Life With L

Failure is never really just failure.

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Ann Leaness

For a few months now, I have been wanting to enter the realm of webmaster. That is, I wanted to move my blog to a self-hosted site, and I wanted to set up a WordPress Multi-User site that incorporated BuddyPress and blogs for our school community. It took me a while to take the leap because I really have no coding or HTML experience. I have to say that if it wasn’t for George Couros leading the way, I may never have done it. He has been there every step of the way, Skyping and hooking me up with the amazing Jared Bennett.

The first step was really quite simple. I checked out some hosting companies, tweeted out for some help, and in the end decided to go with Bluehost because it was listed as one of the top hosts used by WordPress bloggers. I felt that was the safest way to go for someone with very little experience. Bluehost has a 1-click script install of WordPress with SimpleScripts. It was easy peasy! I literally clicked the button and I had a new self-hosted WordPress blog. I then had to archive and upload my blog to move it to the new site. With a few very minor image size adjustments, my new blog site was complete. I sat on my new site for a few weeks just enjoying the success.

With the beginning of school looming quickly, I was running out of time if I was going to get the school site up and running. So, off I went to Bluehost and registered a new domain. At first, I figured I would test it out and just set it up for my own classes because I was afraid to take on the whole school. Hence, the mlkkids.org URL. But, in for a penny… So, I once again hit the 1-click simple scripts and then, installed the BuddyPress plug-ins. I thought I was set, no big deal, right? Boy was I wrong. I quickly found out just how far I was in over my head. I had to edit the code to make my site multi-user. Yes, code. Ugh, So back I went to my Bluehost cpanel (foreign territory) to search for my wp-config. file. See, I told you; it gets better. I then had to find my hidden .htaccess file to edit more code. Ok, now, I needed some more help. I put some questions on the WPMU blog and the BuddyPress blog, and continuously tweeted out my needs. Several very generous people responded with some advice. @bkolani @JohnJamesJacoby and @echoln responded quickly with my WPMU and BuddyPress questions, helping me find my hidden .htaccess files. I changed the coding and voila, I had a network. For a moment, I had a wonderful feeling of success. Then, I discovered a few more BIG problems. My blogs looked all weird and my registration wasn’t working. Without the help of @andrea_r, I would never have known that it wasn’t a coding mistake, but a problem with the hosting company itself. She saved me from quitting right then and there. Once again, I went back to Bluehost and spent about an hour and a half in an online chat with one of their techs. They really were very helpful even though it took so long. In the end, we finally decided to just start from scratch. The tech re-installed the WordPress, but he had to set up sub-domains. Apparently they don’t use the sub-folders the code calls for on the WPMU site.

Throughout this process, I have had an amazing amount of help from @gcouros and @mrjarbenne. Jared set up my BuddyPress plugins after the new install because I was so afraid to mess everything up after all we had been through. The site is still a work in progress, but the user registration is working, the spam is now minimal, and every user has the ability to create their own blog. A few teachers have signed on to help me test it. I created several video tutorials to help them get started, hoping they find them helpful. My next mission is to learn about the moderation of groups and get the forums working. Hopefully, I can master everything in the next few days.

Failing and Learning

I still have a long way to go. There are many more failures in my future, of that I am sure. The funny thing is I have no one telling me I must do this, it is something I wanted to do for our school. It would be so easy to just stop and let it go. Failure is frustrating. It takes effort to be willing to try and then try again. It takes lots of time to fail at things. Why do it? Success or no success, the learning still happens and for me, learning is always rich and rewarding.

So what have I learned?

I learned that:

Having experts to help you is essential.
taking a risk is scary, but you must risk for new learning to occur.
I really do not like to fail.
Code is just code, it can always be changed.
Always, always save a copy of the original file!
Hidden files are a bear to find. (why do they do that?)
I still need to learn about FTP. It really is an essential skill.
I now have a better understanding of what I am asking of my students when I ask them to step outside their comfort zones and take risks.

There have been many other people in my personal learning network who have offered words of encouragement, helping me as I learn out loud. Thank you, all of you for lending support when I needed it. I only hope, I can return the favor someday.

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Posted in Education | Tagged Buddypress, Failure, learning, WPMU | 1 Comment

Symbaloo

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Ann Leaness

Symbaloo is a start page that allows you to add colored or pictured tiles for any websites you choose. I heard about the site a few weeks ago, but haven’t had a chance to play around with it until recently. The color-tiled format was appealing and I thought it was something my students might really like. So, for the past two days, I have been tinkering a bit to figure out how it works. It really is quite simple. After creating a free login, the page opens to a series of pre-designed webmixes. I haven’t really checked out the gallery, but some of the webmixes looked interesting. To get started on my own page, all I did was click on the plus sign and I was able to create a webmix from scratch. I decided to start with a page my students could use to easily access the many technology tools we use in class. I had fun adding links and choosing colors like crazy, and before I knew it the page was filled.

