wanting to share with others what I’ve learned and what has worked to some degree in my experience. Teachers often ask me about this sort of thing, so I thought it might make a good session. Let me know what you think.

Title:

Be an Edublogger: Techniques for Joining a Global Learning Community

Description:

Read, write, reflect, and respond! Hundreds of educators around the world network and learn using online tools. Discover how you too can connect and contribute.

Outline:

An interactive welcome activity will begin this session. Then the presenter will briefly introduce participants to the read/write web, blogs, and the blogosphere. This will be followed by an overview of what makes edublogging, edubloggers, and the edublogosphere different. Participants will then learn about a combination of tools that they can use to become a member of the edublogging culture. A brief overview of blogging (using edublogs.org) will include a discussion of best practices and blogging ethics. Tips for commenting will be covered as well. A quick introduction to reading RSS feeds (using bloglines.com) will follow, complete with tips for organizing and processing the deluge of information. Then the participants will learn about a trio of social tools: social bookmarking (using del.icio.us), social networking (using ning.com), and social microblogging (using twitter.com); in each case they will see how the tool can be used to connect with other educators. Finally, a brief discussion of instant messaging and videochatting (using skype.com) will complete the list of tools. The session will conclude with a discussion of the edublogging process and key edublogging philosophies, such as the focus on making connections and making contributions. An interactive reflection activity will follow.

In the interest of sharing – and in hopes of receiving feedback – I’ve made an archive of the complete submission available, too:

Be An Edublogger (NECC 2008 Submission).

The thing I’m most excited about though is this bit I appended to the outline portion of the submission:

Interactive Elements: This was not submitted as a bring your own laptop session because a laptop is not necessary. However, participants with their own laptop will be able to take advantage of many interactive elements. Presentation of concepts and examples will take place using a Google Docs presentation and a wiki. Participants will be able to chat synchronously throughout the session using the Google presentation, and they will be able to post and share their own examples (and questions) on the wiki both during and after the session. In addition, the presentation and wiki urls will be posted to twitter (and at edtechlife.com) so that edubloggers from around the world (including those in attendance elsewhere in the conference) will be able to contribute their insights in the chat and on the wiki as well. If the network connection in the room permits, the audio (or video) of the session will also be webcast so that the virtual attendees can hear (and see) what is happening in the room. This session will model teaching and learning in a permeable classroom.

As usual, I’d be thrilled to get any feedback, suggestions, or comments on this idea. I know that the more I share with others about this session the better it will be by the time I get to present it (if I get to present it, that is). Please leave a comment with your thoughts.