Experience vs Youth?

Once again this year, I have been having a series of guest speakers come into my classroom of education students, both in person and via technology. Most of the presenters have a wealth of experience in their area and I am always amazed at how easily they give their time to freely share, pass on their learning, and interact with soon to be teachers. This past week saw the always thought provoking and entertaining Dean Shareski join us via a google hangout - we even got to see & hear his dogs. This week was a bit of a change of pace. I invited three young, new to the profession teachers (2 in their first year and 1 in her 3rd) to come and talk to my students about the things they were doing with technology in the classroom, as well as sharing stories of their challenges, frustrations, and solutions. These three shared some fascinating ideas, interesting and creative initiatives, and some great solutions to problems that arose due to a lack of Internet access, hardware, and other restrictions. I was proud of these teachers, and they could relate to my students well, giving some great tips, some of the realities - and exhibiting the enthusiasm they had for their work. It made me think about the types of people I ask to present. The experience of these experts, such that Dean possesses, offers so much depth, thought, and wisdom to share with those new to the profession. However, the recent experience of youth, and the problem solving and learning that goes along with it, offers much for discussion and contemplation as well. I have had a range of guests drop in over the past few years, I love the discussion, reflection, and learning that it provokes. I also thank these educators who willingly give their time to share with people they do not know. I am convinced that they all offer my students so many opportunities to learn and grow. I will continue to invite a mix of guests, we can learn lots from the stories all of these people tell. So this week, I send thanks to Tiff, Tyler & Kirsten for dropping by and sharing, and prompting me to consider the vast expertise that selflessly drops into my classes each year.

If interested visit the Internet for Educators class blog roll & check them out.

SHARE(ski) Lives Up to His Name

For the past few years, I have been working to develop my course titled Internet for Educators. This is an optional course for students in their final term of an after degree B.Ed. degree. My goal is to create an engaging, up-to-date course based on constructivist principles. Shortly after I began my work in the faculty of education at BU three and a half years ago, I became acquainted with the work of Alec Couros and Dean Shareski at the University of Regina, about a 4-hour drive west of Brandon. Since that time I am pleased to count these two educators as friends. They have jokingly called themselves “lazy professors”, since they often had various educators present to their classes. I have since “borrowed” this approach. For the past few years I have been fortunate to enlist several excellent educators to present their insights and experiences to my students (this post talks about the speakers who helped out last year). The students keep a blog in which they make sense of the presentation topic and how it would apply to their own teaching and learning. This has proven to be very successful, as evidenced by the reflective thinking of the students as they explore these ideas.

This term my 1st guest was none other than Dean Shareski from Moose Jaw, SK. Dean is known far and wide for his views on sharing as an important part of teaching. Dean spoke to my class (and to a colleague’s class who joined us) via Skype. He presented his ideas about sharing and transparency and how it can benefit not just the individual, but others as well. He provided many examples to illustrate. Dean certainly lived up to his credo, giving up over an hour of his time to share his ideas with student teachers from another Province. It was gratifying to see the effect this talk had on my students. Not only did they speak and write glowingly of the presentation, many have taken Dean’s advice and have been working to increase their online presence in order to share their own work.

I personally try to actively promote and model the same attributes. When others, like Dean any other guests I have lined up to present, are so willing to share their expertise, it can only help to promote this culture of openness, respect, and sharing. If you have not heard Dean speak about his passion, I would suggest you watch the video of his K to 12 online conference keynote below.