I’ve just purchased a Smartpen. The cost was about $250 after adding on special notebooks and some of the accessories. This tool is a significant breakthrough for distance learning. I have begun pencasting but am still trying to get the hang of it … Mr Disaster (see below) is a great source of inspiration for me.

Click here to go to a set of instructions that my colleague, Chuck Duncan, physics teacher in KET Distance Learning wrote for his students.
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Arrived back home late last night. The weather is rainy and cold …but I have my coffee.

As stated during our presentation I am posting a url for Tom Welch’s site: www.twelchconsulting.com  It is always great to be able to work together with Tom. The Virtual Learning Magnet project is an awesome endeavor that I’m looking forward to hearing more about.

Lots of good impressions from the conference. I enjoyed presenting even though we had to introduce and discuss technology sans  the technology….

Above all though, it was great talking to so many interesting people afterwards. In the next days I will make some posts relevant to the discussions I took part in.

I was struck  how everybody seems hungry for ideas about how we can better reach our students  in the DL  format. It definitely can be challenging!  But there are many success stories that we need to constantly remind ourselves of. Here is one.

Idea: Perhaps we could compile a list of such stories that anyone could access with the click of a mouse.  In DL we are helping break down geographic barriers that have been obstacles to learning for too long.  I think that we need to continue working on getting the word out about the inspiring stories of many of our students.  Let me know if you have a story that you would like to share!

The DL German Program at KET was awarded the Public Media Innovation Fund Grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) last month! This is an exciting time! Here’s a slide show I created for a group of Highly Qualified Teachers on Zoho (ZohoShow) in order to 1) present a basic overview of our program and the changes that are in store, as well as 2) provide some background on Web 2.0 tools and formats. ZohoShow worked pretty well though there were some quirks and the finished product is less than polished…. At any rate I thought that it would be a good way to demonstrate the efficacy of read/write web-based tools—by using some in the presentation.

You can also click here to go directly to the ZohoShow site if you prefer.

Ok, I guess I should know these things already: For some time now I’ve been considering ways of providing students writing practice in a dl environment. I have thought about blogs and about wikis too…but it wasn’t until last weekend when I happened upon an excellent piece by Kato and Rosen in the November 2007 edition of The Language Educator that I finally felt I could proceed with confidence and begin drawing up a game plan.Their article is called: Improving Proficiency: Building Community: A Wiki Case Study. (For basic information on wikis go here or here. )

Writing has always been one of the most difficult and frustrating areas of language to “teach” because it involves getting students to understand and buy in to the idea that putting thoughts to paper is actually a process. In the traditional classroom that journey can be an uphill battle to say the least. Add some distance to the equation (as in distance learning) and things get even more challenging.

Most assignments attempt to deliberately instill an awareness for the writing process, say, by requiring students to submit a number of drafts before turning in a final composition. But imposing a contrived process will rarely push students to work hard on improving their writing and come to important insights on their own. For that, two important ingredients, audience and purpose, must first be present. The wiki platform can help to ensure that they are.

And then some.

How do wikis do it? Simply by providing a collaborative space where students can get to know each other, become involved in classwork, and exchange (and edit!) ideas. In their article, Kato and Rosen describe their approach to incorporating wikis in Japanese distance-learning courses administered by the Collaborative Language Program (CLP) at the University of Wisconsin. As a part of each assignment, students from diverse geographical locations join learning groups. Groups are made up of about four to five members. The small-size helps keep the interaction focused so that members quickly become acquainted with one another. Assignments are organized in three stages, each of which entails a specific type of posting. They are: 1) Personal response. Students are encouraged to write from their personal lives as they reflect and respond to a set of questions on a particular theme that is being studied. 2) Commenting and questioning (and proofreading.) Students read their own group members’ postings, and post at least 3 questions. They also highlight three errors that they found after reading the postings of one other group. 3) Responding (and correcting.) Students respond to the questions from posting 2 and correct errors that have been marked.

One of the great strengths of this set up, as Kato and Rosen point out, is that students are writing regularly in the target language, as well as correcting and rewriting drafts. The writing process is built in naturally and does not feel artificial because the audience is not only the teacher but a network of fellow language learners.

In addition to these regular target-language writing assignments, students are encouraged to initiate their own wikis in which they discuss in English various aspects of the target culture ( music, food and animé were popular topics.) What an awesome means for cultivating student interest and promoting life-long learning!

