Last day of Poli. Sci

I have included a Youtube video of Jimmy V's acceptance speech from the 1993 ESPY Awards ceremony. Take what you can from his inspired words.




Another wonderfully inspirational speech from the late Dr. Randy Pausch


Students are asked to reflect onthe following questions:


"Please reflect on your blog regarding the following 2 questions about Honors Political Science:

1- What are some "take-aways" from the class? What did you learn about political science?

2-What are some "portable skills" you have learned this semester and how might they be helpful in the future?"

Blogging in Poli. Sci.

I am going to attempt to attach the RSS feed folder I am using in my senior Poli Sci classes. The first blog prompt was to have students read 2 articles regarding their generation, recently termed, the dumbest generation.
Here are the articles:
Dumbest Generation
Counter Argument

Here is the Google Reader folders:
Shared Blogs

Web 2.0 lesson

The learning goals for this lesson dealing with the Great Depression are as follows:
• Develop an understanding of the causes of the Great Depression
• Analyze the actions taken by Herbert Hoover to address the economic crisis
• Analyze the actions taken by FDR
• Develop and defend a position regarding the question: “Was the Great
Depression avoidable?”

Resources include:
• Hippocampus.org video and document presentations for background content
• PBWiki site for essential questions to consider and collaboration on possible
answers to the essential questions
• Class Moodle site for submission of well defended argument
• Animoto video presentation

Introduction and Motivation:
• Animoto video introduction with discussion of how significant the impact of the Great Depression was on American history.


Procedure
• Go to the PBwiki
• Follow the directions found in the wiki

Assessment
• Students will submit their written response in the appropriate Moodle forum

In the News

As we conclude our first year of the pilot 1:1 classroom, I find myself looking back on the school year and participating in the single and double loop reflection that is part of effective constructivist learning. Both my students and I constructed our own understandings of the 21st century classroom. I have asked they look back on the year and reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and the strengths and weaknesses of the course. We will discuss these thoughts as a class and I will share my own reflections.


My single loop reflection involves considering the effectiveness of daily instruction, the structure of assignments, and authenticity of assessments. While there are many things to comment on in this regard, this posting is about the double loop reflection: questioning the underlying assumptions about instruction and the educational system as a whole.


The infusion of technology into our high school has created battle lines between those who truly embrace constructivist education and those who embrace a more behaviorist approach to learning. Many of the behaviorists believe they embrace open discovery, project-based, student-centered learning, but their true colors emerge when you discuss giving students access to technology.


I believe part of people’s reluctance is the new technology requires completely restructuring of the classroom environment and the traditional power structures. Teachers are also concerned that the new technologies and teaching strategies are merely causing further distraction and are more flash than substance. They are not the only people concerned with the path education is taking. Mark Bauerlein published a book, The Dumbest Generation that describes students today as, “drowning in a tidal wave of teen, youth, stuff, delivered through digital tools, and the adult realities of history, civics, foreign affairs, politics, and fine arts can’t break through.” (Warlick, D., 2008) He goes on to discuss how access to technology and web 2.0 tools has not led to intellectual gains. “In an average young person’s online experience, the senses may be stimulated and the ego touched, but vocabulary doesn’t expand, memory doesn’t improve, analytic talents don’t develop, and erudition doesn’t ensue.” (Richardson, W., 2008) This argument reflects the opinion of many who oppose the move to 21st century classrooms. The general feeling is that the laptops add more flash but very little additional substance to learning. While I believe this critique is valid when technology is the sole focus, it does not hold water when technology and web 2.0 tools are used in properly constructed learning environments.


