Are you preparing your students for the jobs of the future?

Last month I received an email from someone at the Institute for the Future, a think tank in Palo Alto, CA that contracts with companies to forecast future trends.  In their email to me they said they were working for a major handset manufacturer (i.e. cell phone maker) to, as they put it, “undercover leading edge behaviors and tech enablers that will help inform and shape their future products and services.”  Apparently they had been following my classroom audio updates on www.mrtalmadge.com after reading a blog post about my use of Cinch, a podcast by phone service that I used last year.   Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was listening to Marketplace on the radio when I heard an interview with Marina Gorbis, executive director of IFTF on a series that Marketplace was doing about “Jobs of the Future”.  Isn’t it funny how something you’ve never heard of can pop into your life multiple times like that within a short period of time?  Anyhow, you can listen to the story here, but I was struck by the fact that, according to Gorbis and other future job experts, the skills our workers will need are predicted to be more creative, higher order thinking  kinds of skills.  That got me thinking, how are teachers in classrooms providing students with the kinds of experiences that teach these skills?  In what way can teachers leverage technology to help teach these 21^st century skills?  And too, when I was in the classroom, was I providing student with expereinces that would help them gain the necessary skills for the future job market?  The report went on to say:

“That's why Gorbis says emphasize creative problem-solving. Schools can teach it; it's usually done in group exercises. They can take a lot of class time, but Gorbis says creative problem-solving is a key to innovation, and a necessary skill in a lot of the new jobs created by all those smart machines that are destroying some old jobs.”

Ultimately, if and when I make it back to the classroom, I have no choice but to do a better job designing lessons and activities that force students to work together, utilize technology and  be more creative in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written Notes from Art Costa Coaching Presentation

Written-Pages-2010-11-03-12-38-18.pdf

What Can Adults Learn from Children

As a follow up to my previous post, here's some video of the first child to present at a TED sponsored talk.  She makes some great points about what children have to offer society that we adults often can't...

 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-bjOJzB7LY?wmode=transparent] 

Tedx in Redmond Today

I heard a story on the radio on my way to work yesterday about a Redmond, WA girl who was the brainchild behind a Ted Talks style event by kids, for kids and about kids.  Check out a promo:

 

Tedx Redmond - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Edmodo: Crowdsourcing for the Classroom

Over the last few years as a middle school language arts and social studies teacher, I have experimented with many web 2.0 tools—from wiki’s to wordle; diigo to dabbleboard and everything in between.  In fact, I was such a proliferous early adopter that my students actually yearned to go back to using paper and pencil!  “Can’t we just write in our notebooks and turn it in to you?” I’d hear them say after 10 days of researching with wikispaces or creating a shared whiteboard on dabbleboard.   To be sure, though, after a few days of the “old” way back in their classroom desks working out of notebooks, they were ready to get back to using the laptops and/or computer lab.  

Now, if I were to suggest one of the many resources I tried with my students last year to a teacher wishing to truly transform their teaching, I know hands down which one I’d choose:  Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) .  Edmodo is a social networking tool (a’ la facebook) designed specifically for the classroom.  It has many features that can be used both in the classroom during lessons, but also out of the classroom as a communication piece.   However, the number one reason to use Edmodo is that it allows the teacher take advantage of crowdsourcing (a business term used to suggest web 2.0 collaboration) in the classroom.  Indeed, this is the real genius of Edmodo.  By providing a forum where students can easily be a source of information for each other, the teacher is leveraging the “wisdom of the crowd” to borrow the title of James Surowiecki’s recent book.  For example, imagine that a student is absent one day.  He could get onto the class social network and make a post asking what the assignment was that day.  Another student could respond with her interpretation of what the teacher wanted.  Still another student could reply (all of this occurs as a “threaded discussion”, see below) with additional thoughts so the absent student is able to know exactly what the assignment was.  The student could also send you, the teacher, a direct message via that Edmodo feature, but doesn’t it make sense in terms of efficiency to let the students help each other out?  Here’s an example threaded discussion on edmodo:

 

                As with any technology tool, there are limitations.  If students are really taking advantage of edmodo to communicate, it can be hard to monitor every single post.  Here again, however, because all student postings are publicly viewable by every member of the class, the “crowd” becomes a powerful resource for the teacher (e.g.  “Mr. Talmadge, Johnny made fun of Suzie on edmodo last night…”  Ultimately, in my experience, I found that the drawback of having to spend time monitoring posts was far outweighed by the beauty of a tool that allowed me to have a controlled environment in which to help my students be responsible digital citizens in a social network environment. (for more on digital citizenship see www.digitalcitizenship.net).

