OK. I follow Ray Kurzweil and Marc Prensky, and think Alvin Toffler may have been talking more about education than other disciplines without knowing. As educators we have aresponsibility to meet our students where they live. Some of this can be started in K12, but that is dependent upon the technology that the district has available, the willingness of those teaching, and the technosavvy of the administration.
I'm sorry, but the 'if we build it they will come' mentality won't work if we are using the wrong materials and blueprints.
Who is our target audience and what is their comfort level not only with technology, but with change in general?
Another article acknowledges the importance of dealing with modern material. Closing the Gap Between Education and Technology by Chris Riedel in THE Journal discusses some of the revelations (or is it proselytizing) of Mark Benno. You can find the article here.
An interesting point related was the lack of watches in classrooms. This got me thinking about my digital immigrant self and how I have come to use technology.
I have not worn a watch since I bought my first PDA in 2002. No reason. Two months ago I bought an old tech Nokia 9300 to replace another Nokia that was terribly difficult to text using. Hey, I've been involved with computers since the TRS-80 days, so QWERTY is very natural to me.
Now it starts to blend. I have a PDA that is also in many ways a mini-laptop, I have Internet access (though the original browser on this Symbian Series 80 phone is truly dismal), and the only piece of regularly used technologies missing are a decent camera, a PC emulator like Virtual Box, and a higher resolution screen, or a miniaturized pullout adjunct screen like that on the new Thinkpad W700ds, and a decent MP3 player. My understanding is that the E90 addresses much of the shortcoming.
Add some voice recognition software tied to a decent browser and you have a combo for online discussion groups that would be useful indeed. Or even better something that would allow you to video blog to your course management system, the N95 with its dual cameras comes to mind. So the use of video clips or video blogging on the fly and easily creating posts in threaded discussions from the car (with phone or perhaps even enhanced GPS *????* ) becomes not only possible but almost easy.
Of course the article takes a little different tack. I'm married to a QUERTY keyboard for comfort, which in and of itself dates me. The article talks about multitasking that takes on a different flavor, actually taking in information from different sources literally at the same time. In my life the only equivalent I can come up with is when I am on the elliptical. I'll frequently listen to music (I recently discovered Dave Matthews and am exhausting that catalog now) while watching the news with the SAP program on to read the dialog. That is in some sense the spirit, if not the actual application, that is mentioned in the article. Now if I am listening to the Thomas Jefferson Hour while watching the news on the elliptical, and actively participating in both then I might be closer.
I know, I know. Some will say that multitasking is not a good thing, that it decreases efficiency. All you need to do is plug the terms multitasking and efficient into Google to see the debate. But the fact remains people do it. Serial or Parallel? True multitasking or merely task switching (think GEM vs. Windows NT ). You be the judge.
But I digress. :-)
"Kids use technology in ways many of us would never think of, he said. " That's a good start.
This article is worth reading and the ACOT2 programis worth following.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I found a picture: Mary Nowlin in Jackson Wyoming
I'm slowly going through my mother's scrapbooks. Every once in a while I run into a real gem. This is my grandmother, Mary (McKean) Nowlin circa late 30s to early 40s at the house next to the Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole Wyoming. I believe one of the children is my Mother and another my Uncle Dan Nowlin. You can see the fence for the Elk Refuge in the background. This is the site of the Nowlin Creek Inn that my cousin Mark and his wife built many years back. My understanding is that the house in the picture has been moved to the back of the lot. I very much miss this area of Wyoming as it was before becoming 'discovered'.
Prensky: Engage me or Enrage me
Marc Prensky of course. What if we took learning back to the students in a way that would allow them to work within a complex system that held their attention? Prensky has an excellent point that young people master complex systems that go far beyond what we expose them to in school. My son Shawn at 11 is working his way through the Dungeons and Dragons books. A great deal of math, planning, and comparison at high levels going on there. But he is below average in many subjects at school. Maybe it is not about what we choose to engage them with as much s how?
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf
So how do we do this? Is this something that can be achieved via educational gaming? Somehow I don't think it will be that easy.
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf
So how do we do this? Is this something that can be achieved via educational gaming? Somehow I don't think it will be that easy.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Educators must not be digital slackers. Our kids aren't.
Soapbox=ON
I ran across this video and thought it important to share. What is said here is, in my mind, the truth and also the next logical step in education. We must engage students using the tools they are most comfortable with. Big surprise?
These students are digital natives who are comfortable with technology and in fact rely on different types of information than those of us who predate (I'm 49) the modern mediums and lexicon of modern electronic social interaction.
We need to meet the needs of students using the mediums that are most comfortable and meaningful to them. This requires a rethinking if not complete dismissal of the old axiom of student as empty vessel waiting to be filled. Guess what? They are far beyond most of us in terms of knowing how to access modern information sources.
