Reading Writing Responding

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...

In a post I wrote a few months ago I spoke about what I called the ' hidden professional development '. That informal learning that occurs unplanned and on the fly, whether it be at lunchtime, while photocopying or even when swapping over on yard duty. Basically anywhere, anytime, simply where two or more passionate learners meet. The big question then and the question now is how do we encourage this? What structured opportunities do we provide for this? Tinkering Teachers In a fantastic discussion as a part of +Ed Tech Crew Episode 240 focusing on what it takes to be an IT co-ordinator, +Ashley Proud spoke about the demise in tinkering amongst students. Although +Mel Cashen and +Roland Gesthuizen mentioned about taking things a part, giving the conversation a more mechanical theme, I feel that tinkering is best understood as a wider curiosity into the way things work.  I believe that one of the reasons for such a drop-off belongs with teachers. Althou...

In a provocative  post , 'Another Brick in the Wall',  Peter Skillen wrote about six 'bricks' that he considers are combining to prevent the evolution of education into the 21st century. The bricks are that: There is an inability for leaders and administrators to practise the same things that they preach and also become learners. Too many educators are living on a diet of abstracts, one-line wisdoms from Twitter and drive-by professional development. We need education for our students and ALSO for our teachers – not subjugation. Rather than overload teachers with initiatives, administration needs to help teachers to understand the ‘essence’ residing in all these practices and out of the distilled essence, teachers could then ‘construct their own knowledge and practice’. If we want the culture and context of the classroom to change, we need to embrace technology and how it might bring about this change. we need to educate the public about the changes that are ne...