Earlier this week, I had the chance to spend an hour with Catherine Walton’s Grade 11 and 12 Peer Helping class at West Vancouver Secondary. We spent the hour discussing the current state of schooling and the potential of social media.
The first activity was having the students write down everything they could remember from Grade 6. In the discussion that followed students realized that not one of them had written about content covered, but reflected on their feelings and connections. They wrote about the teachers they loved, the friends who were in their class, the activities they participated in and the fun they had.
The conversation moved to describing their current school experiences. They wrote about their anxieties and fears about university; the challenges of getting good grades, and the complexities of navigating the system to find the right courses to land them in the right universities. It was actually a bit depressing — few students had positive comments about their current experiences.
So, naturally, the conversation flowed to what could be done different now, in their schooling, to bring back some of those strong, positive feelings they associated with in Grade 6? I left the conversation feeling that while they were nervous and anxious, the only thing we could do worse, right now, is to change the system. These students have figured it out — they have binders full of notes; they know how to study for exams, and they are completely fluent in the entrance requirements for universities across the continent.
When pushed for what they would change, they spoke of schooling that placed less emphasis on homework, “It shouldn’t be for marks, it is practice”. The students liked the idea of their texts being digital, but, almost to a person, they did not feel ready to replace their paper binders with a digital equivalent. While they are interested in using technology, they are frustrated with the different systems they need to spend time figuring out, and that take away time from their subject area. They have mastered the system — so, change the way for the kids who follow, just don’t change anything now for them.
And what about social media? The only time students had uploaded a video to YouTube was for school projects, and beyond Facebook, the use of social media was very spotty. They did report Facebook was an excellent learning support — a place to get help with homework and promote school events.
And finally, what about e-mail? Please, only teachers send them e-mails — even their parents know to text them.
Having done a similar exercise with Grade 6 and 7 students several weeks ago, it was interesting to see how much more open these younger students were to changing the learning model.
At least, given this small sample of Grade 11 and 12 students, they want to be sure there are no changes late in the game to a system they have spent 13 years mastering.
I recently wrote about transparency, and in my comments, the discussion moved to finding balance, managing work, home, and finding strategies to being more accessible, but mindful that we need to be present in our non-work lives. In looking at many of those using social media in education, the common denominator was — we have young families — making this issue/concern even more relevant.
The question: “How do you find the time?” is one I am asked, more than any other, from educators interested in social media. I also hear more from educators worried about expanding their accessibility online, “I just don’t have the time for it.” To be clear and upfront, it takes time to build as well as participate in the community online. There are no promises that being accessible, modelling the use of social media, and engaging with others online, will reduce your work hours. Then again, we don’t need to sell everything in life with a promise it will allow us to work less. There are many other motivators than the “promise of less work” in our lives.
I don’ t have the answers, but as with my blog on Transparency, I do have an emerging list of beliefs and strategies to make sense of my work/non-work relationships.
Building on a response to Chris Wejr on my blog, here are some principles/strategies which guide me:
1) I have no idea what it means to have a work/home balance, so I’ve given up on talking about this notion. More and more, work is not about a place — my office is very often my phone and it can just as easily be in my den at home, or my car (hands free) as it can be my business office. I love the ability to jump in and out of work at home. Technology no longer forces us to stay at the office late every night. There are times we can go home early, spend time with our families, and go back to “work” later that night.
2) I block out time on my calendar that is virtually non-negotiable as private time. It is not a lot of time, but it is consistent every week.
3) While I play, learn and engage in social media, I limit the tools I use. I don’t know how some people participate in so many places. In my non-work life I participate in Facebook, and in my work-life I engage in Twitter and through my blog (and others blogs).
4) Every way I interact digitally (not face-to-face) can be done through my mobile device. I encourage people to call my cell or text me, and I have access to my blog and Twitter through my mobile device. I don’t need to be in any one particular place to be working. I can’t imagine having to come into “work” on a Sunday to do work.
5) Sunday is my writing day. I often post one or two times a week, but the draft posts are written on Sundays. I don’t have time during the week to write, but there is also value in not making postings too close together — so I try to be strategic about when I write and when I publish. I tend not to write “news” posts (except on topics like PISA), so the timing is often not crucial.
