Cognitive Surplus

Clay Shirky presents the idea in this TED talk of creating a culture of generosity and using digital media for the purpose of civic improvement.  He describes the example of the development of Ushahidi as an open source site to provide important information in the political context in Kenya.  He underscores the importance of encouraging and supporting acts from people that are intrinsically motivated to contribute to society and how this movement has incredible potential to change the world. 
In education, accessing digital sites where people can share ideas and strategies is another form of collaboration that will further promote student achievement.  While we continue to implement collaborative structures at our school sites and across our districts, using digital media is another opportunity that offers an abundance of resources.  Celebrating the pioneer teachers who learn about and engage in these new methods of accessing information will create a culture that may invite others to take part, further extending their own growth as educators. 

Information Bubbles - Pariser clip

This is a great TED talk clip discussing the shift happening on the Internet and our need to be aware of the information that is withheld to us and not readily supplied in our own searches.  Pariser makes a compelling argument in describing how the Internet at one point was viewed as a path to connecting us to the world, but how now many Internet news sources are working on personalization.  He describes how this might help in our efforts to address things that are pertinent to our own individual lives, but we also must not be insulated from those things that we need to know.  He makes the analogy in referring to our access to information on the Internet as both receiving information "vegetables" and "junk food" and how it is important for us to have balance. 
As a user of digital media, it is critical for people to have this awareness in order to be informed users and still be exposed to bigger global issues as members of society.  His appeal to Google and others is for them to write this social responsibility aspect into the code itself so that all will still have access to these bigger issues, but I still question who will decide what it important for all to see and what will still be filtered out.  I believe this approach, along with a strong awareness for users is critical as we continue to educate our youth on the responsibility associated with using digital media.       

Invictus

This movie was a means to demonstrate the leadership approach taken by
Nelson Mandela as he began his presidency in South Africa. It depicted him as
being consistent with his message of unifying the nation under a common goal.
His purpose was clear in tearing down the barriers, encouraging and modeling
forgiveness, and being relentless in working towards reestablishing their country
to be great. By appealing to the nationalism of all South African citizens, he was
clear in his explanation of the “why” and inspired everyone to follow in their work
of unification. I appreciated the quote where Mandela addresses the warnings of his
assistant in his actions to support the controversial Springboks, by saying that when
he is fearful to lead in a difficult situation, he should no longer be leading at all. This
sentiment speaks to the challenges leaders face and the courage needed to press
forward, even when many others may not support the direction taken.
The team captain also demonstrated leadership skills as he too gained a deeper
understanding of the “why” and imparted this on his own teammates. By doing so,
he led his own team on a journey of nationalism and pride that was demonstrated
to the world through their public recognition and support as they became the Rugby
World Cup champions.

Drive Questions

Pink, D. H. (2009).  Drive

Discuss a time when you’ve seen one of the seven deadly flaws of carrots and sticks in action. What lessons might you or others learn from the experience? Have you seen instances when carrots and sticks have been effective.

I have seen the use of rewards and punishments as producing short term outcomes.  As people feel they are in competition for the "carrots", often times, the work accomplished becomes the bare minimum and trust is sacrificed in an increasingly individualized race to acquire the prize.  With students, this often times looks like students working towards finishing first or being the best, bypassing collaboration or supportive relationships with peers. 

I believe it is important to maintain the real goal of learning for understanding, collaboration, communication and meaning in order to see long lasting sustainable growth with our students. 

As you think about your own best work, what aspect of autonomy has been most important to you? Autonomy over what you do (task), when you do it (time), how you do it (technique), or with whom you do it (team)?...

With autonomy comes ownership and a real investment in the work.  Knowing my district leadership trusted me in making the decision over what professional development I was going to provide my staff gave me the confidence to move forward.  When I had the autonomy to guide the work I did with my staff, I felt the most effective.  I was passionate about the training I was providing and committed to support the implementation.  I wanted to see success and I was doing everything I could to ensure it.  I felt personally invested in seeing the training I had provided come to life in classrooms and I did all I could to facilitate that occurrence. 

Learning in New Media Environments

In this awesome TED talk video, Wesch challenges the existing structure of education and the discord occurring between the delivery of content in an age of almost limitless connectivity.  He underscores how the very physical design of traditional classrooms sends a message of compliance and learning as work that should be done individually without interaction.  He further argues how digital media has opened doors and freed access to information. 
His example of co-constructing meaning was inspiring.  The way he shared the learning among his students demonstrated the power of having purpose and ownership of the knowledge being acquired.  Through his approach, students not only learned about the topic, but they were contributing to the existing knowledge base.  By using digital media, their work had a higher purpose as it reached a global audience.
In my district, we have launched a 1:1 ipad initiative that is extremely exciting.  This presentation exemplifies the potential for student engagement through the use of technology.  I believe this is our goal as a district and I cannot wait until I begin to see this occur at my school.  I also realize the amount of professional development and support it will take for our current teachers to be at a point of proficiency to reform our delivery of instruction to truly maximize the technology we have in our schools. 
It is an exciting time!