Re-Siever

I remember the sinking feeling (OK, panic) I felt the first time I saw the Go2Web20.net meta list of web apps. There are, according to their site, 2587 applications and services in their directory as of today. The page just scrolls on and on….

I know not every tool of value is listed there. VoiceThread is missing, so is FlikrStorm. And some of these tools just leave me scratching my head: Plol- the Pablic Library or Law (hmm, help with praking tickuts?) and Foamy which asks, “Do you owe someone a beer?”.

I am really curious about what drives the creativity behind these apps. Are people inventing tools to create a need or do these tools meet real needs that can’t be addressed any other way? And does this matter? Maybe the true creativity comes after the fact when people find uses for applications that the inventor hadn’t imagined.

Dan Meyer blogged about Animoto and Wordle, suggesting that beyond the cool factor, which shouldn’t be a factor, they have little value in education:

…for classroom purposes we need to stop judging these tools on the quality of their output rather on the rigor of their input and the interpretation of their output.

(Dan did recant his complete rejection of Wordle when a reader named Rich used it to calculate the mode of a set of numbers.)

To Dan’s criteria, I would add that using a tool should create a positive change–in the way a person (user or viewer) thinks, feels, or perceives. And the quality of change determines the value of that tool. In this context, change = learning.

Recently, Sue Waters presented a workshop on personal learning networks, and shared reader responses about their most important tools in creating and sustaining their networks. I said that RSS, Diigo, Nings like Classroom 2.0, and blogging conversations were my lifeline tools. She created the diagram here to show reader responses. Sue, Elaine Talbert, and other contributors may have convinced me of the value of Twitter, and I may take it up before the summer is over.

I am going to use Wordle with my Gr. 6 students: in math for demonstrating mode and the birthday paradox (suggested by Jason Dyer), and in language arts using this clever idea for puzzles from Winston Breen. And maybe, just maybe my students will find another purpose for the tool that no one has thought of yet. That would be cool.

Tags: Classroom 2.0, Dan Meyer, Elaine Talbert, FlickrStorm, Learning, PLN, Sue Waters, VoiceThread, web applications, Winston Breen, Wordle

This video is why we should read blogs beyond teaching and technology: just for the joy of finding something like this.

I learned about Baman and Piderman through Drawn! The Illustration and Cartoon Blog. It is a multi-authored blog, and is rich with content of the eye-candy sort. The material is not always young student appropriate, but Drawn! often includes videos, cartoons, and illustrations that are perfect for classroom use. The blog won a best Canadian blog award in 2007.

The maker of this magical animation is Alex Butera, is a 22-year-old talent about to graduate from the Massachusetts College of Art. The charm of this video is the characterization of these two superheroes. The table slouching, the looking under the bed, and the sticky feet are so six-year-old boy, and their friendship is just plain sweet. The best part is the last few seconds with sandwich. Pure genius. I wonder how he made the sound of the meat flopping out and the bread hitting the bed.

I imagine Alex put hours upon hours into this 22 second gem. I am sure he is getting raves. I would love to know how his talent was encouraged in school and out.

Betcha can’t watch this only once.

Tags: Alex Butera, animation, Creativity, Drawn!, video

By now, Sue Waters is getting ready for Day 2 of her presentation on the importance of personal learning networks and how networks are forged using online tools.

I am about three months into building my online PLN. I have many wonderful colleagues at school and in my master’s cohort, and I love face-to-face learning with them. In person connection is my first choice always.

What the online community provides me with is bizarre combination of the random and the specific. It’s really non-linear. Some things I trip over, and other things I seek out. Both processes give me A-ha! moments. Because I am in charge of my learning (choosing to engage, observe, ponder, reject), I am the do-it-yourselfer–I am my own cognitive plumber and electrician. My best tools at this point are RSS, Diigo, Nings like Classroom 2.0 , and the blogging conversations I’ve joined. What helps my learning most is feedback.

I listened to a ustream of Clarence Fisher’s presentation at the Building Learning Communities conference in Boston, and an idea that sticks in my colander is teacher as network administrator. This is not to be confused with the tech support job. We can help our students build their own learning networks by helping them access the tools and learn the strategies to use them wisely and effectively. We can point them at the resources and content that might resonate for them so they can create their own PLNs.

I would love to have a better PLN close to home, but for now there isn’t a good venue to ask the question, “Is anyone trying X? How’s it working? Can we experiment together?”. That would move my DIY to DIT–do it together.

