Sharp Tools, Dull Minds & Thinking Magic

I was reading Nicholas Carr's The Glass Cage: Automation and Us when I came across this passage:

"Modern [applications] are getting 'helpful' enough that at times I feel like an [application] operator than a programmer," writes Vivek Haldar, a veteran software developer with Google. "The behavior all these tools encourage is not 'think deeply about your code and write it carefully,' but 'just write a crappy first draft of your code, and then the tools will tell you not just what's wrong with it, but also how to make it better" (78).

Like the programming tools mentioned above, "applications automate many tricky and time-consuming chores" (78). Even though I know how to create a reference from scratch, I used BibMe.org  to create the following citation:

 Carr, Nicholas. The Glass Cage: Automation and Us. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. Print. 

Why not? It's easier and I don't have to waste time on the nit-picky stuff. Haldar draws this "verdict: 'Sharp tools, dull minds'" (78).

I remember hearing how calculators would make us lazy when I was a tot in school. But we wouldn't take back the calculator from education these days, would we? Students are now free to move onto more practical applications of mathematics since calculators have liberated them from memorizing times tables.

But reading Nicholas Carr's book reminded me of the time, early one morning, a student asked me, "When will the library open?"

I replied, "In five minutes."

For some reason, the student then asked, "How many seconds is that?"

I paused for a moment and then said, "300."

The student was shocked: "How did you do that? How did you calculate that in your head?"

Magic.

Image credits:
Artificial intelligence. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 28 Jan 2015. 
http://quest.eb.com/#/search/107_295715/1/107_295715/cite

Magicians at the Carnival in Berlin, 1836 . Fine Art. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 28 Jan 2015. 
http://quest.eb.com/#/search/108_277187/1/108_277187/cite

Close Reading in the Digital Age

Is close reading becoming a lost art?

I hope not, but I find that our digital tools are often a distraction and used more for entertainment than illumination. Next week at my school the distraction is being taken away from us--at least temporarily. Our computer network will be shut down for a week for an OS upgrade. There's no better time to reacquaint ourselves with the important skill of close reading. Of course, we won't give up our digital tools once the upgrade is complete. Below are some suggestions on how to use technology to enhance reading.

A Beautiful Classroom Poster on Close Reading provides teachers with a free, downloadable poster suggesting ways to help students become better close readers:

Actually Achieving Close Reading with Digital Tools shows ways to leverage screen capture and annotation tools to assist with close reading.

10 Strategies to Reach the 21st Century Reader examines how media design influences the modern reader. Skip to the end of the article to see how using media can enhance reading skills.

The Power of "I Don't Know"

What if a student asked a question and  a teacher simply replied, "I don't know"? This answer gives students incredible power.

Last week, I was working with grade 9 & 10 students on how to create a bibliography. I flipped the lesson by allowing the students to read the Smore lesson (link above) and then taking it up as a group. By letting them explore the lesson on their own, the class had plenty to talk about during the review.

After that, I gave them the "Perfect Score" task to do with minimal help from me.

There were certainly a lot of questions. I referred them back to a place in the Smore lesson. I let them struggle. When they didn't understand what was being asked of them, I told them about my Art & Inquiry MOOC experience this summer. We, the students, came up with a consensus of interpreting the instructions. In a class of over 17,000 students, no teacher would be able to answer all of the questions. We discussed how MOOCs may become the learning of the future. Even if it doesn't, I can't follow them to college or university and help them do their homework. (Yes, after this comment, I get many invitations.)

And then I witnessed something amazing: I saw the students who "got it" emerge as natural teachers and lead the other students through the task. This dynamic can be seen in Sugata Mitra's Ted Talk:  "The Child-Driven Education".

When students still had questions, I replied with "What do you think?" Then I asked them to support their reasoning. If they resisted answering, I asked them to guess and tell me why they had made that hypothesis.

