Sunshine and Change of Perspectives

It's been a long semester for me. Or so it has felt like at times.

A question of perception, perhaps.

With this feeling of a never-ending-semester, last weekend 2 surprises to lighten up my days:  2 colleagues who I have the most respect for, awarded me the Sunshine Award for this blog. 

Carmen Arias and Pilar Pamblanco are bloggers, who equally share teaching tips, resources and a voice on Twitter as well as other social networks. Both are highly recommended to follow. 

Which brings me back to this post; all week I have questioned myself on the value and purpose of these awards, awards which go largely unnoticed by those who do not follow blogs and most certainly, unnoticed by the many institutions where these bloggers are participants. 

In both cases, a pity - for those who are missing out on the dialogue and stimulating exchanges which take place in the blogosphere. There are still those who consider that "serious, respected" academics don't need blogs or that blogging is a waste of time when instead, it is publishing in journals that matters. To those who still hold on to those beliefs, what is there to say? In my view, presenting at conferences, publishing in journals, collaborating and contributing to social media such as blogging, are all different, but equal activities and forms of an educator's role today. There are those who may not be able to attend international conferences - are they any less valuable educators than those who are more fortunate? There are educators who publish more in journals, are they are any more capable than those who blog?

I shall leave those questions open, for answers are framed by one's perceptions and points of references. 

Nevertheless, should anyone attempt persuading me that bloggers such as Carmen and Pilar (mentioned above), Tony Gurr, John Mak, Dave Cormier, Donald Clark , George Couros, Jackie Gerstein, among the many other bloggers who I read and value, are not worth reading, to those, I can only smile quietly, for it is certainly their professional loss. 

I am not saying that blogs are more "relevant" than publishing in academic journals; I am saying that blogging today is part of one's educational journey and experience - whether that journey being in the model BG or in today's online world. And more importantly, today educators have more choices to be heard, to share and learn with others around the world. For someone such as myself who began teaching without the benefits of being connected, it never fails to inspire gratitude in me to all who teach and share so much. 

Most posts in this blog are about platforms and tools for learning, which hopefully may bring about some creativity in the classroom.

Today, I would like to send out a THANK YOU to ALL Educational Bloggers - for your time, (and blogging does take up time!), for your courage to raise and share your voice, (there are times when yes, it does take courage to be out-spoken) and above all, your generosity to share insights, successes and failures (for education is not only about success and it is through failures that one learns for the future). 

And in way of an ending, I'd like to suggest a great resource for all educators - The Design Studio. 

As explained on the site, "The Design Studio is a developing toolkit which draws together a range of existing and emergent JISC resources which support technology-enhanced teaching and learning practice. The Design Studio will provide access to project outcomes and outputs from a range of Jisc programmes as they are developed through an open sharing and synthesis approach." Definitely a rich resource for all.



Perspectives. They change.

If not, how does one continue in Education, which is all about change and the future?

To all those who share, inspire and accompany me through the many changes in Education -

Thank you!

Further suggestions:


DIGITAL LITERACY VS NETWORKED LITERACY

Formal academic conferences and informal blogging play complementary roles in the academic feedback cycle

Digital Explorations in the Month of May

Yesterday I could hardly believe that May had arrived.  Almost mid  2013 and there always is so much to do, so much to explore and learn!

Among other sites to explore, these are 3 which I really want to spend more time on. 

iTeachU is an Elearning Intstructor Training Online, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is a rich source of reference and learning for both educators who teach in classrooms F2F and online.  With teaching tips and focus on digital tools for learning, it's a rich reference for all.

Perhaps because Spring is a great time for de-cluttering one's life and closets, SideVibe is another site which I wish to spend more time using - really great for both learners and teachers. 

SideVibe seems to be a perfect Spring tool to use in classrooms and to help students use for themselves.

And what would Spring be without new digital delights? Permamarks is definitely going to make a difference to many who experienced the need to shift their work from one blogging platform to another.

Still in Beta, go ahead and request your invite!



Time and time again. My regular struggle to balance and manage my daily hours. There are moments when yes, I shrug and border giving up. Time will come and time will go. Most importantly is to do what keeps you happy during time. And being able to put time into perspective. Here Is This Year is a creative , interactive visual - let yourself be inspired (or comforted) with time.

Which  explorations do you have in mind for May 2013?

Biographies and the Web Genie

As a language teacher, I sometimes have the opportunity to talk about culture in the classroom. Not the narrow meaning/s of culture/s, but the broader, richer concept of culture. I never fail to be fascinated with the initial points of references which students share and then watch their perceptions unfurl and grow, taking in the wider understandings of what culture may be. 

