tommarch.com

tommarch.com Digital Media & Learning

2010-01-27T20:26:40Z

Hi all,

Tom March here.

It's been a while since I've sent a message out via this channel, so apologies if you receive this twice.

I've developed a proposal for an online project to the HASTAC / MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Competition. This is a prestigious program that helps advance understanding and use of rich media for learning.

The project is called Our2020 and invites students equipped with their own personal learning device (netbook, iPad) to explore and build knowledge and rich media around what they think the world will look like when they become adults around the year 2020.

I would love to get your comments on the project and - especially - your interest in participating or collaborating. I usually work within schools and systems, but it's getting to the point where directly supporting keen students will also assist in the transformation of schools.

Please take a look:

Our 2020 - http://dmlcompetition.net/pligg/story.php?title=541

There's also an emerging site at: http://our2020.com

Thanks and I hope you are well,

Tom --

tommarch.com April Update - NECC Alert!

2009-04-15T22:36:30Z

April 2009

G'Day & Happy Holidays (for those who get them! ;-),

Friendly Pitch

Between now and June, I'd like to schedule at least one workshop / presentation while in the US for NECC. The dates available are:

June 25, 26, 27 (Thursday - Saturday)

Please contact me ASAP if your school, district or association is interested in booking me for a keynote, one-day or multi-day session. tom@ozline.com

Below is an overview of typical sessions for your consideration. First-come, first served!

By the way, have you read the "Bald Self Promo Page?"

Keynotes for General Population Audiences* * Parents, Community Stakeholders, Students & Educators

The Brave New WWW - "Whatever, Whenever and Wherever"

As we all start to adjust to the role of the World Wide Web in our daily lives, a culture of personalized, WiFi-delivered, digital content hovers just over the broadband horizon. Games, music, movies, all streamed full-speed, entreat a new generation to tune in, turn on, and drop out. Like kids in a candy shop, our children are surrounded by whatever they want, whenever, wherever. Learn how we can help children navigate between the real & the virtual, the authentic & the amusing, real life amidst a tantalizing media dream.

What to Make of Web 2.0?

Blogs, wikis, podcasts and RSS? Whateverever happened to just "the Internet" and when did "Web 1" pass its use-by date? This session is designed as an engaging and friendly exploration of Web 2.0 technologies from one who began "working the Web for education" almost 15 years ago. Learn how to "connect the dots.com" in a way that highlights key concepts along with how they just might transform your life.

Keynotes Specifically for Educators

WebQuests 2.0: How a Richer Web Improves a Good Idea

The WebQuest was launched in 1995 to scaffold advanced cognition by integrating the "ill-structured" nature of the World Wide Web with a process that guides novices through decisions and experiences that characterize experts' behaviors. Recently, the Web has morphed into Web 2.0 with its social networking sites, blogs, wikis and podcasts. Given this richness, revisiting WebQuests is in order. This session reviews the critical attributes of true WebQuests and offers a framework for integrating the best of Web 2 with even more authentic personal learning.

CEQ-ALL ("seek-all")- Taxonomy for the 21st Century

Society says it needs knowledge workers who can achieve, compete and innovate on a global playing field, but sparking and sustaining change in schools sometimes seems as likely as manufacturing a microchip in a blast furnace. We envision a bright high tech future, but can't see beyond the obscuring lens of our Industrial Age model.

Enter CEQ-ALL: Choice · Effort · Quality → Attitude = Lifelong Learner. Here is an evidence-based and common sense pedagogical framework to support students as they take responsibility for directing their own learning, replacing the assembly line status quo in such a way that it both makes learning new again and also feels like the helping hand from a trusted friend.

Professional Learning Workshops
The following two workshops can be offered as single one-day sessions or combined into an effective two-day experience.

Learning to Look

What we do each day - or at least a few times a week - has the best chance to become a positive habit. Two habits worth developing for students of every age are the sensitivity and inclination to engage in critical and creative thinking. In addition, by supporting learner autonomy and competence within a caring and engaging culture, we set a foundation for intrinsic motivation. These two goals of Thinking and Motivation are supported through Learning 2 Look activities. In brief, Learning 2 Look activities project rich Web resources so that the entire class can explore them together. This allows for prompting critical thinking and modeling the subtle traits of sensitivity and inclination.

ClassPortals

Leveraging a class Web site & Web 2.0 tools to promote deep learning.
Students yearn for learning that is Real, Rich and Relevant. Too often in school life, the limitations of time, space and curricular demands result in pre-digested, segmented experiences where "richness" serves as a distraction or nuisance. A ClassPortal creates a purpose and shared mission that puts students and teachers together in a group endeavor pursuing the joy of learning.

