Work With Hope

This may not be the most hopeful of posts, but if this site is to inform and encourage, then sometimes we need to look at darker realities. I don’t want encourage hope based on naiveté.

In recent months it has become clear that there are two competing and contradictory trends within the tech space. These cars are racing toward each other at breakneck speed, and I fear that we are standing directly in their path of collision.

Our combatants in this insane game of chicken are 1)anywhere online access and 2)bandwidth restrictions
The first of these principles is actually quite a positive one. We have never had better access to our own data and resources. Cloud storage services offered by Dropbox, Amazon, Apple and many other provide users with amazing amounts of storage that can be accessed by any device at any time for free or a reasonable price. Media is moving toward a streaming model, whether it be movies with services like Netflix or for music with services like Spotify, Pandora, or Rdio. The clear model of the future is not to carry data on a device, but to use the device as an access point whether through wired home and office Internet or through mobile wifi or 3G access. It provides the consumer with greater access, convenience, sharing abilities, and ultimately and improved digital experience.

However, this encouraging trend is racing at breakneck speed toward a competing vehicle, not moving so fast as to cause alarm, but on a collision course nonetheless. With the advent of this immense use of data, ISPs (Internet service providers) are feeling the strain (or opportunity, depending on your level of cynicism) on their distribution system, and they are taking deliberate steps to limit the amount of data and to further monetize the service they provide. This is being seen clearly now with the end of unlimited data plans at three of the four main cell phone providers. Even those lucky enough to have been “grandfathered” into unlimited plans learned recently that AT&T plans to throttle (lovely word) those in the top 5% of data usage each month. As with most movements like this, the ISPs are clothing their actions in righteousness. They bemoan the strain on their network, rarer than expanding it despite billions in profits, or they complain about “bandwidth hogs” who use more than the average data, suggesting that they must be doing something illegal in order to consume so much data (“bandwidth hog = someone using the service that he or she has paid for). This movement is not limited to the mobile space, because several ISPs are also talking (or acting) about plans to limit or to charge more for greater bandwidth use in the home. While I don’t want to say that these companies are trying to catch up to this rush to mobile, there is an inherent hypocrisy in saying you need a mobile device to stream music and video while throttling this ability.

There are not specific answers to this problem (short of all of us getting our mobile Internet from Starbucks…which will make us a much more jittery people). Since there is no real competition in this space (and the demonstrated tendency of the few “competing” ISPs to act in lockstep with one another) there are no market forces to regulate this, and government regulation, given the immense lobbying power of these companies, is unlikely. In the same way, I don’t see us turning away from conveniences that we have experienced. I suspect the absolute best case scenario that we can anticipate is rising costs to do the things that will be a normal part of modern life.

But no matter what direction this takes, this is not an issue we can ignore. The mainstream press doesn’t cover it because it is not of interest to the general public (and maybe because they are primarily owned by companies with direct or indirect ISP involvement? No, that’s too cynical…but they do keep encouraging us to use their online app?), but the “general public” needs to wake up and see that they are going to be the ultimate game victim of this game of digital chicken.

As always, I invite your comments.

Anyone who follows technology news learned that last week both Facebook and Google were making announcements of “awesome” new products.

Facebook announced integration of skype video chat…zzzzzzz

Google may have changed the world.

OK, a bit of hyperbole, maybe, but I think that the new Google+ social media platform might have taken everything learned with Twitter and Facebook and combined them in a one stop communications platform. This new way of “doing social” may provide new openings for integration of the strengths of the medium without many of the privacy concerns.

In a nutshell, Google+ uses many of the conventions of Facebook. Users can post statements, pictures, video, links, and location which appear in a “stream” to intended viewers who in turn can comment. The brilliant idea of G+, however, is the recognition that a person doesn’t share on only one level or with one group of people. Rather we have “circles” of friends, family, acquaintances, and coworkers, and we want some to see some comments and others to see different ones.