6) I commit to commenting on five posts for every one I write. On Sundays, I also read what others are saying, and often, my thoughts. I tend to prioritize local (BC) bloggers, and those in similar roles. I see this as part of being engaged with the online community, so I set time aside for it.
7) I organize Twitter. I am often asked, “how do you follow 400 people?” I use TweetDeck and have a series of columns. Right now, I am following bced and cpchat, as well as several specific lists. I also accept I will not see everything posted from everyone. I will often drop in to Twitter at lunch, or when I have a few minutes before a meeting, but I don’t get excited about missing something. And, while I know the research about multi-tasking, I will usually have it on as background noise at night when I work.
8) I don’t do things other people do. For one, I don’t write newsletters. It is about choices. I find the learning from Twitter, and the reach and conversations through blogging, to be extremely powerful. Conversations in social media domains can help lead the narrative in our schools and community.
9) I define my work day online. Unless it is urgent, I will usually not e-mail members of the community outside of extended business hours (e.g. no e-mails at noon on Saturday from my son’s soccer game). I might write the e-mail but will delay the sending of it. Of course, if it is urgent, I respond immediately. I just don’t want to get into a back-and-forth e-mail conversation while standing on the soccer sidelines.
10) I really see technology as largely invisible. I don’t think of being on-line or off-line. I tend to always be connected and, very often, being habitually online saves a lot of time longterm – solving issues before they become problems.
Finally – I signed up for busy – when I applied for my job and had a family. Work keeps me out most Monday to Thursday nights – but I try to find ways to include my family (for example, I will take my kids with me to school plays). Like so many of us, I don’t sleep a lot – but love it. As I said in a previous post, “Hey, my choice.”
Transparency has become a well-used (in fact, over-used) mantra in the workplace — and, in the public sector in particular, there has been an increased demand for transparency.
For me, transparency promotes accountability, accessibility, and it provides timely information for students, staff and parents about what their school district is doing — it demystifies the work of schools and school districts. Most people in the community have a clear idea of what teachers do, but as we move farther away from that direct relationship in the class, there is much less of an understanding of what non-enrolling teachers, school administrators, district staff and Trustees do.
My goal around transparency is to help bring greater understanding to these important roles and to the full scope of the work we do in our district.
My own evolving list of strategies to increase my transparency, as well as that of our district, include:
1) Giving the Community Multiple Channels of Communication: including traditional methods like letters, telephone calls, and new methods through social media and text messaging.
2) Giving Out My Contact Information: Many were surprised when I gave out my contact information to everyone. It is on my business card, it is posted on my blog and on our district website. I don’t want anyone to ever say they don’t know how to find me.
3) Build a Relationship with Traditional and New Media: Some people are easy to contact when they have good news to share, but can’t be found when there are more difficult issues. It is often said that education is poorly treated by the media — we can change that by not complaining and by engaging the media. This includes both traditional print media and new media — dismissing edu-bloggers as ‘not influential’ would be a huge mistake.
4) Sharing my Cell Number: I remember, 15 years ago, when teachers were getting e-mail addresses at my school. Some teachers were adamant about keeping their e-mail addresses private — they were private e-mail accounts and they would only share their e-mail on their terms. This was and is ludicrous, since the district email is not a private e-mail; it was/is a work e-mail and our work is working with the community. My cell phone is also provided by the school district, so it is my work phone. So, I don’t really get the idea of not giving out this number, and this is also reminiscent of the e-mail discussion from 15 years ago. I can always choose to answer the phone, but I would much rather have people find me on a mobile number. I look forward to my office phone completely disappearing one day.
5) My Calendar is Not a Secret: I do have some confidential appointments on my calendar, and they will be labelled as such, but I am fine sharing my calendar with anyone who is interested. I know most people in the school district, let alone the community, have only a limited sense of the work I do. The more people who understand the work — the greater appreciation for the work.
6) Creating Personal and Corporate Identities: This is subject matter for a future post about how we can balance our own personal identities in the context of our district identities. I am mindful of the separation between my own identity and that of the one in the district — but they are also closely connected. FYI, I don’t have access to post to district Twitter or Facebook accounts — this is done through our Communications Officer.