One characteristic, has to be the contribution of individuals towards the social environments and cultures they lived in. From poets to architects, from scientists to philosophers, these individuals contributed to the shaping of a particular culture, their influence often transcending borders and points in time. 

Bio True Story offers a wealth of biographies; for example, did you know that James Brown was born today in 1933? Did you know that 3rd May was also the day that Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of the UK?

You can find a wealth of stories about people from the past as well as people whose names will be familiar today; there is also a Biography Quiz which learners can play individually or in pairs.

Best of all, is that language learners need to practice their verb tenses, especially  the past tenses. They may also focus on modal verbs and future tenses, if they are set an assignment about which famous person they would invite to their homes - possibilities are endless and may be tailored for many levels and contexts.

To wrap a lesson, students can then challenge each other with

Akinator, the web genie (also for iPad), or if there is a really courageous student, let them be the class genie!


Further references:

Biographies of Famous Explorers

Famous Scientists

Omnibiography

Bring on the Clouds!

MOOCs have dominated headlines for months now; iPadology brings constant waves of clarification and App suggestions. And of course, the shutting down of Google's Reader has brought about another wave of possible alternatives (see Digital Tribes). 

My suggestions today focus on clouds and the options now available to store data. Dropbox is great but there are others as well. For those who have taken to using their iPads as mobile devices, using clouds is a simple way to access data - whether slideshows or other documents - on the go.





Cloud Storage:

OwnCloud ,  Aero - Private File Sync,  Dump Truck,  Entourage,  Jolicloud,  SpaceMonkey

CloudMagic  , SurDoc,  ShadowDrive,


Cloud Sharing:

Sherio

Further Reference:

Cloud Essentials: Understanding the Basics of Cloud Computing

Finding Detours to Roadblocks Using Dropbox

Flipboard hits 50M Readers 

How McAfee Cloud Identity Manager Benefits Higher Ed IT Professionals




Paper Age from WWWSounds on Vimeo.





Paper Age II from Ken Ottmann on Vimeo.

Blogging Platforms Around the Block

With Posterous shutting down and whispers of Google perhaps shutting down Blogger, here are some other blogging platforms one can take into consideration. 

Ghost is a free blogging platform with open code, you can host it on your laptop or pubic server, and mobile friendly. Gatsby may appeal to those who are familiar with WordPress, with beautiful templates. Moveable Type is both a blogging platform and social network, while OverBlog may be used for blogging, sharing content from the web and more.

If you already blog, two sites which may interest you are Bloxp and BlogBooker.

You can use either as a back up or simply enjoy creating a book from your posts.

An interesting question making the rounds online is whether social media will take over blogging? 

Blogging is part of social media, so personally I don't really see that happening though it is possible that blogging may be slightly down in general. Days continues to have 24 hours and time demands are forever increasing. However, blogging with its re-mixing, re-hashing of media, is a skill/practice that won't be going away so soon.

Or so I hope, as there is a sea of blogs which I read, enjoy and learn from.

Blogging?

Blog on!


Further references:

6 Tips for Quality Student Blogging- Gary Johnston

12 Most Important Blogging Terms Definitions for Business

A Short Guide to Terms Commonly Used in Blogging by Richard Byrne

Advice for Potential Academic Bloggers - LSE

Blogger VS WordPress - A Complete Comparison

Student Blogging Guidelines

The Flight of Leadership in Education

There have been moments in life when I regarded leadership as a flight, a flight which set the trail for others to follow, new horizons, new accomplishments, fearless,  constructive, borderless. 

There are moments in life when romantic notions of youth need to mature.

Nevertheless, no matter what challenges lie in the educational field (and there are challenges in all fields of work and life), I still perceive education as a flight - a flight of learning, a flight of change, a flight of leading.  Yes, there are moments of failure, but if no failure, where is the learning? 

Leadership and failure - is there a link? In my mind, definitely. For failing is learning; acknowledging a moment of failure takes courage and courage is a trait of leadership. 

Let me share a poster on leadership - do these characteristics  belong only in the world of management and business?

One may not hold an administrative position in an educational institution nor consider oneself as a "leader", however educators are leaders. They lead thoughts and actions, they lead learning and open frontiers in minds. Educators hold the promise of inspiration in their classrooms. Learners may have colourful books and digital devices, but what good are they without an educator who does not lead them to use them for learning growth?

Trach (2013) shares her inner thoughts on educational leadership by saying that 

"Visceral and instinctive, it is a total way of being.  Leadership is about listening with your honed sense of emotional intelligence and responding selflessly"

A question of degrees, no doubt. Not every educator is a truly a leader - yet if one listens closely, there are more thought leaders among educators than there appears to be on the surface. 

