Category: Reflections

Summer Daze

Hey everyone, it’s finally summer, time to relax a bit and let our minds run free.  So that’s the assignment.

If you could get any type of technology into a classroom, how would it change your teaching?  School’s out, so we don’t need to worry right now about our fears.  Fear is the easiest response when it comes to technology; talk instead about your dreams.

I’ll probably write more blogposts (I’m expecting three new UMPCs in the next few weeks and I’ll talk about each), but feel free to take this one over.

Thanks for reading, and thanks even more for writing!

Take care.

A Bigger Tent

For those of you who have been following the site closely, you may have noticed that a few of the recent comments have been by students.  I’m not completely sure how they found this site, but I never intended it as a hidden site, so it is available for public search.

When I received the first notice of student comment (I have to approve any comment before it is posted), my first reaction was “keep ’em out.”  However, upon further reflection, this strikes me as web 1.0 type thinking.  If we take as given that the technological revolution is at least in part about collaborative learning, then having students follow and contribute to these discussions seems an end as well as a means.  I also think next year we should involve some interested students directly in our discussion.

At the Consultative School Board yesterday I gave out the URL for this site and invited them to look in on our discussions.  I have also invited representatives from other schools to look in and comment.

Since this is a school site, it will remain a moderated site.  I will preview all comments before they are posted, but I continue to encourage different opinions.

So this blog tent is a bit bigger, and I think that is a really good thing.

A New Look…and a Kick in the Pants

Since I’m learning with each new technology I try, I discover the difficulties as well as the exciting parts.  With this blog, I’ve discovered how easy it is to let a blog grow fallow.  I haven’t made any great new discoveries lately, and I don’t like to simply blather (not really true, I do like to blather, but I try to avoid it).  I probably would not have written this post if I hadn’t received notice that WordPress had updated its interface.

So I took a few moments to change the look of this site, both to learn how to do it, and to improve the readability (I always found the black-on-red to be irritating).

The reality of this is that we all need to be aware how easy it is to have cool ideas for technology use, and how hard it is to continue follow-through over time.  If we are going to implement new hardware or software, we have to continually ask the question, ” What will it look like a year from now?”  I always like to visit schools with laptop programs or other technology initiatives, but I want to see them a year later when the machines aren’t so shiny and exciting.

I’d welcome any comments on how keep students (and teachers) engaged and energized in technology use.

Confessions of a Fanboy

The term fanboy is used to describe an avid enthusiast, one with blind loyalty too his or her chosen subject. In the field of technology, this term is often associated with early adopters, those who are quick to acquire and embrace the latest technology. It can be used pejoratively in a “boys with toys” sense, though many early adopters proudly claim the title.

I suppose that it’s no secret that I am intrigued by new technologies. I enjoy reading about new gadgets and new software, and I get a charge out of learning all the capabilities of a new machine . Many of you have experienced my annoying insistence on showing everyone whom I can find the latest piece of equipment or software. I appreciate how polite you are, smiling and saying, “That’s great,” probably also thinking, “Humor him, and he’ll go away.”

I struggle myself sometimes trying to determine what is a spirit of innovation and what is geeky admiration for all things shiny. I am very aware of the suspicion with which some view enthusiasm for technology, and I understand it. There have been many mistakes and misjudgments along the path of educational technology, and much of what passes itself off as educational software is little more than games in school clothes. It is much safer to maintain an ironic disdain for technology because most things will not succeed.

However, not succeeding is an important evolutionary step. The first projection cart I ever made carried a desktop projector and monitor, and overhead projector, and an overlay that allowed the computer image to faintly be seen on a screen. It weighed over a hundred pounds and was a monster to move from room to room. I was very disappointed, but that cart taught me things that I used in the first rolling projector carts and the eventual classroom AV systems that we have today.

As we contemplate radical change like integrating laptops or other computing platforms into our academic programs, I think we all have a healthy fear of failure. The stakes are very high. The last thing I want is a bunch of expensive white elephants cluttering student backpacks and lockers. I’m not suggesting that we plan for failure of course, but we have to be willing on at least a small scale to experiment with the untried.

So I think we need to continue to be fanboys and fangirls. Personally I prefer the label avant garde. It sounds much artsier and it captures better what we are trying to do. Avant garde artists push the envelope of what is acceptable. Many times they go down wrong alleys and dead ends, But other times they discover the tools and ideas that shape the future.

Reflections on Micro Computing: An Ode to My BlackBerry

I wrote all the earlier entries in this blog on the eee PC, since I want to see how practical it is as an editing tool. However, for this post I’m writing on my BlackBerry Pearl. The keyboard on the phone is not nearly as easy as my desktop (or even the eee). I suppose I’ll have thumb cramps by the time I finish, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the BlackBerry recently, and I decided to let form match theme for these reflections.