7) Meet at Schools: Whenever a teacher or administrator wants to meet, I do my very best to do it at their school and not in my office. While this is not always possible, most of our schools are within 10 minutes of the board office, so, on the most part, it can be done. As well, I often use these out-of-office meetings as an excuse to visit at least a couple of classrooms — it gives me a better sense of the tone in the school. The more I can connect “as a real person”, the better.
8) I Share a Bit About My Life: I have four kids, the oldest two are in school. They attend public schools — I have a personal interest in a great public school system in BC. This is a careful balance, but we have public jobs and people appreciate knowing some of the things in life, beyond the job, that drive us.
9) Tell My Story in My Words: There are a lot of reasons why I blog, and one of them is that I can share my messages — unfiltered. I don’t have to worry about being misquoted, or hope that others will share ideas in a timely way. My blog allows me to connect in real-time to the community. It is also a place for discussion and dialogue.
10) Think Twice if it Needs to be on E-mail: Rather than sending e-mails with information to groups of people, if there is an appropriate place to post the information publicly and share the link with those who would be most interested, I prefer to do this. One tool I am using is SlideShareto post Powerpoint presentations publicly, rather than e-mailing the presentations to those interested. I am amazed how many times people have stumbled on information I have posted publicly, and who really appreciate the content.
I have said that transparency will be a key aspect of everything I do, as well as regularly asking questions like, “How could we do this in a more public and engaging way?” There is a lot to do and this list will continue to evolve.
I am curious about how others promote transparency in education.
I love year-in-review lists, so I’ve come up with one of my own — the “Top 3” in a variety of categories. A great way to spur on discussion and debate. I look forward to your own additions.
Top 3 “Culture of Yes” Blog Posts – these posts have generated the most traffic this year:
Top 3 Education-related Videos from B.C. (that I bet you haven’t seen)
1. Digital Immersion Class Video – from Riverside Secondary in Port Coquitlam
2. Barry McDonald – Boy Smarts from TEDxUBC (Barry is a Langley teacher)
3. The North Delta Secondary Focus Group Initiative
Top 3 Education-related Videos from Outside B.C. (not featuring Sir Ken)
1. RSA Animate – Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
2. Project-Based Learning Explained
3. Alfie Kohn vs Dwight Schrute (thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for pointing me to this one)
The best thing I did professionally this year was start this blog. Thanks to all of you who engage with me here on a regular basis. I look forward to more discussions to come — there will never be a shortage of topics.
I have already written here about how successful the unconferencing (“backchanneling” is probably the more accurate term) was at the BCSSA Fall Conference last week, in Victoria.
Here is the definition of backchannel from Wikipedia:
Backchannel is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks. The term was coined in the field of Linguistics to describe listeners’ behaviours during verbal communication, Victor Yngve 1970.
The term “backchannel” generally refers to online conversation about the topic or the speaker. Occasionally, backchannel provides audience members a chance to fact-check the presentation.
By the end of the conference, over 150 people posted at least once to Twitter with a post tagged #bcssa10 (both from inside and outside the conference); several dozen others also used TodaysMeet to connect (it is hard to be precise since this tool does not require an account), and many more, while not posting, followed along monitoring one or both places. As I write this post, two days after the conference, posts are still being made tagged to the conference.
Toward the end of the conference, and in e-mails since, I have been asked many variations on the question, how do we replicate this elsewhere?
