All About Mentoring Spring 2011 - SUNY Empire State College

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72 This networked approach to higher education is consistent with the philosophy of Empire State College as a mentor-learner institution opening education to students at regional centers and through blended and online studies. Collectively, we provide students with multiple approaches to learning, including individualized study, group study, residencies, blended learning, online learning and evolving opportunities for mobile learning. We reach students in communities throughout the state of New York; across the United States; and globally through our Center for International Programs, Center for Distance Learning and International Distance Learning (a portal for providing international students with access to our online courses). Mobility offers yet another innovative format that extends the reach of our distributed learning environment. At the same time, mobile learning presents us with many challenges as educators and raises several questions: How do we effectively embrace this approach within a decentered and distributed learning environment How do we effectively adapt mobile learning to our wide range of mentoring practices Do we have the technology infrastructure in place to successfully experiment with and explore mobile learning How does mobility influence our understanding of international education Are we prepared to expand our individualized mentoring and learning practices to the inherently collaborative approaches made available through mobile learning How do we assess mobile learning outcomes How do we as an institution collectively embrace new technologies in ways that build community The Mobile Future On the evening of Aug. 2, 1971, Pete Townshend defiantly destroyed his guitar on the stage of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, fulfilling the expectations of fans and demonstrating a revolution in progress. Townshend smashed pop music conventions to bits, while reflecting social and cultural changes of the time, with simultaneous revolutions in politics, the arts and higher education. Empire State College was a part of this transformation, opening education with a nonresidential, decentered approach to mentoring and learning in a variety of individualized learning practices. In 1971, Empire State College was envisioned as a university college that “transcends constraints of space, place, and time” (SUNY, 1971, p. 2). Mobile learning supports this goal by providing access to education that extends beyond any particular location or time. In these portable networked environments, learners access a wide range of digital music, media, text, images and learning objects in an interactive dialogue. Further, mobility provides a resource for building community across local, national and international borders, and for creating and sharing user-generated content among mentors and learners. As we go into a mobile future, these old songs from The Who are not simply fragments from a failed movie project or remnants from a past youth culture. At the start of an emerging mobile era where flexibility, collaboration, interactivity and openness advance learning opportunities for our students, this is music for the reinvention of a great idea. References Anderson, C., & Wolff, M. (2010, September) The Web is dead. Long live the Internet. Wired, 18(09). Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/ magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/ Atkins, J. (2003). Who’s next and the lifehouse project (liner notes). On Who’s Next Deluxe Edition [CD]. Santa Monica, CA: MCA. Corrigan, P.J. (1971). The Who at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Photo Gallery. Photo.net. Retrieved from http://photo. net/photodb/photophoto_id=9580242 Demouy, V., & Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2010). On the spot: Using mobile devices for listening and speaking practice on a French language programme. Open Learning, 25(3), 217-232. Gaved, M., Collins, T., Mulholland, P., Kerawalla, L., Jones, A.,Scanlon, E., … Twiner, A. (2010). Using netbooks to support mobile learners’ investigations across activities and places. Open Learning, 25(3), 187-200. Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., & Haywood, K. (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report. The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://net. educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2010). Mobile learning as a catalyst for change. Open Learning, 25(3), 181-185. McMichael, J., & Lyons, J. (2004). The Who concert file. London: Omnibus Press. Makoe, M. (2010). Exploring the use of MXit: A cell-phone social network to facilitate learning in distance education. Open Learning, 25(3), 251-257. Saratoga Performing Arts Center. (1971, Aug. 2). Tonight’s performance: The Who [Program]. Retrieved from http:// www.thewho.org/programs.htm Shohel, M.M.C., & Power, T. (2010), Introducing mobile technology for enhancing teaching and learning in Bangladesh: Teacher perspectives. Open Learning, 25(3), 201-215. Smith, A. (2010, July 7). Mobile Access 2010. The Pew and Internet American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www. pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile- Access-2010.aspx State University of New York. (1971). A prospectus for a new university college: Objectives, process, structure and establishment. Retrieved from SUNY Empire State College website: http:// suny-empire.esc.edu/media/escwebsite/ content/oem/esc40th/a-prospectus-for-anew-university-college.pdf Wright, N. (2010). Twittering in teacher education: Reflecting on practicum experiences. Open Learning, 25(3), 259-265. suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 39 • spring 2011
73 “Music never stops; it is we who turn away” – John Cage Tina Wagle, School for Graduate Studies A Review of: Dear Maxine: Letters from the Unfinished Conversation with Maxine Greene Edited by Robert Lake Irecently read Dear Maxine: Letters from the Unfinished Conversation with Maxine Greene (2010) and wanted to offer some reflections inspired by the work for All About Mentoring. For those not familiar with her work, Maxine Greene is said to be the most profound educational philosopher since John Dewey. A prolific author and educator, Greene holds a deep respect for the arts and humanity and is able to see potential in everything and everyone. The book is a collection of letters written to Greene by friends and scholars, many of whom also are considered to be leaders in education today, including Shirley Steinberg, Mike Rose, Elliot Eisner, Gloria Ladson- Billings and William Ayers, just to name a few. The letters are poignant and moving. They speak not only to the body of work Greene contributed over the years, but also to the profound impact her work has had on educators globally and perhaps more importantly on the art of thinking critically and innovatively. The words of 20th century American composer John Cage – doubling as the title for this piece – come from his Composition in Retrospect (1983) and were cited by Julie Searle in her letter to