 

The Importance of Language to Learning

I hope that most teachers are aware of the importance of vocabulary on one's ability to learn new concepts (see Marzano to learn more), but I just listened to an amazing Radiolab  podcast that explores the interplay between language and thought.  Of particular interest to me was the description of how a teacher thought to teach the concept of names to a 27 year old Mayan man who had lived his entire life devoid of sound and the way that adults were reduced to rat like thinking when their brain was overhelmed.

I encourage you to listen when you get the chance....

radiolab_podcast802word.mp3

 

Can You Teach Emotional Intelligence? Behind the Movement for Social and Emotional Learning

via yesmagazine.org

Interesting that students with a foundation in SEL scored higher on standardized tests. I wonder if more students had this kind of foundation in the primary grades would we see a decrease bullying behaviors at the secondary level?

Research Dispels Common Ed-Tech Myths

via committedsardine.com

This is an interesting piece of research that suggests new teachers are no more likely to use technology than are veteran teachers even though they may use it more in their personal lives. Is this because we teach as we were taught and school has traditionally been a place where one is required to "power down"?

Bring on the learning revolution!: Sir Ken Robinson on TED.com

This video has been on the web for awhile (so I'm a little late to the party), but I just had the chance to listen to the talk in the car yesterday while taking my boys to the zoo.?? I really liked the speaker's explanation of how education needs to move from an industrialized model where we standardize content, to an agricultural model where the content and delivery is customized and organic to each learner.

Why "Change Course" Blog Title?

I thought long and hard about what to call my new professional blog. ??I brainstormed a huge list of possible titles, everything from ???Digital Dispatch??? to ???Techknowledgy??? to ???The Change Up???--a reference to my days as a baseball pitcher. ??I wanted something that would be catchy, but that would also represent the main ideas I would be writing about. ??Initially, I decided on ???Learning Matters???. ??However, when I did a Google search for the term, I discovered that it was used by both bloggers and coporations alike. ??I also wanted something that I could easily create a Twitter account for and, potentially, a domain name as well. ?????Learning Matters??? had to be scratched, having already been used in both respects. ??So I went back to the drawing board and continued brainstorming. ??

Another factor that went into play was the way that RSS readers catalog/organize feeds. ??When I read blog posts using Google Reader on my blackberry, the feeds are organized alphabetically. Often, I only read the ones that are at the top of the list. So, I wanted my title to contain a first letter that was somewhere near the top of the alphabet. ??

Another concern ??was how the title would represent my ideas. ??I am starting a new job this fall as a technology specialist, but I didn???t want my blog to be just about technology. ??So I scratched any titles that contained references to technology (I will definitely have a tech blog that the teachers I work with can subscribe to for ???how to??? explanations. ??In fact, I???ve set one up and have called it ???Mr. T???s Tech Tips???-http://www.mrttips.posterous.com.)

I finally decided on ???Change Course??? for a couple of reasons. ??For one, it starts with ???C??? and will get my blog to the top of alphabetized lists. ??Second, it communicates the idea of change. ????I will be writing about how education can happen differently and I want to gain a readership of those around the world who also want to change the system. Then there???s that word ???course???, which has a double meaning. ??It can be a synonym for ???class???, as in a place where learning happens, but it can also stand for a direction or a path to follow. ??And when you put both words together you get the idea of a ship???s captain charting a course (notice I also use a compass rose logo as well) and realizing that it may be necessary to ???Change Course.??? ??I do believe that we can???t just keep doing things in the classroom the way we???ve been doing it. ??So, I hope that my blog can be a place where we ponder how teaching and learning can ???change course??? for the 21st century.

