Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

I’m sitting in a conference session as I write this realizing, I can’t take it anymore. Presentations that don’t engage are no longer tolerable. I believe technology is an amplifier. The fact that I have a laptop in my hands certainly easily distracts me. When I look at others in the room, I see some focused but others looking at program information, newspapers or just appear to be tuned out. Some are actively engaged. Teachers have long been accused of being lousy listeners. Part of the issue is the topic. Using Technology in the Cree Classroom. Mostly stuff about using PowerPoint or FileMaker Pro. Yes, for some this is interesting stuff. But will the learning stick? Is this just informational?

I’m not usually interested in informational sessions at conference since I can find it online just as well. I”m looking for stories, developed or new ideas, tough questions, challenges. Maybe others aren’t. Maybe some are just at a different place.

I remember a while back, Steve D. talking about having presenters post their material ahead of time and spend the sessions dealing with the challenging stuff.

I’ve been accused of being a multi-tasker and one who has trouble sitting for a long time….I disagree. I can switch back and forth between tasks quickly. I can sit for hours when engaged. I’ve just chosen to choose what I will engage my mind with rather than endure time in unengaging activity. (low battery warning…must hurry)

So my dilemma is this:

• Am I just lazy?
• Do I need to be more disciplined and focus better?
• I make judgments quickly about the value of the learning activity. Is that bad?
• What makes us think kids would be any different?
• Am I the only one with this problem?
• Do we really believe that engagement is more important than content? (Prensky)

[tags]conferense, AWASIS,engagement[/tags]

As I prepare for my RSS session on Tuesday at the IT Summit 2007, I’d love to have some live testimonials. If you’re available for a minute or two between 1:30-2:30 MST on Tuesday, May 1st, would be  interested in telling my audience why RSS is important to you? Or maybe your favourite RSS hack or tip?

Leave a comment and let me know if I can skype you. (leave me your skype name if I don’t have it)

Also, feel free to add to the RSS wiki or the Google Reader wiki.

[tags]rss,shareski,presentation,saskatoon,itsummit2007[/tags]

I’ve been using tripadvisor quite a bit lately and believe more and more in its model. Customer reviews are the only ranking system they use and customer use whatever criteria they like. Look up any hotel or attraction and you’ll find ratings and most important, reviews. These reviews are usually more important than the rating since they reveal bias and often details that validate the rating. Reading the through the various reviews and you’ll be pretty certain what you’re getting into.

The social networking is evident in the contributions users make and the benefit of learning from each other. Users can opt to leave the email address linked to their name if you have further questions. There likely no reason for anyone to give a good or bad review (unless they are working for or are competitor’s of the facility). Reading the reviews after the fact, usually verifies your research in some form and by adding to the comments, you richen the data.

Critical thinking is essential in that ratings alone can be misleading. For example, one hotel reviewer might give a bad rating because they discovered they don’t allow pets. This may not be an issue to you so the poor rating may be dismissed.  You tend to read several reviews in order to form an educated opinion. Checking a user’s other reviews to see if they are particularly negative or positive also provides insight.

Unlike wikipedia where it is an attempt to provide truth,  tripadvisor allows users to express their opinions and experiences and in turn allow readers to make educated decisions.

[tags]socialnetworking,tripadvisor,wikipedia[/tags]

Last week, the CBC asked for viewer feedback on the recent ban of Toronto school boards on cellphones. I weighed with this comment:

I’m not surprised by these comments. Most parents and educators are stuck in an old model of education where the teacher is in full control of the learning and disruption is a bad thing.

Cellphones have the potential of computers. Good and bad. Good teachers understand how to use technology for learning. The cellphone is already being used in powerful learning ways. I understand most readers think of them as disruptive and in no way educational. A desktop computer is no different.

In addition to the potential for learning, the recent events in Virginia will likely prompt increased use.

To those that talk about potential of cheating….I would hope that good teachers are not spending most of their time having kids answer questions that require rote answers. Learning needs to go deeper than that.

Why are we asking kids to learn the provincial capitals when Google gives you that answer in less than 1 second? I’m not saying knowledge isn’t important but the emphasis on assessing and evaluating students shouldn’t be here. It should be on a higher order thinking and performance that cannot be shared by a simple text message.

My ideal world has each student with a laptop, cellphone, ipod and whatever they need.

How ’bout you go to work tomorrow without these tools?

If you read the majority of the 52 comments you’ll see parents, teachers and students opinions clearly support the ban. In fact, I can’t find one advocating the use of cellphones in the classroom. I was a bit shocked by this and marveled at how the conversation could only speak of the use of cellphones under the traditional educational environment.  The possibility of a reformed educational system is a best just talk and at worst not even in the radar.  As my own school division contemplates budget cuts, I worry about the efforts to maintain status quo as being something to strive for. Yikes!

The possibility that student would voluntarily bring to class a computing device, be it a cellphone, laptop, ipod or handheld that could be leveraged for learning is just not being seen largely because it really involves a shift of power and control. We’re not close to being ready for that.  I know you already knew that, but I was just brought back to reality again.

[tags]cellphones, ban, Toronto, CBC, shareski[/tags]

As I prepare for my upcoming session at the IT Summit 2007 on RSS, I wanted to develop another metaphor for RSS. About a year and half ago, I came up with the dinner party/friends analogy. It seemed to resonate quite well but I wanted something fresh. Here’s variation on that theme:

I’ve recently assembled a team of researchers who go out on a daily basis and find out what’s happening in the world of digital learning and education in general. This team is comprised of teachers, consultants and experts who really know there stuff. Some live in China,New Zealand, Scotland, United States and Canada. They send me their findings in an instance. Some will even call me to discuss their findings. If there are questions, I can get clarification and often leads me to others who are also working on the issue. They are relentless.When I wake up in the morning, I’m always amazed that the work they’ve done. Sometimes it’s too much but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The best part about my team is they are free. Many organizations would be thousands of dollars a month for this type of work. I’ve been able to compile this team for nothing. All they ask is that I also share my work and allow them to consider me a researcher as well. So far, it’s been working very well.

So who’s on your research team?

You’ll want to click on the larger image to see how many you can name. (Don’t look at the tags either…cheaters) If you see yourself, why not sign the guestbook on the flickr page.

BTW, I’m still having issues with my feed not formatting so you’ll want to come to the site to see this post properly….I know the issue is with PodPress, I need to revert back to version 6.8 but can’t find it anywhere.

Update: Steve has added some great notes to the image with links.

[tags]rss,itsummit2007,guhlin,macleay,kwhobbes,wegner,hunt,cassidy,couros,oakes,mcleod,warlick,richardson,stager,davis,dembo,utecht,seimens,levine,downes,sierra,kuropatwa,fisher,mcintosh,fryer,wall,d’souza,norman,shareski[/tags]

If you want to show kids the power of editing and music in storytelling, show them this remix of Dumb and Dumber as a horror movie. This would be a great assignment for students to remix video to change the genre.

As I pack up for the day, 2 posts grabbed my attention.

1. Will’s post on the OLPC and especially the exchange in the comments between Gary Stager and Tom Hoffman and Will. The fact that we cannot find a way to provide kids with the essential tool of our day continues to astound me.
2. Virginia shooting on Wikipedia. It already has over 500 edits.

[tags]onetoone,OLPC,garystager,willrichardson,tomhoffman,wikipedia,virginiashooting[/tags]

The OLPC project is officially underway as students in Nigeria received the first shipment of laptops. CNet has some nice photos of the launch.