Questions+for+Exploration

**SESSION ONE: Course Introduction and Personal Learning Networks**

 * Topics Covered**:
 * Survey
 * Vocabulary for Understanding
 * Digital Footprints
 * Personal Learning Networks
 * Prior to the first class meeting, students are to take the survey and the vocabulary for understanding list.
 * Prior to the first class meeting, be prepared for a reflection on[| Digital Kids @ Analog Schools]


 * Objectives:** Students will -
 * discuss their results on the survey and vocabulary for understanding.
 * share their expectations and what they want to learn in the course.
 * understand the importance of creating their digital footprint.
 * evaluate what PLNs are and their importance in today's networked world.
 * create their own PLN.
 * participate in backchannel chat.

Vocabulary & Understanding (Survey Monkey)
 * Take the Survey** (Survey Monkey)
 * Discussion of student results on the survey and the vocabulary

Keep in Mind: Your Digital Footprint
 * Digital Footprint**

Defining PLN & Resources to Create Your PLN Digital Tools to Create Your PLN
 * Personal Learning Networks**

[|Visual Thesaurus] [|Bubbl.us] [|Comapping]
 * Cool Tools Showcase**


 * Student Assignments:**
 * Create your personal learning network. Be certain the follow the directions provided for you.


 * Tools You Use:** I believe this first meeting is F2F. You could use www.chatzy.com to show how to use backchannel chat if they have a computer. You can also brainstorm debate topics using Bubble.us or Comapping.

NOTE: Final exam preparation - the debate - takes place during first meeting.

Establish teams of three. These teams will work together throughout the semester providing feedback to each other. Team members will evaluate each other's performance and contribution to the group.

Determine debate topics (some choices below)
 * Should cellphones be used in classrooms for learning?
 * Should literacy be redefined to keep up with a rapidly changing world?
 * Will institutions of learning as we know them dissolve or reinvent themselves to survive?
 * Should social media be used in learning?
 * Is it okay to be a technology illiterate teacher today?
 * Should teachers today use the revised Bloom's taxonomy in curriculum design?
 * Are national standards a good idea? Why or why not?
 * Should all teachers know how to teach in Second Life or at least online?
 * Should teachers use online games in learning?
 * Others?

SESSION TWO: Digital Citizenship, Civic Engagement, Global Connections and Social Responsibility

 * Topics Covered**
 * Digital Citizenship
 * Net Etiquette
 * Web 2.0: Everyone's a Publisher
 * Moral, Ethical, and Legal Implications of Web 2.0 World
 * Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons
 * Civic Engagement Using Social Media
 * Global Connections - From Awareness to Understanding
 * Social Responsibility in Online Communities


 * Objectives:** Students will...
 * examine digital citizenship in the context of being a teacher as well as for students.
 * apply copyright, fair use, and creative commons guidelines throughout all course work.
 * discuss Web 2.0 and its implications in education.
 * investigate the moral, ethical, and legal implications of participating in a Web 2.0 world.
 * explore how social media supports civic engagement.
 * understand how to prepare for global collaboration.
 * examine the integration of social responsibility in global collaborative projects.

[|Digital Citizenship] Copyright, Fair Use and Creative Commons
 * Digital Citizenship**

What are the implications for the read/write/web (where anyone can be a publisher) in education? After reading [|That Failing Newspaper Industry], what lessons can be applied to education?
 * Everyone is a Publisher**: **The Web 2.0 World**

[|Media and Democracy: A Report of the 2009 Aspen Institute Forum on Communications and Society] Richard P. Adler [|Here Comes Everybody] by Clay Shirk [|Here Comes Everybody blog] [|How Social Media Can Make History] Speech to the US State Department from TED Talks Interactive Transcript Available [|Institutions vs. Collaboration] from TED Talks
 * Civic Engagement Using Social Media**


