ICTs in the classroom group discussion....

I enjoyed the "Emerging Technologies for Learning" article. I think it would be valuable for k-12 teachers to read this, especially if they already use a project-based, or inquiry-based approach to curriculum. In these learning environments, where students usually create some sort of final project or presentation - sure, let them use whichever technologies they want, as long as the final product meets the requirements. At the independent school I'm working at this semester, technology is not driven by the students at all. They have to keep their cell phones and iPods in their lockers during the day. Yet, laptops are used effectively (in my opinion) because their use has been well thought out and effectively integrated into the curriculum and culture of the school. The teachers are held to very high expectations by both the administration and the parents, and there is excellent technical support. I wonder though, what kind of message the school is giving the students by banning cell phones and iPods? The question of whether or not students should be allowed to use them during school is complex, and I don't think Prensky's article considers all consequences to sufficiently provide an answer.

In Prensky's article the section on Wikipedia may be especially useful for k-12 teachers. Wikipedia has become a "thorny" topic for teachers because of the information on the site is not written by experts, yet, students should understand how to use this information. Prensky suggests that students use the technology to search, but not research. Additionally, he calls for teachers to make students become contributers to the site, writing articles and evaluating contributions. Prensky presents a clear, convincing argument, however I think he omits a key element of working with technology in schools: professional collaboration between teachers. The case of wikipedia is an information literacy issue, and I think a school librarian can be a valuable resource for a teacher wishing to teach his or her students about research and Intellectual Property. Also, I think teachers within a school should have a consistent message about how these technologies can be used for school work. Imagine if a History teacher told the students never to use wikipedia, while the English teacher created an assignment for the students to contribute information about local activities? These mixed messages might impact how students view technology for learning.

Tu's article discusses the relationship between social presence and social learning theory. Tu argues that social presence is required "to enhance and foster on-line social interaction." I found his discussion of the degree of social presence to be most applicable to my final project for this course. Tu claims that social presence may be cultivated though conference leaders, interactions with instructors, and initial learning sessions. Within communities of practice social presence may be strongly impacted by the technology used to "host" the community, but I think leaders can have a strong impact by facilitating social interactions. There are a few interesting articles written about Tapped-In that cover how researchers and peers can facilitate online interaction and cultivate social presence.

outline for final project

I will be doing a literature review on how inservice teachers form communities of practice in online spaces. The guiding questions for my paper are: What are the technological features of these online spaces that afford the emergence of communities of practice? What are the key levers that impact how shared understandings of the community become stable? The literature review will be based on the theoretical framework of "communities of practice" according to Wenger (1998)*, and the emergence of online communities according to Baym. My analysis will start with arguments for ongoing professional development (Darling-Hammond, Beare articles), and recent federal and state policy calling for enhanced in-service training to supply schools with high-quality teachers . Then, I will synthesize the literature on the emergence of inservice teacher professional development communities, and the benefit these communities have on practice.

Additional thoughts on social networking

It's amazing how fast Friendster and Facebook have changed in the past few years. The 2 articles that we read on these sites for this week were recently published (or are in press), yet the nature of these sites has changed significantly since this research was done. If social networking sites are still new and evolving quickly, how useful are these observations? Will social networking sites continue on this path of constant internal change, or will there be a leveling off at some point when the novelty of the tool is not so intriguing?

Relating social networks to my research question, I wonder if there are teachers out there who are using social networks for professional connections? I will have to explore LinkedIn to see if there are teachers connecting professionally via online networks. Also, would there be a benefit for teachers to use social networking sites to connect with supplemental education providers to discover curriculum opportunities for students?

Potential article for 11/29 group discussion

Bielaczyc, K. (2006) Designing social infrastructure: critical issues in creating learning environments. The Journal of Learning Sciences. 15(3)

It's all about who you know?

I'm interested in the social capital element of social networking. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I attended a presentation this past summer about how we can use networks to connect underprivileged youth with learning opportunities outside of traditional classroom. I think it is a fact of life in our culture that a lawyer's kid has many more positive out-of-school learning opportunities than a kid who's parents can barely put food on the table. With many studies showing that out of school time is incredibly important*, we need to do something to connect students to opportunities. An example of such an opportunity would be the Summer Experiential Learning Programs through Summer Search, a non-profit organization.

