Katkin’s weBLOG

In January of this year, I quite figuratively stumbled into a session with David Warlick at the Ontario Library Association’s 2008 Super Conference in Toronto. I had arrived for my Friday morning session only to discover that it had been cancelled because the presenter had taken ill during the night. The convenor at the door suggested we attend David Warlick’s presentation over in the next venue because he had a large ballroom and could probably fit a few more in. It seemed to be the thing to do, so I followed along with the other displaced conference delegates.

When I arrived, I discovered that the ballroom was indeed large, but there was a reason for that – there was almost nowhere left to sit, except the front row. I began to wonder who was this man and why hadn’t I ever heard of him before? Over the next hour and fifteen minutes, my questions were answered and I was already scoping out how I could juggle my conference program to hear his next session with online education expert Stephen Heppell.

David Warlick’s presentation entitled Harnessing the changing shape of information was probably the beginning of my journey to understanding what it means to be literate in the 21st century. The idea that I was a 20th century teacher, raised on 19th century pedagogy, entrusted with preparing 21st century learners for “a future that we can not clearly describe” was daunting, to say the least. As I sat in that front row, just how much teaching and learning was changing, started to unfold.

During the conference, I noticed that many of the presenters, Warlick included, were very interested in attending other sessions when they were not presenting. So it was not unusual to be sitting next to or behind someone who had been on stage in your previous session. I surmised that the presenters’ lounge must have been empty most of the time. It was apparent that the delegates were not the only ones attending this conference to learn.

When I checked out David Warlick’s 2¢ worth blog after returning home, I was very interested to read the blog entries he had posted during the conference, including a live blog reaction to Stephen Heppell’s opening plenary session, Learning at the crossroads. Blogging as a vehicle for initiating, customizing and sustaining professional development was already well underway.

Professional Development in the 21st century

David Warlick refers to the 21st century as the “age of learning.” He uses the term “learning literacy” to describe the information environment to help yourself learn what you need to know, to do what you need to do (from “Together for learning: Transforming school libraries in Ontario, 2008 Draft).

Similarly, in The world is flat, Thomas Friedman states “the first and most important ability you can develop in a flat world is the ability to ‘learn how to learn’ – to constantly absorb, and teach yourself new ways of doing old things or new ways of doing new things… In such a world, it is not only what you know but how you learn that will set you apart.”

In the 21st century, professional development is also becoming more personal and more accessible through organizations like the OLA’s Education Institute where you can choose the mode of delivery that best meets your needs – PD online, audio, web, face-to-face or even “to-go” such as a podcast. “Professional development that doesn’t break the bank,” presented by Carolyn Minor, Sherri Vokey, and Kathleen Williams, and sponsored by the Manitoba Library Association, discusses how important professional development is in changing times. The presenters refer to blogs as “cost savvy and timely options” for professional development. Blogs are also an appealing format for professional learning because they can be scanned for the most up-to-date news and there are so many opportunities to learn generated from their content.

In “Supporting teachers’ development of extended social networks for teaching and learning,” (from Web 2.0: new tools, new schools), Christine Greenhow states that “if we hope teaching practises will shift to benefit from Web 2.0 technologies, we ought to reexamine our own professional development models and the examples we are providing” (p.109). She adds that “our professional development models should involve teachers in how we use and struggle to use such tools meaningfully and how we ourselves wrestle with and resolve such issues” (p.110). If teachers are to use these new tools to their full potential, they will need to do more than just use them in their lessons for students. They will need to examine how these tools can support student learning and enhance their own teaching. According to Solomon and Schrum, the best way to do this is for teachers “to use the technology to learn how to use the technology” (p.111).

Blogging and Professional Development

In Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, Will Richardson refers to blogs as a “truly constructivist tool for learning.” Teachers can use blogs to create their own content which becomes part of the web and used by others. Blogs “expand the walls of the classroom” and allow teachers to engage in more powerful collaborations with educators all over the world. Blogs can be organized and archived, for future use and professional development. Since they are searchable, teachers can easily access the information they need. Blogs give teachers “a voice in the conversation” from wherever they are in the world. They give teachers the opportunity to analyze what they read and synthesize new ideas.

