Community

Lest it be thought that this blog is only about tech, here's a thought on community-building, specifically Breaking Down the Natural Isolation and Insulation of High School Teachers | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

If you wanted to isolate teachers from one another, no better way is to organize the school by grades, have departments, and a daily schedule that leaves little time for teachers before, during, and after classes to work together in a community focused on better teaching and student learning. These structures left unattended insulate and isolate teachers from one another. The dilemma is plain: How to create a community of teachers working toward common goals within a structure and culture dedicated to keeping teachers apart from one another?

Here is a veteran teacher in the sunset of his career with “school smarts” and wisdom gained from decades of experience in a high school who knows that building community begins with knowing who sits next to you.

So every now and then groups of people (teachers, students, both) should have meals together where somebody gets a turn for a few minutes to do a self-introduction, covering specific things that might be a basis for future collaboration or simply friendship. Not complicated, not technical, but something for schools to keep in mind.
Or then again, maybe not.

"Inquiry-Based Learning"

A model which seems to be having some success for some students, reported at Hogwarts for Hackers: Inside the Science and Tech School of Tomorrow | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

the school’s secret isn’t cash or high tech gimmicks like online classes. At the core of the school is the notion of “inquiry-based learning,” a concept that dates back to the 1960s and draws on earlier concepts from thinkers like Jean Piaget, John Dewey, and Maria Montessori.

“The math teachers don’t lecture. They give out worksheets, and we learn as we go,” explains Emma Sloan, a sophomore. These worksheets are basically problems that the students must solve, using their own wherewithal — and help from other students. In class, students will often gather in circles — or “hexagons” ...
The inquiry approach is then taken to extremes on IMSA Wednesdays. There are no classes held on this day. The entire day is devoted to completely freeform education. “You can go find a mentor — some bad-ass in the particular field you’re interested in. You can do your own research. Or you can play video games,” says Kador.

It's interesting that "freeform education" would be effective; apparently it is. One question would be: is all-Wednesday an optimum, or should it be only half of a day, or half of every day, or...? (Or different for different students at different ages?)

Networks of Imagination

Ken Bausch mentioned this last December; The Global One-Room Schoolhouse: John Seely Brown | DMLcentral

In this video, which contains the highlights of his “Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Learner” keynote at the 2012 Digital Media and Learning conference in San Francisco, he introduces the fascinating notion of “a global one-room schoolhouse through networks of imagination.”

It seems to me that this is quite compatible with Sal Khan's vision (and book) that I've mentioned a few times, but it's an interestingly different point of view. I'm inclined to see it as a mix of Khan with some of Yong Zhao's World Class Learners, but that oversimplifies as usual. I do see him as detecting and approving a trend towards tools like Scoot & Doodle | Get Creative Together, which has just received fairly major support from Pearson among others.

Google+ Hangout App Scoot & Doodle Raises $2.25M Seed, From Valley Angels & Pearson, To Get More Kids Learning Through Play | TechCrunch

Well, maybe not just kids, or just play; I'll add some emphasis in a quote from the GeekDad report on Scoot & Doodle: Makes Google Hangouts a Collaborative Playspace | GeekDad | Wired.com

essentially, it is an app that works with Google+Hangouts and lets you type, draw and engage in a visual and tactile way – as well as through video and voice. In my use of it I have found it to be really stable and offer a fluid and worthwhile experience whether with my kids or with business colleagues. Like many startups there appears to be more potential applications than you can imagine; however, kudos for both the Scoot & Doodle team and Pearson for seeing the potential of this in the education and learning space.

And I certainly approve of the idea that education works off study groups that fit in a Google+ Hangout. That works.

Or then again, maybe not.

Peer Pressure

A random note on peer pressure at school says Peer pressure can be used for good when it comes to physical activity

Maritime Heart Center (MHC) found that peer mentors can significantly influence the amount of physical activity kids have throughout the school day.
The MHC team created a Heart Healthy Kids (H2K ) Lunch program, which included three games that peer mentors could lead during lunch time once every two weeks. At least one MHC staff or adult volunteer was present at each H2K Lunch to ensure that the peer mentors were adequately supported.
"Using positive influences on children to be physically active works," says Dr. Hancock Friesen. "It may be that social reasons for physical activity trump other influences for kids. Unlike adults, they are not as motivated by concern for weight control or long-term health."
Students selected as peer mentors, who were age mates with other team members (grades 4, 5 and 6), received training in organization, positive feedback and team building....

It makes me think of Judith Harris's book on The Nurture Assumption, asserting that the environment that matters (in addition to genetics) is mainly the peer environment. I often think that school should be All About Designing the Peer Environment....
Or then again, maybe not.