This talk introduces Learning2Gether (http://learning2gether.pbworks.com) and explains how it came about, and how it draws on and expands its participants’ personal learning networks so that knowledge is transferred informally and peer to peer. A crucial aspect of the learning that takes place there is where teachers model to one another how to use Web 2.0 tools to leverage learning through networking, and to apply these to classroom and other professional development opportunities. This talk is couched it in the perspective of how teachers achieve the aha! Moment, where they 'get' how technology can become a critical enabler of what they ordinarily try to do pedagogically in their classrooms. In this presentation I will try to provoke an aha! moment by illustrating how a PLN works to enhance such learning by getting people from other virtual spaces to join us in real time, live and online. There is a live stream scheduled for 5 a.m. EST on WiZiQ: http://www.wiziq.com/class/info.aspx?5mA7G8fKaxkH75ANyzpaLVstvMQM1okLE9P2u1V5ptHharf19GVSOfNYTUlBIf2nt7WYnWPUU4W4XO5FHWQKG1cj7tnvIwvv0TcYVNnAH5U%3d

1. -:Learning2gether:-to achieve the AHA! moment Vance Stevens Plenary address at the 6th International -42nd Annual Conference held at VIT, Vellore, India, 16 to 18 June, 2011

2. Basic Concept - Teaching Teachers are learners They are one and the same. A teacher is a master learner who knows more about learning than his or her students. A teacher models and demonstrates how students can learn effectively. Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

3. Basic Concept - Learning Learning requires change. One cannot enter a quest for learning and emerge unchanged. In that case, nothing would have been learned. A learner (or as a learner, a teacher …) Reflects And practices Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

4. If a teacher is a master learner … Then it stands to reason that as a learner,the teacher must continually be changing. Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

5. Let’s stop here and ask What is your view of your profession? What is your colleagues’ view? Is it that you pass on a set of skills acquired at one time? the same set of skills? year after year? Let’s hope it’s not! Things change! Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

6. Frameworks for coping with Change Alan Toffler, Future Shock Etiene Wenger, Communities of Practice George Siemens: Connectivismhttp://www.connectivism.ca/ Cross, Informal Learningdirected at knowledge workers Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

7. Knowledge Work A good segment of India’s economy is devoted to knowledge work. Such work assumes a constantly shifting playing field where change is driven by innovation and the education system is charged with training students to work injobs that haven’t been invented yet. Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

8. Challenge #1 To prepare students for careers as knowledge workers in jobs not invented yet, teachers must Transition from one mindset to another on ten fronts simultaneously, each involving a substantial break with past thinking Grasp how a baker’s dozen of unfamiliar tools and concepts can further learning in the emerging paradigms Cannot be done in one step… only in many SMALL steps SMALL = Social Media Assisted Language Learning Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

9. How can teachers rise to this challenge? Only by constantly learning. How can they constantly learn? By http://learning2gether.pbworks.com Teacher development means constantly re-learning, even re-inventing, how to learn Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

10. Future of Learning in a Networked World We no longer learn in the way we did last century. We are much more connected now. Those who wish to drive innovation, or teach students to be in a position to drive innovation, must themselves be innovative in the way they learn. Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

11. Ten Paradigm Shifts Pedagogy - shift from didactic models of “teaching” to constructivist ones of learning Networking –connectivism: learning as a social vs. isolated activity Literacy –from reliance on print to functioning in multiliteracies Heuristics – from client-server to peer-to-peer Formality – from hierarchical power centricity to informal learning and F.U.N. Transfer - applying social networking skills and concepts from personal life to professional Directionality – from push to pull dissemination of knowledge Ownership – proprietary vs. open source, OER Sharing – from guarded copyright to creative commons, and fair use Classification – taxonomic to folksonomic systems Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India More information http://tinyurl.com/vance2010calico

12. A few Digital Literacies Howard Rheingold: Network awarenesshttp://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/AttentionandOther21stCenturySo/213922 Multiliteracies: http://goodbyegutenberg.pbworks.com Dave Cormier: MOOCshttp://davecormier.com/edblog/wp-content/uploads/MOOC_Final.pdf Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

13. Cormier’s Success in MOOC Orient Declare Network Cluster Focus Can this work in huge real world f2f classes? Like in India? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8avYQ5ZqM0&feature=player_embedded At http://goodbyegutenberg.pbworks.com/w/page/33070273/Week2EVO2011 Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

14. Let’s image … All parties have gone some way toward making those paradigm shifts Teachers AND learners are sufficiently multi-literate to hold discourse on the goals and affordances inherent in that shift, because These technologies only become transformative when their use becomes second-nature to the point where we and those around us use them in our normal workflow. From http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/2011/03/transforming-learning-with-creative.html Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

15. Personal Learning Network Bringing together elements of a PLN Webheadshttp://webheads.info Twitter http://twitter.com/vances Facebook Learning2gether http://learning2gether.pbworks.com Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