Here is a collection of thoughts from conference participants, around unconferencing / backchanneling, from this past week:
What the organizers can do:
pre-publish the tool(s) being used including the Twitter hashtag (check to be sure the hashtag is not being used by another group)
in advance of the conference, use the backchannel as a place to share prereading and help engage those attending, and those who may want to follow the event
encourage participants to bring technology and give them permission to participate through social tools
identify a moderator (in the classroom, a teacher) to monitor the conversation and help guide it when necessary
What presenters can do:
honour the conversations that are taking place virtually – at the BCSSA Conference both Valerie Hannon and Tony Mackay referenced the Twitter and TodaysMeet conversation which gave status to this dialogue
encourage groups to post key information to the backchannel during table discussions
use the backchannel as a visual in the room during presentations or breaks
use the backchannel to help with Q & A sessions
have the presenters participate in the tools during breaks
use the information on the backchannel to guide the presentation — again, Valerie and Tony did this by taking what was said during the first day to influence what they spoke about on the second day
Other Advice:
Pick your tools carefully — if you are doing this with students, consider a tool like TodaysMeet that does not require an account and allows students to hide their full identity and create pseudonyms
Start with the goal — there are hundreds of tools available, so consider what it is you want to do and then find a tool to match. If I were to do it again, I would look for 1) a tool that allows threaded conversations 2) a tool that allows collaborative note-taking
Model — one of the reasons for adults in education to use the tools is to model their use for students — so be good models with what you say, and how you interact
Pick your spots — not every event needs a backchannel
I find following conferences via Twitter to be extremely powerful, and a great way to drop in on events I can’t attend in person.
I am very interested in how we can take this learning and apply it to our work with students. How can we use tools like Twitter and TodaysMeet to link students in classrooms, schools, districts and across the world to improve their learning?
One notion that stuck with me this morning from Valerie Hannon, a keynote speaker at the BCSSA Fall Conference, was that education requires disruptive innovation in order to prevent an “institutional bypass.” In another post I will share some of the key points from Valerie and other speakers today, but I want to focus on the conference going on behind the conference and how many of us have bypassed the traditional structure, through disruptive innovation to make meaning at the event.
As I write this post at the end of the first day of the BCSSA Fall Conference, ninety-three different people have tagged posts on Twitter #bcssa10 and tagged close to 1,000 tweets. At different points today the conference has been a trending topic both in Vancouver and across Canada. There were more people using Twitter to talk about the future of teaching and learning than to discuss the Canucks or the weather.
I believe one year ago at this conference there were three people sharing information on Twitter. The ninety-three tweeters today included participants in the room, and those who engaged in the conference from many sites around the province and beyond.
In addition to the dialogue on Twitter, there was a second back-channel conversation happening on TodaysMeet (a great tool for in-class online conversations – no account required). Several dozen more people used this tool to extend the presentations.
While the conference has looked very similar to the conferences I have become accustomed to since I first attended this event about a decade ago, I think we have found a way, using Valerie Hannon’s notion, to bypass the traditional conference structure. The presentations were largely stand-and-deliver lectures, but those of us who learn by engaging with others had an amazingly rich un-conference experience.
Thinking about the change in just one year with how we engage in professional learning, I wonder what these type of events will look like over the next few years.
Some other wins with the un-conferencing:
We have exposed dozens of educators in a variety of roles to the power of Twitter as a professional tool
We have been able to share our learning with colleagues in our districts who were not able to join us
We have collaboratively compiled notes to use after the conference
We have modelled cross-role and cross-district learning
We often talk about the need to “go where the kids are”. Our efforts in engaging in social media to support our learning, is part of this journey.
Many of us in the K-12 sector are experimenting with how we can use social media to connect with families. We have examples of schools using both Facebook and Twitter to build connections beyond the traditional means of school-home communication.
The challenge of Twitter is that very few parents actually have a Twitter account. I really like what one of our schools has done to get past this issue to find a way to use Twitter, to share school news and build community.
Chartwell Elementary (West Vancouver) has a new principal this year – Aron Campbell. Aron uses social media in his personal and professional life and has found a great way to extend this to what he is doing with his school.
Families want webpages that provide dynamic content; they love current highlights of school activities, and photos (shared conscious of student safety) are a huge draw. Aron has done a great job of this with his use of Twitter on the front page of their website. He can now share activities in real time, with a smartphone and a Twitter account.
The details of the how – our websites are built on SharePoint. Aron has taken a widget from yfrog, which is linked to the school’s Twitter account and this has been added as a webpart on the school site’s front page.
Our school websites were refreshed a year ago with the goal of moving away from the webmaster model, and encouraging more current, relevant content shared in a variety of formats. This example from Chartwell is small, and it is simple – but it is a great example of how we can begin to use social media to build community in our schools.
The conference features many internationally known experts, who have been widely quoted over the year, as the province has been investigating 21st century skills and personalized learning. Also included in the program are Premier Gordon Campbell; Minister of Education, George Abbott, and Deputy Minister of Education, James Gorman.
