Work With Hope

Last week Apple announced the iPhone 5. This latest iteration of their universe-crushing brand promises improvements in virtually all areas. The screen is slightly bigger, the phone is lighter, the camera is better, the processor is faster, etc., etc. Several people have asked me this week whether I was planning on lining up to purchase one when it becomes available this week (I hope these people realize that I have never lined up to purchase and Apple product). I read the new specs with some interest and…to paraphrase A Chorus Line:

I dug right down to the bottom of myself, to see what I had inside:

…and I felt nothing

I'm not growing bored with smartphones. I depend on my iPhone to manage my day, and I love the conveniences it brings. I know that Smartphones, going back to my Blackberry Pearl have been instrumental in my evolution in thinking about technology, to a great extent responsible for most of what I'm doing today…including writing this blogpost. When my phone runs out, I'll buy another iPhone, probably the newest model. But there is nothing happening in the Smartphone universe (Apple, Android or…snicker…Windows Phone) that interests me at all.

Whether the phones are larger, smaller, faster, whatever, everything that is happening in the Smartphone space seems to be an iteration of something that already was before. I don't care that the iPhone 5 is slightly larger…nothing I do requires a micrometer more screen space. If I need more space, I use my iPad. If faster really meant something, it might raise an eyebrow, but experience has shown that Smartphone speed is primarily tied to bandwidth, rather than the machine. The changes in all smartphones seem very quantitative, and not qualitative.

So I wondered whether Smartphones are capped out, whether there is no new amazing development that would stir my jaded heart. In thinking this through, I've come up with a list of features that might make me sit up and take notice:

1. A dependable multi-day battery. I can usually get a full day with the battery on my iPhone, less if I'm using it a lot. I would love to be able to depend on my phone over several days. Battery capacity continues to grow at a snail's pace with no major breakthroughs on the horizon. Tell me a battery will last a week, and I'll take notice.
2. An NFC Chip. NFC is a new protocol which will allow me to pay for more and more things the same way that I pay for my Starbucks Coffee. Some android phones are integrating this new technology, so this is more of a case that my iPhone lags behind.
3. Real voice recognition. The iPhone 4S had several upgrades, but the one which caught the public eye more than others was Siri. Unfortunately this capability quickly became a joke because of its lack of dependability. If voice recognition really worked, particularly if I could granularly open and control apps, I would become a real fan.
4. Actual speed. As noted above, the speed of my phone seems hampered more by my wireless connection. If the smartphone companies would collaborate with the telcos to actually make my web pages come up faster, I would wait in line for this product.

What would you add to the list?

 

Image Credit: 'Swimming In The iPool' http://www.flickr.com/photos/83346641@N00/3420540107

Found on flickrcc.net

 

I had a thought this morning which has probably been clear to most of you for years, but was new for me. I've been working on some upcoming presentations dealing with the importance of digital media and social media in the future of education and the Church. Part of what I hope to do is respond to the attitude of fear and disparagement turned toward digital communications. I often see announcements for presentations at schools on “Internet Safety”; however, my experience of these talks is that they really should be called “The Scary, Scary Internet, and How to Keep Your Child Away From It.”

I was working through some of the claims of this position in my mind, preparing my own response statements that I'll use in upcoming talks. As I tiredly rehearsed the same polemics, suddenly a new thought emerged from the intellectual ping-pong.

It's all true.

The digital universe, much like our world in general, is so large, so diverse, that virtually anything can be said about it, even contrary statements, and it will all be true. So if you tell me that there are dangerous people using social media to harm children, that's a fact, but if I say that millions of young people's lives are made richer by interaction with digital resources, that's also true. If you say that classroom technology initiatives can be unsuccessful wastes of time and money, that's a fact, but if I say that digital resources can be used to improve student learning, that's also true. If you say that many children are too tied to digital devices and lack skills of personal communication, that's a fact, but if I say that many children need more access to digital resources and to develop skills of digital communication, that's also true.

