Meanwhile, the Writingmatrix project is getting interesting. This morning, Webheads held their usual chat at noon GMT this morning (each Sunday noon GMT for the past 8 years) in Tapped In http://www.tappedin.org . This morning some of the chat was about Writingmatrix. Webheads are bloggers and are very interested in this project. Some said they would like to join us at a live chat to be held later this evening (in the USA; Monday a.m. in Europe/Middle East, Asia).
Now, why am I writing all of this here? The reason is I wish to conduct an experiment. I am going to TAG this post writingmatrix and webheads. Then it should appear in the Technorati searches on those tags at the following URLs:
In this way, anyone who is already in the project and who has put the RSS feed of the output from those searches in the aggregator (like Bloglines) will be able to find this post.
The second part of the experiment is to acknowledge the work of one of the students, Matias Basilico, who has left some interesting posts on the concepts that make Writingmatrix effective in helping students in different parts of the world find each other's writing and collaborate on it.
- http://mbasilico.blogspot.com/2007/07/pingback-tracking-distributed.html
- http://mbasilico.blogspot.com/2007/06/rss-organize-and-update-your-content.html
The concept being experimented here is that of Pingback. By linking to Matias's posts in this way he should be alerted in his blog. There should be a link in his blog back to this posting.
And there is! Have a look below his posts. So it works!
And also I want to see what this code does. Technorati says: See your posts here
To contribute to this page, include this code in your blog post:
writingmatrix
It still does not have a proper page in the Wikipedia, but the term exists.
Just out of a chatcast or skypecast (link to come soon) of Darren Kuropatwa's presentation at BLC. These are my first thoughts on the experience of being there.Here, there and everywhere
The only way I know of making sense out of new things lately. Plunge into technology. So much more to gain than lose.
Three vital steps to being there -technically speaking.
The connection route today was in three steps:
-Contact DJakes via Skype
-I am in!
First thoughts while reading the thread
This is so fast, will I be able to cope?
Pitfall
Joining the chatcast late, makes you miss part of it. You just get the updates as from the point you joined in.
Use of @name is a great organiser
About context Priorities - Communication protocol - Literacy
(Just raw notes here, maybe too raw)
I had an internal struggle to say thank you or some other emotional responses at the beginning. I repressed it. Priority was to focus on ideas flowing.
On a chatcast, be confident they understand you're not being impolite at all. You can send a thank you note/post afterwards; but better not there.
So here it goes: THANK YOU. (Sorry for shouting but, I've been repressing for about 41 minutes).
Mananging the experience
Every hit of the chat takes up space and forces the reader to look up, refocus again to catch the thought before your object of attention goes up, gone and out of sight.
When I think about designing online environments for my students this image comes to my mind:
If it feels like this, we miss the point.
Attention Management. A Literacy?
Every hit at ENTER, every keystroke, is an attempt to catch people's attention. Literacy implication: handle it with care. Master your fingers.
Priority seems to be to let readers focus on ideas and respond enlarging them. Getting ahead somewhere with the brainstorming. Collecting thoughts that will be well worth a post -or a few.
Slides
I am particularly visual. I must see. I was at Developing Expert Voices on Slideshare and felt a need to know which slide Darren was at. To get into the general idea being addressed at that moment. I imagined the slides would not have a number posted on them so I suggested posting some first words on them. Chris Lehmann helped us out.
Questions
I wonder how live audio added to the chatcast would change the speed and focus of the comments fetched. Audio from the room. Audience responding by chat only.
How many participants could the chatcast hold?
Epiphany -at least for me
All in all, I am surprised to find that speed of delivery and depth of reflections can go hand in hand in a chat environment.Definitely having read each other for a while gives the participants a sense of conversation. A certainty about which topics and questions need to be posed at conferences if they are to take us ahead.
A curiosity
I got lost. I could not tell who was there in the room listening to Darren and who were following from a distance. Not that it mattered. I guess being involved makes "a difference".