As friends are added, you put them into one or more circles. The platform comes with a number of pre-named circles, but these can be renamed and you can add additional circles. For each post, you are able to select “public,” in which case all registered users can see the comments if they follow you (much like Twitter), “all circles,” allowing the comment to be seen by all your approved followers (like Facebook), any particular circle, or even an individual (like nothing else right now). This ability to select level of sharing post by post in a simple one-click protocol is what sets G+ apart from its competitors, and what will most likely give it the legs to move forward.

Now family photographs can be shared with only family members, an education discussion can be focused to a group of teachers (and not polluting Grandma’s stream), and you can shout out to the broader world. Two other neat options are the ability to write longer posts, leaving the limits of 140 or 420 characters, and the ability to re-edit an entry after it is posted without deleting it and starting over.

Turning to education, suddenly the inherent weirdness of having students on one’s Facebook page is mitigated by adding them to a students-only circle. The students will now not see anything that is not intended specifically for them. There are layers to this that still need to be sorted, and like any new platform one should never trust privacy absolutely (which is why one should always write as if writing in public), but directing comments in a circle including school administrators provides a greater degree of focus, usefulness, and protection.

There are other aspects to this platform, but we will leave those for another day. Until that time, if anyone still needs an invite to Google+, send me an email at GJDguyvetter@gmail.com and I’ll try to send one along.

Originally published in the OCCatholic June 2011

This Spring I will watch my daughter graduate from Mater Dei High School. Many parents out there will understand the jumble of emotions I will be feeling at this event, pride, love, joy, nostalgia, anticipation, sadness, and an overwhelming sense of the increasing speed of time. However, as Superintendent of Catholic Schools, I can’t help but also see this day as her graduation from Catholic education, and that too brings feelings of joy…and sadness.
This June nearly a thousand young men and women will be graduating from our Catholic high schools and nearly 1500 will be graduating from our Catholic elementary schools. This is time of pride for students, parents, families, and in a greater way for all of us associated with the Catholic school system of the Diocese of Orange. In the midst of all of the challenges faced by families and schools, our diocesan schools continue to produce graduates who are better prepared for the next level of education and for all levels of life. The yearly miracle of the passing on of our faith can be read on the faces of these future leaders of our Church.
For students and families graduation is a time to look back with gratitude. Graduates from our Catholic schools have benefitted from the hard work and sacrifice of their parents and the generosity of the many women and men, old and young, religious and lay, who worked for the education of minds and the formation of souls. From the founding of the Diocese of Orange, Catholic schools have been central to the faith formation apostolate. Schools have served as the heart and center of vibrant life of parishes, and have produced many of the priests, sisters and lay leaders who serve throughout the diocese today.
Though there are many successful educational institutions in this county and country, the mission of our Catholic schools sets them and their graduates apart. Academic excellence, demonstrated through test scores and authentic performance, is only the beginning of this mission. Our schools work daily for the education of the full child in the faith through instruction, through participation in liturgy and prayer, and through service to the local community and the greater world. All of this is done at a much lower per-pupil cost than that incurred by the solely academic mission of public schools.
However, just as parents and students look forward with anticipation colored with some fear, so our pride in our Catholic school system in Orange and throughout this country is tempered with real concern for the future. Schools throughout the county face financial challenges which impact families and enrollment. The formerly natural decision of Catholic education for children of Catholic families becomes more and more difficult.
These fears, though real, do not need to be the last word, for the future is still of our making. Families still value and choose Catholic education for their children, and many more want to make this choice if support is available. Parishes, the diocese, and generous grants from the Pastoral Services Appeal are working to provide the funds to close the gap between the aspiration and the reality. Individuals of means are coming forward to financially support this vision, and parishioners are supporting schools through their dollars, through their voices, and most importantly through their prayers. Challenges faced by our school system can, and will, lead to new possibilities and a future of promise.
As I watch my daughter cross the graduation stage, I know that the past she is leaving behind is only the preamble and preparation for many good things to come. Congratulations graduates, parents, and Catholic schools. We are counting on hearing great things about you in the future!

Probably one of the most hopeful days of the year:

Class of 2011, It is my pleasure to be able to speak to you on this great day for you and for us.

