The App Generation

The App Generation by Howard Gardner and Katie Davis explore what it means to be app-dependent versus app-enabled for the current generation of youth.  They go through the possibilities and constraints of apps in relation to identity, intimacy, and imagination.  

The apps that we have access to definitely make life easier for us.  The one that I use the most is Waze.  I am able to put in a destination and it gets me there the quickest possible way.  Now, I don’t have to know my way around or how streets are connected or related, the app leads me and I just have to follow the directions.  I am now, app-dependent, because I don’t know my way around and I can’t get to new places on my own.  This is just one example to being app dependent.  There are internal possibilities and constraints, as well.  With communication being so easy and accessible, we are in touch with others about everything.  Parents of tweens and older children, with cell phones, know where their kids are at all times.  They are in constant communication.  Although, this seems like a characteristic of being a good parent, it doesn’t give children the space to think on their own and trust their decisions.  Parents are constantly giving their okay and opinions and this conditions our youth to need affirmation for everything.  This was a real eye opener for me and I will definitely keep this in mind when my boys get access to their own cell phone.  

As for my students, I will explain to them the difference between app-dependent and app-enabled. Teaching them how to be conscious of their attention, know how to search and sort, participate and network for their advantage, and collaborate to produce and not just consume, are some skills to increase their possiblities.  

Net Smart

Net Smart by Howard Rheingold outlines five digital literacies; attention, crap detection, participation, collaboration, and network smarts.  Attention refers to metacognition and allows us to do deeper searching.  Attention, memory, and executive control are the fundamental components of thinking.  Crap detection is the critical consumption of information.  According the Rheingold, these 2 literacies are internal, cognitive, and individual.  The last two literacies of collaboration and network smarts are external, social, and collective. Collaboration is the most purposeful and has transformed the way people use the Internet and how information is found.  Network Smarts is when we take what we know about face to face culture and apply it to online culture.  Linking them is the act of participation that connects the individual mind to the web of digital culture.  Using social tools can be real power but it doesn’t mean anything unless you participate.

I feel like these five digital literacies outline what is important to be personally successful in the twenty-first century.  We live in a world where it is essential to know how to use online tools without being overloaded with too much information.  I think it is important to teach this to our students, as well.  It is the life and world we are all living in.  Giving them guidelines on how to manage the digital world is just as important as giving them guidelines on how to manage their physical world.  

This is what we do in our digital citizenship curriculum.  Although it is broken down differently than the 5 literacies Rheingold outlines, I teach the same essential concepts to help our students navigate through their digital world.  They know how to be good citizens online and off.

Copyright Clarity

When I read Copyright Clarity by Renee Hobbs, I could not believe what I was reading.  I was one of the ignorant educators, she mentioned in the book, that was towing on the line of conformity and hesitant to use what I was finding on the internet.

I learned that Copyright is designed to protect both the rights of owners and users in order to promote the spread of knowledge, creativity and innovation.  And that educators, like me, do not understand how to use Copyrighted material, causing us not to use the vast resources that are available.  The truth is that Fair Use gives us the ability to use parts from any copyrighted works with these factors to consider.

• Purpose of the use
• Nature of the copyrighted work
• Amount used
• Market impact

Fair Use is a user right.

Now that I know this, I have been telling my colleagues and students, informally.  I plan on including the information that I put in my Pecka Kucha, along with the searching and sorting guidelines that I created, into a Digital Citizenship lesson for my students.  I have to admit that I felt liberated when I read Copyright Clarity and learned about Fair Use. Now, I can practice fair use with copyrighted material and promote the spread of knowledge, creativity and innovation.

The Information Diet

The Information Diet by Clay Johnson takes the concept of a food diet and makes an analogy to an information diet.  They are both based on consumption, and choice is the key to it being a healthy or unhealthy diet.  

This analogy really made sense to me.  As for a food diet, for the most part, I have learned what is good and bad.  Although what I eat is not super healthy, I know what I’m doing and I’m making educated choices.  As for information, I was not aware of some of the implications and was consuming information with ignorance.  After reading the book, I understand that I was consuming information for affirmation and not taking the source into consideration.  I did not know that my belief and seeking affirmation were a barrier to broader information.  It is said that no matter how many facts are presented to me, I would not budge on my stance.  Now, that I know this, I will really try to be open minded.  For every piece of affirming information, I will seek broader information and take sources into greater consideration.

Students as Designers

The final principle, Student as Designers, happens when we design lessons with the first 5 principles in mind.  

1. Teachers as Designers take into consideration the principles, processes, patterns, and paraphernalia and create lessons using AeCTS.
2. Prepare our students to meet community needs by linking living and learning to the PICKLE.
3. Analyze the content for structures, processes, and discourse
4. Include authentic activities, background building activities, constructing activities, and sharing activities
5. Conduct an Affordance Analysis

Designing a lesson with these first 5 principles will allow for the 6th principle, Students as Designers with the clear outcome exit experience.