No doubt Darren's presence was energising and inspiring beyond the walls of BLC.
(Cont.)
I'd like more experiences like this in the future.
@Chris Lehmann and David Jakes-
I'm adding you to my Twitter (http://twitter.com/fceblog).
--------------
Also reflecting on the experience of this blc07 conference
A selection:
Will Richarson - Learnin' at BLC
"Good lord that’s some intense back channel chat. And it’s not so much a love for the tools as it is a love for what the tools allow us to do, to experience. It was just one pretty raw learning moment after the next, and it’s a feeling you don’t want to lose."
Ewan McIntosh Sustaining Change...
"a large number of educators don't know where their education system foundations lie. Without these foundations teachers can only flail about looking for traction for future ideas. It's vital that we look towards what we can learn and adapt to our own situations and that we get the 'top' educated and understanding why the teachers and students in the frontline want and need certain things - like Skypecasts for lessons for parents to follow lessons, too, from afar. "
Stephen Downes The Resistance to Change...
Stephen points at Doug Noon's post and Ewan's. On the role of the teacher and why buil learning communities.
21 July
Darren Kuropatwa's post on imagining the possibilites for the future of conferences.
"Open it up to the folks who aren't physically there on your twitter and skype networks and you begin to get a sense of what participating in this conference was like. As the presenter speaks pictures are taken, uploaded to flickr and shared within seconds. The speaker says something that a member of the chatcast challenges, finds the source and drops the link into the chatcast. Dean starts streaming the audio live via a skype conference call. Invite students into the chatcast, have the presenter respond to questions in the chatcast as they too participate, and .... it was intoxicating! People from the UK, Canada and the US, who weren't physically there, were there."
Attribution: Animation found in Ana María's blog
However, language learning activities which involve the use of the Internet needn't be limited to computer mediated human-to-human communication. Traditional CALL activities can also be developed in NBLT and are actually found in most LT sites.
As we know, the Web is full of authentic, reference and didactic materials useful for language learning. It also provides excellent tools for the interaction with those materials, processing information (input) and student production (output). And for linguistic contents and skills work, either integrated o specific.
Here is a list of 7 groups of LT activities using the Internet (or NBLT activities):
- Lexical quizzes, games and other vocabulary learning specific activities (e.g. lexical maps, concordancers use, class dictionary building ...).
- Grammar tutorials, exercises, simulations and games.
- Listening and pronunciation virtual lab activities.
- Reading and writing webtasks: treasure hunts, webquests, ...
- Multimedia webtasks: scrapbooking, samplers, podcasting, tasks with authentic multimedia materials from social sites, ...
- Computer Mediated Communication activities (email exchange, collaboration projects, CoP, ...)
- Use of blogs and wikis for individual or group language learning e-portfolios.
Tweet your Wish. Beware what you choose ( it may come true).
I tweet. I like it. I think it is powerful, particularly for making connections fast. The best part of Twitter is beyond the question about what you are doing.
The thing I value about microblogging is that it totally disrupts my way of writing. I tend to think too much around a post. So much that I can even get writtters block.
However, on Twitter, I can generally voice the first thing on my mind. Not sure my tweets are diamonds in the rough, but the results may be surprising.
Yesterday, Steve Dembo posted this,
My answer was immediate,
Today, just a day later and by pure serendipitious finding at Ning, I land on this page,
Magic. I am the first and only follower added there. For a short time, naturally. I just wanted to capture this screenshot of the empty page saying simply one word. Joined. I imagine many an insightful tweet originating there.
What is Twitter all about?
You still do not get it? Is it silly? Stop thinking it is about answering just one question. Twitter is not simply about what you are doing. Much rather about what you would like to make happen.
What is your tweet wish? Be careful...
Joining The Bloggers' Cafe11 July - My RSS- I read this post from Alja Sulčič.
