Vienna, Austria Conference, June, 2008

What a privilege it was to meet with educators from around the world at the AACE Educational Media Conference in Vienna, Austria, this June. I met with teachers from South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, Austria, Australia, Great Britain, and many other countries. From what I heard at the conference, many countries are way ahead of the United States in terms of technology integration. My presentation discussed my doctoral research, illustrating that we as educators are still looking for a picture of the "whole beast" (a throwback to a John Godfrey Saxe poem titled "The Blind Men and the Elephant"), when it comes to forming any pedagogical conclusions about the ways in which technology has impacted today's learners. I presented my research conclusions, and proffered a new learning theory and instructional design model based on the changes in students' new schemata, due to their immersion in the digital age. You can download a PPT of my presentation and view my new instructional design model at http://tinyurl.com/3hh58u.

You can also view some online photos and videos from our European trip, starting at http://web.mac.com/mariesontag1/Europe_Trip/Photos.html, and then just follow the links to see what you are interested in. We visited Salzburg where we took "The Sound of Music" tour, then took a train to Warsaw where we visited with Stas', a student we had living with us for a year when he was 16 - he is now 29! We got to meet his fiancee', Basia, his older brother, and also his parents, for the first time. Stas' parents were so grateful to finally meet the couple who served as their son's "parents" and surrogate family for a year while he lived with our family and went to school here at Leigh High School. His parents don't speak very much English, but we managed to communicate using a Polish/English dictionary, and using the little bit of German that I know, since Stas' mother also knows German. We left as fast friends, and with a deep appreciation for the indomitable spirit of the Polish people. We also visited the ancient city of Krakow, Poland's first capital. I especially enjoyed our visit to the Collegium Maius, one of the oldest universities in Europe (after Prague), dating back to before the 1400's when Copernicus studied there! After four days in Poland, we took a train back to Vienna where we finished our touring and attended the conference. A highlight in Vienna was attending a Mozart concert at the Musikverein, one of the top three concert halls in the world. The music, the acoustics, and the beautiful hall were amazing!

Technology Integration

The Journal of Computing in Teacher Education (Vol. 24/Number 2, Winter 07-08)recently published an issue that focused on some key aspects technology integration. It discussed the renewed and revised emphasis on the construct of something called TPACK that was recently formulated at the 9th Annnual National Technology Leadership Summit. The construct of TPACK helps to underscore the fact that teacher education, especially as it relates to technology integration, must interweave three vital areas of knolwedge: content knowledge, technological knowledge, and pedagogical knowledge, if it hopes to successfully train teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum.

The Journal article pointed out that the construct of TPACK captures two key aspects of technology integration. “First, it emphasizes, through the letters, the three kinds of knowledge (Technology, Pedagogy And Content) that we believe are essential building blocks for intelligent technology integration. Second, and as important, it captures the fact that these three knowledge domains should not be taken in isolation, but rather that they form an integrated whole, a ‘Total PACKage’ as it were, for helping teachers take advantage of technology to improve student learning.”

In the editorial article of the Journal's winter issue, authors Ann D. Thompson and Punya Mishra emphasized that “effective use of technology…involves the ability to make informed decisions on how to take advantage of the affordances of technology…to support specific pedagogies within a particular content area. Thus, teachers need the Total PACKage: the knowledge that lies at the intersection of knowledge of Content, Pedagogy And Technology i.e., TPACK.” They suggest that TPACK can become a shared descriptor of the “powerful ideas involved in creating a synergy among technology, content and pedagogy that honors the interdependence of these three important parts of teacher education and teaching.”

An article in the February 2008 issue of Learning & Leading with Technology also discussed the new focus on TPACK, and provided the above visual from the online wiki of Matthew Koehler and Punya Mishra (www.tpck.org).

Anita McAnear, author of the Learning & Leading with Technology article, emphasized that the visual highlights the fact that “it is not enough to have general technological knowledge, and that staff development focused only on technology will not accomplish much. You can’t separate out content as it is affected by technology, and technology affects what is important to know and be able to do as well as providing tools.” Teacher education must interweave all three areas, content knowledge, technological knowledge, and pedagogical knowledge, if it hopes to successfully train teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum.

I completed my doctorate in Instructional Design for Online Learning in November 2007, and have an opportunity to present my research findings at an AACE Educational Media Conference in June in Vienna, Austria. At that time, I will unveil the new instructional design model I have developed that illustrates my new learning theory (SCCS). The new learning theory and instructional design model are based on my research findings regarding the ways in which technology has impacted the way students learn. I believe that this new learning theory and instructional design model can help to provide a clearer pedagogical picture that instructors can use as they weave content and technological knowledge into their technology integration.

A diagram of the new instructional design model can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/3hh58u

Thornburg and Davidson weigh on on Digital Natives/Immigrants

On April 11-12 I attended the Leadership 3.0 Symposium in Millbrae, CA, put on by ACSA, CUE, and TICAL. I have worked in the classroom for over ten years, and this is the first year I have worked out of the district office. I felt privileged to attend a conference where many of the attendees and presenters were administrators instead of teachers. I almost felt like a "fly on the wall" as I sat in on presentations such as Visalia's discussion of how their district moved from grade-based assessments to standards-based assessments (i.e. sstandards-based report cards vs. letter-grade report cards).

