Jim Askew on Individualized Online Curriculum and Transforming Learning #ok1to1

These are my notes from Jim Askew’s morning presentation at the Crescent Public Schools‘ 1:1 learning conference on 4 June 2010. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS.

MY ASIDE: THE STORYCHASERS MOBILE LEARNING TEAM BLOG IS A PLACE FOR EDUCATORS IN 1:1 SETTINGS TO SHARE IDEAS.

I’ve been blessed to work for 2 of the most progressive administrators in the state of Oklahoma: Steve Shiever and Scott Parks.

Why do you teach the way you do?
– it’s the way we were taught
– it’s what I believe

If you truly believe in the way you teach, don’t let me or anyone else tell you you’re wrong
– if you teach because that’s the way you’ve always done it, you might be in for a rude awakening in about 70 days

Your teaching philosophy ought to “fit” the way you teach

anyone been asked for a written version of your teaching philosophy
– I am a Socratic, constructivist facilitator
– these are the three key words I boiled down my teaching philosophy to

I teach with questions
– I use questions to make critical thinking a reality
– I truly believe we build our own knowledge by taking what we already know, getting info from the environment, and then putting them together to create new knowledge
– I believe facilitators make things easier for people. I make learning easier for my students

That is why I teach the way I teach

What are your 3 major teaching goals? (these were ideas from the audience)
– teaching kids to learn
– helping kids be successful outside the classroom
– teach them how to think
– inspire students
– make them into productive citizens

If you can’t list off your top 3 goals for teaching, you might have a tough time in 70 days

What will the 1:1 laptop program allow you to do better?
– engage students
– encourage creativity
– empower students
– work on critical thinking

You CAN engage students
– there are all kinds of other things students can be involved with

With 1:1 laptops, teachers are MORE important than ever!

Today’s students are EXPERTS with technology

I DISAGREE WITH THIS. I THINK KIDS ARE MORE FEARLESS NAVIGATORS WITH TECHNOLOGY, BUT THIS DOES NOT MAKE SOMEONE AN EXPERT… THEY CAN BE GOOD SELF-DIRECTED LEARNERS, BUT THAT IS NOT UNIVERSAL.

Kids will find their OWN interesting things to do if you don’t provide them
– Mike tells us often, “It’s a classroom management issue”
– Internet filtering isn’t the solution to off-task behavior

What is the product of education?
– a well developed mind?
– learning

In the 1 room school house, the “3 R’s” were the product
– public ed was a success
– kids didn’t HAVE to go, they only got to go when dad let them leave the farm

The high school movement
– for the first half of the 20th century, everyone agreed
– public ed was a success
– you should read about this if you haven’t
– more subjects, specialization, memorize facts so you can use them

Today:
– teachers aren’t doing their job
– public education is failing
– we need to fire teachers

What changed?
– lots of societal changes
– society, parents, technology etc

How did parents change from the first half of the twentieth century to the last half?

most of these things that changed we have NO control over
– we need to focus on things that HAVE changed

WWW
– December 25, 1990
– blame TBL: Tim Berners Lee
– before 12-25-1990 computer screens were all text
– after: HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
– we got links

The Internet is composed of an estimated 1.8 billion connected computers
– it is computers connected

WELL, IT IS ALSO PEOPLE BEING CONNECTED!

The WWW is composed over over 1 TRILLION pages of INFORMATION
– you need to know the difference between the Internet and the WWW
– many people use those terms interchangeably
– technically: the WWW is where the information is in webpages

The WWW changed the learning environment forever
– no one yet knows what this learning environment will look like in 5, 10, or 50 years

I AGREE WITH THIS!

Now showing 2 photos 98 years apart: 1909 and 2007
– what is different
– people are moving in both pictures

When the environment changes, Skill Sets change!

Computers and the Internet are NOT learning tools
– this will be blasphemous for some of you
– remember what Mr Shiever said, our way is not necessarily your way
– this is MY philosophy
– they are part of the ENVIRONMENT in which today’s learning takes place!

THIS IS A USEFUL CONSTRUCT. ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THIS: THE ONLINE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT IS LIKE WATER. IT IS WHERE WE LIVE. IT DEFINES OUR ENVIRONMENT.

If we focus on the tools, we lose sight of the environment
– the laptop environment changes EVERYTHING
– for you as a teacher, a parent
– for the mechanic down the street

I WOULD ADD: FOR US AS LEARNERS!

You know what a paradigm is, right? (This isn’t a joke.) It’s a proven way of doing things successfully.
– 1:1 laptops change the paradigm: not only for students but also for teachers

“Just Google It”
– 2 billion google searches every day
– that doesn’t even include the other search engines

You got to be careful: Just cause it’s on the web doesn’t mean it’s true!
– computers remember things VERY well

Now showing the new Bloom’s taxonomy
– for today’s HS and MS students, memorizing facts is… pretty much POINTLESS

math facts: Math teachers I don’t want to get into a major discussion with math teachers about math facts
– there are 2 points of view on this: both have good positions
– when I say something against memorization, I don’t want to step on toes about math facts

ASIDE: PROGRAM “MASTERING MATH FACTS” IS THE BEST PROGRAM

We don’t have to memorize facts before we use them

Anyone know this guy? (showing a photo of Rand Paul, R Senate candidate, KY)
– strongly supported by the Tea Party
– he has 2 primary agenda items for education:
1- Dump the US Department of Education
2- Wants to get rid of NCLB

