That’s the question being asked by the White House right now.

I happen to be presenting this Saturday at a Media conference here in Reno. This is a bit unusual for me since I usually present to educators. My presentation will be about what a 21st century education could be.

I’ll start out by asking attendees: If we brought a nurse from 100 years ago would they find hospitals really changed? Could that nurse possibly, with a minimum of training, just jump right in to her job, or would she find things too changed? (would you want her in your operating room?). How about a business executive from 100 years ago? Would they find the business world too changed to dive back in? Have the tools and methods in nursing and business changed much in 100 years?

How about a teacher? Would a teacher from 100 years ago really find things that changed? Whiteboards instead of chalkboards maybe? (My daughters’ high school still has chalkboards in half the rooms). It probably depends on the subject taught, but it might not be that much of a stretch in some cases?

So when I saw this link posted on Twitter today about the White House wanting feedback on 21st century schools, it made me think: What could 21st century schools be if we were going to change them or update them? Maybe even decide to start from scratch? Any ideas? Here’s your chance to have input… well at least the possibility of input, so give us some ideas.

And if you have the desire, perhaps you’ll consider posting whatever ideas you leave here to the White House page? Just a thought.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/02/white-house-asks-0

Learning is Messy!

I’ll be presenting at the 2010 Nevada Interactive Media Summit on March 6, 2010, at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Joe Crowley Student Union.

I’m looking forward to showcasing what my students have been up to, and hoping to make the case for a new pedagogy with a different audience than I usually speak to. My presentation is titled:

“21st Century Classrooms – Engaging, Networking, Publishing, Collaborating To Build Understanding”

The session description reads:

Our schools and classrooms are rooted in a model of education developed over a hundred years ago. Experience what happens when even our most “at risk” students are provided 21^st century learning tools and a changed pedagogy that stresses connecting, networking, questioning and active learning versus the, “sit quietly and learn to be taught” form of school. See how students build schema and knowledge by connecting globally to experience challenging and engaging learning opportunities.

Learning is messy!

Dear President Obama and Nation:

Here we are well into the 21^st century, and through the “Race To The Top” legislation we are about to spend more good money after bad tweaking a centuries old model for education instead of doing the real work of looking at where we are and where we have come from. What other models are there that have a track record of success? Should we look at what schools could be and perhaps should be, and doing what’s best for our students and our country? Should we be trying as many models as we can to learn what works NOW instead of what worked before and during the industrial revolution?

It seems to me we owe it to our children, and the future of our country to ask the tough questions and do our best to develop the best education system possible, instead of patching up a system that has been in place since the American Revolution.

Are the assessments we are using the best? Are they actually very poor? Just what we have so let’s use those? If they are not the best, why are we racing to get to their top? Why not develop quality assessments first, that actual people that are education experts agree are appropriate? Same with the standards. Do the standards actually make sense? I mean really … do you/we know? Should we look at the standards from the countries that score the highest in the world and learn from them? Maybe before we spend 5 billion dollars “racing to the top” we should spend some time and money making sure the race has the best goal possible? Otherwise how will we know if we are really “at the top?”

“Data driven” decisions can be very powerful. If good, meaningful data is used that is based on well crafted, sensical standards that are grounded on what is actually important and achievable by students (All students? Most students? Some students?). Can all students do as well as all other students in every subject? If not, do the standards reflect that? Does making every child take a college prep curriculum regardless of their abilities in certain subjects best? It seems it is exclusionary at best and purposely setting schools and children up for failure at worst.

If our schools are basically still following a design from well over 100 years ago, is it time to re-visit that design? It seems like we have done that in business, health and every other field. Would you want to go to a hospital designed 100 years ago that has been been barley updated? Wouldn’t now be a good time to do that before we hold people accountable and spend billions of dollars?

Stating that we understand that children of poverty lacking proper nutrition, healthcare and support are destined for failure in school. And therefore we are attempting to pass healthcare legislation, without tying the access to healthcare, nutrition and support to when we can hold schools and teachers accountable, is at best disingenuous. If students are destined for failure without those pieces, and they are not in place yet, how can we legitimately hold schools and teachers accountable?

