Our First Wiki

This past week, spurred on by a post on NexGen Teachers Ning by Kristian Still, I finally got around to creating the Wiki our students will use to collaborate with our new international partners next year. It doesn't look like much...yet...but it's germinating. This weekend, I chatted with Samuel Yalew, the international relations coordinator at a school in Ethiopia. We met at 9:00am Maryland time on Memorial Day, but neither of us could connect via Skype. We confirmed via email that we were both online, but for some reason Skype showed us both as being offline. So, thinking quickly, I emailed him an invitation to my YackPack and Ta-Da! There we were, chatting as if we were old friends about how we could connect my fifth graders with his students of the same age. He's never heard of a wiki, so I look forward to showing him how powerful this tool can be for collaboration. Now, I've just got to develop some guidelines for introducing the tool to our students, and explaining how to use it safely and responsibly. Has anyone already done this?

Click me!
My mission today is asking my fourth graders (who will be in fifth grade next year) to help me design a better logo for our Wiki.

Game Goo

There are about two weeks left in our school year and my PreFirst Graders have completed the projects we had planned for them in Tech Lab. Today, I was searching for a fun, educational site we could visit. The site needed to be engaging enough to distract our youngest children from the fact that they're out of uniform, it's Friday, and they're about to go to recess. I came across this amazing, yet completely educational site called Game Goo. Their tagline is "learning that sticks."
Check it out!

Second Life, Same as the First

The buzz about Second Life is deafening. I can't read a blog or go to a conference without hearing about how it's the next thing. I've read "Web 2.0 is dead" at least three times in the last month. Between the lines bloggers Farber and Dignan recently posted about Mitch Kapor's keynote at a recent Second Life convention. His message was essentially a warning: "The most important thing I want to say and leave you with is that with the privilege of creating a new world or new worlds, I believe, comes responsibility. And really the responsibility is to make that new world a better place." He dreams that Second Life can be a better, more inclusive and accepting world than the Real World. But, Mitch, we're all still humans living out our second life online. Idealist, you are. People are people. Existential Paine (really?) recently posted on the Tech Learning blog: You don't have to believe everything you Think. The post included a reference to a high school student's essay in her school newspaper about how Second Life separates us from one another. This girl, Carly F. has this to say:

Beyond the idea that Second Life does not exist are the consequences society will pay. If we lose human contact, we lose our social skills. If we lose honesty, we're only assuring ourselves that deceit is a natural human concept. If we forget how to accept others as their true selves, we're only promoting more prejudice and assumptions. And if we think cheating the real world to succeed in Second Life is okay, we're wrong. We can't always get what we want, we can't always be what -- even who -- we want to be. But that's life. Real life. Second Life only provides a false sense of assurance that all of our aspirations can be met. And I don't need to waste my money on an imaginary house so I can buy imaginary clothes to look good at the imaginary club in the imaginary world. Way too much imagining and way too little reality. For now, I believe the bad outweighs the good, and I won't be joining Second Life anytime soon.

Here I am, nodding my head in agreement with this high school girl. I have never been the early adopter unless it's glaringly clear how it will help me accomplish some task more efficiently or effectively. A good example is Yack Pack. I'm all over that like a cowboy on cheesy grits. It saves me money and time. I do have some perspective--I see that this is where we're going. I have read enough science fiction (eerily prescient) to know that the future holds ample virtual reality for our race. I'll be the one in the back of the pack, yelling with my megaphone about how to help children understand what it is they are winning, and losing in the Second Life experience. Until then, I'll be the hypocrite who hasn't read Harry Potter talking about what devil's work it is. Like these brainiac folks at ExposingSatanism.org. Maybe I understand that group a tiny, wee bit better because of this whole thing. That doesn't stop me from laughing at them....and definitely at myself.