The problem is not with the facts as much as what we choose to do with them. The facts that there are dangers and negative outcomes to digital citizenship is real, but it cannot stop us from aggressively pursuing this digital future for our children. Similarly, our conviction of the many values of the online life, can't keep us from awareness of challenges and dangers.

In our polarized society, we have come to equate a fact with an agenda, not acknowledging or recognizing that that fact exists in a sea of various and contradictory realities. The digital world (much like our world) is not one thing or another…it just is.

As always, I invite your comments.

Image Credit: 'tell truth'

This may be the most trivial of the entire set of 30 posts (and that's saying a lot). Anyone who has any respect for me as a writer should probably stop reading now. But with 15 more to go, I'm having to plumb the depths of ephemera.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter of Facebook, you have noticed a change this week. After about five years of online participation, I finally changed my profile picture.

From the beginning I used a picture of my hands typing on an eee netbook PC illuminated by candlelight. I took this picture soon after I received my netbook, while I was completely convinced that this light, relatively cheap PC would be the disruptive device that would transform the classroom. So I felt this profile picture served as a suitable homage with the added byproduct of not showing my face. As my was taking my first steps into social media I didn't know how public I wanted to be. I always used my name, as I felt (I think rightly) that owning my comments would help guide me in limits of what I should and should not say, but I was uncertain about my picture…at least of my face.

Year pass, and I watch my friends and colleagues use a variety of profile pictures, often showing their face, and my picture of the the typing hands seemed more and more dated. I also moved away from the picture philosophically, as I no longer believed that the netbook had any significant role in the future of classroom technology. As good as the device was, I failed to see the economic forces that would cause manufacturers to de-emphasize the low-margin machine.

So what to use in its place? The obvious answer seemed to be a picture of my hands working on an iPad, since this might be the best self characterization. I took several pictures, but the truth is that I thought my hands looked so old in each, and I didn't want my online contacts whom I have never met to have that immediate concept of me (as true as it may be). I really can't believe that I just wrote this paragraph…

Finally, in a manic desire to get this done, I changed my profile picture to the one I use for programs and biographies. As you can see, it's businesslike and does about as much as can be hoped with my limited appearance. Since this picture now represents my public presence, it seemed the best for my online presence as well. I also no longer feel any compunction about posting my picture…as long as I get to pick the picture!

As always I welcome your comments.

Image credit: Well, you know

In talking to schools preparing for accreditation, I have often joked that I'm waiting for a school to rename their mascot the Survey Monkey. In the past five to ten years, the survey has become the darling of school consultants and analysts. Every step of the school accreditation process calls for surveys of various levels of school stakeholders. Through analysis of this data, the school makes decisions about its current programs and future directions.

In this practice our schools are mirroring the rest of the society. There isn't a night that I don't hang up on at least one caller asking me to participate in a “short” survey. Over the phone, in writing, and even occasionally in person, everyone is trying to find out what I think.

And I see the reason for this. The point of customer service (and school falls into this category) is giving people what they want and need. I'm certain many school parents and others appreciate being asked what they think. I'm also certain that much of the data derived from surveys is useful and brings about good things. It is also good for us to remember who we work for and keep our focus outside of ourselves.

However, I've noticed that I basically don't respond to surveys very often. When I have to do one, I usually do it as quickly as possible, with little thought and no response to comments. Now, I consider myself a fairly reasonable and knowledgeable person (you certainly can comment on this below) and my input is not part of survey data in any substantial way. Thinking further, I suspect that the people who do participate in surveys are those who feel most passionately about an institution either positively or negatively (primarily negatively because we have much more time to feed our darker angels). So the glut of surveys is leading to less accurate data.

I don't have an answer to this, but maybe we need to open this conversation as we continue down the survey track. If only there were a way to find out what other people felt about this…

As always, I invite your comments.

Image Credit: Survey Monkey Logo

A few posts ago I asked a future audience to give me ideas for an upcoming talk (stop calling it laziness…this is customer service). I had a really good request that I read this morning, asking that I talk about creating balance in the lives of students, suggesting ways that they can live in a real (as well as digital) world.