Maxine. The reason I chose this title is because as I was reading the book, I was struck by the importance of reflection. Greene believes that one’s imagination is the key to conceptualizing a better future. It is the imagination that allows us to think critically and reflect in a way that is open and visionary. Reflection is an act we often encourage our Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) students to engage in throughout their course work, and crucially it exists as a requirement for the final portfolios they create at the end of the program. We ask them to reflect on the past three years as they transition from student to teacher. We believe that such moments of reflection are important in demonstrating growth and lifelong learning. And yet, as I read and thought about Greene and the authors of these letters to her, I wondered, “When was the last time I allowed myself to reflect on imaginative pedagogy or sit with my own critical thoughts” The field of teacher-education is changing. More and more standards are being imposed on students, competitors from businesses outside of the educational arena are entering the fray, and the demands upon teachers are greater than ever. In order to house a quality teacher-education program, we cannot be oblivious to this bigger picture; we must keep up with these changes; we have to be diligent in what we offer our students in order for them to be successful in their own classrooms. We have necessarily been preoccupied with these demands, which have required tremendous time and attention. It would be irresponsible of us to imagine they do not exist. But what does all of this attention do to our lives as reflective practitioners I think many of us at Empire State College often say how busy we are – myself included. But as I allowed myself time to read this tribute to Maxine Greene, I was drawn back to my own roots in the social foundations of education and to the core of that work, which is about thinking – about reflecting – and, importantly too, about being hopeful about education. So, as I read the Cage quote, I asked myself whether any time that was lost not thinking this way was my own fault. “The music never stops; it is we who turn away.” I think I turned away. Despite the daily grind of conference calls, contract evaluations and email, I need to pause and reflect on the bigger picture of education and learning. I need to remember what matters to the greater good of society and to social justice. These are the ideals that have been a constant passion in my life and career. In the introduction to this book, the educational philosopher Nel Noddings states correctly that education has strayed incredibly far from the vision Maxine Greene articulated when writing The Dialectic of Freedom in 1988. “Her hope was to open possibilities for all students to achieve some measure of freedom in recognizing possibilities and directing their own lives. In contrast, today’s policies aim to control the lives of students through uniform preparation, uniform achievement, and uniform futures” (xxi). Greene discusses freedom a great deal in her many works but never really offers a single definition of it. Instead, she carefully collects ideas of what freedom should include. She has stated that in order to achieve and exercise freedom, “young people need to be invited to engage with the worlds of people, objects and ideas. They must be allowed to communicate in ways that open up spaces instead of closing them down by prescribing beforehand exactly what should be learned” (xxi). I think Greene would believe that neither students nor their teachers can truly learn or teach in a free manner with the iron of standardized tests shackling their wrists. It is thus not incidental that Greene argued so strenuously for the arts and for the importance of their presence in K-12 education and beyond. For her, the arts provide a space to be creative and free, to think with one’s imagination. If young people are allowed this space, they can create without limits and learn without boundaries. Instead, today we are all faced with many pressures to pass so many assessments that inhibit this kind of freedom. I acknowledge and appreciate the arguments about accountability and outcome measurements, but maybe what Greene and the authors of this book are telling us is that it is right now when suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 39 • spring 2011
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MENTORING ALL ABOUT A PUBLICATION O
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1 Table of Contents Editorial - The
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3 Imagination and Art: Children Cop
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5 Drawing 3: Darfur, 2005. “All o
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7 The child artist’s title for he
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9 support, caregivers being in actu
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11 Mentoring: A Poet’s View Susan
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13 Educating the Digital Citizen in
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15 their learning activities. In th
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17 While I find this useful in the
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19 Shirky, C. (2011, January/Februa
Page 23 and 24: 21 Changing Ways of Knowing for Tra
Page 25 and 26: 23 intrinsic effort to self-protect
Page 27 and 28: 25 The evidence of education’s in
Page 29 and 30: 27 were present could participate e
Page 31 and 32: 29 her feelings about the treatment
Page 33 and 34: 31 Blended Learning Online: New Per
Page 35 and 36: 33 Students also will take self-gui
Page 37 and 38: 35 making certain she had forgotten
Page 39 and 40: 37 “At that restaurant” “We d
Page 41 and 42: 39 reports. Walking again to Jenna
Page 43 and 44: 41 Mentoring: A Social Relationship
Page 45 and 46: Interiors Installations by Carol Wa
Page 47 and 48: “River View,” 2010 (detail). Th
Page 49 and 50: 47 Lessons of War Elaine Handley an
Page 51 and 52: 49 win. Students read two Tim O’B
Page 53 and 54: 51 War veteran and author of Semper
Page 55 and 56: 53 Education and Individualism: Som
Page 57 and 58: 55 My Lost Stories Steve Lewis, Hud
Page 59 and 60: 57 Reflections on a Journey of Lear
Page 61 and 62: 59 A Teacher Reflects: Learning Abo
Page 63 and 64: 61 a devoted reader of the left-lea
Page 65 and 66: 63 total absence of any smell excep
Page 67 and 68: 65 Found Things: Empire State Colle
Page 69 and 70: 67 because the College will have an
Page 71 and 72: 69 “Goin’ Mobile”: Designing
Page 73: 71 of iPods in particular allowed t
Page 77 and 78: 75 Adult Education and Politics Ric
Page 79 and 80: 77 democratic learning did not simp
Page 81 and 82: 79 could never serve the market tha
Page 83 and 84: 81 Here are a few preliminary thoug
Page 85 and 86: 83 Honoring George Drury (1917-2010
Page 87 and 88: 85 came to my mind, and also on top
Page 89 and 90: 87 Submissions to All About Mentori
Page 91: 2 Union Ave. Saratoga Springs, NY 1
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