Will Richardson discusses Bauerlein's argument in his blog, vehemently arguing that this generation of the so called technological natives are not dumb. "[O]ur kids are not “dumb” nor is this generation 'dumb' simply because they spend a lot of time in front of television screens and computers or because they haven’t worked out for themselves how to get smarter using the Read/Write Web. And to label them so is demeaning and smacks more of marketing than reality."(Richardson, W., 2008) Not only is this stance demeaning to children, but in the educational environment, it implies a lack of responsibility and accountability of parents and teachers to interact with students in meaningful ways within the life experiences of students. This is a philosophical dividing line in education: should students be expected to learn what adults have learned, the way adults learned it, or should students be instructed within their understanding of the world and guided on how to become good global citizens? We must help students understand how and why to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information in meaningful ways. Bauerlein might be correct in emphasizing that web 2.0 alone does not improve the intellectual abilities of Generation Next, however few children often go out of their way to use their surroundings to improve their reading and writing skills without prompting or guidance. We must guide them as they construct their understanding of the world, not tell them how it is and expect them to have buy-in.


Many traditionalists in education believe students learn best in behaviorist environments, however our students have grown up learning and interacting in a predominantly constructivist environment. The Internet can be a powerful tool for constructivist learning and I believe it can be a powerful tool for educating traditional teachers on the benefits of web 2.0 and constructivist learning environments. If the read/write web is to be utilized for converting the naysayers, the learning environment must be non-threatening, constructivist in nature, and utilize techniques of mentoring, reflection, and collaboration. Teachers will be exposed to the benefits of the Internet in the classroom in the four following ways. In-service time and proper training should be used in order to provide the necessary time and guidance:


Internet Miner: Teachers will be exposed to the social bookmarking site Diigo and will be invited into a group dedicated to collecting resources for effective use of the internet in the classroom. They will also be provided some useful search techniques utilizing Google. Time will be provided for them to surf the web, bookmark sites, highlight important text, and examine other's bookmarks. Teachers seasoned in 21st century teaching techniques will help act as guides.

Producer: Teachers will be trained on the use of free website generators such as Free Webs or Weebly and encouraged to create a website for their classroom. This website would provide a course overview, valuable resources for students and a forum or blog section where they could experiment with posing questions for student reflection and discussion. After creating the site, they would visit sites created by other teachers and post suggestions/reflections/links in their forum or blog. This would help provide a non-threatening way to experience the read/write web.

Policy Adviser: Following their experience with web 2.0 tools, teachers would be encouraged to discuss the implication these tools would have on their courses. They would be encouraged to discuss modifications that would have to be made and what changes could be made at the institutional level to support the implementation of 21st century learning environments (namely access to laptops, an appropriate AUP...). A wiki will be created as a place for participants to post their ideas.

Integrator: Teachers will work in small groups to modify a couple of their existing lessons in order to harness the interactive nature of the read/write web. The longterm plan would have them implement the lesson and reflect on the benefits offered by the web 2.0 tools.

There certainly are a lot of logistical aspects that need to be sorted out, but with proper support and commitment to change, I believe many naysayers can be enlightened to the educational benefits of the Internet (does that sound fascist?). It is our responsibility as parents and teachers to educate ourselves on these 21st century tools, so that we can help guide students on effective ways to use technology. In the end, if we do assign kids the label, "The Dumbest Generation", they are not to blame; it will have been our own lack of support, guidance, and understanding.


References:
Lynch, M. and Johan, C. Information Systems Foundations: Constructing and Criticizing (2004). Reflection types: Chapter 9. Reflection in self-organized systems. Retrieved 6/4/08 from http://epress.anu.edu.au/info_systems/mobile_devices/ch09s03.html

Richardson, W. (June 2008). Not the "Dumbest Generation". Retrieved 6/7/08 from http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/not-the-dumbest-generation/

Warlick, D. (May 2008). Another Naysayer Stirs the Pot. Retrieved 6/7/08 from http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/archives/1459

Reflection #3

The Educational Technology course has heightened my awareness to the discrepancy between the Acceptable Use Policy in my high school and the district’s initiative to incorporate technology into the curriculum. We are encouraged to restructure our classrooms to allow for more authentic learning environments, while the school continues to operate as it has for the past several decades.

