She’s five, maybe six years old, and her eyes are glued to my camera. After some hesitation, she comes up to me and says, “Can I see?” I kneel down on the wet concrete and show her the camera. I point to the viewfinder. She puts her small hand on mine and gingerly lowers the camera [...]

Nothing has brought pedagogical theory into greater disrepute than the belief that it is identified with handing out to teachers recipes and models to be followed in teaching . - John Dewey, Democracy and Education I’ve written about this before, but the concept of engaging students in conversations and engaging, as an educator, in conversational assessment, [...]

Cross-posted to jokaydia.com Leigh Blackall’s work on the islands of jokaydia in Second Life is truly inspiring. We’ve had many discussions since he agreed to take part in my Virtual Classroom Project and it’s been fascinating to observe his progress. I envisioned the Virtual Classroom Project as an opportunity to explore alternatives to our traditional notions [...]

Cross-posted to jokaydia.com I’ve been thinking about classroom design for a very long time but have never really been able to experiment with it until I found out about Second Life and the virtual building opportunities that it affords. When I first started working on my teachandlearn retreat on the island of jokaydia in Second Life, [...]

My first entry on this blog, posted on February 22, 2005, marked the beginning of my doctoral research on blogging communities. I was interested in what happens when a group of grade eight students is given a place where they can engage as writers and move away from the “schooliness” of traditional class work. When [...]

Ever since I returned from EduCon, I’ve been thinking about instructional conversations. After touring the Science Leadership Academy and listening to SLA students share their views during all sessions that I attended at EduCon, I have come to believe that I need to have more conversations between myself and my students, as well as among [...]

I’ve been very busy lately. First, I had to finish the complete draft of my thesis to be sent to the external reviewer before the defense. Then, I immediately turned my attention to EduCon 2.0. It’s an important event for me for many reasons. First of all, it comes at a time when my research [...]

The virtual EduCon 2.0 presentation and conversation space is ready. It is located in Second Life at Learning Landscapes on the beautiful island of jokaydia (which recently hosted the 2007 Edublog Awards Ceremony). Click on the picture below for the link to the virtual EduCon 2.0: EduCon 2.0 in Second Life If you’re not a Second Life [...]

First of all, thanks to those of you from Brigham Young University who added your thoughts to my first post on the set curriculum. I enjoyed reading your comments and learning more about your concerns and questions regarding teaching 21st century learners. As you can see, this is a conversation that can continue for a [...]

On November 19th, I will be hosting a Second Life workshop for pre-service teachers from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. They are currently taking a course on instructional technology in teaching. They have already explored technology integration, internet safety, and information literacy. They’ve read a number of entries on this blog and then, as [...]