Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Jack Macleod is frustrated with a recent response to a typical cellphone faux pas:

…one of the schools in Nova Scotia had two serious fights with racial overtones on Tuesday. 26 students were suspended and the police are involved. Yesterday, the Principal held a press conference and let the media know that cell phones were involved. Apparently, students were using cell phones to text back and forth after the first fight and somehow this led to the second fight. (I’m basing this on news reports).

Jack’s frustration lies here:

…the Minister of Education called for a review of cell phone policies at all school boards in the province. Given the media scrutiny, a review is probably appropriate. However, the media reports indicate that the Minister “believes that cell phones have no place in the classroom.”

He asked for my response which I left on his blog and I’ll leave here as well:

Cellphones don’t have a place in a classrooms where global collaboration isn’t valued.

Cellphones don’t have a place in classrooms where multimedia and diverse communication isn’t valued.

Cellphones don’t have a place in classrooms where authentic learning experiences aren’t valued.

Another question is why do cellphones have a place anywhere? Should places of business have cellphones? If they do, why should schools be different? Do we want students to experience as much real world learning as possible?

I understand not every teacher has the wherewithal to implement a cellphone into learning but many do. Why not use the place that is supposed to prepare students for the real world and provide opportunity to practice and learn these skills?

As these devices continue to look and act more and more like a computer, schools will be confronted with the brutal fact that they are not providing relevant education. Again, this is not to suggest every school begin to allow every classroom cart blanche in using cellphones but the response to completely ban them isn’t the proper response either. In this particular case, it’s such a lame response that in some ways abdicates responsibility from schools. I’m a firm believer that if students were involved to create reasonable rules and etiquette, many of these issues would be resolved, not all but many. Then we can get on with the idea that these are and can be learning tools.

I actually think that Nova Scotia’s policy is a good start, not perfect but a start. I hope the ministry doesn’t pull an “Al Upton response” and react in haste.

Technorati Tags: cellphones, jackmacleod

I’ve become quite a strong advocate for downplaying the fear mongering and safety concerns of online life that have been proven false. At the same time, I’ve spent much more time with teachers and classrooms talking about what to watch out for and how to make good choices.

I generally see the internet as a public place. I’ve also said as Scott McNealy has, that privacy is dead. While I do realize there are more safer places to engage in private activity, in general it’s best to see the internet as a public space. I also believe and try to model that you don’t say things online that you wouldn’t say in person. (Notice all the trackbacks to my own blog, the more I add, the more of a hypocrite I am) Saturday I violated this rule.

Graham Wegner had a rather light-hearted post about spelling and Matthew Tabor picked it up and in an effort to be funny and make a point, posted content I felt went over the top in terms of etiquette and manners. I’m not about to rehash that argument, you can feel free to post on his blog if you like. I made my initial comment on his blog then posted to twitter and used the word “obnoxious” to describe Matthew. I would have never called him that to his face. I hadn’t intended for Matthew to see that. How did Matthew know I called him obnoxious? First of all his stats told him of the numbers of people visiting his blog from twitter. While 98% of people not using twitter wouldn’t know about TweetScan, Matthew did. It’s not that I regret posting the item to twitter it’s calling him obnoxious that was wrong. I might have whispered it to friends or used that word in private conversations but not publicly. I’ve done this a few times where I’ve gotten so comfortable using Twitter that I’ve forgotten, it’s not private. I could turn on the privacy key in twitter and allow only those that I choose to see my tweets but for a lot of reasons, that doesn’t feel right to me. I’m proud of my online trail of breadcumbs and value openness more than privacy when it comes to online life.

For me twitter is an echo chamber and that’s okay. It’s a place to hang out with like minded folks, exchange links, lament your sick kids, invite others to help you out and participate in some good natured fun. It’s not meant to push my thinking. It’s more of a group than a network. I get pushed and seek diversity here and in other spaces and also support debate. That’s why I subscribe to people like Matthew, to push me and he did. In this case to also reveal my own weakness and error. My apologies and thanks Matthew.

PS. I still disagree with your post

I’ve identified myself as a closet twitterer. Like RSS, I have a hard time explaining twitter, so usually I don’t even try. I can’t articulate it. So when Common Craft came up with their latest video, some have seen it as being a great way to show others what twitter is all about. I don’t share that enthusiasm. Don’t get me wrong I think the work of Lee Lefever is great but this one misses the mark. I know, he can’t share it all in the time constraints of that format, but I’d have to say that if I didn’t know what twitter was, I’d watch that video and say, “that sounds stupid”. That’s how I‘ve always felt about any explanation.

