Tomorrow night I have the opportunity to re-present a presentation with the same title as this blog.  In fact, it was the initial opportunity to present that inspired this blog (and the transformation from the previous blog).  I’ve modified the “My Journey with Digital Pedagogy” presentation to represent the thinking and experiences I’ve had since the first presentation, and am looking forward to the opportunity to share once again.

One of the great services I’ve had opportunity to gain access to through my employer has provided me a way to gather feedback on my presentation before it is given – and how useful that feedback has been.  And by doing this, I developed a little cross-program mashup that will allow teachers and students within my organisation to collaborate on presentations, which is handy as we do not have access to Google Docs.

Using the PicLens Publisher add on for MicroSoft PowerPoint, I converted all my slides to images.  The images were uploaded to VoiceThread, and I then recorded an explanation for each slide within Voice Thread.  Trusted colleagues were then invtited to view and comment, and I refined the presentation accordingly.  I then re-uploaded adn recorded the associated speech, and asked other colleagues to comment.  Truly a great learning experience for me, and a great opportunity to use a web service for my benefit. (I had to be careful the colleagues I chose would not be present in the audience when I give the presentation – would hate to bore somebody).

This process has me thinking though, anyone could do this and gather feedback on their presentation from within my employing organisation.  Certainly a process I will encourage my classes to use – imagine having multiple teachers provide feedback before giving a presentation?  Imagine other students providing feedback?

Which leads nicely into a problem I had with developing my presentation.  Comments from checkingboxes and onepaulo suggested audience members would be interested in seeing what learning looked like in my learning environments.  Initially I agreed and thought about what I could do.  Then I realised, learning in my environments is not an easy thing to capture.  It is in fact a wild, unpredictable beast that can turn any way.  In short, and to use a famous quote – learning is messy.  On any given day the students are completing multiple tasks in multiple ways.  How could I represent this?  Lets hope what I have decided on will suffice.

So what should learning look like? Upon reflection, I would like learning within my environments to look as if students are choosing what to do and how to do it.  Student negotiation is a powerful force to enhance learning, a force that should be harnessed.  It does not reduce the importance of the teacher, and in fact I think it takes a strong teacher to relieve themselves of the power in the learning relationship.  The teacher is still required to ensure validity of the learning as referenced by the task specific criteria and exit standards for the subject, however students can, and should, choose the path to get there.

Of course, the teacher also needs to be able to determine which groups of students can handle responsibility for their own learning management in such an environment.

When reflecting for this series of posts, I was amused at the change in focus of learning methods since I graduated from university.  Granted, technology has also moved on yet I can remember many hours sitting at a library desk reading various text books and journal articles in order to learn the material that was required.  This reading was hard work, and I don’t remember reading for enjoyment or recreation during that university time.  Once university finished and I began earning money I signed up for an ISP account.  This opened a whole new world and a whole new way of reading.  Now, my reading has transformed into scanning of headlines and titles in a list format then opening items I am interested in for further reading.

Late last year, I picked up a novel from a series I had begun when I was in high school and began to read for the purpose of just reading.  An amazing thing happened.  I turned off the tv and dove into the world within the book, and I was enjoying it.  Since then an even stranger occurrence has happened, I am now reading the magazines I subscribe to instead of skimming them.  Its like I’ve turned on a dormant part of my brain both for learning and enjoyment.

There is so much material out there that anyone can find something an anything they wish to learn more about.  Organising that reading is key to learning from it, and described below is how I organise my reading.

Firstly, blogs are a great source of learning for me.  My blogroll listed in the right hand panel outlines the most frequented blogs I read, but is not a complete lit of blogs.  To completely list this would be too lengthy.  At the moment I manage my blogs through Netvibes, however I am considering converting to Google Reader as I use iGoogle as a portal at work and I think Google Reader formats more nicely on the iPod Touch.

As part of my membership with QSITE (Qld Society for Information Technology in Education) I receive two magazine publications that have become a staple read for me.  This has encouraged me to seek out more like magazines and journals to read for learning.  Whilst reading these I use highlighters and pens to make notes and comments throughout.  Once I finish reading the entire magazine, I enter all those notes and highlights into EverNote (my note taking program of choice).  Evernote has certainly become m memory these days.

So I thank Stephen King for revitalising my enjoyment of reading and ultimately enabling another method of learning.

We live in a generous world.  I am amazed at the number of intelligent people willing to share their knowledge for no financial gain.  Many of these people offer this knowledge through radio talk shows or podcasts.  I find this an invaluable way to learn.  I personally have a lot of dead time as I travel to and from work.  Depending on traffic I could be in the car for up to two hours a day.  By using this time productively I can learn.  I rely on podcasts for this.  Most CD players can read mp3 files these days, or there are ways to connect your mp3 player to your car stereo.  Personally I have an iPod Touch which I connect using a tunecast device.  The sound quality is not great, but it serves a purpose.

