Comments on: Shifting Our Schools episode 3: Passion for learning, how to nurture and grow it? http://www.thethinkingstick.com/ondeck/2008/02/08/shifting-our-schools-episode-3-passion-for-learning-how-to-nurture-and-grow-it/ On Deck a podcast blog from Jeff Utecht on education and technology. Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:58:34 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: millie http://www.thethinkingstick.com/ondeck/2008/02/08/shifting-our-schools-episode-3-passion-for-learning-how-to-nurture-and-grow-it/comment-page-1/#comment-2413 millie Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:22:22 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/ondeck/2008/02/08/shifting-our-schools-episode-3-passion-for-learning-how-to-nurture-and-grow-it/#comment-2413 How to give credit for the engaging work that students want to do outside out of class? How to substitute the learning the kids are doing on their own for the prescribed classwork? Student 2.0 writing blog that Clay initiated and continues to draw readers. Here is an excellent example of passionate learners working outside of the classroom. Success for Clay in creating authentic learning where passionate learning takes place: A student interviewed Clay as a minority person living in Korea. It was recorded for a podcast. It ended up being newsworthy and drew the community in to access the student’s blog and continue the discussion. Barriers for Clay in helping his school make the shift: Students in our high schools are often so trained in a ways that get in the way of thinking laterally and making connections that we have to “unteach” them. To create their own projects and follow their own ideas doesn’t come easy. “Give me something I can do quickly and get out of the way” is often the way our high school students operate. They often are not willing to take risks. Conclusion: We really need to start in the elementary to build a learning environment that doesn’t take the passion away. Clay’s PLN class involves each student completing a project of personal interest that they research and then blog/podcast/vodcast about weekly. They connect to Twitter to build out their network finding people who can help them with their research. Clay finds this process to really support his hope that his students will become networked learners. Take Away from the discussion: One approach to shift a school is for your instructional technologist to start the year working with early adopters the first third of the year and to then move to the middle range adopters the next third of the year and to focus on the laggard group at end of the year. It is imperative to have the instructional technologists work with groups of teachers during the school day to get buy in from the teachers. After school doesn’t work due to scheduling problems. Think about bringing in subs for a whole day. This really validates the process. Get the technical lessons (e.g., how to run a blog, use Skype, etc.) in first to remove those barriers. You can them focus on the curriculum and adapting the instruction and assessments to meet 21st century learning goals. Teachers looking to start blogging should think about using them as their portfolios and as a How to give credit for the engaging work that students want to do outside out of class? How to substitute the learning the kids are doing on their own for the prescribed classwork?
Student 2.0 writing blog that Clay initiated and continues to draw readers. Here is an excellent example of passionate learners working outside of the classroom.

Success for Clay in creating authentic learning where passionate learning takes place:

A student interviewed Clay as a minority person living in Korea. It was recorded for a podcast. It ended up being newsworthy and drew the community in to access the student’s blog and continue the discussion.

Barriers for Clay in helping his school make the shift:

Students in our high schools are often so trained in a ways that get in the way of thinking laterally and making connections that we have to “unteach” them. To create their own projects and follow their own ideas doesn’t come easy. “Give me something I can do quickly and get out of the way” is often the way our high school students operate. They often are not willing to take risks. Conclusion: We really need to start in the elementary to build a learning environment that doesn’t take the passion away.

Clay’s PLN class involves each student completing a project of personal interest that they research and then blog/podcast/vodcast about weekly. They connect to Twitter to build out their network finding people who can help them with their research. Clay finds this process to really support his hope that his students will become networked learners.

Take Away from the discussion:

One approach to shift a school is for your instructional technologist to start the year working with early adopters the first third of the year and to then move to the middle range adopters the next third of the year and to focus on the laggard group at end of the year.

It is imperative to have the instructional technologists work with groups of teachers during the school day to get buy in from the teachers. After school doesn’t work due to scheduling problems. Think about bringing in subs for a whole day. This really validates the process. Get the technical lessons (e.g., how to run a blog, use Skype, etc.) in first to remove those barriers. You can them focus on the curriculum and adapting the instruction and assessments to meet 21st century learning goals.

Teachers looking to start blogging should think about using them as their portfolios and as a

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