How I used online tools to write my literature review

Here’s a summary of my notes that I kept from last year while writing the literature review for my Masters thesis on social networking for teachers’ professional learning.

I found other people’s notes useful so this might be too….

Step One: Got organised

• Generated key words from my research question
• Organised folders into broad categories in Zotero (combining standalone function as well as syncing to online)

Step Two: First broad search

• Used key words to search University of Waikato library database - and also used Google Scholar and Google Books
• Saved likely PDFs/docs to relevant Zotero folders (Chrome plugin fired nicely)
• Set up Google Sheet and organised different rows into different sections of the lit review (after Mutch, 2005, p.93)

Step Three: Evaluation

• Created new collection in Zotero specifically for lit review – three folders of decreasing relevance
• Began skimming and scanning through all the docs saved in Zotero, tagging them and then filing them according to relevance. Opened  PDFs in Preview so I could annotate where relevant, too. Saved them and attached them as stored files to Zotero citation to come back to later.
• Dropped tags into a Google doc as I went along – in theory, all the tags related to ‘theory’ will help me find those items related to ‘theory’ later. This began to generate topics related to theory, content, findings and so on.
• Added more sources to Zotero when I read about useful docs e.g. in reference lists, citations

Step 4: Structuring

As a first attempt at beginning to work out what the broad themes might be in the review, I felt the need to begin to capture and record key ideas, moving on from brief notes and tagging, to synthesise as I go. To do this, I used

• Freemind (a brainstorming tool) to organise and categorise ideas and themes using the tags I recorded in the spreadsheet in step 2 that pointed to theories, methodologies, key ideas and contexts that emerged as I did the first skim read.

Image credits: Literature review, by Caro Wallis

Learning online | The kids are all right…

I recently presented a series of keynotes, developed with Dr John Fenaughty, on the topic of digital citizenship and how fear-based messages, curriculum add-ons and reliance of filters are not as likely to foster digital citizens as much as embedding  it in authentic curriculum-based learning.

I went phishing fishing on YouTube for positive messages and non-deficit videos that celebrated young people and the opportunity that being on the web can present for learning.

*The sound of tumbleweed.*

It’s easy to see why we show young people videos such as Bulletin Board or   Cyberbullying (Sam’s story)  - there is very little else to choose from that suggests that being online is anything less than a tightrope walk between threats, sexually explicit content and abuse.

There is also a bigger discussion to have here around what is ‘normal’. Are these cyberbullying videos depicting the reality of life online for young people? A recent report from the Pew Research Center pointed out that:

“The nature of teens’ internet use has transformed dramatically — from stationary connections tied to shared desktops in the home to always-on connections that move with them throughout the day,” said Mary Madden, Senior Researcher for the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project and co-author of the report. “In many ways, teens represent the leading edge of mobile connectivity, and the patterns of their technology use often signal future changes in the adult population.” ['Teens and Technology, 2013]

And if we consider that the ‘Bulletin Board’ video cited above has garnered 50,000+ views whereas videos like the PickUpChick’s video exploring how to present yourself when sexting texting bags 450,000+views. Go figure.

How to create positive, non-deficit conversations around young people’s relationships and the inevitable challenges they will face while staying focused on what’s real for them, and their learning vision for the future? Possibly a post for another time…

Anyhow, I did track down a couple of affirming videos which I’ve used and would recommend to help conversations focus on the positive aspects of life and learning online:

A two minute powerplay from Don Tapscott:

…and this from UNICEF on digital citizenship (part of a series they produced)

Are these the only two?! Or do you have other videos you can share in this vein?

[Image credit:License Some rights reserved by Capture Queen ™]

Blended professional learning | Walk the talk

[Note: This is cross-posted from the CORE Education blog...]

Just written a guest post for CORE on a recent breakfast session that I facilitated with Essential Resources, down in Invercargill. Here’s a flavour:

“We are all used to the traditional mode of professional learning – face-to-face, with possibly a presenter and some interactive elements. We may also be pretty au fait with synchronous virtual learning from video conferencing, such as in Skype/Google Hangout sessions or webinars (again, some listening, some participation).

But how often do sessions incorporate learners in both media, at the same time?

