http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/epic
I have to admit that this presentation was a little too "1984" for me. Also I couldn't find a date of publication, so I wasn't sure when the history in the video became conjecture. Actually, to be honest, I don't know enough about the history of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon to know if any of it was actual history.
That's the lesson of the internet, though, isn't it? There's lots of stuff out there that seems real, but how do we figure out what is true and what is fiction?
I think that web 3.0 offers amazing possibilities, but I think we need to make sure that it doesn't just become another way to waste our lives sitting in front of a screen all day. I assume that the final image in the video was meant to be ironic. Everyone is linked all the time and yet no one thinks to look outside to see what is going on in their lives. Do I really need a friend to email me a picture of the blue sky to tell me what the weather is like? Couldn't I just look outside? It reminds me of the Disney film "Wall-E" in which everyone has moving chairs to transport them and a personal computer screen right in front of them all the time. In one scene, a character falls off of her chair right in front of the pool and exclaims, "We have a POOL?" They have spent their entire lives doing nothing, seeing nothing, and experiencing nothing. It's funny in the film, but sad at the same time.
I think this is the danger of Web 3.0. Yes, it will do amazing things, but are they things that really need to be done? Will they enrich our lives, or just fill them up with more meaningless time wasters? Time will tell.
In the meantime, I am off to waste some valuable time on Facebook! :-)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
OJS Reading Tools
I really like the concept of the reading tools within the Open Journal Systems. These would make it much easier to use in a classroom. For example, if you click on the link "How to cite item," it links you to a site that gives the citation in the proper format. "Supplementary files" offers other downloadable materials that discuss the same topic. If a student doesn't know the meaning of a term used in the article, he/she can use "look up terms" either by typing it in or cutting and pasting it and the definition is right there.
I think that tools such as these would allow students to see the system as useful. Anything that makes their lives easier is always a hit!
I think that tools such as these would allow students to see the system as useful. Anything that makes their lives easier is always a hit!
OA
While I think the idea of having easier access to academic writings is great, I wonder about the writers of these works. From what I understand in Esposito's article, money would have to come from research grants or the universities themselves rather than from the actual publication. I wonder though, if these writers would be compensated enough?
At the same time, as a student, I would love to be able to access scholarly articles without having to access databases like EBSCO. It would make my life easier if I could just Google the article and start reading.
I agree with Esposito's assertion, though, that this isn't the same as music sharing. Most of the writings that we are talking about here would not be of interest to the general population. Half the time I don't even know what these scholarly articles are trying to say, so I doubt that the average guy off the street is going to be interested in them!
At the same time, as a student, I would love to be able to access scholarly articles without having to access databases like EBSCO. It would make my life easier if I could just Google the article and start reading.
I agree with Esposito's assertion, though, that this isn't the same as music sharing. Most of the writings that we are talking about here would not be of interest to the general population. Half the time I don't even know what these scholarly articles are trying to say, so I doubt that the average guy off the street is going to be interested in them!
Some great sites to keep in mind
Here are a few links to sites that I found interesting or useful:
TED www.ted.com/
TeacherTube www.teachertube.com/
StumbleUpon www.stumbleupon.com/
Vimeo www.vimeo.com/
Podcasting 101 for Teacher-Librarians http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr06/Eash.shtml
100 free web tools for teachers www.smartteaching.org%252Fblog%252F2008%252F08%252F100-awesome-free-web-tools-for-elementary-teachers%252F
100 free web tools for lifelong learners www.advantageedu.com%252Fblog%252F2008%252F09%252F100-useful-free-web-tools-for-lifelong-learners%252F
Gutencarte www.gutenkarte.org/catalog
Audacity (editing and recording sounds) audacity.sourceforge.net/
Kathy Schrock's guide for educators kathyschrock.net/
50 Useful Blogging tools for teachers www.teachingtips.com/blog/2008/07/21/50-useful-blogging-tools-for-teachers/
Flickr www.flickr.com/
Twitter Earth twittearth.com/
Interactive world map (connecting to news stories) specials.washingtonpost.com/timespace/world/132/
widgets www.widgetbox.com/
Library Thing (catalogue your library) www.librarything.com/
TED www.ted.com/
TeacherTube www.teachertube.com/
StumbleUpon www.stumbleupon.com/
Vimeo www.vimeo.com/
Podcasting 101 for Teacher-Librarians http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr06/Eash.shtml
100 free web tools for teachers www.smartteaching.org%252Fblog%252F2008%252F08%252F100-awesome-free-web-tools-for-elementary-teachers%252F
100 free web tools for lifelong learners www.advantageedu.com%252Fblog%252F2008%252F09%252F100-useful-free-web-tools-for-lifelong-learners%252F
Gutencarte www.gutenkarte.org/catalog
Audacity (editing and recording sounds) audacity.sourceforge.net/
Kathy Schrock's guide for educators kathyschrock.net/
50 Useful Blogging tools for teachers www.teachingtips.com/blog/2008/07/21/50-useful-blogging-tools-for-teachers/
Flickr www.flickr.com/
Twitter Earth twittearth.com/
Interactive world map (connecting to news stories) specials.washingtonpost.com/timespace/world/132/
widgets www.widgetbox.com/
Library Thing (catalogue your library) www.librarything.com/
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Do Schools Kill Creativity? Response to his words
This was an amazing speech. I agree with him entirely in his view on our schools, and our world and how we undermine creativity and the arts. The amazing part of this is that what joins us together as human beings is what is often expressed in the arts, and what is learned in school is often devoid of personal meaning or human connection.
