I posted earlier today about the break-in at our school – In that post I mentioned using our class Flickr account. That prompted a comment and question from Jim:

Jim – Great question.

I found that for the first year plus that I used Flickr we used it with minimal teaching from me about “inappropriate” photos they might find. Why? – 1) because we only ever accessed our class account … they didn’t know there was more than that. They got to Flickr through a link on our wiki page. 2) When we used it I was usually giving them step-by-step instructions on how to download or upload or whatever, and then moving on to something else … they weren’t sitting there perusing photos on Flickr.

Last year during a project we were working on we didn’t have all the photos we needed in our account … we would have to go looking elsewhere, namely searching photos on Flickr.

It was then that I did a lesson on the ethical use of Flickr (but really any tool). Also how to do searches safely – “be very specific” and the like – we practiced some and when kids were doing searches I kept my eye out and wandered around the room. I explained what kinds of pictures COULD be found there – why that wasn’t what we were about, that Flickr had been a great resource for us and that perhaps NONE OF US would be able to use it if anyone used it inappropriately – AND that anyone misusing it would be disallowed from using the internet for AT LEAST a year by school district policy. We then focused on all the positive things we had used it for and how it had impacted their learning. We reminded everyone of that pretty much each time we used it after that and so far no problems. I do think that the key is we keep that discussion ongoing.

My goal is to get my students where the work they are doing involves THEM making the decision about what tool to use and when … access will be at least mostly up to them (remembering that they are 5th graders and that the plan is that I keep them as sixth graders). At that point those “ethics” become even more imperative. Also since things are likely to go wrong on occasion, lessons on “Oops, what do I do now,” will be important too.

Please feel free to add to this discussion.

UPDATE: A conversation is going on about this over at “In Practice” thanks Alice Mercer.

Learning is messy!

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Tags: Flickr, ethical use,

The first sign that something wasn’t right was the pile of glass shards piled below my classroom window and the jagged, gaping hole that used to be a smooth pane of glass. As I entered the room our earth globe and it’s stand lay on the floor. Broken glass was strewn across the floor and a large rock sat leaned against the leg of a table. The contents of my desk drawer lay piled on my desk.

The laptops! Were they OK!? What about other valuable pieces of equipment? … I won’t say much more … I’ll let my students do that. To find out more about our break-in go to our class blog and view our Flickr photos.

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At a training our staff attended on writing this last Friday, I brought up, in response to a question posed by the trainer, that my students blog and what a powerful learning experience it was for them. She then made several other references to that fact during the rest of her presentation.

During a break we had a quick discussion at my table, and several teachers agreed that one of the reasons they don’t embrace using tech more (since we have laptop carts and cameras, scanners, video cameras and much more), was that with all the “programs” we have been trained in (CELL, ExCELL, SIOP, GLAD and the various language arts and math trainings we have had since our new adoption 2 years ago), they just don’t have the stomach for more prep.

“I worked hard for 2 years making all my GLAD units and other materials so that I would be done with them and could just re-use them year after year, with some tweaking, and not have so much prep. I did it and now I’m just done with spending so much time prepping such a heavy load. Adding tech, I’m afraid would have me almost starting over … I’m just not going to do that.” Was the feeling of most of the small group.

My first inclination was to raise the roof. “Don’t you realize that this is your students’ future!? That without these skills they will be at a disadvantage!? That most of these programs you were trained in is the same stuff we’ve been doing for years in a more concentrated form? That what we are talking about is also doing things differently!? URRRRGGGG!!!!!”

Here’s the rub. I understand to a point, because I’ve been there with them during all these trainings and pressure to do and use these programs “correctly and precisely,” – so I understand somewhat their tiredness and burnout on starting up another in a long line of programs (which is how some see this). I mean we were sitting in a training where one of the things they were being told was that now they had to leverage more time into their totally cramped schedule to have their students use the techniques they were being shown (which were fine techniques, many of which I have used).

It made me realize, again, that teachers have been through a lot these last few years.

On the other hand, more and more of our teachers have started to take at least “baby steps” to using tech and discovery learning. When you walk through classrooms you see the digital photos taken of or by students for projects they have done. You see the “class books” – compilations of student writing that have been word processed and illustrated by students’ drawings, but also digital media. So it is happening. Maybe as we get further away from this intensive program period we have gone through, attitudes will change and the tech is waiting to be used, not something it would be cool to have in the future … it’s here now (in more ways than one).

Learning is messy!

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Tags: techuse in education, educational use of blogging

Dean Shareski with Alec Couros on Skype

Originally uploaded by shareski

Last week Dean Shareski and Jeff Utecht both video-Skyped into a tech class I was doing for teachers … it was great.

So tonight … Thanksgiving … 15 minutes after dinner I sat down and noticed that Dean had sent me a Twit asking if I was available to Skype. He was in Manitoba, Canada at their EduBloggerCon and was doing a short presentation about his network. He had Alec Couros from Saskatchewan and Jeff from China and then me talk about the power of the network. Then 20 minutes later I was back with my family.

Earlier in the day in-between checking on my barbecuing turkey Wes Fryer contacted me about a teacher in Florida that might want to collaborate on an online project. I touched base and didn’t miss my next visit with the gobbler on the barbecue.

All day I would occasionally check Twitter and join in the banter going on between those of us living in the US celebrating Thanksgiving and the rest of the world that was doing business as usual. Since I can’t Twitter from school … yet … it was nice to be part of the goings on on a weekday.

Well, I can feel the effects of all that turkey I ate earlier catching up with me. Happy Thanksgiving to those in the Us! And … umm … Happy Thursday … or … Friday to the rest of you!

Learning is messy!