Saturday, November 26, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Hole in the Wall Experiment
Watch this TED Talk about the amazing results Sugata Mitra got in the slums of India when he filled a hole in the wall with a computer. Do you agree with Sugata Mitra's conclusions? What implications do you feel this has for Guam?
"You can drive children with questions. You don’t have to give them the answers. They can find the answers. If the kids/students didn’t get the “right” answer, then teacher didn’t ask the right question. The teacher needs to change question."
- Learning is a self-organizing system.
- Remoteness affects the quality of education.
- Educational technology should be introduced into remote areas first.
- Values are acquired, doctrine and dogma are imposed.
"You can drive children with questions. You don’t have to give them the answers. They can find the answers. If the kids/students didn’t get the “right” answer, then teacher didn’t ask the right question. The teacher needs to change question."
Monday, November 14, 2011
Global Education Conference
The presentations will be given using Blackboard Collaborate, a webinar platform we may have viewed in our Gateway class. Blackboard Collaborate is easy to use but you will need to download a file to your computer for each session and have a working internet connection. Links to each session are given in the schedule. Each presentation typically lasts 60 minutes. Keep in mind that some presentations may be in another language; last year's conference had presentations from 62 different countries.
The conference is a collaborative, world-wide community initiative involving students, educators, and organizations at all levels. It is designed to significantly increase opportunities for building education-related connections around the globe while supporting cultural awareness and recognition of diversity.
The conference seeks to present ideas, examples, and projects related to connecting educators and classrooms with a strong emphasis on promoting global awareness, fostering global competency, and inspiring action towards solving real–world problems. Through this event, it is our hope that attendees will challenge themselves and others to become more active citizens of the world. Let us learn, question, create, and engage in meaningful, authentic opportunities within a global context!
- conference website
Please take one hour out of the next four days to hear what others are doing around the world. You may find some presentations lean towards educational technology but all should address the global experience of learning. Enjoy!
Here are a few links for more information...
Global Education Conference website
Presentation schedule for Guam's time zone
Twitter: #globaled11
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Better or Different?
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeI've been following the news on Guam's SAT-10 scores with dismay. Dismay, not in that the scores are low, but in the message that is sent to students, schools, parents, and the island as a whole. One sentence in the PDN article stated, "As a whole, local public school students fall below the national average - in all ages at all schools." The blatant omission by the writer are the words "on SAT-10 tests". It is an injustice to equate the worth of our children, teachers, and schools solely by standardized test scores.Guam is by no means unique in the way these test results are given credence as the marker of success in schools. The main problem with standardized tests is that they provide data on "achievement", and it is these numbers that allow politicians, administrators, and others to remark on that achievement. You see, it is something tangible- a number, that they can use to describe how the schools are doing. This is obviously the purpose of the tests, but it is at this point that most people have accepted the SAT-10 as an expert indicator of the overall success of schools. I'll accept it as an indicator of achievement on a SAT-10 test, but I won't give it credit for judging a student or the overall value of Guam's educational system.
I'm not saying the public school system and its students don't have room for improvement and I'm not saying that there isn't a place for standardized tests, but I am totally against this mindset that SAT-10 determines the value of our schools. We shouldn't make judgements on a student who filled in bubbles for hours over the course of several days. Nor should our educational leaders make arching policy changes based on these results. To chase these scores will just lead us to a system that trains students for a test rather than one that focuses on learning. We should see it for what it is - a nation-wide trivia contest.
Thinks that's harsh? I've been playing with the idea of giving adults the SAT-10 test. How do you think a politician would score? How do you think a business leader would score? How do you think you would score? If these scores are so important then why doesn't everyone take them. A low score must mean that you are a person of low intellect so we'll send you back to school. Ridiculous? Of course, so why do we place such importance on it?
You can easily find much better arguments than mine against standardized testing and the need to reform our educational system for today's society. This is something of grave importance that should be debated in public and addressed in schools. I strongly urge you to view Will Richardson's TED Talk below and reflect upon it. Do you think our schools need to be better or different? Please pass the video or articles you find on to others and discuss what you think is right.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Role Models
Here's a video of a senior couple trying to set up their webcam while unintentionally recording a video of themselves. There may be several lessons to learn from this but what enjoyed the most was their attitude. They aren't complaining or getting overly frustrated - just trying to figure it out. (2:39) "Well you do whatever you do. You'll be fine. You'll learn; it's gonna take time."
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