In this post I will list the podcasts that I regularly listen to, and the learning I gain from them.  I provide them in no particular order, except for the first one which is unparalled in what it teaches its listeners.  So if you have time, check these podcasts out.  If you have a beauty you think I’m missing, then let me know.

Podnutz Daily

Steve Cherubino is a computer repair technician who freely offers advice on how to solve a myriad of computer problems.  Even though I don’t repair that many computers, this podcast has provided invaluable information on how to maintain and care for my own computers.  I think this podcast is a great demonstration of a collaborative community, as he has a number of listeners who also run computer repair businesses and they willingly share information and help each other solve problems.  This podcast addresses hardware and software.

Podnutz

This is a second show produced by Steve Cherubino.  In this version he has a guest each week that specialises in a certain aspect of computer repair.

Geek News Central

Todd Cochrane hosts this news type broadcast on the latest in technology.

Mike Tech Show

Mike offers reflections on his experiences as a tech support / network support person.  However I lke this show as it has a large listener interaction.  Lots of listeners send in questions which he encourages the audience to provide answers for.  He will offer his suggestions but he does not take the “I know it all” approach adn readily accepts and shares advice from listeners on how to solve the aired problems.

Virtual Staffroom

Chris Betcher is a local aussie teacher who interviews other teachers and provides real life technology integration examples for education.

Teacher 2.0

Rodd Lucier provides quick insights into technology for learning purposes.

Ed Tech Weekly

A variety of innovative and thinking educators discuss a range of topics relevant to education.

Linux Action Show

For me the best source on linux information.

Lottalinuxlinks

A different take on linux from a hardcore user.

Sourcetrunk

A regular review of open source software, and a beer review to boot!

Teachers Connecting

More information on technology integration for learning.   This podcast has a focus on collaboration.

The Tech Teachers

More toys and their use in education.

TED Talks

Inspiration, motivation, amazement.

Every week I am trying out new podcasts, and someties deleting ones that no longer seem to inform me further.  But I encourage you, grab the content that others are sharing for free, you’ll be amazed at what you learn.

Welcome to the first in a series of posts describing my personal learning processes. In this post I will deal with the easiest yet most underutilized way to learn (in my opinion), the help menu.

Every software program I have ever used has this great learning tool, generally located at the right of the menu options. The help menu is purposely designed to answer most questions regarding use of the software. Logically, it is in the software developers best interests to support people using their programs. Granted some help menus are not interactive (ie. You can’t ask it a question) but it will still provide you the information you require. Anything I’ve ever needed to know about MS Programs, I’ve learnt from the help menu.

What amazes me is how many people don’t think of this approach when they need to learn something. I’ve often answered a request for assistance by asking if they have accessed the help menu, then taking them through the process to teach them that the help menu can teach effectively.

When software help menus can’t help (pun intended), I turn to Google. You could choose any search engine

In a series of posts I am going to respond to a question I am commonly asked – How do you know all this? Many people beginning their journeys are intimidated by the sheer amount of knowledge that exists, and a never ending self comparison to those more knowledgeable. I learn through a range of media, and I’ll dedicate a post to each of these.

1. Help + Google
2. Listening
3. Reading
4. Connecting
5. Diigo
6. User forums
7. Playing

The most important message I can give is to not worry about not knowing. All of us need help throughout our journeys, and if you never learn you’ll never know.

So I encourage you to read on, stay tuned for the next few posts, and learn as much as you can any way you can.

I’ve posted a bit on my eLearning spaces, so thought it might be time to outline the tools I use in my classes to enable learners to engage with digital pedagogy. I understand that some of these tools may be out of the reach of teachers funding their own purchases, however it is more important to note the use and learning intent.

1. Laptops
1a. Lenovo R400 – Employer provided. This laptop has the managed operating environment installed and includes organisation wide software installations. This software includes MS Office, Paint.net, Irfanview. and Audacity.  It is built to connect to the corporate network (either wired or wireless).

I have installed further software that I use. My software of choice is all open source, to demonstrate accessibility to learners. My list of must have software includes; VLC media player (plays anything), FireFox (the web browser IMO), Filezilla (FTP), Kompozer (web authoring), ZScreen & Camstudio (screen capture).

1b. HP Compaq – MOE environment installed, plus every tool I’m likely to use to process learning objects, images, video and sound.  This is generally what I refer to as my processing workhorse – it does all the hard work I need.  As it has the MOE environment, I also take it to class to be used as another computer.

