does anyone want to test drive this?

Check this site out.  After you get a sense of what it is, and how you might use it, please comment to this post and explain why you're interested or not.  Feel free to follow the thread and respond to others' comments. 

thinking ahead to week 1

School may take summer off but learning never stops: I'm stoked! It's been a great summer for the new model of learning you'll be experiencing in this course. Many learners around the globe are trying new things with technology and they are eager to share and learn with us. Students and I had online interviews with thought leaders such as Steve Hargadon and Howard Rheingold (for the Macarthur Foundation-sponsored Digital Media & Learning Hub at University of California, Irvine). A couple weeks ago I described the model and the outcomes in this talk at OSCON in Portland, OR.

Part of the success story is the way the Class of 2012 accepted the challenge. Check out this interview Ian May & Trevor Hudgins did a couple days ago with an ed tech community based in Calgary, Canada.  It will be terrific to have Ian, Trevor and other members of the Class of 2012 join us for online conferences and forums to shed light on tech, learning, and life after HS.

But even though you'll have alums as a resource, remember the "etch-a-sketch" factor. You are completely different people and this is a brand new year.  Times have already changed. There are tools and ideas on the Internet that didn't exist yesterday, much less last year. The political and economic climate around us changes day by day. So, even though I have some idea of how this might go, and you're certainly welcome to build on and expand the ideas and ventures that last year's students began, I invite you and I encourage you to build from scratch. Imagine how you can connect your goals and your passions to the course in meaningful ways.  We're all in for a surprise as you discover what ideas and tools move you to action as you learn your way through this experience.  Incoming students are already designing new learning experiences and ventures-- who'd've thunk I'd be encouraging an architectural redesign of the room or a mother/daughter team-teaching the literary techniques and themes of Dickens and Dr. Seuss?

Reading this blog, however, is like a scene from one of those old westerns where the sheriff slowly walks down the empty main street and mutters, "It's quiet. Too quiet." And the etherpad is about as interesting as [whatever/not inspired enough to finish the simile]. So, if you haven't yet created your blog or contributed a comment or warmed up with your reading notes...

On the first day of school you'll be [spoiler alert!] writing an essay on the summer reading. On Wednesday we'll begin a conversation about how to make this blog and other 2.0 tools help you contribute ideas and collaborate in new ways. In the meantime, the following tips will help prepare you for the first week:

1. Get to class as early as you can. We'll need every second.
2. Bring a spiral notebook or comp book in addition to your binder (returning students will recognize this as the infamous journal).
3. Post your summer reading notes to your blogs. If you haven't posted them, please bring them to class and be prepared to turn them in. I will return them Thursday so that you can use them on the in-class essay. (Oh, by the way: we're having another in-class essay on Thursday).
4. Make sure you're in the right class. I don't mean according to your program, I mean according to your own heart and mind. This course demands intellectual courage and intestinal fortitude, and it is not for everyone. Be honest with yourself and see me if you have doubts.
5. The following posts (which you'll probably see before this if you're not following the blog or frequently checking it) will provide vocabulary and poetry assignments for Week 1. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday, August 17, and you must have the poem memorized by Monday, August 20.

Hope you had a great summer. I look forward to exchanging ideas about the reading and embarking together on a memorable journey. See you 8.14.

on habits of mind: Montaigne #4

NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi once said, "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."

As you reflect on your own habits of thinking, read the following passage about Montaigne's view of the topic and ask yourself: do your habits of mind help you achieve your goals, or do they get in your way? Answer in a comment to this post.


montaigne4 habits of mind -

summer notes etherpad

Hi Everyone,
I've created an etherpad here for anyone who wants to upload their summer reading notes and collaborate with others.  So, you've got some choices about how to document your summer reading.  You can:

• write them out by hand
• post them to your course blog
• post them to the etherpad

Each of these media has advantages and disadvantages.  The act of writing engages your brain and "teaches" you as you go by actively reinforcing ideas as you write them down.  (This is why you're more likely to remember everything at the store if you write a list, even if you forget to bring the list with you.)  Posting notes to your course blog establishes your digital identity and gives you a way to start drawing traffic and engaging thinkers on your online turf.  Posting notes to the etherpad gives you a chance to see your work right next to your peers', which enables us (literally) to compare notes.  And there is a benefit to doing all three: as my mentor Coach Wooden liked to say, "Repetition is a key to learning."  For those practical/self-interested types, rest assured that the more value you create for this learning community (by becoming knowledgeable and sharing ideas with others) the more credit you will accrue on Project Infinity.

NOTE: Ashlie's already commented to the etherpad and expressed some reservation about using the platform for the purpose.  This is fair game.  I'm genuinely curious about your perceptions of these tools because I want to optimize the learning experience.  So I will often ask you about what you're using, how, and how well it works for you.  Over the summer you're forced to learn tools by trial and error, but next month we'll be learning about them as we go.  As we explore new tools we will have some discussion about the tools themselves and not just the content we're using them to explore.  In the meantime, if you have questions, criticisms or suggestions about any of the tools, please send me an email, or comment to a post like this one, or (when we get back) bring it up in class.  Let's reserve the actual platforms for their intended purposes so that we can evaluate how well they work.  We can always hack the tools and the tool-selection process later.

whoa.

Although there is some disagreement as to where the phrase, "A picture's worth a thousand words" originated, these pictures are worth at least ten times that much. I'll sum them up with one:
Whoa. (source)

On Reading: Montaigne #3

It's amazing to me how personal and unique the experience of reading really is. Reading can be a concert, a nuclear explosion, a torrid love affair, a journey to exotic locales (including outer/inner space), or even Marvin Gaye singing the Star Spangled Banner at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game. But mostly, reading is an imagined conversation. A short text is like passing someone in a hallway and getting a snippet of information ("Hey, how ya doin'?" "Fine.") or entertainment ("Dude, you wouldn't believe what happened last night!"). A longer text can feel like a relationship; when I finish a really good book I feel a little wistful saying goodbye to characters who have managed to take on lives of their own and become "people" in my imagination. Experiencing all this without leaving my couch still surprises me with all sorts of thoughts and feelings I wouldn't have if I didn't read.

How do you feel about reading? [*Besides disliking school assignments. I think we can agree that none of us like being made to do anything-- I'm asking about the reading you've sought out on your own. And if you haven't, it's time to start. Email me at dpreston.learning@gmail.com if you need help getting started.] How have your reading experiences (or lack of reading experiences) influenced the way you think and feel about reading? As you read Montaigne's ideas, think about how we can choose texts and design reading experiences this year that will make you a happier and more effective reader. I look forward to your comments.

montaigne3 reading

early bird special: etherpads

First person to correctly explain what an etherpad is wins!  Once you see the comment and the contributor is lavished with well-deserved praise (and Project Infinity tributes, more on that later), ask this person why it makes sense for all of us put our summer reading notes on an etherpad instead of hoarding them in our notebooks or even on our blogs.