For all of the adults sitting on the stage, for most of the teachers flanking you on either side, and even for many of your parents and relatives, this looks like one more graduation ceremony. Another wave crashing on the shore of the Bren Center like the many waves before and the swells following in the year to come. The predictability and dependability of this yearly event carries the inevitability of one more repeat of Pomp and Circumstance or one more musical number in an episode of Glee.

However, this is our mistake, our blindness, and our missed opportunity. For there is not an “another” about today. Today is about newness, about firsts, about the unique, once in a lifetime gift that you are and will be in this world. As a class and as individuals, you are a new thing, not limited by the actions or even vision of those who have come before you, but blazing potential that we watch transfixed, as if by fireworks.

And while I am part of the past that you surpass, I want to leave you with one idea that makes sense from my limited vision.

Lives are defined by the limits we embrace; therefore, as you go forward live an expansive life that challenges the limits that other people, your circumstances, or the accepted realities of the world try to put on you. There is no limit to your possibilities at this moment, only to your courage and energy to chase them. There is no limit to your creative power to make new products, services, and ideas that change the world and improve the lives of all. There is no limit to your ability to embrace revolutionary digital changes in communication and relationship and form them into positive humanizing forces, and there is no limit to your capacity for love and gratitude and empathy and service. We are put on earth to share in the work of Jesus Christ, to serve and love those close by and sisters and brothers beyond our familiarity and beyond our sight.

There are no limits to a world where a tiny sister in India can bring comfort and attention to millions of the ignored and neglected.

There are no limits to a world where the most life changing invention of the century is now appearing every six months.

And goodness knows there are no limits to a world where a song by Rebecca Black can be downloaded a million times.

Embrace the beauty and possibility and expansiveness of your dreams, and remember the school where so many of those dreams were born.

As everyone knows, Apple announced the iPad 2 last week, and as a newly baptized Apple fanboy (for the iPad, not the other machines), I followed the announcement closely.  To be honest, part of me was still looking for the slip, the mistake that would provide the opening for the many Android tablets hitting the marketplace to take the lead.

After the conclusion of the talk, I posted the following on Twitter:

“As much as I hate to say it, iPad is eating everyone’s lunch!”

Not only were many of my specific concerns for the device addressed in the upgrades, but also what I have seen and learned from other manufacturers in the months since the release of iPad 1 have greatly affected my response to the iPad as a widespread platform.

Here are a few of the things I like about the new iPad:

• It’s thinner and lighter. Though my iPad has quickly become my primary reading device, it is just slightly on the heavy side for this task.  Since I have become more or less used to this, I’m certain that the new device will be much more comfortable to hold.
• It has a faster processor and a faster graphics processor. With Android tablets moving toward a dual-core processor, I thought that the iPad might be left behind, but the iPad 2 does have a dual-core, which should improve performance on many applications (and make other applications like iMovie and Garage Band possible).  The graphics of iPad 1 have been adequate, though I am hoping that the better graphics processor will improve the occasional sluggishness on some streaming video.
• It has a camera (two, in fact).  As anticipated, the device has both front-facing and back facing cameras.  As well as providing the possibility of video conferencing, these cameras will allow direct input of photos and videos.
• It stays within the same pricing structure. When iPad 1 came out, I assumed that it was as overpriced as most Apple products.  My feelings on this have been tempered by the equally high or higher prices for the products of other manufacturers.  Oddly enough, in this category, Apple is a deal.  This isn’t to say that quality tablets won’t come out for less, but unless it is dramatically less, I don’t see people moving from a second generation product to a new one.

I couple all of this with the reality that it is being released less than two weeks after announcement.  The one consistent story in the all-but-Apple tablet market is pushed back deadlines and uncertain release dates.  Today I heard that Microsoft doesn’t expect to have its tablet OS available until fall 2012!  They will be competing against the fourth generations of the iPad, and a completely glutted market.

So, I will be getting an iPad 2, and I look forward to using it to save my recipes for eating crow.

