will this blog see tomorrow?

It's an open question.  Think about our first in-class discussion, ask yourself what you really want out of this semester, and then comment to this post with your decision and at least one reason for it.  (NOTE: As Benjamin Franklin famously observed, "We all hang together or we all hang separately." We won't move forward unless all of us participate.) 

I've created an approach to learning in which students use 2.0 tools to create their online identities, express themselves, and show the public what they can do. 

I call the model Open Source Learning and I define it with a mouthful: "A guided learning process that combines timeless best practices with today's tools in a way that empowers learners to create interdisciplinary paths of inquiry, communities of interest and critique, and a portfolio of knowledge capital that is directly transferable to the marketplace."

Students use Open Source Learning to create a wild variety of personal goals, Big Questions, Collaborative Working Groups, and online portfolios of work that they can use for personal curiosity, self-improvement, or as a competitive advantage in applying for jobs, scholarships, and admission to colleges and universities.  You can see a sample course blog here, some member blogs here, and sample masterpieces here and here. 

Several members of the first Open Source Learning cohort made this video about the experience:



In an era when it seems like all you hear about school is how much it sucks, it's nice to see student achievement make positive waves.  Check out this Open Source Learning interview with students and Howard Rheingold, the man who literally wrote the book on The Virtual Community 20 years ago. 

The defining characteristic of Open Source Learning is that there is no chief; all of us are members of a network that is constantly evolving.  Another key element is transparency.  What we learn and how well we learn it, how we respond to setbacks, and even some of our favorite inspirations and habits of mind are right out there in public for everyone to see.  Readers will rightly perceive what we curate as the best we have to offer.

And all this is Open.  In thermodynamics, an open system exchanges substance, not just light and heat.  To us, the important idea is that the network can change in composition and purpose.  Every time you meet someone new and exchange ideas, you're not only enriching each other, you're changing your minds and contributing opportunities for others to do the same.  In other words, you're learning and teaching* (*one of the most effective ways to learn).

We're not limited to one source for curriculum or instruction.  We have a full slate of online conferences scheduled this year including authors, authorities on the Internet and social media, entrepreneurs, and others.  A few years ago a mother/daughter team presented a lesson on class distinctions in Dickens & Dr. Seuss online.  Ricky Luna invited a champion drummer to talk with students online about music and its connections to literature and life.  If we read something that makes an impression we can reach out to the author.    As you get the hang of this you'll come up with your own ideas.  Testing them will give you a better sense of how to use the experience to your greatest advantage.

No one knows how learning actually works--what IS that little voice that tells you what you should've said 15 minutes after you should've said it?  How does a subneuronal lightning storm somehow account for our experience of being conscious?  We are not sure how to account for the individual experience and demonstration of learning.  We are also not sure what exactly the individual should be learning about at a time when factoids are a search click away and the economy, the environment, and the future are all increasingly complex and uncertain.

Maybe this is why learning still seems magical.  Maybe it shouldn't be.  Maybe if we learned more about how we think we'd be better off.  After all, how we think is a powerful influence on how we act.  If you think of your blog work as a list of traditional school assignments/chores, you will treat it that way and it will show.   Your friends will miss your posts and worry that you've moved to The House Beyond the Internet-- or that you're still at your place but trapped under something heavy.  At any rate you'll be missing the whole point.  This work should help you connect the dots between the interests that drive you, an academic course that derives its title from words hardly anyone uses in casual conversation, and practical tasks like applying for scholarships and college admissions.  The general idea is for you to: do your best at something personally meaningful; learn about how you and others learn while you're in the act; and fine-tune your life accordingly.  In addition to mastering the core curriculum, improving your own mind is the highest form of success in this course of study.

As you well know (Put that phone away or I'll confiscate it!), many people are worried about the use of technology in education.  They are rightly concerned about safety, propriety, and focus: will learners benefit or will they put themselves at risk?  The only way to conclusively prove that the benefits far outweigh the risks is to establish your identities and show yourselves great, both online and in meatspace.  As we move forward you will learn how the Internet works, how you can be an effective online citizen, and how you can use 2.0 and 3.0 tools to achieve your personal and professional goals.  You'll also learn a lot about writing and the habits of mind that make readers and writers successful communicators. 

Because Open Source Learning is a team sport, this is all your call.  You have to decide if you want to pursue this new direction, or if you want to invent another possibility with or without digital and social media, or if you prefer the familiarity of the traditional approach.  There is admittedly something comforting about the smell of an old book, even if it's a thirty-pound textbook that spent the summer in a pile of lost-and-found P.E. clothes.  My perspective may be obvious but I'm just one voice.  Please add yours with a comment below. 

august 13

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Move on Up" by Curtis Mayfield)

Hunter S. Thompson observed, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."  How do you respond to challenges that arise from circumstances you didn't predict?