The Bloggers' Cafe is born to create more opportunities to join the edublogosphere conversation. The aftermath of the NECC conference -or rather the EdubloggerCon unconference- which showed the power and thrill face to face conversations with the long-read blogger can bring.
This is not just a blog, you may connect in diverse ways. Alja summarises,
Edubloggers now have a new place to get together in Second Life at the brand new Bloggers Cafe. [...] You can visit the Bloggers Cafe on Eduisland II, on land that was kindly offered by Ryan Bretag (aka Existential Pain). Also, don't forget to join both the SL and the RL group (set up by Jennifer Wagner) and have your blog added to the virtual blogroll at the Cafe.
So I joined at the blog and I added the tag TheBloggersCafe to my ELT Notes in del.icio.us. It was tagged back immediately.
12 July - Jennifer in my mail:
I was wondering if perhaps you would like to be a guest blogger on the "Bloggers' Cafe" blog occasionally...I suddenly remember all my exam dates this month and the following. I'd rather be sure I'll have the time before saying yes...
Jennifer reassures me:
I understand that life is busy --This is the attitude of the Edublogosphere. Open. Welcoming.
please consider yourself ALWAYS invited to post.
13 July -Today, I received an invitation to join the wiki that will archive conversations and show contact details of Cafe members. I added mine.
Four hours ago - I already have my user name and password to post. I am already announced at the contributors's page in the blog.
Call that fast. Jennifer is a doer.
...........................
I am writing this detailed post because many of my colleagues -those outside the blogosphere who just associate Internet to email- tend to ask me,
How did you do that?
I will certainly hear the question next time I make a presentation.
And my answer should be short and simple.
Be there. Let it all happen.
(I think I'll link this post to the presentation handout as well).
Comments will be closed here. I am reposting this entry at the Bloggers' Cafe blog for your thoughts.
For April 2008 I have been invited to present (perhaps online) as part of the "Autonomy and the language classroom: opening a can of worms!" project for the IATEFL/LASIG: Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group's lead-up to the Exeter IATEFL conference. See the Can of Worms link at: http://learnerautonomy.org/wormsindex.html
and mention of me as 'keeper' of the Technology worm here: http://learnerautonomy.org/wormsmay2007.html.
This article has since been published in the IATEFL LASIG Independence, Winter 2007 (Issue 42) - some articles are previewed here: http://www.learnerautonomy.org/articles.html. My article appears here: http://www.learnerautonomy.org/VanceStevens.pdf
This article briefly addresses the role of technology in learner autonomy, with focus in particular on the influence of teacher attitudes towards technology as it might impact autonomy in the newer generations of learners.
Expert systems and learning networks
The promise of CALL or computer-assisted language learning has from its inception been to somehow set learners on a path of independent learning. The model for doing this has changed drastically over the years. Stephen Downes characterized the evolution of this model in the talk he gave at WiAOC 2007 <http://wiaoc.org> and <http://webheadsinaction.org>, entitled Personal Learning the Web 2.0 Way.- Slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/Downes/personal-learning-the-web-20-way - Audio Part 1: http://streamarchives.net/node/84
- Audio Part 2: http://streamarchives.net/node/83
Reduced to its essential dichotomy, the earlier models were algorithmic whereas more recent ones have become increasingly connectionist. Downes harked back to the notion of expert systems, the idea that computers could somehow be made to embody a Socratic dialog with learners, or program them into mastery of certain subject matter (e.g. Programmed Instruction, Mastery Learning). Various instantiations of algorithmic instructional models have so far failed to produce a credibly expert system.