Today I listened to the TWIT podcast with guests Dave Winer and Steve Gillmor. The last half of their podcast, they address twitter and really begin to uncover its power and potential. There are some pretty significant reasons they address including the ability to select your network, its political and social change implications as well as the appeal of the short, concise bytes of information that lead to larger and more significant learning.

So while I love the 140 format and conciseness in general, there are just too many layers to explain in a 140 seconds.

Technorati Tags: twitter, twit, rss, commoncraft, davewiner, stevegillmor

Stealing a title for a certain comedian’s performance, I wish this would be the last time but I know it won’t.

If you asked anyone who’s ever presented at a conference about web 2.0, Read/Write Web or whatever you want to call it, they will tell that the most common type of question or comment from teachers goes something like this:

“Yah, but what about posting kids pictures online? Aren’t you concerned about their safety?”

This question can often bring an important conversation about learning to a grinding halt. As tired as I am of addressing this issue, I realize it will continue to be an issue until we hammer the research and facts at people at a relentless pace. Well that’s one way to handle it anyway. I also realize I work in a school district that has a very enlightened view of this thanks to the work of many teachers who have been doing cool and important things with kids for a while now, but I’m still frustrated with the lack of knowledge folks have about this issue and the influence of traditional media that fosters the endless and needless hysteria. This is a ridiculous barrier to great learning and opportunity.

Today, Miguel found another piece of research that debunks the myth of online predators once again.

Read it. Now.

Here are a couple of key selections from this research:

• 99% of victims of Internet-initiated sex crimes were 13 to 17 years old…none were younger than 12 *why include this point?
• Posting personal information online does not, by itself, appear to be a particularly risky behavior.
• Social networking sites such as MySpace do not appear to have increased the risk of victimization by online molesters.
• Patterns of risky online behavior make youths vulnerable. (risky behaviour defined as making contact with strangers and engaging in sexual talk)
• There is no empirical evidence that posting personal information, by itself and independent of engagement in a pattern of online risky behavior, puts youths at risk for sexual victimization. Further, millions of youths use social networking sites safely, and we have not found evidence that these sites are more risky than other online venues popular with youths. Rather than focusing on types of online sites or noninteractive pursuits such as posting information, prevention messages should focus on online interactions because Internet-initiated sex crimes come about through direct communications between offenders and victims. This includes educating youths about the specific kinds of Internet interactions that are most associated with victimization, such as talking online about sex to unknown people. At the same time, judicious online contact with unknown people is not harmful or dangerous (Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2002; Wolak et al., in press).

I”m still waiting for some evidence to refute this position. So I’m telling you for the last time, until Tuesday when I present again.

Photo: i’m telling you for the last time by sabandija in da house
http://flickr.com/photos/lworcel/504844880/

Technorati Tags: digitalcitizenship, internetsafety, seinfeld, research,

Every once in a while I revisit older posts I’ve written to see if they still resonate or if I’ve changed my thinking.  I thought of this one today on busyness written almost 18 months ago:

Our culture is obsessed with being busy. When’s the last time you asked someone about their job or life and they didn’t use the word busy? It’s worn like a badge of honor. To even hint you might not be busy, conjures up visions of laziness and lack of ambition. As we plan various activities and events for schools, I’ll often hear, “that’s a busy time for schools”. Tell me when it’s not a busy time? That fact that everyone is busy should be a given by now. It’s almost akin to breathing. Should I preface every statement about my current state of existence by stating that, “I’ve been really breathing lately….consuming a lot of oxygen.” I’m trying to stop acting like I’m so busy and telling everyone how busy I am. No one really cares and it’s nothing worth talking about. Telling folks about how busy you are creates too many negative images. Talking about busyness does not usually leave the impression you love your job. I do love my job so maybe I don’t think of myself as busy. My job is to support teachers. When a teacher asks for my support, I figure out how to help. I don’t need to remind them how busy I am because they’re just as busy. I want to give people the impression that I have lots of time for them. They need to feel relaxed and I’d like to alleviate some of the stress they might be feeling in their daily grind. Life and work shouldn’t be taken so seriously. Relax. I’ve worked with some great people that I know were extremely busy but always had time to chat with me about work, life and I dare say it, even fun, non-work related stuff. I think this is the type of classroom we ought to be creating. One where teachers have lots of time to work with students and there is less a sense of panic and mayhem and more one of calm and reflection. Is this possible? I don’t know but I’m going to try and avoid the word busy to describe my work and life.