Thoughts on "Spoiled Rotten", Alfie Kohn Washington Post Article

Here's an interesting article by anti assessment and grades in school crusader Alfie Kohn.?? He refutes the claims by many (I know that I have thought it many times) who seem to think that today's kids are too coddled by their parents.?? I know that each generation decry's the way successive generations are raised, but I do wonder what kind of effect technology, specifically social networking sites like twitter, working in combination with cell phones will have on a whole generation growing up thinking that what they're doing at the moment is so important that everyone wants to know.?? And too, when I see kids who are with friends or parents but have their attention on text messaging their "network" rather than actually spending quality time with the people physically around them at the moment, I cringe (make no mistake, I am guilty of this as well).?? I can't help but wonder, are we in the process of creating the most narcissistic generation in history?

http://www.alfiekohn.org/miscellaneous/spoiling.htm

??

Web 3.0: The way forward?

There are some nice charts/diagrams that show the difference between web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and beyond in this presentation. I am not sure if teachers, or even if most technology specialists for that matter can explain the difference.?? I know that I might have a hard time trying to put it in to words.?? The question is, how will the change to web 3.0, particularly the use of small portable computing devices, affect the way teaching and learning happens.

http://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/web-30-the-way-forward"

Cyberbullying 2010: What the Research Tells Us

via slideshare.net

Some interesting statistics in this recent Pew report. My question is, if we can't keep kids from bullying and harassing each other at school, how are we going to keep it from happening online?

Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense | Video on TED.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

So, I am sure many people have already seen this presentation.?? But as I was watching I could't help but think about the possiblities for education, both from a teacher presentation perspective in terms of not needing a stylus and the ability to quicky pull in data from the web, but also from a learner perspective in the sense that a student could be explaining their response or reaction to a questions and the Sixth Sense device would enable to them to really show what they were trying to say.?? Very cool...I wonder what improvements have been made since this was unveiled last March...

Test Picture Post

Interesting Study

I would really like to help my district not be one of the 80% that
under utilizes already available technology...

