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A
Year of Blogs
Click here for
PDF
Audio blog
09.20.06
Introduction to audio blogging, thoughts
on ARP resources, possible partners and
collaborators (mp3, 3.27MB, 3:24 min)
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/blogs/DGaudioblog_9_20_06.mp3
Audio blog
09.26.06
On experts and novices, How People Learn,
reflections on growing awareness of my
own learning process (mp3, 7.5MB, 8:45
min)
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/blogs/audioBlog_9_25.mp3
Audio blog
10.1.06
Confucius on knowing and not knowing and
on the pleasure of learning (mp3, 1.16MB,
1:25 min)
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/blogs/dgBlog_10_1.mp3
Audio blog
10.6.06 - Life,
work and outside projects as an Action
Research Project (mp3, 5.56MB, 6:25 min
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/blogs/dgBlog_10_6.mp3
Audio blog
10.13.06
Possible solution to identifying partners
for Action Research Project (mp3, 2.92MB,
3:35 min)
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/blogs/dgBlog_10_13.mp3
Audio blog
11.21.06
ARP & cell phones, museums, schools
and collaborations, frustrations of independent
working. (mp3, 9MB, 10:28 min)
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/blogs/11_21_06.mp3
On Cell phones, the Digital Divide, and
Working as an Independent
11/24/2006
ARP & cell phones, museums, schools
and collaborations, frustrations of independent
working. (mp3, 9MB, 10:28 min) http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/blogs/11_21_06.mp3
Library Reflections
12/08/2006
I spent most of the day in the library
doing schoolwork. It was great! It was
the first time in over a month (perhaps
two) that I could sit and think and work
uninterrupted by driving and traffic, work
projects and parenthood. During a short
break I reflected on this and thought of
the past semester. Yow- all I needed were
a few frogs to compete with the ten plagues.
Sometime in the middle of the first semester
I was downsized. Right after this semester
began my kids started school and their
mom had to go to Israel to be with her
very ill father. He passed away shortly
after her arrival, but she still needed
to be there for a month. This gave me the
opportunity to be with my kids for a straight
month- but this meant complete single parenting
and not co-. Around the same time I got
four projects to do, all at the same time.
Since I currently do free-lance, I take
what comes my way (in this case one book
cover design, a group of graphic conversions
for print, three web sites and some collection
cataloging. Oh yes, also a multi-media
introduction program for a law firms online
university. And then there was schoolwork,
housework. And lest they I forget, the
project that I was basing my ARP fell through
(their internal politics) which through
me completely off. You talk about a hurricane
ride through a roller coaster. Yet it was
also a semester of tremendous growth- academic,
professional, personal. This program provided
me with some stability throughout the other
events- a welcome, stimulating, challenging
and essentially fun program. This program
has occupied much of my thoughts (in a
positive way) and many conversations with
peers, colleagues and friends. My to-read
list has grown exponentially (most by my
bed) and I am looking forward to finishing
them after I graduate. I spent the day
catching up (or nearly catching up) with
my writing. I have first drafts for two
projects that I will complete tomorrow.
I was able to read and comment on the forums.
It was great. What is it that John Lennon
said? Life is what happens when you are
busy making other plans. Well, life happened
this semester. So what did I reflect on?
Well one thing that has become more apparent
to me by my own reflections and with conversations
with madre and others is the fine organization
of this program and the manner in which
the classes all connect and feed-off of
each other. Brilliant! After my original
ARP project fell through, I felt that I
was floating and could not get a handle
on it and get grounded. Then there was
the ubiquitous technology project. I had
a general idea with the cell phone and
what I did not want to with it, but I could
not figure out what to do with it. And
then there are Gary's learning adventures.
Fun, but honestly, the work that I do often
puts me in a continual learning adventure.
For example, one of the web sites that
I built required me to learn some new and
more sophisticated ways of using HTML because
of restrictions imposed by the client (the
site turned out very well and I am very
proud of it) and now, for the law firm,
I am having to re-learn Director. This
was the first media and authoring program
that I learned (over ten years ago), was
a favorite, but I have not used it in 4
years (and two major version changes).
The learning curve was swift; I found that
I was able to observe some of my learning
styles. As much as I do not like to procrastinate,
the jobs that I do often require me to
do things quickly in a just-in-time manner.
After reading the article by Papert on
epistemology (cannot recall the full title),
I noticed that I am a "soft" coder-
my coding is pretty transparent and I like
to learn and fiddle with things (almost
as if the code was tangible) and get them
just right. I also noticed that I am a
bricoulour (spelling?) and that my learning
is a process of building upon things learned
earlier. The influence of Papert's ideas
of communities of learners and Gardner's
multiple intelligences also became obvious
to me. It is 1:30am and I need to get up
early- to be continued tomorrow.
What Happens When I do not do Regular Blog
Postings
12/09/2006
As I continue to reflect, I have become
aware of some of my other learning styles.
I am very much in favor of experiential
and observational learning for myself.
I do learn a lot through by experience.
I appreciate a good guide, and I value
the constructivist approach. But I am also
very aware of some of my limitations, which
sometimes are imposed by external forces
(i.e. client, time, etc) and I just want
to be shown how to do something. Perhaps
this is where the role of a good mentor
comes in. There are times where guided
questions are called for and there are
times for a practical example. Times for
directed questions and other times to be
shown the way. One component of my own
learning style is that I do need time to
process and reflect. This goes back to
an earlier observation of mine that I wrote
some 20 years ago that the job of the artist
is to observe, absorb and synthesize. This
idea can be applied to any topic in learning.
I know that for me, the best way to absorb
and synthesize (which includes reflection)
is often to do an action completely unrelated-
not so much to clear my head, but to let
ideas percolate and to think of patterns,
connections and relationships. Bike riding,
running (which I do not do anymore) painting,
and sometimes simply laying on the grass
and staring at the sky does wonders for
my thought process. But back to my ARP
and UT. After seemingly flailing about
trying to re-conceptualize my project and
then scale it down to something attainable
given the scope and parameters of this
MA program, I was able to experience an
event that gave me the conceptual shove
that I was missing. Attending the NACOL
conference I heard and saw Hall Davidson
of the Discovery Network give an example
of using the cell phone to create real
time audio blogs. Simply by calling a phone
number and entering a code, a user could
post an audio file in mp3 or real audio
formats. There it was for me- the clue!
