Learning Adventure 1

Assignment:
Between now and next Monday, download Finale Notepad from http://www.finalenotepad.com/ and compose a piece of music.

Share your reflections, questions and work-in-progress with your cadre members. Think about your own thinking and learning along the way. Make notes, keep a journal or blog if you wish.
Feel free to use any resources at your disposal for inspiration or assistance.

The more you share, the more you will learn.

A few considerations:
I realize there are better more powerful pieces of music composition available. However, Finale Notepad is 1) Free and 2) Cross-platform. Therefore, NO you can't use another piece of software (at least visible to the rest of us). Using a common tool provides a common experience and language for assisting/inspiring one another.

Everyone has different experience levels and areas of expertise. This is what makes the learning adventures interesting.

Reflection:
Day One:
Ok- so this is going to definitely force (not push) me out of my comfort zone. I am the kid who took countelss piano lessons as a child only to be told when I switched to playing the clarinet in middle school, that music wasn't for me. My 8th grade band teacher and I apparently did not see eye to eye on my playing abilities. My friends even make fun of me for my lack of musical talent. Nevertheless, I love music. I love listening to music, being at concerts, singing my guts out in the car (of course, with no one else to listen), so this is going to be an adventure. I guess I could correlate this learning experience a little to what Dewey talks about. I have not had good prior experiences with music. Practice always seemed punishing to me, teachers scolded me for not doing it right, and thus, I never liked playing music. I just wasn't good at it. Maybe if I have a better experience and live in the moment of creating this piece it will be like what Dewey wrote, "we always live at the time we live and not some other time, and only by extracting at each present time the full meaning of each present experience are we prepared for doing the same thing in the future (Dewey 49). I might not be creating music in the future, but this experience I hope will carry forth some meanign for me in the future to apply to my own learning and my students.

Day Two:Today I presented my kids with the task that Gary assigned. I asked them if they would like to do this learning adventure with me. You should have heard their reaction! Oh my goodness, they were ecstatic. So, tomorrow during second hour 9th grade honors English, we are composing music... Oh what a learning adventure it will be. Anyone want to Skype in their class to join us? We will be figuring it out from 8:25- 9:24 am MST . Some of the kids wrote down the program to try it out tonight.

I am getting excited about this because of their enthusiasm. Usually it seems I am the one pepping them up and this time they are doing it. What a change in the role of the teacher to the student. We had to listen to a little Journey today to inspire us for tomorrow, "Don't Stop Believing"

Day Three:
Here is the link to my Learning Adventure: http://learningandlaptops.blogspot.com/2008/09/learning-adventure.html

If you want to leave a comment, can you do so on the blog, so that my students can read it. My school is working on unblocking the use of MUS files so I uploaded an MP3 version of their song. Once the MUS file is unblocked the period 2 file will become active. But check out the cool adventure we had with this assignment.

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Learning Adventure 2

Assignment:
Download and install Celestia - http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

Decide on a question you would like to answer by using the Celestia software and keep track of your learning process.

Reaction:
Day One:
My intial learning is that for some reason Celestia isn't working on my computer. I have downloaded thr program three times and it doesn't seem to want to work. When I open it, I receive a large screen of black and then it reports that it has encoutered an error and needs to close. So, as far as getting some questions answered, I would like to ask Celestia, "Why won;t you work on my computer?" Maybe my students can figure it out :)

Day Two:
So I finally got Celestia to download onto my computer (It is going to be a good day People!) and am going to spend today looking through the tutorials. One thing I notice is that it seems like we can record video of our space adventure (albeit a learning adventure). I am a visual learner and so it will be fun to show my own journey of learning.

The question in my head that I want to explore is if we can explore at different times of history, could we look at the changes in the earth that may be results of global warming? I am going to do this learning adventure at first by myself, but this weekend, I want to spend some time going through this with my own children. Jackson is fascinated by space. His room is the solar system, and I am anxious to see what he wants to learn from the experience as well.

