Teacher Designer

Blog 10: The  App  Generation,   information tools and their  affordances I thought The App Generation was interesting, in its perspective.  I see a lot of the issues the book discusses in my students at school.  In the introduction to the book, the author says, “we and our fellow researchers have been examining the role technology plays  in the lives of young people” ( termed digital natives) “because they have grown up immersed in the hardware and software of the day .”  Students have a difficult time putting their most easily available technology – their phone – aside even for a few minutes, they have grown so used to having that interaction at hand at all times. I appreciated the discussion we had in class, creating columns of possibilities and constraints for the 3 main issues discussed in the book:  Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination.  Perhaps, because I am not part of this generation, I tend to see a lot of the constraint...

Blog 10:  Net Smart, How to Thrive Online Attention, Participation Power, Social, Digital Know-How... Chapter 1 of “Net Smart” centered on the need to develop our ability to focus; to use mindfulness to be aware of our time and how we’re using it.  There were a couple of quotes that I think spoke to this issue.  “The habit of multitasking, amplified by technologies of distraction, is hurting our capacity for sustained attention,” and “teaching people more mindful, mediated communication seems the most feasible remedy.”   The hopefulness in this chapter was the idea that we can train our ability to pay attention.  All is not lost (though, with their cell phones almost constantly at the ready, our students might make us think otherwise!).  Practicing meditation (breathing) so we can lead more mindful lives, begins the path to better attention.  I will use one more quote here, “mindfulness exercises can have lasting effects on attention.”...

Blog 9:   Copyright Clarity For me, Copyright is far from clear.  I’ve always used the rules I’ve been told, but I don’t know that they are right.  I think, mostly, they’re safe, but I even question that, at this point.  I am one of the educators who is very worried about copyright issues. “Copyright Clarity” suggests the avenue of Fair Use as a protection from copyright lawsuits.  “The doctrine of fair use exists to support the kinds of copying, borrowing, and sharing that are so essential to fertilize and nurture the creative process.”  This all sounds great, but I’m not sure the bulk of the authors/composers/creators/”owners” out there would agree, and I don’t know that I would have the courage to challenge them.  The book goes on to discuss transformative use , which I interpret to mean that, if you make enough changes to the original work that it has been transformed to some other purpose or meaning, you’re good to go.  Changing th...

Blog 8:  The Information Diet and its implications for my practice and student learning When I first read the book, one thought stuck out:  “ There is no such thing as information overload.  It’s not the total amount of information, but your information habit that is pushing you to whatever extreme you find uncomfortable.” This thought resonated through the rest of what I read.  I am in control of how much time I spend, what I spend my time doing, including what I’m actually spending my time looking at. So many of the thoughts expressed in the book are really frightening.  Reading how much the media is manipulated.  The information we are given via the major networks has been spun to reach the majority.  It’s not about accuracy, but about what will catch the viewers.  Money wins out over truth.  Our own tendencies to informational bias.  We read/watch what we are most comfortable with.  Again, a frightening thought, “Once we...

Blog 7:  Students as Designers & The Creative Spirit of Design Good learning designs engage students in using content to construct meaningful outcomes by comprehensively scaffolding students’ ability to design. There are so many important thoughts included in this!  Good learning designs engage students.  Isn’t that what we’re trying to do all the time?  When we teach a lesson and are frustrated because it seems that nobody was listening.  Good learning designs engage students.  What a great goal.  To design lessons where students are engaged.  It doesn’t take pleading or cajoling.  The students are engaged.  The students are using content.  They aren’t just spitting back something they’ve memorized.  For the content to have been learned and internalized to the point that students are using it.  Fabulous.  Students are constructing meaningful outcomes.  The outcome is meaningful to them.  We a...