Rather than use the cell phone as a media
receiver, it could be used as a production
tool similar to the way that a TV camera
is used for broadcasting to television.
But in this case, the receiving media is
the computer. One of biggest issues that
I have been wrestling with was how to structure
a project for museum and school collaborations.
It became apparent to me from my own experiences,
conversations with Madre and others that
this is a huge project with many components
that are far larger than the scope of this
ARP. I have been looking for ways to scale
it down to something manageable. Another
idea that I have been wrestling with is
the digital divide. Living in an apt. In
the generally affluent west side of LA,
has provided me with the opportunity to
make several observations: 1) There is
a high percentage of computers in private
homes as well as schools. And access to
computers does not always mean that they
are used effectively in a learning environment.
2) This area is really not representative
of the rest of the city- there are discrepancies
within the area (I visited the middle school
that my daughter will be attending next
year- a public school with a reputation
as being one of the best academic schools
in the city. I saw 3-5 computers in every
classroom that I visited- most were 4-5
year old Macs and were covered with dust.
When I inquired about this I was told that
they were originally the result of a grant,
but that the grant was not written for
upgrades or maintenance. For the most part,
this is a good representation of the integration
of computers in most of the city schools.
If they have them, they are often old,
not maintained and teachers do not have
the training, time or inspiration to use
them (there are of course exceptions to
this). Personal experience along with anecdotal
experience has also shown similar issues
in the museum world. Many institutions
are not committed to the use of the computer
in learning- they have enough problem maintaining
their own databases and collection management
systems. And they’re many museum
educators are old school trained and are
hesitant about introducing computers into
learning programs. As I reflected on these
issues along with my own ARP and UT project,
I became aware that perhaps one of the
problems was that the entry level to the
digital divide was too high. Personal observation,
anecdotal evidence as well as formal studies
show that although the penetration of computers
into homes and schools is growing, there
is still a wide gulf between the haves
and have-nots. The more that I thought
about my UT project and uses for the cell
phone, the more possibilities that I became
aware of. It is not that I discovered the
cell phone as the panacea for the digital
divide, but I did discover that it does
have possibilities. After all, the penetration
of the cell phone is immense -it far surpasses
the penetration of cell phones. For a month
ideas have been cooking in my head. This
is another function of my learning style.
There are times that I need to let an idea
bubble and cook. We discussed it during
my time at learning circle; it came up
in some forums and an interesting online
conversation between myself, Gary and Josh
pertaining to the OLPC initiative. He idea
of incorporating the cell phone in a learning
environment also fit with my general theses
for my ARP- it is a technology that is
easily accessible to students and teachers,
it is a great tool for immediate reflections
on a topic. For example, when learning
about a culture, it is possible to interview
a person, post it, take their image or
video and post it, distribute the URL so
that people can access it from anywhere.
Additionally, since the web sites for posting
are web II, they are community based making
it easy for people to annotate the postings
with their own reflections. One teacher
who compared it to MySpace approached me.
But the idea is different because where
MySpace is really a free for all, my idea
is to create a structure for multiple people
to explore a specific topic. Nonetheless,
ideas began to fall in place and doors
began to open. The director of my son’s
school expressed an interest in developing
this cell phone project as part of their
Israel-L.A. partnership program. Our school
is twinned with a school in Tel Aviv and
students participate in yearly visits to
each other’s school (one class per
year goes and one comes to visit). Our
idea is to both document the visits in
real time, but to also experiment in distance
collaboration. I am in discussion with
the director of a small Jewish children’s
museum here that has a very successful
outreach program to schools in the inner
city. One of her biggest frustrations is
the lack of computers and technology in
these schools. She is very excited about
integrating the cell phone (something that
they already have) into their program.
I have also been in discussions with a
friend who has a software company in New
York. One of his projects is an open source
software program written for s that allows
students to access a collection database
and curate their own exhibition with objects
and commentary. These museum programs are
done with collaboration from local schools
and he is impressed with the idea of the
type of learning programs that can be developed
around the software. Although there are
some sharing sites for multiple types of
files, most are inelegant in their use
or focus on one type of media so we are
discussing methods they will make it easy
to publish, easy to organize and easy to
annotate, and then build an educational
plan around this. To me, this all means
that the demonstration of the NACOL project
opened up the doors in my thought process
to be able to integrate class projects-
ARP, UT and Learning Adventures. This in
itself is incredibly exciting and important
for me because through the years I have
always seen the thread that ties together
my life experiences, adventures and interests.
This program makes this happen in a clear
way, integrating theory and practice for
all classes.
December 19 Reflections
12/19/2006
This was an intense, interesting, stimulating
and fun semester. The integration of the
classes was done so well – each topic
of each class was reflected in the other
two – sometimes consciously sometimes
sun-consciously, but always integrated.
I felt that many of the theories explained
and validated many of my personal observations
and beliefs- things that I have seem over
the years. It was great being introduced
to the theorists, their ideas and some
of the context of their lives that helped
explain the development of their ideas.
I enjoyed Vigotsgy, and Lave, but was completely
turned on by Papert and Gardner. Papert’s
love of learning in itself and his explorations
and descriptions of different models, from
computers in classrooms to samba schools
all illustrated to me a method of learning
that is both cutting edge and deeply traditional
in is practice. Learners assisting other
learners, communities of learners, paths
of learning all reminded me of the path
of laborer to apprentice to journeyman
to master something still practiced in
the trades but directly applicable to other
fields as well- academic, engineering,
music. As I learned more about Gardner’s
theories of multiple intelligences, I saw
a direct link to Papert’s work of
learners assisting learners. It seems to
me that in any true learning environment,
with no regard to location, age or stage
of learner, the learner will naturally
gravitate to the areas that speak to them
and learn them extremely well- taking the
knowledge to the level of an artist- where
ideas fly freely and are of a mixture of
consciousness and sub-conscious. Each component
of the learning is as important as the
next. One cannot build a house with out
plans, once cannot plan the house with
out the builder. Life and learning becomes
part of an extended Bauhaus experience,
where form and function operate together
equally. AT the beginning of the program
we were told that we would do a little
reading, a lot f skimming. We were told
that we would naturally gravitate and choose
the topics, books and articles that we
found interesting- that spoke to us. And
we would rely on our peers to fill us in
on the areas that they found interesting,
that spoke to them and that they could
teach is. In this way, we became a community
of learners, a community of multiple intelligences,
each possessing an overview understanding
of our material, as well as deeper understanding
of specific areas. Now that we have this
understanding of methods of learning, types
of learners, and have learned to apply
it to our selves and to understand our
selves, the next challenge is to learn
how to apply the theory of learning to
the theory of teaching and to be able to
interpret our ideas in to practical solutions.