Day Three:
Today I spent a better part of the night goi ng over the manual and demo for Celestia. I really enjoyed the demo. I am a big fan of camping and have always enjoyed looking at the stars and learning constellations so they demo was very intriguing. It also reminded me of taking my kids to the nature and science museum. Emma had an amazing preschool teacher who introduced her to the Wonderful World of Space. After her teacher showed her and her classmates about space, we joined the museum and spent many Sundays roaming through all the exhibits as well as taking in an IMAX show. Jackson is also a fan of space and I previously talked about, has his room decorated like the solar system. I guess the point I am trying to make is that just wandering around in Celestia reminded me of what it was like to be a kid. I loved rotating the plants, zooming from star to star, and recalling the different constellations I have learned over the years. Orion is still my favorite.

On a side note, I was actually trying to answer my question about seeing global climate change today, when I showed Celestia to some of my colleagues. They of course were fascinated and we started talking about my big question. One commented that her husband believes global warming is a natural occurrence that happens just like the darkened spots on the sun ( I was able to see this in the program and confirm that there are dark spots- too cool). I am not sure of what this all means, but it gave me something to think about in my pursuit of my question.
In pursuit of my question, I am trying to figure out how to go back in time with Celestia. Has anyone been able to figure that out yet? I see how to set the time backwards but it doesn’t seem to do anything.

No matter what, this weekend Jackson, Emma and I will be playing in the stars, and I am excited to take them along my learning adventure. I thought about recording the conversation as well are in Celestia to see their questions and reactions to the tool. We’ll see how it goes.

Overall reflection:
Here 's my Celestia learning reflection... Looking back over my previous posts about Celestia as well as remembering my ambivalence and uncertainty with using FinaleNotepad, I had great hopes with exploring the sky. I have been fascinated by space for quite some time. I grew up camping out under the stars, learning constellations from very inspriring teachers like Mr. Gardner in 8th grade, and of course, I was a kid who watched the replays of Christy McAuliffe and the Challenger space disaster. I also remember in 4th or 5th grade going to hear an astronaut speak about how you too can become an astronaut. So, with this learning adventure, I was quite excited to be given the go ahead to reignite this passion. When we were asked to develop a big question, I knew I wanted to look into the fields of global warming but was unsure of where to start and how to find what I was looking for. As with any new tool, I searched around for some tutorials and with assistance of my cadremates and Celestia, I watched the tutorials a few times.

Sadly, I couldn’t get Celestia to do what I wanted. I had envisioned my learning adventure to be something where I would go back in time and look at the Earth in the same position but at various increments of time. Would I see the change that Al Gore speaks so passionately about in An Inconvenient Truth? Would I see polar ice caps melting away? Would I see more deserts? Greater increases in the severity of weather? What changes would I notice for someone who has no “expert” training in these areas?

What I learned from this adventure was more about my reconnecting with something I love and how much my students know about space and global warming. Last year before Christmas, Jeff and I really thought hard about buying a telescope for our kids that we could use in the open space behind our house or that we could take camping. In a way, my exposure to this program makes me regret not going forward with that really expensive purchase. It would have been great to mimic what I am seeing in Celestia with what I could see out in my backyard. Another thing I learned is through my exploration in Celestia that Mars has polar ice caps as well. I spent some time comparing our caps on Earth to those of Mars. I wonder if any scientists are studying those similarities. I also learned that a number of scientists are spending time trying to figure out how to examine the darkened spot on the sun and their connection to our global climate changes. Also, I learned more from my students and colleagues. It has been interesting how captivated my students are with what I am doing in grad school. I think after the music learning adventure, they are intrigued with learning that looks so different. In fact, we ditched our lesson plan on Macbeth one day to just sit and talk about learning, the differences between middle school and high school, and began talking about grades. Then on Friday they were finishing their quiz on Macbeth and SAT words and asked me what I was doing on my computer. I talked to them about this learning adventure. They wanted to hear and see what I was doing. I talked to them about my idea of global warming I wanted to pursue and before you knew it, we all started talking about sun spots, glaciers melting, increases in heat and cold, etc…They knew so much that I wasn’t even aware of. I even had a couple of kids start researching right there and were having a great debate about global warming’s causes. I guess my overall reflection on what I learned about me from this adventure is that usually the tech piece is just a tool to make me think differently or allow for various conversations that might not have happened earlier to now happen. I am so thankful that I opened up my grad school world to my students. I feel like I am learning so much from them as well as feeling the infectiousness of their enthusiasm for doing things differently.