I felt especially gratified to hear a spirited discussion between David Thornburg and Hal Davidson regarding their views on the Digital Immigrants/Digital Natives "debate." Thornburg posted an "apology" in his Oct. 20, 2007 Thornburg Center blog regarding his use of the term digital immigrants. He now believes that "the designation of 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants' suggests a difference that is, at best, largely inaccurate and, at worst, demeaning to educators," and vows to no longer use this term.

Davidson argued that he never thought of this term as an insult. He argued that the designation was useful in several ways. Most importantly, he pointed out, it helps us realize that a significant change has happened due to the affordances of technology. He cited evidence that shows how changing one's environment results in significant changes for individuals. Since many of those who are 35 years of age and under have spent a great deal of their lives in the digital environment, compared to those of us 35 years of age and older, it seems to be a no-brainer that the younger generation will be more impacted.

Thornburg tried to defend his position by pointing out that this "label" suggests that it is the immigrants who need to change. Rather, he insists , it is the SYSTEM of education that needs to change. He believes that calling educators and parents "immigrants" demeans them and gets the focus off the need for systemic change.

As anyone knows who has suffered from the symptoms of an unknown disease for any period of time, only to eventually find out the name of their disease, being able to give a prescriptive name to something provides a valuable service. For one, it validates the person's experience. Second, it gives the experience a "handle" and a starting point from which changes and adjustments can then be made. Labeling students' ability to quickly adapt to technology vs. adults' need to take a little longer to adapt, points out that students' immersion in their digital environment has actually changed the way they think and learn. Yes, the educational system needs to change, but systems also change as individuals change! As argued in my dissertation, students have developed a new social-connectedness and a new cognitive-connectedness due to their immersion in the digital world. Educators need to develop instructional designs that take into account students' new schemata. Yes, the system needs to change, but so do the digital immigrants.

Inserting Photoshop Backgrounds

Saturday, March 8, I will present "Inserting Photoshop Backgrounds" at the 2008 Palm Springs CUE Conference. The handout for this presentation can be found at http://tinyurl.com/29q3ye, or download here. A video of the presentation can be found on TeacherTube at http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=e3457b2718a29dc0018c.

Using the Clone Stamp on Photoshop, students can easily immerse themselves in the curriculum as they become a character in a story, a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Lab, or a musician at Carnegie Hall!

Asking Prensky about Digital Natives/Immigrants

I did get to ask Marc Prensky about the debate surrounding his terms of digital natives and digital immigrants. He said he has asked CUE for an opportunity to respond to Thornburg's article, so I'll be looking for that in a future CUE publication!

CLMS/CLHS/CUE Technology Conference

I will present two workshops at the CLMS/CLHS/CUE Technology Conference Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, 2007. On Friday, Nov. 30 from 1-2pm I will present "Virtual Worlds for Language Arts and Social Studies". The workshop includes time to participate as either a Native American or a white settler in the online virtual world of "Yosemite Valley" during the 1850's. Teachers will learn beginning steps in how to design their own virtual world, and will explore already-created virtual worlds they can use for language arts and social studies. Using a MOO environment, these already-created, free virtual worlds include Poetry KaMOO, Trojan Horse KaMOO, and Aeneid KaMOO. Complete lesson plans and links for the Aeneid KaMOO can be downloaded from Aeneid Lessons.

On Sunday, Dec. 2, from 9:30-10:30am I will present "Multimedia Keys to Reach All Students". This workshop will presents practical ideas on how to harness the power of multimedia to help our diverse student population achieve academic success. This workshop includes a free drawing for CD's of multimedia presentations used in the workshop.

Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

In the Fall 2007 publication of OnCUE, David Thornburg published an article titled The Myth of the Digital Native. He took issue with the notion of digital natives vs. digital immigrants. He says, "I've since come to find that the distinction is deeply flawed. This brief article is, therefore, my apology for having been suckered into a presumed cultural difference that could be expressed as a sound bite. I was wrong."

Prensky's 2001 book, Digital Game-Based Learning (2001, McGraw-Hill), helped popularize the idea that the gap between the digital knowledge of today's students and those 30 years of age and older, could be termed Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants. To relegate this insight to the category of a "sound bite" does a disservice to both Prensky and the concept portrayed by this phrase. Thornburg takes the view that this concept of digital natives vs. digital immigrants somehow places students on a pedestal of thinking that they are, somehow, better equipped to understand technology than those of us 30 years of age and older. At its best, the concept helps us to understand why learning and adapting to technologies seems to come more easily to the younger generation, just as learning a new language is much easier when a person is young. Like the accent many adults learners maintain when speaking a second language, those of us not born in the digital age have adapted to the new technologies, but we still have an "accent" compared to today's students. It's interesting that OnCUE published this article just one month before CUE will help to host the CLMS/CLHS/NHSA & CUE Technology Conference in Monterey, CA (November 30-Necember 2), where Marc Prensky will be one of the featured speakers. Maybe I'll get to ask him about it at the conference.