This is because, in Downes's view, knowledge does not derive from algorithmic processes but from connectionist ones. That is, apart from the most discrete learning goals (how to perform long division for example) knowledge is not linearly derived in series of if/then junctures but is pattern driven, as embodied in networks. In other words, instances of knowledge reside at nodes which online comprise distributed learning networks, and to become knowledgeable is more a matter of developing competencies for accessing those nodes and systematizing the information available there than of mechanically following algorithms down pre-scribed paths, which is what an expert system by definition has us do. Siemens (2005 as but one example) makes similar observations in his writings on connectivism, where he asserts that the network itself is more important than the meaning it contains: "Those theorists most closely aligned with the new landscape are also those who most readily acknowledge that the process is one of coming to know, rather than of knowing."
And this dichotomy lies at the heart of autonomy for a new age of learners. If autonomous learning is akin to teaching people how to fish (as opposed to fostering dependencies on feeding behaviors) then a cutting edge knowledge of how one fishes for information in distributed learning networks (e.g. on the Internet) is crucial to staying afloat and healthily sustained in the quest for autonomy in any kind of learning, not just language learning. Fishing for information in this day and age entails, among other multiliteracy skills, a working knowledge of syndication (RSS), aggregation, tagging, and folksonomies (the taxonomy of tagging), and using these in conjunction with knowledge derived from discoveries percolated through communities of practice. Therefore a working knowledge of tools facilitating contact and collaboration within distributed learning networks is paramount, as described for example in a recent article by Dieu and Stevens (2007).
Multiliteracies and Paradigm Shift
As these concepts are relatively recent developments in a fast-changing world of information surfeit and dissemination, where notions of multiliteracies and transliteracies are emerging to characterize the competencies required for effectively coping and communicating in the 21st century, many teachers in the digital immigrant generation (Prensky, 2001) are simply not keeping up. Many teachers still conceptualize technology as working along the lines of an expert system, something that can be purchased shrink wrapped and which students can be plugged into for learning outcomes to be realized. This may work in some cases for short-term learning goals but not as a strategy of great value towards attaining competencies directed at lifelong learning.This is but one of the many paradigm shifts that teachers in particular are having to grapple with as we head inexorably into the 21st century. I say teachers in particular because there are so many of us who are of the age where we can recall when using computers to develop learning algorithms was state of the art, before Internet became ubiquitous. Now that Internet is for the fortunate few 'always on' the greatest potentials for technology in learning are rapidly shifting to connectionist models. The challenge for teachers, especially those whose use of technology has lagged behind latest developments, is being able to switch mindsets away from the expectation that computers should provide solutions to problems in education in algorithmic ways.
The expert model is intuitively understood by a generation brought up on western scientific logic, and such logic does not readily suggest nor accept network solutions. To Cartesian-logical minds, network solutions might appear counter-intuitive until experienced. How, for example, can a wiki work unregulated and 'bottom up' to create an encyclopedia that is in many ways superior to the traditional 'top down' authoritatively published ones. Yet wikis and other social networking tools have had startling impacts on constructivist learning when applied appropriately in educational contexts. Their benefit to learning, says Downes, is beyond articulation or description, but is rather, ineffable.
Who are the new learners?
Meanwhile, a younger generation of learners is emerging which is increasingly liberated from 20th century mindsets. Lawrence Lessig (2006) created a buzz recently when he contrasted the read-write 21st century with the read-only 20th. A similar notion was conveyed in Time Magazine's declaring You as being the person of the year (Grossman, 2006). Lessig's contention is that the 20th century was a pendulum swing toward concentrating power in the hands of the few who controlled media whereas the new century is seeing the pendulum swing back to power being restored to the voices of the many who have taken back control of the new media. This is the context in which today's learners are experiencing social networking as a matter of course. They are the digital natives, the twitch generation (Prensky, 1998), the ones who are in increasing numbers being born into households where Internet is as common as TV was to the current generation of teachers. The expectations of these digital natives is such that, when confronted with last-generation mindsets, another of Prensky's mantras might apply: enrage me or engage me! (2005). Or worse, antipathy - teachers who fail to adapt could be regarded as irrelevant.Or even worse, detrimental. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that teachers who do not model appropriate uses of technology predispose their students to avoid technology in turn, whereas teachers who use technology in their classes positively influence their students to experiment with technology in finding solutions requiring them to apply their skills as autonomous learners and problem-solvers.
