These are some notes on a session I moderated with Kim Cofino, author of the very cogent blog post Making the Shift Happen (Always Learning, Feb 24, 2008): http://mscofino.edublogs.org/2008/02/24/making-the-shift-happen/. The occasion was a live meeting in Elluminate (donated by Learning Times) as part of the Multiliteracies for Social Networking and Collaborative Learning Environments course http://goodbyegutenberg.pbwiki.com/ being held Jan 12 to Feb 22, 2009 as part of the 2009 EVO (Electronic Village Online) sessions. Kim’s event took place on January 18, 2009 http://goodbyegutenberg.pbwiki.com/Events_Schedule.
The session was recorded: http://tinyurl.com/090108cofino
and is being podcast here.
The session addressed how it was that Kim has been able to make that shift happen. In making her points she showed us two links:
In essence there is a particular mix in effect at the International School of Bangkok. First, the administrators there have hired practitiones of the foresight and calibre of the likes of Kim Cofino and Jeff Utecht. Kim explained how she had started implementing changes where she was. First she got the teachers talking about what changes were desireable and defining the outcomes they would like to see. They came up with these documents which give 3 requirements for 21st century multiliteracies:
* http://mscofino.edublogs.org/2007/10/04/essential-understandings-for-21st-century-literacy/
* http://isb21.wikispaces.com/
The requirements are to develop:
1. Effective Learnings
2. Effective Collaborator
3. Effective Communicators and Creators of content online
In order to implement these changes Kim worked closely and hands on with the most interested teachers. She actually goes to the classrooms and helps the teachers in the class, modeling the behaviors needed both on the job and in her reflective blogging later. She gets the teachers working in teams. Their students use Skype, wikis, Voicethread, and similar tools to connect with experts and other learners. She also brings the learning into other ‘places’. When I saw her in Bangkok she had just started her Wired Wednesdays, at which our FLNW group made presentations to a dozen interested instructors and administrators at ISB. I made two blog postings at the time (the first of which seems to be wanting a password to play the Ustream now … that’s new!)
* http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/2008/01/future-of-learning-in-networked-world.html
* http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/2008/01/future-of-learning-in-networked-world_23.html
Another success that Kim has had has been to have groups at her house for Social Saturdays. She Twittered a recent one where she had people over to take part in the K-12 online conference, where she played the recordings and encouraged folks to watch, listen, think, and reflect over pleasant food and beverages.
It was great talking with Kim, an interview well worth listening to and replaying