1c. Asus EeePC with Linux OS. I use this to increase awareness of learners to options other than what my employing organisation decides to expose them to. I’ve trialled a few distros (Xandros, EeeXubuntu, gOS, Easy Peasy) however the programs installed remain the same – OpenOffice, Audacity.

1d – 1f. 3 other laptops with MOE installed (1 x HP Compaq, 1 x Acer Aspire, 1 x Acer Travelmate).  Used for general access.

2. iPod Touch. I use this more as a standalone device in class – iTalkr for voice recording, Evernote for note taking, Notes for students to leave me notes, cable for video output, dictionaries and calculators.

3. Mobile phone (currently Nokia 6120). Even a low end phone such as this can be used for image, video and voice capture. I utilise Bluetooth to transfer files to and from learners.

4. Digital camera to record/capture learning moments. I don’t know the model off hand at the moment but it is a 6 megapixel job that cost less than $100.  Uses an SD card which all my laptops can read.

5. Digital voice recorder for capturing audio. Specifically I wanted one that had easy transfer via USB. Many cheaper ones require line in recording to transfer the file to a computer. This is a Sony ICD-P620.

6. Range of memory storage, including the portable office blogged about previously. Cables to enable data transfer from variety of tools.

Except for the 3 extra laptops (1d – 1f), I carry all of this in a backpack (yes, its a little heavy), which allows me to work anywhere in the school.  When needed I carry the extra 3 laptops in a laptop briefcase.  None of these items require connection to power during lesson time so I am truly portable.  What I have witnessed with students acceptnace and use of these can be summed in by two old sayings:

1) You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

2) If you build it, they will come.

If I simply take these to class, students still don’t access them or engage with them.  However if I create the learning environment where they see opportunity for access through choice, they respond and access the technology readily.  This reinforces to me something I have long believed in – it is the pedagogy that matters, not the tools.  Knowing this, I can create and manage the environment that results in student engagement with all of these tools to enable and encourage learning.

I’ve blogged previously about my eLearning spaces, and changes I’ve needed to make to ensure I align with my organisation’s policies and expectations. As a leader within my particular school, I’m required to adapt again in order to protect my colleagues as they begin their journeys with digital pedagogy.

There are specific secure spaces my organisation has built and paid for. It is not permitted to store student work, names or other personal information outside of these spaces. As an employee, any materials I produce specifically for my role as an educator are technically owned by my organisation, and therefore restricted by copyright. Ultimately this means I shouldn’t share them outside of my organisation and it’s secure spaces without the permission of my employer.

What does this mean? Common sharing sites are not permitted. No slideshare, no YouTube, no Ning. This is something I don’t think a lot of my colleagues are aware of. Due to this, I believe it is important I audit my eLearning spaces to ensure materials produced by myself or my students are housed only within the secure spaces.

Will this affect my practice? Yes, but it is not something that will inhibit my pedagogy. I will need to work a little harder to ensure that functionality and usability is maintained. I am following with interest another teacher’s use of allocated personal webspace, he’s doing interesting things with wordpress.

All this has lead me to a thought. I believe my students also have access to personal webspace within the organisation. Here is a potentially beneficial eLearning space I have not yet utilised. Definitely worth exploring.

Time to drag out the HTML/XML coding texts, and maybe it’s time to roll up the sleeves and learn some SQL. Now if only I could find that extra few hours in a day.

I’ve referred to my employing organisations framework and infrastructure in this blog before.  As I prepare for a meeting tomorrow to review this framework I am reminded of the even bigger picture.

There are a lot of groups and organisations who research and prepare standards and guidelines for pedagogy and ICTs.  In an age where performance based pay for teachers is often discussed, standards seem to become ever so important.  Indeed, certifications and qualifications are base on standards.  As my journey with digital pedagogy continues I have become increasingly aware of the standards present and relevant to my work within my organisation.

The ISTE  National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T)  and Performance Indicators for Teachers, and the UNESCO ICT competency standards for teachers are two of the global sets of standards that are relevant, particularly in an era where “common curriculum” seems to be the desire of those wanting national curriculum standards.  I particularly like the reading of the ISTE standards.

The first standard is simply “Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.”  I like how this is stated before any use or exploration of digital tools and methods.  After all, isn’t this our core business, student learning?  Whether we do this with digital pedagogy or not is irrelevant in the long run.  All that really matters is have we inspired learning.