I carry this phone with me all the time. Recently I’ve become more aware of all the things it can do:

1. All phone functions (duh!)

2. It can take and send (somewhat poor quality) pictures

3. It syncs with my school calendar

4. It has all the usual utilities like a calculator, address book, and note pad

So far all pretty ho-hum, but as a smart phone the Blackberry has a whole second set of capabilities:

5. I can send and receive email from my school and home accounts. BB is known for this “push” email which comes directly to the phone

6. I can access the Internet. The browser shows full pages, and I can zoom in to read and work on any section I want. I also use a reader to quickly access and read new stories and articles from my chosen sites

7. I can access and operate my home and office computers. I can bring up either desktop and operate the mouse and keyboard. This isn’t the best way to run a computer, but it’s great if I need to access a document or run Aeries.

8. I can load PowerPoint files and send them via Bluetooth to a projector. When I’m doing presentations, I don’t have to bring a laptop

9. I can edit documents and spreadsheets. I wouldn’t want to write the WASC report on the 20 key keyboard (though I could purchase a portable Bluetooth keyboard)

10. With the media player I can listen to music or podcasts and watch videos and movies. The small screen isn’t optimal for video (the movies with subtitles are really tough!), but I found it a lifesaver on the plane

11. I can use Google maps for directions. In fact without a GPS the program can identify my location on the map with 1000 yards throug triangulation of cell towers. I can also quickly find the nearest Starbucks!

So, what’s the point of all this? I suppose what I’m suggesting is that all this computing ability is and will be carried around by our students ALL THE TIME.

What are we doing to prepare them for this?

What’s Working?

As we begin to imagine and discuss what technology will be like in the next five years, I don’t want to forget where we are now. The school, facilities, equipment, and personnel, has made tremendous advancements over the past 10 years. We live and work in a truly technology-rich environment.

As you look at the equipment, software, and procedures that we have established so far consider

  1. What do you really like?
  2. What makes the job of a teacher easier and more effective?
  3. What parts of the technology “infrastructure” could we could expand or use even more?

Note: There will be other posts for concerns and complaints. These comments should focus on the positive.

I am not a teacher; only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead–ahead of myself as well as of you.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Going “Live”

I have experimented with three entries before sending out the link to this site. I’ve had three reasons for this.

  1. I’ve been learning how to use the program and it’s only now that I’m feeling comfortable with navigation and composition
  2. I wanted to figure out some of the paramenters of how I would use the site
  3. I wanted to make sure that this type of communication was comfortable for me (somewhere in the blogisphere there must be a directory of one-entry blogs!)

I’m pretty good with #s 1&2 and only time will tell with 3. Similarly, I’m pretty sure that some of you may enjoy this type of communications and others will not.

I’m using the eee pc for all blog entries. I want to get some idea how it works as a practical tool (and not a toy). I’ll present my thoughts about the pc in a bit.

If this is your first time visiting the site, you can use the links on the right to read the first two entries.  I’ve also attached two RSS feeds that I watch with tips for educators.

A Different Type of Animal

At the beginning of the meeting I distributed the article “Global Natives Global Immigrants. I have always found this article as a useful starting point. Even though it is already five years old, it captures the change in students that we are seeing every day. A temptation for all is to categorize this change as “good” or “bad,” I prefer to simply accept that it is. In a way it is very freeing to approach these students as natives of a different country, my ways don’t have to be right and theirs wrong and vice-versa.

I think the bigger challenge comes with our role as educators. This is where the metaphor creaks a bit. We are immigrants with the job of raising the natives, so what parts of our culture must we essentially pass on to them and where must we accept the path of evolution? No one argues that for all their splendid facility with all things tech, that our students sometimes make HORRIBLE choices. How do we hate the choice, but accept the technology that made it possible?

A second problem we face is that the metaphor assumes a monolithic structure of “natives.” If we could assume that all of our students have these abilities, then we could learn and speak the language. Unfortunately young people are not uniform in their exposure and participation in the digital revolution. So whatever plans we put in place cannot be without instruction, and that instruction will need to be differentiated to meet the needs of all, something our system is not very good at doing.

I’m also not so sure about the conclusions of the article. Prensky seems to suggest that we turn most methodology over to video game designers (interestingly he IS a video game designer…w00t!). I think students can learn from games, but gaming is usually a solitary pursuit (even cooperative games are usually played by people at separate consoles miles (or countries) apart. The socialization and collaboration of the classroom cannot be matched by a video screen. Games of different sorts can be part of a solution, but they are not THE solution.

Anyway, if you want to read more of Prensky’s work, Part II of “DNDI” can be found at

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf

and his blog is at

http://www.marcprensky.com/blog/

Chapter 4: A New Hope

 

I want to thank you all for your attendance and participation at this week’s meeting. I hope that I was able to clarify that challenge that we all are facing. Though I didn’t take formal minutes, I wanted to summarize the key ideas for those who were not able to attend and to invite your comments.

I’ve set up a simple blog page at this address. On this page I will post ideas, suggestions, and links to sites, podcasts and video. You are welcome to add your comments or questions.

The limitation of the blog form is that it focuses on the ideas of one person. You can’t start your own topics or make remarks that aren’t related to my posts (I certainly invite you to experiement with your own blog). More completely collaborative sites are forums and wikis. I’ll probably be experiementing with these as well.

So I hope you enjoy these comments and links…please join in with your own!