I would consider several reasons for including a wiki to help broaden students' understanding of the concept and how to apply the techniques they learn in real world application. To begin, students would be asked to add to the resources page regarding EI and explain who that resource was helpful in better understanding the concept of EI.
I might possibly ask students to find videos and other information to include in a notes page regarding EI, again to assist in broadening their understanding of EI.
Perhaps I might consider adding a page where students would a list tips and tricks for handling emotionally charged situations. Students might include examples of how their suggestions have worked for them in the past.
There are several ways in which a wiki could play a part in a workshop or course on EI depending upon the specific learning objectives. Contributions to the pages would depend upon the content being taught during the course and regular posts would be part of the course requirements.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
A New Pedagogy?
On My Mind 15 Feb 2011 08:36 am
The Urgency for Change
As schools, we are going to have to “forfeit some control,” as we well should as the learning opportunities outside the classroom become more ubiquitous and effective. But we have to make sure that those opportunities are equitable and open as much as we can. That’s the real urgency of the debate right now, how do we use these new (and old) technologies to lift everyone up instead of just a few.
From my limited vantage point, it seems community colleges are reaching out for partnerships with businesses more and more as funding dries up (whether its reductions at the state level, an unwillingness to raise taxes or up tuition rates). When you combine resources with business you get a lot of opportunities to merge learning objectives with real world applications, but you “are going to bed” with a corporate mind-set bent on one thing-to teach students what they need to know to achieve performance goals in order to raise shareholder equity. How much control educational institutions give up may not be based on the ability to determine curriculum at all; perhaps its become a numbers game. The possible downside to having to rely increasingly on partnerships and grants is that this complicates the ability to reach everyone, since funding will continue to be scare for some time to come with targeted program offerings receiving the larger share of the institution’s instructional budget.
On My Mind & The Shifts 01 Feb 2011 09:09 am
When’s Our Egypt Moment?
This weekend I kept thinking, when will we have our Egypt moment? When will we get to the point where enough people feel dissatisfied with the whole school thing and want change badly enough to rise up and say “That’s it! We’re not going to do this anymore!”
While watching what was taking place in Egypt, I heard the phrase “Revolution eats its own children.” QUOTATION: Revolution is like Saturn, it devours its own children. ATTRIBUTION:Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German dramatist, revolutionary. Trans. by Gerhard P. Knapp (1995). Danton’s Death, act I (1835).
The question has always been if you don’t like the current system, what are you going to put in its place? And, will it be any better than the old way? I hope while we are all trying to figure out how to make education better, we also look around the world and draw in parts of other systems that may seem alien to us, but that could be blended into a better process. I think we need to be asking this question globally and trying to sort out what might work for all children growing up in the decades ahead.
The scary part, as with what is going on in Egypt now, is whether the changes we put in place will stand the test of time and whether we can build into this system flexibility to accommodate changes in our world that we cannot even imagine. I liken it to discussions concerning our own Constitution,…do we follow it as if it was written in stone or do we interpret its statements and try to find an equitable way to go forward using an educational framework that won’t self-destruct?
The Urgency for Change
As schools, we are going to have to “forfeit some control,” as we well should as the learning opportunities outside the classroom become more ubiquitous and effective. But we have to make sure that those opportunities are equitable and open as much as we can. That’s the real urgency of the debate right now, how do we use these new (and old) technologies to lift everyone up instead of just a few.
From my limited vantage point, it seems community colleges are reaching out for partnerships with businesses more and more as funding dries up (whether its reductions at the state level, an unwillingness to raise taxes or up tuition rates). When you combine resources with business you get a lot of opportunities to merge learning objectives with real world applications, but you “are going to bed” with a corporate mind-set bent on one thing-to teach students what they need to know to achieve performance goals in order to raise shareholder equity. How much control educational institutions give up may not be based on the ability to determine curriculum at all; perhaps its become a numbers game. The possible downside to having to rely increasingly on partnerships and grants is that this complicates the ability to reach everyone, since funding will continue to be scare for some time to come with targeted program offerings receiving the larger share of the institution’s instructional budget.
On My Mind & The Shifts 01 Feb 2011 09:09 am
When’s Our Egypt Moment?
This weekend I kept thinking, when will we have our Egypt moment? When will we get to the point where enough people feel dissatisfied with the whole school thing and want change badly enough to rise up and say “That’s it! We’re not going to do this anymore!”