If during this inspiration we provide opportunity for learners to develop skills and competencies with digital tools, then that is a bonus.  I often query teachers who believe it is the digital tools that inspire, by asking them to determine if the learners are inspired or entertained.  It is the person who inspires, which for me is fundamentally why human contact is the most important ingredient in any learning environment.  The human contact does not need to be face to face, as demonstrated by the vast number of teachers who consider Twitter a significant component of their learning environment.  There is certainly human contact there.

We are a lucky group of people that have significant impact on the lives, development and emotions of numerous people every year.  Why would you do any other job?

Rodd Lucier of The Clever Sheep recently posted a list of 15 things he would like to teach others.  His list contains a range of technologies he believes can enhance the teaching and learning process.  Nic Mobbs of Making Connections posted a response, adding a shorter list which contained a definite focus on helping other teachers to harness the power of ICTs for learning.

I’d like to take the liberty of a slightly alternate viewpoint, and list 15 things I would like others to learn.

1. The power of networking.
2. Effective research skills for the Internet.
3. There is more than one teacher.
4. A teacher need not be a person.
5. Failure is part of learning.
6. There is always a way.
7. There is always a legally free option.
8. Backup.
9. Collaboration.
10. Communication.
11. Creation.
12. Copyright – respect the work of others.
13. Reflect, and share the reflection.
14. Personal Learning Environments / Networks
15. You can teach me too.

I specifically say I want others to learn, as I believe I do not need to be the one to teach them.  By others, I’m referring to anybody – not just teachers.  Any of the items on my list I and many others have learnt through personal learning environments, either online, offline or face to face.  I believe the process of learning a new skill or understanding is powerful, and a desire for learning should be harnessed at any age.  Can I teach them this?  Certainly, but should that be the only way they gain the learning? Definitely not.

I was recently recruited to conduct a Professional Development session for a group of teachers working within an “Academic Excellence” department at a local high school.  There was little direction provided for the session, simply wanting to have their understanding of technology expanded.  I saw this as an opportunity to implement a session on mLearning.  It also allowed me to practice a presentation I will be basing a full day training session on next year.

When I think mLearning, I think of three things – devices, cloud computing and portability.

Devices

This section’s objective was to demonstrate the functionality of a range of devices for gathering data, then transporting this data back to a central recording point for presentation.  This group of teachers were relatively inexperienced with ICTs in education, thinking of desktops and laptops as the sole items that allowed integration of technology in education.  I distributed instructions and the participants had to complete the task using the devices provided.  As an extra challenge, I had one set of instructions stored on my phone (video format) and these were distributed via bluetooth.

As expected, the progress of the task became slower and more difficult at the point when particpants needed to return their evidence to a central point.  I had established my laptop as the central point, access to which occurred through cabling, bluetooh or card reader.

One device I am really enjoying exploring the educational possibilities of is the iPod Touch.  Screenshots (showing applications installed) are here and here.  Other devices included video cameras, still cameras, voice recorders, PDAs, netbooks and mobile phones.

Cloud computing

The conference participants were aware of general internet use, and could navigate through sites if directed, so this session was more an awareness raising session on web technologies that incorporated mobile devices for functionality, and web spaces that could be used for organisation of teaching materials.  The specific sites experienced are as below;

• Netvibes – use a public page to store RSS feeds and links to relevant places.
• Diigo – host a pre conference discussion on a relevant stimulus (eg. blog post)
• Dabbleboard – collaborative whiteboard that I used as a pseudo back channel.
• Poll Everywhere – audience response system uses mobile phones.
• Slideshare – locate existing presentations an instructor could use (with attribution).

These are all services I use when developing my learning spaces.  Blackboard is the system my organisation uses as a LMS, but I find these services too functional to ignore.

Access

Specifically, portability of work.  Many of us carry around removable memory with work files on them.  I’ve installed a suite of portable applications that allow me to continue my work on any computer.  Currently the portable suite only runs on Windows, so I need to find a windows emulator that can be initiated from removable memory on either OSX or Linux.

The portable applications I use are;

• Portable Firefox
• Portable Thunderbird
• Open Office
• Evernote
• IHMC CMaps (concept mapping)
• Kompozer (web page creation)
• Scribus (desktop publisher)
• FileZilla (FTP)
• Audacity
• GIMP
• AviScreen (screen capture)
• VLC media player
• xplorer2 (file manager)
• Keepass (password manager)
• 7 zip
• Synctoy

These applications (stored on a 4GB USB drive) allow me to complete all my work functions without relying on software installed on the host computer.  I lead my students through building similar suites to allow them to be more productive within the restricted system in which we work.

In 2 hours I raced through these sections, really providing only a tast of what mLearning can achieve.  I will build on this in preparation to conduct a full day training session in 2009 for teachers within my region.  My presentations are built using concept maps lately, and the maps for this session are stored here.