Reflection on the first three days of class

Three most important (to me) things I have learned:

1. I have a much greater appreciation of how many interrelated, collaborative tools are available on the Internet.
2. I have a greater appreciation for the network of professionals who are willing to help and support educators and others trying to learn about and understand Web 2.0.
3. I want to try out PageFlakes as I have struggled with how to organize multiple online resources so that I can find what I want quickly when I need it.

What I still am looking for:
I am wondering how to help participants in the training make a transition from "How do these tools work?" to "How do I structure a classroom lesson for my students to use one of these tools in a meaningful way to facilitate their learning?" I was hoping that participants would each have a completed unit by Friday afternoon. I am beginning to realize that they may need more processing time, more experimentation on their own before being able to finish that task.

How will I begin to use blogs for professional development ?

My classroom consists of educators - networks of technology coordinators and library media specialists; participants in online classes and shorter workshop sessions; Advisory Committees made up primarily of administrators. So... I don't have an immediate answer to David's question of how will I begin to use blogs, what would instructional uses be for these groups.

I think that before I can begin to answer this question, I need more experience with blogs myself. I belong to a statewide group of Instructional Technology Services directors at each CESA -- otherwise known as CITSC. Blogger John Pederson, one of my colleagues at CESA 3, is patiently encouraging our group to begin using Web 2.0 tools. In May he set up a wikispaces specifically for us.

OK, John... I'm now ready to investigate it. You can thank David Jakes for the push that is getting me going.

Learning 2.0 - Social Constructivism ?

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, in her 21st Century Collaborative article, discusses Learning 2.0 and asks "How and will Web 2.0 shape the way we learn?" She suggests that as we use different Web 2.0 tools and ways to collaboratively process information, we may change how we learn and how we teach. She says,

Ultimately, 21^st Century teaching is constructivist teaching, using digital technologies and the Internet.

This statement really caught my eye. In our grant-funded professional development projects the past several years, we have definitely emphasized constructivist approaches to teaching and learning... Project STAIRS, Project WRITE, Project Big6 and Club 6. We have focused on project-based learning, problem-based learning, the research process in a digital world, cooperative learning, information & technology literacy standards and skills, teacher as facilitator and not "sage on the stage". We have introduced and supported new ways to find, evaluate, synthesize, and present information to others. But as I reflect on what we have done -- all of these things have been in a Web 1.0 world. Have our grant participants changed what they do in the classroom? Have lesson plan designs become more constructivist, more problem-based, with more options for students? Certainly. But Learning 2.0? I think not. I think we have tweaked traditional ways of teaching and learning, made them more organized and fun and more relevant to the digital age. But I haven't seen learning transformed -- not for teachers, not for students.

Last week I facilitated a three-day introductory course on Moodle. We started off with a "What is Moodle" discussion. 1) Australian slang that means “to toss around an idea in your head for a while to look at different aspects of it.”
2) an e-learning management system based on an educational philosophy of social constructivism.

We struggled with the definition of social constructivism and came up with three main ideas:

1) a belief that learners (and not just teachers) can contribute to the educational experience in many ways
2) modules or learning opportunities that center on tools for discussion and sharing
3) Focus on sharing ideas and engaging in the construction of knowledge, not on delivering information

Moodle, blogs, wikis, many of the collaborative Web 2.0 digital tools seem to me to be the vehicles for actually changing the way we teach and learn via collaboration and reflective inquiry. Learning 2.0 seems to me to be a real possibility if we as educators begin to accept and adopt the philosophy of social constructivism and teach and use the Web 2.0 tools well.