By allowing students to connect with each other, and collaborate (and socialize!) wikis provide fertile ground for a community of learners to evolve naturally. The real beauty of this process is that it can occur regardless of geographic location or time-zone. (Though one wonders whether kids might connect and participate more actively because of these factors, i.e. because they are far removed from each other geographically, they are perhaps more interested in being part of a community than regular classroom learners. Distance makes the heart grow fonder! ) In any respect, the wiki platform seems practically custom made to answer to the challenges inherent in k12 distance learning.

Mind maps are great brainstorming tools, of course. Here’s a look at some brainstorming I’ve done using mindmeister. Just click on the map to navigate on your own. Drag the blue box to the right.

Not all distance-learning programs rely on video instruction as a component of their courses. In fact, most do not. Why not? Well for one, videos can be costly. Traditionally video involves a whole team of people who work together writing, producing, and packaging what becomes the final product: a complete series of lessons on tape, DVD, or web.

Video formats have been a part of KET Distance Learning since the beginning. KET’s innovations in video as a teaching medium (see below) allowed students even in the remotest areas of Kentucky the opportunity to connect with other learners of German (as well as other many other subjects)—an opportunity they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Of course some things were different back then… The program was televised live via satellite to participating schools. German classes in the various schools all met at the same time so that they could watch the show when it was broadcast. Is that amazing, or what? Today every school seems to be in its own little universe with a distinct timetable and any variation of block scheduling (with extended 90 minute classes), or regular scheduling (usually 55 minute classes,) or even a combination thereof (alternating between 90 and 55 minutes.) Some schools offer shortened class periods of 45 minutes. Others provide no time at all during the regular school day for German DL classes. Interested students have to meet before or after school and count on office staff somewhere in the building to help act as facilitators to download tests and enter grades. And then there are the students that are learning from home, either through home-schooling or cyber schools (like the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School.)

W H A T has been going on here in the last ten years??!! A revolution?

And it appears that it is just the beginning. This trend in education towards individualized learning with more choice and greater local control will not be going away any time soon. Distance learning programs will have to keep pace.

Ironically enough, live broadcasts back in the nineties allowed for a more interactive format than what we have today. Back then, individual classes at the various schools were encouraged to call in to ask the teacher questions during the broadcast. Each episode featured a “school of the day” that would remain on the line for most of the lesson. Students interacted with the teacher as well as with other students who called in. In addition, KET pioneered a wonderful technological tool to allow student input: the KET keypad, a fully patented device that helped the KET distance program win national recognition (have a look here and here.)

But it was inevitable that the format had to change. School schedules were rapidly diverging from the norm. Dependence on satellite service also became an issue. It became necessary to go to pre-recorded video tapes.

That leads us up to today… Fortunately we can now rely on other means to achieve the all-important interaction that we need. The read- write web, or Web 2.0 , provides all kinds of possibilities. The question here is: Will video instruction continue to play a role, given the changed environment?

I think it can.

One important advantage of the video format is that it brings the image of the teacher to the learner and thus helps remove the distance out of the dl equation. Providing students a way of “getting to know” their teacher can’t hurt and may even make them more receptive to the course content. As different teaching styles work for different teachers, there is probably no one right way to approach video in a K12 DL course. Nevertheless we could probably come up with an outline of best practices for effective video teaching in the 21st century.

What items would be on such a list? At this point I can only come up with a few descriptors for an unfinished list, but I’d definitely like to expand on it. Here’s a start:

Video instruction in K12 distance learning should be…

-divided into shorter segments

-organized in a way that encourages student exploration

- easily accessible (available online)

-focused on student needs in DL (not driven by a textbook agenda)

-conducted by a teacher persona students can relate to

I started teaching when the mimeograph machine had been out of use for only a short time and still remember years earlier as a student smelling the freshly run-off dittos as the teacher passed them out. For these reasons and more I think you would agree I am entitled to provide a brief one-paragraph account here of the evolution of technology in our schools from 15 years ago to the present. Here goes:

Web 1.0 brought a universe of authentic content to our fingertips. It was liberating because it helped open up the walls of the classroom to the outside world. But it was just a first step. We still managed things pretty much as we had before…viewing content as something to be studied, static and separated from our touch. But then a whirlwind began to stir….or, rather, a tsunami? By allowing us to interact with content and create our own, Web 2.0 set off the revolution that we are now in the midst of.