In this last class session, we were students as designers to show our understanding of the 6 design principles.  My group created a Cooking Show Video.  Priscilla went through all the principles to design the course for us.  As I look back and understand the process, it is not always sequential.  She used the design process for each principle we learned in each session, as well.  I can see how we were designers at the end of each session when we created the Burma Shaves and poems.  In retrospect, the learning was relevant to me and I am now, able to apply what I learned in my own practice.  

I will never forget when my group and I were creating the cooking video and there were other GMU students in the area.  One of them commented, “I wish our class was that much fun.”  And it was that much fun while we are learning.  

The Means Principle

Good learning designs reflect technologies chosen after mindful consideration of the cognitive and societal consequences as well as a clear and appropriate connection with content and learning activities.

When I read the article on Affordance Analysis, I was so confused and I didn’t understand why.  After the discussion in class, I understood that I was confused because the concept of affordance analysis is the process that we logically use as educators everyday when we pick and plan for our students.  Affordance Analysis is simply the process of when the feature of a tool and the goal are a good fit.  I do this everyday, all day long as an educator, without really thinking about it.  It comes natural to teachers.  So, having a fancy name, Affordance Analysis, and a 15 page article that basically explains analyzing using pros and cons was confusing to me.  

Affordance Analysis is much more formal than I realized.  Using the graphic organizer will make my thinking more concrete to prove my decisions on technology for my classrooms and school.

The Victorian Internet

The Victorian Internet is a story of the Telegraph and it’s pioneers.  In class we discussed technology and it’s positive and negative consequences.  As we internalize technology, it promotes thinking and logic with the spread of information.  It also expands interaction and the world gets bigger in the sense that we are able to interact with people further and further away.  This is true of the telegraph.  People could now reach distances across the oceans and communicate easier with cultures and societies on other continents.  But with this also comes social and cognitive consequences.  Human nature remains human nature no matter what the technology is.  Good people use technology and bad people use technology.  Also, the slow nature of social change does not keep up with the quick changing nature of technology and this causes negative consequences.  This is a cycle that happens over and over again through the ages as technology replaces technology.

In the big picture, it easy to recognize this cycle.  But living in the midst of it, I don’t always recognize it.  There are times when I am resistant with my own children when they are on their devices.  My logic tells me that moderation and balance are good but I fail to see that my perception of moderation and balance is “old fashioned” compared to what it is today.  Also, in my classroom, why can’t my students use a calculator to multiply or divide large numbers?  That’s what I do in real life.  Or, why can’t my students go on the internet to look up a definition of a word they don’t know?  That’s what I do.  Priscilla mentioned that when we are the experts, we bring along all the consequences associated with new technology.  I can’t hold children back because of my perceptions.  I need to keep them up with the change.  Technology solves problems but brings on problems, too.  I need to stay conscious of that and always remember and teach students to remember the ETHICAL when keeping up with technology.

The Fourth Design Principle - The Learning Principle

Good learning designs engage students in “playful” activities at the edge of their knowledge and understanding using symbolic tools to develop and internalize meaningful thought.

This quote sums up what we learned about Vygotsky’s theory.  He believes that society and culture play a fundamental role in cognitive development.  Language and activities in a culture along with role models are the keys to learning.  The adults or role models are the guides to cross the bridge from readiness to learning.

As hard as it was to read Vygotsky’s Mind In Society, the discussion in class reinforced what we discussed in the previous class.  Activity, culture, and concept are intertwined to teach the generalizable knowledge.  What is the fundamental thing to teach?  What is the purpose of this learning?  What should the learner be able to do in the end?  These are the guiding questions I can use to start a design plan.

I will also keep in mind the Zone of Proximal Development when designing lessons for students.  It reminds me of a report that I recently learned about in MAP assessments.  There is a report that shows you what skills the student is ready for after they take the diagnostic assessment.  Starting where the student is ready, makes sense.  Then modeling, coaching and fading until it is mastered or understood.  The difference is that MAP is talking about a Standard of Learning Skill and Vygotsky is talking about an authentic activity within a culture.

Knowledge - The Third Design Principle revolves around the idea that any design we create has to be situated with authentic activity.  The concepts we discussed in our third class all revolve around learning through ordinary activity of our culture.  Situated Cognition is learning through situations in our society.  ABCS is Authentic Activities - the ordinary practices of a culture, Building Knowledge Activities - connecting the learned facts to meaning, Construction Activities - moving from knowledge to understanding involves performances of understanding, and Sharing Activities - allows for testing the understanding in a public arena. AeCTS is Authentic Problem - problem solving, decision making and learning activities embedded in an authentic problem, Clear Outcome - the end public product and the criteria, Process/Thinking Skills - talking about the thought process and sharing, and Software Skills - the tool used and scaffolding the activity.  