I responded (well, you could actually go back and read my response, but…) by saying that this is a very important topic and that I will find a way to address it in my talk. However, I'm hesitant to make many promises in this area, because as desirable as it sounds, I have no idea what balance is…or will be.

By saying this, I open myself to immediate attack, because the term balance has become a weapon in the polemical conflict between the tech friendly and the tech wary. For the tech-friendly, balance means including more resources and platforms in academic life (and life in general). For tech wary (and this is more often the case), balance means using fewer tech tools and more “traditional” tools and ways of relating to one another. This type of balance often talks about the value of “face to face” communication and the “human touch.”

Fundamentally, I don't think anyone has any idea what balance is or will be. It's easy to tell horror stories about kids unable to pull themselves away from cell phones or Gameboys (I think I have dated myself by using that term), but it is harder to describe the elusive balance. I don't know how well we navigate the balances of earlier generations: work and home, parenthood and career, individual liberties and civic responsibilities, sleep and awake, hunting and gathering.

I'm fairly certain that I am out of balance, but I don't know whether I can get to balance…or if balance would even work for me!

So while I think we need to search for good ideas, I also think we need to view balance as an evolving definition and an evolving reality.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Image credit: 'Free Child Walking on White Round Spheres+Balance+Creative+Commons' http://www.flickr.com/photos/40645538@N00/233228813

 

When feeling frustration over the slow progress of educational technology, it's sometimes good to remember and notice that some changes seem to happen overnight.

A good example of this is the self-serve gas station. Even after conversion from the “service station” most gas outlets required everyone to come in to the office during hours of operation to pay, no matter the form of payment. Think about the first time you used a gas pump that allowed you to slide my card for payment. The freedom this provided, both in terms of time and ease of use, was wonderful. I remember that I saw this wonderful innovation first in one station, and within what seemed like weeks, the entire industry. Clearly a good idea that provides convenience for the user and savings to the company can cause immediate change.

I saw something last night that suggested to me that we might be on the verge of another such cultural shift.

For the past several months I have been using my iPhone to pay for coffee at Starbucks. The iPhone app stores the balance of my Starbucks cards and allows me to pay by holding my screen up to a scanner like the one shown in the picture. I love the convenience of this. I don't needs to carry a card (or multiple cards…any time I get a gift card I simply enter it to my account), or wonder if there is anything left on my card; I don't need to take out my wallet; and I always get gold card credit on all purchases toward free coffee. I have it set up tied to my credit card so whenever my balance dips below $10, $25 is automatically added to my balance. With one exception of a Starbucks in a hotel (and thus not a true Starbucks), it has always worked, and it has changed this small part of my experience.

Last night I was at Baskin Robbins for ice cream. While paying I noticed the same type of scanner beside the cash register, and my wheels started turning.

How long before we will be able to use our phones for all of our payments?

Will this be a slow evolution, or as I suspect will it happen overnight?

If this becomes the dominant payment method, how will we enfranchise those without our digital tools?

How long before paper money is practically, if not comletely, a remnant of the past?

As always, I welcome your comments.

 

A few weeks ago I wrote about accepting an offer to do a presentation for the teachers of Palm Beach Florida via video conference. Today was the fateful day so I thought I'd give a short update on the experience.

As one could surmise from my first post, I was anything but confident with this arrangement. The Superintendent of Palm Beach wanted a strong technology presentation, and I feared what it would look like if the connection didn't work. So I took a couple of hours the week before and recorded the presentation as a video that they could use if the live feed didn't show up. This bit of preparation made the ensuing craziness a little less stressful.

A couple of technical notes, rather than Skype, we used Google+ Hangouts. I was able to use my camera and then send shorts of the screen while I narrated the presentation. I also connected my iPad into the group, so I could use this as a secondary camera and see the audience. We did a run through last Friday and everything went smoothly. After that I practiced with the iPad and my desktop to work out a few rough spots. I came in early today to set up the connection, and everything seemed to be going great.