Another element of social networking that I find interesting is how schools react to online social networking sites. Most schools (in fact all that I know of) use filters to prevent students from accessing myspace and facebook. The reality is that kids do end up accessing them in cities at least (via neighbor's wireless connections), and schools are sending the message to kids that social networking sites are "bad." Are they bad for kids? No, probably not. The only hesitation that I have about allowing students to access facebook in school is that if teachers start to use facebook for course information or communication with students about academics, then kids might not use it in the same way for socializing with their friends. An ah-ha moment I had earlier this semester at my student teaching placement (an all girls school) occurred when a parent said that the way that the girls talk to boys is through IM and facebook. These forms of communication have become really important for developing their social identity. So, if teachers start to use facebook for academic-related communications, won't that impact how students use it for socializing?


* The After School Corporation presents some evidence on their site for why after school programs are important: http://www.tascorp.org/section/aboutus/important

Education Pioneers Info Session at TC

If you are coming across my blog you might be interested in k-12 education. Last summer, I participated in a program called Education Pioneers - it is a fellowship for graduate students interested in k-12 urban education reform. During the fellowship, students are placed with "Partner organizations" such as the NYC DOE, charter schools, non-profits, etc. There is an information session in November at TC for anyone interested in participating next summer:

Interested in learning how to apply your passion and skills to transform urban public education? Need help navigating your post-graduate school career plans? Education Pioneers Fellows Program is a full-time, ten-week summer program where talented graduate students in business, education, law, policy, and other disciplines intern with effective schools, districts, and education organizations and train under existing education leaders. Over the course of the summer, Fellows work on challenging projects for Partners to gain practical experience and convene as a cohort for five training sessions, two retreats, and regular networking events. Through the Fellows Program, Education Pioneers provides high-achieving graduate students with a transformational summer experience in education reform that enables them to build a professional network, study key leverage areas in education reform from a multi-disciplinary perspective, and apply their skills to drive systemic change. Education Pioneers currently runs the Fellows program in the Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington D.C.

An information session about the Education Pioneers Fellows Program will be held Tuesday Novermber 13^th from 4:00 – 5:00 PM at 543 Grace Dodge Hall.

More info about Education Pioneers can be found at: www.educationpioneers.org

Finally narrowing down my research question

After doing a great deal of research in e-journals to try to find literature that answers, or contributes to the questions that I stated below, I am redirecting my literature review from focusing on k-12 students to focusing on k-12 teachers. There is a great deal of research out there on online teacher communities, and teacher professional development that I find really interesting. I'm going to focus on teachers' perceptions of online collaboration and learning communities, and how that might impact their attitudes toward using interactive technology with their own students.

For my article presentation this week, I am going to critique...
Ikpeze, C. (2007) Small group collaboration in peer-led electronic discourse: an analysis of group dynamics and interactions involving preservice and inservice teachers. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. 15(3), pp. 383-407.

Further refining research questions... and a point of disagreement...

A few weeks ago, we were asked to reflect on a part of the readings that we disagreed with. Since I did not write about a point of disagreement then, I'll do that this week. In Jankowski's chapter, he discusses the nature of online communities and how they differ from geographically local communities. Jankowski quotes Stone (1991) in defining virtual communities as "incontrovertibly social spaces in which people still meet face-to-face, but under new definitions of both 'meet' and 'face'..." (p. 62). I disagree with the notion that virtual communities are redefining 'meet' and 'face.' I think of communities as having varying degrees of locality, and varying degrees of commitment from members. Neither of these characteristics (locality and commitment) are binary - meaning a community does not have to be either local or virtual, it could be both. However, I think a community's location on the spectrum helps to define it. Many communities have a mixed structure of face to face interactions and virtual interactions. I do not think virtual communities redefine "face." Even though virtual spaces have provided new ways for people to connect across geographies while still having a presence, there is still a unique quality of face to face interactions that cannot be replicated on virtual spaces. Just my opinion. Even though we have amazing communication tools, people still value face to face interactions. It's just not the same face online.


I'm still working on my research question for the final paper. This week I have explored articles using key words such as: social schools classroom education technology laptop handhelds.... you can see where I am going. Reading such a variety of research has helped me to see what is out there for my lit review. I'm going to continue exploring and I am hoping to pick an article tonight.

Findings.....
Bielaczyc, K. (2006) Designing social infrastructure: critical issues in creating learning environments. The Journal of Learning Sciences. 15(3)

Levin, T. Listening to students' voices on learning with IT in a rich technology-based classroom. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 34(3)

Parks, Huot, Hammers, and Lennonier. (2003) Crossing boundaries: Multimedia technology and pedagogical innovation in a high school class. Language, Learning and Technology. 7(1)

Emerging themes

This week's blog assignment is slightly different- we are starting to focus more on emerging themes in our blog reflections and our research question(s).