Tomorrow, I am going to spend some time in the program with my own kids. I will post the audio of that conversation tomorrow. I can’t wait till you get to meet Emma and Jackson. Will might chime in as well but trucks are his biggest entertainment at this point. Hopefully, it will all go well.

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Learning Adventure 3- Suspended

Assignment:

Learning Adventure #3 - PowerPoint-Free Week

I am using my awesome power and authority to declare November 9-16, PowerPoint-Free Week and you're going to help.

This is a collective learning adventure where you will need to define portions of the task, delegate responsibilities and engage in effective project management. Play to your strengths!
You should use your various technical, communication and creative skills to leverage the World Wide Web (including Web 2.0 tools) to spread the word about this exciting event.

The first decision you need to make is whether this week will focus on schools and universities only or business as well.

Unlike most learning adventures, product quality matters this time. I do not view this as a theoretical activity, but one that can inspire action or at least thought.

If you completely disagree with the premise of this collective effort, you are welcome to write a minority report or "play along" as if this were a hypothetical event.

Elements of the learning adventure should include, but are not limited to:

An attractive easily-navigable web site containing vital information and links to support materials. A logo would be handy.

The case for PowerPoint-Free Week in print, web and other appropriate media. Supporting arguments are necessary.

Alternatives for using computers in other constructive ways.

Materials for different audiences - policy makers, teachers (perhaps even kids)

Public relations in print and on the web for spreading the word. In this case, Web 2.0 is your friend. This is a true test of the power of social networking to "change" the world.

I will present at several conferences before PowerPoint-Free Week, so I can spread the word and share any leaflets, white papers, technical briefings, etc... you create.

I can arrange for a Web domain for our use if necessary.

I am confident that you can make this a fantastic movement. This week, you be running a marketing, public relations, public advocacy and web design company.

Of course, your arguments should be supported by evidence and presented clearly for an audience of laypeople.

Reaction:
http://learningandlaptops.blogspot.com/2008/09/word-trace-through-macbeth.html

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Learning Adventure 4

Assignment:

G'day,
Sorry for being less active than normal. Aside from jetlag, the net access in Australia gets worse over time. There are serious bandwidth issues and ISPs are raising prices and metering use. Access in the hotel room where I am costs $27.50/day and if you use more than 50mb of downloads, the service will slow even more than it is. I'm currently using HPs in the hotel business center which sound like a 747 landing.

So, Learning Adventure #4 involves many of the issues and controversies regarding the World Wide Web. It plays to the humanities side of the cadre. Part 1 will take 4 days or so followed by a part 2.

Using the Web, Google Groups and any other resources or prior experience, answer the following question:

Is Ned Kelly a hero?

Feel free to debate, but as always be mindful of your thinking and keep track of your learning process.

Reaction:
Day One:
http://www.nma.gov.au/interactives/jerilderie/home.html
Here is a link to the letter he wrote , 56 pages , actually advocating for what he was trying to do.

Day Two:
As I am reading through Ned Kelly's letter I am learning a considerable amount about the man, his perspectives and his impressions of the law. It seems that no matter what he does (borrowing a neighbor's horse and not letting them know about it, attacking a officer of the law (but he didn't kill him- that is his excuse because he could have), he always seems to think he errs on the right side of the law.

