Last year when I started here, I was the new kid on the block. This fall, there will be so many new faces. I am excited for the chance of getting to know all of these new people and utilize their refreshing expertise.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.

Emphasize read/write web….Teachers know reading and writing are the foundation for all other skills. If a student is motivated by “publishing” on the world wide web, they will be reading and writing often. Alternative students are usually very motivated by technology and will be more likely to want to blog then write an essay on paper to be turned in.

As the students begin to blog, make sure you find out their blog address and get an RSS feed to their blog. As you receive e-mails notifying you that they have posted something, it would be great if you were to leave comments for them. They will be very excited that their principal took the time to comment on their blog.

Way to go Una. Always a pleasure to see you.

Motivation is the reason or reasons for engaging in a particular behavior, especially human behavior as studied in psychology and neuropsychology. These reasons may include basic needs such as food or a desired object, hobbies, goal, state of being, or ideal. The motivation for a behavior may also be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism or morality.

According to Geen,[1] motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of human behavior.
Geen, R. (1994). Human motivation: A psychological approach. Wadsworth Publishing Education

Motivation is of particular interest because of the crucial role it plays in student learning. Motivation can have several effects on how students learn and their behavior towards subject matter (Ormrod, 2003).

It can:
1. Direct behavior toward particular goals
2. Lead to increased effort and energy
3. Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities
4. Enhance cognitive processing
5. Determine what consequences are reinforcing
6. Lead to improved performance.

Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates.

There are two kinds of motivation:
• Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is significant.
• Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or good grades).

Note also that there is already questioning and expansion about this dichotomy on motivation, e.g., Self-Determination Theory.

NB Self-determination theory (SDT) is a general theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within social contexts. The theory focuses on the degree to which human behaviors are volitional or self-determined - that is, the degree to which people endorse their actions at the highest level of reflection and engage in the actions with a full sense of choice. Over the past three decades SDT has evolved into a set of four mini-theories that share the organismic-dialectical meta-theory and the concept of basic needs. Self-determination theory has been brought to many applied settings such as education, health care, parenting, work organizations, religion, addictions, sports, and mental health. The theory developed from psychological research done by Ed Deci, Richard M. Ryan, and their collaborators from around the world.

Motivation is also an important element in the concept of Andragogy (what motivates the adult learner).

Andragogy is the process of engaging adult learners in the structure of the learning experience. The term was originally used by Alexander Kapp (a German educator) in 1833, was developed into a theory of adult education by the American educator, Malcolm Knowles , (April 24, 1913 — November 27, 1997).

Knowles held that andragogy (from the Greek words meaning “man-leading”) should be distinguished from the more commonly used pedagogy (Greek: “child-leading”).

Knowles’ theory can be stated as four simple postulates:[1][2]
1. Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction (Self-concept and Motivation to learn).
2. Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities (Experience).
3. Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life (Readiness to learn).
4. Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented (Orientation to learning).

Knowles’ work (most notably the book Self-Directed Learning: A Guide for Learners and Teachers, published in 1975) has been controversial. To some[citation needed], his proposed system states the obvious, to others[citation needed], he has merely proposed an adaptation of existing child-learning theories.
The term has been used by some[3] to allow a discussion of the difference between self directed and ‘taught’ education. However, even on this definition, education of young people, in modern practice, includes substantial utilization of self-directed approaches.

[References
1. ^ (nd) Andragogy (M. Knowles) Theory into Practice website. Retrieved 5/29/07.
2. ^ (nd) Andragogy Informal Education Encyclopedia. Retrieved 5/29/07.
3. ^ Hansman (2008) Adult Learning in Communities of Practice: Situating Theory in Practice

Dr. Felix’s dissertation and subsequent summary thereof is based on 12 completed surveys from preselected and prequalified K-12 U.S. teachers who used blogging with their students. Thus the highly specific sample and conclusions are neither random nor able to function as predictors for the entire population of U.S. teachers. He clearly states via his Powerpoint presentation of his research (3/2008) that his philosophical basis is phenomenological. This is a stark contrast to logical empiricism as an approach to the philosophy of science and scientific research. A simplistic difference can perhaps be seen as explanation (phenomenological) and prediction (empirical).

Any tool can be seen as an entity used to interface between two or more areas that facilitate more effective action of one area upon the other. Marshall McLuhan famously said “We shape our tools. And then our tools shape us.” McLuhan was referring to the fact that our social practices co-evolve with our use of new tools and the refinements we make to existing tools.

If blogging/edublogging is an answer amongst much potential in Web 2.0 technology then the more specific the question(s) needs to be framed.

Part 3 of 3

Summary

In order to properly respond I felt I must first establish a context for what is needed. (see parts 1 & 2)

Your stated requirements: Teachers teaching to 21st Century work skills

Needed to succeed: Technology

The appropriate technology, technical support and professional development for educators is one key necessary to unlock the potential. Oftentimes school districts require technology training, much of it appears to be geared to administrative, not instructional, uses. Only slightly more than half the respondents felt that they had adequate preparation for integrating technology into instruction.

Needed to succeed: Student outcomes

The elements described as “21st century student outcomes” are the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century. They need to be clear, flexible and logical (See the longer previous posting) as well as geared towards specific content and expertise.

Your focus on blogs and blogging does not for me at least follow directly from your goal of an educated workforce.