A number of his quotes resonated with me:
1. "Creativity is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status."
This is so true. In fact I would argue that creativity is simply another form of literacy, another way of making sense of ourselves and the world. Sadly, our system doesn't teach kids that way. I had an interesting discussion with a teacher from my school a few weeks ago. She is currently teaching an English 10 Honours class, and most of the students were in my English 9 Honours class last year. I asked her how they were doing and she replied that they were probably the lowest ability group she had ever had in honours, and that their only real interest was in creative writing. She then admitted, with obvious guilt, that she allowed them to do a certain amount of creative writing because these assignments were the only ones she knew they would finish. At the time I didn't think much of her comments, other than to agree that they had loved creative writing last year as well. After seeing this speech, however, I began to think about how even English teachers see "creative" writing as somehow less than essay writing or report writing. And how ridiculous is this? What do people buy to take with them to the beach: a collection of literary essays or a novel? How many hundreds of millions of dollars are spent around the world each day by people buying music which contains creatively written lyrics? Would we spend as much to listen to someone singing a research report? Of course not. Then why is creative writing seen as a lesser form of writing? I guess this view is why so many song writers and novelists were once outsiders or even failures in the school system. Interesting that the school system failed them (by either meaning of this statement) and yet many of them go on to become incredibly successful artists.
2. "if you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never be creative." This made me think of my eldest son who, at the age of four, became afraid to use scissors at preschool because he "didn't want to make a mistake." He begged me to do the cutting for him and when I refused and told him not to worry about making a mistake, he burst into tears. Somehow, even in a wonderful preschool, he had learned the lesson that mistakes are bad. But this has made him incredibly successful in elementary school because he is desperate to get the "right" answer. His brother, on the other hand, has little fear of making mistakes in art and is incredibly creative. In his academic subjects, however he struggles because he would rather be cutting strips of paper into grass, or mixing new paint colors on a canvas than learning how to read.
3. "We don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it as we are educated"
Again, I can see this every day in my students. I can remember one day in my first year of teaching when I asked my English 12's to create a collage. (I don't remember which literary work we were studying at the time, but it had something to do with that) They were shocked and suspicious. Why would grade 12's create a collage instead of writing a paragraph or an essay? What could they possibly learn from creating a word or picture collage? Other teachers, when they found out about it, even chided me for being a such a rookie and suggested that next year I would "know better" than to give such a childish assignment to my senior students. I still stand by the concept of that assignment today. The students, once they got past the "huh?" stage, were totally into the assignment. They created some fascinating collages, many of which I kept to show future classes, and they had a good time doing it. The saddest part is that it took so much effort to convince them that they could still be creative.
4. Gillian Lynne -- Her story actually brought tears to my eyes. The image of that little girl dancing in that room and the reality that ADHD medications probably strip us of kids like her every day was very painful. I know that there are some children who do need those medications (my autistic niece comes to mind), but many others are medicated simply to help them fit into a system that wasn't built for them. I know so many parents who struggle with the reality that their child on medication is a different person, but they feel pressured to keep them on the meds so they won't be removed from school. At the same time, I know what it is like to have students in my classes of 30 who are unable to sit in a desk, or stop talking, or do any work. I have wished many times that different children would be put on medication so that the rest of us could have a break from their outbursts.
I think we do a better job of helping those kids who are skilled in trades. They are more likely to graduate now than ever before. In one school in our district, they can even take BCIT training right at the high school. Where we fall down, is in the arts. My sons who are in grade one and two have never taken drama, and only get music once a week. While they do a lot of art projects, I don't see much open creativity in the arts. In kindergarten, one of the play time stations was an art easel where the kids could draw or paint whatever they wanted. Another station allowed them to make projects using items like feathers, beads, strips of paper, and whatever else they could find in the art box. There were never any direction, just full on creativity. My sons used to come home with beautiful creations that we hung all over the house. Now they just bring home completed math worksheets and crafts that all look pretty much the same from student to student. Why is it that art becomes a glorified craft class, music is a once a week treat (like library time), and drama is nowhere to be found. As for dance, they did one mini unit in their phys ed course on square dancing and that was it. They weren't even allowed to just dance to music -- even the dance they learned relied on the ability to follow directions!
How much do we crush the spirits of these kids when we tell them that the things they excel at are not really as important as math skills or reading ability?
A number of his quotes resonated with me:
1. "Creativity is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status."