What percentage of the “blame” for America’s educational failings is the teachers’ and schools’ fault? 100%? 90%? 80% … 10% ? Do we really know? What else contributes to our educational failings? Are we holding them accountable too? Or are we addressing issues that hold students back? Are we taking these other contributing factors into account before we hold schools, teachers and students accountable? Wouldn’t that make sense?

Is one of the issues that holds our schools back that maybe there is little to no consensus on what schools are for anymore?

Why is it that in national polls schools are thought to be doing poorly, but when parents are asked about their child’s school the polls come out on the positive side? Does that demonstrate the results of negative media coverage shaping a general belief that schools are doing poorly but my own experience is that my children’s school is doing OK?

If one of the guiding principles behind “Race To The Top” is “innovating our schools,” wouldn’t it be key to promote REAL innovation? Currently RTTT only supports a certain very narrow range of school model that relies on only standardized test scores to drive and assess student learning and success (and again are those test valid? The best tests?). Is that REAL innovation? Is it a model with a long term consistent record of achievement for ALL students? Do these schools that we are using as models accept and take as many students with special education needs and behavior issues as the public schools they are being compared to? If not, then how is that a proven track record? Again, shouldn’t we be looking at all kinds of models that perhaps lead us to many successful models?

Why is it that those that are pushing the specific charter school model don’t send their own children to the schools they promote as being superior models of educational achievement? Is sending children to a school that severely narrows the curriculum for its students really better for them? Who says so? Are they really correct? Have we effectively discussed and studied the ramifications of that policy? How many would send their own children to those schools? Or are these schools only good enough for THOSE students? Isn’t that a form of apartheid?

I’m just asking.

Learning is messy!

Now that I am in Philadelphia for the Educon 2.2 Conference and able to focus more on my session, I thought I’d get a bit of a jumpstart on refining the conversation. I’m going to take very little time to “present” and use the vast bulk of time to have everyone brainstorm and develop a shared vision(s)  … at least as much of one as can be done in a bit more than an hour.

The title for the session is “Elementary School In The 21st Century, How Does The Pedagogy Change? What Does That School Look Like?”

We have limited time so what should be our focus? Here is a list to get started, any additions deletions you can suggest in comments would be appreciated!

It’s been three years since this photo was taken. The great news is that everyone in this photo is doing well! Click on the photo to see the 5 minute video the students made that has now been accessed over 500,000 times. This experience changed the lives of our whole class (and many around the world from the emails and comments we’ve received).

Here is a link to my original post about what happened that day.

Here is a link to the debut of the video on this blog. Peoples’ comments here are the best part. : )

Here is a link to a video Skype had professionally produced 6 months or so later.

Learning is messy!

Alternate Title: “An Educators Guide to Why You Want A Personal Learning Network”

Realize you already have a PLN, those teachers and colleagues that you plan with, share with, gripe with, support and count on. You know which member(s) of your PLN might help with an idea for any issue or specific subject you are planning for, who is the art expert, or creative writing idea person, who might know a picture book that fits this theme, how do I talk to my principal or a parent about this issue and so on.

Teachers at my school (and probably yours) occasionally email to  everyone on staff to inquire if they’ve seen a certain video or book or science kit or whatever. That’s a PLN. So your PLN is the people on your staff, or used to be on your staff, acquaintances you met along the way at meetings or classes you’ve taken, or at conferences or committees you were part of, even relatives and friends outside of your school or work circle. Think how many times they’ve come through for you.

How many of them would you call after 9pm if you had a non-actual-life/death-emergency question about a lesson or parent or … (see list above) ? How about after 11pm? 2am? I bet the the list goes from very short to zero. Even if you were working on a $50,000 grant that has to be emailed or faxed by 7am tomorrow and you need some information about some research or technology or what computer applications to include on the list, or books to order to get the grant done or you might not make the deadline … I mean no one will die – who would you call at 2am even for that? How long is that list?