Yes, this process took longer than if I had lectured them about creating citations. But the learning wouldn't have stuck.

Kinda reminds me of this Google Search Story:

Image credits:
Spread Of Knowledge, Conceptual Artwork.Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 4 Oct 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/132_1245176

SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006). Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 8 Oct 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/144_1547767

The Knowledge Totem Pole. Photo. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 4 Oct 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/167_4033838

Outage

When we arrived at school this morning, there was no power. The emergency lighting was deceiving. Students asked me why the computers weren't working.

-Do we keep the school open? Teachers scrambled to redo their lessons. I advised a supply teacher to read aloud to students or ask them to invent stories.

Then I panicked about not being able to make a second morning cup of coffee.

We are dependent on power. Are we permanently so?

Image credit:
Power Lines. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 1 Nov 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/139_1907026

Human Bubble

After teaching two uncooperative grade nine classes about using databases, my colleague made an interesting observation: Is this generation a bubble in human development? These kids have grown up with the internet without parental guidance and supervision because the internet didn't exist when the parents were young; parents didn't understand what the internet was all about.

Did the same bubble happen with the printing press? Television?

Image credit:
Giant Bubble. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 26 Oct 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/139_1895444

Googlers, Databasers & Bookies

"I'm so sick of students using Google!" a teacher said to me.

"How about letting them discover if it's the best way to find information for an assignment?" I replied.

In this instance, it was an English class of 30 that came in. I divided them up into three groups: Googlers, Databasers and Bookies. Each group had to find the three best essays in their allotted medium on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper". It is important to note, there was no assignment attached to this task. They were to spend two hours simply searching for great essays.

The class also given a Best Resources chart to fill out to record their progress, as well as three sticky notes. After they had filled out the chart, they were to reflect and record their observations on their resources on a sticky note and put their observations on a "+" "-" and "!" chart. What were the advantages of their resource? What were the disadvantages? What did they learn?

Some of the groups needed mini-lessons:

• The Bookies on how to use the library catalogue and the Dewey Decimal system to locate a book.
• The Databasers needed help accessing the databases and narrowing their focus.
• The Googlers felt that they didn't need any help at all.

Which group finished first? Whenever I've done this task, it has alternated between the Databasers and the Bookies. It was interesting to observe that the Bookies always worked collaboratively and that each class concluded that the databases were the best place to look for information on this topic. Surprisingly (or not), the Googlers had the hardest time finding good resources. They were always the last group to finish because they did not know how to use the advanced search options in Google. The group got stuck retrieving commercial sites selling essays or university-level work from Google Scholar. I've suggested to students that they may enjoy learning how to become a Google Power Searcher... for free.

Students discovering which resources are the best by themselves...priceless.

(It is important to note that the point of this exercise is NOT to show that Google is bad. It is simply to find out which resource is the best place to find information on a given assignment. For example, I have had other results for students doing a science project.)

Image credits:

DR. SEUSS' THE CAT IN THE HAT (2003) - MYERS, MIKE; BRESLIN, SPENCER; FANNING, DAKOTA.Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 8 Oct 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/144_1530573

Google Logo. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 8 Oct 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/158_2456205

"Your Teacher Loves Wikipedia"

OK, this lesson isn't what you think.

Anthropology students had to look for information on a social scientist, e.g., Richard Lee, Sigmund Freud, in order to write a CV for them.

I told them to use Google and Wikipedia to get their information. Both the students and the teacher were shocked.

Here's my justification:

Your Teacher Loves Wikipedia (Click on the heading for slideshow & notes)

But the assignment didn't stop there. The students then had to network in the role of the social scientist they had researched. Ultimately, they had to find which other social scientists they could work with.

At first, I thought this task was a lot of busy work for content that could be delivered more simply: That is, give them a few chapters to read and then categorize the scientists. Instead, their teachers thought this exercise would make the task more interesting for the students.

