The LAB-rynth of Science

At thought, at first, about naming this blog, “The party’s over!”  But there is a finality to that lyric which is really not what the purpose of this course is all about.  This is the beginning of the journey, not its conclusion.   To boldly go where no one has gone before?

I will still find moment to pause in any new aspect presented to me.  That is the nature of the true conservative, as all scientists are. (Don’t you DARE call me a Republican – those politicos had their chance to give the government back to the people and succumbed to lust for power.  But that’s a rant for a different venue.)

First, kudos for Shelley.  The time and effort that she had put into the coordination of this course would have been well beyond me.  Again, great job, Shelley!

Second, a number of us have been connected (wasn’t that the idea?) through the trials and tribulations of this course.  Let’s strive to keep in touch.  I hope that the list of participants could be in  some way archived.  After all, we are only a few trillion electrons apart.

Now, specifically which of my shiny new implements (listen to my voice-thread comment) do I currently find most useful.  Personally, I look forward to using the Library Thing to organize my personal library.  Evoca is a definite plus professionally.  I intend to use it on Ed-line next year.  YouTube videos on science topics may be good introductions or even reviews.  I need more time to pursue what is available.  Hey, I might even contribute as long as my tubby little self is not on camera.

I have read several Thing 23 posts.  All are in agreement that the kids are ahead of us in Internet 2.0.  And we must act to bring these methods of communication into the educational mainstream.  But the how to acomplish the task reminds be of a story.

A traveller passed three men working in a field.  He asked the first man, “What are you doing?”  The man replied, “Earning three dollars a day.”  The traveller asked the second man the same question.  The reply was, “Digging a ditch.”  When the third man was queried, he said, “We’re building a cathedral.”

So in this very daunting challenge, each needs to do what he or she can, whether it is digging a ditch or building a cathedral.  For, as my favorite author of the Bible puts it,  . . . “behold, I say unto you.  Lift up you eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already with harvest.” John 4:35, KJV.

I am comtempting one more post.  It’s the contarian in me, but there as some concerns I have about assumptions about the effectiveness of the electronic media as a teaching tool as well as some question about the ultimate effect on the actual physiological developmnt of the brain.  The problem is that I am having trouble with my meager communication skills in pulling the information together in a concise, readable message rather than some rambling, muddled mess.

At first I considered naming this blog, “Looking for Love in all the wrong places”, but that is really not what is going on in Classroom 2.0.  The participants are examining change, a fundamental change in the manner of communication.  Whether or not my contrarian approach to concept of social networking approves or disapproves, is really irrelevant.  To paraphrase the famous line from Poltergeist, “It’s here!”. 

Let’s address the official view.  From reading the governmental publication, Creating & Connecting, I felt that there are two basic concerns.    First was that the segment of the school populace referred to as the nonconformists were ahead in the application of social networking and this is somehow detrimental of the education establishment.  Nonconformist is a term I don’t particularly care for.  How about the disconnected – disconnected from the belief that the skill sets taught in school are of little real value.  Smart kids, under-achieving grades.  When queried, the only significant thing that Madonna was remembered for in high school by her teachers was that she didn’t shave under her arms.  If you really want a heads up about what the disconnected are evolving into, you need to read Dr. Steven Mizrach article, Technology and the Transformation of Identity.   But I digress.  Being smart kids, they find an outlet for the need to express themselves.  Ta-Da!  The Internet!  We are, of course, as educators, obligated to reconnect the disconnected.  To do so, we must establish communication on their level.  Again, the many facets of the Internet.  The publication continues with recommendations to address the use of social networking in education.

 But publication also states how reluctant administrations are to implement these changes?  Why?  For the same reason that many of my colleagues and myself are not rushing into this brave, new world.  Assessment or rather the lack of valid assessment.  Administrators of education institutions face parents that want grades, government bureaucrats that want measured achievement improvement, admission officials that want a means of comparison.   Assessment!

So I proceeded to do my Ning thing.  And this is where my first blog title came to mind.  After spending more than a hour searching Ning under the topics of science, chemistry and physics, most of the Ning linkages lack two things – relevant content and members.  Yes, I know that Mr. Richardson in the opening session that most bloggers only have five  or six frequent readers, but with most Ning networks in these areas were one, two or three.  And most were looking for assistance, hence the lack of content.  I did see several social groups gather about a particular teacher course or class.  But that specific approach seemed to have a limited appeal.  So for now I do not see a specific application for my course.

However, I personally took the plunge.  I did sign up for Content and Technology group in Classroom 2.0.  Or at least I think I did.  The methodology for registering for a particular group is a little vague.  Oh, yes, Klingon Confederation looked interesting, but I only speak Andorian and Vulcan.

Just in case, a reader may think that this commentator is opposed to social networking, let me assure that is not the case.  I belong to three professional list servers which according to the email administrator at Woodward is constantly over-filling my Inbox.

As some of the tasks, we had to do this was of moderate difficulty.  I modified the template page to make it more in keeping of my own nerd interests.  I suppose you might call Pageflakes “Web Site Construction Light”.  You really don’t have to mess with registering domain names and the such like.  And the ease of set up was along the same as the Edublogs format.  I did have some difficulty in trying to add some RSS feeds I wanted, but as I have household chores I must do, I will defer to solving that technical difficulty for some other time.

This post is to reflect on two questions:  How might this informational tool might be used in the classroom setting?  What themes or topics would be the focus of the Pageflakes?  Responding to the first question, it seems that the use of Pageflakes might just be the same as Ed-line.  And I have enough trouble getting my students to use Ed-line as is.  However, the Group feature does have the advantage of a more interactive engagement of the student than in Ed-line.   Up loading student school email addresses could allow them to add relevant information on a specific topic under consideration.  Oh, my Gosh, am I succumbing to this social net-working mind set?  I have found that some of the features of Ed-line a bit limiting which may not occur in Pageflakes.  I may have to examine this further.

I am not sure that I could find the appropriate theme or topic using Pageflakes that would fit into the nature of my course.  If I were asking the student to use the Internet as a research tool, other more direct informational techniques might more useful.  My comments on collaboration in Thing 20 are an examples.

Do I wish to share with the world?  Maybe, but only after a great deal of reflection.  If I am going to show the cyber world what I think is important to me, I want to very sure of what I would put into my Pageflakes.  So no stretchy thing for me at this time.