2-3 Day Workshop: Upgrading to WebQuests 2.0

Those used to developing WebQuests will be excited to see how powerful Web 2 tools are in "unfolding" the WebQuest from a teacher-prepared activity to a learner-driven inquiry. See how blogs, social networks, podcasts and other interactive applications can further your goals to help students "transform information into understanding."

Upcoming Conference Appearances
Pearson's Pathway's to an Interactive Future Conference
May 1, 2009, Melbourne Victoria

NECC: Spotlight Session

WebQuests 2.0: A Richer Web Improves a Good Idea

WebQuests were pretty cool a decade ago, but see what happens when
you unfold today's WebQuest with video podcasts, social information
networking, and collaboration tools.

- Day: Tuesday, 6/30/2009

- Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Third National Leading a Digital School Conference
Gold Coast International Hotel
Thursday 3, Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September 2009

In-Person Presentations
http://www.tommarch.com/support/

Please send me an email about any of the above.
It's always great to hear from you.

Recent Newsletters: November 08, October 08, January 09, February 09

tommarch.com February 09 Update

2009-02-10T03:16:40Z

February 2009

G'Day & Happy Upcoming St. Valentine's Day,

Thesis Builder :: TubePrompter- http://tommarch.com/electraguide/prompter.php

Carrying on in the theme of "Builder" Tools and scaffolding higher order thinking, this month's new addition is the TubePrompter, an interactive page to facilitate "Learning 2 Look" activities using the wild richness of YouTube. Besides eliminating all the distractions inherent in the YouTube site, TubePrompter also offers ten different scaffolds to help groups of students learn through close looking. Simply copy the "embed" code for a YouTube video and paste it into TubePrompter, then cli ck the "Learn 2 Look" button to open a new window with your chosen video embedded and a raft of prompts designed to inspire student thinking.

See the newly updated Web site:

Contemporary Teaching Skills
http://tommarch.com/ozblog/skills-checklist/

Above is an emerging vision of how to define and support teachers as they develop their "Contemporary Teaching" (and Learning!) skills. The term comes from MCEETYA, which does a good job of describing what others have called "21st Century" or "ICT" teaching skills.

My goal in developing this Contemporary Teaching Skills checklist is to outline a continuum of skills for all teachers. In other words, level 1 is where all teachers can and should be. Levels 2 and 3 identify ways these skills can be developed.

The checklist is not definitive - on the contrary, I attempted to identify "the least someone needs to know" in order to enjoy success at integrating technology. There are a million other great things to do and explore, but the 21st Century isn't getting any younger... Finally, this is why I've opted for the current terminology of "Contemporary" teaching skills. There's nothing Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon about this stuff - video, animation, podcasts, blogging, Thinking Routines and personalized learning are just the paper and pencils of today.

So... Could you please, either send me an email, forward a comment or have at this page with Diigo. My main interests in feedback are twofold: 1) Is anything you see as a "core" skill left off - something people can't succeed without knowing, and 2) Is there an area that can just as well be left off?

Tom March Presents...- http://tommarch.com/

NECC: Spotlight Session

WebQuests 2.0: A Richer Web Improves a Good Idea

WebQuests were pretty cool a decade ago, but see what happens when you unfold today's WebQuest with video podcasts, social information networking, and collaboration tools.

- Day: Tuesday, 6/30/2009

- Time: 3:30pm–4:30pm

Friendly Pitch

Between now and April, I need to schedule at least a couple workshops / presentations on either side of NECC - June 22 - July 2. Please contact me ASAP if your school, district or association is interested in booking me for a one-day or multi-day session. First-come, first served!tom@ozline.com.

Please send me an email about any of the above.
It's always great to hear from you.

Recent Newsletters: November 08, October 08, January 09

tommarch.com January 09 Update from Tom March

2009-01-15T22:57:20Z

January 2009

G'Day & Happy New Year,

Thesis Builder :: Causinator!- http://tommarch.com/electraguide/

In the November newsletter I highlighted the Thesis Builder, a javascript tool to help students draft persuasive essays. Over the years, the original Thesis Builder has become the most popular link at ozline.com / tommarch.com (so much for articles, presentations and WebQuests!). Because a few of you were good enough to encourage more such "Builders," I updated the Topic-O-Rama and added another Thesis Builder - this time focused on Cause & Effect essays. The Causinator guides users through brainstorming a topic and shaping their ideas into a thesi s statement and outline.

