Flattening your classroom, flattening your own world

I have been having a great time reading Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay. This book is an excellent resource for anyone considering global projects or for any teacher who is just interested in expanding their own classroom view. The book itself models a collaborative global project in every way imaginable. Here are some of the ways it does this:

Photo by Clive Darr

• Whenever a classroom project example is given, or a powerful quote from a teacher or expert is provided, the authors encourage the reader to follow that person on Twitter. I have loved this. There is really no better example of how flat our world is than just clicking the “Follow” button under someone’s name. You now can follow their thoughts, find out who they are following, and even mention them in your own Tweets.
• Along with the book are 15 Flat Classroom Challenges. These challenges encourage you to set up RSS like Google Reader (check!), start a blog(check!), join a collaborative network like Google Teacher Academy or Apple Distinguished Educators (check!), from there the challenges get more, well, um, challenging. But I love this idea. To encourage readers to take on the challenge, the authors suggest tweeting as you complete the challenges or posting on the Flat Classroom Ning. This helps make it all feel more like a fun scavenger hunt instead of homework. I love this idea so much I am considering how to make it a part of some of the local professional development I do.
• There is a virtual book group! I was so glad I checked Twitter at the moment an announcement about the book club came across my stream. The book club meets once a week for an hour via Blackboard Collaborate. Ben and Neil fromEngaging Educators moderate and either Vicki or Julie (the authors) are always there. This is a great opportunity to share your own reflections while reading the book as well as to ask questions of amazing teachers that have been living and breathing global collaboration for years now.
• More! QR codes that link to student projects, Flat Classroom Diaries that give you glimpses into the personal stories behind different global projects, and a professional development toolkit that I haven’t checked out yet.

There are many, many aspects of this book that I am finding inspiring, stimulating and thought-provoking and I hope to blog more about these in the future. For now I’d like to say that I am so thrilled to see a professional learning tool that really models what it values. If we want teachers to start to use technology in transforming ways, we need to do more to model professional learning experiences that mirror what teachers can be doing with students. That is what is knocking me out about this book. By encouraging teachers to tweet, blog, connect, comment and engage with this book, the authors are really showing what learning in the 21st century looks like. To quote Vicki Davis during our last book club, “Learning is not about consuming, it is about contributing and creating.” Kudos to Julie and her for writing a book that doesn’t just talk about that idea, but lives it.

Ownership

This photo is of my brother and I in 1994. This is our first car, which we shared ownership over. If you can believe it, I’m the guy on the left! The colour of the car, if you’re interested, is “Cypress Metallic Green”.

If there’s one thing I’ve been acutely aware of since working with teachers, it’s making sure I don’t rob teachers of a sense of ownership. I think this is because I know how I feel when I am doing something I perceive I don’t have ownership over. I’m someone who really needs to be involved in something or else I disengage in it.

This raises some interesting questions for the kind of work I do now. Often I am leading the use of technology in classrooms – which means I am usually creating something : communities, websites, tutorials, ideas… which I assume others will find of benefit to them. But always gnawing at the back of my head is, “how do I give people ownership over the things I create? How would I feel if I was on the other side of the fence?”. On the other hand, I feel that sometimes you DO need someone to take the lead and kick things off, and I do acknowledge that not everyone is like me, and some teachers do indeed appreciate being given strong direction.

This issue has been raising its head with our Writers’ Club. The idea is that I create blogs for students of the teachers that join, and they instantly become part of a global community. Which is fine for those who have never had their kids blogging. But what about teachers who are already blogging with their kids? Do they need to abandon their work to join our community? And does this then represent a lose-lose situation, where we miss out on being involved with teachers who already have significant expertise with blogging and global education, and they miss out on being part of a vibrant community?

For a long time, I wrestled with the idea. I talked at length to my colleague in Shanghai, Toni Olivieri-Barton, about it, and I came to the conclusion that, eventually, the audience factor would win, and teachers would be convinced to start afresh on the Writers’ Club.

But this ignores the need for the teachers to have ownership.

So when Denton Avenue from New York joined, ready with their blogs, I decided to give them accounts but let them have their own blogs as well. And it works. The students with their own blogs simply put their blog address into their profile, so that when their profile is clicked on by a Writers’ Club member, they see the student’s blog address and can visit and comment on their blog, outside the Writers’ Club. The security of the site is still maintained, the students with their own blogs benefit because they are able to participate in the community and drive readers to their blogs by doing so; and the current members of the Writers’ Club benefit by having new things to read and have a greater audience for their own work.

It’s not ideal – it would be simpler if everyone had a blog on the Writers’ Club. But if I can convince those teachers already doing great stuff that this work won’t replace what they do but enhance it, and I can bring even more students from around the world together, then it is for the best.

Earth Day Reflections

Courtesy of Lisa Durff (@durff) comes an opportunity to listen to, share and contribute to the ‘Earth Day’ Reflections VoiceThread, created several years ago by EarthCast. 

Well worth sharing with your students. Thanks Lisa!

http://voicethread.com/book.swf?b=1954278

A Letter from Oz

I’ll never forget about six weeks ago when three girls came running up to me, telling me about their next genius hour adventure.

“We are going to send chocolates to people around the world, so they can taste our chocolate. Then we are going to ask them to send us some chocolate from their country. We can compare the tastes and packages.” So, they were off!

