Monthly Archives: November 2009

Our Ideas are Interactive

Living together - 187/365

I read a great post by a student in my grad class last week that has me thinking again about the idea of a backchannel.  I wrote about this a while ago, but it seems the topic has surfaced again recently about the value of a backchannel.

The past several conferences I have attended have tried to implement a conference-wide backchannel discussion, and most have failed.  Whether due to poor wifi, poor implementation, or simply lack of interest, it seems to me the idea has started fading a bit.  I don’t know if I think that’s good or bad.

Certainly the story that surfaced this week about the backchannel gone bad at the Web 2.0 Expo is evidence of how this idea can be a complicated matter.  This spurred much discussion on Twitter, and the experience leaves many wondering what is the value in having a simultaneous chat running while a person is presenting his or her ideas.  I still believe, if done well, the chat can add a great deal for both the presenter and the conference attendees.  I really do.  However, as some have noted recently on Twitter and in other conversation spaces, it seems that often times the backchannel fails to connect to the message being presented and breaks down into a virtual cafeteria where the kids are all talking about any and all topics other than the ones being presented.

I found the post above by Michael to be most interesting.  It leaves me wondering what the role of this experience could be in the classroom.  Could it be that if we built this the right way, kids could greatly benefit from the chance of moving from passive listeners to active engagers of what is happening around them?  The idea of allowing students to backchannel during a read aloud is fascinating to me.  It takes courage for teachers to try such a thing, but if, like Michael, the end turns out to yield something of value for students, I think we should try it more.  Allow them the chance to mix their ideas with their peers in a nonconventional way to see what the recipe ends up making.

Maybe it won’t work for your students, or your teachers, or your presentation audience, but I still do believe there’s something to this idea.  It just takes some work and effort to keep the connections aligned with your learning goals, and obviously sometimes we fail at that in our endeavors to get students to invest in their learning through technology.  But if our work with technology does indeed increase student investment, then I say turn on the backchannel and see what you can hear, so to speak.

Thanks to tranchis for the use of the Flickr image.

What’s in a Book?

book

I wrote a post this week for my Tech & Learning blog entry about books.  If you haven’t read it, I would love to get your thoughts on the topic.  The more I’ve thought about it, the more I wonder if the question simply doesn’t matter.  Bud Hunt responded to the post on Twitter by saying,

bud

He makes a good point.  I was certainly leaning this way when I wrote the original post, and I’m close to there.  But, I just wonder about the scores of people who feel so passionately otherwise.  Are they misguided, or is there something to their argument?

If you get the chance, I’d love to hear where you stand on the question.  Feel free to comment here, or comment over on the T&L post.

Thanks to Gibson Claire McGuire Regester for use of the Flickr image.

Clinical Observation

flip

*This is a reflection post required for my JHU-ISTE Leadership program.

For this assignment, I was required to conduct a full clinical observation cycle with a teacher.  I conducted a pre-observation conference, a classroom observation, and a post-observation conference.  I was required to video the post-observation conference, and the following are my notes regarding what I observed as I reviewed the recording.

*  What strengths and/or improvement areas did you notice about the environment and tone of the post-observation?
The post-observation conference I participated in was conducted in a staff meeting room.  The room was an ideal location as it was quiet and conducive to this type of conversation.  I sat at a table across from the teacher I observed.  I noticed that I gave the teacher quite a bit of nonverbal feedback, and I would say I might have given too much of this at times.  I didn’t realize how much I nod my head in agreement when I’m in a conversation such as this, and I think I might need to find a way to reduce the frequency in order to increase the effectiveness of this technique.  I also offered a variety of verbal feedback throughout the conversation to ensure the teacher knew I was tracking and listening intently as she spoke.  I spoke in a clear, effective manner, and I believe my tone and inflection were both professional and relaxed.  I feel the way I engaged in the conversation would be a strength, and I believe I made the teacher feel comfortable and at ease while she shared her thoughts.  One area I can target for improvement was my periodic glances at my computer screen.  I did this to make sure I was moving us along the five domains that were to be discussed, as well as make observations from the notes I recorded.  Looking back at the video, I realize that doing this is an acceptable practice, but I have to make sure I don’t do it too early before the other person has finished a thought or sentence.  I don’t’ want to appear that I’m rushing the conversation or only thinking about how I’m going to transition into the next topic.

* What strengths and/or improvement areas did you notice in the conference about strategies to improve instruction?
As part of this observation, I collected data on how many times the teacher used a filler/transition word.  I shared this data with the teacher, and it came as a surprise how often she used such a word during the lesson.  The rest of the conversation was focused on the lesson as well as the teaching style and opportunities for students to engage learning the teacher generally employs with her students.  We discussed strengths and a couple areas that might be targeted for future growth, and the teacher noted at the end of the conference how helpful the discussion was for her.  While I pointed out specifics that I noted in the classroom, I also discussed in broad terms the educational philosophies and strategies I saw the teacher employ.  The conversation allowed for the teacher to reflect on her practice, and several goals were established as a result of the conference.

* In the conference, which behavior did you seem to predominantly use?  Do you think this was an appropriate approach given the developmental level of the teacher? Briefly explain
During this conference, I primarily used listening, clarifying, encouraging, and reflecting with the teacher.  She falls near the collaborative end of the continuum of behaviors, and while she is still a teacher with only two years teaching experience, she already uses sound practice and strategies to engage her students in her classroom.  There wasn’t any cause for concern, and the manner in which she taught and then reflected in the post-observation conference made any potential utilization of a more directive approach unnecessary.

This was an excellent experience for me personally.  The teacher I observed and I discussed how helpful it would be for all teachers to engage in a peer-coaching experience.  The information I gained about myself as an observer, and the information the teacher gained as a result were quite profound.  I look forward to the opportunity to use what I learned from this experience in the future.

Thanks to philcampbell for the use of the Flickr image.

What’s the Goal?

3034011834_cd7c182ce7

There exists a philosophy of technology that states we should be dedicating specific time in our school day to teach students finite skills of operating computing technology.  That in order to prepare our students properly for the world, we must teach them how to word process and how to operate Power Point and how to keyboard.  The computing instruction is an end goal.  The students should learn these skills because the skills themselves are the important part of technology, and if we don’t stop throughout the day and teach them how to specifically operate the tools or applications within a computer, we will be failing to equip our future.

I’ve had discussions with individuals who say they’d rather see the students learn technology skills in isolation, and it isn’t necessary to embed or even relate this instruction to curricular content or goals.  The important part is that students learn how to operate the computer and properly work the word processing application.

I’ve found this to be a fairly popular philosophy and culture in many circles of public opinion.

So, you are in this conversation with someone.  Someone who believes adamantly that we must focus time and energy and effort on explicitly teaching students how to operate specific technology.  Someone who says we should have a checklist of computer proficiencies for each student so that we will know they can operate a computer successfully.  That if we fail to do so, we will be failing to prepare our students to succeed in the future.

And you respond by saying…

——————————————————-

Thanks to Flickr user wZa HK for the use of the image.

 Scroll to top