The topic is directly in line with so many of the conversations we are having in West Vancouver. We will have a team of close to 25 at the event, including trustees, administrators and teachers. The event has sold out at over 700 participants – clearly, similar conversations are happening in many places across the province.
In advance of the event, conference organizers have shared a number of resources for participant consideration, and they are available here on the BCELC website (this site is full of links to resources connected to personalized learning).
One article conference organizers have suggested is What’s Next? 21 Ideas for 21st Century Learning by Charles Leadbeater. It is a very interesting read with lots of ideas to mark for further discussion.
One quote that stood out for me, when describing centres of innovation, was:
The school leadership provided an igniting sense of purpose to propel innovation and encourage managed risk taking to develop new approaches . . . That kind of ‘igniting purpose’ is vital when innovation is such a highly collaborative, cumulative endeavour, which relies on mobilising and motivating staff, pupils, parents, partner agencies, other schools. Collaborative innovation relies on the participants having a strong shared sense of purpose.
This is absolutely in line with what we have seen in our district around a series of initiatives, including the Primary Years Program and Middle Years Program IB implentations. I am so impressed by the “shared sense of purpose” from students, parents, staff and community.
In addition, the 76-page report is a series of resources including presentation slides from Charles Leadbeater that support his findings.
My own suggestions for background material leading into the conference include:
A short video from Tony McKay that gives insight to his work
Another short (3 minute) video worth watching is linked here, from Dr. Stuart Shanker, discussing brain development; additional backgrounder material, The Innovation Unit site, gives a good sense of Valerie Hannon’s work.
For those attending, or following the conference from a distance, there are a couple of ways to participate. Engage on Twitter by posting comments tagged #bcssa10, and use this same hashtag to follow the conversation. If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can engage at TodaysMeet (no account sign-up required) at: http://todaysmeet.com/bcssa10.
I will try to update this blog with daily summaries as well.
UPDATED – Videos from Conference Organizers
The following videos have been shared by conference organizers to help prepare participants:
I will have quite a bit to say about the entire TEDxUBC experience but I wanted to share my slides and text from my talk today. Thanks to everyone involved for such an amazing experience.
Thanks to Gary Kern, Andrea Wilson and Deb Podurgiel for your assistance and the entire Students Live team for all the inspiration.
Here are my slides, and below is the text of my talk with the videos:
It is a real pleasure to be here. There is a lot of excitement and anticipation in our province right now regarding education and future possibilities. Often, when I speak, I show provocative videos, talk about the changes we are making and need to make – today is something different.
I am going to share a story today that helps illustrate what I think 21st century learning, or personalized learning, could look like.
A story not about what we could do, or should do, but what we did do.
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were an amazing experience in our city, province and country.
With the Games coming to our city, many in education worried the Games would come through our city and it would be a missed opportunity to engage our students. Along with my colleagues, Audrey Hobbs-Johnston and Gary Kern, and with the support of Christina Adams and the Vancouver Olympic Committee, we created Students Live!
Students Live! was the opportunity for 25 students to be student reporters for the Olympics and Paralympics. Describing the program as a student reporter program does not do justice to what it really was for the students, and for the adults it was an absolutely transformational experience. It was starting with a blank slate and creating from that.
Here is a CBC story that gives a little more on the background of the event:
So, it was an absolutely amazing experience. The students attended events on an almost daily basis, participated side-by-side with international journalists, and experienced the Games in a way that was the envy of all their friends. And this was all great.
What we learned were lessons that transcended a sporting event, or a moment in time.
It started with a competition to select the students. This is not surprising, but as students opted in, there was much greater buy-in. We know when we have an application on a course, the numbers interested usually increases. Students were asked to write a blog post, create a photo journal, or otherwise use web 2.0 to show how and why they would be good reporters for the Olympics.
For most of the close to 80 applicants – this was a new experience. While we often talk about how well-versed students are in technology, in this activity, which targeted those with the greatest technology skills – the act of writing a blog, or otherwise creating digital content for a public audience – was largely new.