Several faculty members discussed this quirk in the system when we first began integrating laptops into our classes. Our unprecedented access to technology makes many of the current rules antiquated. Students quickly took advantage of the loophole presented by the new initiations with technology and our administration’s lack of action. Students who would have quickly squirrel their cell phones or iPods away when they saw a teacher last year now walk through the hall with one ear bud in while texting their friends. This change in character happened almost overnight when the bulk of the Classrooms for the Future carts rolled out at the turn of the semesters.

It has led to a frustrated student body, faculty, and administration. Students perceive there is a double standard: that it is okay to have an iPod in one class but not in another; that it is okay to use their laptop on one class and not in the next. Some faculty members interpret the student handbook as the letter of the law which is to be enforced at all times and others see it as an outdated document in which they are forced to pick-and-choose the rules to be enforced. The administration does not want to rewrite the handbook during the year, wants rules to be enforced, but would prefer if teachers could handle the majority of the issues. We are a building limping along at the end of the year with many unresolved issues that must be fixed before next fall.

An email from a fellow colleague perhaps best describes the frustration of the more traditional teacher toward this change. The email was entitled “Cell phones, ipods”:

“We do have policies in place and administration has backed us up when students are referred (perhaps not EVERY time - but I have had a majority of good results). There is a lot of room for improvement on all sides - but as teachers we REALLY need to start holding the line. When we let kids do what they want all year and then get angry when things falls apart at the end of the year, we really are not doing anyone any favors. We need to prepare our students to be productive and respectful citizens - to do that, we have to expect them to be mature and follow the rules…. You [teachers not enforcing iPod/cell phone rules] are making the school unsafe and making it tougher for the rest of us to keep things orderly and safe.”

Many teachers are of the opinion that there is no place for cell phones and iPods in school. Their major complaint is that students will use these devices to cheat. I would suggest it is not the access to these devices that needs to be addressed, but our entire philosophy of education. We must build a culture where not only our rules of conduct match realistic expectations, but where the entire learning environment is more realistic. The Innovative Educator, a blog by Lisa Nielson (PD manager for the Office of Instructional Technology for the NYC DOE) discusses that the classroom must change from a “know what” environment based on producing the correct answer to a “know where” environment that emphasizes how to find, evaluate, and analyze information.

I have also included a link to an article that discussed how some schools are harnessing the power of iPods to engage students:
“In Some Schools, iPod are Required Listening”

Just came across this blog post by Will Richardson that I thought was appropriate to my reflection. The blog post is entitled: Adapting to Change

Student Supply/Demand Videos

My junior/senior economics class was tasked throughout this quarter with creating a business, deciding what product to sell, finding out the market demand for the product, and examining how market factors shift supply and demand. The most recent project was to create a video that displayed their product, the equilibrium point, and shifts in supply/demand. I have posted links to their videos below. Please take some time to watch the videos and post your comments in Youtube for the students.

Thanks

Jim

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4


Also, if you have a moment, take a look at the following Wiki created by a group of Honors juniors for a Modern American History class. Please leave any feedback I can pass on to the group: Art as Propaganda

Blog Post #2

The other day, I was confronted by the following opinion of another high school American History teacher involved in the CFF program. This is the gist of his concerns:

“I do recognize the need for 21st Century learning. I believe students need to learn how to function in a 21st Century world. However, there are several obstacles that make the change difficult. It is incredible the amount of curriculum I have to cover as a history teacher. I need to cover over 130 years of American History. I end up cutting out sections as it is. The use of 21st Century learning would have to be done in moderation. Otherwise, they will simply not learn how to sit in a classroom and take notes, which is still the primary method of instruction in college.”