Sarah asked: (1) What are some of the themes that seem to be emerging from your thoughts? In other words, are there topics/ideas that keep popping up in what you're writing?

As I look back through my blog, a few themes are apparent:

• teacher identity online
• student identity online
• internet safety
• social networking sites
  
• affordances of new media
• impact on learning
• impact on community & social relationships
• interactive and individualized learning experiences
  
• community
• online vs. offline

(2) Based on this, have your questions changed at all from the ones you listed in the first blog post?

Here are my current 3 questions:

1. How can I as an ed. tech. work with teachers to reveal the affordances of various new technologies?
2. How can the flexibility of time and space afforded by CMC positively impact learning experiences for children?
3. How does technology impact the social arrangements of a classroom or school?

Looking at these themes and my original questions, I have a few new thoughts about my research questions. First, there seems to be an emerging theme of affordances, and the interaction of technology, and environment. I need to think some more about the elements of environment that I wish to explore. Second, the concept of "community" is prevalent throughout my reflections. Perhaps I need to think some more about what makes communities different from each other, and how that might impact how technology is used within the community. Third, I think I am struggling with how to relate the broad topics we have discussed in class my specific interest - the role of technology in k-12 schools.

One of my original questions was "How does technology impact the social arrangements of a classroom or school?" Sarah and I discussed ways that I could refine this question to support a literature review. I need to think about how I want to define "social arrangements" in schools - for example, student/teacher heirarchy, ways and means of communication, or professional relationships among teachers. An additional way to refine my question would be to focus on one technology and how it impacts social structure of schools. Lots to think about....

Identity

As I explored the topic for this week, I wondered about the relationship between online persona and real life identities. Thomas compares the computer screen to a mirror - claiming that girls strongly identified with their avatars and created an online presence that represented their own fantasies and desires. I really liked this metaphor and it strongly influenced my perception of the other readings for this week.

I have had the amazing opportunity this semester to work in an all-girls independent school in Manhattan. This morning, I attended an Internet Safety information session for parents. There was a huge turnout. Most of the conversation was about how to ensure that their daughters had a healthy online presence - that they understood the connection between how they represented themselves online and their real life identity, and that they appropriately balanced the time they spent online and off. One parent said that she has not yet allowed her middle school daughter to use IM because it distracts from her homework, but she has heard that this is how the girls meet boys in the nyc independent school community. Ah-HA - The exchange of IM names is their version of exchanging phone numbers, except the act of IMing is much different than talking on the phone from a parent's perspective. Hmmm... This made me think about these girls identity development. Since much of an adolescent's development is tied to how she experiments with peer relationships, ICT has become an important (crucial?) medium for identity development within this community of adolescents.

One of my original research questions was "how does technology impact the social arrangements of a classroom or school?". I had another ah-ha moment related to this question and identity when I read this blog post from Konrad Glogowski last week. As a teacher, Konrad has decided to keep a personal blog to share with his students that will not be related to coursework. Insead, he will share his ideas about current events, books, and his own interests. I think this is a wonderful approach to share his identity with his students but also model how he shares this identity online.



Thomas, A. (2004). Digital Literacies of the Cybergirl. E-Learning, Volume 1, No. 3.

thoughts on computer-mediated communication

I really enjoyed the readings for this week. For me, they directly addressed some of the issues that I am hoping to explore in this course. When I think about the affordances of technology in schools, the flexibility of the medium stands out as the greatest advantage in how it can support diverse learners.

The underlying theme in both the Baym and Walther articles was how the flexibility of time and space in CMC impacts interactions and relationships. I found the discussion of "reduced cues" in the Walther article to be really interesting. Walther discusses how the absence of physical appearance in CMC impacts how one is perceived. Social identity in the virtual world is based on information, conversation, and expression rather than appearance. I would like to read more about how social identity in online spaces may impact adolescents' attitudes toward themselves and their peers. I think this quality - the anonymity of the web - is greatly impacting the current generation of adolescents.

Getting back to my 3 initial research questions...

My first 2 questions from my original post were very similar - they both deal with mass media vs. new media...

Why are most technology projects at schools using ICTs in the "mass media" form rather than the "new media" form? How can we make web-based activities at school more interactive?

When I wrote this question, I assumed that students should be using the web in ways such that they are creating web content instead of just pulling information from the web. I honestly still believe that taking advantage of the read/writable nature of the web would be advantageous for schools. However, I think this question should reflect that CMCs and ICTs are not "one size fits all." When technology is integrated into a curriculum, it is not as simple as saying - lets use interactive web-based tools. Instead, the affordances of the technology need to be considered with respect to the community of learners, the school system, and the curriculum. So, the question becomes... how can I as an educational technologist work with teachers to reveal the affordances of various new technologies? How can the flexibility of time and space afforded by CMC positively impact learning experiences for children?

