When Learning Hits Home

Which classroom lessons from the past year have had a direct impact in the day-to-day lives of learners?

It's sometimes difficult to prove that the expectations we're leading students to achieve, are truly relevant to the real world. Stir in the reluctance of some students to participate in activities that require time and effort, and it's no wonder we have such a high number of disengaged learners.

And so, it is doubly refreshing to encounter a story, where one person's persistence and pursuit of personal learning, can have a significant and visible effect for a family and a community. Meet William Kamkwamba:



Here's hoping the new year brings you and your students opportunities to learn skills and to demonstrate aptitudes in ways that are personal, memorable, and enduring.

Cloud Collaboration, about Clouds, from St. Cloud!

What happens when a creative souls collide in the cloud? If you are a teacher with an interest in the creative use of media, who by shear coincidence meets a colleague with a science background, the result might just be a collaborative 'cloud' project.

Before watching the end product, you might be interested in hearing more about how The Water Cycle Video, came to life on the Apollo Project Podcast. My interview with certified teacher, and graduate assistant Dana Woods, is the focus of today's podcast:

Twitter Flash Mob

Have you ever participated in a Flash Mob?

Thanks to so many good natured tweeters, educators may be just a few hours away from making our mark on today's Twitter trends. In order to hit a trending topic, we should all tweet right around the same time.

In order to do that, we can become a virtual flash mob to "EDYELP" a greeting from global educators to the Twitter community. Precisely as the clock winds down to 6:00 p.m. Eastern, send a friendly tweet to the sphere, and be sure to add the hashtag #EDYELP.

So, head out into every nook and cranny, we need lots of voices to pull it off! We won't have a big ball falling to the earth, but might just have a giant ball of fun shaking up the Twitter community:

YELP!

I was just looking at Twitter's Trending Topics for 2009.

Maybe it's just the hundreds of teacher-learners I follow on Twitter, but it seems to me that there is no other group making such widespread use of this micro-blogging platform for personal and professional learning.

I'm wondering what might happen if we chose one day to let ourselves be known. What if we 'edu-punked' Twitter's trending topics to demonstrate the amazing range of professional learning that takes place on Twitter?

Here's my proposal:
On Thursday, December 17th, let's do like the characters in Horton Hears a Who, and let out a collective "YELP", to let others know that we're here. Simply append #EDYELP to each of your tweets on that day, and we'll let the 'sphere know that "We are here; We ARE here; We are HERE; WE ARE HERE!".

Horton experts might point out that the ideal day for annual EDYELP would be on May 15th, when, according to the story, Horton first hears a "Yelp", but why don't we practice before the year is out...

A Google Renaissance

There have been so many innovations announced by Google in recent weeks, that intermittent visitors to the search site are sure to be surprised. While new developments are routinely posted at the official Google Blog, with supporting videos at the Google Channel on YouTube, today's podcast is my attempt to put many of the most recent developments into context.



Is individualized search a good thing? See what Google suggests when you type the word 'Renaissance'...


And just in case you missed Google Goggles and the changes in store for mobile devices:

Twitter in Person

I've written before that I think Twitter is becoming the new 'digital divide' in that, if you aren't in that space, you aren't able to participate in the meaningful learning that is the daily reality for those of us in Twittersphere.

As is the case at just about any educational conference these days, Twitter played a major role at this week's RCAC Symposium. This particular social media channel was mentioned by numerous presenters, and was the channel for ongoing #RCAC09 commentary; but it was in meeting my tweeps in person that I found the greatest rewards.

Today's podcast is a reflection on how Twitter is leading educators to deepen their learning relationships with colleagues both near and far.



Not sure where to begin with Twitter?
Start by downloading a nice feed-reader like TweetDeck, then peruse the resources and ideas over at Twitter for Teachers. Advanced users might want to review emerging Twitter apps at Go2Web20

Photo Credit: David Warlick