These concerns really got me thinking about how Web 2.0 has changed the classroom environment and how it has begun to impact higher education. While sitting in class taking notes is still the main method of instruction in introductory history courses, higher level courses require vast amounts of research and analysis of information. Mindtools such as Inspiration can help students take notes in lecture classes or even Word notebook with the audio note option (Mac’s only). Students can become familiar with open courseware such as the material from MIT and actually have a comparable course outline up during a lecture for comparison. For that matter, why should a student engage in one-way transfer of information in a high school classroom when they have access to all the content the teacher has and more. Shouldn’t the role of a history teacher be to help students understand the core ideas and then evaluate sources for credibility? Yes, you will have to drop a lot of classic content, but as long as the teacher creates a learning environment that focuses on the essential ideas from a historical predicament, students will get the main ideas that really have an impact on the larger picture. Do students have to know every one of the relief, recovery, reform acts of FDR? Or do they have to understand the principle of what they were, details about a couple, and how they shaped American history? It truly comes down to your educational philosophy.

Being able to follow the blogs of historians, politicians, and economists opens students up to a vast network of content area experts. Social book marking sites such as Diigo are a godsend for history students! Google documents allows students to collaboratively work on research papers. Web 2.0 tools remove so many of the barriers that made lecture necessary. Does this mean the teacher has no role? Quite the opposite! The teacher is that much more important. They need to help guide students, as they are the expert researchers. Students are good at researching topics, but often fail to conduct 3 dimensional research that makes the bigger connections or asks the important questions. It is our job to help students become more thoughtful, critical, and empathetic citizens. 21st century learning environments and technologies remove the obstacles. We are now only affected by self-imposed limitations.

Please don’t get me wrong; I don’t think Comic Life or the other catchy applications make students better researchers. It is the problem-based learning involved in the assignment that challenges students. The final product should help motivate students, but should not be OUR focus. It is the process and content necessary to complete the assignment that is so important and it is our job to teach within that environment. That way, when they do have to sit in a lecture hall, the effort that is required of them is so much less than what they are used to. College students will (and are) quickly finding ways to bypass the more ineffectual teaching methods at the college level and college professors (and I know quite a few) are feeling the pressure to change how they instruct.

"Tag you're it!" Social Bookmarking

As I have become more accustom with using Delicious as a social bookmarking spot and not just a place to store bookmarks, I have been struck by the importance of tagging. I didn't originally tag or just tagged with one or two tags, however for the bookmark to be useful to others and in order to help sort my own bookmarks, it is important to include as much detail in the tags as possible. I find I am now going back through my bookmarks, re-tagging and reorganizing. I think reorganizing and focus on proper tagging (along with adding networks) is all part of using social bookmarking at the next level. I look forward to seeing how Diigo ups the ante.

Response Blog #1

Brown and Adler discuss that at the root of Web 2.0 is social learning.

"[U]nderstanding of content is socially constructed through conversations about that content and through grounded interactions, especially with others, around problems or actions. The focus is not so much on what we are learning but on how we are learning."

Web 2.0 allows dynamic interaction with other users and allows learners to construct their own understanding of specific domains. It provides schools with a powerful tool for sparking student interest and opening doors for life long learning. Several faculty members in my building are embracing 21st century learning environments and the positive effects of socially constructed learning. This is a move in the right direction for instructors, however some at the administrative level are attempting to "one-up" teachers by trying to structure entire curricular scope and sequence around social learning. While social learning is a wonderful tool for the classroom I believe it is dangerous to structure an entire curriculum (K-12) around socially constructed understanding. At the end of the day, a public school is expected to graduate seniors with a certain level of content and process proficiency. Colleges expect students to come with certain fundamental skills and we are expected to provide those learning opportunities. We can develop learning environments that allow students to socially construct their understanding of the American Civil War, however, if students socially construct their understanding of "War", they may never develop an understanding of the Civil War or how the Civil War was a product of its time and defined our maturing nation.

We looked at some NY public schools that use thematic approaches to developing curriculum that supports the NY state Regents Test http://www.regentsprep.org/Regents/global/global.cfm . The teachers we contacted who are working with thematic social studies curriculum stated that students were very confused at first by a purely thematic approach to history where students created their own understandings of events and their consequences. Schools had to modify the themes so the curriculum looked at regions of the world and examined how the themes played out in these specific areas. Based on these suggestions, we developed a curriculum that will combine thematic inquiry, within the structure of a regional approach, and utilize a combination of social, experiential, and problem-based learning.

