A picture, worth a thousand conversations

When thinking about using Creative Commons images in the context of education, I decided to search for some powerful images that could be used to launch long term discussions to cultivate five key habits of mind.

Metacognitive

How can we be reflective and think about our thinking? How do we know what we know and how can we use that to become a more effective life-long learner?

flikr: TZA

Innovative

How can we find creative solutions so that all children enjoy the same rights?

flickr: INZAKI

Tenacious

“We only think when we’re confronted with problems” John Dewey. How can we learn to regularly engage in, stick with, and tackle problems that take time and demand lots of thinking to solve?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colemama/3942606430/in/pool-858082@N25

Empathic

How can we take the perspective of others, walk in their shoes, reflect on the level of justice around the world and what can we do to make it better for one and all?

flikr:sibtainn

Inquisitive

What if we started each unit of study with a series of photos that simultaneously activated their background knowledge and elicited their wonderings, uncovering what they wanted to know more about?

flikr: ViaMoi

21st Century Savvy or a Digital Dilettante?

In reflecting on how this series of courses for the International School of Bangkok's Certificate of Educational Technology and Informational Literacy has impacted my professional life thus far, I've decided to use the lenses of the ISB 21’s framework upon which these courses are built: How have I become a more effective learner, communicator, creator, and collaborator?

EFFECTIVE LEARNER

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1385069960/

In becoming a more effective 21st century learner, I feel I have progressed the most in using the reflection process required by writing the blogs. I have always been highly reflective (in fact, perhaps too much so) and have long realized the benefit of writing as a reflective tool. Having the options of embedding visuals, links, and videos have added 2.0 dimensions to my reflections and brought my references alive. More importantly, however, is the fact that my reflections are out there for the world, availing myself to a larger audience than just myself or “the professor” in a class situation. Having such an opportunity to share with a wider group is a motivator that holds the potential for increased quality and connection to other learners around the world.

The second area of progress as a learner has come through gathering information via my RSS feeder, which has helped me search for and receive timely information on given topics of interest or research. The most useful item in that arena is using the Google search RSS feeder option.

QUESTION: In thinking about developing more effective learners (myself included), I'm wondering How can we help students and ourselves become more tenacious in trying to solve real world problems and not simply being satisfied solving personal problems of entertainment, advancement or social connections?

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR & CREATOR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abhishek-kumar/429409641/

In developing as a more effective communicator & creator, I've become more aware of possible media options to communicate and create in a way that is more linked to the world. I still have yet to use these on a regular basis to create. The most powerful learning related to communication has been in reading and trying to apply the principles of Presentation Zen.

I now feel more equipped to be a more responsible communicator, finding effective visuals (rather than the former favorite Google image search) and giving due credit for these visuals using flikr and Creative Commons. As I move forward in this area, I look forward to creating more of my own visuals to meet specific needs.

QUESTION: Are we developing as effective communicators creators for a better world for all or just for those who are currently connected?

EFFECTIVE GLOBAL COLLABORATOR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/me_on_flickr/3489830404/

In becoming a more effective global collaborator, I remain a neophyte. I now more regularly use collaborative tools such as wikis and Google apps, but feel I have not really tapped into a global communication network or developed my own virtual professional learning network.

QUESTION: As I read more blogs and tap into sources from around the world, I wonder, How can we encourage more global collaboration across the social, economic, cultural, and ideological divides?

CONCLUSION

I am neither fully 21st century skilled nor simply a digital dabbler, but somewhere in canyon of the digital divide, hoping to help contribute to the bridge that will bring powerful tools and thinking to everyone regardless of where and to whom they happened to be born.