What we saw in selecting students, and throughout the entire process, was that good writing and strong communication skills still matter. The tools have changed, but the best writers who captured the biggest audiences, and quickly built huge followings, were those who could communicate, while the weaker writers – no matter how adept they were with the technology struggled. Much is made of technology, and how our text messaging generation sees writing as less important – I actually have never been part of something where it was so evident how important good writing is.
The first day we met with the students we focused on the social media we would use and how we would engage the community with it. A quick survey of the room showed every student had Facebook, with little evidence of any other tool; some had YouTube and Twitter, but not much else. It also became clear that while the students were quite good with technology, they had absolutely no idea how they could leverage technology to build an audience.
While students had friends and connections, they didn’t have the first clue on how to turn these friends into an audience, and then how to grow their audience into influence – they had never contemplated using the tools in this way. This is key – while the students may have been native to technology, many had no idea on how to really use it to build community. Of course, we created what was then called a “Fan Page” – so, this was mid-day on a school day and we challenged them to get 1000 followers.
They were able to do this within hours – all during a school day – you want to believe students are not really on Facebook during the school day.
What the students learned, was how they could get Facebook to work for them – when combined with Twitter and their blog, they had a megaphone to their network.
About face-to-face meetings – we could never have done what we did virtually, if we had not first built community face-to-face. I am more convinced now than ever, online is absolutely best among people who have the context of face-to-face relationships.
So once we started – what happened:
First, it was like an “Ah-ha” moment – mobile technology was a game changer. Those with smartphones had a huge advantage. They could take photos, post to Twitter and Facebook, and just simply connect in real time. The less ability students had to perform all of these functions in the moment, the more they were challenged. And yes, it was reporting, so real time was really key to the project, but what we saw was more than that. Amazingly evident was just how key it was to be able to publish live. Students who had to wait to find wireless internet access fell behind. The other key was video.
The best writers stood out, and photos were great – but those blogs building community all included video. What a great lesson for the classroom and the need to build video into our work.
It was also clear students loved to look at each other’s work – not in the “mine is better than yours” way – but “yours can help make mine better”. It was amazingly non-competitive, but students commented afterwards the biggest impact on improving the quality of their work, was their ability to see other students – other models of what could be done. Everyone commented their work improved because 1) it was public and 2) they could read and learn from each other.
The students also loved publishing for a public audience – they had never really contemplated audience before. What they knew was about was writing for a teacher – now they were writing for an audience, and the better they wrote, and the more interesting their topic, the larger the audience. There were students who had up to 100 comments on a blog post. They combined excellent writing, with leveraging their network, and with a savvy use of social media. In our debrief, students said it was actually frustrating going back to school because they had seen what was possible with real-world learning, publishing for a public audience, building community and they had to return to what school has always been – it felt less relevant than ever.
While it is true the Olympic Games were a unique experience, and it will be difficult to duplicate the experience with less exciting events, the lessons transcend the Games – mobile technology can change learning, good writing still matters, using social media needs to be taught and should not be assumed, networks are essential, and once students get the taste of the real world, it is addictive and they will want to go forward, not back.
The entire experience was also profound for the adults involved. For all of us, the experience felt more like what we have often thought of as a team, and less as a class. Maybe it was because we didn’t have rows of desks, and because we asked more questions than giving answers, or because when the students were stuck we asked one of them to be the project leader and to get a team to solve the problem. It absolutely felt like learning, and it felt like everything we hoped school could and should be – but often it didn’t feel like class – it felt like we were in the flow.
It was reinforced students will build their own networks. Sure, we guide them, support them and stand beside them – but they can build their own networks. They can get 1000 members in a Facebook Group and then figure out how to turn these members into a network, and they can ask “the real world” to assist them, instead of just playing in a simulated world in schools.
I was exhausted! Just because I was not at the front-of-the-room teaching did not mean that it was easy; teaching is still hard. Sometimes as a large group, sometimes as a small group, sometimes one-on-one, all hours of the day and night – we were learning and working together. It was a fundamental change of the role of teacher and student. We were their supports, their adult mentors – but didn’t have the answers. The students found teachers in this project, not blocked out as in a schedule, were more important and necessary.
Adults are amazing. There is a world full of adults who want to help students in all professions, just waiting to be asked.