Tech Tools for EDU

After I finished with the first page, I was hooked and decided to create a page of resources for the English Teachers at school.

Resources for High School English

So now, I am thinking about the possibilities for the use of Symbaloo in the classroom. My students could use this as a start page to stay organized or to create theme-based pages for research projects.

One way I thought it might be fun to introduce Symbaloo is to use it as an icebreaker assignment in the very beginning of the year. My students could work in groups to create a color-coded page filled with things they are passionate about and then, they could present them to the class. It would be an easy way to incorporate cooperative groups and also have them do some informal presentations right away. It’s also a new and interesting way for us to get to know one another. Another plus is that they would also have the pages as a resource to draw from throughout the year when working on different assignments.

Can you think of any more uses for Symbaloo? I would love to hear about them.

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Posted in Education | Tagged edtech, HS English Resources, Passions, Symbaloo | 1 Comment

Learning Always

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Ann Leaness

Last week, I attended New Teacher Camp at the Boy’s Latin Charter School in Philadelphia. I attended a session called Creating a Great EdTech College Course run by MaryBeth Hertz and Alice Lesnick. There was a really interesting discussion with a bit of a debate about too much emphasis on tools. I was particularly interested in this discussion because I teach a Graduate Technology Course. I am always looking for ways to improve my class, and often wonder if I am getting it right.

My class is very tool heavy. I get the whole pedagogy side, trust me. Here’s my thought. If I have about 35-40 hours total for a technology class, I am going for the tools. Why? If they don’t know about the tools, how can they use them? Many of my students have never used anything other than the Office Suite of products and email. They do not use social media, other than Facebook for personal use. They have never heard of wikis, blogs, Twitter, Google apps, and oh, so, many more. Many have digital cameras, but have never taken the photos from the camera to the computer. Uploading them to a site is a whole new adventure. So, yes, for me it’s really about the tools. I feel that when I immerse my students in an environment where they have to learn to navigate tools and get a bit messy, it helps them get over their fear of breaking the computer. My main goal is to enable them to feel confident enough to tinker on their own and investigate new tools when they are introduced. Of course, as I introduce the tools, they are required to develop lessons or we discuss how to use them to develop critical thinking and collaboration skills. They also read articles and reflect on blog posts on our class ning.

After the session at #ntcamp, I was really questioning if I was helping my students, or if I was doing it all wrong and doing them a disservice. I decided to ask them. We had a discussion about the session at ntcamp about building a great edtech course. Then, I asked them to write a reflection about our class. They had a choice to post it on the ning or hand in a hard copy. I wanted them to have the option, since the ning is more public. The last night of class, I came home with a few hard copies and knew that the others were waiting for me on the ning. I love getting feedback from my students about my classes because it helps me grow as an educator. That being said, I can honestly say I was not ready to read their reflections. I was feeling very anxious, so I decided to leave them for the next day. On my way to bed, I checked my email one last time, and got one of the nicest notes I have ever received from a student:

Thank you for satisfying my thirst for technology (you’ll understand if you read my blog);
Thank you for being one of the two greatest teachers I will ever remember;
Thank you for always believing in me and my potential;
Thank you for treating everyone the same but minding our individual strength, potentials and personalities;
I feel very sad you won’t be teaching us next year;
You are a great teacher and I hope you know that. I hope every student knew/knows how lucky they were/are to have you as a teacher.

Some comments from the reflections:

“Before I took this course….I was intimidated by the thought of just sitting behind a computer and avoided it as much as I could… This technology course has given me the confidence to try things out on the computer…. Maybe someday I will be one of the teachers who will be urging my school to embrace the transformative power of technology!”

“Overall, learning a bunch of news tricks and tools was more beneficial for me. I now have time to go back and play on my own time with the new sites I learned about. So much about teaching involves figuring things out on your own because everybody’s teaching style is unique.”

“I was very scared to take this class. As I have said in previous blogs, I am not a very tech savvy person, and I get very intimidated by technology. This class has opened my eyes to a whole new world of technology. When I go to professional development meetings, they are always saying how we have to get students attention, and use technology in the classroom more often. I always found this a struggle because I didn’t know how to use technology, or understand how it worked in a classroom environment, besides just letting them use a computer to type on and to do research.”