We begin to learn how to improvise on learning
and how to listen to and speak multiple
languages.
My ARP Marches on
12/29/2006
After what seems to have been an extended
period of frustrations and setbacks, it
has been a very productive week. I met
with the director of a children's museum
here in Los Angeles to discuss my ARP.
She was very receptive and offered me the
use of the facility as well as a guide
for one of the visits. She could not offer
to create a new program because it is already
too late in the year and their programming
calendar is pretty well filled up. But
this is a great help because it provides
me with a solid commitment with a known
institution that will help me to get other
institutions to sign on-, which I have.
Today I met with one of the assistant directors
at my son's school and got a commitment
from her to participate. We will use several
the graders, from this school and am pretty
sure that we will be able to enlist 6 other
students from their partner school that
is located in Tel Aviv. I am hoping to
be able to enlist one more school- a public
school in LA. I have a lead on this, but
will need to wait until after the holiday.
I am pretty thrilled with this all- my
first project collapsed because of internal
struggles within the group that I was going
to work with. Then I was floundering because
of several reasons. One reason was the
scope of my topic (creating collaborations
between schools and museums) was too broad
for this project. Another was that I could
not seem to connect with an institution
and get a commitment. The ubiquitous technology
project provided the key. I chose the mobile
phone without a clear idea of what I wanted
to do. After I attended the NACOL conference,
I was inspired by Hall Davidson’s
demo using a cell phone to create audio
blogs in real time. This led me to think
about why stop with just audio - why not
video and images? Also, the web sites where
these media are published are part of Web
2 and can be annotated. So the cell phone
can be used by students to explore something
and then record and publish their ideas,
reflections, etc. This idea has proven
(at least for now) to be a manageable way
to explore my original topic. It also has
the potential to be expanded. Now that
I have the first two commitments, I need
to begin to develop the informed consent
letter, a schedule, and the cyclical questions
(name?). At this point the plan is to take
a group of 6 students (more or less) to
the local museum, offer a tour and instructions,
and set them loose to explore, photograph
and do audio blogs. The topic will be to
look at cultural objects that help create
community. This is a "hard" topic
that students can grasp (as opposed to
my own theoretical). Ideally I will have
12 students from two schools in Los Angeles
from two schools that will visit the museum.
If we can enlist the children in Tel Aviv,
they will visit a similar museum there
and record their reflections. The first
visit will be for 1.5- 2 hours (and will
include pizza). I am not sure if I will
be doing one or two more visits. The final
visit will be to bring the students together
to look at and share their reflections.
The students in Israel may also participate
via teleconference. The general idea is
for students to view objects, reflect and
comment. Then they will visit each other’s
sites to comment and share stories (i.e. "Wow,
your story about X reminds me of something
that my grandfather told me"). I have
a lot to do, but am happy the way things
are going now and I am looking forward
go constructing this project and the learning
that goes with it.
Onward ARP
01/15/2007
It has been a couple of productive weeks.
I met with the director do the Zimmer Children's
Museum here in Los Angeles and spoke with
her about my ARP idea. She was both receptive
and enthusiastic about the idea of using
mobile phones to for collaboration with
schools and community building. She was
particularly interested in the idea of
using the phone as a lower entry point
in reducing the digital divide. Part of
the reason for this is that the Zimmer
has a successful program called youthThink
that does outreach to under-served schools.
We discussed the type of program and decided
upon a type of scavenger hunt where a group
of students will receive a brief lesson
from a museum educator, technical instructions
from me and then wander around the museum
taking pictures and doing audio blogs.
The subject will involve cultural objects
that they are either familiar with or are
related to something in their own family
and community. It is too late in the cycle
to create a new program, but Esther offered
the Zimmer facilities and a museum educator.
She also mentioned that it would be important
to provide pizza for the participants (good
idea). We will meet two or three times.
Once for the initial visit, and a second
visit for all of the participants to visit
each other's sites. We may do a second
visit that would focus on production- meaning
we will look at sites and learn how to
do annotations and links. I am still working
on this part. After two months of email
tag, brief discussions in the parking lot,
I was finally able to meet with the director
of my son's school who had also expressed
an interest in participating in this project.
We discussed the general idea and who would
participate. We both like the idea of the
Zimmer director about a scavenger hunt
for familiar cultural objects. We added
a component that after the students make
their original posts from the actual museum,
that they show the websites to relatives
and do audio casts of their comments and
memories. Additionally we discussed how
to incorporate the school's twin school
in Israel We decided to use 6th graders
because there already is a partnership
between the 6th graders of the LA and Tel
Aviv schools. The LA director will coordinate
with the Tel Aviv school. Since the students
in Tel Aviv will not be able to come to
the Zimmer museum, they will visit a similar
museum in Tel Aviv and make their postings
and comments based on that. Both groups
of students will be encouraged to visit
each other’s sites to view, learn
and make comments. This week I met with
the whole LA 6th grade class to generate
interest and give them an overview. Of
the 25 or so students, I hope to get 6
or 8 who will commit. I gave an overview
and answered questions, which turned out
to be a very good idea. The questions provided
me with info about what their concerns
are. Some of the questions were: If any
phone will work (A: Yes- but it there is
no camera built in, they can only do audio);
what the cost will be (A: the cost of a
phone call for audio, since the numbers
are al toll-free, and the cost of sending
a text or image); if a digital camera can
be used (A: no- this is a project evaluating
one specific technology- the all-in-well
hand held mobile phone). This information
will assist me in developing a time line,
writing project details and writing the
consent form, more about all of this in
the next blog.
Post Orlando and Community of Learners
02/05/2007
Today I was reflecting on OMET and our
week in Orlando and one of the strengths
of the program that popped out at me is
that we truly are a community of learners.