Hmm. Something to aspire to.

Image: sky blues by Saffana Creative Commons license

Tags: blogging, Clarence Fisher, Classroom 2.0, Diigo, Ning, PLN, RSS, Sue Waters

Reading Ann Oro’s post today about using tools to follow comments got me thinking (in a non-linear kind of way) how I decide whose blog to read.

Is it just content?

It’s certainly important to me–after all, I am reading to learn and reflect on what others are saying. I appreciate practical advice on how to use 2.0 tools from people like Ann, Sue Waters, and Paul Hamilton. Other bloggers expand my understanding about the “big ideas” in learning and technology. David Warlick, David Truss, and Dina Strasser make me think.

What about design?

I must admit, some blogs make me a little crazy. I’m just not good with visual distractions like Vokis (the flapping hair in particular), animated advertisements, or really crowded sidebars. There are some pretty elegant sites out there, ones that are easy on the eyes. Dan Meyer’s blog fits this category.

The Tone

I am not sure if there is another word to describe this–is it attitude? Some blogs have a respectful presence, an ethic that builds community–Dean Shareski and Clarence Fisher come to mind. I think in part it is the way they handle new ideas and how they respond to people who comment on their blogs. I get the sense I would like to work with these folks. I bet they would make great colleagues. Some blogs are feisty, poking at the establishment, or offering up contrarian opinions. Good.

Then there are a few blogs that leave me feeling squirmy. The tone is superior, dismissive, too cool–and rude. Yes, I do read them. I have a morbid curiosity about them, I guess. What would it be like to share a staffroom with them? Would I feel safe?

Blogs I don’t (yet) read

I would love to see more blogs by classroom teachers who are not tech specialists, who are using 2.0 tools effectively in the content areas. I’d love to find blogs by drama teachers or art teachers who just blog, but don’t necessarily use technology directly. And I want to read more student blogs by kids who are not just responding to teacher prompts. I better get searching.

So, what are your criteria?

How do you choose your blogroll?

Image: I Love Books by Weeping-Willow under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic license

Tags: Ann Oro, blogging, Dan Meyer, David Truss, David Warlick, Dean Shareski, Dina Strasser, Paul Hamilton, Sue Waters

In April I had the pleasure of seeing Margaret Wheatley in Vancouver. Much of what you find in her remarkable books is available on her site as well as several excellent podcasts. She has changed the way I look at leadership, organization, and relationship, and so has influenced my teaching and learning, too.

Meg talked about how change happens through networks of relationships. Hierarchy is never the way to organize-it is antithetical to natural systems. It looks good on paper, and gives the illusion of order or connectedness, but it is not the way people truly operate. It happens the way Margaret Mead described it, through conversations among people who share the same passion: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

So, this is order:

And this is connection:

I am attracted to Wheatley’s humane view of the world. At first blush the classic org chart model seems to be the logical way to organize for resilience, efficiency, and success. But here’s what she says about that:

…I see the need to create organizations where people can bring their whole selves. Unless we create organizations where all of us feel we can contribute in multiple and unexpected ways, the organization cannot survive into the future. There is no way to be adaptive and resilient without having everyone engaged in the work. No one person is smart enough. No one group can respond fast enough. If we are not making it up as we go along, tinkering and experimenting with solutions, we will not survive.

Quoted in School Administrator, Jan, 1995, interview and article by Elizabeth Donohoe Steinberger

The message I take from this is that we are all invited to lead in our schools, and lead from our own passions. Meg’s elegant definition of a leader, someone who wants to help, opens the door for everyone to contribute. If we wait for or expect those in positional authority to do the changing, it ain’t gonna happen.

This idea also speaks to the simplicity and power of Web 2.0. It allows anyone and everyone to contribute in multiple and unexpected ways. Random links create real connection, and suddenly a pattern emerges. Yes,

it appears complex, but zoom in or zoom out and you can see uncomplicated, elegant relationships that form a whole community.

David Truss gets me thinking:

…our digital world has made it much easier to have an incredible impact on a global scale. The world isn’t so much ‘flat’ as it is woven.

We are all weaving this web of relationship, one connection at a time.

Images: IBM/Tabulating Machine Co. organization chart by Marcin Wichary Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Schiller Labs by Empty Streets Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Woven Ball by exfody Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Tags: community, connection, David Truss, Margaret Wheatley, relationship, school, Web 2.0