Digital Dossier

I thought this clip was interesting as sometimes we forget that we have an identity with our digital selves. You can see how people try to project themselves in this format. I think it is fascinating to see their expressions of themselves, as it is a form of a self-portrait. How they see themselves is different from the way other people see them, but by using digital media the line can get blurred. Without knowing someone personally, all we have is their digital persona. This helps them to project how they see themselves to other people looking in. It certainly helps to create our identity.
It is a powerful tool though. As we too often see some ones digital identity can quickly effect their reputation. As social beings we especially need to be cautious of our digital selves. It is an extension of us and therefore it is not only another way people see use, it is a way we are judged or assessed. It is just something people need to be cautious of, as our digital selves are becoming more and more our actual selves.
It is just a part of the “times” we live in but it is fascinating and maybe a little humbling to see how big a part technology is playing in our lives. It is in fact who we are. Just check a search engine.

week 9

Self-sustaining is a word which has begun to be used more and more. While it is something which has always existed, it has now become more of a necessity as we find ourselves depending more and more on other people. This dependence creates a lack of responsibility, which effects how we approach things in society, in schools and in life. Without the ownership of being independent and self reliant, we feel less responsible for what is happening. This is talked about a lot in chapter 10 with the primary focus on creating sustainable natural resources. Creating a cycle, which supports our life form and is renewable within it self is certainly something we should invest in. The earth and its resources are certainly not capable of sustaining society at the rate it is being consumed. While this is an important aspect to our education as discussed, I think the responsibility aspect is the most important one in educating our students for the future. By infusing students into these important aspects of sustainability, they will become more invested and therefore will also gain responsibility. This is responsibility is essential in all aspects of life from sustenance to investment to interaction socially and globally. Global responsibility as we have seen is becoming more and more of a vital aspect to humanity. Independent instruction I think is the starting point for this regaining of responsibility. I also really like the examples given in the book on ecological responsibility and the steps some schools are taking. It is certainly encouraging to see with the exponential growth and consumption, which is encompassing our planet.

Vision is another word we hear quite often but I think just as often we classify it as a goal or mission statement. While these are aspects of vision, I think we should use it more literally and incorporate that aspect into education. Vision, I believe, is picturing the way something could or should be. This applies to being self-sustaining as it helps us to look at the big picture. This is important to instill in our students as well as we prepare them for the future. By understanding where they need to get, they will appreciate and understanding the steps for getting there.

An interesting trend I noticed in some of the articles for this week is the success of small schools in preparing their students for the future. While we often think of small schools as disadvantaged based on their size, this can be as seen an advantage for more integrated learning. Larger schools are certainly better for some things such as opportunities and social aspects. However, technology is making this less significant as students from small schools interact with people from other schools and communities. I think one of the biggest advantages of some of these small schools is the individualized learning they can provide. The teacher to student ratio is often smaller and students are more widely known within their school and community. Being a big part of their small communities they are affected and involved with the different aspects of their community. This real world application is an essential aspect to a productive academic experience. This is interesting given the attempts to consolidate and regionalize our school units.

Some of what I got from “Drive” …

As an art teacher I can really appreciate the notion of intrinsic motivation, as it is an important aspect of art. You have to have a certain type of drive (motivation 3.0) to achieve the types of results you are looking for. While production artists may be able to work for extrinsic rewards, true art for art’s sake artist require the fulfillment, which comes from self-motivated and self-directed creativity. The direction of autonomy, mastery and purpose are already key motivators in this field and it is very interesting to see how these aspects are influencing and becoming more involved with other job types. This sense of intrinsic motivation is sparked at a young age being told we can do anything we put our minds to. It is then often lost as we become products of our society and turn to extrinsic motivators to help us achieve the notion of money equals happiness. It is a system set in place but there is a beginning of change. Motivation as it turns out is a key aspect to productivity. The development of intrinsic motivators, are being shown to create even more productivity. It is certainly a drastic change to what we are used to in our current society. This is an overwhelming change that Pink has suggested is beginning to happen. I really liked where he said (paraphrasing) the possibility of this change would seem impossible except for the fact he has the feeling in his stomach that this is part of our nature and something we should want to except to have a more fulfilled and purpose driven life.

