Mathew Needleman’s post on being smarter than a Google search alerted me to a post by Tim Holt. In his post Tim remarks upon a question posed by Marco Torres to a group of teachers.

Marco’s question was: “So, what knowledge do you possess that a 16 year old kid could not look up on Google?”

Tim considers that Marco’s question is very great indeed and his post posits that whereas doctors and artists can apply and synthesise the knowledge that they possess to solve a problem teachers seemingly are not doing that at this moment. Teachers are simply repositories of knowledge. He writes that a change is now needed to apply these higher order thinking skills of synthesis, application and problem solving in the classroom and so bring education up to date. He labels those three skills “21st century skills”. He also writes that the lecture is dead. I could not help but respond. This is the comment I wrote on Tim’s blog.

“I am a teacher and I think I manage to impart some wisdom each day. I have imparted knowledge garnered from my parents, siblings, friends, teachers, lecturers and acquaintances that cannot be found via Google. Allow me to qualify that I am not knocking Google. I actually teach my students how to use Google, Kartoo, Vivisimo and other search tools intelligently.

The knowledge I acquired from my relatives, teachers and friends over the years harnessed in tandem with the wisdom that lies within that knowledge forms a crucial part of the storytelling component of my lessons on 20th century history. That same knowledge has generated laughter and tears as well as understanding. That same knowledge has created a difference within the students. Before that knowledge was imparted the students were at point A in the learning journey. Following the receipt of the knowledge they were at point B in the learning journey. There was a difference, a change. Google was not applied in the creation of that change.

I grow a little tired of how some commentators apply blanket criticisms of the teaching profession. Marco’s question is somewhat puerile and will certainly not endear him to the teaching profession in general. He makes a good point regarding the knowledge economy but surely he could make it in a more collegial and diplomatic manner.

I feel that excluding teachers from your list of experts is rather simplistic. Teachers also apply knowledge. My colleagues and I do so every day. We were all applying those 21st century learning skills last century.

There is still a place in education for lectures. We have all attended great lectures that enthralled us from beginning to end. Granted you need a lecturer capable of delivering a great story.

Cheers, John”

Last week a number of teachers and students from the Albion Park ~ Oak Flats area of the Illawarra visited the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Sydney. We were guest of the Albion Park RSL Sub Branch. The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) serves the interests of its members, veterans, the ex-service community and members of the Australian Defence Force.

The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway is an interesting memorial. It remembers the bravery of the Australian troops who fought through appalling conditions and against superior enemy numbers in the Papua-New Guinea campaign of July 1942-January 1943. The Australians inflicted defeat on the Japanese Imperial Army with US support. The fighting took place along the Kokoda Track.

View Larger Map

The walkway consists of a series of stations along an 800 metre walk. Each station documents an event during the campaign. There is also a larger memorial complete with a water feature and five startling images from the campaign that have been sandblasted into the walls of the memorial.

There were guides from the RSL that took small groups of three or so teachers and students from station to station. Our guides were Charlie and Lloyd. Both men had fought in the campaign and were now in their eighties. The oldest guide was 91 years of age. It was both amazing and moving to meet some of the men that were in the historical photographs displayed at the memorial.

The day was most informative and despite the heat a good day was had by all. The RSL provided lunch for all of the teachers and students as well as providing coach transport to and from the venue. They were excellent hosts.

Looking towards the main memorial

Part of the main memorial

A section of the memorial walkway

One of the stations

A selection of the indivdual memorials at the Rose Garden

The walkway is supported with an excellent web site that provides additional detail and photographs for each of the stations on the walkway. There is also a selection of oral histories with both archival and recent recordings of the ‘diggers’ on the track.

The web site constitutes an excellent resource for teachers and students of both Australian history and the history of the Pacific campaigns during the Second World War. Students undertaking Stage 5 history in NSW would particularly find this site useful as they explore the role played by Australia during the Second World War.

Links:

Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway

The Kokoda Track at www.anzacday.org.au

The Kokoda Trail at www.diggerhistory.info

The Kokoda Track Campaign at wikipedia

George Siemens, author of the Connectivism Blog, wrote a nice piece on pedagogy and technology today. He questions the fixation that some educators have with the role of pedagogy in using technology. I will not attempt to recreate his thoughts myself however I will embed a couple of quotes from his post…

Let’s abandon the somewhat silly notion of pedagogy first and recognize that the choice of technology is driven by many contextual factors and therefore context is what we are evaluating and considering when we first start talking about possible technology to use. Then, after we have selected technology, we can start talking about pedagogy. Pedagogy is just not a practical starting point for deciding the technology we should use.

I thought I would take this opportunity to publish my comment to his post here as well. I attempted to articulate the unconscious (or semi-conscious?) process that I go through when I use technology as part of the teaching and learning process. Here is what I wrote…

George,

Yes. What do the students actually need to learn? What is the situation? What is happening in the school, classroom and in my head? What is the end goal for the students? Is it an attitudinal, skill or knowledge based outcome/objective? These questions float beneath the conscious.