Much of what I have read so far reminds me of our cheers for the bad guys we love to hate. It is like watching what the RoadRunner does to Wyle E Coyote. You want the RoadRunner to get caught, but you love watching him torment the coyote.

I am also fascinated by Ned's level of vocabulary and descriptive nature to his writing. One would think that an outlaw would not be that well educated, and yet this man is impressive comsidering the background I attributed to him.

I can't say yet whether I would consider him a hero, can you claim someone is a hero who defies the law? Robinhood? Braveheart? Gladiator? George Washington? Martin Luther King? Rosa Parks? Hmmm.....

Day Three:
'If my lips teach the public that men are made mad by bad treatment, and if the police are taught that they may not exasperate to madness men they persecute and ill-treat, my life will not entirely be thrown away.'- Ned Kelly

I think this speaks volumes about Ned Kelly and his claims for innocence. Throughout my reading of the letters Kelly wrote, although well written and descriptive, Kelly lays no claims to him being at fault. I think most of his life was lived at the expense of others. There was no sacrifice for the greater good. I made many connections to characters in literature whom are deemed heroic by actions, but in the end, their downfall was a tragic flaw: ambition, pride, revenge. Like Hamlet, Kelly was bent on revenge for both his family and his name. Macbeth draws another connection to Kelly in their pursuits to challenge the hierarchical system of government. Macbeth’s pursuits were ambitious leading to the deaths of not only himself, but all of his family. Although Kelly perished before his mother, he also lost everything (except maybe not his reputation?). Oedipus draws another connection to Kelly for his refusal to see the truth about himself. I guess although one can make the argument that he started the movement for Austrailian nationalism, I think he wouldn’t give himself credit for it. I think instead, he would say that he would rather place himself King of the Bushrangers. He then would only have to answer to himself. So, no, I do not think he is a hero.

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Learning Adventure 4 Part 2.1

Assignment:
Using the same techniques as "Ned Kelly," please discuss and answer the following question:
Were the Chicago Seven martyrs?


Reaction:
So before you start reading this really long entry, keep in mind that I took this adventure a little differently than assigned....

Tracing my learning through the Part 2 of this Learning Adventure has been mostly reading the conversations and research that others in our program have found. I am truly impressed with the revelation that Donna came to regarding the misperceptions and biases our own backgrounds give us towards learning. I know that when discussing things associated with the Vietnam War I have a huge bias because my father fought in Vietnam and it wasn't until I was 20 years old that he actually told my entire family what happened to him over there. He struggled for years knowing that he killed others.

One night while sleeping, his hill was over ran by Charlies (Viet Cong) and my dad and one other man were sole survivors. In fact, my dad should have died that night. A Charlie's gun misfired and my dad at that point was able to grab it out of the man's hand and kill him rather than being killed. He was awarded the silver star for his acts (one of only two men in North Dakota where I am from) Just thinking of all my dad has had to deal with by serving his country and how his country treated him upon his return, has created in me a bias towards soldiers who gave their lives in a war. That war for many changed their perceptions of war.

So thinking about Donna, Sonja's definition of martyr, Jodi's links to sources recognizing my own bias' about protestors and draft dodgers, I opened up my mind to the possibilities on this one....I decided to expand my learning a little past the assignment. Seeing how in 1968 I wasn't even alive, my dad was in Vietnam fighting and my mom was awaiting the fate of her fiancée, I decided to look into the DNC convention. Who were the candidates, what were major issues that they were debating? Interestingly enough, pigs were still a topic in elections.