 * Global Collaboration and Social Responsibility**

Showcase: Flat Classroom Project

[|Word Up: Bring the World's Languages to Your Classroom] "Here are four steps to adding that je ne sais quoi to your language lessons via free Internet resources." [|A Step-by-Step Guide to Global Collaborations] [|Global Education On a Dime: A Low-Cost Way to Connect] From Edutopia [|Global Education Ning Group] Global Education Collaborative Wikispace [|Global Education Flickr Group] [|Analyzing a Culture Model] [PDF] From Edutopia [|Global SchoolNet Foundation] "The original resource for global project-based learning, problem-based learning, and online collaborative learning." [|Global Links: Lessons from the World] A special publication of Education Week in the series Technology Counts [|Language: Learn What a Billion People Already Know] From Edutopia "As China rises, speaking its language becomes a practical advantage." [|Time and Date] Coordinating global communication? Use this site to determine the time and date all around the globe.
 * **Getting Connected and Preparing**

[|Globatoria: Social Networking Meet Social Responsibility] [|Success Spoken Here: Preparing Citizens of the World] "Seattle's John Stanford International School immerses students in global awareness as well as academic achievement." [|Global Nomads Group] Fostering dialogue and understanding among the world's youth. [|Global Voices Online] "The world is talking. Are you listening?" [|High School for Global Citizenship] [|Holy Meatballs] Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative [|iEARN] International Education and Resource Network [|Karma Tube] "Be the Change" [|PacificRim Exchange] [|My Wonderful World] "Give kids the power of global knowledge." [|One World Youth Project] Connecting Communities of Youth Action [|Rock Our World] [|Roots and Shoots] "The power of youth is global." [|TakingITGlobal: Inspire Inform Involve] "TakingITGlobal.org is an online community that connects youth to find inspiration, access information, get involved, and take action in their local and global communities. It's the world's most popular online community for young people interested in making a difference, with hundreds of thousands of unique visitors each month." //[|Teaching Policy to Improve Student Learning: Lessons from Abroad]// From the Aspen Institute [| The Global Dimension: Walter Payton High School] "New doors open as these students learn an international perspective reinforced by four years of language study, global videoconferences, and travel abroad." [|Think.com] Think.com connects schools, teachers, and students from around the world to collaborate on projects, share experiences, and build knowledge together. [|Kiva] [| Digital Arts Alliance: Facing History and Ourselves]
 * **Reaching Out - Some Resources Below Support Collaborative Social Responsibility**
 * [|Telling Tales: Paikistani Students Share Their Culture's Lore Online] [|International Education and Resource Network]

[|Wordle] Learn Ways to Incorporate Wordle into Learning at this [|Diigo Wordle Group]. [|Animoto]
 * Cool Tools Showcase**


 * Student Assignment:** Prepare a multimedia presentation using Animoto. The video cannot exceed three minutes. You may choose from the following topics -
 * the increased importance of digital citizenship
 * how social media supports civic engagement
 * the growing importance of global understanding
 * how social networks support social responsibility


 * Tools You Use:** Use [|Prezi]for your lesson.

SESSION THREE: Approaches to Learning, Standards Realignment, and Revisiting Literacy (Transliteracy)

 * Topics Covered**
 * Approaches to Learning
 * Realignment of Standards in the 21st Century
 * National Educational Technology Plan and the Common Core State Standards
 * Revisiting Literacy (Transliteracy)


 * Objectives:** Students will -
 * compare various current approaches to learning.
 * critique various professional organizations and their standards, specifically investigating the role of 21st century learning in standards updating.
 * evaluate the National Educational Technology Plan and the Common Core State Standards Initiative on teaching and learning.
 * critique the movement to redefine literacy and the inclusion of transliteracy in curriculum design.

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy [|Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age] Partnership for 21st Century Skills Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow2 Intel Education [|Instructional Design]
 * Approaches to Learning**
 * [|Connectivism: Networked and Social Learning]

Standards

 * ISTE Standards
 * [|ACTFL]
 * [|NSTA] (You can also follow them in Twitter.)
 * [|NCTM]
 * [|NCSS]
 * 1) [|The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the National Council for the Social Studies Team Up on Curriculum Framework]
 * [|NCTE]
 * 1) [|21st Century Literacies]
 * 2) [|The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and National Council of Teachers of English Create New Framework]
 * 3) Why do some call digital storytelling the new genre in literature?
 * Others?

