1. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
The Open Classroom
Constructing an identity in the blogosphere while reflecting on learning and teaching and technology...
S A T U R D A Y , F E B R UA R Y 0 2 , 2 0 0 8 About Me
1001 Flat World Tales Name:
Jo McLeay
Just getting my Year 7s started on a global collaboration project: Location:
the 1001 Flat World Tales. This project was begun by Clay Burell Melbourne,
last year and sounded lots of fun so this year I thought I would Australia
invite my students to participate. This is some information from the I am a teacher of English in a
Flat World Tales blog: secondary school and completing
a Masters of Education. Email me:
The 1001 Flat World Tales Writing Project is a creative writing
jbmcleay AT gmail DOT com Or
workshop made up of schools around the world, connected by
contact me on MSN (jo_mcleay)
one wiki. This blog will be the home to the award-winning
stories from each group of schools that participate in the View my complete profile
workshop, different topics, different grade-levels, different
cultures, brought together by the power of stories.So, enjoy
the tales, click around, meet the authors — and check out
their blogs!
There are four schools participating from the US and Canada so it
should be lots of fun as well as creative, and not to mention giving
the students practice in collaborating and writing. The wiki says it
well:
This project takes the traditional language arts quot;Writing
Workshopquot; into the 21st Century in three easy (but radical)
ways:
1. It replaces pencil and paper (or MS Word) drafting,
revising, and peer editing with a better (and simpler)
writing tool: a wiki;
2. It expands the options for peer response and peer
editing beyond the walls of your classroom--and your
clock, city, nation, and culture--by enabling peer
feedback, editing, and connection with students from
around the world;
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2. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
3. It replaces the quot;authenticquot; publishing of the 20th
century classroom--hallways, newsletters, literary
journals, etc--with authentic publishing in the 1001 Flat
World Tales quot;blookquot;: a potentially endless series of
stories from students around the world, inter-linked on
individual student blogs.
There is information on online safety and digital etiquette, as well
as a hall of fame to recognise great writing . It is a well thought out
project with potentially great educational benefits. It is a privilege to
be able to be involved.
Technorati tags: Clay Burell, 1001 Flat World Tales, Collaboration New
posted by Jo McLeay @ 10:32 PM 2 comments links to this
post
W E D N E S D A Y , J A NU A R Y 3 0 , 2 0 0 8
Twitter creativity
Support Blogging
Just wanted to post about this great mashup made by my friend
Sue using RockYou a free widget which works for both windows
and mac. It is from from Badongo which is a free “file hosting site
that enables you to upload an unlimited amount of files, photos,
video and music, to send to friends, family and colleagues.”
Sue says, “After having such a connected holiday I really wanted to Directory of Australian
express the power of the links we have made, so I tweeted for Edubloggers
people to send me a photo of themselves at the computer.” A
great result. Password: teacher
Map of international
edubloggers
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons
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3. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
2.5 License. -->
Sue also made the image above using Parody Motivator Generator. Jo McLeay
Flickr/jomcleay
Technorati tags: Twitter, RockYou, Sue Tapp
Myspace/theopenclassroom
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Linkedin/Jo McLeay
Twitter/jomcleay
T UE S D A Y , J A N U A R Y 2 9 , 2 0 0 8
Last.fm/jomcleay
A meeting of twitter friends IRL
Del.icio.us/rubyfire
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Barbara Dieu, a name, a voice and an internet presence that I have
been aware of and admired for more than two years and two well
known Australian online community builders, Michael Coghlan and
Alex Hayes and I met while all three were providentially in The Open Classroom
Melbourne at the same time (having attended the Linux is listed in the Online Education
conference). We had a meal, some wine and lots of conversation, Database.
about identity and digital presence, about twitter and a different
manifestation of friendship, and integrity and open source. It was
really memorable. See some more photos here and here. I think
Bee makes a habit of such serendipitous meetings (grins). (Thanks
for the photo, Michael.)
posted by Jo McLeay @ 10:45 PM 0 comments links to this Blogs I read
post
Sue Tapp
From Sceptic to ?
S A T U R D A Y , JA N UA R Y 2 6 , 2 0 0 8
Lynne Crowe
An Aussie Podcast
Gail Desler
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4. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
Just recently I found out from my Twitter network (where else) Lisa Durff
about the Edtech Crew an Aussie podcast which I've been enjoying Clay Burell
listening to. This is made by two guys Darrel Branson, (a.k.a. The
Mark Collinson
ICT Guy), and Tony Richards from Learning - Thinking - Playing.