I thought about an earlier MA program that
I was in (and left) and that for the most
part, the students were pretty much in
a vacuum. Some classes met face-to-face
once a month, others once a semester and
others did not meet at all. There little
or no guidance and some instructors refused
to post student contact lists. This was
not only a lonely environment; it made
learning extremely difficult and at times
impossible (a word that I loath to use
in the same sentence as learning). Added
to the difficulty were group projects that
were assigned, but without any guidance,
direction, assignment or support in creating
groups. One group that I fell into included
one person who refused to communicate or
respond to any questions or requests for
division of labor, and another who was
dubbed the “psycho-shirker” because
of a tendency to shirk and hide from communication
and work, and when he did participate,
the work was completely off-subject and
poorly written. This made learning difficult
and painful. Beginning the OMET with a
week of face-to-face gave us the opportunity
to place faces and voices with the names
of those whom we would work with (and are
working with). Collaborations became possible
and welcomed, even the difficulties of
distributed learning (such as Wiki) and
the controlled chaos of TI. Group sessions
are personal, stimulating, and even sill
sometimes, just like a practical class.
The unique personalities and voices each
individual student has become clearer and
more pronounced. Our time in Orlando was
intense, filled with conference, classes
and communication (and sometimes a bit
of wine). And a lot of real-time learning-
personal and as a group. I have read, thought
about and discussed the idea of different
types of learning communities, especially
in Margaret’s and Gary’s classes
(discussions of samba schools, etc) and
I internalized what the program is about.
But after returning from Florida, and thinking
about our time and work together, I became
more acutely aware of a working model of
a learning community- practical and virtual
and how much learning takes place within
a group setting. When I arrived in LA,
I sent an email about how our program illustrated
the idea of e-pluribus Unum. The more that
I think about it, the more that I agree
and disagree with my original statement.
Out of our many voices, there is not but
one voice- there is many. But as I write
these words listening to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody
in Blue” in the background, I am
struck more by how the different individual
instruments are all playing discreet parts
of the music, but all come together as
a whole. Like our class- our individual
voices orchestrated into a single song
of learning. E pluribus, er not Unum, but
maxum (I have not idea of the word since
I do not speak Latin, but out of many,
there is a one of many).
Dream Job
02/05/2007
One of my dream jobs is to be a painter
(artist). I am kind of cheating on this
because a bunch of years ago I pursued
a life as an artist for about 15 years.
But as many other artists through time
and history, I supported my dream (and
habit) by other means of employment (house-paining,
carpentry and a few other things). It has
been quite awhile since I was able to spend
hours (and sometimes days) at a time in
my studio working, but I do dream of it
at times, so I feel that it still is a
valid dream job. My day begins with some
drawing exercises (along with a cup of
coffee) to loosen up my hands (and more
importantly, my brain). I like to work
on multiple pieces- canvas, paper, Plexiglas,
plywood, so I need to take some time to
prepare the surfaces of any new pieces
that I may be working on. In this case,
it would be a new canvas- 3’ x 4.5’.
Going to my wood supply, I select the correct
lengths of wood for the new stretcher.
Each piece is beveled along one edge. Most
painters assemble the bars with the bevel
faced inward to prevent the edge of the
wood from appearing on the painting (think
of rubbing a pencil on a piece of paper
placed over a coin). I like to place the
bevel on the outside so that the canvas
takes on a more sculptural appearance.
After assembling the frame, I stretch the
canvas, making sure that I get as tight
a fir as possible and without any bubbles
or flaps on the face of the canvas. Then
I apply the first coat of gesso on the
canvas. I love the smell of gesso (morning
or night). When it dries, it shrinks on
the frame if done correctly and makes the
loveliest “thwap” sound when
you snap your fingers on it. After it dries,
it needs to be sanded lightly, and then
2-3 more coats are applied. When complete,
the surface is smooth and tight brushstrokes
just fly across it. Since I like to work
with hard edges, a good, smooth and tight
surface is great for the application (and
removal) of masking tape or the use or
rulers. The brushes have all been cleaned
from the last session and are arranged
on my workbench waiting for paint. My palette
varies, but it usually contains Payne’s
gray (a dark blue-indigo gray), a crimson
red, sienna, flesh-pink, and white. Although
I like hard edges, the interiors contain
dense textures. Working in acrylic allows
me different options for creating a variety
of textures that can dry quickly, which
enables me to apply multiple textures throughout
the day. I can use marble dust or plaster
of Paris for thick, topographical textures,
clear gloss for semi-transparent layers,
matt to dull a shine. I start to work on
one canvas, and then move to another as
the first layers dry. In this way, I can
explore different compositions, processes,
and methods on different individual pieces
as the day progresses- taking an idea from
one piece and applying it to another. It
is a rare day when I work only on one piece.
Little by little throughout the day I loose
myself in the work. The colors, composition
and process take hold of me. It feels as
if my personality and thoughts melt into
the brushes, paint and what ever is around
(I will use crayons, pencils and have even
used stamps and aspirin). A dance teacher
once told me that the dance has been around
a lot longer than the dancer, so the more
a person dances, the more that the dance
takes over the individual. The same is
with painting. The creative process in
visual has been around a lot longer than
me and in many, many different styles.
The more that I paint, the more that enter
a state in which I am not aware of myself
or of the technique. My unique visual language
is expressed through the colors, shapes
and textures that appear under my brushes.
At the end of the day, I stand back and
look and reflect on what has appeared.
This helps me understand and refine the
language of my technique and style. But
ultimately the images help me become more
aware of and understand myself because
the visual choices made represent an intersection
of the conscious and sub-consciousness.
Actually, I think that this understanding
can happen in any creative process in which
a person is involved and is passionate
about. Perhaps this relates to the theory
of multiple-intelligences that Gardner
writes about. When a person can understand
an idea or process to the root or core-
be it a writer, artist, mechanic, lawyer,
doctor or even a plumber. The process is
so internalized that the practitioner can
connect dots that others cannot see.
Onward
ARP- Release Form & Participant
Evaluation
02/05/2007
My ARP is really starting to happen (finally).
Towards the end of December I finally got
commitment from a museum and one, perhaps
two schools to work on the mobile phone
project. In early January I made a presentation
to the 6th grade class at Pressman Academy
to introduce them to the general idea of
my project and to generate enough interest
to get 6-10 volunteer students. The next
part of the process was for me to write
a release from for the participants. Taking
ideas from several of my peers work, I
stitched a release from that described
the project, fees, etc and sent it off
to the school VP who is my contact person.
