A Day with David Warlick
February 22, 2010
Before getting started, I have to make 2 quick disclaimers.
- This post may be long so I will try to organize it and make it easy to scan.
- I have to include the words redefine, literacy and Warlick to ensure my blog post is found to include with today’s handouts so there they are:)
Now that housecleaning is out of the way, I hope you enjoy my reflections and sharing regarding my day with David Warlick!
Who was in the audience?
David Warlick presented to a group of educators today at Lubbock Christian University. The group consisted of educators, technology directors, administrators, counselors, and others! It was an excellent day of fun, networking and learning!
Life-long learning:
David Warlick caught my attention from the beginning by stating there was one thing we all needed to know about him. He is a learner. He went on to say that teachers have to become comfortable saying they don’t have the answer but helping students find it. I absolutely agree with these statements 100%! First of all, I am a lifelong learner! I am working on my third degree and learn from Twitter, reading, blogs, and playing in my “spare” time! Second of all, there is absolutely NO way a teacher can have the answer to every question a kid has! It is not the teacher’s responsibility to be an all-encompassing reservoire of knowledge. However, it is a teacher’s responsibility to teach kids how to find correct answers and how to validate their information. It is also a teacher’s responsibility to help student’s learn how to do something with their new found knowledge.
Integrate literacy, not technology!
With those statements on the table, Warlick went on to say that we must stop integrating technology and integrate literacy. In essence, students need to know how to learn! Not to sound like a brown-n0ser, but again, I agree 100%. Technology is important. There has to be someone around to try the new stuff and model it, but that is where technology training ends. The more important part is literacy integration. Students need to know how to complete searches on the Internet to get the most accurate information the quickest. Students need to know how to ensure that the source of an article is reputable and not from a hypocritical source. Students need to learn how to properly use Wikipedia. Yes, you heard me right, Wikipedia! (You can see more information from Warlick at www.davidwarlick.com/handoutsregarding URL backtracking for Internet searches, and the reasons Wikipedia is not evil.)
Growing knowledge:
My next aha moment was this. Warlick said that we have the potential to grow knowledge at a rate we never have before. I have always thought of having the opportunity to learn at rates we never have before, but I had never thought of growing knowledge! What an amazing concept. We must not only learn from what is available to us, but it is our responsibility to share and create. We must teach students how to manage the data coming at them and demonstrate ways to synthesize and utilize that data. Most importantly, we have to get students asking questions! Warlick was quick to show us the importance of asking questions, and we must demonstrate that to students on a daily basis.
Educated?
Next question posed to the crowd: With technical knowledge doubling every 72 hours, what does it mean to be educated? This means what I learned last week is already out of date, and I have a lot of new things to learn! I can’t do this on my own! I must collaborate, share, listen, read, and much more! I must create information that catches other’s attention. Teachers must learn how to communicate through multimedia and not pen and paper.
Redefining literacy:
David Warlick stated that we must redefine literacy so that it reflects today’s information environment. We must:
- Explore what’s true
- Employ information
- Express ideas compellingly
According to Warlick, literacy today is not just reading and writing. It is learning literacy, learning habits, and learning lifestyle!
Personal Learning Networks:
The afternoon session was spent learning about PLN’s or Personal Learning Networks. This is one of my favorite topics. I can’t tell you how much I have learned in the past year from my PLN! Below I will post resources he shared:)
Blogs Mentioned:
http://weblogg-ed.com/
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/ - David Warlick’s Blog (one of them at least)
http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
http://www.mguhlin.org/
(Others can be found on handout link at the bottom of this post.)
Backchannels:
Allows audience to carry on conversation in the background of a presentation, video, lecture, etc.
http://backnoise.com/
http://backchan.nl/
http://www.edmodo.com/
http://todaysmeet.com/ - Backchannel used by Warlick today.
Podcasts:
http://edtechtalk.com/
http://www.ted.com/
http://epnweb.org/
Social Networks:
http://learning2cn.ning.com/
http://www.classroom20.com/
Virtual World:
www.secondlife.com
Blogging Search Engine:
http://blogsearch.google.com/
http://technorati.com/
Twitter:
www.twitter.com(He is @dwarlick, and I am @krista_scott.)
http://search.twitter.com/
Social Bookmarking:
http://www.diigo.com/
http://delicious.com/
http://www.netvibes.com/#General - Great place to teach students about RSS feeds and how to keep up with blogs and other information.
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons - How to search for Creative Commons photos on flickr.
Last thought for the day…David Warlick said….
“To teach in the 21st Century, we must teach from today, not from five years ago.”
This is a powerful statement that I will leave for you to reflect on. I would love to hear what you think about this post and anything I left out! You can find the handouts from today’s session at www.davidwarlick.com/handouts.
Entry Filed under: Web 2.0. Posted in Web 2.0 Tags: PLN, Web2.0.
4 Comments Add your own
Krista, thanks for the great write-up. One thing you mentioned, “Teachers must learn how to communicate through multimedia and not pen and paper” caught my eye.
It does seem sometimes that the ed-tech community disparages pen and paper but it does have its place. I just finished reading “Presentation Zen Design” and the recommendation is to begin with sketching before heading to the computer. I find that for me personally, I do some of my best planning/creating/synthesizing on HUGE paper with Sharpies. After I go through three or four iterations, then I move to the computer to compose.
I don’t mean that I used that process with this, but for creating a presentation, planning projects, or other large, complex events.
I think we can get more teachers excited about using multimedia if we honor where they are and provide a bridge for them.
Please, please, don’t take my markers!
Roxanne
Roxanne,
Thanks for commenting, and you are completely right! I guess I should have said, “Teachers must learn how to communicate through multimedia and not JUST pen and paper.” I am often given a hard time because I still like to take notes, create projects, and do different things with pen and paper. Of course, technology is my main medium, but sometimes it helps me process information if I just write it down. My main point and goal of this portion of the post is we must help teachers find ways to integrate technology and use multimedia to get beyond JUST pen and paper. Thanks for pointing this out. And no….I will not take your markers;-)
I know that when I get really, really, really excited about something new, I can scare people wanting them to change everything at once.
Thanks for sharing!
Okay, he did it to me again. After hearing David for the 2nd time, I now get it. Had to wade through all of the new terminology and the “ah” factor.
What did he do? I now subscribe to RSS feeds and I have a blog.
Most importantly, he re-affirmed my view on education. It is a life-long learning process that is a collaborative effort in which the goal is not “eisegesis”, but “exegesis”– start with a text and move from there. It is about not being afraid to share with others and recognize that we don’t have all of the answers, but guess what? It doesn’t matter. We can teach our students how to find the answers.
It is going to be a wild ride.
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