From them I have learnt about a number of new things, including Teaching Sagittarian
the proceedings of a conference called Powerful Elearning which Darren Draper
I'm looking forward to exploring. So that's been great. Rachel Boyd
Yvonne Sanders
And then tonight, after a week which has seen my return to school
after five weeks of holidays, I get a tweet from my blogging buddy Patrick Higgins
and twitter friend Sue Tapp. (Sue and I are delighted to be Dave Cormier
travelling to NECC together in June.) Sue was inviting me to try
Doug Johnson
out Yugma, so we did. Using Skype and skype chat as well as
Scott Lockman
Yugma and twitter Sue, Allison Miller and I shared our desktops to
show each other tools we are using such as Jing, Cool Iris and Bruce Schauble
Answertips. It was fun. But we have decided that we really should Dave Warlick
look at the tutorial before our next experiment.
An Identity of One's Own
Bit by Bit
Technorati tags: Edtech Crew,Darrel Branson, Twitter, NECC, Sue Blog of Proximal Development
Tapp, Jing, Yugma, Anne Davis
posted by Jo McLeay @ 2:18 AM 5 comments links to this post Clarence Fisher
Ms Frizzle
Teach42
F R I D A Y , J A NU A R Y 1 8 , 2 0 0 8
The Beginning
Education Blogosphere Survey Brian Crosby
Care and Justice in Education
Scott McLeod from Dangerously
Will Richardson
Irrelevant has once again put out
Vicki Davis
his call for participants in the
edublogging survey. Why don't you Julie Lindsay
have a go? Here, Vicki Davis writes Jen Wagner
about her reflections on filling out
Women of Web 2.0
the survey which I found an interesting read.
The second annual Education Blogosphere Survey is now open for
business! 4 screens. 25 questions.
Please use the link and/or the graphic and help spread the call
for participants.
Last year 160 edubloggers participated. Let's see if we can at
least double that this year?
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5. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
follow jomcleay at http://twitter.com
Technorati tags: edublogosphere, Scott McLeod, education, My Feeds
blogging, Vicki Davis
Bloglines
posted by Jo McLeay @ 3:46 AM 0 comments links to this post
My Network
I am rubyfire on del.icio.us
T HU R S D A Y , JA N UA R Y 1 7 , 2 0 0 8
I have 34 people in my network
Expectations and reflections I have 59 fans
Add me to your network
Even though I'm on holidays I have not stopped teaching, perish
Jo's MySpace
the thought. I have been teaching my 16 year old son to drive. Well
not really, I have been sitting in the passenger seat while he drives
Class Blogs
us to wherever he wants to go. He has had his Learners Permit for
6 months now and this morning as he was at a T intersection Year 7 English (2007)
wanting to turn right (please do the adjustments if you are in a The Future of Learning (2007)
country that drives on the wrong side of the road), he paused then
Year 11 English (2007)
pulled out safely, while mentioning a car coming towards us from
some way down the street. He said quot;Six months ago I would have Year Eight Class Blog (2006)
given way to that car.quot; I responded by commending his improved Hills Debating Group
judgement. He reflected that all the practice he had had definitely
MCC Writers Group
led to improved judgements in all aspects of driving. I was so
Recreating the Writer (2006)
happy that he had recognised this and could articulate it.
At the same time there was a program on the radio in which the
host was interviewing a teacher about how he had become a better
teacher of creative writing. It was in the encouragement, he said.
He only ever pointed out the good bits in the writing, while making
one suggestion for improvement. quot;That paragraph is great,quot; he
would say, quot;and the second one is fantastic. How can you make a Live traffic feed
good transition between them?quot;, rather than quot;your paragraph Guadalajara, Jalisco arrived
transitions stink.quot; Well, duh. But it led to a discussion on how my from google.com on quot;The Open
son perceived his teachers, in particular his teacher of Literature. Classroomquot;
His teacher explained everything really well he said. He didn't
Columbus, Ohio arrived from
assume too much knowledge on the part of the students initially. It del.icio.us on quot;The Open
made me think, as it is a bit different from the approach I take,
Classroomquot;
where I am looking for much more student input. But it is probably
Oxford, Oxfordshire arrived
all in the balance.