While watching what was taking place in Egypt, I heard the phrase “Revolution eats its own children.” QUOTATION: Revolution is like Saturn, it devours its own children. ATTRIBUTION:Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German dramatist, revolutionary. Trans. by Gerhard P. Knapp (1995). Danton’s Death, act I (1835).
The question has always been if you don’t like the current system, what are you going to put in its place? And, will it be any better than the old way? I hope while we are all trying to figure out how to make education better, we also look around the world and draw in parts of other systems that may seem alien to us, but that could be blended into a better process. I think we need to be asking this question globally and trying to sort out what might work for all children growing up in the decades ahead.
The scary part, as with what is going on in Egypt now, is whether the changes we put in place will stand the test of time and whether we can build into this system flexibility to accommodate changes in our world that we cannot even imagine. I liken it to discussions concerning our own Constitution,…do we follow it as if it was written in stone or do we interpret its statements and try to find an equitable way to go forward using an educational framework that won’t self-destruct?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
My Teaching Philosophy
“Teaching is more than imparting knowledge, it is inspiring change.
Learning is more than absorbing facts, it is acquiring understanding.”
William Arthur Ward quotes (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)
This would seem a simple subject to explain, but as I have only facilitated two sessions of a workshop, I hope my philosophy has merit and would translate to my having the skills and knowledge to be an inspirer of change. And, I am additionally handicapped because the views on learning from the two generations right behind me is only gleaned from my immediate family and from studying education for just a few years.
As a teacher, I believe I am in the classroom (including the virtual classroom) to facilitate a group of students in their discovery of a new subject or expanded information relating to a subject. How that happens is as diverse as the teachers educating students everywhere. However, particular elements may prove to have more influence in how the students learn.
Certainly, understanding learning styles, both your own and your students’, is important. Beyond that, actually presenting information in ways that address their various learning styles is critical.
Being “artful” with technology is another factor that can affect learning. By artful, I mean drawing in various elements of technology in an interesting and fluid manner. It encompasses the ability to present a seamless curriculum, a well written syllabus, and employing technology in the right way so learning objectives are achieved through motivating students to want to explore a topic. It is becoming more and more important to reach out to the newest technology and experiment in learning its benefits so you can make an intelligent decision whether to incorporate it into the classroom. Richardson discusses the importance of teachers learning about technology before they bring it into the classroom, as they “have yet to experience the transformative potential of these new tools in terms of their own personal learning” (Richardson 6)
I have studied emotional intelligence in the past, I believe the ability to use EI in the classroom is an asset. If a teacher can discover how a student is motivated to learn and uses educational strategies whereby the student enjoys exploring a topic, then both are well on their way to experiencing an important human process – that of teaching and learning.
Learning is more than absorbing facts, it is acquiring understanding.”
William Arthur Ward quotes (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)
This would seem a simple subject to explain, but as I have only facilitated two sessions of a workshop, I hope my philosophy has merit and would translate to my having the skills and knowledge to be an inspirer of change. And, I am additionally handicapped because the views on learning from the two generations right behind me is only gleaned from my immediate family and from studying education for just a few years.
As a teacher, I believe I am in the classroom (including the virtual classroom) to facilitate a group of students in their discovery of a new subject or expanded information relating to a subject. How that happens is as diverse as the teachers educating students everywhere. However, particular elements may prove to have more influence in how the students learn.
Certainly, understanding learning styles, both your own and your students’, is important. Beyond that, actually presenting information in ways that address their various learning styles is critical.
Being “artful” with technology is another factor that can affect learning. By artful, I mean drawing in various elements of technology in an interesting and fluid manner. It encompasses the ability to present a seamless curriculum, a well written syllabus, and employing technology in the right way so learning objectives are achieved through motivating students to want to explore a topic. It is becoming more and more important to reach out to the newest technology and experiment in learning its benefits so you can make an intelligent decision whether to incorporate it into the classroom. Richardson discusses the importance of teachers learning about technology before they bring it into the classroom, as they “have yet to experience the transformative potential of these new tools in terms of their own personal learning” (Richardson 6)
I have studied emotional intelligence in the past, I believe the ability to use EI in the classroom is an asset. If a teacher can discover how a student is motivated to learn and uses educational strategies whereby the student enjoys exploring a topic, then both are well on their way to experiencing an important human process – that of teaching and learning.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Is this any way to start a Saturday?
Up at 6am; drinking coffee and driving to Prescott (1 hour) to get to my 9am class to learn about blogs, wikis, and whatever else this class will teach me on technology.
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