I mentioned failure as a step in learning and how leaders are not afraid to speak up about those moments. Education is not  - and will never be - a smooth ride. There are too many individuals involved, from educational ministeries to institutional administrators to participants in classrooms. And let us not forget other stake holders, parents. Each and all will have different (and often clashing) visions of what a successful educational experience is. Among all the differences, there is bound to be moments of failure which need to be regarded as learning experiences. 

As a classroom participant, I too have had my moments of failure. Delivering content through digital media when in fact learners had not been previously prepared and expected more photocopies - the legitimate and "real" learning material. 

In classrooms of over 20 students there will be that moment of failure when a teacher is uncertain if a student is ill, tired or merely disconnected, not knowing the reasons and how to bring back that student because there are so many other students to attend to. 

Perfection is an illusion in education. And moments of failure need to be accepted. 

Godin (2013) expresses these moments of failure bluntly and clearly:

" Instead of cursing or fearing the down moments, understand that they mean you've chosen reality, not some unsustainable fantasy. It means that you're doing worthwhile, difficult work, not merely amusing yourself. 

The very thing you're seeking only exists because of the whole. We can't deny the difficult parts, we have no choice but to embrace them."

How do you embrace your moments of failure? 

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

References:

Godin, S. , 2013, Just the Good Parts

Trach, S., 2013, You Are Here

10 Lessons in Leadership-A poster

Creative Movements

Pictured is "Empty Quarter Collage" by Ana Cristina Pratas. 

It's Day 21 of the "Crowdsourcing 30 Days of Creativity Tools" project! 

This is a guest post by one of my favorite curators on Twitter, Ana Cristina Pratas,@AnaCristinaPrts, an award-winning educator with a passion for knowledge-sharing. A great curator is a great teacher. A great curator uses a finely tuned sensitivity to ideas to make connections. In this beautiful post, Ana shares some favorite tools and introduces you to the world of "Creative Movements." 

DAY 21: CREATIVE MOVEMENTS

My world. Sounds and visions from the sands, hyperlinked across digital bytes and open frontiers.

In my world, there is no secret to the key of inspiration – I drive through streams of thoughts, dunes with questions, endless blue skies.  With rolled down window, a warm breeze and music playing, I am transported through the dunes, open to creative plots which I wish to surprise others with. Each surprise I weave and share, becomes a gift to others, for them to create, for them to find their creative expression with music, text and visuals. 

It is when I am driving that inspiration is unleashed within me. For those who may know a little bit about me, this may come as a surprise, for wouldn’t inspiration come from being online?

Not always, not necessarily.

It is when one is off-line, away from the flickering screen, the clackering of voices and digital clutter that scream for one’s attention that my mind wanders most freely. Together with the natural silence and sweeps of sands, drifting music, my body in harmony with hot metal, my mind lingers in creative movement.

Two tools I enjoy using in my classrooms are both simple and pleasing.  PhotoPeach andVuvox are both easy to use, creating a different kind of presentation, one with movement and sound. Much more involving than a regular PowerPoint presentation, my students use these two free tools to develop and create digital stories. Digital elements of web literacy and digital literacy are part of today’s education. Story-telling has always been part of learning and living.

My world is based on oral traditions. Stories of genies, of women who loved far too much, of heroes who defended oases and homes.  In every world I participated in, there were stories. Stories by the fireplace, stories by the rolling waves, stories among rice paddies. For what else does one travel in life with, if there is no story to tell?

Story-telling is part of what makes one human. Story-telling involves one, begging for individualization, for drama, for lights and action! There are characters to meet, voices to listen to.

By asking others to create digital stories, one is empowering their voices, acknowledging their imagination and abilities to communicate with an audience. It is by opening doors and minds, fostering creativity and identity, that young people may achieve the voice within themselves.

And so I return to travels and dunes. This is not meant to be a lesson nor even less, a gospel of truth. A reflection from the open skies, where I constantly endeavor embedding education with creative movements.

Ana Cristina Pratas is an educator in the UAE who shares tools and resources through her scoop.it collections which to date have garnered almost 370,000 views! On her resource-rich website, CristinaSkyBox, Ana has specific sections for Educators, Tools, and Curation. 

From Ana: "I have been teaching EAP/ESP for over 20 years now, in a a variety of settings, from Universities and Colleges, to Financial companies and Industry. I currently teach in the Middle East and one of my main interests is to encourage learner autonomy, creativity and critical thinking skills through the use of technology."

NOTE

Re-blogged with kind permission from blogbrevity's posterous - 21 Days of Creativity Tools, September 2012, a blogging project initiated by Angela Dunn.