For me, not often. But my recent CORE Breakfast, in association with Essential Resources, shone a spotlight on a model that we may see more often as educators become increasingly familiar with the idea of virtual learning. When people are geographically isolated, this might offer an ideal third way to access shared professional learning with schools elsewhere.
And my key point is this: A synchronous virtual experience, whether it is solely online or incorporated in a face-to-face session, shouldn’t be a ‘lesser’ experience for the virtual guest just because they are not physically present. As a friend asked me on Twitter recently: Should virtual learning have to be ‘sit on the mat and listen to the teacher’ style of learning?

The story

I was booked to facilitate a morning session with a group of educators in the Invercargill region, face-to-face. In the deep South, there are schools scattered like seeds across a pretty remote piece of New Zealand. One teacher, ‘Tom’, from a school two hours’ mountain climb/an expensive flight away, wanted to join us for the morning. Having spent a lot of time preparing for the face-to-face session, I had, by comparison, not as much notice that Tom would be joining us. No matter.

My challenge?

To offer Tom a learning experience that was comparable with that offered to those in the room.

In my view, this was a great opportunity to walk the talk; I spend quite a bit of time, even in so called ‘e-learning’ sessions, talking with others about inclusion, and the need to start one’s learning design and planning from the point of view (needs/passions) of the learners that usually take more time to design for than others. The ‘outliers’. Those traditionally on the margins.

What better way to explore this idea than to demonstrate it in situ? Tom, as he live-streamed in, could easily have just listened while everyone else participated. But that’s not inclusive. It doesn’t model the principles of Universal Design for Learning that I believe should sit at the heart of how we work..”

…..[Read the full post]

Growing the treasure | Two days at Tūrangawaewae

“Tupu te toi, ora te toi, whanake te toi.  Te toi i ahu mai i Hawaiki.“
“Grow the treasure, sustain the treasure, develop the treasure, the treasure that stems from Hawaiki”.

- nā King Taawhiao: Te Toi Tupu vision, gifted by Waikato-Tainui

I have just returned from two days’ stay on Tūrangawaewae Marae, the headquarters of Te Kingiitanga in the Waikato, at the invitation of the Waikato-Tainui iwi. The consortium for which I work for part of the week, Te Toi Tupu, is focused on the needs of Māori, Pasifika and students with special educational needs, on behalf of the Ministry of Education and this hui brought us together to continue to explore this work further.

It was fitting that we focused on our own cultural responsiveness by walking in others’ shoes and experiencing the life, the stories, the whakapapa and the manaakitanga (hospitality) on the marae. We were fortunate to hear Sarah-Jane Tiakawai and Tipa Mahuta speak about Kiingitanga, about the way their iwi has been part of a resurgence around the Waikato River and how they continue to fight for redress. They also spoke of the story we tell ourselves about education – that we seem convinced that change must be slow, that it is complex – and they urged us to look again at ways to increase the sense of urgency there, too.

I talk to many teachers as part of my work who look yearningly overseas at what schools are doing with technologies, who are creating approaches to school design and who are building impressive, modern learning environments. And why not? There is much to be learned from being connected to global education movements.  The purpose of education, many would say, after all, is to think globally about how we can all work as citizens within our societies for the betterment of our peoples.

But I would urge NZ educators who look overseas to also look within our shores at some of the fresh, exciting thinking that is coming from schools here too.

Highlights for me included:

• Kelston Deaf Education Centre leaders, David Foster, and students speaking in English, te reo Māori, Deaf sign language and lip reading as they shared their stories.Watson Ohia from Ngā Taiatea Wharekura and Toby Westrupp from Tai Wānanga who, with wonderfully articulate students, described their vision for grounded, focused education that is culturally located.
• Fetaui Iosefo and her son, Joshua, who spoke of their experiences in schooling from a Samoan perspective and also treated us to an astonishing live performance of ‘Brown Brother’:

And the same themes kept shining through, woven like threads through the weft of the day:

• The vital importance of students being able to see themselves, who they are, where they are from, their history and their language at the heart of their school story.
• That formal education ends in the teenage years but our role is to prepare them for the life beyond: schooling must have a real-life purpose. Several spoke of providing strong links to wider opportunities through work experience, community mentorships and exchange visits. They often talked about the power of having goals beyond school in which to ground the studies. Joshua spoke of having a passion to ‘hook’ your learning and an ‘anchor’, such as your family, to ground you. Strong whānau links between home and school were central.
• Schooling as holistic: The core values of service to the community, to family, to those around us were emphasised; what kind of fathers and mothers, citizens and community memnbers are we educating young people to be? Schooling is not an end in itself but a means by which we access the world beyond. The importance of clear school vision, values and a community-constructed graduate profile were all described with passion.