What if at 10pm or 2am, you could get on Twitter and ask your question and immediately tie in to all the people in your PLN that live in the eastern hemisphere where it is tomorrow already? Friends you’ve never met in person (well some maybe). And what if they start sending you the answer, or links to where you can find out. One or more of them start a Twitter conversation about your issue – maybe it moves to email or Skype (Maximum 140 characters at a time on Twitter is too confining – sometimes).

Does that happen? Absolutely! I’m not exaggerating – on average, at least several times a day (and usually way more than that) I get answers, or learn about an idea or something that impacts my teaching or life in general from Twitter or Plurk (similar to Twitter) or my blog, that I might follow up on a web site or Delicious or Diigo or Skype or Flickr or a Ning or any number of other places. And that PLN never sleeps. And the more you use it – uh, well – the more you use it. It’s the most incredible, valuable teaching / life in general resource I have ever experienced. I don’t mean to beat you over the head – but it is life changing valuable – THAT valuable.

The downside? You won’t “get it” until you experience it. And you can’t experience it, until you build it. You can build your online PLN at whatever pace you want to. It is eternally patient – it’s there waiting for you. But you have to build it! WARNING! COMMON MISTAKE. Don’t set up a Twitter account and follow 2 to 20 people who include mainly your Mom and brother and 2 teachers you know that work in your building, and 4 teachers from other schools, and your friend in Florida and uncle in Montana, and Ashton Kutcher and Oprah and the Discovery Channel – and then sit back and wait for it to happen. Everyone on that list are fine to follow – but you have to spend a bit of time making the connections to build a network.

Some will come to you, find you. But mainly it’s up to you to go out and make 20 or so connections (and then keep going any chance you get). How? Go to my Twitter page and note who I follow (and other people you may already know that have a Twitter account). Read my blog and note the links to others’ blogs I have and check them out. Follow me on Twitter (you don’t have to though) and start checking out those I follow and who THEY follow. If you click on the “following” link on our Twitter pages it will list who we follow. If you click on the link to anyone you can usually find out a bit about them – “oh they teach too,” or have a common interest or just look interesting, click on the follow button and you will see their Tweets on your Twitter page. AND they just might follow you back (you get an email telling you if that happens). Don’t be shy, – people on Twitter expect that to happen – you don’t have to get their permission – you are not breaking some online etiquette  -that’s how Twitter works.

NOTE: Blogging is similar – read blogs, leave comments, start your own blog, it builds over time, and all these online social applications leverage each other. Then anytime you get a chance, answer someone’s question, Tweet out something your students did, ask a question, share that you are trying something for the first time – it’s OK to just watch a bit – but you need to engage too. Re-Tweet someone’s Tweet that you like. Get into a Twitter conversation with someone. Then it will happen. People will start following you. You will talk more of your local colleagues into joining in. AND THEN you will start reaping the benefits in bushel baskets. Just now I checked Twitter (really) and Dean Shareski asked:

“Anyone have a great story about the power of twitter? Either a personal or something you read? A link would be awesome.”

And I answered:

Maybe this?: http://learningismessy.com/blog/?p=617

(Check out the link, it’s a cool short story)

The span of time between their question and my answer? 2 minutes.

There is much more to this story because all of the other social networking apps like blogs and Skype and FaceBook, Flickr, wiki pages, Nings, – all of them leverage each other and the whole becomes more than the individual pieces, and – OK, OK – I’m getting carried away now – but it’s all true.

Note that I could write a post like this on most, if not all the applications I’ve mentioned here. I didn’t start out to focus on Twitter, that just happened  I think because it is a fairly painless way or place to begin. Just remember you have to engage to make those connections. It will take some time, but it doesn’t have to be a drag. Just try to consistently do 10 minutes here, an hour there, 5 minutes way over …  you can’t mess this up … except when you don’t keep going … and the great news IS that you
can always come back and pick up where you left off … the network is there always waiting patiently.

Many have tried to explain this social networking / PLN powerhouse and how it impacts teaching and teachers, students, schools and education and learning in general, to those not caught up in it already. And it’s hard, and I have failed to explain it totally here. You are just going to have to trust me (and the hundreds, really untold thousands in certain ways, that comprise my PLN) – jump in, you’ll see.

Learning is messy!