But here's where the surprise came in: Content isn't what the students are learning. Where the students struggled was picking out what was relevant for the CV. It became a reading and critical thinking exercise. These skills were what they were learning.

Students also learned - in one boy's words-: "The internet sucks." He found six different sources: three stated that his social scientist was kicked out of school; three said he left school because the school was shut down. Learning is more effective if students figure out this unreliability problem on their own.

The teacher saved the day by asking the student, "Do you need to include his elementary school years on his resume anyway?"

Neuromancer

Neuromancer by William Gibson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The globalization of technology, therefore, as Gibson dramatizes, will increasingly deprive humanity of its spiritual dimension..."

"In 'Gibson's world, human beings have nothing left but thrill' (191). The characters in the novel get thrilled through the nonphysical embodiment of cyberspace or intense sensual experience, but although thrill may replace reflection, Case and others find that it liberates them from the oppression of everyday concerns."

How do you envision the future? Does technology create a dystopian existence

or utopian world?

 

For further exploration of this dichotomy, consider taking this MOOC: https://www.coursera.org/course/edc)

William Gibson's imaginary future is not a sunny, happy place, but one in which humans continue to live and struggle. (To think more deeply about Neuromancer, I've been reading essays about it. Great to model this kind of reading for students, btw. Literary essays are supposed to help you discover more about a work of literature, not just help you finish your homework.)

Neuromancer is a book of ideas. The detachment of the characters from their own humanity may also place readers of the novel at arm's length. Many other reviews on Goodreads call for a re-reading of the book in order to get a fuller appreciation of what it is trying to say. The reason that I give this book five stars is that I will be thinking about it for a long time.

Neuromancer is an excellent resource to use with students to talk about how their world is changing: Do we shape technology, or does technology shape us? That is the question. Think Raymond Williams vs Marshall McLuhan. More recent texts include the graphic novel The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone, Stratosphere by Michael Fullan (the use of technology in education) and The Shallows by Nicholas Carr.

Quotes from:
Haney, William S., II. "William Gibson's Neuromancer: cyberpunk and the end of humanity/William Gibson'in Neuromancer Adli Eseri: siberpunk ve insanligin sonu." Interactions 18.1 (2009): 73+. Canada In Context. Web. 27 Sept. 2013.


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BYOD & Appy Hour

"I hate reading, making presentations, etc."

During the first week, we've been exploring what it means to be a BYOD school. One class told me where they struggle with their learning. My response each time was: "There's an app for that."

For example, I had a group of girls who were afraid of making presentations. Together, they learned how to use:

• YouTube and
• Videoscribe

instead of making stand-up-in-front-of-the-class presentations. Other possible tools include:

• Common Craft and
• Pow Toon

For additional ideas, check out: "Six Visual Learning Tools".

There was a gaggle of boys who said that they hated reading. I asked them: "Do you like being read to?" They said: "YES!" They learned that if they changed their iPad/iPod/iPhone's accessibility settings, they could get their device to read to them:

First, go to "Settings" and select "General". Click on "Accessibility".

Next, go to "Speak Selection".

Turn on "Speak Selection". You can choose a dialects (accent) and adjust the speaking rate (speed).

Appy Hour

Students were given a chance to explore and experiment with these (and other) apps, features, and online tools. We were amazed at how focused they were on the task. We were equally impressed with their mini-presentations afterwards: They shared what they had discovered with their classmates. In fact, each student became the "expert" for other students to go to to learn about his or her particular tool.

Cool.

Image credits:

Class Presentation. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 8 Sep 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/139_1918369

Two Apple IPad 2 Tablet Computers Desktop And App Store On Their Displays. Photo. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 8 Sep 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/167_4036507

Flipping the Library

Finding a Book

Since the library was booked by another department this week, I was able to show students how to find a book in the library without being in the library.

 

It's my J-O-B!