See the newly updated Web site:

Tag Galaxy- http://taggalaxy.de/

One of the coolest sites of 2008 has to be Tag Galaxy, a mash-up of Flickr and an amazing 3D environment. Steven Wood has contributed this thesis project from Georg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied Sciences, Nuremberg. Essentially, Tag Galaxy is a slick front end to the ordinary Flickr API. But instead of getting a simple page of photos as you would from a Flickr word search, Tag Galaxy integrates the PaperVision 3D interface so that the images float in from th e wings, landing in amazing juxtapositions on a spinnable and clickable sphere. The image below is a simple search for "celebrations."
I've had fun during workshops using Tag Galaxy as the source for Learning to Look tasks that prompt participants to engage in critical and creative thinking. Like earlier days with Vivisimo / Clusty, searching a huge user-generated and tagged database gives us an empircal look at how the world sees abstract concepts. They provide great opportunities for open-ended questioning. Try the searches below using Tag Galaxy:

"celebrations" - How are different cultures represented? What does this say about them?

"frienship" - Why so many flowers?

"hope + change" - Why so many darker-skinned people hoping for change?

Additional Resources

PapverVision 3D Blog Demos - some pretty wild things!

Learning to Look with Thinking Routines a tutorial and links

Tom March Presents...- http://tommarch.com/

NECC: Spotlight Session

WebQuests 2.0: A Richer Web Improves a Good Idea

WebQuests were pretty cool a decade ago, but see what happens when you unfold today's WebQuest with video podcasts, social information networking, and collaboration tools.

- Day: Tuesday, 6/30/2009

- Time: 3:30pm–4:30pm

Friendly Pitch

Between now and April, I need to schedule at least a couple workshops / presentations on either side of NECC - June 22 - July 2. Please contact me ASAP if your school, district or association is interested in booking me for a one-day or multi-day session. First-come, first served! tom@ozline.com.

Please send me an email about any of the above.
It's always great to hear from you.

Recent Newsletters: November 08, October 08

tommarch.com November Updates

2008-11-03T21:08:47Z

November 2008

G'Day Faithful Friends,

This month I'd like to share a couple things: one that's useful and one to inspire.

Back in 1996, a few of us took the bait and learned a little Javascript, hearing that this was the next big thing that would make HTML pages interactive and bring the whole Web alive. As it turns out this was partly true, but it's taken over a decade and a little help from things like css (cascading style sheets) and XML (eXtensible Markup Language). Let's leave that distraction aside and focus on a funny thing about this 1996 endeavor.

As it turns out, one of the most popular pages -- of all the thousands I've posted on the Web -- is this 1996 experiment. My former life as an English teacher combined with an EdTech bent to create the ElectraGuide ThesisBuilder, a one-page interactive form that spits out a persuasive thesis statement and related outline if students can think their way through some key elements of what they want to argue.
The ThesisBuilder's popularity made me feel a little sheepish about never updating its appearance from the very rudimentary HTML you see in the image above. So it was time for a facelight and a question: Do you want more of these? I've got a few more interactive forms for writing different essays up my sleeve so email me (tom@ozline.com) with a little encouragement ;-)

Mankind is no island- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrDxe9gK8Gk

Although it's big news here in Australia, you may not have heard about this compelling little film. Jason van Genderen and colleag ues used two mobile phones to snap pictures of over 1000 signs and a few short videos to create Mankind Is No Island – a 3 ½ minute film that recently won both the Critic's and People's prizes at Tropfest New York. Poignant imagery, a universal message and evocative original music expertly synced to the images makes for a touching and effective video. What I find equally profound is that creating this kind of personal expression is within the capability of just about every teenager and even heaps of adults. With this in mind, here are a few extra resources and a friendly challenge:

Online conversation with Jason van Genderen on local radio station

Mankind is no Island on YouTube

More extensive interview on The Media Report - ABC Radio (for mp3 download)

Friendly Challenge:

How about we have a go ourselves and/or invite
students to create their own PhoneFilm?
When I do, I will post it to TomMarch.com / ozline.com. If you do, how about sending the link and we can share what's created?

Friendly Pitch

Remember that I consult internationally with educational organizations, software companies, departments of education and even local schools. It seems like there's something for everyone! Contact me on skype at tommarch or on email at tom@ozline.com.

