Harvard and The Hive

David Weinberger Skyped into my classroom today.

This alone is amazing enough, but the story of how this took place is another showing of the power of the web.

The students in my class not that long ago read the kids version of Small Pieces Loosely Joined called What the Web is For. From this, we discussed and worked through several things, ending up in an activity where the students had to make a representation of what they think the web looks like. You may have seen the flickr pictures. I put this together into a blog post tagged, among other things, David Weinberger. Mr. Weinberger found this and was good enough to respond with a kind comment about the work we do in our classroom. A flurry of email ensued, topics were tossed around a date was set.

Today was that day.

Promptly at 1 PM today Mr. Weinberger called and we spent 30 minutes with one of the finest thinkers in the world discussing how literacy is changing and how the web has changed ideas of success, making things possible which only a short time ago were simply not. Another interesting topic that came up was the idea of freedom of speech and if it is right that "bad stuff" is allowed on the internet. Shy at first, eventiually the students in my class warmed up enough and asked a number of questions.

So I hope the kids in my class have something to say today when their parents ask: "So, what did you do at school today?"

Tags: DavidWeinberger, Harvard, Idea Hive, skype

Comments

[Kyle Lichtenwald]

Awesome story Clarence and glad your students could connect. I developed a few lessons around Loose Pieces during my internship but never had time to get into it. This is the type of project & experience I want to emulate.

Did you happen to record any of the discussion? I will check out the Hive blogs to learn more.

[Keith Lyons]

Clarence

What a delightful post. I wonder if your students went home. It must be very hard to leave your classroom.

I found your blog via Lani at http://possibilitiesabound.blogspot.com/2008/11/connectivism-in-middle-grades.html

Thank you for sharing such a convivial approach to learning. I imagine Mr Weinberger would have enjoyed the experience enormously.

Keith

[Clarence Fisher]

Thanks for the comments. Once again, I think this story has a lot to say about the power of connections and the state the net is in. The possibilities abound! From a small town in the middle of Northern Manitoba to Harvard. A great connection.

[Keith]

Clarence

Your post helped me to work through some ideas. You and your students were the catalyst for this post

http://keithlyons.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/cck08-week-10-utopia-amplified/

Keith