Unfortunately, this past Friday was "Generations
Day" at the school. Actually it is
good for them, but not so good for me.
During the day, extended family members
visit the school and participate in different
programs that help bond and create a sense
of continuity and community. But it takes
a lot of work, so the VP had to postpone
reviewing the release form. She will do
so this week. We need to get the form out,
because the information that it contains
is one of the prime elements in attracting
interest and participants. But something
else happened that was very telling. I
had dinner the other night at a friend's
house, where their two children are in
the 6th grade class that I will be working
with. I spoke to the two kids (as well
as another of their friends who was also
there) about weather they would be participating.
They were polite, but non-committal. Later
in the evening, I watched them play on
their computers and I realized that even
though my idea has generated a lot of interest
and excitement, is not too exciting for
these kids. They are all part of the "have" class-
they have computers at school and multiple
computers in their houses (as well as other
technological toys and tools). They are
on the high side of the digital divide.
They can relate to the idea of creating
community (since they already have email
and Penguin cafe accounts) and even the
collaboration part of my project. But a
large component of my project involves
the use of cell phone as a tool to help
introduce the "have-nots" of
society with an accessible technology.
Not that this was a completely shocking
revelation, I am glad that I became aware
of it because it is helping me to reevaluate
the questions that I want to ask and the
goals that I hope to achieve. I think that
one of the primary questions that I will
ask now will involve about ease of use,
reliability and effectiveness of the cell
phone in creating collaborative communities
involving schools and museums. And I think
that a realistic goal would be to see if
I could create a model for this type of
collaboration that can then be applied
to the schools that do not really possess
the technology of computers so that students
can be introduced to these ideas.
On Assessment
02/08/2007
Reflecting on our discussion with Melissa
about assessment, I began to think about
the difference between learning by rote
and integrating the material into one's
being and way of thought and action. It
is relatively easy to memorize content
from a book or lesson (some subjects can
be easier then others to memorize). Then
when there is a test or assessment, the
content is repeated. Trick then is when
does one really interpret the content in
meaningful and real ways? I am reminded
of the autistic that may posses unique
and specific talents - musicians who can
play back complicated music after hearing
it once, mathematicians (think "Rainman").
But have they really learned- can the musician
really interpret what they heard in a unique,
personal way or are they simply acting
as a music player, an organic MP3 player?
The skill of a historian is not that they
can recall specific dates (although this
is important), but rather that they can
identify patterns in history, infer meanings
and create relationships between events
and times. This same activity occurs in
other subjects as well- where the learner
has integrated the content to the extent
that they are able to use their knowledge
to create new content. This is the challenging
part of assessment- to know when the repetition
of simple content stops and the ability
to observe complex relationships and create
new content begins.
Narrative as Learning #1
02/10/2007
I have been reading the book "Tell
me a Story: Narrative and Intelligence" by
Roger Schank which has been stimulating
and inspiring me. His approach is that
people use life events to construct personal
narratives and stories that help them learn
and understand their lives. He writes: "Intelligence,
in the popular mind, refers to the capacity
to solve complex problems, but another
way of looking at the issues might be to
say that intelligence is really about understanding
what has happened well enough to be able
to predict when it might happen again.
.... Explaining the world (at least to
yourself) is a critical aspect of intelligence.
Comprehending events around you depends
on having a memory of prior events available
for helping in the interpretation of new
events". He goes on to describe the
importance of stories in learning and that
people often will not remember straight
data, but will remember the same data of
there is a story involved. This story can
be related to the data itself, the way
that the data is presented, or a personal
event or memory related to the data or
even connected to the moment or event during
the time that the data was presented. I
think that this is a very important point,
especially when considering how many societies
and how much knowledge is knowledge and
data is passed on from generation to generation
in the form of stories, epics and narratives.
Even in the trades (building, metal smithing,
etc) stories are used in learning environments.
Story telling and narrative is an incredibly
powerful and meaningful medium for the
transmission of knowledge. Schank writes
that with a good story, the mission or
goal can be because the listener becomes
an active listener and will infer the meaning
of the story. I see how this will work
directly in one of the "soft sciences" such
as philosophy, education, and literature.
I also see how stories can be worked into
the "hard" sciences such as math,
chemistry. I am also aware of how narrative
also related to the theory of multiple
intelligences because it allows for similar
data to be transmitted through different
methods, language or nomenclature- each
targeted to a specific way of understanding.
Among other things, Schank writes that
as an individual experiences life, they
gather and index information about the
specific events that are then recalled
to help interpret new events. I am finding
this particularly interesting because I
am one of those who experiences learning
through stories, recollections, comparisons
and events. I am often surprised by the
variety of experiences that I have enjoyed
(and sometimes suffered through), each
of which has taught me in some way or another.
Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly.
I am also thinking that perhaps this is
one of the jobs of an educator- to provide
the kinds of experiences that enhance and
expand a learner’s own personal narrative
to empower then to be able to develop their
own ability to interpret and learn. This
direction of thinking is also starting
to influence my approach to my Action Research
Project. Perhaps my goal is to see if and
how the use of mobile technology in a school/museum
environment can enable students to create
and enlarge on their own personal narratives
for continued learning.
More on Narrative
02/25/2007
In “Tell me a Story”, Schank
make some interesting points about the
relationship between stories, learning
and educators. On one hand, much of what
he writes seems to be a description of
the acquirement of what we can call wisdom: "...intelligence
is really about understanding what has
happened well enough to be able to predict
when it might happen again. To be a successful
predictor of events, one has to have explained
confusing prior events successfully." After
all, is wisdom not the ability to learn
from past experiences in such a way that
not only does one not make the same mistake
twice, but is able to extrapolate from
the experience and apply it to new, different
(yet similar) experiences. Although this
may seem to apply more directly to “soft” sciences
or subjects (history, philosophy, literature,
etc), I would argue that it also could
be applied to the “hard” sciences
such as mathematics, chemistry, geology,
etc. Although much of these “hard” sciences
are based on “hard” facts and/or
truths (chemical reactions, mathematical
theorems) there is room for interpretation
based upon the application of these hard
facts- stories if you will. For example,
a chemist may learn the “story” of
what happens when groups of chemicals are
mixed together. This story will then help
her/him learn how to develop a new combination
of chemicals, therefore a new story. Another
important component of stories that Schank
writes about is indexing- that is the ability
to identify and catalog ones stories in
a way that is meaningful and will allow
the individual an easy way to recall and
apply the previously learned knowledge.
