A thought experiment

Results only work environment(ROWE) .... in a classroom.

Here is the assignment; here are unfettered computers to get the work done. Here is the deadline, say about a week for three or four projects per unit, five units per course. Tests given on the day that the assignments demonstrating your learned skills are due. I will test you on what skills you have learned for yourself.

So far, this appears to be going well. Similar set ups to online course I have taken in the past - towards a better carrot; or to not get stuck by a sharper stick.

I should think that some students would use me as an internet service provider and chat on facebook, and play online poker, if they showed up at all. As long as they hand in their work on time, I'm not concerned with how or where they get their work done, right? I think some students would fritter their time away, thinking I was an idiot until the timing caught up with them; then they'd be removed. If any piece of work is late, it is not accepted and they would have to withdraw from the course. I've had to withdraw from a course as I was too stupid to realize that I would have no time to get work done. Basically, I ran out of time every day until it was too late.

Some students would take advantage of the system, using their time semi-wisely. Looking at things they like, all the time getting a little of the work done each day. Small incremental steps towards getting the work in on time. They'd be the ones showing up "late" and leaving "early" in order to get some work done on days that it suits them. I've been successful at doing this several times in online courses, and at other times in my life.

Some students would get the work done quickly, having the work done way ahead of time and then sitting on it until it was due, or try to hand the work in early. I think I've done this once or twice in online courses, for a few assignments. I don't think most people work this way.

How might a system like this be used in a traditional classroom? I think teachers, by reason of the collective agreement, would show up to work the same ways, be in the classrooms/learning environments already established and students would appear during general business hours and at certain times. Accountability, right?

I think this is the method that the Gary Allen centre uses... however, a lot of personal anecdotal evidence does not help me think that students switch over to a new way of thinking, being stuck in that first group, listed above.

I think that Daniel Pink might say they have not yet been engaged; that they see autonomy as being something along the lines of freedom to do nothing. Which, I'm sorry to say, gets one nowhere except removed from a ROWE classroom and back into a carrot and stick one.

So .. how does one teach that ROWE can work in a classroom ... I mean I think that should be the first lesson; "I don't care what you do, as long as the assignments are complete and done to the best of your ability - anything less will not be rewarded with autonomy." As Pink says ... "extrinsic motivators vs intrinsic motivators ..."

Whoa. Game changer

This one caught me unexpectedly.

No more actual dead trees in my classroom.

Whoa.

A few ideas to think about

Well, this is an easy post to write, regardless of the fact that I am R&Ding it. (Thats a term for another post, gotten from a wonderful presenter we've had at the site, Danna Messer .. she's on Facebook, go find her. She's simply awesome.)

The first idea that I wanted to share was Fifty Ways to use Graphic Novels in a classroom. Simple, yes. Also all in one place? Yes. Maybe something to be covered in another environment.

The second and third and next set after that ideas are from this book:


This is a text from an online course I looked at taking a few months ago. The course was upwards of 1200 bucks USD, and didn't do anything for my bottom line, so I didn't take it. I did, however, take down the title of the textbook .... and am now reading it chapter by chapter. It's very good at what it proposes to do, at least so far.

I'm in to page 87, and it's telling me I need to find an RSS feed to my iProducts in order to keep learning, keep developing as a person and as an employee.

the book also outlined a simple lesson plan for mobile learning. First it was to be short about ten minutes in length. Which is about what people can handle, in my opinion. After that it gets messy with attention span and other distractions ... like driving. As a general rule, this is just good lesson planning: Introduction, give a situation, discussion of the situation. At this time, that is where my efforts stop in the online community. What happens in this model is a short test with some feedback. And then a summary of what has been done. This last step I do a lot of already when I am in front of people. It is that second to last step which sometimes gets overlooked.

How ofter do people in a regular classroom get a chance to interact with the instructor? In an online learning situation, it is going to be a lot higher number of interactions. That is where learning takes place.

I need to find something out about Donald Kirkpatrick's learning evaluation model. It's on the interwebs somewhere.... and is mentioned in this book, too.

Lastly in the same chapter, there were mentions made of a number of webpages which educators can use to their advantage:

Blip.tv

Mobile learning

and for me a more relevant topic to think about is wowio.com

Free stuff for teachers, too.

Whoa, that looks like a pretty incredible post ... but it was all from an email I get posted to me daily... and a book I'm reading, too. I heart reading.

Finally, something that got emailed to me that is giving me a chuckle.

Another working Break day

Well, I'm on Break and yet, I'm still trying to get some reading done for work.

I guess I'm just like that. I read the first blog post about teaching online in the States. Seems that's the way that it's going there.

Speaking of teaching stuff online, here is an article about using Google Docs, something that was covered in the "E-Ducation" course last year, but not really understood by yours truly. S'all good.

Whoa, early start

Yeah, it's the first day of Break, and I'm up early reading articles for work on my Macbook.

Here's one from Hawaii, a school that uses iPads in their teaching practice.

Here's one about kids using iPad apps to learn about nutrition. I'll have to see what it is all about this week. I'll get back to you on this one.

Here's something you can put in the "I just learned something today" file, too. Seems the US has National Teacher Awards, and this young lady won an award for being an online teacher. Interesting read.

Lastly, I am going ot remind my faithful readers to back their laptops up this week. Take the time to do it properly, too.

Friday March 11

Yes, this is the last day before March Break. I feel grateful that I have a job, and even more grateful for a paid vacation from that job. Rarely, if ever, do people get a job such as mine on this planet. It affords me time to experience the joy of being a father, a husband and all that I am.

I was working with a book I purchased a while ago, Mobile Learning Edge. I got a few ideas that I will put together in a presentable manner later. Seems a blog IS a right thing for me, as I get some support for it at work. Besides, I find that keeping a blog is jsut right for me; most especially, thanks to rich people like Gary Vaynerchuk, I know that blogs and other social media are the may to millions.

I love reading. It SOOOO helps my brain become smart.

What does a connected classroom look like

Here is the thing that I learned about today.

I saw a blog post on what a connected classroom looks like.

And I learned that Dropbox is really, really good.