Personal highlights for me included 100+ of us sleeping marae-style (yes, I did sleep!), the generosity of those who provided for such a large group with apparently no effort, and the warmth of the kaumatua who greeted us on the paepae.

I am indebted to our hosts at the marae, my colleagues who provide such support to enable this Pākehā chick from Yorkshire to feel so comfortable on the marae, and to Te Toi Tupu for giving me the opportunity to stay and work somewhere very special for two days.

He tangata! He tangata! He tangata! It is the people! It is the people! It is the people!

Learner’s charter for personalised environments | FutureLab

Is personalised learning for all a pipe dream? Perhaps.

A set of principles to aim for in the way we design learning? Why not?

This is a quick share of a resource I have been looking at again today:

>>>The Learner’s Charter for a personalised learning environment from FutureLab.

It outlines what a learner might rightfully expect in terms of choices, the way skills and knowledge are learned, the environments in which they work, and the kinds of feedback they receive. For example:

“As a learner, I expect to take joint responsibility for and be seen as an active agent in determining my own learning priorities.”

It was first developed in 2006 and I think it still stands up as a great document to come back to, to discuss and debate.

In this article from the same year, Towards a Personalised Educational Landscape, Peter Humphreys, (Chair, Personalised Education Now) writes:

“Digital technologies need to take on a transformational role and not merely amplify existing scenarios. Schooling as we know it is too problematic and may not be the best place for investigation and new developments. Many educational thinkers have alluded to key ideas of learner-centric approaches; we have attempts to articulate these in a Declaration of Learners Rights and Responsibilities (Wondertree Foundation 1995) and in a Learner’s Charter for a Personalised Learning Environment (Futurelab 2005). These offer us positive direction.”

What do you think? All good, clean fun until some poor teacher collapses under the strain of planning? Or do-able across an entire system, given the right professional learning, leadership, and community involvement?

 

Connected learning | Making learning inclusive and meaningful

This is a quick share of a recent report on the ways in which technology can enhance learning that is:

“socially embedded, interest-driven, and oriented toward educational, economic, or political opportunity.”

The report - Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design (Digital Media and Learning Research Hub) – sets out to explore ways in which technology can be an enabler for learning that allows individual students to engage in ways that are inclusive and meaningful. It includes case studies of students who were able to explore their individual passions as avenues towards higher learning. Like Clarissa and her love of writing, or Louis who was disconnected from school but who was able to forge links back to learning through hip-hop. There is a strong focus on groups of students who are marginalised or not traditionally able to invest themselves in school.

Key ideas here are that learning that is connected to passions is

• peer-supported, interest-driven and can be academically oriented
• that technologies can support production, networking and shared purposes
• interconnected through constant challenge participation and active application of knowledge
• enabled by new media because it fosters self expression, increases accessibility to opportunities, expands social supports and can build capacity.

The report draws attention to the growing learning divide, changing nature of knowledge and its implications for the workforce, and the types of media that young people have access to. Its discussion of how education can draw on technologies to enable embedded socially supported learning is grounded in socio-cultural and situated learning theories.

“Our learning approach is guided by three key findings that have emerged
from this body of learning research:

1. a disconnect between classroom and everyday learning,
2. the meaningful nature of learning that is embedded in valued relationships, practice, and culture, and
3. the need for learning contexts that bring together in-school and out-of-school learning and activity.”

One of the most useful parts of this report, other than the case studies, is the frameworks the report offers to prompt discussion and review of current learning environments.  These would make useful discussion foci in schools that are reviewing their vision and strategic direction  or for teachers looking to redefine learning to engagement disconnected students.