I still believe this.  There’s no question I have a way more flexible schedule that a classroom teacher. Part of what many see as the bane of student learning, is the pace at which we feel classrooms ought to move; high energy, constantly switching gears and never lingering too long on any activity. While there are benefits to this style, it also tends to create busyness. Busyness, in this model makes reflection difficult. The sense of frenzy that so many of our classrooms exude, certainly makes it hard to foster conversations in a relaxed, unhurried environment. Certainly curriculum demands and scheduling are the enemy to this.  I’m wondering, are there teachers who at some level have figured this out or is this a lost cause or pipe dream? Is there a teacher out there who works hard to mask their busyness?

Today my XO or “$100 laptop” arrived.  It brings with it the cool-looks-like-a-Fisher-Price-toy kind of responses from others. I fire it up and without doing anything, I’m online. (Our technicians had issues with the wireless in their office but it worked without even keying in a WEP code here).  I take a quick tour and have a look at some of the other activities. (The XO uses the term activities rather than programs). Soon I’m stumped because it doesn’t function exactly like my Dell laptop.

So here are the questions that hit me almost immediately: Will kids like it? Is it intuitive? What is required in schools to make it work?

It’s not really about the XO but about the varying devices we carry. I think of Clarence’s recent post on boxes and it resonates with me. The difference that in our country and others with wealth, we’re not content unless it’s shiny, new and almost ridiculously intuitive. We’re dazzled and amazed with the interface of the itouch. We’re begging the industry to make things easier, better, faster, cheaper and for the most part, they are responding. We’re extremely impatient and frustrated when things don’t work they way we think they ought to.

Several years ago, a number of school divisions in Saskatchewan embarked on an experiment with Sun Microsystems to institute a thin client model of computing. The idea was to provide greater access at a low cost.  Some divisions, sold the farm, dumped all their PC’s and adopted this system 100%. Some, like ours, chose to place these in classrooms, maintain existing systems, but hopefully provide students with greater access. If you surveyed most teachers in my former division, they would categorize this as a failure. Many classrooms rarely used the systems for a number of reasons. Lack of training, challenges around support. There were some are continue to be some teachers who looked at the systems, asked what they could do and built their classrooms around what they could do rather than what they couldn’t.

This to me is a critical mindset that needs more attention and promotion. Cellphones, ipods, thinclients, handhelds, laptops and XO’s all have potential as learning tools. But one must understand what each does well.  I realize my digital camcorder can take photos but really unless I’m in a hurry or just need something quick, I won’t use it for that purpose.  The desire for the all in one device continues but I wonder if it will ever occur.

I think about people with older vehicles. Whether they use it as a second vehicle or their primary, most aren’t naive enough to think they have a great vehicle. Most see it for what it is; a means of transportation, not fancy, the radio may not work, they may have to do a little trick to get it started but it works. It gets them from A to B. It’s about perspective.

So as I look at my XO, I want to know what it does well and use it for that purpose. I worry that students and teachers will have similar reactions as we introduce low cost computing into classrooms as they have with our Sun project. I worry that when I take the XO home for my 9 year old to play with that she’ll say, “this sucks”.  It sucks compared to the $2000 laptop she uses. The reason we don’t think cellphones suck are because we see them for what they are and that is communication devices first and foremost. The fact that some can browse the internet, take photos and videos and play music is a bonus. If I started calling a cellphone a computer, maybe it loses some of its significance. As far as the XO goes, maybe calling it a laptop isn’t the best term. Maybe we need a term paradigm for these new flash based devices.  I’m trying to present new tools and devices not simply with enthusiasm but clear understanding of what they can and can’t do. Too often people lose focus and assume too much of a product or service. For example, animoto may not be the tool for a real quality piece of storytelling but it does a nice job of making taking a few images and presenting them in an interesting way. The XO is a courageous attempt at providing lowcost computing to the world certainly with limitations but not without value. The story of stuff seems to be playing in the background for me.

Technorati Tags: olpc, clarencefisher, sunmicosystems, xo, animoto

It’s been over a year since I’ve effectively been away from technology for more than about 2 days. That meant, 141 unanswered emails, and over 1000+ unread feeds and pages of twitter I’ll never read.

Truthfully it’s not even 5 complete days without access. I’ve grabbed a few minutes here and there between my father’s dialup connection and some downtown wireless. Not even sure why I bothered. I managed to answer a few urgent emails and poke my head in the “twitter staff room” but that was about it. If it wasn’t for the online class I’m teaching I really shouldn’t have bothered.

