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Logan Petlak

~ Lifelong Learner.

Logan Petlak

Tag Archives: connect

Just Google it? Just Google it right. Building from simple to complex.

26 Thursday May 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 830

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

complex question, connect, connections, dave cormier, digcit, digital citizenship, ECI 830, eci830, edtech, google, google it, memorization, psy, simple, simple question, teacher

Statement: Schools should not be teaching anything that can be googled.

logo_no_google

No2Google Logo via No2Google.com

 

Disagree.

The picture below isn’t necessarily related, but it was one of the pictures that came up when I searched, “Yes Google”, and I feel compelled to use it… it helps if you imagine Psy singing “Heeeeeyyyyyyy educators, Goo, Goo, Goo Goo. Google ain’t so bad”. This builds into my post, while illustrating both the problem and potential solution of simply “googling it”.

2012 iHeartRadio Music Festival - Day 1 - Show

LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 21: Rapper Psy performs onstage during the 2012 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 21, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for Clear Channel retrieved via Business Insider)

Building from simple to complex googling.

Apart from the fact that so much can be Googled (and Googled and found mistakenly, as seen in picture above), the policing of instruction to avoid this next to impossible. However, like any potential problem-causer, it provides opportunity. How do we roll with this? How do we make a positive out of a negative? How do we build from simple to complex?

Terry Heick visited the thought that: “complex questions can’t be googled.” He went on to state that the answer Google provides can be a stopping point… and that it “… creates the illusion of accessibility,” or “obscures interdependence of information.” All valid. This can happen from simply using Google without education, but it reminded me of Dave Cormier’s details on using MOOCs appropriately through the cynefin framework and the rhizomatic learning… specifically that answering complex questions requires a particular approach to learning, that we as educators can seek to facilitate. Terry Heick then concludes with an awesome point that alludes to this need for educators and highlights the importance of teaching about proper use of Google and why Googlable (new word?) concepts should be taught in schools: “none of this (the above concerns) is Google’s fault.” Educators (and parents, for that matter) bear the responsibility to inform students of how to use technology like Google and Wikipedia to foster ideas and “cultivate curiousity”. So much can be Googled, so teach students to think critically, and recognize that every teacher can do this regardless of grade or specialization, as evidenced here, and through digital citizenship as Jeremy Black referenced.

Connecting critical thinking to maximizing Google.

“Before students can think critically, they need to have something to think about in their brains.” Ben Johnson made this comment, and used it to remind us of the importance of memorization and still keeping this as part of instruction. This speaks to the baseline knowledge that may come from using Google and other information sources. Finding the simple answers that “Googling it” may provide is the beginning to deeper parts of cognitive function in individuals, leading to fostering curiosity that I made reference to before. My phrase I tend to use in course outlines in senior science echoes the overlap between memory, critical thinking and curiosity: “in order to remember these terms, I will push you understand these terms.” This simply reflects my angle of looking at it, but there are many ways to aid in memory.

 

Final thoughts

Ultimately, the proper use of “Google” falls to educators to ensure students continue to ask complex questions and follow links to continue pursuing knowledge and continue to connect to new ideas with that new knowledge. Memory may play a dominant role in this process providing the fundamental information that sets a foundation to curiosity and challenging complex questions.

 

Agree? Disagree? Comment!

– Logan Petlak

Learning piano: Patience, hard work and connections that transcend time.

18 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 831, ECI 831 - Major Project - Learning Piano

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bloom's taxonomy, castle of glass, connect, connections, ECI 831, eci831, learning project, learningpiano, learningproject, music, music and language, open education, piano, piano chord, practice, teacher, universal language

General thoughts and reflections

In recent weeks, I have focused on playing piano using my full hand range (by practicicing the opening baseline of Castle of Glass by Linkin Park), maintaining proper posture and playing with my left hand in addition to my right simultaneously… but this is taking a long time to progress. The most important thing I’ve had to remind myself is patience. Not surprisingly, there are no short-cuts to success with physically playing the piano. Your body has to be taught the movements in order to experience success. In understanding terminology, tricks for learning can occur much like it would learning from a textbook in the classroom, but you still need to understand and apply aside from memorize (Bloom’s taxonomy). What are some things that have stood out for me?

14546646743_d46dc9e3c3_o

Key points that I’ve noticed in my development and tips you can use.

  • I still need to keep learning different chords and songs I enjoy. And play them to completion, not just the parts I like. But some parts of songs may teach certain things (chords or hand range).
  • A song I enjoy is so much easier to play (practice).
  • I’ve only scratched the surface of learning piano. Be patient.
  • I need to maintain and honour a regular schedule to keep playing regularly, it’s easy to get caught up in life and skip a day or two sometimes.
  • Some songs I am simply not ready to learn/play yet.
  • It isn’t easy to play piano while singing… but can be very rewarding when achieved, even if you can just hum it to start.
  • Playing with two hands can be done, but learn one hand at a time and then combine them together.
  • There is no limit to resources out there, but some may be different, find what’s accurate and works best for you.
  • Maintain good posture and consider getting an instructor to critique you for even a brief amount of time. I was fortunate to work with a music teacher in person, but many virtual piano courses are available.
  • It is so amazing to be listening to the radio, hear a song, and think: I bet I could play that.

It is so amazing to be listening to the radio, hear a song, and think: I bet I could play that.

 

Recommendations on resources to learners.

I really enjoyed using Synthesia. If you can drop thirty dollars (USD) to purchase it, I found it very useful used in combination with Free Midi. Searching on Google or on YouTube is an easy way to find tutorials on songs, terminology, or instructors/courses available on-line. Some of which are free for the frugal!