I think it behooves us to catch up. Rather than being the 55th in technology aptitude, we need to wire our schools for modern learning. This is not strictly an IT issue. IT knows IT. We need those who can mesh the technical with the pedagogy, and those who understand not only hardware and software, but also how to make technology meaningful instead of just ubiquitous.
soapbox=OFF
I ran across this video and thought it important to share. What is said here is, in my mind, the truth and also the next logical step in education. We must engage students using the tools they are most comfortable with. Big surprise?
These students are digital natives who are comfortable with technology and in fact rely on different types of information than those of us who predate (I'm 49) the modern mediums and lexicon of modern electronic social interaction.
We need to meet the needs of students using the mediums that are most comfortable and meaningful to them. This requires a rethinking if not complete dismissal of the old axiom of student as empty vessel waiting to be filled. Guess what? They are far beyond most of us in terms of knowing how to access modern information sources.
I think it behooves us to catch up. Rather than being the 55th in technology aptitude, we need to wire our schools for modern learning. This is not strictly an IT issue. IT knows IT. We need those who can mesh the technical with the pedagogy, and those who understand not only hardware and software, but also how to make technology meaningful instead of just ubiquitous.
soapbox=OFF
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
OpenEducationDisc 8.05
I'm very much enjoying this summer. We came out of NCATE and CCTC accreditation the beginning of March, I was teaching a lot, and I my task in accreditation preparation was to participate in the planning, put up and populate the accreditation Web site, and also figure out how to get the reports we needed out of LiveText. All in all, I don't remember all that much from about last September through the middle of March. :-) Last quarter was OK, but there were a lot of odds and ends to deal with, and then we hit graduation. This summer I'm teaching just one course and finishing up on a grant. I can stay home with my boys, take the occasional trip out to the coast, and generally relax.
This also means I can catch up on the things that interest me professionally. I hope to do something in the way of collaborating on a conference paper or two on the accreditation experience and how certain technologies helped. That is if my writing partners have time. But once again I digress.
For several years I have been thinking about the idea of creating a universal CD for students that will give us all a common set of applications to use in online courses. Having this would cut down on the amount of support needed and also make certain I have the ability to read anything students send my way. It also helps with the sanity. I think I may do something rash if I am sent another MS Works or MS Publisher file the day before grades have to be posted. :-)
A while back, there used to be something called the OpenCD. I thought it was a great start toward creating just such a universal platform for student work. I hadn't checked in on it in the last year or so, so I dropped in this morning. opencd.com is now a discontinued project. Wow! I have to say this was a bit disappointing. On the page there were references to other projects that were continuing the work Most were Ubuntu related. I'm guessing the OpenCD contents are wrapped up in the Live, self running, Ubuntu distributions. These versions of Linux can run (and I should add, many others can too) directly from your CD drive without needing to be installed. This is a good way to check out Linux, but I can't see running an entire operating system in order to use a few applications.
There was a reference on the page to Opendisc. So I clicked the link.
Opendisc is a project that appears to be hosted at SourceForge, at least that is where the download comes from. It is a collection of the very best of freely available software. I scrolled down a bit and found an education specific version named the OpenEducationDisc. I downloaded the ISO file, which is an image file (like a picture of the data on the disc) of about 700 meg. Contained on this disc are the following taken directly from the page:
Tight VNC
Filezilla
Azureus
WinSCP
Most of these I am familiar with, but some I am not. I am in the process of burning the image now. I will report back on what I find. Regardless, it appears that this package contains most of what one could want to standardize applications across online courses.
This also means I can catch up on the things that interest me professionally. I hope to do something in the way of collaborating on a conference paper or two on the accreditation experience and how certain technologies helped. That is if my writing partners have time. But once again I digress.
For several years I have been thinking about the idea of creating a universal CD for students that will give us all a common set of applications to use in online courses. Having this would cut down on the amount of support needed and also make certain I have the ability to read anything students send my way. It also helps with the sanity. I think I may do something rash if I am sent another MS Works or MS Publisher file the day before grades have to be posted. :-)
A while back, there used to be something called the OpenCD. I thought it was a great start toward creating just such a universal platform for student work. I hadn't checked in on it in the last year or so, so I dropped in this morning. opencd.com is now a discontinued project. Wow! I have to say this was a bit disappointing. On the page there were references to other projects that were continuing the work Most were Ubuntu related. I'm guessing the OpenCD contents are wrapped up in the Live, self running, Ubuntu distributions. These versions of Linux can run (and I should add, many others can too) directly from your CD drive without needing to be installed. This is a good way to check out Linux, but I can't see running an entire operating system in order to use a few applications.
There was a reference on the page to Opendisc. So I clicked the link.