Initiatives Underway

 * [|National Educational Technology Plan]Why was this plan not called the National Learning Plan? Why is technology traditionally set aside and viewed as something separate from curriculum, teaching and learning?
 * [|Common Core State Standards Initiative]

As you reviewed curriculum standards, did you find that literacy is being redefined? Is the definition of literacy changing? If so, how? If educators view literacy differently today than in the past, how will assessments accurately capture student learning? Click [|here] for Dave Warlick's examination of Contemporary Literacy. Further, what are the ramifications of [|transliteracy]in curriculum design?
 * Literacy (Transliteracy)**

"...we must develop a participative pedagogy, assisted by digital media and networked publics, that focuses on catalyzing, inspiring, nourishing, facilitating, and guiding literacies essential to individual and collective life in the 21st century. Literacies are where the human brain, human sociality and communication technologies meet." [|Howard Rheingold] [|Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies]

"Participatory culture shifts the focus of literacy from one of individual expression to community involvement." Henry Jenkins [|Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century]

"We promote GAMING LITERACY: the play, analysis, and creation of games, as a foundation for learning, innovation, and change in the 21st century. Through a variety of programs centered on game design, the Institute engages audiences of all ages, exploring new ways to think, act, and speak through gaming in a social world." [|Institute of Play] (New school opens based on gaming literacy the fall of 2009 - [|Quest to Learn]).

[|Online Graphs and Charts] [|Historic Tales Construction Kit] [|Google Maps: 100+ Best Tools and Mashups]
 * Cool Tools Showcase**

Each team will decide which topic they would like to report on -
 * Student Assignment:**
 * a summary of what you believe are the best approaches in learning and why. Your discussion can expand beyond the resources provided here.
 * an examination of redefining literacy and the inclusion of transliteracy in curriculum design.
 * a critique of the common core state standards initiative.
 * a critique of the National Educational Technology Plan.

Each team uses Google Docs in their collaboration and planning for their video on the topic of their choosing. The team must upload the video to the Internet and embed it into a wiki which describes their project and provides links to resources.


 * Tools You Use:** uStream integrating with Twitter.

SESSION FOUR: eLearning, Mobile Learning and the Changing Role of the Teacher

 * Topics Covered**
 * eLearning
 * Mobile Learning
 * Changing Role of the Teacher


 * Objectives:** Students will -
 * investigate the expanding role of online learning.
 * examine the impact of eLearning on student achievement and motivation.
 * determine the impact of online and mobile learning on traditional school culture and teacher preparation and continual learning.
 * examine the changing role of the teacher in networked learning.

eLearning Vocabulary
 * eLearning**
 * F2F
 * Blended
 * Online or eLearning

[|International Association for K-12 Online Learning] //Why All Teachers Must Learn How to Teach Online// - Susan Patrick [|Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation WILL CHANGE the Way the World Learns] [|Breaking Away From Tradition: E-Education Expands Opportunities for Raising Achievement] From Education Week [|Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning] [|Connections Academy] [|Digital Seed] [|The eLearning Expansion]
 * Click [|here] for the blog post.
 * ====Click [|here] for her pre-conference podcast.====

What are the implications in education as technology becomes smaller, cheaper, and faster (i.e. the iPhone, iPod Touch, and BlackBerry)? As learning becomes more mobile, how can teachers harness anytime, anywhere access to learning? How will teachers need to adjust their approach to teaching and assessing learning? How are QR codes being used in learning?
 * Mobile Learning**

Mobile Learning Wiki

[|Time to Adoption: Smart Objects - Four to Five Years - From Horizon Report]


 * The Changing Role of the Teacher**

[|The Networked Student] In this video, Wendy Drexler examines the changing role of the teacher and identifies the following emerging "titles" -
 * Learning Architect
 * Modeler
 * Network Sherpa
 * Learning Concierge
 * Connected Learning Incubator
 * Synthesizer
 * Change Agent

The Knowledgeworks report [|The Future of Learning Agents and Disruptive Innovation] proposes the following emerging new roles of teachers.
 * Community Intelligence Cartographer
 * Personal Education Advisor
 * Learning Fitness Instructor
 * Learning Partner (Sociogogical Apprentice)
 * Learning Journey Mentors
 * Assessment Designer
 * Social Capital Platform Developer
 * Edu-vator
 * Education Sousveyor.