from happychyckwonders
.blogspot.com on quot;The Open
It's really good to have a 16 year old at home as this is the age of
Classroomquot;
the majority of the students who are even now preparing (or not) to
go back to school and be in my classes. But Kieran is preparing for Tempe, Arizona arrived on quot;The
school. He was going to pick up his school text books this morning Open Classroom: September 2006quot;
and to dive into them fully a week before he has to. And he is not
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6. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
coming back to school after having had his brain in neutral for six Webster, New York arrived
week. He has been online every day, but not all day. He has been from wnyplp.ning.com on quot;The
communicating online in his forums and while playing his games. He Open Classroomquot;
often tells me that the etiquette in the forums he participates in is Hobbsville, North Carolina
to write in a grammatically correct way. We have been discussing
arrived from google.com on quot;The
his gaming and whether they foster creativity or not. I have even Open Classroomquot;
learned a new term from him: linear and non linear games. He
Delhi, Delhi arrived from
expects school to be different to the way he admits he learns while
google.com on quot;The Open
on holidays. He expects to be quiet in class while discussion
Classroom: March 2007quot;
happens one at a time and in a teacher directed way. He doesn't
expect to be using technology to learn. He tells me that he Ireland arrived on quot;The Open
respects authoritarian teachers and works more cooperatively with Classroomquot;
them, and pointing out (having never seen me in class) that I am Melbourne, Victoria arrived
probably too soft to to be an effective teacher. I don't know. from jennylu.wordpress.com on
quot;The Open Classroomquot;
But it has really made me think about the students that I will have Melbourne, Victoria arrived on
in my classroom in only two weeks from now, how they will have quot;The Open Classroomquot;
been filling their time while on holidays and what their expectations Options>>
are of me. How will I be able to help my students learn in a way that
Click to get FEEDJIT
meets their needs and uses the skills, abilities and creativity that
they bring to class from their out of school life? Previous Posts
posted by Jo McLeay @ 7:41 PM 1 comments links to this post 1001 Flat World Tales
Twitter creativity
A meeting of twitter friends IRL
T UE S D A Y , J A N U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 0 8 An Aussie Podcast
The power of networks Education Blogosphere Survey
Expectations and reflections
The network will be working tomorrow. In a post entitled quot;Help make The power of networks
the network realquot; which I think will be about demonstrating the
Students write
power of the network, Will Richardson tells about a gathering of
independent school heads and teachers near Philadelphia, called It really makes you think
“21st Century Education: 20/20 Vision for Schools”. It will be a Welcome new voices
global event and include live skype video calls and a wiki that you
can add to. Archives
quot;Just leave your name, your place in the world, your blog if July 2005
you have one, and one link or resource or piece of advice that August 2005
you feel will help these folks get their brains around some of
September 2005
the challenges and questions and opportunities we face right
October 2005
now.quot;
November 2005
December 2005
And then in a networking effect from this post I found a blogger
January 2006
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7. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
that I did not know about who I was glad to read. From this blogger, February 2006
Woody , and his blog, Edumorphing, about Education Reform in March 2006
Practice I found this interesting post, where he critiques the
April 2006
quot;worksheetquot; culture in schools. He says:
May 2006
June 2006
The use of worksheets...
July 2006
Uses an unspeakable amount of paper. Most of the August 2006
paper goes unused and is discarded in the trash or
September 2006
recycled.
October 2006
Creates teachers that begin to rely on a 1-dimensional
teaching method. Introduce... teach... have them fill in November 2006
the blanks. December 2006
Creates dependent learners. Students depend on the
January 2007
teacher to direct their learning. Discovery and reflection
are put on the back-burner. February 2007
Creates a sense of monotony and boredom amongst March 2007
most students. Pass out the paper, put your name and April 2007
date on it, read the directions, answer the questions, fill
May 2007
in the blanks, pass your papers in.
Dilutes creativity. Students begin to lose the creative June 2007
aspect of learning. They start to feel comfortable filling July 2007
in the blanks. It's easy! August 2007
Creates a stack of graded worksheets that is taken
September 2007
home and thrown away. Why should the students care
about the worksheet? They didn't create it. They don't October 2007
own it. They have no stake in it except for the grade. November 2007
Creates teachers that don't want to grade the
December 2007
worksheets and end up throwing some of them away,
January 2008
meaning that students did the work for absolutely no
reason. February 2008
Creates teachers that share worksheets and just use
ones others have created. This results in teachers my del.icio.us
using worksheets that don't truly match what they are
» ozeteacher » trends
currently teaching or can even be at odds with the
learning. » The Partnership for 21st
Century Skills - Framework for
21st Century Learning
Couldn't have said it better myself.
» 4Teachers : Main Page
And finally, go Aussies! Graham Wegner has a guest spot on one » Minds on Fire: Open
Education, the Long Tail, and
of my favourite webcasts from the Edtech Talk stable, Teachers
Learning 2.0 (EDUCAUSE
Teaching Teachers. If you're in Eastern Australia, tune in live on
Review) | EDUCAUSE CONNECT
Thursday 17th January 2008 at 1 pm DST. (which is 9 pm eastern
USA the day before). » Penguin Reading Guides | Girl
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8. The Open Classroom http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
Technorati Tags: with a Pearl Earring | Tracy
Chevalier
Will Richardson, Karl Fisch,Graham Wegner, edumorphing,
Teachers Teaching Teachers,networks,wikis, education, teaching,
innovation
» Blogs that link here
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