The Moon…

Evolution of the Moon

Tour of the Moon

Tennessee and Ian Jukes…

It has been a few years since I heard Ian Jukes speak at the T+L Conference in Nashville (October 19, 2007).  However, his words continue to ring in my ears, and I want to share some of them with you as I reflect on where our school district is with embedding technology in learning.

Ian Jukes said:

“We have access to some new technologies but their use is generally optional not integral and certainly not required of all teachers – and the technologies are often used to reinforce old practices and assumptions about teaching and learning and assessment and do not require the teacher to change their current instructional practices.”

“Ask yourself this very important question – would your students be there in your classrooms if they didn’t have to be? Are they there because they want to be there? Or are they there because they have no other choice? And if they’re there only because they have to, what can we begin to do differently to help more students want to be in our classes?”

“…Our emphasis as professional educators has to be on more than just LOTS.”

“The starting point for making the necessary changes is that as educators we have to understand how truly different our students are.”

“This shift is so fundamental – the gap between them and us is so wide – that there’s no going back to the basics. There’s no going back to the way things were when we were kids.”

“The problem is that many educators just don’t get that there is a digital divide. Many of us pay lip service to the notion that this generation is different. We knowingly nod our heads but then we shut the door to the classroom and go back to business as usual where it could just as easily be 1960 all over again.”

“Most teachers know very little if anything about the digital world of their students – from online gaming to their means of exchanging, sharing, meeting, evaluating, coordinating, programming, searching, customizing, and socializing.”

“The bottom line is that we really don’t understand their digital world and we never will until we take the time to honor and respect where they come from. But to do this we have to be willing to acknowledge their world and start to educate ourselves about that world.”

“If we truly want to make a difference in the lives of our children, schools must become a place where students are actively engaged in constructing their own knowledge and know how…”

“The context of a significant event provides a frame of reference and relevance for remembering the specific information about what you were doing long after the event. By providing a context for the new information teachers are actually helping students with long-term memory.”

My summary and challenge to myself and others that continues today:  As educators it is time that we take responsibility for our own learning.  If we want to create self-directed learners, we must become one.  We must model self-directed, independent learning, and we need to discover how our students learn in the 21st Century.

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High Five Escalator

Dale and Jarred

I have been contemplating my personal learning network (PLN) as of late, and I have shared my off and on dealings with such tools as Facebook, Twitter, and the like.  As an educator, a PLN is vital in gaining new ideas, sharing, seeking support, and maintaining all sorts of human relationships that get one through the days, weeks, and years.  I have never been a good giver over my digital PLN, but living as a taker has helped me to survive.

Sometimes people come along and give you a good shot in the arm when you least expect it, and two gentlemen did just that for me many months ago.  Dale and Jarred were two new teachers, just finishing up their programs of study at university.  Last year was their first year in the classroom, and now they march along in the second.  I had followed these teachers, and visited with them on rare occasion, but I lost them for a bit (my fault).  I backed away from my digital PLN to gain some perspective, that I never quite found, and added them back today.  Hopefully they will take me back.

Chances are good they didn’t know I was gone, and that would be my fault for being a taker.  That’s okay.  I need to take from them, I need their enthusiasm, I need to hear of their struggles and triumphs, and I need to be ready to offer encouragement when I think they need it.  That encouragement makes me a giver.  Support is one of the great benefits of a PLN.  It comes from strangers, those you least expect, but they become familiar:  they become family through one’s PLN.

We come to the end of a calendar year.  This is a time of reflection for many, and a time to set new goals.  I’ve been thinking about goals, been taking stock of the past, and wondering how to navigate the future.  I have been looking for perspective.  I was referring to my PLN via my RSS feeder to find some wisdom, and Dale provided just the perspective I needed in the following video (Dale and Jarred:  Thanks for finding me many months ago even though you didn’t realize I needed to be found!):

You can follow Dale and Jarred on Twitter:  @DaleHolt and @JarredRowe and learn from them at “Not Your Average Teacher” http://notyouraverageteacher.com/

They truly are not average, they are great!!!

10 (No, 11!!!) iPod Touch Apps I Really Like…

A few weeks ago I “retired” my iPod Touch G1 (my oldest son will help it to live on) and purchased the new iPod Touch G4.  Obviously I noticed quite a leap ahead in features, and I am discovering some very useful and fun apps that I would like to share.