Cool Tools Showcase [|ScreenToaster: Online Screen Recorder] [|Jing Project] [|Water Effect] [|Mirror Effect]

Using VoiceThread, each team will decide on which topic they would like to report -
 * Student Assignment:**
 * a summary of what you believe are the best approaches in learning. Your discussion can expand beyond the resources provided here.
 * an examination of redefining literacy.
 * a critique of curriculum standards or a critique of the National Educational Technology Plan.
 * the changing role of the teacher and how to prepare.


 * Tools You Use:** Present your lesson via VoiceThread designed for student input on questions that you post within the VoiceThread.

**SESSION FIVE: Second Life, Teen Second Life and Gaming in Learning**

 * Topics Covered**
 * Second Life
 * Teen Second Life
 * Gaming in Learning


 * Objectives:** Students will -
 * investigate current uses of Second Life in education.
 * create an avatar in Second Life.
 * participate in a Second Life field trip.
 * evaluate games in learning.
 * write a grant.

Kevin Jarett's blog [|The Story of My Second Life] - Kevin is a K-4 computer lab teacher in New Jersey. [|K-20 Educators: Exploring Virtual Worlds - Panel] [|Teen Second Life] Peggy Sheehy's blog [|Suffern Middle School in Second Life] [|The Islands of Jokaydia] [|A Second Life for Higher Ed] From U. S. News & World Report January 2008 [|Second Life: Education and Non-profits Showcase] Learn how universities - from Harvard to MIT - are using Second Life in learning. [|The Psychology of Avatar Development] Second Life in Education
 * Second Life**


 * Note: Second Life and Teen Second Life are not the only virtual worlds. Click here for a list.**

[|Entertaining the Hive Mind] From Aspen Ideas Festival - "Game designer Will Wright -- creator of legendary games including Spore and the Sims -- discusses his vision of the future where different forms of entertainment including games, television, movies and music are merged." [|The Institute of Play] [|Quest to Learn] Game-based learning school, grades 6 - 12, New York. [|Games in School: Use of Electronic Games in Pedagogical Contexts] [|Florida Virtual High School: Online School Implements Game-based Course] [|Serious Games Ning] [|Serious Games/Social Impact Games: Entertaining Games with Non-Entertainment Goals] [|Games for Good: The Role Games May Play in Determining Our Future] [|Games to Teach @ MIT] [|Top 12 Social Gaming Trends] [|Serious Fun] From The Economist March 2009 Click here for more resources on gaming in education.
 * Gaming and Learning**

[| Pixton: Interactive Web Comics] [|Toondoo: Cartoon Strip Creator] [|GoAnimate] [|Google News Timeline] [|Visualization API Gallery]
 * Cool Tools Showcase**


 * Student Assignment:**
 * Create an avatar and keep in mind the importance of your digital footprints.
 * Participate in the Second Life field trip.
 * Create a professional development presentation for fellow teachers with instruction sheets. Possible topics: Using technology to communicate; using technology to collaborate; using technology to create community. (Various tools you can use: blogs, wikis, excel graphs, teacherweb, STI for new teachers, advanced PowerPoint or Keynote, games in PowerPoint or Keynote, Second Life, graphics in a word processing document (including Google Docs), jing, cam studio, Smartboard)


 * Tools You Use:** Meet the students at the ISTE Island and then take them on a field trip around Second Life - to the Globe Theater, the Louvre, etc.