Study Shows Which TechnologyFactors Improve Learning News Highlights;
1) Technology-assistedclasses help students stay in school -
reducingdrop-out rates, 2) Schools with 1:1 learningprograms, when
properly implemented, havebetter education success than do schools
withfewer computing devices and poorimplementation 3) But 80% of
schoolsunder-utilize technologies they have alreadypurchased.Denver CO
(PRWEB) June 28, 2010 -- At ISTE 2010,the Project RED Team
(Revolutionizing Education)announced findings from their major survey
of nearly1,000 school principals and technology coordinators. ???The
most exciting findings were identification ofwhich implementation
factors improve learningPRWeb eBooks - Another online visibility tool
from PRWebPage 2outcomes,??? said Tom Greaves, CEO of the GreavesGroup
and founder of the initiative. Technology-assisted classes help
students stay inschool - reducing drop-out rates - The most important
factor that Project RED foundin reducing drop-out rates is using
technologyfrequently in intervention classes. Students in
readingintervention, special education, Title I (povertyprogram) and
English Language Learners benefit fromthe individualized instruction
that technology canprovide best.- Principal leadership is the second
most importantfactor in reducing dropout rates. Change
managementrequires trained and committed leaders who are able toPage
2/11If you have any questions regarding information in these press
releasesplease contact the company listed in the press release. Our
completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another online
visibility toolfrom PRWebPage 3drive the school culture in new
directions. Principalswho model and lead technology usage are
associatedwith schools with reduced dropout rates.- Daily use of
technology in core classes is the thirdmost important factor. Just as
students can takecontrol of their iPod, they also want to take control
oftheir learning. Student engagement is one of theserious issues
facing schools withhigh-entertainment-value options available
elsewhere, ???We found that technology-infused classes in coresubject
areas, such as science and math, and inintervention classes such as
Reading, Title I, EnglishLanguage Learners and special education, were
asignificant factor in improvement. They were KeyImplementation
Factors in higher high stakes test scoreimprovements, dropout rate
reduction,, and improveddiscipline, tied with low students per
computer ratios, ???said Jeanne Hayes, President of the Hayes
ConnectionPage 3/11If you have any questions regarding information in
these press releasesplease contact the company listed in the press
release. Our completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another
online visibility toolfrom PRWebPage 4and co-author of the
study.Schools with 1:1 learning programs have bettereducation success
than do schools with fewercomputing devices.Schools with one computing
device per student alsoperformed significantly better than schools
with higherratios, such as 3 students per computer. - Schools with 1:1
programs reported a 15 pointreduction in disciplinary actions and a 13
point decrease in dropout rates as compared to all otherschools.-
Schools with properly implemented programs ???those with frequent use of
collaboration and onlinetesting for improvement - found even greater
gains. Compared to all 1:1 schools, properly implementedprograms
report a 15 point gain in high stakes testscore improvement and even
larger improvements inPage 4/11If you have any questions regarding
information in these press releasesplease contact the company listed
in the press release. Our completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb
eBooks - Another online visibility toolfrom PRWebPage 5graduation
rates and college attendance plans. ???In our practice, we see how
personalization andindividualization of instruction work best
whenstudents have 100% access to a computing device,???says Leslie
Wilson, President of One-to-One Institute,a non-profit focused on
professional development fortechnology integration and a co-author of
the study. ???Schools with devices can help students learn, butproper
implementation drives even greater gains,???observed Michael Gielniak,
Ph.D., a One-to-OneInstitute staff member. ???These findings are
particularlysignificant, in light of the national agenda foreducation
reform.???But 80% of schools under-utilize technologies theyhave already
paid for.In studying Key Implementation Factors, the ProjectRED team
found that not one school deployed all fivePage 5/11If you have any
questions regarding information in these press releasesplease contact
the company listed in the press release. Our completedisclaimer
appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another online visibility toolfrom
PRWebPage 6of the leading indicators of technology-infusededucation
success. To communicate these importantfindings, Project RED will
include a Best Practicesdownload from the report at no charge on its
web site. The key factors are:- Intervention classes (Reading
intervention, specialeducation, Title I, and English Language
Learners): Technology is integrated into every class. Individualized
learning through technology helpsstruggling students.- Principal
enables teachers??? Professional Learning,encourages collaboration and
leads changemanagement. Good principals give teachers the toolsthey
need to teach in a new environment.- Games/Simulations and Social
Media - Studentsutilize technology daily. Leveraging the curiosity
andhighly social nature of students keeps them in school.- Daily use
of technology in core subject areaclasses Personalized learning with
technology engagesPage 6/11If you have any questions regarding
information in these press releasesplease contact the company listed
in the press release. Our completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb
eBooks - Another online visibility toolfrom PRWebPage 7students.-
Online Assessment: Frequent pinpointing of areasfor improvement help
students learn.About the Study: The Project RED study providesunique
scope, breadth, and depth. To our knowledge,this is the largest study
of its kind of the current use ofed tech in schools.- 997 schools,
representative of the US schooluniverse - 11 diverse Education Success
Measures - 136 independent variables in 22 categories - Comparison of
findings by students per computerratios - Comprehensive demographic
data correlated tosurvey results The study will be available in August
in a report to bepublished by MDR, a D&B company. The findingswill be
presented at sessions at ISTE on June 28 toPage 7/11If you have any
questions regarding information in these press releasesplease contact
the company listed in the press release. Our completedisclaimer
appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another online visibility toolfrom
PRWebPage 8educators and media.About Project RED: Project RED is an
ambitiousresearch project aimed at addressing two major issuesrelated
to education in America. www.ProjectRED.org- Improving student
achievement. While almostevery other market segment has seen
substantialimprovements attributed to technology, publiceducation has
seen only isolated benefits. This studyseeks to define technology
models that can lead toimprovements in student achievement. -
Evaluating the total financial impact of technologyon state budgets.
To date, little work has been done,beyond assessing costs, to show the
connectionbetween educational technology and positive financialimpact.
It is time to look at cost savings, costavoidance and revenue
enhancements which are directresults of investments in educational
technology. Page 8/11If you have any questions regarding information
in these press releasesplease contact the company listed in the press
release. Our completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another
online visibility toolfrom PRWebPage 9With Intel as its lead sponsor
and additional supportfrom Apple, the Pearson Foundation, Qwest,
andeChalk, this project has defined a model for successthat can be
replicated by schools across the country toassure both improvements in
academic performanceand financial value from future education
technologyinvestments. Supporters of the study include NSBA(National
School Boards Association), AASA(American Association of School
Administrators),ASBO (Association of School Business
OfficialsInternational), SETDA (State Education TechnologyDirectors
Association), CoSN (Consortium for SchoolNetworking), iNACOL
(International Association forOnline Learning), and ISTE
(International Society forTechnology in Education), About the Project
RED Team: The leadership forProject RED comes from the One-to-One
Institute andthe technology experts who wrote the America???sPage 9/11If
you have any questions regarding information in these press
releasesplease contact the company listed in the press release. Our
completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another online
visibility toolfrom PRWebPage 10Digital Schools reports.- Thomas
Greaves, CEO, The Greaves Group. www.greavesgroup.com- Jeanne Hayes,
President, The Hayes Connection, www.HayesConnection.com- Leslie
Wilson, President, One-to-One Institute, www.one-to-oneinstitute.org-
Michael Gielniak, Ph.D., Director of Programs andDevelopment,
One-to-One Institute, www.one-to-oneinstitute.org# # #Page 10/11If you
have any questions regarding information in these press releasesplease
contact the company listed in the press release. Our
completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another online
visibility toolfrom PRWebPage 11Contact InformationJeanne HayesProject
REDhttp://www.ProjectRED.org 720-922-8676Online Web 2.0 VersionYou can
read the online version of this press release here.PRWebPodcast
AvailableListen to Podcast MP3 Listen to Podcast iTunesListen to
Podcast OGGPage 11/11If you have any questions regarding information
in these press releasesplease contact the company listed in the press
release. Our completedisclaimer appears here. - PRWeb eBooks - Another
online visibility toolfrom PRWeb