Consider perhaps carefully the following articles on blogging and education (The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities, Duffy, Peter D. and Bruns, Axel (2006) The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities. In Proceedings Online Learning and Teaching Conference 2006, pages pp. 31-38, Brisbane.; Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector, Williams, Jeremy B and Joanne Jacobs, Joanne, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2004, 20(2), 232-247. And Educational Blogging, Downes, Stephen, http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/EducationalBlogging/40493).

They offer support and challenges in using blogs as tools.

Hypertext and linking are important if not critical keys in blogging.

For those not wishing to read the above articles, perhaps a somewhat long posting from the third article can illuminate some areas needing consideration.

“the most telling motivation for blogging was offered by Mark Pilgrim in his response to and elaboration on “The Weblog Manifesto”: “Writers will write because they can’t not write. Pilgrim’s moving declaration should be read as a cautionary note. The warning is not about bosses who don’t want employees to write weblogs (though that danger exists), but this: writing weblogs is not for everybody. In particular, if you feel no empathy, no twinge of recognition, on reading Pilgrim’s words, then writing a weblog is probably not for you. This does not mean that you are not a part of the weblog world. It merely means that you participate in a different way.

And herein lies the dilemma for educators. What happens when a free-flowing medium such as blogging interacts with the more restrictive domains of the educational system? What happens when the necessary rules and boundaries of the system are imposed on students who are writing blogs, when grades are assigned in order to get students to write at all, and when posts are monitored to ensure that they don’t say the wrong things?

After returning from a writing teachers’ conference with sessions on blogging, Richard Long, a professor at St. Louis Community College, explained the issue this way: “I’m not convinced, however, the presenters who claimed to be blogging are actually blogging. They’re using blogging software, their students use blogging software, but I’m not convinced that using the software is the same as blogging. For example, does posting writing prompts for students constitute blogging? Are students blogging when they use blogging software to write to those prompts?”

After three years of experimentation with his Weblogg-Ed blog, Will Richardson also expressed his doubts: “By its very nature, assigned blogging in schools cannot be blogging. It’s contrived. No matter how much we want to spout off about the wonders of audience and readership, students who are asked to blog are blogging for an audience of one, the teacher.” When the semester ends, “students drop blogging like wet cement.” Richardson wants to teach students to write with passion, but he notes: “I can’t let them do it passionately due to the inherent censorship that a high school served Weblog carries with it.”

It seems clear that although blogging can and does have a significant and worthwhile educational impact, this impact does not come automatically and does not come without risks. As many writers have noted, writing a weblog appears in the first instance to be a form of publishing, but as time goes by, blogging resembles more and more a conversation. And for a conversation to be successful, it must be given a purpose and it must remain, for the most part, unconstrained.

One of the criticisms of blogs, and especially student blogs is that the students write about nothing but trivia. Examples can be seen all over the Internet. And how many students, when facing the blogging screen, feel like “Matt,” who writes: “Now each time I warily approach writing a blog entry, or start writing it, or actually write it, I end up thinking ‘what is the point?’—and, after all, what is?” When given their own resources to draw on, bloggers, especially young bloggers, can become frustrated and may eventually report having “committed the ultimate blogging sin of losing interest in myself.”

As Richardson says, blogging as a genre of writing may have “great value in terms of developing all sorts of critical thinking skills, writing skills and information literacy among other things. We teach exposition and research and some other types of analytical writing already, I know. Blogging, however, offers students a chance to a) reflect on what they are writing and thinking as they write and think it, b) carry on writing about a topic over a sustained period of time, maybe a lifetime, and c) engage readers and audience in a sustained conversation that then leads to further writing and thinking.”

Good conversations begin with listening. Ken Smith, an English teacher at Indiana University, explains: “Maybe some folks write flat, empty posts or bad diary posts because they don’t know any other genres (they just aren’t readers, in one sense) and because [they] aren’t responding to anything (that is, they aren’t reading anything right now).” It’s like arriving late to a party: the first act must be to listen, before venturing forth with an opinion. Smith suggests, “Instead of assigning students to go write, we should assign them to go read and then link to what interests them and write about why it does and what it means.”

The jury is still out, but as Richardson suggests, “It’s becoming more clear just what the importance of blogging might be.” As Smith writes, “It is through quality linking . . . that one first comes in contact with the essential acts of blogging: close reading and interpretation. Blogging, at base, is writing down what you think when you read others. If you keep at it, others will eventually write down what they think when they read you, and you’ll enter a new realm of blogging, a new realm of human connection.”

My tip - don’t use the word “I” the entire team. Demonstrate your effectiveness to work on a team!

Part 2 (0f 3): STUDENT OUTCOMES:

The elements described in this section as “21st century student outcomes” are the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.

1. Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes

2. Learning and Innovation Skills

* Creativity and Innovation Skills
* Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
* Communication and Collaboration Skills

3. Information, Media and Technology Skills

* Information Literacy
* Media Literacy
* ICT Literacy

4. Life and Career Skills

* Flexibility & Adaptability
* Initiative & Self-Direction
* Social & Cross-Cultural Skills
* Productivity & Accountability
* Leadership & Responsibility

21ST CENTURY SUPPORT SYSTEMS:

The elements described below are the critical systems necessary to ensure student mastery of 21st century skills. 21st century standards, assessments, curriculum, instruction, professional development and learning environments must be aligned to produce a support system that produces 21st century outcomes for today’s students.

1. 21st Century Standards

2. Assessment of 21st Century Skills

3. 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction

4. 21st Century Professional Development

5. 21st Century Learning Environments

Here is a visual representation:

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/rainbow/rainbow_web%200710.jpg