He writes: “Indexing information
so that "when a prior experience is
indexed clearly, we can cal it to mind
to help us understand a current situation.
This process can lead to brand-new insights" and "We
learn from reconsidering experiences we
have already had in light of new information".
So one of the important aspects of learning
anything is the way in which the learner
can “file” the knowledge so
that it can be accessed and applied. One
of the best ways of doing this it through
a narrative or story: "We have difficult
remembering such abstractions, but we can
more easily remember a good story. Stories
give life to past experience" Most
cultures and communities share their knowledge
and histories through stories. The ancients
(and moderns for that matter) have epics-
stories and poems that are passed on from
generation to generation. These stories
contain myth, history, cultural laws and
community actions. We see these narratives
everywhere- holy and spiritual books, songs,
and images, even dances. These stories
can tell us how to behave, what to eat,
what to wear, what to say or sing. The
important component is that they are told
as a story. It seems to me that the same
idea can be applied to any and all disciplines.
Another important component is the person
telling the story- the teacher. Schank
also writes "A good teacher is not
one who explains things correctly, but
one who couches explanations in a memorable
(i.e., an interesting) format. What makes
us intelligent is our ability to find out
what we know, when we need to know it. " Again,
a good teacher inspires, educates and guides
Finally, a good narrative/story does not
have to be direct. It does not have to
tell everything. "If a story is good
enough, you usually don't have to state
your point at all: the hearer thinks about
what you have said and figures out the
point independently. The more work the
hearer does, the more he or she will get
out of your story." In graphic and
web design, a good design is often very
minimal- much is left to the viewer to
fill in the seemingly missing parts. Many
times in art this idea is the “negative
space”- the areas that are not painted.
Plato discusses a similar idea in the Allegory
of the Cave. A person often cannot directly
see the truth – only it’s shadow
or reflection. It is up to the imagination
and intelligence to fill in the parts that
are not visibly obvious.
Feedback- Perhaps
02/28/2007
I finally received a reply from the VP
of my son's school regarding my ARP project.
I do not think that she has intended to
be not quite forthright, but unfortunately,
that is the feeling that I have been getting.
She finally provided me with a little bit
of information about the first meeting
with the students that was planned for
tomorrow- it is not going to happen and
is postponed until next Wednesday. It seems
that when we made the plans for this project
in Dec. or Jan. she forgot to look at the
school calendar. Tomorrow is parent-teacher
day and there is not school, and there
are no students. I realize that teachers
are overworked and frazzled, but it seems
to me that a crucial aspect of programming
is to be able to look at a calendar- especially
if one is in a position of responsibility.
I think that my rant is because I am a
bit frustrated with this process. Today
I was reflecting on some of my cyclical
questions, and the challenges that I predicted
and felt would be inherent in this project
and I see that in many aspects I was right
on target- especially regarding institutional
buy-in and commitment. I have come to realize
(and hopefully not too late) that as much
as I want to do this component of the project,
I may have to shift the focus to the question
of whether an independent individual can
really affect change in an institution,
even if they volunteer completely. I know
that if I were a large donor there would
be no problem. I also think that if I were
to charge a consultancy fee, there would
also probably be an interest in action.
But as it is, the main commodity that I
have to offer is my time, imagination and
skill and that does not seem to be enough.
As I write these words, I begin to think
about a skill that is necessary - it is
more of a marketing, sales skill- perhaps
the need to be more of a nudge. But my
feeling is that I want the institution
to take some ownership of the project so
that they will be able to use it in other
classes and contexts. As to this action,
tomorrow I am going to contact the VP and
see if we can identify the student participants
by this Friday, or Monday by the latest.
I think that this may help create a deadline,
or sense of urgency that will get the institution
to move forward. I also spoke with the
museum people who are assisting me. They
were actually quite amicable about the
change in times and voiced support and
understanding of my frustration with moving
ahead. As they say- "been there, done
that".
Stuck and Unstuck
03/07/2007
My first scheduled program was last week
and needed to be postponed because the
VP of the school had scheduled the program
on a day of teacher-parent conferences.
The school was closed and there were not
students. I spoke with her on Monday, asking
if we had students for Wednesday's second
scheduled program and was told that we
did not have students yet (again). Feeling
a bit frustrated, stymied and worried,
I was unsure how to progress. It is a bit
late to change my ARP. I began to think
about what other questions that I could
ask, what other types if information and
data could I obtain. Speaking with a friend
today, it was suggested that I ask about
why they (the school) think that this project
got stuck. I had posted a help question
on our LC page and got good responses from
my colleagues and from Margaret that got
me thinking and reflecting. It also happened
that today, Margaret met with our LC and
I was able to discuss her comments, my
situation as well as new questions to ask.
I need to meet with the school VP who has
been my contact, ask some questions and
ore importantly, and listen to her. It
must me in a non-confrontational environment
where my emphasis really is on listening.
Margaret also told me that my presentation
does not need to be about a completed project,
but must illustrate that this really is
a work in progress. I think that by evaluating
the project as it stand now with both the
school and the museum director (who told
me that this is not a unique occurrence)
I will be able to continue to work on this
project and make it happen next year. Some
of the questions that I need to ask are:
Below are some of the questions and issues
that I need to think about to understand
how to make this work in the future: What
got in the way (partially my own enthusiasm),
what planning steps had to be in place?
If they think that this type of project
is possible for the future? Where the intersection
is between where they are with technology
and where they want to go in the future?
If this type of project is something that
they really wanted and if not, why? If
they think that this happened too rapidly?
What it was that they were initially interested
in? What made them pull back?
Audio Blog for March 20
03/20/2007
I tend to spend a lot of time bouncing
around in traffic here in L.A. and I try
to use it for reflecting on my Action Research
Project. I had been doing some audio blogs
by recording straight to my ipod, but then
the mike went missing (I just ordered a
new one from eBay). But today as I was
driving around, it suddenly occurred to
me that my much of my project is centered
around using a mobile phone as a production
tool for collaborations that and reflections.