Subtopics / Areas to explore:

• feedback loop and intervals of async. communication
• online identities - race, gender, sex neutral
• collaboration in hybrid learning environments: online and ftf
  

Are we living in an Information Society?...

What concept or idea intrigued you most in this weeks' readings? How/does it impact your thinking about the questions and issues you wrote out for yourself last week?


The readings for this week explored the "Information Society" - whether or not it is an accurate label, and how we are, or should be, transitioning to this new society. Crawford explored the concept of the information society through an economic perspective, analyzing how the proportion of the GNP for R&D has changed over time. Her results did not convince me that we are actually in a new era, however, I know from my own observations and instincts that information (development and sharing) is an important element of life today. What really defines the information society for me is not changes in the GNP, instead I believe that how knowledge is created and shared has drastically changed since the early 1900s. Yet, I am not enough of a sociologist to know if we are in fact in a new society. I think there is a societal demand for information, consensus, and answers, and advances in ICTs have altered the nature, availability, and quality of information across geographies. This has drastically changed the way that some of us communicate, work, and learn. The reason why I wrote "some of us" is that this plethora of public information often does not reach individuals in some socioeconomic groups or cultural groups because of a lack of resources or by choice. Therefore, the information society may not impact everyone in the same way.

For example, I currently work part time as a software engineer. Everyday I speak with my co-workers, joke with my friends, meet with experienced engineers to get feedback, and run tests on really expensive servers - all from my living room. Now, this is all feasible because of advanced telecommunication technology and the progressive attitudes of my managers. Being able to work from home has certainly changed my lifestyle. I am now not tied to living in one place. The accessibility of information in my job has greatly impacted my lifestyle, but likely does not impact others nearly as much. Perhaps someday it will...

In the Handbook of New Media, Webster's discussion of "human capital" stuck out to me, because of it's applicability to k-12 education. He discusses the importance of skills developed in higher education, like communication skills, negotiation skills, the ability to impartially assess a situation, etc (p. 446). I think these skills can begin to develop in students prior to higher ed. In my last post, I questioned attitudes toward technology and media use in the classroom because I believe that often technology is used in classrooms as a form of mass media - one to many dissemination of information. There are some groups of education reformers that are looking to infuse the development of 21st century skills into k-12 education (see Partnership for 21st century skills). I believe this is a move in the right direction, and perhaps since the ways we use technology as adults is driving the need to develop these skills earlier in life, then technology can be used in the same way to develop these skills in k-12.

The readings for this week also led me to reflect on one specific talk I heard this summer. I had the amazing opportunity to hear Steve Jubb, Elizabeth Lian, and Katrina Scott-George talk about a new education paradigm that focuses on "learner-centered networks" (you can learn more from their podcast). Their vision for education is relevant to our discussion of the information society because it revolves around using information in new ways. My understanding of it is that students create their own learning experiences (via external vendors or traditional school experiences) based on their individual interests and build a network of support based on their educational needs. I wouldn't say that their approach depends on technology, but the technology would definitely make these new, individualized educational experiences possible by providing the means for networking (connecting individuals to share information).

If the accessibility of information today is advanced enough to drastically change social systems, then are we in a new social era? After reading the articles, I am still questioning what defines a new society?

3 Questions

This blog has been created for a course I am taking this semester called "Social and Communicative Aspects of Internet Communication Technologies" - it's a long name, but I think I am getting closer to understanding exactly what we will be studying. Unfortunately, I missed the first meeting, so my reflection today is based more on the readings and my own interests rather than class discussions.

This semester, I am interested in focusing on the impact of ICTs in the classroom. How does technology impact the social arrangements of a classroom or school? or vice versa: how does the culture of a school impact the use of technology?

Lievriuw and Livingstone discuss the differences between mass media (linear relationship production -> text -> audience) and new media (nonlinear relationship between artefacts, practices, and social arrangements). Based on my experiences in schools, many teachers and school leaders still think of technology in terms of a linear tool. Is this true? How can we make student - computer interactions at school more interactive? more ubiquitous? I am looking forward to exploring new media - how it is evolving and how it is impacting our society. I have some ideas about the relationship between new media and education, but I don't feel that I could convincingly describe the importance of new media in our education system.


The Handbook of New Media, Updated Student Edition. (2006). L. Lievrouw & S. Livingstone (Eds.). London: Sage.