Ho hum. It’s already an old story, I know.

But we need to rise to the occassion. With all the activity and innovation out there today, we have an opportunity as never before to MAKE UP for the distance in dl. We can provide our students–most of them in rural and remote areas–the opportunity to experience something that is a rare find even in the best schools: more personalized learning, collaboration, and interaction with the outside world.

We had better take advantage of this chance.

The rate at which amazing educational tools are being created and refined in just the last months is beyond comprehension. I hope by now you have come to terms with the fact that there is no way that you will be able to keep up with it all– especially if you are a teacher (i.e. you ALREADY have no life.) The good news is there are some great edtech bloggers out there who do a lot of important investigative work for you. My favorites are Will Richardson and Wes Fryer. In the end however you will have to decide on your own which technologies work the best for your unique circumstances.

Where to start? Well, what are the priorities you’ve set out for yourself in your teaching?

As a world language teacher, the idea of helping my students establish connections with young people in the target culture has long been a central part of my approach to instruction. But now that I have gone into distance learning, connections play an even bigger role. Connections are part of what has become the triumvirate of top considerations for me when deciding the road ahead. The formula I’ve come up with goes something like this: connections+collaboration= community. For years, research has shown us that community is essential to students’ feeling of success and satisfaction in distance learning. See here. Thus we have to urgently seek out means of connection and collaboration for our students to ensure that a community can establish itself.

New web technologies provide us with so many great tools. In the last month I have narrowed my focus down to a small assortment that I’m monitoring closely, some older and more familiar than others: Facebook, Ustream, Voicethread, Gabcast, Mindmeister, Google Earth, Yugma, Skype, and Second Life. Though the list is long, I think that each platform offers something unique..and yet is easily accessible and user friendly (Second Life may be a bit of an exception here.) Many of these tools and platforms can be used in conjunction with others. I’ll be commenting on my experiences with them in future posts.

Doubts? Plenty. I do worry about what happens if the community that we’re aiming for does not materialize….Students seem so “maxed out” these days. Will they be willing to set aside time and get actively involved?

How to avoid failure? We’ll build towards community slowly. Providing students opportunities for connections comes first. Of course we will push the opportunities through incentives…. And then collaboration will be required as well.

The need for students to be able to add text comments to class content –like on the youtube site or on Chinesepod (see below) — seems more and more inevitable. The advantages cannot be overlooked…. especially for K12 distance learning where we have to overcome geographical obstacles and work to ensure that students perceive a special sense of belonging and community. In K12 distance learning it is just as important that instruction be delivered with a personal touch as it is in the regular classroom. By writing comments, students will begin interacting with each other and –before you know it–teaching one another. The teacher can chime in too of course.

If that is indeed where we are going then it will be important to draw up a list of expectations and etiquette for acceptable Web 2.0 use. I am not sure if this has already been done, but a colleague sent me this link from the Des Moines Register where they have established an etiquette policy for their readers that evidently has been quite successful.

What we’ll allow and what we won’t.

Spelling out a few rules.

So much to do. I’ve decided that I’m going to borrow from others…

Susan and Thomas describe the Personal Pizza project as a fun way to get back into the language and vocabulary that students learned the year before. That would fit perfectly into the review and intro unit that I plan to start off the new KET German II program with. The Personal Pizza could be the first “event” of the Ger II year and provide a context around which the language (themes/ functions/grammar) to be practiced could be organized.

For the project, the students use (or construct) a pizza box which, when opened, shows a pizza–a personal pizza, mind you–that like any normal pizza is divided into slices (I have just 7 listed below.) In each slice the students provide artwork representations –no writing!–according to the following instructions:

1. describe self

2. describe activities you like to do and activities you dislike to do

3. describe 4 things about school

4. describe your favorite season

5. describe the upcoming weekend (using words perhaps / sometimes)

6. describe a typical day

7. complete the thought After school…

For the event Susan explained how she interviews each student one at a time (usually out in the hallway, while the other students work on something else.) Each student must bring his or her pizza box and point to the artwork while talking about each slice in the target language. The teacher uses a rubric that she checks off as the student presents.

Why is this so exciting? We can now do this in a DL context. Web 2.0 platforms make it possible. I can think of many possibilities, but Voicethread and UStream would be two very strong choices. Both are web-based, user friendly, and interactive. Simple podcasting would work too of course.