What would that change if NCLB went away?
– MY COMMENT OUT LOUD: LESS FEAR OF BAD THINGS
– teacher fear of failure might go away
– test pressure would go away

Since NCLB was enacted in 2001, it has accomplished nothing

If NCLB would go away, teachers woulda gain

MOST of today’s standardized test questions DO NOT measure RECALL

I AM WONDERING WHAT TEST HE’S TALKING ABOUT. OF COURSE AS A PARENT I CAN’T TAKE OR EVEN SEE PEARSON’S TESTS THEY CREATE – IN THEIR ENTIRITY. THEY RELEASE SOME QUESTIONS, BUT NOT THE ENTIRE THING. NO ONE IN OKLAHOMA HAS GONE TO COURT, AS I THINK THEY DID IN TEXAS, TO FORCE RELEASE OF TEKS/TAKS TESTS.

Now showing Biology EOI (end of instruction) question from Oklahoma (a released item), and a US History EOI question
– both involve higher order thinking
– this released test question appears to have a misprint, say “effort” instead of “effect”

now PISA Question (Program for International Student Assessment)
– this is the assessment that says US schools are 24th in the world and our teachers are horrible
– those statements are not based on Oklahoma EOI results

Reading question about a paragraph and charges/tables on Lake Cad, last question, “Why do you think the author chose to start the graph in that year?”
– that is all about higher order thinking

If you are teaching to the test, that is not a bad word, but you need to recognize the test is NOT a recall test
– too many teachers “teaching to the test” don’t really grasp that today
– it is NOT a “Remembering test”
– they don’t have to remember everything from your class

If mulitiple choice tests are used in a 1:1 environment, they should look EXACTLY like the standardized tests

In 1:1 environment tests must challenge students to FIND and/or USE information
– MC tests that measure recall WORTHLESS
– remember this is MY opinion (this isn’t necessarily the opinions of my current and former superintendent)

Teaching today is NOT about content standards
– you don’t have to do away with NCLB to not be so concerned about standards

MY ASIDE COMMENT: INTERSTING NO ONE HAS SHARED OR SHOWED ANY VIDEOS TODAY YET

The common core standards which have just been adopted are probably NOT going to change anything at the high school level
– grade schools, however, might have a heart attack if Oklahoma adopts these
– Oklahoma governor HAS said Oklahoma will adopt common core

However, it’s not about content standards today
– it’s about cognitive science
– look in your packet for the card about cognitive science

[insert image here]

humans have always learned the same way: We learn WHAT we want, WHEN we want (or NEED) it
– if we had held this conference on June 4th last year, how many of you would have come?
– the MORE we NEED it, the more EFFORT we put into it

If we don’t WANT it or NEED it, we DON’T CARE ABOUT IT!
– now you care about this 1:1 discussion

recognize your students are JUT like this, just like you
– you have to make your classes relevant for students
– you have to help your students WANT It, move from the “I don’t care” mentality

MY THOUGHT: CLEARLY JIM ASKEW IS A GREAT EDUCATOR TO WORK WITH, HAVE ON YOUR STAFF, BE IN CLASS WITH. THIS IS GREAT TO HEAR FROM HIM!!!

Students actually LIKE to solve problems (under the right conditions)

Teachers must get it RIGHT for every student
– not too hard, not too easy

The 3 Proofs of Education
1- What do you KNOW?
2- What can you DO with what you know?
3- What are you WILLING to unlearn, then relearn?

The Texas textbook wars: why such a big deal?
– If you could write your own textbook, what would you put in it?

You can’t just tell kids when they come into your class, “We’re going to learn about Pluto today. Go out on the web and see what you can find.”
– we can’t just throw away the textbook
– you have to make decisions about what goes in the textbook

Your online curriculum IS the textbook

My online curriculum is 15 years worth of work, and I tweak it all the time

Digital textbooks are STILL textbooks
– if you just wanted to put a textbook on a laptop, you should have bought new textbooks or a Kindle

Someone else’s website is built for THEM
– imagine how empowered your students would feel empowered if you told your teachers you can build your own relevant curriculum / write your own textbook

THIS IS RIGHT!!!! PREACH ON, JIM!

Pick your 10 most important concepts
– if you are an EOI class, go through objectives and released items and pick 10 concepts
– say “If my kids had fully learned these 10 concepts, they would have passed this test”
– if you are an English teacher with 107 PASS objectives, this can work for you

Build your curriculum around these concepts

OF THE OVER 3000 PASS OBJECTIVES IN OKLAHOMA, OVER HALF OF THEM ARE IN LANGUAGE ARTS.

Involve your students in ACTIVE learning.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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On this day..

• Bernie Sanders Explains Progressivism in the new Democratic Party – 2017
• Native American Independent Films – 2012
• Configuring FREE Home Content Filtering with OpenDNS – 2011
• Digital Gems in a Local Pawn Shop – 2011
• Wired in digital bits for $5 per issue? No thanks – 2010
• Tried and True Tips for Working in the 1:1 Environment – 2010
• Cross-Curricular Teaching (Electives/Core) in a 1:1 Environment – 2010
• From Lesson Plans to Online Curriculum by Jim Askew #ok1to1 (Amazing open Chemistry curriculum) – 2010
• Teaching English in a 1:1 Classroom by Julie Cook #ok1to1 – 2010
• Welcome to Crescent PS: Teaching in a 1:1 Laptop Environment #ok1to1 – 2010