It was a "Duh-uh" moment, so
here is a link to my first phone blog about
ARP (as opposed to being about Dia de los
muertos)
http://www.gcast.com/user/greenfieldz/podcast/arp
On Individual Style and Group Process
03/23/2007
Stuck in traffic today, I reflected on
the relationship between group process
and individual styles. I think that there
is a tremendous amount of strength and
creativity in collaborations. Ideas are
explored that are often missed by an individual-
they can become bigger. The process is
interesting and fun. Sometimes the process
can be difficult, but if an open mind,
heart and ears are there the result can
be satisfying, empowering and bring people
together. I thought about these idea while
driving and made two pod casts. You can
hear them here (look at the dates)
http://www.gcast.com/user/greenfieldz/podcast/arp
ARP Update and Reflections on Learning
03/26/2007
Stuck in traffic as usual, I updated my
ARP and where I am with answering my first
cyclic question. Basically, up until a
week and a half ago, I did not feel that
I had enough information to answer the
question. With the decision to postpone
the actual project, I was able to begin
to reflect on the answers, which I have
been doing so over the past week. Additionally,
I have begun to reflect on what my second
cycle will address. Yesterday at my son's
school, there was an event in which all
of the first grade students received their
first Hebrew prayer book (he attends a
modern Jewish day school). It was quite
nice and impressive to see all of these
first graders reading and reciting in Hebrew
(I did not begin to learn the language
until I was in third grade). In some ways,
the language itself is not as important
to me (although I cannot deny the ties
to tradition) as the fact that he is in
an immersion program learning a second
language. I think that second, third languages
are important because they open the learner
to different modes of thinking and addressing
issues, questions and concepts. I was also
reflecting on an old Jewish custom in which
on the first day of school students receive
small writing boards in which the alpha-bet
(or a few letters) are written in honey
for the child to lick. This is to equate
learning as something sweet. http://www.gcast.com/user/greenfieldz/podcast/arp
Audio Blog
04/12/07
ARP: Reflections on day one of the 2007
Museums and the Web conference. Opening
plenary by Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive.
On the contemporary version of the Alexandria
Library, digitizing a million books, mobile
print-on-demand books and not one-curriculum-fits-all
text books. (mp3, 17.6MB, 7:41 min)
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/works/MOW_1.mp3
Education at Museums and the Web
04/13/2007
Reflections on day one of the 2007 Museums
and the Web conference. Opening plenary
by Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive. On
the contemporary version of the Alexandria
Library, digitizing a million books, mobile
print-on-demand books and not one-curriculum-fits-all
textbooks. (mp3, 17.6MB, 7:41 min)
http://students.pepperdine.edu/dgreenfi/ARP/works/MOW_ 1
More on Education at MOW
04/13/2007
This is the 10th year that I have attended
Museums and the Web, and I enjoy it more
and more. The community is committed, passionate,
dedicated, educated and caring. It is interesting
for me to see that although there are obvious
themes from year to year- they are not
planned, but reflect much of the current
web research and development. Yet the underlying
current is always education. The closing
plenary at last year's conference addressed
ideas and practices of social networking,
or Web 2. Ideas were discussed and tools
were mentioned (Flckr, del.ici.ous, etc).
Many of the sessions this year address
projects and research done on social networking
and web 2. Tagging, annotations, moderated
discussions and user-generated content
to exhibitions are all being examined and
developed. Many of the sites are fairly
plain and actually look like early yahoo
or Google. But people are starting to consider
how to make sites more visually appealing
to help draw in and engage users and web
visitors. Also, developers are continuing
to discuss methods and projects that will
use ontologies and taxonomies in the descriptions
of data to enable web technology to be
able to infer relationships in creating
content (sort of like Google on steroids)-
the semiotic web (web 3). This is real
interesting. More on this later.
Museums, Usability and Learning by Design
04/19/2007
Having just returned from this years Museums
and the Web conference, I was struck by
how many similarities there are between
the two communities, especially when addressing
the issue of integration of technology.
I think that despite similar problems (funding,
management commitment, etc) the museum
world is ahead of schools. But actions,
process and projects are similar. There
was a lot of ongoing conversation about
usability studies and evaluating how a
user (learner) will use a site, technology
or learning system. One aspect that museum
professionals are acutely aware of is the
important relationship between the content,
how it is presented visually (the GUI)
and how it functions. A lot of educational
sites that I have visited often cut back
on visual development. I do feel that a
successful site (any type of site) needs
to be content driven. But the ergonomics
of the web are different for a print publication;
therefore the educational designers need
to be very aware of the manner in which
content is presented. In Learning by Design,
the educator starts by identifying the
learning objectives and goal, and then
designs the activities in a manner that
will guide the educator to this goal. This
process also is directly related to Action
Research. For example, when usability studies
are incorporated into the design process,
there is continual dynamic process of iteration,
reflection and incorporation of modifications
and changes. The experience of the user
is the driving force of any successful
design and learning experience.
To Blog or not to Blog
05/10/2007
I have been reflecting on our program,
especially on the theories and application
of learning and leadership. Currently I
am applying for a very interesting position
at LAUSD that has a very extensive application
that includes a list of supplementary questions
to be answered along with a resume and
cover letter. I am in the middle of this
writing process with an impending deadline.
I am actually thrilled about how much of
the material that we cover I am able to
integrate into this process. I am totally
focused on my writings now and will update
this blog in three days, after I submit
the application.
ARP, Writing Style and Leadership
05/11/2007
Several months ago, I sent one of my ARP
papers to a colleague in D.C. who works
at an institute that among other things
assess and evaluates museums and educational
programs. Reading an article in a professional
web site, I noticed that she was working
in projects that were related to mine (the
use of cell phones for museum educational
programs). She returned it this week after
a peer review made by her and some of her
colleagues there. Their comments were really
valuable and are helping me make this into
a better project. One of the comments that
stood out was that I often use an informal
tone while writing, such as "it seems
to me that...". This can take away
from the weight of the content that I am
presenting by inferring that the content
is not as complete or my conclusions are
not as solid as I wish to present. I think
that one of the reasons that I have been
writing like this is a sensitivity to overly
bold comments that often are a cover up
for a lack of substance. I have seen, heard
and read sweeping, bold statements that
are really vacuous and empty and am reminded
by Mark Twain's comments in "The Innocents
Abroad" about American tourists who
believe that using small words in a very
loud voice will make up for a lack of understanding
of a different language. Much of advertising
is also based on this principal (louder
+ stupid= understanding and purchase).
