Monday, October 15, 2007

Classroom 2.0 Clarence Fisher

Classroom 2.0 -

Here are the high points.
Clarence Fisher lives in a small, isolated town: Snow Lake, Manitoba but his students have access to the world. Classroom 2.0 is about change - not about the tools. He talks about changing the possibilities in classrooms. Pedagogy comes first - we have to change the way we teach. We can't just teach our kids to memorize. Tools that promote collaboration can help us change how we teach. Collaboration can happen within our school and around the world. He also talks about how important it is to foster good thinking in our students - so that they can be creative workers, responsible citizens. Finally there is the curriculum.

Clarence doesn't just talk. He tells a visual story.

He spoke about the tools he uses in his classroom - blogging, rss, Flickr, Voice Thread. A classroom that is concerned about information and relationships relies on Internet based tools. His classroom is about relationships. Change has to happen regarding power. They are not just consuming information , but also creating information. It gives them another perspective. Day 1 - relationships are important. That sets the tone. The classroom isn't about "me" but about "us" - what we can do together, learn together - and not just in the classroom.

The most important thing that has to change is society's view of education. They think they have an idea of what should happen in classrooms. That has to change. We have to redefine what we think should happen in classrooms. We should think of the classroom as a studio. It should be a place where lots of different things go on. Not everyone is doing the same thing. It may be a bit noisier. When you think of a studio - time doesn't necessarily go in regular blocks. The studio metaphor is better for how we think of classrooms.Paraphrased a quote by Tom Carel? Learning today is a collective effort and not an individual one. Learning is social and we need to give our students opportunity to interact both in and out of the classroom to construct their learning. Alan November - every classroom should be a global communication centre. Learning is something that is networked.

I certainly know, that for me, this has been true. My learning recently, with my webcast academy community has been moving. We all need networks, connections that help us see new things and things in new ways.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Susan,
    Thanks for the overview, much appreciated as I have not tuned into this session. I am in agreement with Clarence's pov and lately I have started to become concerned about how education is going to evolve to a new view of the learning environment.

    I tend to be focused on the "mushrooms"-- details and practicalities of making change process happen. I feel that as a system, we continue to put aside preservice teacher training, in this province at any rate. I would love to hear about some great models whereby new teachers are being taught pedagogy by models using current technologies.

    In my work with many preservice teachers over the years, one student teacher captured her expriences best, in tears, she looked at me and said, "I know and believe all this theory but I just don't know how to make it happen in the classroom."

    They are users themselves, but transferring and combining collaborative technology use with pedagogical meaningfulness is quite another thing.

    My 2 cents.

    ReplyDelete