In reflecting on this, I was reminded of the recent TED Talks by Sugata Mitra, who spoke of the network of grannies waiting to assist. Right now, we have only really engaged a small number of students through work experience in this real-world mentorship, but have found in this project every adult asked was willing to help. Yes, it was the Olympics – but there is an untapped resource waiting for us to engage them.
Finally – the adults were reminded that we need to trust the process. We always want to jump in and solve problems – we are good at that. Sometimes you need to let students work through situations, skin their knee and be there beside them to offer support.
Working with the other teachers and the 25 students was the greatest teaching experience of my life. I saw what I wanted for my kids, and for all kids – real-world learning that takes advantage of the latest in technology – but is not about the technology at all.
In the end, what the students liked the most was they had the permission to play. Actually, this is also what the adults liked to – we would often ask, “Can we do this?” – like we have been trained to always find a way and a reason not to try, not to experiment. We all also loved the freedom, choice and responsibility. While students and adults spent much of our time in the virtual world during the project, these bonds have flowed over into the face-to-face world – and we are all still connected.
We are on the verge of big changes in education; we need to listen to the voices of the students, rethink the roles of teachers, and build systems that create powerful real-world learning opportunities.
It was exactly one year ago today I found out that I would be the next Superintendent of Schools for the West Vancouver School District, a position I will assume this coming January.
It was also one year ago I used the power of my network to help me secure the position. Watching Dean Shareski’s excellent keynote from the K12 Online Conference 2010 really helped to give me a greater context for the support I received – it was part of the early stages of “a sharing revolution.”
While some have heard me tell the story at various events, I wanted to share how I used Twitter to assist me in the process.
On the day of my interview, one hour in-advance of its scheduled start, I was given a question. This is standard fare for many interviews. It is a process I had experienced twice before. I was to take the hour to pull together my thoughts and formulate a presentation I would then share in the first 10 minutes of the one-hour interview.
Time #1 – 2001 – I was given the question, a pen, and some paper. I madly scribbled my thoughts. I used a highlighter to remind myself of the key points. Like doing a timed essay from university, I rushed until the final bell, and emerged to present everything I had pulled from my brain over that hour in those 10 minutes.
Time #2 – 2007 – A very similar process, but this time I was set up at a computer. I took the question and digitized the process I had done six years earlier. I performed an almost identical process except I did it in PowerPoint. Instead of emerging with highlighted notes, I had organized slides.
Last October, my interview for the Superintendent position, was different. As soon as I received the question, the first thing I did was re-post the question to Twitter. Only two years previous, I would have probably considered what I was doing as cheating. I was sharing the question with many of the smartest, most thoughtful people I knew, both locally in West Vancouver, but throughout Canada, as well as around the world.
And over the next hour, 12 people in my 500- (or so) person, Twitter network responded. There were a few quotes, some links to helpful research on the internet and a couple of “good luck” wishes. I took their thinking, blended it with my own, and put together a presentation. I concluded that the Board was not as interested in what I thought, as they were in that I could find the best thinking, synthesize these ideas, contextualize them for our location, and share them in a thoughtful way – all in a timely matter.
My 10 minutes was not about what I knew – it was about the best thinking of my network, personalized for our very unique and specific context. Networks matter. Of course, nobody had any responsibility to share, but they did.
I like (and am challenged by) this quote from Ewan McIntosh:
Sharing, and sharing online specifically, is not in addition to the work of being an educator. It is the work.
I still haven’t come to terms with what exactly the power of our networks mean for concepts like “cheating” – I am sure there are some who might view what I did as dishonest. I like to think it offers insight into what personalized learning could look like and how doing the same old assignments, the same old way, is not good enough.
In the year since my interview, I have only become more reliant on my network – in all its forms – both in the face-to-face and digital worlds. What I saw as a risk a year ago would be an automatic decision now if I was placed in a similar circumstance. I am part of a sharing revolution.
As Dean encourages us in his address, “I’d encourage you to share those stories [of openness] with others and continue to retell them until they resonate with everyone around you.”
Earlier this week, I had the chance to spend an hour with Catherine Walton’s Grade 11 and 12 Peer Helping class at West Vancouver Secondary. We spent the hour discussing the current state of schooling and the potential of social media.