AGENDA:
1.  To be an Open Source Learning network or not to be an Open Source Learning network?
2. Journal
3. "Richard Cory"

HW:
1. Memorize "Richard Cory"-- due in class Friday, August 17
2. Why "Richard Cory" now, when most World Literature courses start in chronological order with ?  Because one year I taught this course, one of the funniest, most beloved people ever killed himself the day before school started.  And I'm concerned-- between 2007 and 2015, teen suicide rates doubled for girls and went up 30% for boys.  According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, on average there are 123 suicides in America EVERY DAY.   Please click the links & read the articles by the beginning of class tomorrow (Tuesday, August 14). Think about Richard Cory and come to class prepared to discuss how literature reflects the versions of ourselves that only we know. 

I can't think of anything more important to learn than living.  Can you?

the right tool for the job

In the words of Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish philosopher whose work influenced prominent writers and thinkers from Charles Dickens to Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.

It's easy to mistake the use of the Internet in learning as a simple way to make the same ol' same ol' seem a little more entertaining. What we're doing goes way beyond that. You now have the ability to use multiple media in ways that most effectively communicate your ideas and your sense of self.  As you select from a rapidly expanding online toolbox, keep in mind that every tool we use has a form, a function, a capacity to be interpreted (and sometimes hacked) by users, and even a "DNA" instilled by its creators that influences the way it's perceived and adopted.

Technology doesn't necessarily mean electronics. If you ask any serious writer, s/he will tell you that the action on a keyboard, the balance of a pen, or the texture of paper can make just as much difference as processing speed. And there are those times when nothing does the job like a simple, classic, well-made tool.  Here is a picture of me holding a 2 million year-old Acheulean Paleolithic bifacial hand axe-- the longest used tool in human history.  It fit my hand perfectly, right down to the indentations for thumb and fingers, like it was custom-made for me-- an especially rare experience for a lefty.

Apart from the perfect feel/form/function, there is something about an enduring classic that doesn't hold true for the phone you buy today that will be non-state-of-the-art in a few months.  This is about more than craft, art, or even quality: this sort of attention to detail is the product of loving care.  It's the difference between home-cooked and store-bought.  For real practitioners of anything worthwhile, tools aren't just about techne, they are extensions of our humanity.  Ask anyone who plays their music on a turntable, develops their own photographs, or sends handwritten letters.

And if all that didn't convince you to re-examine the tools you use and why, maybe a 39-second commercial is the right tool for the persuasive job:

 

create your blog

Right now you're probably using the internet to connect on social media platforms like FaceBook, YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat. If you've used the internet for school, you're probably operating in a "walled garden" like OneDrive on the school-issued tablets.  The problem with social media is that most of you haven't yet learned digital branding or security-- that's not your fault, but it can be your problem if you don't understand who owns or uses the content you create.  One problem with walled gardens is that you don't own your work, and no one outside the garden-- like employers, college admissions officers, and scholarship judges-- can see your work, any more than they can walk into your classroom and see how well you take a test or answer a question.

Spoiler: if you're not telling your own story online, you can bet that someone else is.  It's time to learn how to present yourself in the way you want to be seen, so that your work creates value and opportunities for you.  In the old days, you'd write an essay that one person would see, mark up, and return to you privately.  Now you can write online and get feedback that will actually help you, while your progress and your ideas impress everyone who sees it.

In this course you will create an online presence.  

See the Member Blogs page tab just below the title image?  That is where we will maintain a directory of everyone's blog. (You can get an idea from last year's classes here.)  If you're already familiar with social media and blogging, and you feeling comfortable diving in, go ahead and use Blogger, WordPress, Postach.io, Tumblr, or whatever platform you think will most effectively help you tell your learning story.  If you're new to this, or you need help, or if any of this makes you nervous, let's talk.  We can do this in class during the first week of school, or if you don't want to live in suspense you can email me anytime at dpreston.learning@gmail.com.

hello & welcome

welcome!

Hi,
I'm looking forward to working with Santa Maria High School students next month.  You'll hear me say this a lot during the year, but time moves fast and we have to stay ahead of the game. Before you know it, the holidays will be here, and next spring, and we'll be saying goodbye in June...

So: Since we don't have the opportunity for an orientation or a summer prep plan, I'm starting the course blog now.  SMHS students (and anyone else who wants to learn along with us) can visit anytime for all the information you need for the course.  As we get rolling, we will also use this space for collaborating, sharing information and online tools, finding scholarships, posting multimedia projects, and anything else we dream up and/or find useful.

Please bookmark this URL and follow the blog so that you will receive updates automatically instead of having to check back all the time.  If you don't know your way around blogs or the Internet, have no fear-- we will be dedicating class time to this. You also probably have friends/relatives who can help.*  (*Working with each other to do a task and achieve shared goals is the definition of collaboration.  Please Note:  Collaboration is not cheating.  We learn better when we learn together, and we will be doing most of our learning together this year.  [I hate writing this next part because it feels so high school teacher-y, but I want to avoid any misunderstanding-- so...] Please Also Note: Some tasks will require you to demonstrate your individual mastery of close reading, literary criticism, and written organization/ expression.  Don't even think about cheating when you know it's cheating.

I hope every single person who participates in this course connects with a personally meaningful interest, discovers people & resources who can help pursue that interest, and takes charge of his/her own learning journey.  For now, please feel free to post any questions or comments here or email me at dpreston.learning@gmail.com.  Sapere aude.  I look forward to meeting you!

Best,
Dr. Preston