One bit of support for that is from Cheri Toledo's (2007) presentation at the recent Future of Education online conference. Kathy Clesson (as heard on the recording) said that she found in her district that students whose teachers used CMS's and Web 2.0 tools in their teaching tended to be the ones whose students became most comfortable with using technology in their ongoing teacher training whereas an avoidance by teachers of technology tended to harbor concomitant discomfort and avoidance in their students, who did not feel that technology was very relevant to their work.Relating this to learner autonomy
Autonomous does not mean isolated or 'by oneself' - an autonomous learner is one who self-starts him/herself in the direction of a learning strategy in which, these days, a learning community might figure highly. Therefore learning strategies leading to community and network building might be productive in producing autonomous learners, some of whom would also work as teachers. It stands to reason that one who prepares others to be lifelong learners should him or herself be one.We can find models of behaviors we would like to impart (to students) in teachers who take advantage of as many learning opportunities as are available in their distributed learning networks which they nurture and explore (i.e. are themselves autonomous vs. those who complain of too few opportunities for professional development when in fact such opportunities abound from no matter where in the world we are, online, which suggests that such teachers are either working under critical duress or are themselves not particularly autonomous).
Teachers who explore and exploit the many opportunities for interaction with peers in the online environment are much more likely to adapt the techniques they themselves use for professional development in their own classes and thereby MODEL these practices for students. As Downes notes in slide 22 of the presentation that has sounded the tonic chord for this article, "To teach is to model and to demonstrate. To learn is to practice and reflect."
It is possible to conclude that teachers who practice autonomy in their own professional development formulate heuristics for harvesting knowledge within their personal learning spaces, and thus stand a better chance of inculcating the desired behaviors in their students, thus increasing the likelihood of producing potentially autonomous and lifelong learners. But it is a percolative process. In order to teach (to model and demonstrate) one must constantly learn and re-learn, and this means that one must practice the behaviors one models (how else to model them?) and reflect on the ramifications of those behaviors, as we do in writing and reading this article, from each of our nodes connected to one another through our interlaced learning networks.References
Dieu, Barbara, and Vance Stevens. (2007), Pedagogical affordances of syndication, aggregation, and mash-up of content on the Web. TESL-EJ, Volume 11, Number 1. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from: http://tesl-ej.org/ej41/int.html.Grossman, Lev. (2006). Time's Person of the Year. Time Magazine, Dec. 13, 2006. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from: http://tinyurl.com/3chjkb.
Lessig, Lawrence. (2006). The Read-Write Society, a keynote given 15 September 2006 at the Wizards of OS4 conference, http://www.wizards-of-os.org/programm/panels/authorship_amp_culture/keynote_the_read_write_society.html; recording retrieved June 30, 2007 from: http://phalacrocorax.informatik.hu-berlin.de/fr/09_20h_ReadWriteSociety.mp4. Prensky, M. (1998). Twitch speed: Reaching younger workers who think differently. Across the Board, January. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from: http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/article.html.
Prensky, M. (2005). "Engage me or enrage me," What today's learners demand. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf.
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning as network-creation. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from: http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/nov2005/seimens.htm.Stevens, Vance. (2006). Revisiting multiliteracies in collaborative learning environments: Impact on teacher professional development. TESL-EJ, Volume 10, Number 2. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from: http://www.tesl-ej.org/ej38/int.html.
Toledo, Cheri. (2007). The Future of Teacher Education: Herding Cats and Chasing Targets. Presentation given at the Future of Education online conference. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from: http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/foe-2007/Cheri_Toledo/.
ESL-EFL BLOGS. Here you can read what some language teachers from around the world have written in their blogs.
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- (Subscribe to this page via RSS!)