My J-O-B

First week back: I used this Flocabulary video to introduce my role in the school:



Original post: http://www.flocabulary.com/ode-to-librarians/

Brain Candy for Summer

The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens

The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in the a World of Screens by Stephen Apkon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3 ½ stars

Are you visually literate?
•Do you know when a visual has been created in order to manipulate its viewer?
•Do you understand how an image is constructed and coded?
•Could you create a visual project, such as a webpage or a short film?

Is it important that we have these skills? In a “world awash with images” (from sleeve), the answer is yes. Apkon shows how literacy – “the ability to comprehend and to express or articulate” (37) – can no longer be limited to just reading and writing. It must also include listening, speaking and viewing.

The Age of the Image begins with a background and history of literacy and visual media. It continues with the following topics:
•the neuroscience of images
•our present experience with images, e.g., Kony 2012, YouTube
•business and images: manipulation and persuasion
•the practical basics of making a movie
•and designing a new curriculum

In designing a new curriculum, Apkon proposes we ask students to create multimedia projects to see what they have learned about a topic, instead of assessing with tests or essays. These kinds of assignments require “a level of library skills that [are] much greater than...using the Dewey decimal system” (211). They also engage students and develop soft skills, such as teamwork.

To naysayers and prospective Luddites, Apkon responds: “Literacy is always a response to emerging technology. While conservative elements in a society often fear and resist change, the transformation is usually painless” (13). We used to resist having televisions in homes and calculators in schools.

This book has challenged me to think more visually, and to be more critical of what I create and what I view.
•Can we convey more information through images if our audience can read them correctly?
•Is text becoming redundant?
•Here are a couple of links that extend these ideas:
o http://www.theageoftheimage.com/
o http://www.beyondliteracy.com/

On the other hand

Although the book stresses the use of stories, I would have liked to have heard more about the importance of narrative. The book needed more editing to trim the repetition, too. Ironically, for a book about visual literacy, there aren’t a lot of images. More would be nice, preferably in colour, especially when illustrating the practical aspects of movie-making.

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Image credit:
G. Klimt / Music / 1895. Fine Art. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 28 Jul 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/109_111706

Literacy 2.0: Reading and Writing in 21st Century Classrooms

Literacy 2.0: Reading and Writing in 21st Century Classrooms by Nancy Frey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This slender book packs a lot of valuable ideas and advice between its covers. A great quick, but powerful, read for over the summer months. Literacy 2.0 is a valuable aid to educators as we move from the consumption of limited knowledge to the production and synthesis of information. We live in an age where the “audience is now the world” (1); a fact to celebrate, rather than fear.

The book is practical in nature. Here are some highlights:

Chapter 1 begins with a reframing of traditional teaching. Items include:
• gradual release of responsibility;
• essential questions;
• the difference between problem- and project-based learning.

Chapter 2, “The Eternal Search”, discusses three-dimensional reading and Boolean searches. What I found interesting was their instruction on:
• how to use Wikipedia effectively;
• and how to implement RSS feeds to gather research.

Chapter 3, “Making Responsible Choices” details ethics:
• digital citizenship;
• plagiarism;
• and good resources on teaching students how to cite.

Chapter 4 involves the creation of information. The writers discuss
• Fair Use;
• The Creative Commons;
• Essential Questions.
The chapter is also peppered with useful Web 2.0 tools for teachers to use with their students.

Chapter 5 shows the power of having the world as your audience. Chapter 6 outlines potential pitfalls.

Each section of Literacy 2.0 is summarized in “chapter tweets” to highlight the material just read.

Don’t forget to go to the publisher’s site for GREAT online resources. The site includes links mentioned in the book, as well as reproducible handouts. I’ve included a few more links because I think they are wonderful resources.

http://go.solution-tree.com/literacy/... (specific to this title)
http://go.solution-tree.com/literacy/ (links to all literacy reproducibles)
http://go.solution-tree.com/instruction/ (links to all instruction reproducibles)
http://go.solution-tree.com/technolog... (technology reproducibles)

Image credit:
Whytock, Ken. Digital Technology. 2012. Flickr. Web. 11 July 2013. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/7815007@N07/7164726862/>.