Thanks to eighth graders’ friends and relatives, plus members of my awesome PLN, the students have received packages from South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, France, and, the latest, from Lyn in Australia.

I met Lyn Howlin last year when we completed the teacher’s blogging challenge together. Later my seventh graders hosted her third graders’ Flat Stanleys. Now we’ve been Flickr photo friends and email pen pals. She’s now retired, but she’s still a teacher. Look at the beautiful letter she wrote, engaging my students in learning about the world.

Joining the global conversation has been such a blessing to me and now to my students, as well.

Thank you, Lyn!

This post is also on my Dare to Care blog.

“Ways to Bridge the Technological Divide” – April Chat Archives

The April #globalclassroom chats were an interesting affair, with our Sunday Asia / Europe chat being by far the liveliest. I was particularly interested in how the question was interpreted, as teachers shared the challenges they face in using & sharing technology – both in developing and developed countries.

A few favourite tweets

Brenda Hallowes ‏ (@bhallowes) -  We need to build relationships. If a colleague is technophobic all the more reason to build a trust relationships. #globalclassroom

Tasha Cowdy ‏ @tashacowdy - 3 yrs ago i hadnt heard of PLNs. I now cant imagine not flattening walls in my Kindergarten class. Change is afoot. #globalclassroom

Tibshirani ‏ (@rolat) – Technology is connecting us and enriching our learning as long as we are reflecting on learning #globalclassroom

Anne Mirtschin ‏(@murcha) – Small steps with technology often lead 2 best uptake. Flexibility / passion/using teachable moments lead to success #globalclassroom

Kelda Richards (@ElKel99) – #globalclassroom it’s a shame some educated 1st world teachers won’t embrace tech – wasting a privileged position

And, in his own words, Jason Graham’s thoughts on his first #globalclassroom chat

In my first #globalclassroom experience, I was honoured to moderate such an interesting chat with such passionate educators from around the globe. I learned a lot and came away with some new ideas, different perspectives and new inquiries.

My big takeaway: If technology divides, what can be done to ensure technology connects?

How can we use technology to bridge the gap and lessen the divide between not only our colleagues next to us, but between those who have less access and opportunities to share and connect?

I look forward to the next #globalclassroom chat. Thanks to everyone for making me a better educator.

The Archives are Online

While we will be establishing an official #globalclassroom chat wiki in the next few weeks, the April 2012 archives are now available on our project wiki -

April 2012 Chat Archives

Please read, share and comment. Thanks!

Is technology connecting or dividing us? – April #globalclassroom chats

The April #globalclassroom chats are upon us, and this month’s question and discussion post comes to us courtesy of Jason Graham, an international teacher working in Indonesia.

In his own words, ….

Technology only empowers those who have access to it.

I’ve been struggling with this idea for some time now. It is an obvious statement.

I live in Indonesia, and work at a school and in community that values technology as a means to create and share knowledge. Has our technical world been taken for granted? I saw someone at the airport a few months ago upset that their wifi was too slow. The world seemed to be coming to an end for this individual.

First world problems indeed.

So is there really such a thing as a ‘Digital Native’?  Prensky thinks so. I am struggling with these questions:

• Isn’t this just a term for the wealthiest of the world’s minority who have access to such technology? If so, are we are becoming more and more dependent on technology to seek and share information, are we alienating and widening the divide between those who have access to technology and those who do not?
• Do we need to focus on those nations and peoples who lack means to share their knowledge, thoughts and ideas?
• If we place such value on knowledge and the connections we make online, the question needs to be asked ‘Who aren’t we communicating with?’ and ‘Whose ideas are not being recognized and celebrated due to lack of opportunity reach a global audience?’.

This concerns me: ‘Who aren’t we communicating with’ and ‘Whose ideas are not being recognized and celebrated due to lack of opportunity reach a global audience?

Why?

Because I really value the connections I have made, cultivated from Twitter, blogs and other social networks. I enjoy learning from them, challenging them and being challenged.

I often wonder who am I NOT following that might make a significant impact on my thinking, my life? I wonder if those who lack means to technology can say the same? Or do they even think about this when wondering when and where your next meal is coming from trumps everything.

What do you think?

We hope you will join us as we discuss this issue during the April #globalclassroom Twitter chats, which begin this weekend. Please see the schedule to find out when they run in your timezone!

 

Chat Details – April 2012

Saturday, April 14 - USA, Europe, Africa  (6PM GMT)

** We hope that this time change will help teachers in Europe & Africa participate in the #globalclassroom chats. 

• 2PM EDT (New York), 7PM London, 8PM Cape Town, 9PM Bucharest. 
• Or click here to find out when this chat runs in your timezone.

Sunday, April 15 - Asia / Europe ( 9AM GMT)

• 10AM London, 5PM Singapore, 6PM Tokyo, 7PM Sydney, 9PM Wellington– Sunday
• Or click here to find out when this chat runs in your timezone

Monday / Tuesday April 16 / 17 (10PM GMT)

• 5PM New York, 11PM London – Monday
• 6AM Hong Kong, 9AM Sydney, 11AM Auckland – Tuesday
• OR click here to find out when this chat runs in your timezone

Can you help?

We are always keen to recruit new chat moderators, and would love suggestions for future chat topics. Please tweet @mgraffin if interested.

We sincerely appreciate your support!