Opendisc is a project that appears to be hosted at SourceForge, at least that is where the download comes from. It is a collection of the very best of freely available software. I scrolled down a bit and found an education specific version named the OpenEducationDisc. I downloaded the ISO file, which is an image file (like a picture of the data on the disc) of about 700 meg. Contained on this disc are the following taken directly from the page:
OpenOffice.org - Fully compatible office software for your school work
Dia - Make technical diagrams and flowcharts
Scribus - Create professional looking posters and magazines
GanttProject - Plan your school projects with this project management software
FreeMind - Collect your ideas with this mind mapping Software
PDF Creator - Make PDF documents from any program
Sumatra PDF - Read PDF files quickly and easily
Firefox - A safe, secure and fast web browser
Thunderbird - Manage your emails better than ever - Reclaim your inbox!
Pidgin - Talk to your friends whatever instant message client they use
Kompozer - Create web pages easily, without having to code
RSSOwl - Keep up with your favourite internet news feeds on your desktop
GIMP - Edit digital photos and create graphics
GIMP animation - Create animations
Inkscape - Make professional looking vector graphics
Blender - 3D graphic modeling, animation, rendering and playback
Tuxpaint - Drawing program for children ages 3 to 12
VLC - Play music, videos and DVDs
Avidemux - Edit movies and add special effects
Audacity - Record, edit and mix music
Infra Recorder - Burn your own CDs and DVDs
CamStudio - Record your actions on a computer
Really Slick Screensavers - Great looking screensavers
Nasa Worldwind - Discover the earth and other planets
GraphCalc - A graphical calculator
Guido Van Robot - Learn how computer programs work
CarMetal - Cool mathematical modelling tool
Celestia - Explore the universe in three dimensions
Stellarium - A planetarium on your PC
FreeCiv - Control the world through diplomacy and conquest
FreeCol - Discover the ‘New World’ and build an empire
TuxTyping 2 - Learn to type like a pro
The Battle for Wesnoth - Turn based fantasy strategy game
Winboard Chess - The classic game of chess
Qianhong - Challenge yourself at Chinese Chess
GTK+
7zip
Abakt
Clamwin
HealthMonitor
Workrave
Tight VNC
Filezilla
Azureus
WinSCP
Most of these I am familiar with, but some I am not. I am in the process of burning the image now. I will report back on what I find. Regardless, it appears that this package contains most of what one could want to standardize applications across online courses.
Discussion diaries as a reflective assessment tool?
We use LiveText as our ePortoflio system here. It provides the ability to create an overarching portfolio as a means of demonstrating personal growth through the program. Each final portfolio requires a piece from each course that demonstrates an understanding of the material presented in the course. Currently, this is usually the major project and a reflection. I read something this morning about a webinar on discussion portfolios. This got me thinking about the purpose of the signature piece in an online course. Many courses have, being partially constructivist (and sometimes even constructionist I would argue) in nature, a high value on the discussion posts in any given course. Does it make sense then for the discussion, since it is weighted heavily and also represents (hopefully) the evolution of understanding by a student in a given course, to use the discussion in some form as the signature piece?
My thought would be to create a discussion diary (within LiveText or what have you) where students can post favorite discussion posts or threads and create reflections on these threads later in the course. Basically a kind of ongoing monologue on the posts they find important to themselves and what it comes to mean over the rest of the course. This could replace or augment the project as the demonstrative piece.
Then, over the course of the program, the diary could become part of the final portfolio, perhaps with an overarching reflection on the discussions themselves. This wouldn't diminish the need for a rubric for discussion performance, but perhaps could split it into two sections, the first a pure assessment of quantity with the discussions themselves, and the other rubric run against the diary as part of assessment at the end of the quarter.
One of the things I like best about this idea is that it would show growth over the course of the quarter better than the major project would, in that it is not a single research-based test point in the class, but more of a continuum over time, showing multiple points in the development of understanding of the topics presented . The rubric would be a real challenge to develop.
My thought would be to create a discussion diary (within LiveText or what have you) where students can post favorite discussion posts or threads and create reflections on these threads later in the course. Basically a kind of ongoing monologue on the posts they find important to themselves and what it comes to mean over the rest of the course. This could replace or augment the project as the demonstrative piece.
Then, over the course of the program, the diary could become part of the final portfolio, perhaps with an overarching reflection on the discussions themselves. This wouldn't diminish the need for a rubric for discussion performance, but perhaps could split it into two sections, the first a pure assessment of quantity with the discussions themselves, and the other rubric run against the diary as part of assessment at the end of the quarter.
One of the things I like best about this idea is that it would show growth over the course of the quarter better than the major project would, in that it is not a single research-based test point in the class, but more of a continuum over time, showing multiple points in the development of understanding of the topics presented . The rubric would be a real challenge to develop.
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