Feedback…on feedback?

So…how am I doing as a 21 century educator?
47 Tweets
36 Following
33 Followers
25 Days
# Figured out
Still prefer LinkedIn for professional learning communities or communities of practice since it combines the best of both worlds – short, “real time” updates and sharing, industry/topic specific information but LinkedIn offers a venue for more in-depth discussions. However, that is my own bias and I am very glad to have been introduced to twitter as I definitely see the value for creating a professional brand, sharing information and learning.
Also, as Emre Firat recalls in his edublog “To Tweet or Not To Tweet” there are 2 main reasons to use Twitter.
“1) Whenever I want to discover something new about education technologies I check twitter.
2) It is a very useful and productive backchannel in the meetings, presentations and conferences”

I agree with Emre’s thoughts on that one.

And…if I am being truly reflective, I have to consider Steve Barkley’s take on Annie Murphy Paul’s “Four Ways to Give Good Feedback“. Which of course relates to my post title. The forth aspect of good feedback that Barkley considers is the use feedback to build metacognitive skills. With respect to my own learning on 21st century educator thus far (and keep in mind this is just past the halfway mark for this course), I have to consider how to give feedback to myself (as part of the “meta-cognition” of the process of feedback). By measuring my own work against the criteria outlined in our first week of class, I have made a real effort at being an engaged learner and a contributing “co-creator” of the new story of education…while still having a lot to learn. I agree with Steve’s assertion that “the ability to assess one’s own work builds empowerment”. This has certainly been true for my experience in #5P42.

Empowerment is a key aspect of feedback and for learning. In reviewing several LinkedIn “21st century Education” Group, I came across the following video that highlights a few elements of this “shift in education”. Christian LeButt

Although American based, as the world gets smaller with digital technology, education, building professional communities, the themes presented are relevant to a Master of Education class on digital technology and 21st century education. I can now also add to my list: able to embed media to a blog!

I am looking forward to reading more from my blog-mates about their reflections thus far and also continuing to learn from them and hearing their feedback. At this point in the course, I have been able to progress through some of the “Know, Do, Be” elements. I have an understanding of the interweaving of curriculum and assessment including AfL, Aal, AoL – all as related to 21st Century approaches to curriculum design and delivery. A key part of this for me the ability to implement my learning into the development of a career planning curriculum. I now have new ideas and ways in which to design the course with exciting possibilities to engage the learners and learn from them. I believe that I have “done” (and continue to do so) positive risk-taking, collaboration (Google docs anyone??), critical thinking and the early stages of design and integrative thinking. I have “been” open to new approaches, making mistakes and learning from them by being an engaged, contributing participant in this course as well.

Thanks to my fellow bloggers for sharing your insights and I look forward to reading your posts!

p.s. And I still do not have a FB page!

The toe has submerged…

In my first post, I described my limited exposure to Twitter and blogging. Since then, I somewhat hesitantly “dipped my toe in the water”. In these last two weeks, I have enjoyed reading my colleagues’ blogs, learning from them and seeing their perspective on this experience as well. As someone a little older than some of my classmates (and who grew up before the internet), I had an (incorrect) assumption that many of my peers would be well-versed in social media and digital learning in 21st century classrooms. It turns out that most of us are in the “same boat” and learning as we go. Bring on collaborative learning!

A few key thoughts during this time. Twitter appears to be a forum for a primarily “one-way” source of information. Well…my statement isn’t entirely true since when a classmate tweets an article, link, etc. it’s purpose is for sharing this information and adding to the conversations in #5P42. However, I find that there is so much information to go through that it becomes difficult to make time to view them all. This is how I have also learned that your 140 characters are key in generating interest for someone to actually click on your post!

This is where my bias for LinkedIn will come to the forefront again. From my point of view, LinkedIn offers an opportunity for 2-way communication in a way that Twitter does not afford. LinkedIn Groups provide a venue for discussion where a colleague may post a relevant article, video, link, etc. and encourage responses, dialogue, etc. from a practitioners point of view. In this way, LinkedIn can be of high value for professional learning communities of almost any industry. I have learned through a quick search that there are more than 10 pages of possible communities of learning interested in 21st century education/technology in the classroom on LinkedIn. Now the task of finding out which might be the most valuable to join! More on that in future blogs!

A highlight of the #5P42 this week was becoming engaged in Michael Fullan’s book, Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy, and Change Knowledge (2013). Reading it in the sunshine of mid-spring after a cold winter was even better! The title of this book captures the key messages within this cutting-edge book on how to transform education and learning. One of the premises of Fullan’s book is the importance placed on “learning how to learn”. I agree with his notion especially since we cannot possibly predict entirely how the future will unfold, how technology will change or what the world of learning will look like in the coming years. In my own experience working with students in their transition from post-secondary education to the working world, I have some cause for concern in this respect. More specifically, I have seen many students in my office who seem to struggle with making decisions and lack the confidence (or self-efficacy) to research particular career paths and pursue their goals. When we spend so much of our lives being “told what to do” – especially in education – we cannot really blame students for not being comfortable with making decisions or taking risks. When I explain that “there is sometimes no “right answer” and that you have to “trust the process” somewhat, it (probably quite rightfully) scares them. My approach is to help guide students during this process of discovering their career choices and professional goals although I do “push them” outside of their comfort zone as well. Kind of like what I am experiencing right now with my own adventure into 21st century education!

I look forward to continuing through the readings as well learning from my peers through another week of class ahead and tweets to read and post! It’s official…my toe is now fully submerged.

Failure to thrive?

This past week has been a wave of new learning experiences for me. I have jumped (er…been pushed??!) into the digital landscape in a way that I never have before. My motto for social media has been (and in many other realms of life as well): only do something that you have the time and capacity to do well. All that changed earlier this week when I posted my first tweet (gulp) and started this blog.

LinkedIn has been my “go to” form of social media. I admit it…I am a LinkedIn junkie and love to promote this platform to my students and colleagues. It’s my professional learning community. I learn from other career practitioners across Niagara, Ontario, Canada, America and the world. In my daily work, we use the term “community of practice” to describe this process of collaborative learning and sharing of knowledge. I recently started a LinkedIn group for one of my community initiatives as part of developing a community of practice for youth service providers in Niagara. Although this technically falls outside of my Master of Education studies (and the #5P42 Innovative Curriculum and Assessment) it is part of my story through this educational journal of digital learning in the 21st century.

I feel quite overwhelmed by all of this recent digital exposure. For someone who has successfully avoided signing up on Facebook…my online presence just received a huge boost.

Things that I have learned in the 3 days that I have been on Twitter:
– creating a username is challenging
– having something meaningful to say is even more challenging
– people will follow you…and you actually do have meaningful things to say
– people will challenge you…on what you say
– social media is a platform for challenge
– I am seriously starting to like some of this stuff and exploring the interconnectedness of these platforms
– I have 5 followers and am following 14 “people”
– I cannot figure out why my #hashtags are not viewing – and for once Google is not helping!

I hope that I do not “fail to thrive” during this process. Although, I am encouraged by Professor Susan Drake’s commitment in the syllabus that states: BE open to new approaches, making mistakes and learning from them (check), BE an engaged contributing participant (check), BE the co-creator of the new story of education (er…gulp?)…

More to come as this journey towards curriculum, assessment in the 21st century unfolds and as I learn to navigate the digital space while learning from my peers. All from the lens of a career practitioner focused on school-work transitions, experiential learning and single mom of a 5 year old. Let the exploration begin!