Curriculum integration.

I have long been a supporter of curriculum integration at middle school/secondary school level. Most examples of curriculum integration that I see at this level tend to be a couple of subjects (commonly two or more of English, Social studies, Outdoor education, health and science). The integration is based around a theme.

Kath Murdoch and James Beane support involving students as learning plans are developed for integrated teaching. I think what is missing from most models is the planning to teach for conceptual understanding. At the start of the planning process (and based on students interests and questions and curriculum guidelines) key concepts should be identified. The concepts can then be examined in a number of contexts to help students to really understand and apply them. The concepts should be explicit to the students and the teachers through learning activities and form the basis of student research plans.

Some reading or a starting point on curriculum integration:

Beane, J. (1991) Middle School: The Natural Home of Integrated Curriculum. Educational Leadership, October 1991.Beane, J. (1995) Curriculum Integration and the Disciplines of Knowledge. Phi-Delta-Kappan.

Murdoch, Kath (1998), Classroom Connections Strategies for Integrated Learning. Eleanor Curtin PublishingMurdoch, Kath and Hornsby, David (1997) Planning Curriculum Connections Whole-School Planning for Integrated Curriculum. Eleanor Curtin Publishing

Books by James Beane.

Photo: what seems impossible can sometimes happen. A Macrocarpa tree growing on the Southern coastline of Wellington.

creativity in the digital age.

I am still thinking about creativity and what it might look like in schooling in the digital age. I have gone back to Plato's idea (Plato, 360 BCE, as cited in Anderson, 1959, p. 57) that a real artist is someone who shows a different/new reality, rather than manipulating tools to render the current reality (show what we already know). Other definitions include this idea; Stephen Downes (2007) recently defined creativity as ‘the manipulation of one’s experiences using the tools at one’s disposal’. The inclusion of a person's experiences' aligns with the idea of originality-the NACCCE definition ‘Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value’ (1999, p. 29) that includes originality of ideas. The latter definition also includes the concept that creativity needs to add value.

I wonder how many students in school get the opportunity to demonstrate creativity? Where they can use their own ideas, develop them to show a new reality and add value. I have seen this with senior students carrying out technology learning activities, planning projects for Geography where third parties are involved in the solutions and collaborative visual arts or drama productions.
In the current digital world, some students may be doing this outside the classroom as they develop their own movies, podcasts etc and upload them to the internet. This is certainly happening in increasing numbers (Lenhart & Madden 2005, Grunwald Associates 2007). The value added could be measured through the number of links, comments made and hits to the creative product. Maybe few would be showing a new reality- maybe many do. The Youtube video about boyracers in Christchurch I think shows creativity.

How many learning activities using digital technologies in schools could be classified as creative? How many align with the types of online creative activities students are currently using in their informal learning?

References:

Anderson, H. H. (Ed.). (1959). Creativity and its cultivation. New York: Harper and Brothers.
Downes, S. (2007). Half an Hour: Creativity Retrieved 10 August 2007, from http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2007/08/creativity.html
Grunwald Associates. (2007). Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social and Educational Networking. Retrieved 17 August 2007, 2007, from http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf
Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2005). Teen Content Creators and Consumers: More than half of online teens have created content for the internet; and most teen downloaders think that getting free music files is easy to do. Washington DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.
NACCCE. (1999). All our futures: Creativity, culture and education. . Retrieved 17 August 2007, from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/naccce/index1.shtml
Robinson, K. (2006). Do schools kill creativity? . Ted Talks Retrieved 13 May 2007, 2007, from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66

Image: Global sculpture in Majestic Centre, Willis Street, Wellington.

Supporting beginning teachers

A beginning teacher's professional learning is very important. In a study by Denis Rose (1994), it was found that "regardles of the perceived quality of pre-service experience, if the teacher was not immersed in a culture of ongoing professional development once they began teaching in schools, within 3-5 years they would revert to teaching in ways that they remember being taught".

With this in mind I have developed a Ning site for beginning teachers. Please join up if you are a beginning teacher, or you may want to pass this on if work with/are responsible for newly graduating teachers. This network can be used for support, sharing of the great ideas, questions and the wonderful experiences that beginning teachers have.

http://newteacher.ning.com/

ref:
Rose, D. (1994); The effect of practice on the acquisition and maintenance of teaching skills : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Canterbury

Social inquiry- using Youtube to understand values.

One aspect of learning in social studies in New Zealand, is students carrying out inquiries that include looking at people's values. A relevant topic for this is boy racers- young men in cars who like to race and do burnouts in the cities on Friday and Saturday nights. In the past we have got students to ascertain the different values by reading newspaper articles. Today, the boy racers themselves are developing classroom resources through Youtube. Watching the attached video students should be able to clearly identify boyracer values from a boyracer source.
A bit of a dilemma may be that some of the students may become boyracers as a result of this!!!

Which picture to use on your profile?

