Research Synopsis: Reading Review Post #3

Finally, with all the ambling about, thinking things out, now complete, I can be brief, instead of an endless internal monologue...

Conclusions:

No matter what, I had a hard time separating the various topics I was considering; I tend to be a big picture person who likes to see how things are connected — and they were all connected.

Finding articles online on any of my given issues was not very difficult: it was more a matter of isolating out the ones that are most useful to me. Unfortunately, relevance and usefulness can only be established by skim reading an awful lot of things. 

The various "isms" I was researching had oodles of information available. I liked the notion of constructivism including creating tangible learning products, a "look, I made this to show what I know" approach (and arguably digital products are tangible in this sense). I liked that connectivism appreciates the importance of being able to use technology to find up-to-the-minute information; also, that it acknowledges the need to be interconnected with many people or sources of information to be effective.

Self-regulation information was easy to come by, though not always in connection with Art; more often, it was connected to emotions. Place-based education information was also relatively easy to come by, but usually had a focus on environmentalism, or going outside into nature, instead of focusing on place as local history.

Generally, I was quite happy with the amount of multi-media resources I could come across on the various topics—especially in terms of short videos regarding multimodal/multiliteracy approaches to learning using technology tools; and, I was pleased to see resources that acknowledged the importance of creativity, design, and artistic sensibilities in learning.

I think my main take away from this research process is that I could've done more of the synthesizing in my own head or on paper rather than thinking it through in my blog...because the blogs became rather cumbersome. It might also be better to narrow focus to one specific topic, but I'm sure I will still struggle with isolating things that are interrelated. Another, better, take away from this process is that I now have a really clear vision of where I'm going and what I want to accomplish with some of the classes I'm teaching this term. I'm very interested in seeing how things will turn out.

Works Cited link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxpAhtVJe4zLcUJGNWduNkd2ZFU

Works Cited "hard copy":

Heart-Mind Online,. 'The Creativity Edge'. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.

Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (RSA),. Changing Education Paradigms. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.

Siemens, George. 'Elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory For The Digital Age'. Elearnspace.org. N.p., 2004. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.

Susan, Baum, Stephen Owen, and Barry Oreck. 'Transferring Individual Self-Regulation Processes From Arts To Academics'. Arts Education Policy Review 98.4 (2010): 32-39. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.

Victorian Department of Education,. Considering Multiliteracies, Parts 1.1—1.5. 2003. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.

Syllabus: an annotated list of possible resources: Reading Review Blog Post #2

After much jumping around through various topics, and a fair bit of web surfing, I think I have narrowed down my main resources to focus on in greater detail.

For exploration of the ideas of constructivism, connectivism, and constructionism, the links via the LIBE 477 Course Introduction page were a valuable starting point. These terms are a the heart of 21st century learning notions around doing school differently and using ICT tools.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
The links within those sites allow for a thorough exploration out into the ether...

For video clips related to the concept of 21st Century Learning, the following site is a great portal:
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/top10-videos-on-21st-century-learning.html
Some of the videos there I would critique for just hyping the message without providing useful examples for overwhelmed teachers to latch onto; others are more useful for giving ideas or links to pursue further.
One particular very famous video I find useful, but am often frustrated by (because of people missing a central point) is Sir Ken Robinsons viral Changing Education Paradigms, which was the intro to 21stC Learning for many teachers.
http://youtu.be/zDZFcDGpL4U
I think that the central salient point here is that the arts, the physical engagement that comes from the senses, from creating and doing, and then sharing that with a bigger group is vital in teaching now more than ever ( and we can use technology to help us with that). That artistic approach, the divergent thinking it allows is paramount.

For discussing multimodal design and communication issues that incorporate artistic sensibilities with technology (ICT) tools the videos at this site are very useful:
http://newlearningonline.com/multiliteracies/videos
Especially useful are the discussions of meshing 5 Modes of Meaning: linguistic, visual, spatial, gestural, and audio.

For Place-Based Education, I don't feel that I've yet found one fabulous source of information, but rather a collective sense from a variety of workshops attended, videos watched, and sites perused that knowing well the place where you live makes you more grounded, more aware of yourself as belonging, and more concerned with the changes needed or unwanted that are going on around you. Thus, if we can tie the general curriculum for subjects to something local and specific, we can engage kids more meaningfully. Often studying place is most focused on environmentalism, which I think is extremely valuable and highly motivating...
http://youtu.be/WmkPQss59hQ
...but, I'm more interested in, and still seeking a good source on place-based education in terms of a focus on local history...connecting past, present, and future in your neighborhood, your town.

For self-regulation information and resources, the Dalai Lama Centre Heart-Mind website has a dual focus on self-reg for home and school:
http://heartmindonline.org
A brief internal article talks about the importance of artistic pursuits in relation to self-reg and opening creative thinking: http://heartmindonline.org/resources/the-creativity-edge
As well, the  Heart-Mind larger projects featured in their annual conference archives tend to relate to creating art as a way of expressing emotions, learning, etc.