The concluding comments speak strongly of socially-driven motivators for change:

“Our argument is that for too many young people—particularly our most vulnerable populations of youth— their formal education is disconnected to the other meaningful social contexts in their everyday life, whether that is peer relations, family life, or their work and career aspirations. The connected learning model posits that by focusing educational attention on the links between different spheres of learning—peer culture, interests and academic subjects—we can better support interest-driven and meaningful learning in ways that take advantage of the democratizing potential of digital networks and online resources. We recognize the grim economic conditions and the challenges that educational institutions face, while at the same time seeking to articulate a positive way forward that mitigates rather than exacerbates today’s educational inequities.

Online information and social media provide opportunities for radically expanding the entry points and pathways to learning, education, and civic engagement. Further, there is a groundswell of activity in diverse sectors that are taking to these connected learning opportunities, ranging from entrepreneurial young learners, open and online educational initiatives, technology innovations in gaming and other forms of learning media, new forms of activism, and innovative schools and libraries.”

____________________________________________

Ito, Mizuko, Kris Gutiérrez, Sonia Livingstone, Bill Penuel, Jean
Rhodes, Katie Salen, Juliet Schor, Julian Sefton-Green, S. Craig
Watkins. 2013. Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and
Design. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.

#KiwiFoo 2013

My head is still scattered so, at this stage, thoughts on #KiwiFoo 2013 are best expressed by others (although I can just about stretch to a wee spot of curation)…..check out my Storify collection for a flavour of this rich unconference. Massive thanks and hat-tips to Nat Torkington, Janine Torkington, the hard-working crew, Mahurangi College, the sponsors, the participants, & my fab mate Claire….

[http://storify.com/virtuallykaren/kiwifoo2013]

I’m not quite ready to synthesise the goodness and bring it home to work or passions. I need some sleep first. But until then…..

grab-bag of take-aways / ponderings / wonderings….

• There is huge value in bringing together people from cross-disciplines – science, politics, education, tech, community, social. Throwing yourself in gains usually hard-to-grab opportunities to meet, connect with and learn from others who I would never had a chance to meet.

• The ‘so what’ of how people apply their skills: connections to the community, giving back, paying forward are what turns potential navel-gazing into meaningful projects.

• the value of immersive, hands-on learning (thinking here of the prototyping and robot-making sessions, as well as walking-the-talking in the collaboration across companies session) – the power of physical data visualisation

• The Makerspace movement as a pathway for learning – and prototyping, using methodologies from Stanford, to generate ideas through empathy

• The Electrum sculpture – Lightning Dreams – Gibbs Farm

• ‘A Pattern Language: Towns. Buildings. Construction’ by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein – and the concept of pattern language within educational professional learning and practice

• John Seddon and his thinking about the service industry – what would this look like in an educational context or in the way we develop organisations as systems?

• The open research movement and its potential to enhance participatory / action research / critical theory models as well as revolutionise the way in which we ‘judge’ quality, crowdsource new hypotheses and generate relevant questions.

• Stunning ideas to explore: Chalkle, Innocentive and PledgeMe (crowdsourcing), Ministry of Awesome (Christchurch), Goodreads (great books via social networking), Stone Soup (storytelling), finite and infinite games…

…..and there is another list of stuff I can’t get to right now….another time….

Trialling technology to grow writers

A recent Teacher-Only Day saw me invited to work alongside the teachers at Wellesley College. We were kickstarting inquiries into how we can best integrate technology into effective literacy practice:

The key points we explored included:

• the way technologies can help us integrate contexts that are meaningful to the students into effective learning – and the vital importance of designing learning so it is inclusive (we used a combo of mobile technology and Flickr as an example);

• the value of a framework such as SOLO in scaffolding the pathway to deeper inquiry for the students;

• the way curriculum, pedagogy and technology integrate, according to students’ needs;

• the importance of getting started on a deliberate trial – a teacher inquiry – that is planned, implemented and reviewed in ways that fit with what each teacher believes is important for themselves and their students.

Huge thanks to the staff for inviting me to work with them – and best wishes for an exciting term 1.