Please send me an email about any of the above.
It's always great to hear from you.

tommarch.com October Updates

2008-10-01T21:46:46Z

G'Day Faithful Friends,

Well, it's hard to imagine, but it's been a few years since I've sent out a monthly newsletter. Does time fly or what?! It's not as though things haven't been busy in our little corner of the world, but I've buffed up the Web site, focused my aim and enlisted a few handy Web 2 tools, so.. We're coming back at ya! Here are a few "Bright Ideas for Education" current to the month of October, 2008

Because it's "welcome back" time, let's take a look at some "big picture" things and then in coming months, we can focus on specifics.

Immutable Trends - http://tommarch.com/ozblog/themes/

Why should schools bother with technology? It's such a hassle when things stuff up. The kids often get up to mischief. Isn't there enough to do already?! I've become convinced that it's not only engaging and exciting to integrate technology into learning, but not doing so will soon be seen as professional malpractice. A series of what I call "Immutable Trends" act as the foundation of my perspective. Things like "tech's appeal," "ubiquitous consumption," "assembly lyin'" and "crumbware" are silly names that connote huge societal trends that are altering our children's lives and necessitate new approaches to "schooling." The Web address above links to a page that briefly describes a collection of Immutable Trends and related Educational Challenges.

Clipmarks - http://clipmarks.com/

Do you ever (always?) find yourself with a dozen browser windows or tabs open - great sites that you really should bookmark or blog about? Are you secretly relieved when the browser crashes under this weight and you lose these gems forever? Although I've played with it for over a year, it wasn't until I decided to use Clipmarks to track the Trends just mentioned. Sure, I'd love to blog about each instance, but some days so much is happening, I could never h ope to. Now I use Clipmarks to gather sections of Web pages, add a brief (thank you!) comment and tag the clip for easy sorting and reference. Then, instead of making a blog post for each, I've embedded a Clipmarks window at TomMarch.com that invites you to look if you like while I have a well-classified set of references for later articles or presentations. Do yourself a favor and become a "clipper."

Diigo / Educator - http://diigo.com/education

Along the similar lines to Clipmarks is Diigo. Pronounced "Dee'go," it's an acronym for "Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff." I've had the pleasure of skyping with a couple of Diigo's founders and am impressed with their commitment to education. In fact, of all the social networking / bookmarking sites, Diigo is the only one to really target classroom use of such Web 2 facilities. Diigo just launched its education version. It's still early days, but the tool is fantastic and the interest in education sincere. What's especially good about Diigo compared to Clipmarks is that it allows users to highlight and comment on passages within online documents all within the contex t of a social networking sturucture so we can enter into a virtual close reading with other Diigo users. By example, register for Diigo, then go to Nicholas Carr's Atlantic Monthly article, "Is Google Making Us Stoopid?"

Pageflakes - http://pageflakes.com

Finally, the last Bright Idea for this month is a Pageflakes. If you've used iGoogle, you'll have a pretty good idea what Pageflakes is. Sometimes referred to as "start Pages" or "Jump Pages," these Web 2 apps allow you to draw together heaps of RSS feeds onto one page. In the old days we used things like Bloglines as RSS aggregators, but as amazing as these were, you'd still have to click on each feed to see its posts. Mostly, I didn't click. But that's okay, because now all you have to do is "hover." Most blogs will list a row of links to other sites they like. You can see my list here. But if you look closely, the very first link on the list goes to a Pageflakes version that shows all these same blogs and first five post all on one page. But it's not just about keeping up on your ed blogs. You can make multiple pages, each one focused on a different topic ("climate change," "tessellations," "current events," "best recipes," etc.). Every blog, podcast, newspaper, magazine, radio station, etc. that provides an RSS/XML feed can appear in you Pageflakes collection. What's best is that these pages can then be shared with colleagues or students. To get yourself and friends started on this (quality of) life saving approach, you can use a step-by-step screen-clip friendly tutorial I made for a workshop.

Speaking of "workshop"... Get In-Person Support

Did I tell you that Tom March is a Web-based educator who lives in New South Wales, Australia, but regularly consults with schools and educational organizations throughout Australia and the U.S.? He's also interested in working in many other corners of the globe. Contact Tom on skype at tommarch or on email at tom@ozline.com.

Please send me an email about any of the above. It would be great to hear from you again.

tommarch.com

tommarch.com Digital Media & Learning

tommarch.com April Update - NECC Alert!

April 2009

The Brave New WWW - "Whatever, Whenever and Wherever"

What to Make of Web 2.0?

WebQuests 2.0: How a Richer Web Improves a Good Idea

CEQ-ALL ("seek-all")- Taxonomy for the 21st Century

Learning to Look

ClassPortals

2-3 Day Workshop: Upgrading to WebQuests 2.0