Exhaustion: My First Podcast

My lecture on Web 2.0 at the PEP last night went long....2 1/2 hours of talking with no break. I was so drained afterward that I felt like crying--not because it didn't go splendidly, it did. I felt like crying because I had given practically all of myself. A lecture or course is fundamentally an exchange of energy; you connect with the audience members and hopefully pass along your knowledge. In the process you are also sharing your personal energy. Last evening, those fifty parents needed so very much from me and I was happy to give all that I had. In the end, all I could do was drive home and settle into a yogic child's pose.

Here's a link to the podcast of that evening's lecture. I have posted it, along with the entire slide show onto my school's Web site so that attendees can have access to the hyperlinks within and share it with their family members and friends who could not be there.

You can also view a page of hyperlinks related to the topic here.

Today, I'm not talking very much.

FaceBook Is Different

In my post (rant) yesterday about blocking social networking sites, Justin Medved commented with a link to Mark Evans' blog (A Canadian Take on Telecom and Technology) entitled "Facebook Is Different." I read the article with interest, initially because I yearn for an educational reason to utilize the usual suspects. In his post, he explains how Facebook is useful in business settings, despite the fact that it is increasingly being blocked by companies fearful that their employees are wasting time.

This raises several issues, the first of which, as Justin mentions, is trust. It's the basic reason why we block porn here at school. We're pretty sure that the occasional porn site accessed by a 1st grader is an accident, while the majority of incidents involving older children are, well, exploratory in nature. For instance, last week, I had turned off our proxy server on one machine in my lab in order to download a fussy update. Wouldn't you know it, a child sat down on that computer later in the day and googled "sex + vegetables." I'm not making this up for fun blogging. On the one hand, bully for him using Boolean logic. On the other hand, he ALMOST accessed a photo of a woman having sex with a vegetable. Thank goodness I stopped him.

Justin is right, it's an issue of trust...on the most basic existential level: human nature. Do you trust that children will use their time and the technology in the most educational and useful ways when given free reign? Answer that one for yourself. I'd get in waaayyy too much trouble if I said what I really thought.

To Block or Not to Block

There's a wonderful debate raging among my peers: To Block or Not to Block. My Space, Facebook, Instant Messengers, Personal Email, Club Penguin, Webkinz...they're all under scrutiny. There are those who feel that as technology educators we should be encouraging their use, allowing free access to the site because of their educational value. There are others that block these sites because they're bandwidth hogs. Still, others block the sites because there are too many inherent problems that occur by allowing access. Problems include bullying, posting of inappropriate materials, school and teacher information on the pages, not to mention time spent in class posting when they should be working on a classroom assignment.

Counterpoint: The classroom assignment should be engaging enough that the kids do not feel compelled to post on My Space instead. I think all of these are black and white arguments for a gray issue. First, I'll admit that our school blocks access to these social networking sites. My reasoning is bandwidth related first, but secondarily, because they are just that: social networking sites. I hear your voices screaming, "But they have educational value." I say, no, they do not have inherent educational value other than what we try to artificially introduce. Yes, presidential candidates are posting to My Space. But they're also posting other places besides social networks. It's the beauty of the internet that there are no exclusives. Anything you can find there, you can find somewhere else.

There are alternative sites that use the technology of social networks (Moodle and Ning) without problems associated. In the workworld, a person will never be asked to complete a work assignment on My Space--that's only a tool. The issue is really do they know how to use Web 2.0 tools? If we're teaching them how to use similar tools, and teaching them about the SOCIAL ISSUES raised in places like My Space then I say we're doing our jobs. We do not have give students free access to these sites any more than we have to let them leave their cell phones on all day.

Yeah, I know that's a whole new can of worms...

Sorry for the rantish tone here. I'm done. For today.
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Think Before You Post

Iain Cook-Bonney, who's on the Global Education Collaborative Ning, posted this You Tube video "Think Before You Post" on his blog. We should be showing this to all our kids!

Be the Zen Master

The Parent Encouragement Program (PEP) has invited me to speak about Internet usage and safety among children. The lecture is titled "Web 2.0: What Our Children Are Doing On the Web in 2007." To prepare, I sent out an email to the parents attending inviting them to send me their questions in advance so I could make sure to address them. Most of the questions I received fell within the bounds of what I already intended to cover: Webkinz, IM, Club Penguin etc. There's a great New York Times article Will Richardson, over at Weblogged, posted on his site about the new phenomenon of our youngest children on social networks.