I learned that Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were killed shortly before the convention leading to an increase in heightened emotions throughout the US. Additionally, the US was involved in the Vietnam War. Apparently, during the convention the protests outside the convention center were receiving amazing media attention (hmm, just like the war) and so the police were at an increased level of security. Lyndon Johnson should have been the presumptive nominee for the DNP but after tragic numbers in the polls as well as health issues, and battling a never ending war in Vietnam decided not to seek reelection. Hubert Humphrey the vice president ended up receiving the nomination from his party even though he had never entered a primary before. With this nomination as well as the descending of 10, 000 protestors onto Chicago's streets, the air was ripe for malevolence. The protestors were outraged at the treatment they were receiving from the police and thus decided to fight back. They were encouraging the over reacting police to use tear gas. It soon escalated out of control in front of television cameras rolling. This brings to mind the Rodney King incident during the LA riots (don't we ever learn?)

So while learning all about the situation taking place before the Chicago Seven I was hoping it would lead me to be more sympathetic towards their freedom of protest. But alas, much like Ned Kelly, I am finding my biases are getting in the way of my learning. I think I need to take a lesson form the book "The Art of Possibility" to start looking at this learning adventure as one where I am a contributor in a different way. I might not agree that they are martyrs, but I do see that they stood up for their beliefs, and I think that is important in this day and age.

What I can personally take away from this learning adventure is the ideal that I want my students to be strong in their convictions much like I am, but open to the possibilities and other points of view as I was with Ned Kelly and the Chicago Seven. I learned that we haven't learned much from our past, but continue to make some of the same mistakes. Reflecting a little more, maybe what is important here is that these were all people, people who were strong in their beliefs, stood up to injustices they felt, and did not back down. I think as Americans, we could at least appreciate that even if we don't approve of their methodologies.

Resources used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Eight
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigasus_(politics) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419101355/pg_2

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Learning Adventure 4 Part 2.2

Assignment:
So, How do the two questions differ as experiences? Why?What are the implications of this learning adventure given the continuous concern over using the Web as a credible source of information?Did any "less official" sites offer better information than more "official sites?"Why do you think I presented the two questions in the order I chose? Gary

Reaction:
How do the two questions differ as experiences? Why? For me, I would have to agree with what a number of my cadremates have said. I think it exposed biases we have in our own learning. Definitely, it was easier to take a side on Ned Kelly because he wasn't from the US and I had no prior background knowledge to access to assist me in my search. With the Chicago Seven, however, I had plently of background knowledge although not directly related to the Chicago Seven but nonetheless gave me contextual support to start my search with.

What are the implications of this learning adventure given the continuous concern over using the Web as a credible source of information? I think using the web for searching for information put me in the seat that most of my students occupy when I give them research projects. How do evelaute each and every source. Time plays an issue with this as well getting the research done on time while fact checking what sources have to say versus other sources. I always like starting with Wikipedia because of the external links it provides. I think credibility is always difficult to determine but double checking authorship and reading from multiple places assists in the research discovery.

Did any "less official" sites offer better information than more "official sites?"
When I was researching the Ned Kelly adventure, I used many sites that would have been deemed less official, but somehow with the Chicago Seven I went to more official sites. It would be interesting I think to see now what we consider to be official versus less official sites.

Why do you think I presented the two questions in the order I chose?
I will agree with what others have said and feel that the Ned Kelly question let us assume more of a distance role of researcher since many of us had never heard of him before. Then with the Chicago Seven more of us had a connection with the events in our US past. Putting them in this order allowed us to see how we approach and process learning differently. For me, it also gave me some insight into characters that I can use alongside Beowulf ( epic hero) versus Ned Kelly (Australian folklore hero) versus Chicago Seven (historical heroes?)- I am not putting a lot of weight on the hero side of things with the Chicago Seven. But they all fit a loose description of epic heroes.

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Great Responses from Gary

"Anne, I'm glad you had at least one epiphany. "


"You da man"

"Lots of connections"




"Song lyrics are an interesting primary source."

"Excellent, Anne! Does this mean that you're not perfect?"

"Do you really think Anne is a tinkerer?"


"BINGO!"




"Maybe we have gotten dumber?"

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