CFH reflection

This post is for reflective thoughts about implementing my mindtool:

I was pleasantly surprised how at ease students were when I presented the project. I explained what a Cognitive Flexibility Hyperlink was and how they would approach the assignment. Not a single student in the 3 American History classes blinked! A month or 2 ago, they would have moaned and groaned, rolled their eyes, asked for a lecture instead. I believe they have become so accustom to trial and error, hard work and perseverance when it comes to using technology, that they know they can do it. I also believe that they have finally taken to heart my mantra: "Trust me."

We are only 3 days in to the assignment, but the groups have divided up their responsibilities and begin creating their perspectives. These projects will come out well and students will truly be intellectually engaged in learning. The CFH requires students to reflect on what they are researching and how to synthesize something brand new.

One stumbling block with the project: Google docs! It is a great program for collaboration, but it does not allow you to create slide-to-slide hyperlinks. These links are the heart and soul of the CFH, so we have reverted to only using Powerpoint. Perhaps in the near future, Google will create a presentation program that allows this flexibility.

I know this is a project I will use in the future, because several students who do not consider themselves "tech-savvy" have said they really enjoy this challenge and love creating the perspectives.

Classroom 2.0

I guess you can say we are piloting classroom 2.0 this year. The major difference is that we have all of this technology access but a classroom 1.0 curriculum. We do our best. Below is a Power Point illustrating some student work from one of my classes.

| View | Upload your own

Online courses

Last week's online class was my first experience as a student using online posts and discussions. I was surprised at how my reaction was different as a teacher verse a student. I have used online forums to host student discussions based on what we have done in class or based on their research. I found it to be a great way to get students to express their ideas. Students who rarely/never talk in class have a lot to say online and add valuable information to the discussion.

As a student, it was interesting to read everyone's thoughts about the mindtools and how they would use online lessons such as webquests. However, I found myself focused so much on the number of required response posts and trying to squeeze out a fresh idea for each of my postings that the process was very time consuming. It was also difficult to find a quiet spot where I had computer access and would not be bothered as I reviewed the posts and posted my reflections. I was intellectually engaged, but felt more estranged from the other students than I thought I would.

In Chapter 17, Jonassen notes it is important to keep these things in mind as online discussion boards are developed. He states that good rubrics and a well developed classroom culture go far when using discussion boards. The learning environment must encourage and embracing challenging each other. I would argue the classroom culture must also encourage authentic responses within the discussion board. It will be good for me to keep my own experience in mind and also follow Jonassen's advice when using discussion boards in my classes. While you can get greater responses from some students in online discussion boards, there is an element of communication and social interaction that is missing. Perhaps Web 3.0 will be all about making the virtual world even more lifelike (more than what is offered in secondlife.com).

John Henry v Steel Hammer

As we approached the next unit in Modern American history, I decided to have students input information about each president covered in the unit by using wikispaces. As I discussed the project with a colleague, I decided to test the age old question: is technology more efficient than god old human hard work? Can John Henry lay track faster or can the Steel Hammer. Does technology help students reach learning goals more efficiently or is the "old school" way still more tried and true?

Both techniques require students to collect the same type of information about each president: Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson. Students must examine each president's domestic and foreign policy, and research specific aspects such as party politics, legislation.... The "John Henry" version of the assignment is what I have done the last 2 years: using the textbook to fill in a presidential report card for each leader. "John Henry" students may only work in groups of 2 and may only use the textbook. As a side note, the information on these presidents is spread out over 5 chapters! There are a specific number of events that must be included in each category. The "Steel Hammer" students may collaborate with all other Steel Hammers but may not use the textbook. There is no minimum require for points in each category.

Students were told of all these restrictions and, while the process was different, the assessment would be the same. One class chose their groups. The room was divided with 18 John Henry's and 11 steel hammers. More to come as kids choose their groups and get to work.