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The iPad Experience

My school board lent selected libraries four iPads each in order for Teacher-Librarians to experiment with how to implement such technology in schools. Here's a summary of what I tried and, yes, Michael Jackson somehow came up during this experience:

1. Lunchtime book trailers using iMovie: Only two students took the job seriously. The rest spent their time taking random pictures. ALL participants personalized each device. Students who did participate took many shots of books, but did not automatically add narration, video or text. They needed more time and guidance to shape their trailers. So...#2
2. I wanted to have a whole class create book trailers for a class assignment, but the issue of time, work action, and only four iPads nixed the possibility. Technology in education will only work if everyone has access 100% of the time. Otherwise, why adopt technology, if you are unsure if you'll be able to use it when you need it? It becomes a burden. Teachers will stress about access; lack of access becomes a reason for students to not complete their work. An example of where 100% access to technology has been successful at our school: Each classroom has a teacher computer and a projector. No one has gone "back" to using the overhead projector.
3. Introduced apps to teachers who are trying to implement the flipped classroom. They loved apps such as ScreenChomp or Educreations.
4. I let some grade 12 boys during their spare borrow the iPads while they were doing group work. They wanted to be able to access the internet while still gathered around a table. On the downside, they did spend a lot of the time taking pictures of each other (!)
5.  At lunch I sat with the four iPads on a table. Only senior students came over. Four out of six participants were boys. Their reactions: iPads are good for BYOD, but they thought for schools it would be cheaper to buy Android or Microsoft tablets; otherwise, they felt it would be a waste of money. One student was particularly emphatic about that. He said he would get very angry if we spent money that way. He preferred the idea of buying netbooks.  Regarding the iPads, the students liked the portability factor and thought they would use ScreenChomp and Garageband in the future. They didn't like the fact that they could use Flash and said that the iPad was just an overgrown iPod: a bigger screen, but less portable.
6. At the end of an MLA workshop with grade 9s (we used the EasyBib app), a group of mostly boys played with Google Earth and asked Siri questions like: What's the meaning of life? Is Michael Jackson  still alive? 
7. I was giving grade 12s a lesson on research using HaikuDeck. One of the slides I had created with Notability. Instead of copying the text from the slide, I was able to email the students the document straight from the app.
8. Using the VGA cable to teach with iPad was great! Here's how to connect an iPad to interactive whiteboard: http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2013/02/how-to-connect-your-ipad-to-your-interactive-whiteboard/
9. Finally, I spoke to a student who had his own iPad mini. He loves it. Right now, he takes class notes on it and plans on using it at university next year to download textbooks. I recommended that he check out Notability, Evernote and Google Docs as writing tools on the iPad. For reading, I suggested he look at iAnnotate and perhaps Citelighter (although I wasn't' sure if it worked on Apple products). Presently, I'm using iBooks to download materials for an online course.
10. I ran out of memory! I downloaded some TV episodes in HD and found that my 16G iPad nearly burst. Would recommend more memory...if you're interested in buying an iPad for yourself.
11. Also, check out free access to online Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel vis SkyDrive on your hotmail, live or outlook account. Only OneNote and SkyDrive have dedicated apps. They rest you have to access through a browser. Ironically, I've found that you can only access all the feature if you use the browser.

In the end, I found that the iPad is best used as a personal device. Where I see it being fully used is in a BYOD environment. The iPad begs to be personalized. One, because it can be in terms of aesthetics and app choice, but also because you need to have it linked to your email account to be able to easily share what you create on it.

However, if you have a class set, here are some tips on having shared iPads: http://ipadeducators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tips-for-sharing-ipads-in-schools

I also would like to keep exploring using the iPad in teaching. As I read over my notes, I see how much students want to "play" with the device. Is that a bad thing (i.e., they are not doing what I want them to do), or am I looking at the possibilities in the wrong way?