In Staff development 2.0, David Jakes predicts that professional development for teachers will need to “evolve with changing technology,” with an “emphasis on accountability and customized learning.” He believes that web tools like blogs “make it possible for educators to define their own personal learning environments.”

As a professional development facilitator, the blog is a versatile and economical Web 2.0 tool that teachers can use to further their own personal learning. David Jakes refers to Web 2.0 resources like blogs as “the raw material for rapid personal growth, because they allow educators to see what others are writing, reading and finding on the web.”

Advantages of blogging for professional development

• connectivity (blogs encourage teachers to connect with and learn from their colleagues, no matter where they are, as long as they have Internet access)
• expert advice (blogs give teachers the opportunity to contact experts in the field of education because distance is no longer a barrier)
• professional conversation (blogs promote dialogue and discussion among educators, ideas can be “refined, developed or expanded”)
• professional learning networks (blogs allow teachers to build their own PLNs where they can focus on a topic of interest, ask questions, learn from each other, and comment on each others’ thoughts; professional development viewed as organic and ongoing, rather than as a “one-shot experience”)
• transparency (”blogs enable us to see others’ thinking – or lack of thinking” – Michael Guhlin from Blogs: webs of connected learning)
• hyperlinking (blogs use hyperlinking to bring teachers to new sites and new ideas; hyperlinking allows teachers to build a personal library of favorite online resources, as well as gain easy access to the blogs and ideas of others
• RSS (blogs can subscribe to RSS feeds, providing teachers with the most recent information on a subject of interest)
• access (blogs often provide teachers with “access to conference sessions or meetings that they may not be able to attend”)
• reflection (blogs encourage reflection which is “critical to professional growth and development” – David Jakes from Staff development 2.0)
• economical (blogging is a cost efficient alternative to attending expensive conferences)

(Source: Solomon, G and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: ISTE).

A quality exemplar from “The Fischbowl”

In a June 2006 weblogg-ed entry entitled “Blogs for professional development,” Will Richardson refers to Karl Fisch, the Director of Technology at Arapahoe High School in Centennial Colorado. In his post, Richardson describes how teachers at Arapahoe High School have crafted “a staff development program with real vision, and how blogs have become pretty central to how Karl Fisch and his teachers reflect on their practise and create community around common goals.” The Fischbowl is “a staff development blog for teachers exploring constructivism and 21st century learning skills.” As a structure for professional development, the Fischbowl succeeds because…

• program is funded by several grants
• teachers receive release time to meet and focus on their goals
• teachers are encouraged to reexamine their beliefs about education, question how they are teaching, and reflect on their current practice
• teachers learn to work together better in order to support student learning
• teachers freely discuss issues students are facing in times of change
• teachers maintain both personal and class blogs to document their learning

Revelations

Learn to blog

I am learning to blog which allows me… to self-direct and take responsibility for my own learning, to create a blogroll of blogs I follow, to use RSS to receive the newest information, to bookmark my favorite sites, to hyperlink to new knowledge, to personalize my electronic space, to organize my information, and to think both critically and creatively.

Blog to learn

I am blogging to learn which allows me… to connect with others, to share with others, to voice my ideas, to listen to what others are saying, to comment on what I read, to build professional learning communities, to collaborate with others, to appreciate the opinions of others, to challenge old ways of teaching, to consider new possibilities, and to reflect on my practise.

Learning to learn

The opportunity to blog this fall has afforded many online professional development opportunities that have resulted from the research of my classmates and professor, as well as my own. The reciprocity of the Web 2.0 landscape enables us to learn from so many different sources and in so many different ways. The network of links, media and web sites that builds and evolves from a personal blog is unique, yet shared… vast, yet fruitful.

The theme of the Ontario Library Association’s 2009 Super Conference is “You live. You learn” and will focus on “three vital stages of learning,” all of which can be facilitated through personal blogging and reading the blogs of others:

1. learning to learn
2. deepening and broadening learning
3. self-directed learning

This year when I return to the 2009 Super Conference, I will be better prepared to make the most of this learning experience. I will take re-newed interest in the conference blog, not only as a follower, but as a participant, as well. I know that the presenters’ names will hold more meaning this time and I will know who Will Richardson is when I enter the Friday session to hear the presentation entitled “A web of connections: why the read/write web changes everything.”