Needless to say, I was happy that my students felt they learned to embrace technology and not be afraid. Through our discussion about #ntcamp, they also learned that it is not just about the tool, but about how the tool is used to enhance student learning. Many times as teachers, we question what we are doing and if we are doing it right, at least I do. And, when we do get it right it is like some secret that must be guarded closely, lest others think we are tooting our own horn. This does feel like that, but I am sharing this because there is so much negative press about teachers. We need to start celebrating our joy-filled moments so others can celebrate them too.

Now, I need your help. I realize there is always room for improvement and I am hoping to make my class better through my choice of articles. This way, I will be able to expose my students to more theory. I am on a mission to find some really good articles about the theory behind using technology. Is it effective? Why do we use it? Maybe you can help me with that?

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Posted in Education | Tagged #ntcamp, edtech, Education, learning, tech theory, technology | Leave a comment

I just want to be a better me.

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Ann Leaness

Today, I came back from teaching a technology class and opened my Tweetdeck. I was stunned to see my name added to a contest. People are supposed to go to that list and vote for the most influential educational tweeters. Really. No lie. First, let me say that I have major issues with lists. I never even created any twitter lists because it felt too exclusive to me. What do these lists prove? Why do we have them? So, imagine how embarrassed I feel being added to a list where I am being compared to some real powerhouse thinkers and doers.

I just want to be a better me.

I don’t want to be the next great presenter at technology conferences. I don’t want to be on the best of, most influential, top ten of any list. I just want to learn, to be a better teacher for my students. I want to fail less better. Yes fail better, so I learn and grow as an educator. I want to figure out a way to try and maintain my enthusiasm throughout the school year when apathy surrounds me and sucks me down it’s dark hole. I want to help my students to answer the how do I do this? What if? Why does that happen? How can I make it better? kind of questions on their own.

Twitter helps me do that. When I come home, I know that if I sign onto twitter there will be many outstanding educators trying to do the same thing I am. To re-energize for the next day, to search for ideas, share successes and failures, talk about our kids, goof around or yes, sometimes even get serious.

So can we stop with the lists? Do we really need them? We know who influences us, do we need others to tell us that?

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Posted in Education | 2 Comments

Backchannel or Bashchannel?

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Ann Leaness

I attended the keynote speech at ISTE 2010. I am still wrestling with what happened during the Twitter backchannel of the keynote. The speaker, Jean-François Rischard, spoke about global problem solving and the critical role of educators and technology for education. I believe most of his speech was based on his book, High-Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. When he walked on stage, he looked a bit nervous and all I could think was that it takes a very brave person to stand up in front of a crowd that big on the opening day of a major conference. The Wells Fargo Theater has a 5,000 fixed-seat capacity and it looked to me like all seats were filled.

Photo courtesy of jjohnson1120's photostream on Flickr

When he began, Mr. Rischard showed a Power-Point slide and began using some mathematical terms and formulas that made me wish I had more mathematical knowledge. Although, what he said was over my head, I was able to understand the core of his message, that we have major global challenges that need to be solved quickly. I was interested to learn more.

While Mr. Rischard was presenting, I was keeping an eye on the Twitter backchannel. It was not a pretty sight. Things started to turn pretty ugly, pretty quickly. Many commented negatively on his PowerPoint Slides, his lack of energy and his lack of connection to the audience. Reading the negative tweets reminded me of a blog post I had recently read by Danah Boyd, “spectacle at Web2.0 Expo… from my perspective.” In her post, she describes what it felt like to be on stage presenting and know that she had somehow lost the audience. She talked about hearing laughter at moments when there should have been none. It forced her to rush through her speech, just to be done as quickly as possible. She stated, “The Twitter stream had become the center of attention, not the speaker. Not me.” Her post really stuck with me, and I couldn’t help but realize that I was witnessing the same type of situation. Thinking about that, I tweeted out a tweet to try and divert the attention back to the speaker. I am not sure if it helped, but I felt it was something I needed to do.

There are at least two sides to every story. Did the speaker lack savvy presentation skills? Maybe. When presenting at a conference filled with tech savvy presenters, is that important? Maybe. Is it an affront to the message of fostering a growth in technology in education? Maybe.

Here’s my issue. The message the speaker was trying to convey was a very serious one. Do we always need bells and whistles in a presentation? When we don’t get that, can we get past it and pay attention, really listen? Maybe I am way off base, but isn’t the backchannel supposed to be a critical engagement about the message the speaker is trying to convey and not about the speaker himself? Don’t we do a disservice to ourselves and the speaker when engaging in a bashchannel and not a true backchannel?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Am I way off base? Maybe? Maybe not?

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