Multi-Tasking

I know there's different ideas about the effectiveness of multi-tasking, but I think the reality is that no matter whether or not it is a good thing it is going to continue to happen.  And I think leaders need to be able to navigate different tasks simultaneously.  Shoot, take right now for example: I'm working on the PDD, grading quizzes, lesson planning, preparing for P Fav's class tomorrow, cooking dinner, watching football, and entertaining my girlfriend.  I'm balancing people and tasks.  I think that is something I have to get more used to because less and less do I have opportunities to focus solely on one thing.  When I think of everyone in this program, I can see how they are doing the same thing to differing degrees.  Adding this doctorate program just intensifies the multitasking.  So beyond the content we are learning in classes, we are learning about how to deal with an overload of demands.  It's a good experience... but tough.

Friend with "Good"

So I was doing the reading and searching for tonight's class, and I was directed to Good Magazine.  What a coincidence because my college roommate directs/edits videos for them, and the videos are super interesting.  I recommend checking them out.  He has a video on education, which discusses the connection between the US educational system with other countries, which seems similar to some of the topics we've discussed in class (i.e. 200 million minutes).  He also has informative videos that deal with the environment, philanthropy, politics, and porn.  Yep, I knew I'd get your attention with that.  

But actually, his videos tie in nicely with our final project.  He takes a unique approach to mainstream topics and makes them digestible for today's mentality.  Instead of reading a short article about Obama, you could watch a 2 minute clip and it would be equally informative.  It just highlights the new literacy that John Seely Brown explores in some of his writings.

If you have time check them out; below is the link to his most recent video (his name is Max Joseph by the way):

http://www.good.is/post/inventions-brain-sharing/

Experimental Education

Talking after class with Libby and Kirk, I realized (after both Libby and Kirk explained it to me) that this is a class to throw out ideas.  Let me explain.  It seems as though we, as students, are being asked to just think and explore different ideas that might help education.  This isn't the time to shoot down ideas; in my mind, we should just be throwing out ideas and seeing which ones get traction.  This course is kind of like an experiment lab, except instead of mixing chemicals, we are mixing ideas and view points.  

It's taken me weeks to get to this understanding of the course, and I'm excited about it.  We shouldn't be overly connected to any of our ideas; we just need to generate them.  We should be generating so many that if one doesn't seem to resonate, it doesn't matter; we can just go to the next one.  I think this is one of the reasons we have been given the assignment to look into the future of education.  Nothing is wrong for this assignment; we have no way of knowing.  And along those lines, nothing is right.  Even though that makes everyone uncomfortable (because we like to have "right" answers), not searching for the "right" answer is just as liberating as knowing that nothing is wrong.  The only way we will fail is if we don't think and we don't create new ideas.  Like Patrick said, we just have to explore certain beliefs, and some of those beliefs are going to have to be exploded.

I think I'm starting to understand this class and its purpose more and more.  However, I'm sure that things will change next week and I'll be back to being confused.  But even confusion is a key purpose to this class.  It's uncomfortable at first but ultimately exciting.

Wiki Thoughts...

So I did a little work on the ol' wiki today, and it got me thinking: even though producing a wiki is simple, starting it and feeling comfortable doing it is more complex.  Really, a wiki is just producing a document, just like this blog, but, like this blog, it is intimidating prior to starting it up.  Being introduced to this new technology and having to navigate it myself is a great opportunity.  It allows me to feel comfortable using these features in the future, but it also allows me to understand how certain students might feel going into a classroom.  Much of the difficulty surrounding some courses is the idea of the unknown and being intimidated  by the unknown.  However, if I can get my students to take that step to understand the unknown, they will be better for it.  Furthermore, it would behoove me, as an instructor, to understand their insecurities and help them overcome them.  And this experience with the wiki will help me do just that.

A Healthy Leader

Missing Monday's class made me think about illnesses and leaders.  Perhaps it is because it was a long time ago, but the educational leaders who had the most affect on me in my youth never seemed to be sick.  They always seemed to be present and accessible.  However, reflecting on those ideas, I understand that a leader is like any other person and is just as susceptible to illnesses.  I guess the trick is giving the illusion of invincibility or the illusion of ubiquity...

Patrick did say on day one that leaders can be seen as "tricksters."  Perhaps this is an example of such trickery.

Another Lesson

Honestly, I would love to bring up the idea about putting advertisements on tests/readings/course materials, but I'm afraid my blog will be cut off.  The point isn't that marketing in schools is a good idea, but that it seems to be thinking "outside of the box," which we discussed yesterday.  However, the response I received from advertising on course materials taught me that not all new thought is appropriately "outside the box."  Some new ideas are garbage; perhaps it is our job, as educational leaders, to determine what is and what is not "outside the box."  (Oh, and that brings me to another point that I had last night: it seems ironic that we are using a cliche to encourage people to think differently.  "Think outside of the box" has been used so much that it has lost much of its meaning, hence why it is labeled a cliche.  How can we think in new ways if we are unable to create new ways to express ourselves?  Linguistic theorists (i.e. Kenneth Burke) have posited that thought is crafted by language; if people don't have language they are unable to shape concepts.  Or in other words, there is an inexorable link between language and thought.  Therefore, if we are hung up on dried out cliches aren't our ideas going to be dried out as well?)

This is funny because I really wanted to talk about John Seely Brown and his idea of short attention spans and navigating information being the new forms of literacy.  He has some interesting ideas.  In fact, today I had a student come into office hours and text while talking with me about her essay.  At first I was offended, but then I thought about JSB and reevaluated my emotions.  She was able to participate in the conversation, so what was the big deal?  It seems as though younger people are very adept at navigating multiple sources of information, and if it wasn't for JSB I wouldn't have had that perspective.  

The day of syllabi

Coming away from class Tuesday, I had a lot of abstract ideas in my head about education, leadership and technology, all of which will help me grow as an educator.  But the one thing that stuck out as a practical lesson was the course syllabus.  I like the idea of an interactive syllabus and think that it would work in my classes because I assign so many online readings.  However, the problem of access quickly doused my enthusiasm: many of my classes don't have access to the web.  Or if they do, they only have access in a particular place.  Let me explain: my Hancock classes are held in "smart rooms," so I could introduce the syllabus to my class and navigate some of the links, similar to what Patrick did.  Yet when my students went home, many of them would not have access to a "current" computer with a "usable" internet connection.  I put those terms in quotation marks because many do have access to computers, but the computers are too old to perform specific tasks, and many of them are connected to the internet, but it is arduous to load pages.  On the other hand, in my Poly classes, all of my classrooms are "stupid."  You know what I mean, wooden desks and an overhead.  So I couldn't really have an interactive syllabus because I couldn't navigate it with them.  Nevertheless, these students have access to new computers and solid internet connections.  

Technology seems like a great way to supplement instruction and increase learning opportunities, but the sad reality is that some of the students who need it the most, don't have access.  And just as frustrating, those students who personally have the technology are limited in their use because of institutional deficiencies.  

What a great opportunity for a leader...