a list of things
Hey there team –
Let’s see – I have a list of things to run by you:
- I would like to create some version of this when we meet next Wednesday. What do you think? I think it would help us to meet our 8/1 deadline.
- I would also like to hash out a conceptual framework (first draft) and possible research questions (we’ve started this). I gave Musuwar a couple of 2 chapters of Miles & Huberman’s (1994) sourcebook to skim to help us with these things- I find the “advice” sections to be helpful reminders. I’ll put them in your mailfolder Jeremiah or snail mail them to you – whichever you’d like.
- Can we meet on campus so we have whiteboard and chalkboard space to work? Our same time, room 1-160A?
- Musawar is going to read this and this for next week. We agreed to look for future readings as we are working on our current readings. Jeremiah, let me know if you would like me to suggest one or two… or check out our blogroll/links for possibilities. Let us know what you choose so we can skim it before we meet.
- We also thought we should continue our search for exemplar classroom blogs that show evidence of “transforming” classroom learning. Check out this site – scroll down to “classroom blogs.” I was telling Musuwar we might also want to spend some time with the “Blogs on educational blogging” as these people have spent quite a bit of time thinking about what we are trying to think about. See Mr K’s blog, for example, “A Difference.“
- We thought about possible sub-categories for our literature review (commentary vs. research and then within research, either peer-reviewed or non peer-reviewed). (I just added these.)
- We also thought it might be helpful to use the text editing features offered to highlight things we might expect to use in our analysis or included in our write-up (e.g. bold for important constructs or blockquote for direct quotes).
- Finally, I was brainstorming what I thought we might mean by “transform” secondary classroom learning last night… I thought about it with respect to the variety of challenges or limitations of a typical secondary classroom instruction that blogs could potential address. Here are some of the things I came up with:
- limited access to learning resources (espeically from diverse sources including very recent/current resources)
- limited classroom exposure/interaction time with content
- minimal individualization of learning experiences
- limited interactions and community building
- marginalization of certain students (diverse cultures, quiet students, others)
- damaged relationships between teachers and students due to the need to “cover” for tests
I thought maybe we could ask a subset of teacher bloggers something like, “On a scale of 1-10, how do you you feel your use of classroom blogs have helped you to address each of these?” “Overall, on a scale of 1-10, how transformative have blogs been to your classroom instruction and your students’ school-based learning?
Okay, happy to hear comments or thoughts. I’m hoping we can nail down a more definitive direction for us next week… What do you think?
Happy to be working with both of you!
blogging about blogging 
Some comments back:
| Posted 16 years, 11 months ago– I think we should create some version of your timeline for planning.
– Conceptual framework–good…I will post soon on a great article to help some with this.
– On campus is great
– I plan to power read all I have gathered to date this weekend…so feel free to send some my way…but I have plenty for this week’s reading.
– I like your approach on the limitations approach. Do you/we have some research to support these as appropriate ones? I do wonder if there isn’t some ideal learning based on our framework that we could describe and then move to how this is restricted due to time and space in the typical setting…regardless of IF a teacher is trying to overcome these. For ex- You can’t take a class of students to Australia each day (unless you live there of course for our Australian readers:). This is a space issue and one which is a limitation from the ideal (immersive and experientially relevant experiences)
– OK….more soon
CYO,
J:)
I agree, Jeremiah. This list has to be grounded in something. A couple thoughts – first, much of the list comes from the interview with Mr. K. about the affordances blogs have offered his classroom instruction (though interesting and useful, I think our framework needs to be grounded in the literature). Two strong pieces come to mind off the top of my head – Windschitl’s (2001) piece on the challenges of implementing reform-based practice and Settlage’s (2002) piece on the additional challenges of teaching under the pressures of standardized testing especially for urban schools (references below).
| Posted 16 years, 11 months agoThoughts?
*A-
As I read Michael’s summary, this list pops out to me as very useful and relevant in thinking about an organizing framework:
| Posted 16 years, 11 months agoOn page 137, Windschitl bullets eight features of constructivism that is supported in the literature. Among these are:
(Summarized)
-Teachers elicit students’ ideas… then fashion learning situations that help students elaborate on or restructure current knowledge.
– Students engage in complex, meaningful, problem-based activities.
-Teachers provide students a variety of information resources.
-Students work collaboratively.
-Teachers make their own thinking explicit.
-Students are routinely asked to apply knowledge, explain ideas, interpret, predict and construct evidence-based arguments.
-Teachers encourage student reflection and autonomous thinking.
-Teachers employ a variety of assessment strategies.
This is a great list for looking at the blogs. Lets work with it, as it is based on literature already.
I think in looking at the shift from traditional to virtual communication Gergen’s work on social saturation within today’s society (ok he wrote it in the 90’s so not quite today’s society, but his continued work has continued this conversation) may be good. Also, Glidden’s work which looks at the way in which the global and the local interact may also be relevant in creating some of the literature framework.
Gergen, K. (1991). The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. New York: Basic Books.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
I also think that I would like to look up the concept of absent presence that Gergen introduces. I think it could impact some of our thinking on how the blog (asynchronous communication) impacts technology. Here is the citation for this, but I will have to find the book and then will post some thoughts on it.
Gergen, Kenneth J. (2002): The challenge of absent presence. (In: Katz, James E. / Aakhus Mark A. (eds.) Perpetual Contact. Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 227-241).
| Posted 16 years, 11 months agoSounds great – If you wouldn’t mind sharing the resources (pdf’s or paper-copies of the chapters, articles, etc.), I would appreciate seeing them as well.
| Posted 16 years, 11 months ago*A-