A big decision I face when joining social networks is what to say about myself and what image to use. This is possibly an even more difficult decision for an egocentric teen. I have come across a couple of interesting ideas in the last week that students may enjoy using as they grapple with the what photo/image issue. The image on the right is me as a Simpson! there are two places to develop one of these- the first Simpsonise me you develop your own choosing different options. The second site also called Simponize me, the one I used, you upload a photo of yourself and the aliens turn you into a Simpson.

xtimeline- develop a timeline collaboratively.

xtimeline lets your students create a timeline on any subject, linking in information and resources. They can work collaboratively on a project like a wiki.

Of interest to the teacher:

'There are privacy settings for the timeline creator, determining who can view a timeline, who can contribute to a timeline, and who can comment on a timeline. The layout for these timelines is clean, readable, and easy to navigate, which are all key functions to having a useful timeline on the Internet. The information for any given module on a timeline can be viewed along side the timeline, or as a full page, which has the formatting functionality of a blog entry.' (from http://mashable.com/2007/07/05/xtimeline/)

There are some interesting ones on the site including a timeline for the crisis in Darfur, history of music in the USA and various wars and historical events. A class or group in a class could develop one to show historical events, this could be added to over successive years...

Many thanks to Pam for letting me know about this tool.

Creativity in the digital age.

What does being creative in the digital age mean?

There are a range of digital tools that can be used creatively. Photoshop can be used for exploring identity through the arts.

Digital technology can be integrated into painting or art- here is a clip showing how this is occuring in NZ.


Music can be composed or developed without knowing how to write music.



Music, images and information can be downloaded, altered or added to and created into something new. (I won't go into copyright here).



While these tools are useful and expand thinking about what it might mean to be creative in the digital age, it is global collaboration that is the exciting development. Being able to work collaboratively with others with a similar interest or passion (see the long tail), has the potential to lead to increased creative capability globally. In the past it may have been by chance or hard work that you find people who have similar ideas and interests to yourself, now via social networks you can develop these. Interesting to apply the ideas from Wikinomics (Don Tapscott's latest book), to the idea of creativity and education.

Users of technology typology.

Americans (USA) sort into 10 distinct groups of users of information and communication technology according to this Pew report

To summarise, here are the 10 groups identified. There is greater detail in this report.

Group name: Omnivores; 8% of USA adult population

Omnivores 8%
They have the most information gadgets and services, which theyuse voraciously to participate in cyberspace and express themselves online and do a range of Web 2.0 activities such as blogging or managing their own Web pages.

Connectors 7%
Between featured-packed cell phones and frequent online use, they connect to people and manage digital content using ICTs – all with high levels of satisfaction about how ICTs let them work with community groups and pursue hobbies.

LacklusterVeterans 8%
They are frequent users of the internet and less avid about cell phones. They are not thrilled with ICT-enabled connectivity.


Productivity Enhancers 8%
They have strongly positive views about how technology lets them keep up with others, do their jobs, and learn new things.

Mobile Centrics 10%
They fully embrace the functionality of their cell phones. They use the internet, but not often, and like how ICTs connect them to others.

Connected But Hassled 10%
They have invested in a lot of technology, but they find the connectivity intrusive and information something of a burden.

Inexperienced Experimenters 8%
They occasionally take advantage of interactivity, but if they had more experience, they might do more with ICTs.

Light But Satisfied 15%
They have some technology, but it does not play a central role in their daily lives. They are satisfied with what ICTs do for them.

Indifferents 11%
Despite having either cell phones or online access, these users use ICTs only intermittently and find connectivity annoying.

Off the Network 15%
Those with neither cell phones nor internet connectivity tend to be older adults who are content with old media.

Which one are you? Take the test here

PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT 1615 L ST., NW – SUITE 700 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036

Creative lesson starters.

The internet provides a range of thought provoking material. Here are a couple that could be useful:

Social studies or media studies:-

EPIC 2015- a short movie that looks at possible effects of journalists losing control of the media. Could be balanced with ideas from the long tail.

For maths-

The quadratic equation is one of the first challenging equations that students have to memorise and learn- this song has really helped at least one 16 yr old boy learn this equation.

It is not just the technology

Something to think about when setting up your learning environment- it is not just the giving of information that is important, it is the way that your students interact. This slideshow shows this idea. This slideshow is called 3 types of teachers and developed by Jessen Felix . I found it through Chris Craft.

Howard Gardner's Five minds for the future.

Howard Gardner's latest book divides 'intellectual approaches' into 5 types of minds for the future. These are:

1. The disciplined mind- schooled in basic subjects like art, history... and master of one


2. The synthesizing mind- able to make sense of disparate information


3. The creating mind- asking new questions and finding imaginative answers


4. The respectful mind- an appreciation of different cultures


5. The ethical mind- responsibility as worker and citizen.

This is an interesting way to divide 'minds' and instead of developing a heirachy as Bloom and Bereiter have done, he has different categories of mind. The focus of this is for management in the work place, rather than education (not that it should make a difference).

I would consider respectful and ethical to be in the same type of category- but that may be because I am a social studies educator from NZ. I would also like to see a focus on being connected through networks, which I see as more than synthesizing, and essential in the creating process.