I’ve been at this now for almost two weeks. I’ve lugged the iPad from meeting to meeting and up and down the state. I’ve had several moments of exciting discovery and a few moments of maddening frustration. I’m sure that I (and the ipad firmware) will continue to improve, but I decided to create a list of ten observations, five things I like and five challenges. If nothing else, this list should provide a good starting point for new users, and I can use it as a comparison with my own experience down the road.

I’ll start with the challenges, so that I can end this on an up note.

• Probably the most fundamental challenge I’ve encountered has been the night and day difference when the machine has a wifi connection and when it does not. This is not to say that I can’t do anything “unplugged,” I can edit local documents, read books on my Nook, and use about half of the apps that I have downloaded (ones that don’t connect to the web). Probably if I would invest the $30 in purchasing the Mac suite, I would have a more robust offline experience. However, the way I relate to the machine depends on the connection, and I am still surprised when I grab the machine in my car and can’t look something up.
• With my focus on Ed tech, I am concerned about the limited use of some programs that have become favorites of mine and many others in recent times. The inability to make or edit Prezi presentations has necessitated that I work on my desktop, and the Prezi viewing application on the iPad is so sluggish, that I still have to take my netbook with me whenever I am giving a presentation. Likewise, Glogster also depends on flash for creation and viewing. I’m certain there will be a list of favorites that we have to (at least temporarily) remove from the teacher and student toolbox.
• Hard to classify this one, but I have found that tasks requiring a lot of editing or moving files from place to place are much easier on the desktop. Any time I’ve had to get something done in a hurry, I’ve always moved to the comfort of the full computer. I call this hard to classify because I’ll have to see if time increases speed and comfort with the iPad. There are, however, some fundamental differences, particularly with the file structure (or lack of one). This is one reason why I have used cloud applications and storage whenever possible, but this means I don’t have access without a network connection.
• I mentioned earlier that the on-board keyboard is much more comfortable than I expected. It is a little challenging to see such a small portion of the screen, but I have not found this a major hurdle. I do continue to have trouble typing in letters (usually n or m) instead of spaces. I also miss directional keys and the ability to place and select with the cursor easily. Most dramatically, I have a love/hate relationship with the auto complete. I have become very dependent on capitalization and contraction assistance (to the extent where I often make mistakes on a traditional keyboard). However, I have fallen prey to having my typing improperly completed or corrected (I wrote earlier about my particular frustration with it’s). I wish that this were a “teachable” application, one that I could put in my own specific needs. Within an educational environment, this is going to call for a new level of proofreading, especially if documents are not printed out.
• Finally, and this is more a quibble than a complaint, I am often annoyed by how quickly the screen fills up with fingerprints. I don’t know if this is a usability concern or one of hygiene, but I look at my screen at the right angle and it’s a mess! I’ve seen this on my iPhone before, but somehow it has never bothered me as much.

These challenges range from petty annoyances to major concerns. Some of these will be resolved with more practice and familiarity with the device and the OS, and others will be solved with updates to the hardware and software. However, to an educator approaching the iPad for individual use or use with students, I would make three general suggestions.

• The iPad is a fundamentally different type of machine from a desktop or portable computer. Though many previous skills will help you, the iPad thinks, acts, and responds in a way that is closer to an iPhone than a computer. So there will be a period of disorientation and relearning.
• The iPad operates more as a cloud terminal than as a standalone device. Many applications work independently of the Internet, but the bulk of the important work you will do is from sites and on data that are not housed within the memory of the machine.
• The iPad runs most websites, but not all. Planning projects and lessons will require pretesting of all applications and tools and projects that have worked in the past will require new directions.

All this being said, I have enjoyed using the iPad both as a tool and as a platform. Here are five if my more pleasant discoveries.

