The Vehicle Doesn’t Matter… It’s Where You Take It

In 2005 I decided to get a masters degree. I knew that I would need to find a program that was online based as I was going to be moving to Cambodia. I found a couple different programs that seemed to be more or less what I was looking for. Many delivered content online but also had residency requirements for which you were required to attend sessions of some sort for a few weeks during the summer. That didn’t appeal to me so I went with a program that was 100% online.

Although it was online it still pretty much fit the mold of a traditional education model. Read discussions or “lectures”, do some additional readings, research the topic further, write a couple papers and put together a presentation. Although I received and delivered content online it really wasn’t much different from a traditional school. I remember felling like I was operating in a vacuum of sorts. I really couldn’t share much of what I was learning with many people or gather feedback from anyone other than the professor.

During the course of my studies I moved from Arizona to Phnom Penh Cambodia, traveled extensively and welcomed the birth of our first son. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t have been able to complete a traditional program or even an online program with any sort of residency requirement. The flexible format allowed me to bust through the content no matter what time it was or what country I was in. All I needed was a computer and internet connection. I carted my trusty laptop all over the world; from Starbucks in Bangkok, to the vineyards in Napa, and everywhere in-between. So in that sense it was this “non-traditional” version of the traditional model that allowed me to pursue a masters degree.

Fast forward 5 years and I am in another masters program that delivers content online albiet in a very different format. Rather than read through a pre-determined lecture or set of articles we are asked to see what we can find around a specific topic. We do have suggested reading but they are more of a starting point. Rather than regurgitate what has already been said we are asked to add value to the conversation. It’s about using and combining available knowledge and information in new and innovative ways. Or adding something to the conversation which someone else might in turn add again to and/or use in a new way. You are reading one such assignment. This blog is how I deliver my course assignments. This new model encourages sharing and collaboration in hopes of adding value and possibly bringing about something unique.

Here is a short video that does a much better job of explaining this concept than I do.

In my last post I talked a little about what Salmon Khan was doing with the Khan Academy. Yesterday I came across a New York Times article discussing how a ninth grade teacher was using the video lessons in his classroom. Check it out. I see this sort of thing (delivering content within a new framework) gaining traction. A blended approach, where this new framework is folded into a more traditional classroom setting.

Another organization bent on providing a platform for people to share information is Mooc.ca. Mooc stands for “Massive Open Online Course”. Here is a short video explaining how a “Mooc” work:
It’s all about sharing! (Didn’t we learn that in kindergaten?)

I guess we have to ask the question, “is there a need for change”? Many people would say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Or “we did it that way when I was a kid and I turned out fine”. (We’ll that could be up for debate) Here is convincing video supporting the argument that the current model used to educate young people needs to change.

So where does all this stuff lead? Where is education headed? It’s tough to say but one can see the importance of harnessing a more open, collaborative and individualized approach. Good or bad we are more connected now than any other time. We have an enormous amount of information literally at our fingertips. I can definitely see this connectedness influence what we do in my kindergarten classroom. On a daily basis we use technology driven tools to communicate and collaborate with students all over the world. A few of the ways we do this:

We have discussions on Twitter with other kindergarten classes that are relevant to what we are learning.

We learn by reading blogs and share what we are learning using our blog.

We collaborate and create stories with other classes using a Wiki and VoiceThread.

We create video reflections and share then using Vimeo.

And these are just a handful of the tools we do or could use. I’m not sure what education will look like in 5, 10, or even 15 years. But I can feel good about what I’m doing in my classroom if I leverage these tools to expose my students to this type of collaborative learning environment. I’m trying to do my part to help ensure that they will be prepared for whatever comes along.

What types of things are you doing in your classroom that foster collaboration and sharing?