Learning Side by Side

Today was the start of several weeks at Thacher School in Ojai, California for a residential professional development program for teachers called Teach the Teachers Collaborative. As an instructor for many iterations of this program since before 2000, I have seen my share of compilation montages of each week, and have been the sole editor of a few myself. If you have been tasked with creating such a end-of-the-program presentation, then you know how much time and effort goes into developing a quality product that provides great impact and leaves participants feeling nostalgic about their learning journey.

With great relief that I wouldn’t have to create another of these presentations, I find comfort knowing that a colleague (John Lenhardt) this week introduced everyone, including the participants, toward being contributors to an alternative media capture of the week. We are all using Cellblock to contribute collaboratively to the media collection

Cellblock: LAUSD/TTTC Thacher 2008

This particular set of images is a continual process, allowing everyone to take control of the content to be included. Yes, there are other photosharing sites, including social networks such as CUE Community where every person can upload photos for all to look at.

Ning Photoshare: CUE Community

Find more photos like this on The CUE Community

But what makes Cellblock different is that participants can contribute images and video by cell phone Of course, this can also be done by e-mail via a computer. With a 20MB limit per e-mail submission, the program won’t take in GB-sized videos, but videos from a digital still camera are pefect to e-mail.

Check back here again to see what shows up throughout the week. I myself cannot wait for the final product to materialize.

It was about 1 year ago on May 23, 2007 when I joined other educators at Google Santa Monica in the Southern California Google Teacher Academy.  Recognized as a Google Certified Teacher, I and 50 other colleagues were treated to a day of learning about the various tools Google has created.  After this event, I was given the opportunity to share my learning to others in my educational community.  This is a reflection of my endeavor.

Professional Development Activities Led and the Teachers/Students Reached 

Even before becoming a Google Certified Teacher, I was already facilitating the use of Google applications in learning in my various educational organizations.  But I found that my newly-acquired honor as a Google Certified Teacher increased the already-high demand for my time delivering professional development on the use of Google applications in education.  The development of an online Moodle Course for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) beginning in June of 2007 and targeting the use of Google tools such as Google Docs, Blogger, and Books directly affected at least 85 individuals who have in-turn shared their learning with other colleagues.  And such professional development extended beyond Moodle as I also integrated the instructional use of tools such as Blogger, Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Earth, Google Video, and YouTube into classes I have facilitated for a salary credit program for teachers called Uniting Professional Development and Technology for Education (UPDATE), essentially directly reaching 64 fellow teachers and helping them use the tools with their students.  Involved with Summer Teacher Professional Development Programs such as the California Mathematics and Science Program Summer Institute, I was charged alongside my fellow Google Certified Teacher Janice Stearns with leading 50+ other lead teachers on how to deliver instruction on the use of tools such as Google Docs, Google Groups, Google Search, and Google Reader.  Both Janice and I were also given the task of directly reaching the 500+ teachers that attended the Teach the Teachers Collaborative Summer Institutes, including more specialized tools such as Google Earth, Google Maps, Page Creator, and Picasa.  Records of my year indicate that I at least reached another 535 individual teachers through various Google Strand workshops I facilitated both as a member of Computer-Using Educators as well as a part of my position as an Instructional Technology Applications Facilitator in LAUSD; the various events in which I delivered my Google Strand of learning included the CUE Los Angeles Tech Fair, the 2008 CUE Conference Google Exhibit Booth, Teacher Librarian Professional Development Days, Tuesday Teacher Professional Development, and District Science Lead Teacher Professional Development.  In total, I have directly introduced Google applications to K-12 instruction to 1234+ teachers in face-to-face contact, while also contributing to the dissemination of learning about Google in education through my blogs and social networks reach an even larger audience for which I do not estimate the total number of people I reach at this time.