What’s next?

Did I achieve all of my goals? No. But learning is never complete and my journey with the piano is no exception to this idea. In addition to the goal of learning the four chord song one day, as I’ve made countless references to… this classic below by Johann Sebastian Bach looks like another goal to learn in the future. The video below is slowed down enough for me to follow along while I play (if I can’t find a midi). I considered learning classical at the start of the term, but just hadn’t got around to it yet. After reading about Bach, I was reminded about the universal language that is music. That a song that someone composed close to three hundred years ago can make my spine shiver and emotions echo that of an individual who lived in a world not as connected like mine. But this connection through music transcends time, worldview and language. This serves as a reminder of why patience and hard work is important in learning music… and while I believe that success will look different for all students, he did (apparently) provide this quote to close on:

Johann_Sebastian_Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach via Wikipedia

“I worked hard. Anyone who works as hard as I did can achieve the same results.”
Johann Sebastian Bach from BrainyQuotes

 


 

Have you been learning an instrument? Would you emphasize patience as well? Let me know below!

Logan Petlak

I M Connected. R U? U R?! GR8.

09 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 831, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

connect, connected, connections, connectivism, eci831, teacher

I wanted to open with stating: “as a high school environmental science teacher, it is required in the curriculum to discuss how connected different environmental systems are, what we do in one, affects another”… but then it occurred to me that being an environmental science teacher only represents one branch of courses that involve connections… a social studies class observes and applies connections between the past and present…. a health science class observes the connections between nutrition and homeostasis. Connections are everywhere. This isn’t a revelation, it is reality. Enhanced reading goals call for students to connect their content between chapters and prior learning… we look at challenging our students for higher order thinking and it asks to create connections or use “simple” knowledge (which is growing exponentially) and apply it to real problems. An inquisitive mind looks to the next question or connects new information to old and teachers are, after all, in the business of creating inquisitive minds.

Conversely, we want to create digital citizens who are connected. Connectivism seeks to address the acquisition of knowledge through networking and “pattern recognition”… but where is the connection between connecting content (“pattern recognition”) and being connected (networking)? “Pattern recognition” would pertain to the connections made within a classroom discussion… oranges and lemons both have citric acid in them… given that pattern, it kind of sounds like citrus fruits that I hear about (connecting two separate subjects together while connecting to background knowledge). Networking addresses the vast connectedness of the world we live in today. As informed educators, of course we’d want to utilize both. Reinforced by the constructivist research supporting students combining prior knowledge with experience, we can see the value in connections to prior knowledge. We need to create that connected-digital-citizen student, and I believe it can be through connections using our curricula.

A cynic may argue: I can make connections, but how do I create a connected student in <class name here>? Buy into the idea, make the curriculum yours. There is clear writing as to what the outcomes are, but manipulate it. Interpret it. Speaking to teachers, how many times have you find an activity you loved and then had to think, “how can I connect this to the curriculum?” And you manage to do so, quite easily? Curriculum in Saskatchewan is progressing to an organic system. To quote myself (classy, I know), in an assignment while completing my undergrad degree, “curriculum constantly adapts and changes, it’s never complete, education has no ranges.” While the explicit, written document may not change in the conventional sense, there is a reason no class is taught exactly the same. Much like the biblical scriptures of yore, it is subject to interpretation to connect and find personal meaning and relevance… and the “no ranges” addresses the vastness of our networked world…
(Many would argue some of the new curriculum is too vague and may fail to prepare them for next level courses to which lower-levels are prerequisites, however if you can create a ‘connected student’, this may seek to combat discrepancies in how outcomes are taught class-to-class and simply teach a strong, connected learner).

There may be the perception this may not suit your style of teaching, but perhaps styles need to be refined. Versatility and clarity in organized chaos are the keys to engaging the connected student. Patience, humbleness and a calm composure lend itself to adapting to where thirty different directions of learning go. An educator able to make connections in chaos can create meaning and connected learners.

“Chaos is the breakdown of predictability, evidenced in complicated arrangements that initially defy order.
Meaning-making and forming connections between specialized communities are important activities.
Chaos, as a science, recognizes the connection of everything to everything.” – George Siemens

Creating the connected student calls on many digital understandings however, utilizing and critiquing different sources to establish a personal learning network doesn’t happen overnight and it can’t be left unattended… it is ongoing. Its prolonged growth requires the choice and freedom of the student, but how do you ‘enforce freedom’ to make them responsible? A quote that comes to mind is: “Freedom gives the inclination to be responsible.” In order to create that freedom and inclination, you need to let the student connect to the content to make it relevant, then they may want and understand it.

To connect to my previous blog, however, all of this depends on having a class in which every student has a computer and the resources to be connected. Without the funding for this, it makes it difficult for all this to become a reality. Example below, a grade seven student outlines their learning network. This shows created connected students is able to be done, but all the kids have laptops?! And a classroom leopard gecko?! Get outta here! My class just has fish!

Granted, we had this cute critter named “Frodo” last year:
20141202_151816

We connected him to the need to maintain intact habitats and abiotic and biotic factors required for the healthy functioning of a terrestrial organism.

I feel I can connect everything to anything. And expect that same of my students.

Questions/thoughts?
How many connections do you make in your class?
What are some examples of connections and how does this translate to our connected world?
Is there a class you don’t think you can create a connected student in and why?

Author’s Post-Writing Note: if interested, hit CTRL+F to open up the find bar in your browser, and see how many times the term “connect” is used.

Logan Petlak

Incredible day! Photo courtesy Julia and Lucas Photography

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