All of these concepts are being adopted in LCPS through our Vision 20/20.  The mission is to empower all students to make meaningful contributions to the world    The strategic goals are:

1. Develop knowledgeable critical thinkers, communicators, collaborators, creators, and contributors

2. Cultivate a high-performing team of professionals focused on our mission and goals

3. Deliver effective and efficient support for student success

The concepts we are learning in class speak to the first goal and are being taught and stressed throughout LCPS, as well.  The professional development I receive from my district and this class are helping me be part of the second goal.  The third goal is the hardest of all.  

Learning about how to educate 21st Century Learners inspires me and makes sense.  I want my students and my own children to make meaningful contributions in our world and have the skills to do so.  But my buy in is there.  Now, it’s up to me to do my part, deliver and implement these ideas.  Things have been done the same way for so long, that the change has been easy to start but slow in gaining momentum.  Educators are so busy meeting the expectations of the district and school administrators, the parents and most important of all, the students, that any kind of change is difficult.  Change means more time, energy and commitment.  It would be easy to ignore and maintain business as usual but my buy in is too strong.  Everyday, when I walk into my school building, I pick one thing I can do within that day to make progress toward the goals.  Yesterday, I had a planning meeting scheduled with my second grade team.  My goal walking in that day was to incorporate authentic activity into our planning session.  I wasn’t sure what ideas the team would come up with or if they even had anything but I was going to try.  By the end of the meeting, I coached them through and they came up with a plan to have their students create an informational presentation for the school and their parents about their field trip to the zoo.  Their field trip is in November and that gives us plenty of time to scaffold how to use Google slides as the tool.  We are still in the planning phase but the idea is there and it is an example of using the content as the means and not the end.  I’m excited to see how this goes for the teachers and especially for the students.

Second Design Principle - The Ends Principle

In Saber-Tooth Curriculum, New Fist was a doer and a thinker.  He came up with a curriculum to better the world around him for the people.  His educational goal / leading thought was, “If I could only get these children to do the things that will give more and better food, shelter, clothing and security”.  These were the things important to his society’s well being.  That is how he came up with fish catching, horse clubbing and tiger scaring.  These can be compared to our age old skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.  As the world changed and evolved the curriculum became obsolete but society was still preserving it because it was “magical”, our word for traditional.  For the students and society’s sake the curriculum was irrelevant.  

As we discussed this, Wednesday night, in class, so many points hit home.  The decline portrayed in Saber-Tooth Curriculum depicts failure to recognize societal changes, rejection of innovation, separation of teachers from teaching, replacement of education with policy, and giving students irrelevant work and boring them. If only New Fist stuck to his original educational goal, he could have come up with a new curriculum and the education would have stayed relevant.  I see all of these points ring true, to some degree, in the education system of today.  

The second design principle is the The Ends Principle.  Students need PICKLE to live to learn and learn to live.  PICKLE is problem solving, information using, community participation, knowledge, literacy, and ethical decision making.  This reminds me of the 21st century skills in education today; critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creation and contribution.  PICKLE cannot be abstract teaching but teaching in action with something or about something.  As educators burdened with SOLs, we can use PICKLE and the content (SOLs) as the means of getting to the end and not the end itself.  The 4th grade Burma Shave activity on Regions of VA was an example of students using PICKLE to create a presentation with the content they learned on the Regions.  

In LCPS, our Vision 2020 mission is empowering all students to make meaningful contributions to the world.  Our first strategic goal is to develop knowledgeable critical thinkers, communicators, collaborators, creators, and contributors.  As an IFT, my job is to facilitate this in the instruction at my school.  The first step this school year was to explicitly explain the first strategic goal to all of our students.  Then as the days go on and the lessons are learned, not only do we point out the content they learned but the 21st century skills the students used to acquire the knowledge.  I plan to explain PICKLE to my teachers to use as a tool to design lessons for students.  

First Design Principle - Teachers as Designers

This was my first class of many for the next 2 years.  There are 12 of us and one professor.  We are a motley crew of teachers from all levels of education and from many areas in the DMV.  We learned all of our names in about 15 minutes with an opening activity.  I was impressed with myself and instantly felt a bond with the group just by learning and knowing each members' names.

JCMDRSEJMAPCP  These are all of our first initials.  I'll try to make an acronym.

The topic of the night was the first design principle - teachers as designers.  I learned that design and planning are different.  When teachers design, they islolate a design problem and use principles, processes, patterns and tools to design an activity for students.  Planning is taking another's design and implementing the activity for students.  I always prided myself in being a good planner, finding someone else's activity to facilitate with my own students.  But I wasn't necessarily taking the individual needs of my students into consideration.  By planning, I might have been trying to put a square peg into a round hole, meaning the activity that I found might not have been a good fit for my cureent students.  Just because it worked well with some students, it doesn't mean it was a good fit for all.  Now, I will think about my students, their strengths and areas of need and try to design using a variety of processes and tools.  I feel like I have to change my whole mindset and think outside of the box.  It's problem solving on a teacher level to try to design problem solving for my students.

I left class having a lot to think about.  This world is so dynamic and global that I need to start thinking with the world.  Then apply that to design learning to prepare my students to the change that will happen.