Reading Writing Responding

creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14929330102WALL-e quote A teacher at school came into my office the other day excited that he'd just received a new document at a recent network meeting. The document was 'Towards a New End: New Pedagogies for Deep Learning' . A document produced by Michael Fullan and Maria Langworthy as a part of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning global project . The teacher in question was disappointed that we weren't also apart of the project. The odd thing was that I had already seen this document. Firstly, via +Jenny Ashby on Twitter and then through her blog post requesting opinions and perspectives on the various skills. While I then came upon it as a part of the WMR 21st Century Network that +Sam Irwin and I set up. +Chris Karageorge shared how his school had also joined the project. This whole situation highlighted two things to me: one, we are all i...

creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14285217903 This post was first shared on +Peter DeWitt 's blog Finding Common Ground on the 30th May 2014. There is a documentary series called Who Do You Think You Are? , the premise of which is to to trace the journey of a celebrity back to their genealogical roots. From the odd episodes that I have seen, the show works because it takes someone whose life is seen as extraordinary and it finds their story in the odd and the ordinary.  This idea of tracing our identity back to the roots got me thinking about being a connected educator. There is often so much written about getting people connected. However, one of the biggest hurdles that I have found is bridging the gap between those in the shadows, lurking in the background, to creating a more engaged community which includes commenting and collaboration. One aspect that I feel is missing are the stories of h...

This post and associated slides are for my TL21C Reboot Session addressing the topic of: Becoming a Connected Educator (22/7/2014) Becoming a Connected Educator (TL21C) - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires Becoming a connected educator is so unique. There is no rule or recipe to follow and no two stories are the same. The reality is that it is many things to many people. The biggest challenge is continually defining what it actually means to be connected and why it is important. I don't wish to offer some cure, rather I hope to keep the conversation going. Instead of providing a recipe, my approach has always been to share some of the choices that I have made and my thoughts behind them. Although signing up to various platforms is important, it is the journey associated with this that matters most to me. As +Tony Sinanis   says , in reflecting on his own connected experiences, "the Twitter experience is a journey ... it is not an exp...

creative commons licensed (BY-NC) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14421694749 I recently wrote a post wondering whether you have to be a radical in order to be a connected educator? In response, +Eric Jensen directed me to Tom Sherrington's post 'Signals and Noises in the EduSphere'. In it Sherrington discusses the counter-productive nature of disruptive noise when it comes to communicating online. I tried to post a comment on the blog, but it produced an error, so I decided to simply elaborate my thoughts here instead ... In his post, Sherrington postulates that the mode of communication that we choose affects the depth of understanding that we achieve. In a 'high quality exchange' we are able to build upon ideas by finding common ground which includes challenging and refining our own opinions. In contrast to this, a 'low quality exchange' involves ideas losing their meaning as they are not given time or lack any...

creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14223298149 Lately, I have been writing a lot about being a connected educator. A part of this stemmed from a tweet from +Alan Thwaites , but it also comes from my involvement in the TL21C program . However, I was challenged by a colleague the other day with the question: 'what do we talk about when we have finished talking about getting connected?' At first I was confused by the question for being connected is so important, then it occurred to me that maybe I've been focussing too much on the wrong issue? It is so easy when talking about teaching and learning in the 21st century to get caught up in discussions about tools and technology. However, as I have discussed elsewhere , 21st century learning is more than just one thing. If we use the work of the team at ATC21s , it is in fact a combination of four interrelated topics: Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical t...

creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by Trekking Rinjani: http://flickr.com/photos/trekkingrinjani/4930552641 Last Wednesday night I participated in a Hangout with the team involved in coordinating the Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century  professional development program offered by the education department in Victoria. For whatever reason, I didn't sign up last year. Subsequently, I looked on in awe and a little bit of jealously (if I must be honest) at all the awesome learning (and fun) that seemed to be going on. When it was offered this year, I was therefore keen to be involved, especially after sitting the backchannel of the ACCELN broadcast reviewing last years program. As things unfolded, +John Thomas  got in contact, asked if I'd like to be a coach and the rest is history. It is interesting thinking about how I got to this point. Actually when you stop and think about it, it is interesting considering how anyone got to where they got to. For m...

creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by courosa: http://flickr.com/photos/courosa/2922421696 So far I have discussed connecting with others both off and online . In addition to this, I explored taking owner of our identity online , as well as elaborating on and engaging with the ideas of others . The fifth step in being a connected educator is learning. Ideas and inspiration can come from many places and like connections, are not always digital or online. Sometimes learning can be as simple as a chat around the photocopier or walking between classes. I have discussed this elsewhere as the incidental 'hidden' professional learning . The reality is, everything in life can offer a point of learning if we are willing to see it that way. For example, an activity that I have done with my students in the past is to reflect upon their classroom and what it says. I have done this in history when considering artefacts, as well as in music when thinking about per...

This post is a follow up to my presentation at the Melbourne Teachmeet held at the Immigration Museum on the 10th of May. The focus was the question, "are you really connecting if you are not giving back?" This was a topic that I had previously written about in a post of the same name . The one difference was the implications for sharing in the classroom. Are you really connecting if you are not sharing? from Aaron Davis I don't know how many times I have heard Edmodo referred to as being 'Facebook for education'. Other than the fact that it simply isn't, the biggest problem I have with this is that so often such spaces are set up as a place for one way communication. Where although the teacher has stepped off the physical space, they have merely stepped into a virtual stage. Now I understand that as the teacher we have a responsibility to manage such spaces. However, should it be any wonder when there is little traction from stud...

creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by fredcavazza: http://flickr.com/photos/fredcavazza/278973402 In my previous posts, I spoke about connecting with people both in person and online . The problem that I found with both of these situations is that connections are often only ever as deep or strong we let them be. If we are unwilling to give back , should it be any surprise that people don't always want to share with us? However, what it took me a little bit of time to realise was that 'giving back' was more than just about ideas and information, it was actually giving a part of you. Taking more ownership over my online identify was therefore my fourth marker to becoming a more connected learner. A Digital Badge I had known that the only person I was fooling in trying to hide behind some sort of anonymity was myself. The reality was and is that if someone really wanted to piece together 'who' I was, there were enough crumbs left lyi...

creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/113562593@N07/13957080467 The Obligation to Write In my last post I discussed moving from physical connections to those online. The third marker in my journey to becoming a more connected educator was to begin writing my blog ' Reading Writing Responding '. A little bit like connecting with Twitter, I started writing a blog as a way of understanding by doing. I had explored some of the facets of blogging in relation to the Ultranet, writing reflections and sharing reviews through my own profile, but had never really been completely immersed in the medium. My intention for the blog was to focus on responding. As I have discussed elsewhere , I feel that responding is often the forgotten element to reading and comprehension. During my Honours year at University, I read a lot about the interpretive nature of reading. One critic that stood out to me was J. Hillis Miller . A...