#ICOT2013 | International Conference on Thinking

No two ways about it. It was a massive week at ICOT2013, not just because I was helping the CORE Education events team roll out this huge event. I was on the media team, and had the privilege of interviewing some of the invited presenters, included Dr. Sharon Friesen, Ewan McIntosh and  …(drumroll)… Dr Edward de Bono. I also presented the first tentative soundings from my Masters research into social networking online as part of teachers’ professional learning – and am grateful to those who attended and helped me kick the tyres on it:-)

Big ideas

I tried to keep track of the ‘big ideas’ emerging through the week. I couldn’t attend many breakouts but I made it to most keynotes – and if I had to produce a piece of ‘thinking knitting’ that reflected what kinds of thinking approaches would best prepare young people for a complex future, these would be the three main strands in the weft and warp:

• Thinking processes and heuristics, in 2013, are firmly focused on helping participants make lateral, creative leaps, based on rich questions to which there is no easy answer. I’m thinking of….
  • Ewan McIntosh’s “Pose the UnGoogleable question“

• De Bono’s exploration of provocative, “interesting” solutions and avoidance of the either/or dichotomy

• Tap into those avenues that have real meaning and purpose for students. Help them pursue their passions, their projects – and if they can de designed to have impact on the community around them, so much the better. I’m thinking of….
  • Hana Olds, the young writer who uses her talents to support community projects
  • Kerry Spackman and Mai Chen, with their focus on social responsibility

• Deliberately focus on making thinking processes visible, spotlighting pathways and working collaboratively to meet transparent goals. I’m thinking of…
  • Pam Hook and SOLO Taxonomy
  • Dispositional development, as described by Prof. David Perkins
  • Ewan McIntosh’s tagging of assessment

• Design learning environments that foster design thinking, rapid prototyping and creativity. I’m thinking of…
  • NZCER’s role-playing workshop on futures-thinking through science fiction and process drama

• Ewan McIntosh and design thinking as part of curriculum design

And all of this doesn’t include the wonderful Gala dinner, celebrating the retirement of Sherry Chrisp (CORE’s amazing events co-ordinator) – and of course, the amazing connections with old and new friends (you know who you are).

Bilbao #ICOT2015 – here I come;-)

“I have nothing to blog about…” | My response

I have heard this said, in various ways and tones, after many sessions this year.

When I have discussed sharing and collaborating online around teaching inquiries, I hear comments such as the one in the title – or variants of it, such as:

• “I have nothing worth sharing.”
• “There are others who know far more than me about this.”
• “I’m afraid people will laugh at me.”
• “I’m afraid people will mock me.”
• “I’m afraid people will ignore me.”
• “I’ll blog when I have something to say”.
• “I’d rather just share it face-to-face.”

How did we come to be so afraid of sharing what we do, online? Is it the media and its stories of cybersecurity breaches and trolling? Is it the perceived permanence of committing thoughts to a faceless server in the United States?  Have some of us become too self-effacing at the expense of our profession and do we need to get more ‘Gen-Y’ (‘privacy, schmivacy’) about what we do?

Can we afford not to share?

The classroom – the school – can be a very siloed place. Me, four walls and a group of young people, grappling with the challenge of …sharing. It is a scenario played out all over the educational world. Every problem, breakthrough, pondering and wondering in a classroom is a potential learning moment for others. And every moment that is actively reflected on is a learning moment for the educator undertaking that reflection.

The ability and knowledge about how to respond flexibly and sustainably to challenges in a complex, changing world is not held by one individual, even one school. It is held in the network of schools, of educators. It is evolved, played about and developed with every learning moment that occurs, day in, day out, in schools across the globe.

The secret to our future success – and the success of our students – lies in the network.

And my response to the question at the start is this post: Nothing to blog about? Of course you have. No matter how humdrum, insignificant or problematic an inquiry - blog about your successes, your wonderings, your breakthroughs, your resources, your trials and tribulations in your class.

Don’t be afraid – there are millions of us in the same boat…but we’ll only find out, if we share.

And if you liked that, try these:

• BLOG POST: Swimming out of our depth? Leading learning in 21st century Schools: NZCER 2012 report which focuses on the value of collaboration and de-siloed practice

• VIDEO: ‘Share it’: Allanah King, in this CORE Education EdTalk advocates teachers to share what they do.

• VIDEO: Sharing – the moral imperative: Highlights from Dean Shareski. The title is self-explanatory; we owe it to our profession to leverage the social web to open up our practice.

• VIDEO: David Wiley’s TEDxNYED talk, on open education. We can share, without giving away, our knowledge.

[Image source: CC by furiousgeorge81]