16. How to connect Elluminate via Learning Timeshttp://tinyurl.com/y3eh WiZiQhttp://wiziq.com BigMarkerhttp://bigmarker.com Open University Flash Meeting Skype http://skype.com TappedInhttp://tappedin.orgevery Sunday noon GMT (4 pm in UAE) Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

17. Baker’s dozen of skills, concepts, tools, and genres for the 21st Century Web 2.0 and social networking RSS and feed readers Podcasts Harvesting them, through RSS Also producing them Blogging Multiliteracyskills Following via RSS Microblogging Twitter Edmodo, Yammer, etc. Push/pull technologies Aggregation via folksonomic classification (tags) Digital storytelling and applications of multimedia to new literacies PLNs (personal learning networks) Communities of practice Connectivism Informal / just-in-time learning Synchronous communications: instant messaging, online presentation venues incorporating interactive whiteboard, voice, and video Asynchronous collaborations tools: blogs, wikis, Voicethread, Slideshare, Google docs and similar collaboration tools Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India See Stevens, 2010 at Google Doc

18. Change Agency Cofino, K. (2008). Making the shift happen. Always learning. Retrieved on March 28, 2011 fromhttp://kimcofino.com/blog/2008/02/24/making-the-shift-happen/ Curtis, P. (2009). Building A Web 2.0 culture. Multimedia presentation at the K12 Online Conference 2009. Retrieved on March 28, 2011 from http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=457 . Carozza, B. (2009). Embracing Web 2.0 for the Administrator. Multimedia presentation at the K12 Online Conference 2009. Retrieved on March 28, 2011 from http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=455. Freedman, T. (2006). Overcoming obstacles: Selling Web 2.0 to senior management. Paper delivered at the K12 Online Conference 2006. Retrieved on March 28, 2011 from http://k12online.wm.edu/overcomingobstacles.pdf. Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

19. Challenge #2Elucidating the Ineffable It's because computers are anything but isolating, because they bring people together in innumerable modalities, that they are transformative in learning. Yet …this is not widely accepted as fact due to the ineffable nature of the process. Technogogy has to be experienced to be understood, and many simply do not grant themselves the opportunity to experience it; therefore they never achieve that aha! moment. From http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/2011/03/transforming-learning-with-creative.html Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

20. Paradigm shift: Transfer From networking with friends via Facebook To collaboration with colleagues inGoogle Docs and Delicious Examples with language focus Writingmatrixhttp://writingmatrix.wikispaces.com Webheadshttp://webheads.info Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

21. Use it with Students Photo credit, Barbara Dieu: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bee/5737375/(shared here per creative commons: attribution, noncommercial, share-alike) Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

22. Organizing learners to use Web 2.0 Get them familiar with project organization and collaboration online: Cloud collaboration in Google Docs Wikis Etherpad clones Delicious and Diigo Tapping into PLN’s Microblogging (Twitter) Ning alternativeGrouply, Grou.ps etc. Listservs Facebook Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

23. Design materials to train teachers while teaching students Simple, practical, hands on exercises in: Cloud collaboration in Google Docs (i.e. wiki) Reading blogs (awareness –> comment –> create content) Following blogs via RSS Via blocks added to LMS / CMS & other aggregators At a more advanced stage, in Google Reader Tagging in Delicious (and/or Diigo) Organizing bookmarks in the cloud Using Delicious to communicate through tags Expanding Internet searches through suggested alternate key words Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India More information about the three-step progression and full text and slides at http://braz2010vance.pbworks.com/PLN

24. F.U.N. with tags and backchannels Play tag games with: Spezify and Addictomatic Flickr and TagGalaxy Writingmatrix Backchannel tools Lists in Twitter Edmodo Wallwisher Voicethread Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India http://braz2010vance.pbworks.com/TagGames

25. Class-roots professional development Students and staff must Recognize potentials of social media for learning Model best practices for one another Refine skills by training one another Training Not just through reading about IT and attending lectures or workshops Necessary to “do” it. This requires PLN of peers who will interact and scaffold one another Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

26. Making the shift happen Teachers as“master” lifelong learners must: Move toward greater socialization in their learning environments Become aware of and incorporate 21st Century skills and paradigm shifts Seek out, and become, models of best practices Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

27. In Conclusion I would like to end by learning from you. I am in India, a land associated with transcendental meditation change and renewal through humility and introspection. As Clay Shirky points out in his new book, technology is the enabler, but what you’ve always wanted to teach is the driver Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

28. Bu it’s not necessarily about tech The canvas is large and restricting it to technology would indeed be narrowing the perspective. Let's talk about what is changing, why and how. The direction of the change in the current globalised IT enabled economy - towards hands-on minds-on activities. I guess the change is from a teacher being the dispenser of knowledge to facilitator of discovery learning. Going beyond mere remembering, understanding, applying to analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Let's talk about the implications for teaching, text, test etc. – Fr. Peter Vance Stevens, VIT / ELTAI Conference June, 2011, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

29. Thanks to all who joined in the live presentation All Vance’s slides are athttp://slideshare.net/vances This session was recorded: (URL to be provided by WiZiQ)