One of the parents sent an email that made me nod my head in understanding, and with compassion--he hates (a strong word, I know) the role that technology is playing in his child's life. He doesn't want his child to grow up in the Web 2.0 world. He wants his child to read books, understand those books on an intellectual level, to play outside and to NOT WANT A GAMEBOY. I feel for this parent. His face blends in with the faces of so many other educated, wise, yet incredibly fearful parents who have grabbed my arm tightly as they can, cutting off the circulation, begging me to justify why they should let their child online. And I say to that parent: you can stand in front of a giant tidal wave rushing toward your child and try, just try as hard as you can, to save your child by holding him or her down under the crush of the water. Or, you can turn around, scoop her up in your arms and show that little girl how to swim. Maybe you think it's too early for them to learn. It doesn't really matter when there's a tidal wave coming, does it?

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Ed Tech Nomads

Through the Global Education Ning, I met Kim Cofino today and I have to say I am in awe. She embodies global connections, she lives global education. She's got partnerships set up with countries all over the world, and she has already lived practically all over the world. I have to admit, I'm envious. But, instead of stewing I'll allow her seemingly effortless integration of international partnerships inspire me. She's going to be in Thailand next year, teaching at the elementary level. This year's she's in Malaysia teaching middle school. I suppose I'll be the one riding on her coattails as she flies. It's a new spot for me. Check out her blog about successful Skype conferences: http://mscofino.edublogs.org/2007/05/07/4-steps-to-a-skype-tastic-video-conference/

Ninging

This week, through the ISED list-serv, I learned about Ning. It's a social networking site where you can actually create your own social network. You make your OWN My Space. I'm a member of the Global Education ning, and this morning I felt a kind of unexpected freedom associated with this membership that I've never felt with My Space. When I checked my email I had four friend requests and after the initial lurch of protectiveness passed, I realized that the chances of these four potential "friends" being spammers, wanna-be porn stars, or lascivious teenagers were slim. I clicked accept on the first friend box without even hesitating.

Then I clicked and clicked again and now I have four friends. I do not worry that I'll click on their profile and see a photo of him or her butt-forward into the camera. I know that they're a member of this network because they want to discuss global education. I've already got about five ideas for how I can use this with middle school children (a class social network for discussing homework with teachers as members as well), with teachers at my school (issues discussion?), and even schools in other countries with which we're designing collaboration. Freedom. Ahhhh....it's like a loose pair of pants you put on at the end of the day. Wait, does that make Ning my "fat pants?"

Skyping My Head Off

This has been an exciting week for me, as I have had two conversations with educators in Holland and Ethiopia. We're working on a project I'm starting at my school called the World Village Project. Although there are sites like Epals that will help connect you to international schools, I'm fortunate enough to have made these connections myself. We're designing curriculum for our children so that their exchanges will be about more than "how much homework do you have a night." Of course, those types of personal questions are important to ask when making connections, but working together on a mutually agreed-upon project makes learning meaningful.

Some folks have been trying to get me to lead a NAIS Challenge 20/20 Project, which I will do if I have to. My objection to the program is that it's dealing with issues raised in Jean Francois Rischard's book High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. I think these are all quite obviously important issues to address, but only AFTER our children know one another and have worked together on shared content. If integration really is rule #1 in technology education, then why are we manufacturing relevance for these topics in our curriculum? I'm the first to admit that these issues should BE in our curriculum, but they're just not at our school. I suppose I should admit that participating in the program would help to integrate those discussions into our programs, to introduce a context for the discussions. At the heart of it, I still feel that the conversations like that will be richer once our schools have a relationship in place. Those issues seem like second year topics for discussion.

Either way, I'm thrilled that my school is taking steps towards forming these partnerships. This is the way. This is how we will help kids incorporate both sides of their technological axis.