**SESSION SIX: Learning Space Design** and Robotics and Programming

 * Topics Covered**
 * Learning Space Design
 * Robotics
 * Programming


 * Objectives:** Students will -
 * investigate emerging models of learning space design.
 * evaluate robotics and programming in learning.

Are schools that are designed for teacher-centered instruction serving the needs of students in an era when creating community and collaboration are critical?
 * Learning Space Design**

[|Would these classroom rules work for you?] [|Designing Learning Spaces for Contempoary Learning] [|Designing Learning Spaces for 21st Century Learners] [|Partnership for 21st Century Skills Calls for Reevaluation of Learning Environments] Click here for more learning space design resources. [|Laptop? Check. Student Playlist? Check. School of the Future? Check] From NY Times (requires free registration)

[|Scratch] [|Alice] [|Programming Is the New Literacy] [| Lego Product Targets Youngsters Interested in Computer Engineering]
 * Robotics and Programming**

[|Timeline Index] [|Debategraph] [|Umapper]
 * Cool Tools Showcase**


 * Student Assignment:** Using Google Sketch-up, design a student-centered classroom.

**SESSION SEVEN: Taking the Pulse of Today and the Future**

 * Topics Covered:**
 * **The Horizon Report**
 * **The Open Education Movement**
 * **Attention Economy and Intention Economy**
 * **Internet2**
 * **Web 3.0 and the Semantic Web (The Intelligent Web)**
 * **Wearable Technology**
 * **Google Wave**
 * **Internet III**
 * **The World Isn't Flat - It's Spiky - Richard Florida**

[|Horizon Report]
 * The Horizon Report**

From the report - Time to Adoption:
 * 1) [|One Year or Less: Collaborative Environments] (3)
 * 2) [|One Year or Less: Online Communication Tools] (2)
 * 3) [|Two to Three Years: Mobiles] (1)
 * 4) [|Two to Three Years: Cloud Computing] (1)
 * 5) [|Four to Five Years: Smart Objects] (0)
 * 6) [|Four to Five Years: The Personal Web] (0)

[|Identity in the Age of Cloud Computing: The Next-Generation Internet's Impact on Business, Governance and Social Interaction] by J. D. Lasica, Aspen Institute

iTunes University (login to iTunes) [|MIT Open CourseWare] [|When Professors Print Their Own Diplomas, Who Needs Universities?] [|The Disaggregated Future of Education] [|What is a Long Tail Learner?] [|Open Source Education] [|Curriki] [|Open Educational Resources] [|Signs of a Significant Disruption in the Traditional Textbook Model] [|CK-12] [|California Open Source Textbook Project] [|Students Give E-Book Readers Mixed Reviews] Wall Street Journal
 * The Open Education Movement**
 * [|What are Open Textbooks?]

What are the implications for educators using open source resources? Will open source availability push textbooks aside?

**"The currency of the New Economy won't be money, but attention -- A radical theory of value.** " From [|Attention Shoppers!] in Wired [|The Attention Economy: An Overview] [|Attention and Distraction] "Today’s reality of connectedness is dramatically different from what existed even ten years ago. Banning is at best a short term solution that will isolate and agitate the very group education is expected to serve. The battle for control of information and interaction has already been won by “the individual”. Organizations, governments, and universities that have not yet recognized this may continue to limp along for a while…but their current stance is not tenable." [|Attention Economy blog] [|Designing Choreographies for the New Economy of Attention]
 * Attention Economy**

[|What Happens When Customers Get Real Powe]r From the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University Is this a precursor for customized learning that education markets must adapt to in order to survive? How can individual teachers leverage intention economy when hanging out their digital shingles advertising for work?
 * Intention Economy**

[|Muse: A Project of the Internet2 K20 Initiative] [|Next Generation Cyberspace]
 * Internet2**
 * [|Get Started Guide for K-12 Instructors]
 * Is Internet2 bypassing you? Click [|here] to view a map.