Now, which tool do I draw upon to achieve this objective? I reach into my invisible backpack of teaching experience and select the appropriate tool. Is it a piece of chalk, an experiment, a debate, a field trip, an essay or perhaps I may reach into my backpack and pull out a little technology? As I select the tool I also think (unconsciously?) about timing, place, assessment, my state of mind and the students’ state of mind.

The backpack in context

I am not consciously thinking “pedagogy” as I select the tool. I am simply thinking what needs to be done and what factors are most influential at that time. I am simply applying commonsense and a practical approach to the job. This commonsense is generally an unconscious act ~ it is not uppermost in my mind. It is simply there. It is how I teach/work. Some people may label that process pedagogy. I just think it is commonsense.

If technology is the best or even simply a good tool for the job then why not use that tool? I will pull technology out of that invisible backpack that I carry with me as a teacher. So, this time, reassured that I know it is a good tool (strategy/tactic) I will use technology. Not all the time, but sometimes.

George, you mentioned Second Life as an example. I have never personally used SL but I have been to a couple of educational sites within SL and I feel that Second Life, for example, would probably be useful as a tool for teaching economics students how to run a business or manage an island resort (depending upon the funds available). So, why not use Second Life as a tool of choice? If it matches the need and suits the situation then give it a go. Make a note of the process and store that within your invisible backpack for future reference.

Are my thoughts clear? I think they agree with you. I know I agree with you. Perhaps I need a quiet beer.

Your post stood out among the feeds this late Sunday afternoon as the term ‘pedagogy’ had a bad name within a school where I once taught. Speaking the word was not recommended within the staffroom. The staff had grown tired of, and cynical towards, the endless annual cycles of professional development that seemingly focused more on the theoretical and less so on the practical.

This morning I read and commented on a post by Will Richardson in which he reflects on the 130 plus comments that one of his earlier posts received. He asked the following questions within his post and I replied as indicated below:

Question: Can anyone really read through 130 comments? Answer: Not all the time.

Question: Are we getting too distracted, too connected, too participatory for our own good? Answer: Yes.

When I began using Netscape I used to bookmark everything. It was all so new. It was like being a collector. An obsessive compulsive disorder. I just had to collect that next bookmark. Those hundreds of bookmarks are on a CD-ROM gathering digital dust.

There are only about a dozen websites that I regularly visit now. That is enough.

But then there is those 184 blogs in my RSS reader. Will the majority of those blog feeds go the same way as my deceased bookmarks? I think so.

That question again: Are we getting too distracted, too connected, too participatory for our own good? Answer: Yes.

I feel that there is a considerable amount of redundancy within the edublogosphere, a consequential reduction in original thought and the growth of an edublogging elite.

Now for part 2 of my story. Part 1 is here. The Good To Great 2008 Teaching and Learning Seminar at Nanyang Technological University concluded on Thursday afternoon. There were a number of workshops where the threads of the conference were drawn together and presented to the attendees at the final session. The participants in my group considered issues such as the bridges that need to built to connect teachers and learners. The obstacles that one could encounter were considered and finally the first steps that one needs to take were discussed among the group.

How can we build bridges between teachers and students?

There were some very creative teachers in the group and one collection of teachers produced the following two illustrations…

Two challenges faced by teachers in utilising technology in teaching and learning.

A first step that can be taken by teachers in using technology in the classroom…

During the course of this workshop I fired up Twitter and posed the questions to the ‘universe’. Sue Waters [blog ~ twitter] of the Edublogger and Willis Whitlock [blog ~ twitter] graciously responded and I shared their timely and informative input live with the participants. It was quite neat to be able to demonstrate this tool ‘live’ per se. Thank you very much Sue and Willis! Much appreciated!

Sue and Willis contribute to the discussion via Twitter.

I am not a frequent user of Twitter. I received some feedback about Twitter at the seminar. One commentator confused Twitter with Skype and declared that they would stick to Skype. I find it difficult to understand how anyone could confuse Twitter with Skype. Two completely different tools with two completely different functions. Like comparing apples with aadvarks. By the way, Sue Waters, just published another excellent post about Twitter and some of the tools that you can use to access the messages and embedded urls. Sue is a legend. Sue wished to know how the participants had responded. I shall get a transcript of their work and share it with Sue and all that read this blog.

We all explored Twitter and WebNode

I conducted a couple of more workshops on a variety of tools including WebNode, WordPress and podcasting. I worked quite hard and I think all of the participants had a beneficial time. Some of my workshop participants are pictured above and below.

Together we explored podcasting, blogging and webnode. Too much for one day!

During the course of the week the conference presenters and delegates were supported by the brilliant team at the Centre for Educational Development and student helpers. They were all very helpful and totally committed to ensuring everyone had an excellent expereience.

The excellent team of the CED

June, far right, with the wonderful student volunteers

At the end of the day, Friday, I packed up and together with Sheryl and Vivien of the Centre for Educational Development at NTU took a taxi directly from the university to the new T3 terminal at Singapore’s Changi International Airport and we shared dinner. It was a wonderful way to conclude the week. Vivien and Sheryl are excellent company and we had a great evening. They bid me farewell at the gate and I took a Singapore Airlines flight back home to Australia.

Vivien and I

Sheryl and I

Our excellent dinner!

Vivien tries the spicy soup!