I have always felt that true leader does
not need to shout. In the military, the
best and most accomplished officers and
leaders and those who received the most
respect were those who spoke softly but
with the authority of wisdom and knowledge
based upon experience. I have tried to
follow this example, but do not feel that
I have been able to translate it into my
formal writing as much as possible. My
fear sometimes is that I may be too bold
and assertive in a way that pushes away
the reader rather than invite them into
the work and that word represents a substantial
process of observation and reflection.
I am currently in the process applying
for a job that requires the preparation
of a pretty substantial application packet,
which includes answering 5 questions about
leadership, ethics, policy change and action.
The application also requires a sample
of my writing, so I will be very busy this
weekend working on this ARP paper and integrating
the comments that I received. The due date
is the 15th, so see you all later.
Job Description Redux or Everything is
a Cycle
05/25/2007
Not long after we began our program last
year, a collector to catalog a collection
of memorabilia associated with people who
practice non-violence approached me. As
the discussions progressed, we not only
thought of other ways that I could use
my skills (such as develop a web component,
educational material, etc), but it also
seemed to be a great opportunity for my
Action Research Project. Unfortunately,
there were some disagreements between the
two partners of the organization and the
project fell apart. The fallout of this
was somewhat frustrating on several levels
and I needed to scramble for work and to
design my ARP. About two months ago, the
actual owner of the collection, the people
who originally contacted me, contacted
me again. After some reorganization, they
are still interested. Now it gets interesting.
Their proposal is that the job description
and organization is up to me. The goal
of the owner is to get the theme of the
collection out to the public. It is all
pretty much to me to develop. It is an
interesting position to be in- especially
after the time that I put into the LAUSD
position. I will not hear about that position
for another month or two, but in a dream
world, I could possible do both. At this
point in time, I am starting to evaluate
the collection so that I can develop plans-
business, education, outreach, etc. It
will be interesting to see how this all
plays out.
Dynamic Flexibility
05/25/2007
Earlier this evening while wandering around
getting ready to go to sleep, I was reflecting
on my ARP- especially where it started
and where it went, especially in light
of the proposal that I recently received
to take on and develop the project that
was to be my year long ARP (and had hoped
to turn it into something longer). One
of the strongest aspects of the OMET program
and of ARP is the fact that it really guides
us through a process of dynamic flexibility
to how we approach our MA projects, and
therefore what we bring back to our professional
lives. Using the methods of action research,
especially personal reflection, we become
more aware of so many things- how to listen;
how to ask the kinds of questions that
elicit authentic answers (which often are
not what we expected); how to integrate
these replies directly into our work. In
some ways it means that the outcome itself
is dynamic and changes along with the process.
I do not think that this infers that there
is nothing concrete about the process or
result. The solidity is the quality and
honesty of the process itself and the recognition
that often quality is a process that does
take time- there is no instant enlightenment
or gratification. I would almost compare
it to a handcrafted artifact, such as a
sculpture, a piece of high-quality silver
ware, a craftsman style house or furniture.
All of these examples take time for making,
time for reflection on the process and
piece and an ability to adapt to the results
in a way that affects the quality and outcome.
ARP is not instant, but is a handcrafted
labor of love- the love of learning and
of turning theory into action and always
working to improve quality.
ARP
Cycle – Life
Cycle
05/31/2007
As I have been reflecting on my ARP cycle
3, presentation and final paper, I have
been struck about the cyclical nature of
things and how connections happen and are
made. At the start of this program, I was
approached by a collector with a large
collection of memorabilia associated with
people who practice non-violence. It was
to involve cataloging, web design, curriculum
development- things that I am interested
in doing connected with ideas that I believe
in. Unfortunately, the project fell apart
before it began. I shifted my project to
look at how technology can be used to create
museum-school collaborations. As the year
progressed, I began to look more at the
collaborative process itself- the steps
and skills necessary in creating successful
collaborations. Now, the cycle seems to
be closing a bit as well as connecting
theory learned in classes and ideas researched
for my ARP. The collector approached me
again about two months ago. Their internal
issues were addressed and they were ready
to move on. They offered me the collection,
and basically to do something interesting
with it. Catalog it, loan it, lease it,
sell it, create curriculum, educational
material, web content- what ever I come
up with. The goal of the owner is to promote
non-violence and I have the skill sets
necessary to do it (having cataloged art,
designed web sites, and now this masters
program). And I support the ideas that
he wants to promote. It is pretty much
a once in a lifetime opportunity, and there
is a potential that I can also make a living
from this (we are discussing methods of
funding). Now this evening, I had a conversation
with an old friend who is the director
of an art center in Princeton, N.J. He
was totally thrilled with this collection
and proposed that we collaborate. We began
a serious conversation about what we can
develop- an exhibition, museum-school collaborations,
symposiums, etc. This conversation and
process also reflects some of the primary
attributes that I have learned about collaborations:
they cannot be forced; the most successful
collaborations begin with an idea that
inspires and then develop in an organic
manner, according to the timing of the
institution. I have collaborated before
with my friend in Princeton, but not for
a long time and not at this level, but
we both felt that the timing and professional
skill sets are right. It will be fun to
see how this continues to develop.
A Year of Action Research
06/04/2007
As I continue to prepare for my final presentation,
I spent some time reviewing my blogs of
the past year. Two things really stand
out- my spelling is really atrocious and
this really is a great process. Really,
I do know that my spelling is not to hot,
but I think that sometimes it is more because
I think faster that I can write, and I
do not review the blogs as thoroughly as
I probably should. I think after I am done
writing, I like to enter into the reflective
and contemplative state that the writing
sends me to and let my mind wander around
the ideas. But a spell check for this blogging
application would really be helpful. And
the process... Reading my blogs as well
as those of my peers and friends really
illustrates the path we are on and the
process that we have been doing together.
Sometimes I am so involved in the details
of my work that I forget to allow myself
to stand back and smell the virtual roses
of our process. It is pretty cool.
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