Course work reflection: I chose to structure the assignment using wikispaces because the wikis provided a collaboration tool for students to construct their understanding of the three U.S. presidents. The NETS standards for students emphasize:

1) Creativity and Innovation
2) Communication and Collaboration
3) Research and Information Fluency
4) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
5) Digital Citizenship, and
6) Technology Operations and Concepts.
http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/1to1/node/46

The research side of the assignment emphasizes standards 3 and 4, which also happen to be part of the national and PA state social studies standards. The inclusion of the wiki introduces standards 2, 5, 6 and opens the door to standard 1. I offered the option of collaborating with the wiki verse using the textbook/packet method to compare the impact of technology and collaboration on student learning. The choice was also intended to address a concern many students had regarding previous assignments. Students have experienced a very constructivist classroom since the beginning of the year. Many of my honors students have expressed concerns that indicate they have been trained in a more cognitivist manner throughout their high school careers. They are good at writing the number of facts, lines, and pages required by an assignment. They are also comfortable controlling their own final product and not having to collaborate with others. My hope is we will be able to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the 2 processes. The purpose of this pilot 1:1 classroom is to critically consider the impact 21st century technology and pedagogy has on our 20th century curriculum. Student reactions to this modified assignment will be key in our overall assessment of the program.

Wiki reflections

Wikispaces is a valuable tool for collaberating on material and creating sites that can be endlessly updated. I reference wiki sites frequently in my personal live and have just begun using them with my classes. The educational benefits of wikis are students can collaberate on developing sites that can act as repositories for information. Students can also use wikis to develop presentations and to collect research. The downside of using wikis is when it comes to work with specific due dates, students can feel frustration in collaboratively completing work.

For instance, if responsibilities and editing benchmarks are not clearly defined, students become concerned about meeting all of the requirements and are unsure whether their partners will step in. Another stumbling block is when students procrastinate. As the due date approaches, all the members begin to modify the wiki synchronously. The program works better when students modify the wiki asynchronously, but the combination of due dates and, in my case, high school students leads to synchronous activity.

I feel wikis work best if students take on clearly defined roles within the wiki and/or are provided an extended time period to complete the work.

Concept Mapping

The first three chapters of Jonassen encouraged me to think how I could use mindtools to engage my students in processing concepts in history and politics. Since the beginning of the year, we have been intensely project driven in all of my classes: creating web sites, posting to forums, creating graphic novels, PPt.... My concern is that some of the learning associated with the content/instructional goals is being over-shadowed by the steep learning curve associated with the programs. The semantic organizational tool of concept mapping meets my goal of dropping the "program barriers" and will help students build their own reality.

My Political Science course is coming up on an important but difficult chapter regarding the federal nature of our government. Past experience tells me students have a difficult time comprehending how studying concurrent, delegated, and reserved powers has any impact on their daily lives. Using concept mapping to examine some of these connections might help students see the connections between the textbook material and current issues such as marriage rights, access to medicine, abortion rights and so on. Students can use the mindtool to construct their own understanding of federalism. After constructing the maps, students will compare each other's maps to see how others structured the same material. These comparisons would lead to a larger group understanding.

I could use some feedback about the following: I would like students to draw connections to current issues that express the nature of federalism, but also to incorporate the detail points about U.S. federalism: interstate compacts, federal grants to states, FEMA, supremacy clause....

Surfing the blogs

The first assignment in EdTech 566 was to take a look at various educational blogs tagged in the professor's del.icio.us page and reflect on the current buzz in educational technology. I was surprised and excited to see the first tagged page belonged to a former colleague, Joyce Valenza. http://schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334.html
I was encouraged to see she was blogging about what we are trying to do in my Political Science and American History classes. After reading some of her ideas I was left with personal frustration. I feel there is so much more I can do and am frustrated that I still need to overcome my own learning curve before I feel I can be truly effective.