Can Somebody Explain This?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Eskow on April 18, 2007 at 5:51pm

Several possibilities suggest themselves to your question(s).

1. The belief that somehow Deuce will make a difference is a fiction.

3. The idea of a growing social "network" defeats its stated purposes of iintimacy and conversation.

4. For many of us newbies Ning and how it is growing here is not an intuitive approach to "social networking." Rather it is already dense, com;icated, and confusing.

Now, to use Prensky's rhetoric, I am a "digital immigrant," and thus easily confused by technologies that "digital natives" find easy and intuitive.

There are dozens of conversations here in which I would be interested, and yet something--perhaps other obligations--keeps me from making this my favorite street corner for hanging out and gossiping.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by nlowell on April 18, 2007 at 7:15pm

Understandable.

But also note that *this* conversation is very old now and when it started there were *no* conversations going.

Nice to see you speaking up. :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by clappingtree on April 18, 2007 at 8:09pm

Hi! I'm not a lurker. Simply have not been hanging around.

I agree with Steve's first reply on the two types of people who sign up for this Classroom 2.0 -- those who already have their own networks and those who don't and can benefit from this. I belong to the former group. Joined this network only just in case. However, at this point, I'm already overwhelmed by the sheer number of networks and don't even have time to lurk around. That is, until now. As more and more people join more networks, I think that there's a need to integrate these many networks to make it easy for people to move around the networks without having to enter/re-enter info (or blog posts), and yet able to tap on the power of networks -- i.e., meeting people and exchanging ideas.

For more info, check out my post on this topic at my own site.

rgds,
Josephine
(aka ClappingTrees)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Daniel Lake on April 19, 2007 at 3:30am

OK, my two cents worth (sorry Dave, do you have that term copyrighted yet?).

I am 'observing' (not 'lurking') in many new environments and places. Second Life, blogs galore, personal but public wikis and so on and so on. As someone here mentioned... "dipping my toes in the water...".

As with many of you, I am a LEARNER first ... this enables me to be a teacher. But the sheer volume of new content and new tools is overwhelming me.

So.. .before I want to teach anyone to use NING.. or subsets of same... I need to learn what it is about, who is here, how it might be valuable to my colleagues and fellow learners (read: students, in my case adult students). I also need to understand if I have anything to bring to the table.

So I am looking at the participants. I am asking.. is this place/tool/experience more valuable than other places/tools/exeriences? Is NING a place to continue to experience? In my learning priorities, does this benefit me.. and by extension.. my students? Do I have enough to offer to be a regularly contributing member of this place? Can this morph into a tool for use in other ways? WHY is NING - and will it stand the test of time? Is it enough to join and be "part" of a community? Should I come out of the shadows and promise my time and presence to this group?

There is so much to learn, so little time, and observation comes first.

So please excuse the laying back and observing. It's the experience we have when we enter a party we stumbled upon, where most folks are strangers to us, and we have to first feel our way around the room.....

(hmmmm... this sparks an idea: Would I rather spend my time LEARNING to meet new folks like you in Second Life, where there can be a "real" room? As I said.. so much to learn, so little time, so many directions!)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeff Branzburg on April 20, 2007 at 4:06am

I am not "lurking." I am "recognizing my own learning style," and learning by observing and reading.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on April 20, 2007 at 10:07am

What I'd like to say is that there is definitely an adjustment period. For us "oldsters," this is different from anything we've done anytime in our educational careers. I'm an educator who's pretty open-minded about new sorts of learning, for myself as well as for the kids, and even with this attitude, I find there are stages to go through.
This year I've plunged into a number of things, most notably Moodle, for class work and discussions. That was a huge change. I gradually increased the amount of our writing/thinking work that used to be on paper to work that's posted on the site, and therefore, interactive. Oh my gosh--what a paradigm shift. You mean it's not just the kids turning in work to me for corrections/comments/additions, but instead is the kids turning out work for our class, parents, school, and even wider audiences? You mean we can all react to each other's work? You mean we can work together on papers and projects, from different locations, at any time? This is big. I can't even describe how revolutionary this is. (But you know, because you're in Classroom 2.0!)
Getting increasingly excited about the power of this, I started a blog, then a Wiki. I "joined" Classroom 2.0 (in quotes because I was one of those watchers who didn't yet respond).
And then--oh dear, it all started to crash. I crashed. I experienced a sort of anticipatory exhaustion, thinking about what's possible. It's like I stepped up the steps on the staircase expecting to get to a platform, and instead found myself launched into a black hole, an abyss. What next?
It has been hard to regain a sense of control or even direction about what's going on for me as an educator. I had to reach into my bag of tricks for LD kids, who run on complete overwhelm much of the time. Yes, considering myself as one of those learners--running on total overload--provided a refreshing perspective, because I could then administer the appropriate interventions! Ok, take it easy, one step at a time, find ways to get focused, rely on kind human resources around you, simplify, and have some fun.
So that's where I am now. There was a bit of soaring through the abyss, but it seems to be passing. I've found some calm after the initial enthusiasm and exploration, and am now ready for a new level of participation and involvement.
Stages....