I typically spent over 8 hours a day online. Is that normal? I don’t know. It is my job and my passion so it is what it is. With that time, I’ve learned lots, developed some expertise along with some pretty strong philosophies.  But during my hiatus, I realize as many do, that being disconnected is hard. While I enjoyed my break, didn’t really think about other stuff, when I did have a moment to think I wondered what was going on out there. What was I missing? I wasn’t learning they way I was used to. But for many, even those that want to, they don’t have 8 hours a day to devote to this.

I have to think more deeply about what is really important. When I only have a couple of hours, minutes with people, what is it that I really need to communicate. What things are really significant and what things can be disposable?  I’ve never talked to teachers about twitter for example. Not because I don’t think it’s valuable but for most it’s a bit overwhelming as an entry point of connections. Even blogging, while it is simple to do, offers many very important opportunities, it may be not be critical.

I like Carolyn Foote’s post on 15 minutes a day (Mr. Jakes idea) But of course a starting point is required. Even 15 minutes a day, while great is challenging for me because I’m used to working on 40 times that much.

As I sit here for one of the sessions at FETC, I hear a woman say, “Slow down. I don’t know a wiki from a walki. Tell me where to start.” Of course that’s tough to answer. If I polled a 1000 of my readers, I’d get a broad range of responses, none of which would likely be wrong.

As the Heath brother’s write, I  have the knowledge curse.

Here’s the great cruelty of the Curse of Knowledge: The better we get at generating great ideas—new insights and novel solutions—in our field of expertise, the more unnatural it becomes for us to communicate those ideas clearly. That’s why knowledge is a curse. But notice we said “unnatural,” not “impossible.” Experts just need to devote a little time to applying the basic principles of stickiness.

Kelly Christopherson has similar thoughts. This post has no answers just ramblings and reflections. Every time I write over a couple of days, I find it tough to string the thoughts together. But it’s my space and Rob Wall says you can just write for yourself so I did. But as always your thoughts and comments are critical to my learning so drop a thought on this if you have one. Always looking for stickiness.

Technorati Tags: fetc, carolynfoote, davidjakes, robwall, kellychristopherson, madetostick

One presentation I’m working on is called “Lesson#1 Share everything”. It’s based on Robert Fulgham’s book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. His first lesson is share everything. Of course my presentation will center around publishing and sharing ideas. I could write a book called All I Really Need to Know I Learned From My Network.  Maybe not everything but obviously those who are part of my learning network and others can attest to its power and importance. This is the basis of the network, people’s desire and ability to share their learning.

I get really frustrated when someone tells me about an outstanding teacher and I can’t find hide nor hair of their work online. What a waste. If they are as good as others say they are, why not share that with others?  They’ll tell me their kids made a great video, learned something great from an experiment or gave a great presentation but it means very little to me unless I can be part of it too. But even those who have the means and understanding aren’t sharing like they ought to. Some even offline don’t share much. Part of it is culture. I remember the first conference I attended as a young teacher. In order to be reimbursed for my expenses, I had to complete not only an expense form but a form asking what I had learned and if I would be willing to share it with other teachers. I anxiously filled out all the neat stuff I had learned and happily checked the box indicating I would love to share. Never heard from it again. There was no mechanism in place that allowed for sharing other than the informal discussions in staff rooms. Most schools do not have expectations that sharing is part of our job. I don’t think we’ve always done this as some feel. This has to change. I’ve built it into my classes for pre-service teachers. Part of their grade is based on their contribution to others’ learning.  Our ideas about what we share has to change as well.

Claire Thompson writes,

I know that I am struggling to come up with a meaningful way to incorporate blogs into my science classes. If what I’m planning could just as easily be done as a traditional assignment, then why do it using blogs? An added challenge is that my classes consist of small groups of student’s working asynchronously. If we’re going to blog, it is going to have to be about big ideas in science, not the specific details of, say, the cell cycle.

But Claire, it’s not about you…it’s about sharing. Someone is interesting in the cell cycle. Read this if you don’t believe me. While I know that folks like Clarence, Darren, Chris and Kathy are awesome teachers, part of what makes them awesome is that we can see what they’re doing. There are other teachers doing good work, we just don’t see it.

So if you’re doing good work:share. If you’re doing a lousy job:keep it to yourself.

Image:Sharing by furiousgeorge81
http://flickr.com/photos/furiousgeorge81/177926979/

Technorati Tags: robertfulgham, clairethompson, darrenkuropatwa, clarencefisher, kathycassidy, chrisharbeck, davecormier