Looking for interesting scholarly connections between arts and self-regulation and learning via the UBC Library site, I found a good article, "Transferring Individual Self-regulation Processes from Arts to Academics," which really fit well with my own observations. The link to the article is below:
http://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/abs/10.1080/10632913.1997.9936393

The challenge: narrowing the focus:

Multiple rays of light traveling backward through a prism...

Now it is time to come out of the mindfog, to stop surfing the net for more and more intriguing tidbits, and to decide what direction to go in. And, it would be helpful if my direction tied in to actual teaching that I am doing this term...

So, I am going to focus on place-based history teaching that uses art and technology in large doses to see how much "buy in," or self-motivation, and hopefully self-regulation, the students can achieve. And, hopefully I will feel that the end products show an increase in learning, or engagement, over last year's groups. This will allow me to build on the direction I've been moving in for years, but in a more purposeful way.

I will use the Gr 2 Social Studies (community unit) and Gr 4 Social Studies (First Nations) classes that I teach as prep blocks to investigate these goals for two reasons: a) I have guaranteed time with them each week, and b) I have taught the same topics to classes last year (and at other times in my career), so I'll have good recent comparisons.

This will allow me to bring all my disparate, but interrelated, educational interests to a focus. I can try to use art to aid academic learning, and art to aid self-regulation to enhance that academic learning. I can blend traditional art on paper, with newer art of a screen, while discussing notions of page layout, font style, and clarity of graphic design. I can use technology tools, via iPad apps, to maximize the five modes of meaning students use in conveying their knowledge in finished products. And since the focus will be on local community symbols and changes over time (Gr 2), and on local Stó:lō culture (Gr 4), I can keep the focus on place-based knowledge to keep the learning relevant. In doing this, I should be able to witness the meshed processes of constructionism/constructivism/connectivism unfolding through partner work, trial-and-error experimenting, and creating both physical and digital art.

Mindfinder: coming out of the fog: Reading Review Blog Post #1

Perhaps more than "brainstorming," this post will be an example of my "brainfogging" as I have a haze of competing (and intersecting) topics bouncing around in my head in terms of exploring professional goals around digital technology and 21st century learning.

[a curious effect noticed by the end of my blog post: as I typed this up, I began to revisit each (originally) short item below, adding to it, until I had a more firmly developed focus than I had originally thought—Shazam!]


Some keywords or themes or ideas are as follows...

Explore further the educational theories/ideologies of connectivism, constructivism, and constructionism.

Finish Richardson's book, Why School?: How Education Must Change...," to see if I find he offers concrete suggestions we can immediately implement—to see if I agree with his conclusions and suggestions. Often 21stC learning receives tons of hype about myriad possibilities, yet little in the way of clear "how-to" advice.

Delve deeper into newlearningonline.com's videos about Design and Modes of Meaning; although the technologies they are demonstrating at the time of airing are now somewhat outdated and quaint, the substance of the ideas is of potential value to me in designing tech tool lessons with artistic sensibilities...technology as artistic engagement with learning.

Focus especially on the use of developing student creativity: hands-on art, building objects, thoughtful layout, creating tutorial video clips, and using oral language matched with images as a way to demonstrate learning—artistic sensibilities unlocking knowledge and opening up new learning...merging art and technology...incorporating art as a form of play in learning...merging the "isms" mentioned above with Design and Modes of Meaning mentioned above.

Explore more of the Top 10 Videos on 21st Century Learning found on the Educational Technology
and Mobile Learning site. See which go beyond the ubiquitous/mandatory whiteboard sketching hype about the necessity to let kids use ICT (interactive communication technology?), to actually showing examples teachers can apply. Telling teachers they must do this, the future depends upon it, everyone they do is antiquated, is a depressing message that needs mediation desperately. Curmudgeonly Luddites is all that will come of the current attitudes that go semi-viral through the Ed community.

Keep exploring Place-Based Learning. Build upon my lessons for primary classes on community by focusing on local community changes...go beyond then-and-now Piccollages from archival photos to adding student commentary via audio recordings in Puppet. Strengthen place-based learning in my Gr 4 lessons around First Nations—the focus on local Sto:lo culture...continue with more guided drawing, the Longhouse visit, the Aurasma app project, but delve much deeper into the virtual Sto:lo village website and the First Voices language website (create solid lessons there rather than just exploring for fun).  Continue focusing on the local as a way of increasing relevance in student learning. Incorporate technology tools, especially in reflecting on or demonstrating knowledge after explicit teaching, such as students using the iPad to snap photos or screenshots, import them into Puppet or an iBook creator, and then commenting on them and their significance through audio recordings.

Continue exploring incorporating artistic activities as a way of aiding self-regulation in students. Often tech tools are espoused as a method of increasing self-regulation due to a magical focus and engagement that will occur when an iPad hits the hands of a student, yet often we witness the opposite effect...a crazed "fun" random clicking without much learning occurring. Mesh traditional visual arts exercises with tech tool art to create multimodal products that engage kids via creativity, via truly making something.... I've seen that making art has a calming effect, a settling effect, even when it causes students to be jazzed and energized simultaneously; it provides a calming self-
satisfaction, a focus and direction for the mind, a reflective chance to make connections in the brain while the hand is occupied.

Test run...welcome to my blog

This is just a first blog post to establish that my account is up and running properly.