Thanks for asking a question that makes us reflect upon what it takes to move forward!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on April 20, 2007 at 3:36pm

Thanks--good advice. I think I do this, and there are always more things to learn about how to help kids (and adults) learn. How would you think I could best "share the reality of my learning experience"? I'd like to get some more ideas about how to do this.
Talk out loud about my own learning?
Show, in demonstration form, how I go about learning?
Just participate?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on April 23, 2007 at 9:35am

I love it. It's like a "choose your own adventure" way of approaching the learning session. It's a good and workable technique for a teacher who's really "on" in the moment, and who has established a THINKING sort of classroom. (Reference: Intellectual Character by Ron Ritchhart. The lesson plan would then include a "preparation of pathways," a way of thinking things through for what might happen, and practicing the mapping that could occur.
In an ideal world, we'd have time to practice with other teachers. It would be a playful sort of practicing--
Thanks for the ideas!
Not to be too controversial, (well, maybe yes, being controversial--in content, anyhow--) evolutionary theory would lend itself well to this. As would history (historiography).

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard on April 23, 2007 at 10:33am

I'm guilty! My name is Richard and I'm a lurker. Hello Richard.
I had never heard of classroom 2.0, school 2.0... etc. until I stumbled up on this group. I have heard of blogs, but have never "gotten" why anyone would write one, or more to the point, why anyone would read one. I'd heard of Wikipedia, but not other types of wikis. And I've never heard of using this stuff with students. As a teacher who has enjoyed his reputation as an early adopter, I felt left in the cold, but really intrigued. So, I'm doing a lot of reading. I'm reading your posts here and reading articles on other sites to learn as much about this as I can. I'm receiving quite an education, but I'm not sure at this point if I'm going to be able to integrate blogs and wikis into my classroom. I have three computers for 22 fourth graders with very limited keyboarding experience. We also have a lab, but it's almost completely booked for standardized testing prep. (Thanks, George). I'm going to have to read some more and do some creative thinking to see what I can come up with. The reason though, why I'm lurking is because I have nothing to add to the discussion. I'm not doing any of this stuff with my students yet. I'm just beginning.

One idea I've come up with so far is to post my weekly newsletter on my website as a blog. I'll encourage parents to comment. I don't know if they will or not. I'll also assign a few kids each week to comment on the activities described in the newsletter articles. I know it's not as dynamically interactive as many of the activities discussed here. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Davis on April 23, 2007 at 8:53pm

Richard,
What I have found is that by doing this yourself you will have something to add to the discussion. I think it starts with your own productivity and then leads to what you can do with students. For me, so far, the real power of Web 2.0 has been for me as a person, but I think that adds to me as a teacher. I guess it is the trickle down theory of Classroom 2.0.

Don't sell yourself short. Starting with a blog is exactly how I have started and I already have a lot to say (ok I always have a lot to say, so I guess that isn't saying much ;) I would also suggest that you set up an aggregator and start reading a bunch of blogs. Seeing how other people are using these tools has helped me to find my own way. In any case, welcome.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeremiah Patterson on April 23, 2007 at 9:10pm

Not exactly Bueller, but maybe Cameron Frye here. Here's my story. I got into this thing a while ago, doing just that -- lurking. I eventually gathered enough hubris to start my own blog. Eventually I was pointed in this direction. It was almost as though the whole process started over. I just sat there, on my hands, for about three weeks, reading through bloglines everything posted here. Until...

I had a problem. And so I posted, last night. And I got some great responses. And I am still hoping for a lot more. So I understand the hesitation folks have -- they're mine as well.

But I also get your frustrations. They're mine too. As one who often finds himself checking my stats on typepad at least daily, hoping for interaction, I feel the frustration as well.

My only thought is to participate like hell when I'm interested -- like now -- and hope my own questions are interesting enough.

Clear as mud?

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page