Impact on Teachers/Students 

The impact of my efforts is seen in the types of student projects and collaboration I am observing in the classrooms of those I have introduced Google applications to.  For example, I now highlight the Blogger blogs created by my colleagues in my own LAUSD Local District 5 Monthly Instructional Technology News, which is also hosted on Blogger.  I have also seen students demonstrate their work on Google Docs using my district’s Google Apps accounts.  This was documented in a presentation by teacher librarians sharing what their students developed as a result of a presentation I facilitated a few months before.  It is not a coincidence that the use of Google Groups has also proliferated among various instructional units in my district.  I have seen LAUSD courses on interactive whiteboards, digital photography, reading and writing, and many other subjects being managed through Google Groups.  For example, a Summer program I facilitate focusing on 4th Grade Life Science has been a resource for ongoing discussion on using science kits that investigate environments.  This continues on today, and many more teachers will be joining this group in the near future.

Challenges 

Of course, there have been some challenges.  For example, as with any other program involving the use of passwords, it can be somewhat difficult to have teachers create and remember them.  I recall some workshops where teacher created Google passwords but could not confirm them because they didn’t remember how to access the e-mail address they associated with the account.  And when it came to creating a Gmail account in order to access Page Creator, this was hampered by the fact that Gmail is inaccessible through my district’s firewall.  The use of Google Video and YouTube as valuable educational resources has also been reduced by the very same firewall issues.  Another challenge would be to try and keep up with all the changes that would occur to Google’s products, which sometimes led to me having to provide on-the-fly learning experiences for those I had to present to.  For instance, one day I had to explain the changes in how to share a Google Docs document.  I also have had to quickly learn about newer versions of tools like Google Earth and forms on Google Docs (sometimes only a few hours before a scheduled workshop). Probably the biggest challenge has been to negotiate greater time with the teachers I was providing professional enrichment for.  I found it most effective when I could provide sustained support in the use of Google tools in their classrooms by following up with teacher reflection after implementation with their students.

Impact on Personal Growth 

For me personally, the experience as a Google Certified Teacher has provided me the opportunity to push my learning further than I thought possible.  This is most likely due to the social networks I developed as a result of communicating with fellow Google Certified Teachers.  I recall the first time Twitter was mentioned in a discussion thread among my colleagues.  I was at first not sold on the idea of sharing at 140 characters, but the buzz from all the discussion posts fed my curiosity.  In fact, many my Google Certified Teacher colleagues have provided my small amounts of motivation in various areas to try a plethora of great tools.  My favorite tool has grown to be Picasaweb because it has inspired me to think differently about taking photographs.  Now when I take trips, I also consider the audience I am composing an image for and how to geotag it to the exact place I took the photograph at.  This is apparent with a recent trip to Alaska, but I have also gone back to previous trips and geotagged them as well (Big Island of Hawaii, Sequoia National Park, etc.).  With my influence, my wife is now also implementing use of Blogger for her kindergarten classroom (What’s Happening in Mrs. Rivera’s Classroom?), and she is finding the use of Google Docs and Picasaweb a valuable addition to making her classroom blog an effective way to share information with her school community.  Pretty much, I have learned to be a more social learner, contributing knowledge as well as absorbing knowledge from all those I come in contact with face-to-face or through the Internet.

Ideas on Keeping the Momentum Going in the Future 

I have found that sharing examples of my use of tools has been the best way to maintain momentum.  The authentic learning that occurs in informal conversations has led many of my colleagues to try many Google applications and then provide me positive feedback on their experience.  But I have also developed structures that continue to continue the use of Google tools in education.  For example, I continue to this day to support some my Google Certified Teacher colleagues that are also providing an introduction to Google applications by helping to schedule Technology Academies in my area.  I am also conducting more business with organizations I am providing leadership in such as CUE Los Angeles and Local District 5 (agendas in Google Docs, registration with forms in Google Docs, collaboration with Google Groups).  And finally, the increased demand for student use of LAUSD’s Google Apps has already provided momentum that has led to formation of a district Google focus group that I have been a part of since its inception.  With my continued work with CUE Los Angeles, LAUSD, Teach the Teachers Collaborative, and other organizations, the future seems bright for Google’s impact on education in the Greater Los Angeles area and its surrounding Southern California learning community.