Description
Whether you're back with students in the classroom or still working remotely, teaching and learning continues.  As we begin our 9th Season of podcasting we know now, more than ever, that learning can’t happen without relationships.  We’ve also learned the hard way that many of our traditional classroom practices fall flat when we face the fact that face to face must often be forfeited in favor of forging a foundation for future fortitude.  We invite you to join us as we fabricate a forum of sorts around the idea of blended learning, taking a look at our current practices and asking the question, “Will it Blend?”
Lessons Learned
Chris - Don’t be owned by your circumstances.

Dennis - When a system says it “integrates” with another system that rarely means what you think it means.  Read the fine print.

Daniel - What is our infinite game in education? - Simon Sinek.
Fun Fact
Will it Blend? (The Web TV Show)

Started in 2006, this is a viral marketing campaign demonstrating the Blendtec Total Blender. In the show, Tom Dickson, the founder, attempts to blend various unusual items in order to show off the power of his blender.  Top Viewed Blended items include: Golf Balls, Hockey Pucks, iPad, iPhone, rake handle
Notes & Links
True or False:

* Schools that rely on the direct instruction model have the biggest difficulty transitioning to Online (Distance) Learning.
* Having a teacher lecture live over Zoom is just as effective as a live lecture F2F in the classroom.

 

At the end of the 2020 school year (4 months into Covid) we shared some takeaway lessons and lessons learned.  Which technology practices and strategies will blend?  What would we change or update knowing what we know now?  Link to Podcast 720 from June 2020.

 

Chris - Stop thinking “classroom.” Stop trying to recreate the face-to-face experience. Whatever your opinion concerning John Dewey’s vision of what “school” should be, his understanding that education happens all around us is spot on. Once you drop the “classroom” in your brain, possibilities abound.

 

Resources:

https://districtadministration.com/3-ways-ensure-student-centered-learning-outlasts-pandemic-ed-tech/ (https://districtadministration.com/3-ways-ensure-student-centered-learning-outlasts-pandemic-ed-tech/)

 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/tech-centric-not-remote-teaching-classroom-year (https://www.edutopia.org/article/tech-centric-not-remote-teaching-classroom-year)