Another aspect of the book I thought was enlightening was Pink’s description of flow as a form of mastery. There is something to be said for doing what you love to do to the best of your ability. Doing what you are meant to do. I think often there is some miscommunication with this though. We tell people “do what you love to do and you will never have to work”. While you will enjoy your job, I liked the quote used from Dr. J. “Being a professional, is doing the things you love to do, on the day’s you don’t feel like doing them”. I think this really accentuates the idea of mastery. Achieving mastery requires work, hard work and a lot of it. It is however, very self-rewarding, and because of that is creates fulfillment as described in flow. I think instilling the sense of mastery in students is one of the first steps towards flow in the work of students. Once they can appreciate the intrinsic value of working towards mastery it will result in motivation. This is where giving students more freedom in choosing direction of study comes into play. They can then take control of their education just as mastery describes. They strive to achieve certain results even if they are impossible as described in the example of an asymptote. As a teacher, I get a sense of the flow when I have created or recreated a lesson, which I feel is very educational, and convey it in a way students understand and are excited about. That’s what made me want to become a teacher, and that’s the intrinsic motivation that makes me want to go to work and improve my work as a teacher.

Something else that stood out to me was the removing of extrinsic rewards to achieve better production. Because they are so much of the way business has approached employees for so long, it can be hard to imagine some jobs with out it. I think the most important part of it is where you take money off the table as described in the “Zen of compensation”. Once there is a baseline of adequate compensation, money no longer needs to be used as motivation. This is very interesting to see in the examples given by Pink. The next step is to then create the intrinsic motivation. I think this can really be used in the education realm. I think some things still require extrinsic rewards as discussed in routine activities. However, I think there is a lot of opportunity for creating the type I learner by using alternative methods. I think this really describes several of the ideas of curriculum we have been discussing. Having students who are self directed in “non-routine” school outlines, helps to create the value if intrinsic motivation and therefore the increase of academic production. Also, if students are recognized for their achievement in their school, community, or even broader audiences through given technologies, their motivation to succeed becomes much higher than the grade driven student.

I also really liked the use of the FedEx days and 20% time as a way to create intrinsic motivation. I think this idea would work well in school, as students would have this time to do whatever they are interested in. This is also part of students having more control over their educational direction. By giving them time to work on what they are really interested in it not only engages them in that activity which can be tied into subjects they are learning, but also helps them appreciate and maybe if they really can’t stand it even tolerate the things they may not be interested in or not feel is useful at this point in their lives. I certainly think it would help.

attempting to answer some questions

In the running list of questions, there are several which refer to what the content of our curriculum should be, how curriculum should be changed or adapted, and how to implement a “new” curriculum given the restraints we currently have in our systems. While I don’t believe there is a specific answer for these I will explain the opinion I have been developing so far. This may lead to more questions than answers.
First, I think there needs to be some type of standard with a way of measuring it. I think there needs to be what I would call a baseline of information every person should have before entering society as an adult. (I am referring to graduation as most students are around the age of 18- what we consider adults) I also think this standard should be something we try to unify within our state, nationally, and globally. While being unified I think it would need to be vague enough as to let individual schools and even teachers have the most say in construction of curriculum. There are standards in place which help to define this type of individual and are certainly a good starting point. Having said that, I don’t think what we have in place is an accurate development process for adults in the 21st century. This in effect would need to be changed or adapted to be less categorical and more subjective. It would also need to be changed to take out unnecessary discriminating aspects, which are outdated and include information considered 21st thinking. Changing the existing standards is not something I think can be done without a lot of agreement, but I think most people can agree there needs to be a common baseline from which students can then use to direct their studies. This baseline can then help point students toward a relevant subject area which would certainly be effected by community, culture, and job opportunities among other things.
To create our baseline we need to take what we have and do some housecleaning. There are many things, which are being taught in schools, which are nearly irrelevant in the 21st century. Similarly, some of what we are teaching is taking up way too much time. I think most teachers would agree that time is something there is not enough of. So first, let’s consolidate our information to focus on the necessary aspects of our existing curriculum. This means taking out information as well. I think this is where technology can play a big part as we can give access to information we do not want to waste valuable interactive time in class on. Once we have consolidated we need to make sure it is relevant. One idea would be to poll the general public and in particular newer types of job employers to figure out what is being used for information after school, which was learned (and remembered) in our public school system. This may give us a good understanding of what the baseline should look like. It kind of goes back to the question , ”when will I ever use this”. It would be something for us to use as a guideline to begin creating “new ways of learning new things”.
There are many ways to approach teaching this baseline as we are learning in class through technology and operating systems of the 21st century. Without getting into it too far, I think the baseline information should be a staple of the elementary and middle school, and maybe early secondary curriculum. How it is implemented is another topic. From secondary schooling on I think there should be more of an individualized direction. Making it easier for students to learn new things in their own way. I think there are still certain aspects (subjects) which students should get exposed to but at the same time they need direction. By consolidating the essential information and making access to it and more related information available, hopefully there would be more time to incorporate new essential aspects of the 21st century society and give students more direction and understanding of their individual learning capabilities.