Copyright, Creative Commons and Public Domain

??

Copyright Law and Solutions

??

Learning Target:?? I can define explain copy right law and use tools to avoide it.

??

1. Most have Committed Copyright Violation (Some examples from my teaching are...)
   1. Scanning published documents and uploading them.
   2. Students creating Poster (digital or hard copy) and using pictures without permission.
   3. Avatars on Edmodo...
2. It's an Important part of Digital Citizenship
   1. To be aware of intellectual property and how it's being used.
   2. To give credit when using someone else's work.
   3. We want our students to create using technology, but we need to show them how to do it ethically...
3. An Overview of Copyright Laws and Fair Use
   1. Must be original, creative and tangible...
   2. Applies to:
      1. Literary
      2. Musical
      3. Dramatic
      4. Pantomimed
      5. Pictorial/Graphic/Sculptural
      6. Motion Picture/Audio Visual
      7. Sound Recordings
4. Some Solutions
   1. Creative Commons
      1. www.creativecommons.org
      2. www.wikimedia.org
   2. Public Domain
      1. Library of Congress
         1. http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html
   3. Filtered Search
      1. http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search?hl=en????

Web 2.0 Sampler Activity

Attached: Web 2.0 Sampler Activity

Message from mrtalmadge@gmail.com:

Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Web 2.0 Sampler Activity

Learning Target:  I can define, access, and utilize web 2.0 tools in the classroom with kids and adults.

1. Define Web 2.0
1. Youtube Video ([youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN11ZoDJXD4?wmode=transparent])
2. Samples from My Experience (www.mrtalmadge.com)
1. Edmodo
2. Wikispaces
3. Screencastomatic 
4. Diigo
5. Dabbleboard
3.  Activity-partners search for various applications.
1. Skim listing of Web 2.0 applications and decide on one or two that would be most useful in the classroom or professional development workshop.
1. Start at this site:  http://web2010.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools.cfm
2. Then try this site: http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/Tools+By+Subject
3. Or this site: http://web2educationuk.wetpaint.com/
4. Or do a search of your own and see what you can find.
2. Post link, a brief description and classroom application ideas to Wallwisher
1. http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/web20sampler
4. Sharing
1. Inside/Outside Circle
   

Google Docs Presentation Outline

Google Docs Presentation Outline

Message from mrtalmadge@gmail.com:

Google Docs for Collaboration

Learning Target:  I can use google docs for collaboration with my Summer Learning Academy teaching partner (if I so choose!).

1. Youtube Video from Common Craft ([youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6IHTEA?wmode=transparent])

1. Use http://todaysmeet.com/tilttraining for sharing comments/questions as you watch.

Dashboard Organization

1. List of Files
2. Upload Button
3. Create New Button

Document Creation

1. Real-time Chat

Document Sharing

Document Publishing

Google Forms

1. Examples

1. Pre Meeting Survey
2. Post Meeting Feedback

Give it a Try!

1. Sign in or Sign up for a Google Account (http://docs.google.com)
2. Create a Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation,  and share it with someone else...)

Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Mr. T's Last Lesson Video

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fezfw270Ubo?wmode=transparent]

Test Audio

testosterous.wma