Dragon Dictation Free:  This tool allows me to dictate a few notes via voice and it does a fair job of getting most of what I say into text.  If I speak clearly and avoid my Wyoming twang it works!

SimpleMind $6.99:  This is a mind mapping tool that I have begun to find useful in taking quick notes.

Skype Free:  VOIP calls on my iPod Touch are nice, very nice (must have a wifi connection).

WordPress Free:  Create a new post right from your iPod Touch.

Delicious Bookmarks Free:  Round up your Delicious links.

iMovie $4.99:  I haven’t had a chance to edit much video yet, but what I have been able to do is amazing!

See This $0.99:  An interesting photo app that allows you to take multiple shots and combines them into a sort of collage.

Comic Touch $2.99:  Add captions to your photos.

StoryKit Free:  Create your own story books.

Video Physics Free:  Shoot a movie and track objects.

RedLaser Free:  A barcode scanner (the one I’ve been able to get to work!)

Father and Son Launch Balloon into Space…

Derek Lomas: Open Source Games

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Derek Lomas: Open Source Games“, posted with vodpod

Time

2002

I have been, sporadically now, blogging for three years and have now moved into the fourth.  Time has passed very fast, and I have been wrapping my head around that ticking sound I can hear from our “bird clock.”  25 years ago to this very day I entered the MTC in Provo, Utah for a 3 week training that sent me off to the then Colorado Denver Mission.  I spent time in northwestern Kansas, in the mission office in Littleton, Colorado, in Grand Junction, Colorado, and finished off in Cheyenne, Wyoming with responsibilities over Kimball and Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  That all seems like ancient history to me and especially to my young children (Remember there are 5 children, and some of them aren’t young anymore – Hannah soon to be 18!).  Much has been accomplished in my adult life, but my youth set the very important stage, or foundation, for all that has come to pass.  Time is what allowed it all to happen.

2009

As a historian I am always amazed at the process of looking back and how age provides perspective.  It is difficult in our youth to grasp the past or find interest in it.  When we are young time is slow, especially on a warm summer day fishing beside a meandering stream.  Imagination plays a larger role in our lives as youngsters, and its too bad we lose some of that along the way, or at least forget to imagine.  I imagine great things ahead in my life and my family’s life.  I can see a future wrought with challenges, but I also have the perspective to realize that all things can be overcome.  That’s what I like about being here in my mid 40s.  As a doctor recently stated to me, “You have half your life ahead of you.”  Interesting to think about and quite exciting at the same time!  What will it bring?

I know that the choices I have made in the past are benefitting me greatly at this point in life.  Sure, there have been bumps in the road, but this old world deals those on a daily basis.  There will be many more choices along the way, and I hope to enjoy and reap what I sow.  My children are in the same boat, and my dream is that they feel somewhat the same way I do when they reach this point in their lives.  It’s nice to be a part of their growth, and I enjoy helping them speed through time.  It is fast, fun, and fantastic!

My Fixed Arm

Nice work and it’s healing well!

Why blog?

Seth Godin and Tom Peters explain why!

Professional Development

A few odds and ends keep showing up on my blog as I share examples of how to blog in various professional development workshops that I am facilitating this June.  We are podcasting, blogging, doing digital storytelling, video conferencing, trying out online tools, and experimenting with several tech gadgets including the Wii.  We have also been involved in Quest Atlantis professional development too.  It has been quite rewarding so far, and I myself have learned so much.  Our training resources can be found at one of my wikis:  HIT – Hokanson’s Instructional Technology Wiki. Enjoy!

Welcome New Bloggers!

This is a post to welcome some new bloggers to the blogosphere!  It is an interesting world and fun too!  Students can definitely benefit from teachers that blog, and a classroom blog extends your classroom and shares what is happening with the rest of the world.

A blog is simply a type of website that is easy to put together and maintain (See the video clip below!).  Here is hoping that you enjoy blogging!

Map of Future Forces Affecting Education

Now that we are two years in on the KnowledgeWorks Foundation and Institute for the Future 2006-2016 Map of Future Forces Affecting Education where are we now?

Pattie Maes: Unveiling game-changing wearable tech

David Merrill: Siftables, the toy blocks that think