This is so true. In fact I would argue that creativity is simply another form of literacy, another way of making sense of ourselves and the world. Sadly, our system doesn't teach kids that way. I had an interesting discussion with a teacher from my school a few weeks ago. She is currently teaching an English 10 Honours class, and most of the students were in my English 9 Honours class last year. I asked her how they were doing and she replied that they were probably the lowest ability group she had ever had in honours, and that their only real interest was in creative writing. She then admitted, with obvious guilt, that she allowed them to do a certain amount of creative writing because these assignments were the only ones she knew they would finish. At the time I didn't think much of her comments, other than to agree that they had loved creative writing last year as well. After seeing this speech, however, I began to think about how even English teachers see "creative" writing as somehow less than essay writing or report writing. And how ridiculous is this? What do people buy to take with them to the beach: a collection of literary essays or a novel? How many hundreds of millions of dollars are spent around the world each day by people buying music which contains creatively written lyrics? Would we spend as much to listen to someone singing a research report? Of course not. Then why is creative writing seen as a lesser form of writing? I guess this view is why so many song writers and novelists were once outsiders or even failures in the school system. Interesting that the school system failed them (by either meaning of this statement) and yet many of them go on to become incredibly successful artists.
2. "if you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never be creative." This made me think of my eldest son who, at the age of four, became afraid to use scissors at preschool because he "didn't want to make a mistake." He begged me to do the cutting for him and when I refused and told him not to worry about making a mistake, he burst into tears. Somehow, even in a wonderful preschool, he had learned the lesson that mistakes are bad. But this has made him incredibly successful in elementary school because he is desperate to get the "right" answer. His brother, on the other hand, has little fear of making mistakes in art and is incredibly creative. In his academic subjects, however he struggles because he would rather be cutting strips of paper into grass, or mixing new paint colors on a canvas than learning how to read.
3. "We don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it as we are educated"
Again, I can see this every day in my students. I can remember one day in my first year of teaching when I asked my English 12's to create a collage. (I don't remember which literary work we were studying at the time, but it had something to do with that) They were shocked and suspicious. Why would grade 12's create a collage instead of writing a paragraph or an essay? What could they possibly learn from creating a word or picture collage? Other teachers, when they found out about it, even chided me for being a such a rookie and suggested that next year I would "know better" than to give such a childish assignment to my senior students. I still stand by the concept of that assignment today. The students, once they got past the "huh?" stage, were totally into the assignment. They created some fascinating collages, many of which I kept to show future classes, and they had a good time doing it. The saddest part is that it took so much effort to convince them that they could still be creative.
4. Gillian Lynne -- Her story actually brought tears to my eyes. The image of that little girl dancing in that room and the reality that ADHD medications probably strip us of kids like her every day was very painful. I know that there are some children who do need those medications (my autistic niece comes to mind), but many others are medicated simply to help them fit into a system that wasn't built for them. I know so many parents who struggle with the reality that their child on medication is a different person, but they feel pressured to keep them on the meds so they won't be removed from school. At the same time, I know what it is like to have students in my classes of 30 who are unable to sit in a desk, or stop talking, or do any work. I have wished many times that different children would be put on medication so that the rest of us could have a break from their outbursts.
I think we do a better job of helping those kids who are skilled in trades. They are more likely to graduate now than ever before. In one school in our district, they can even take BCIT training right at the high school. Where we fall down, is in the arts. My sons who are in grade one and two have never taken drama, and only get music once a week. While they do a lot of art projects, I don't see much open creativity in the arts. In kindergarten, one of the play time stations was an art easel where the kids could draw or paint whatever they wanted. Another station allowed them to make projects using items like feathers, beads, strips of paper, and whatever else they could find in the art box. There were never any direction, just full on creativity. My sons used to come home with beautiful creations that we hung all over the house. Now they just bring home completed math worksheets and crafts that all look pretty much the same from student to student. Why is it that art becomes a glorified craft class, music is a once a week treat (like library time), and drama is nowhere to be found. As for dance, they did one mini unit in their phys ed course on square dancing and that was it. They weren't even allowed to just dance to music -- even the dance they learned relied on the ability to follow directions!
How much do we crush the spirits of these kids when we tell them that the things they excel at are not really as important as math skills or reading ability?
Do Schools Kill Creativity? My initial thoughts
I would have to answer yes to this question. I don't think most teachers mean to kill it, but I think the system as a whole does a pretty good job of smothering it by the time most kids leave grade 12. Schools are designed to create adults who will conform to society. We reward conformity. Got the same answer in exactly the same way as everyone else? Well done. Oh, you looked at it completely differently and got a different answer? No marks for you. Even the nonconformists in a school must conform to our view of what a nonconformist should look and act like, so we can label them properly: goth, emo, angry rebel, etc, etc. This is why the truly creative souls are often lost in the system. Funding for libraries is continually cut; arts programs receive less and less funding; students are pressured by their parents to take "real courses" to prepare them for university or a job. All of this comes at the expense of a child's creativity.
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