[|Web 3.0 Conference]: Remix Information for Insight and Profit [|The Semantic Web in Education] [|Web 3.0: The Semantic Web Cometh] [|Twine]
 * Web 3.0 and the Semantic Web (The Intelligent Web)**

Watch this video from a TED talk - [|Patti Maes Demos the Sixth Sense] - "This demo -- from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry -- was the buzz of TED. It's a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment. Imagine "Minority Report" and then some." How can educators be prepared to teach using wearable technology?
 * Wearable Technology**

[|The Future of the Internet III] "A survey of internet leaders, activists and analysts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life, and the architecture of the internet itself improves."
 * Interent III Pew Internet and American Life Project**

Richard Florida contends that the world isn't flat but spiky - [|Overview]** Talent, tolerance, and technology merge for innovation and creativity. Don't miss these [|maps]!
 * The World Isn't Flat - It's Spiky

Justification to Principal - Based upon research, report on why technology in learning is needed in your particular classroom. Use a minimum of five journal articles to justify your position. Use the ISTE NETS for Students to support your position. And, include a budget (even if the tools used are free). Use a wiki to house your report and include a podcast summarizing your justification.
 * Student Assignment:**

What are the implications for learning? What happens to learners if they do not have access to new and emerging digital tools? Will a new "underclass" form - those who do not how to use digital tools for connecting, communicating, and creating and participating in an extended community?


 * Tools You Use:** Use a ning to deliver content and promote student collaboration.

**SESSION EIGHT: Organizational Change or Implosion of Educational Institutions?**
[|From Education for Well-being]: “As the scope and quality of learning that can happen outside of institutional groups continues to increase, the educational hegemony of traditional schools continues to decrease. In Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Clay Shirky writes, ‘Now that there is competition to traditional institutional forms for getting things done, those institutions will continue to exist, but their purchase on modern life will weaken as novel alternatives for group action arise.’”

What will happen to institutionalized education as the world becomes more networked and learners can customize their own learning, choose their own teachers, and determine what is important to them? (Remember t[|he Long Tail Learner]) How are we, as teachers, adapting? Or, are we? How will our roles change and shift?

KnowledgeWorks Foundation [|Leading for Learning: How to Transform Schools into Learning Organizations] by Phillip C. Schlechty Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education by Terry M. Moe and John E. Chubb
 * [|At Amazon]
 * [|Hoover Institute Press Release] "What’s wrong with this picture? In their new book //Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education// (Jossey-Bass, 2009), Hoover fellows Terry M. Moe and John Chubb, leaders in education reform, tell a dramatic story about the pitched battle to bring about real change and improvement to America’s schools—a battle that pits the innovative forces of technology against the entrenched interests that powerfully protect the educational status quo."

I[|STE at NECC09 Debate: Brick and Mortar Schools Are Detrimental to the Future of Education] (Note: The first 35 minutes or so is music and awards ceremony. Go to minute 50 to view debate.) [|The Edgeless University: Why Higher Education Must Embrace Technology] [|The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age] [|Insulate-Ed] [|Fluid Learning] [|The Ultimate Disruption for Schools] [|Tinkering Toward Utopia] Pew Internet & American Life Project [|The Future of Educaton] Thomas Frey, Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute "Within two years a radical shift will begin to occur in the world of education. While many people are making predictions about the direction that education systems are headed, we have found the best predictors to be hidden in the participative viral systems springing to life in the online world, such as iTunes and Amazon. These bottom-up approaches are quick to develop, participant-driven systems that are closely aligned to the demands of the marketplace. In this paper we will focus on the key missing elements that will cause the disruptive next generation education systems to emerge. These missing pieces will likely be created within the next two years through private funding and will cause a dramatic educational shift in less than five years."

[|Our Story: Timeline Creation]
 * Cool Tools Showcase**


 * Student Assignment:** You may -
 * Write a grant to [|Bright Ideas]
 * Or you may wish to choose another grant. Click [|here] for more information.
 * Submit a podcast to ASDE for approval
 * Submit a lesson plan to ALEX for approval

Note: If you choose to write a grant, you can build on the submission you presented your principal. Also, if you submit a podcast to ASDE, you may re-purpose your professional development presentation for that submission.