It has been quite a long time since the kick-off session for Web 2.0 & Connectivist Learning last May. Our next session is scheduled for November 23rd 8:00am-noon (Central Standard Time). In our first session we examined Blogs, Blogging, RSS, and Microblogging. In this next session, titled Cloud Computing & Web 2.0 Tools we will explore social bookmarking tools, social networking tools and web applications. Please visit our course wiki for instructions on how attend this session, how to view the recording of our "kick-off" session, and for links to resources related to the course.
Web 2.0 & Connectivist Learning is a combination online open course and traditional face-to-face professional development cohort. Our sessions may be attended online by anyone for free. Online participation in this cohort may also be applied to one semester continuing education credit from Hamline University.
If you are interested in taking this course (either "for credit" or not) or are interested in learning more about this open course please fill out this form:
Thanks,
Carl Anderson Hamline University School of Education
Ch8 of Whitehead tonight was one of the driest most boring reads I have subjected myself to in some time. Think I am going to skip ch9&10.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj anderscj
Interesting. We hear people echo sentiments like this today as a result of the Internet, that somehow the Internet makes schools obsolete. Don't often hear people make the argument that the existence of libraries have the same effect.
How do we encourage the growth of imagination? It seems like everything the standards movement that has had it's foot on our necks for ten years has done has had the effect of killing the youthful imagination. Actually, come to think of it, it seems most of what traditional schooling does has this effect as well. Aren't most of our most imaginative students punished for their imaginations? Hasn't the notion of an "overactive imagination" come to be seen as a bad trait for kids to have?
"Imagination is a contagious disease. It cannot be measured by the yard, or weighed by the pound, and then delivered to the students by members of the faculty. It can only be communicated by a faculty whose members themselves wear their learning with imagination." Whitehead
I know under the forces dictating the direction and procedures of the present public school system that my own two little girls will not be given sufficient fuel to feed, grow, and develop their imaginations. It has been a priority of mine to grow this at home. Nothing would please me more than for a teacher to complain to my wife and I that our daughters have overactive imaginations. I believe it is a crucial life skill. To do this we go on imaginary adventures nearly every night where the basement becomes a cave, the living room couch a mountain, the island in the kitchen a tower, one bed in their bedroom a spaceship, and another a pirate ship. The three of us have had fantastic adventures over the past few years. We have sleighed dragons, we have negotiated with giants, we have stolen witches broomsticks, and we have been turned into robots. We have even found a portal to another dimension on the wall in their bedroom and a time travel sinkhole in the bathroom.
One of our favorite games is to play "Do you want a chocolate?" where we take turns offering each other chocolates out of an imaginary dish and describing to each other what they taste like. This is especially fun to do around people who are not in on our joke.
And Improv! This summer my 5 yr old saw the video below after which we entered into a two week marathon of practicing similar improv at home.
I can already see the benefits of all this imagination and creativity. Often my kids seem to find solutions to problems that even stump me and my wife. And, having this skill to imagine means never having to be bored unless you want to be.
"universities cannot be dealt with according to the rules and policies which apply to the familiar business corporations." Whiteheadless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj anderscj
Perhaps the reason this nearly 100 year old text sounds like it was written today is because we are in the midst of the same kind of "fundamental change in the intellectual outlook of human society" and to many of us it is clear we are on the verge of a very real "educational revolution." What is odd is that what Whitehead clearly tried to steer his generation toward is still what we find progressive today. Maybe he is wrong. Maybe there is no need for an educational revolution, just people who will always draw this conclusion. Or, perhaps (as I suspect) the "educational revolution" that needed to take place in our last time of "fundamental change" never really happened. Quite possibly we missed a step.
This reminds me so much of what we hear in the public discourse in the battle between the Common Core folks and the P21 folks:
Both groups are right, which is a contradiction. Therefore, both groups must also be wrong. Interesting. Why can't we have it both ways?
"The pupils are bewildered by a multiplicity of detail, without apparent relevance either to great ideas or to ordinary thoughts." Whiteheadless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj anderscj
This past Monday I had the pleasure of presenting with Vivian Johnson, Cara Hagen, and Scott Schwister at the Northern Lights Teacher Academy held at the Minnesota History Center Museum. Our session was called Teaching Digital History: Enhancing Active Learning With Technology. This week's tech tip is a recording of our presentation (except for Cara's portion which because of contract conflicts I have substituted a video of Bernie Dodge talking about WebQuests). We created a wiki which we used for our presentation and as a resource for teachers. Our talk was focused for an audience of Minnesota middle school history teachers but the strategies and resources shared have broad applications across all disciplines and many age levels.