• Though it takes some thought and coordination, I like the cloud orientation of the machine. As long as I have an Internet connection, I have access to most of my documents and files at whatever computer I am using. Likewise, if the iPad should crash or be damaged, I would not lose much of my data.
• The device is very comfortable to carry around and to use on the go. It is the perfect Starbuck’s device (in fact, if I have the phone and an iPad, there is nothing I can do in my office that I can’t do in a Starbuck’s, hmmm).
• The iPad is a GREAT reading device. I have used a Nook in the past, but using the Nook application, I have access to my Nook library, and navigation within a book is much easier and more instinctive than with the original Nook. The bigger screen is also easier to read (though it can be glary with a lamp behind or in the sun) and I haven’t noticed the back-lit screen causing any eye strain. I’m sure the experience of the the new Nook color is somewhat similar to this, but as a single-use device, it would be one more thing to carry. In terms of education, I think that textbooks are the immediate killer application for this device. I’m sure that distribution questions will eventually be resolved to compact immense textbook libraries into a two pound iPad.
• There is a huge convenience factor of having the machine on all the time. I have found the iPad to have a charge that easily lasts a full day of heavy use (or several days of lighter use), so there is never a need to power down. I have often not used a desktop or laptop because I didn’t want to wait for a full or partial boot up.
• Finally, I am enjoying the problem-solving aspect of using the iPad. I like finding new workarounds or abilities that I had not expected. This has helped me to look with fresh eyes at my tasks, and I’m sure it will have a similar disruptive effect in the lives and classrooms of our teachers and students.

As always, I invite your comments.

I’ve found myself slipping on my commitment to use the iPad  exclusively over the last two days.  I’ve had some trouble with the remote access feature and I haven’t been able to log in to a machine unless I am already on that network.  It is likely over time that this issue will be resolved, but until it is,  I am finding myself machine jumping.  That being said, I encountered two tasks that were more challenging than anticipated.

• I was writing an email on the iPad, and I needed to attach a document from my office machine.  This turned out to be a larger challenge than I expected.  Since there is no way to store non-native files on the iPad, I had to save the file in the cloud and then link to it in my email.  There might be easier ways to do this, but I think the broader point is that file management is not instinctive.
• Later I was working on fine tuning a PowerPoint presentation.  I started to work on the iPad via remote desktop access, but I grew frustrated trying to do fine work on the small screen.  Since I was in a time crunch, I dumped the iPad and finished up using the desktop.
• This morning I stopped at Starbucks on the way to an appointment.  I think I can say without a doubt that the iPad is the world’s best Starbucks machine.  If the remote access to my office desktop had been working, I could have stayed all day and accomplished everything I could have done in the office.

OK, moving to a new level today.  I installed Splashtop Remote on my iPad and work machine.  So for this post I’m working in the WordPress site on my desktop from the iPad.  It’s nice to have so many controls that I am used to restored.  It is also easier to navigate in this version of the program.

• Ahhh, nice to have bullet points returned.  Also I have the advantage of having directional arrows, ctrl, shift, alt, and other keys.
• I’m noticing a slight bit of latency in the text appearing, but nothing serious.  There are several other remote access programs, so I don’t know if this is the best; frankly, I chose it because it was cheapest!  It seems somewhat full-featured, and if the latency doesn’t get any worse than this, I can get used to it.
• Of course, now that I’m back in my comfortable environment, I’m missing the iPad keyboard shortcuts.  I’m having a hard time remembering to enter periods, capitalize first words of sentences, and add apostrophes for contractions
• Using this I am very conscious of the space taken up by the onboard keyboard.  I’m finding that I often hide the keyboard to see the entire screen.  I’ll have to monitor to see if this is a good thing.
• Now extrapolating to student use, this would be advantageous for students and teachers to have regular access to a full powered machine (assuming, of course, that they have a second computer with a broadband connection).  However, access like this would cancel out any content filtering on the school side, so I doubt that it could be allowed for students.  This would answer some of the questions for teachers, though.  A teacher could have access to all capability, including older databases and Prezi editing.  Now how you set up the school filter to allow this for teachers and not for students, that’s another question.
• I also just discovered something else that’s interesting.  Although I can charge my iPhone from my office computer via USB cable, there is apparently insufficient power to charge the iPad. I don’t know how necessary this is since I have been able to get by on a day’s charge.

As always, I welcome your comment and discussion.  I would also love for people to start talking the “what if’s,” suggesting challenges that I could try to solve.