Photo credits:

Teacher, Timothy Butt, And Students. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 12 Feb 2013. http://quest.eb.com/images/155_2658810

Michael Jackson. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 12 Feb 2013. http://quest.eb.com/images/115_2803142

Apple Unveils IPad 2. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 12 Feb 2013. http://quest.eb.com/images/115_3823922

The Value of Literature Now Supported by MRI Imaging

"In an innovative interdisciplinary study, neurobiological experts, radiologists and humanities scholars are working together to explore the relationship between reading, attention and distraction – by reading Jane Austen."

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-literature-mri-imaging.html#jCp

The Virtual Self

The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us by Nora Young
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you are reading this review via Twitter or Goodreads, you may understand what it feels like to be at least a little bit addicted to the virtual world. Existing without a physical place means ideas can be exchanged at the speed of light and participation is democratic.

We are compelled to compulsively record ourselves online. Nora Young comments that the “pattern of our data seems to carry an explanatory power, a sense that life isn’t random...that, over time, the trivial acts of our mundane daily life shape a picture of who we are” (48).

The Virtual Self treats the creation of data as pleasure, art and philosophy (48). I had been expecting from this book a doomsday scenario akin to the one described in Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows. Instead, The Virtual Self gives practical information on our digital culture. The book describes how we generate personal data on-line and how this data can be used for positive means, such as self-improvement, and creating better societies and cities. The book also flags areas where this data can be misused: disengagement from the body, lack of privacy, skewed stats, bias, and profit.

By reading this book, I gained a better understanding of how the digital world works and have found the book to be prescient: When I listen to the news, I often hear the issues identified in this book being raised as concerns in the media. The book is peppered with modern-day interviews and the ideas of McLuhan, Foucault and Clay Shirky, among others.

The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World around Us contains topics that we all should be interested in, but I’m not sure how much people are concerned with the “digital doppelgänger” they are creating. In fact, I expect circumstances and technology to change so quickly that the ideas in this book may soon become dated. As well, Young seemed to repeat herself at times. I felt that I didn’t learn anything radically new, but perhaps that’s the point: We so enjoy using digital tools that we tend to not pay attention to what is being done with the data we produce. In this book, there is no apocalyptic prophesy—which would probably attract more readers—but realistic, rational fact that’s mostly positive in nature.

As I was reading, I often asked myself, how can the ideas from this book be applied to my life, especially in terms of education? After reading the line, “[w]hen information is no longer scarce, institutions change and social norms change with them” (135), I instantly thought of how quickly we’ve accepted people speaking in public on their cell phones. We used to ban electronic devices from school, for goodness sake. Now my school board has launched a BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) policy to be able to keep up with rapidly changing technology.

After finishing the book, I started to wonder, what subtle changes will the future bring that will radically change the way we live?


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21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn

21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn by James Bellanca

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this anthology of essays more for professional reasons than personal, ergo the three-star review. The ideas are interesting and thoughtful, but not earth-shattering or provocative.

I'm presently looking at how teachers can create plagiarism-proof assignments and engage students more deeply in learning. Howard Gardner's "Five Minds for the Future" and John Barell's "Problem-based Learning: The Foundation for 21st Century Skills" addressed my concerns most closely, although I found that "Designing New Learning Environments" by Bob Pearlman will be useful to consult with when I am able to redesign my library. For example, he quotes, "Classrooms are out! No more classrooms!" Perhaps the whole school will turn into a learning commons. As well, there will be other essays I will be returning to: "Technology Rich, Information Poor", "Navigating Social Networks as Learning Tools" and "Leadership, Change, and Beyond the 21st Century Skills Agenda". It is a huge collection, and I'm sure there are other issues and ideas to feed the questions of other readers.

The essays are American-centric, but the concepts can be modified and applied to Canadian schools.

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