The last 15 minutes before the presentation, however, were horrific. Suddenly they couldn't get my sound. I unplugged and plugged my microphone, only to have the entire connection go dead. Finally we got back together, but I could barely hear anything on their end, and every time I asked “Can you hear me?” I received vague responses (note to tech support, if your speaker is asking if you can hear him or her, the answer to that question should be your priority). Eventually, though, we seemed to have things ready and I started.

I planned to start with a camera shot of me to do the introduction, move into the Prezi, and then periodically come back to the camera for longer points. On their end, there was a shot of the audience (though it was in near darkness), and I could hear them in case there were questions.

Moments into the presentation there was terrible feedback on their end. Every time there was any pace or volume in my voice, it would start a feedback loop with the audience microphone. I tried to move ahead slowly, distracted by the technicians trying to fix the problem. Eventually the only solution they could devise was to turn off the sound there. The feedback was gone, but I was flying blind.

I did the entire presentation with no visual or audio cues, pausing periodically where I hoped there would be a laugh, even suggesting that they call out answers to my “flying cars” question. At one point I paused and asked if someone could indicate whether they were hearing me or not, as I had a concern that I was talking away while they weren't hearing anything. The moderator gave me a thumbs up, so I went on. At the end I thanked them and said I would take questions, figuring they would turn the sound back up, but it never came on, and after another thumbs up from the superintendent, I signed off.

Later the Superintendent wrote to say that it went well on there end and that there was laughter when I had hoped. I am happy for this, but I still feel disconcerted by the experience. I wonder if it would have been better for them to show the video, since I had no more interaction during a live performance. If I were to try this again, I have a definite sense of what to look for to make things better, but I can't think that this will ever be a preferred method for me. Without the cues of people's faces or their laughter, I felt like I was talking to myself and I didn't know how to react.

Was it a failure? No. I was able to do my entire presentation and I learned a lot along the way. Was it as good as it could have been? Definitely not! Would I do it again? Hmmmmmm

Image Credit: '09/06/2010 (Day 4.160) – Take A Bow' http://www.flickr.com/photos/95492938@N00/4684847574

This post is kind of a double cheat. I'm going to write about my difficulty reaching my goal of thirty posts this summer, and in the process I'll be tallying one more. Well, all's fair in love and artificially created blogging challenges.

When I stated this summer challenge it sounded very reasonable to me, write every three days and I'd finish in plenty of time. The problem I have found is that it isn't simply enough to have 20 minutes and my iPad, I need an idea that I care about enough to write. I like to think that the majority of the posts on this blog have evolved organically, springing from something I read, hear, or think about while riding, and I find it pretty difficult to just write for the sake of writing (that sounds really negative, but I don't mean it as such, I wish I had that discipline).

For whatever reason, I am beginning to fear that 20 more posts (19 if you count this one) by September 1 may not happen (notice the passive voice, abnegating responsibility). As much as I enjoy feeling guilty, after all, I am Catholic and I do have a mother, I don't want this hanging over my head completely, particularly in these “race like the wind” opening days of the school year without coming to some official position with you and with myself.

I thought about several ways to spin this. I thought about simply saying, “I give up!” I thought about redefining the terms of the challenge (30, oh, clearly that was a typo, I meant 15). Neither of these felt completely right. So I have decided to simply keep on with it, I will use the “30 Blogposts of Summer” opening until I get to 30, whenever that is (one would hope it wouldn't be next summer). I think having this open challenge will keep me writing, and we'll see how close I get to the actual deadline.

Sometimes I have thought I should call this blog, “Apologies for Not Writing,” since I seem to be either not writing or apologizing much of the time, but I will continue to work in hope, and I hope you bear with me.

As always, I invite your comments.

Photo credit: The Penitant, Albrecht Durer, http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/albrecht-durer/the-penitent-1510