Blog 6:  Affordance Analysis & the 5 th Design Principle As I understand it, Affordance Analysis is like a comparison chart where the Possibilities of a tool are compared to the Constraints (what it can’t do).  Fill in the blank, “I need something that will ______.”  This is a direct reflection of the 5 th design principle, “Good learning designs reflect technologies chosen after mindful consideration…”  Design, in and of itself, requires a lot of reflection on what goal is hoped to be reached, what skills are needed, what authentic activity would help students to learn in a meaningful way.  Now we’re reflecting on the piece of technology (or multiple pieces?) that would fit with the goal in mind.  I enjoyed the “play” activities from class!  Although I didn’t find either tool/technology useful for my situation, it helped me to understand what the affordance analysis was about.  Who would use this?  In what situations?  What...

Blog 5:  The Victorian Internet and The Learning Principle The Learning Principle:  Good learning designs engage students in “playful” activities at the edge of their knowledge and understanding using symbolic tools to develop and internalize meaningful thought. Clearly, our Lesson Design for this week needs to fit the message given in this principle.  I tried to come up with ideas that would be both fun and engaging while still developing the skills students need to have.  We’ll see in class if my lesson is on the right track! Each week it seems that the principles we discuss are centered on similar thoughts, just from different angles.  It’s been interesting to see the different approaches.  The Ends Principle, where you need to begin with a design problem (what is it you’re trying to solve?) seems to state an idea to keep in mind.  Begin with the problem and keep the end in mind as you design the learning. PICKLE really broke things down int...

Blog 4:  Mind in Society Reading the book this past week wasn’t easy.  It helped to discuss it in class.  I still don’t feel that I have a solid understanding but, as I understand it right now, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development is talking about that space in time when a person is ready or interested in moving ahead with learning.  “It is the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peer.”   Learners need to be at the right developmental stage.  When we’re ready, we use tools that we’ve acquired from the environment we’re in and gradually, using the tools we are given, begin to internalize the learning.  This internalization allows us to use what we’ve learned for problem solving, critical thinking and cognition.  In children, this happens through play....

Blog 3:  Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning, and the third design principle The Knowledge Principle Good learning designs recognize concepts as tools, situate those concepts in the context of their use reflecting authentic activity, conceptual tool, and culture, and analyze content for generalizable knowledge. As teacher designers we need to think: > In the context the students are in (whether it be math or music), what conceptual tools do students need? > In order to understand and use a concept, what do they need to know? > What authentic activity may be done for student to learn/reinforce their understanding? > Would these activity be authentic to the culture of that subject?  (Would a musician do this?  A mathematician?) > What knowledge can be generalized, to go beyond that specific situation? As a math teacher, I’m struggling with authentic activities.  In Algebra 1, we are pr...

The Sabertooth Curriculum and the Ends Principle: Blog 2 The Ends Principle:  Good learning designs prepare learners to meet community needs by linking living and learning to the PICKLE: Problem-solving, Information using, Community participation, Knowledgeable, Literate, and Ethical decision-making In the beginning of Sabertooth, we meet New Fist.  It was said that “he knew how to do things his community needed to have done, and he had the energy and will to go ahead and do them.”  By observing what his community needed, he developed a curriculum of study to make life better for his tribe.  He embraced learning to live and living to learn.  He reflected on the problems he saw in society and came up with a way to teach the basic skills that were needed.  Other community members saw how well the program worked, and they copied his ideas.  His process was developed for the good of the community as a whole. As time went on, the tribe got stuck in t...

Teacher Designer Teachers as Designers What did I learn? Designing is not planning.  Design requires reflecting on and coming up with an idea for teaching before actually creating a “plan of action”. What is the best way to go about this?  How can I best help my students to learn?  Design is about innovation.  Design allows for ideas that are outside the traditional methods, but don’t necessarily exclude them.  Thinking about choosing the right methods for learning.  Designing the idea.  What do I see happening? Teachers need to reflect while the teaching process is occurring.  Teachers must reflect after the lesson: What did I like?  What needs to change? ·          What does it mean and what supports that position?  It means that teaching from a prepared pacing guide isn’t the best way for students to learn. It means we, as teachers, need to stop and think, prior to begin...