A Lesson to Remember from the Business Community

The education community can learn a lesson from the business community in the way we integrate technology into what we do in the classroom. Too often, our model in education is like the diagram below. We find or get a tool and then try to find a "problem" or a place to make it work.




Instead of putting the cart before the horse as is common in the education community, the business community starts with a problem and then either finds a tool that will solve the problem or makes the tool that will solve the problem as in the diagram below.




Granted, my examples may be a bit oversimplified, but in the big picture of things, this is actually the way things should work when looking at integrating technology. While working on my Master's degree in Computer Applications in Education from the University of Northern Iowa, the emphasis was not on computers or software. The emphasis was on Instructional Design. Before integrating technology or any tool you may wish to use, it is important to have the purpose, goals and objectives outlined for what the student needs to know. Only then can one begin to integrate the technology. the teacher needs to know his/her content and pedagogy before adding the third component of technology

It's Not Your Grandmother's Technology

I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I am doing great and have learned some lessons, so no worry there. One of the things I noticed was that even in this, technology use is evident. My grandmother had diabetes and had to check her glucose levels. However, she did it with a type of litmus paper and checking her urine. Now, all that needs to be done is to use device smaller than my cell phone with a test strip inserted. With one tiny drop of blood on the test strip, the glucose monitor calculates my blood glucose level in about 5 seconds - and, I would argue, probably more accurate than the tests my grandmother had to use.

In addition, I go to a site called Gyminee where I can get the amount of carbs per serving for about anything one can eat. It is a site for nutrition and health, so if you are a Consumer and family Science teacher, this might be a place for you to check out.

Things That Cannot be Replaced

Our family recently had a close relative pass away after a surgery.

Technology was evident in everything during this past 5 weeks - from the surgery to intensive care to rehab - technology is everywhere in the medical field. It still does not replace a good surgeon, doctor or nurse. Even in parts of the grieving process, technology was evident. Pictures of our relative and his family were scanned and a slide show set to music was available for visitors to see at the funeral home. DVDs were made for family members. GPS was used in locating and digging the grave site. Who would have thought? Our relative will be greatly missed.

Another thing technology won't replace is the Sympathy Card. Roughly 600 and still coming at this time. In fact, I don't think technology should replace it. As much as one can "personalize" things with technology, there is still something about the handwritten note which carries more emotion and sincerity.

I think some of this can be applied to technology in education. I recently read where, in the business world, a problem presents itself and the technology is developed to solve the problem. The author contrasted that with education in that in the education field, the technology is adopted and then people realize that there is a problem - either with its use, integration or application. Many times expensive tools will sit in the corner. I trust that this is not true for you or your school, but if it is, hopefully, we can adapt more of the business model.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, technology won't replace the Sympathy Card. Well, I will expand that to education and argue that technology will never replace a good teacher - a teacher who is making decisions based on pedagogy, content and technology to provide students with the best chance to learn and succeed. Thank you for all you do!

Podcasting

Podcasting can be a snap. Just listen to the audio! Here is the link:
Podcasting is Easy!

Here is an example of a podcast done with GarageBand: Another Example

Here is an example of a vodcast: Video Example

Podcasting got its name from the iPod, but really does not need an iPod to make it work. The first thing you need to have in order to make a podcast is the content. As an educator, your content could be anything from classroom activities or an audio newsletter, to student reactions to something they have read, seen or heard, to a way of either differentiating instruction through remediation or enrichment. It is best to "script" what you wish to say so that you do not sound like some of the examples here.

The second thing you need is the tools to make it happen. The software for the computer can be Audacity or GarageBand. The latest version of GarageBand allows you to make a podcast and add visuals to go with what you are saying. You will also need a microphone. There are several types. One might use the built in microphone, a headset microphone, or even buy a high end microphone. Good podcasts do not need expensive equipment.

Once it is recorded and saved as an MP3 or (or MP4 if you do it in GarageBand), you need to house it where is can be "found" such as a server or something on that order. There is a Web 2.0 service called Box.net (Click here for Box.net). Since many teachers have a web site, the podcasts could be linked from there to where they are stored.

Once the podcast is stored where it can be accessed (a server of some sort), the podcast needs to be linked to a Blog or web site. If you have a blog, others can subscribe to an RSS feed and get your podcasts when they become available. The RSS is nice, but not completely necessary if you simply wish to post a link on your website.

Notes on BLC 08

Here are some of the notes I took on the sessions I attended at the Building Learning Communities Conference:

July 16:

Ewan Macintosh – Keynote
-Digital Natives do not exist
-We have too many excuses
-Be interesting and to do that, be interested in everything
-Everyone in the school needs to do research and development
-Toilet Paper Sculptures – sometimes with all the glitz, we forget just what the technology is all about and why we are using it.
-Card Color Changing Trick
-We get blinded by the test or the technology or the pedagogy
-We do not see what is important
-sometimes we forget that kids do not always need input in order to give output.
-upside down pictures – who is that – Oh, I know who that is
-Oh, I know that – I do not need that technology, it will never work
OR We get lost in the technology and forget what we are doing
Pinball and Chess – can teach chess, but not pinball – can teach skills, but not creativity
-Equal Access
-Participation Culture. Its not about tools. Many gray areas. Participation Spaces – in schools do watching spaces very well– mainly a watching space – we need other spaces
-Share
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/562434
http://www.bobsprankle.com/bitbybit/podcast/bitbybit071608.mp3

Take Homes:
-digital natives do not exist
-teachers use too many excuses
-In order to be interesting, be interested in everything
-Cell phones are becoming an educational tool



1. The Best of Two Worlds – Creating the Environment for 21st Century Learning
-AEA in Connecticut
-Spice it up a notch with Nutmeg
-used wiki to discuss books and also buld background for books
-Good idea for Reading Consultants – use a wiki for book discussion
-Wikis were not being used to potential as tools for student research, create, communicate, contribute, collaborate
-Web 2.0 technology not making a difference
-if power isn’t tapped, if little evidence they increase learning, will they be valued only for ability to engage and motivate
-WHY not working?
-View Web 2.0 tools more than motvational
-Educators comfortable with tech
-First hand experience with Web 2.0 Tools
-Students need to be proficient in using Web 2.0
-Web 2.0 has to be seen as a means to an end and not the end itself
-Best practices are still important
-Foldables before web
-My Character Spaces
-Book Trailers
-storybookipedia
-Take Home – Share this with Reading and Science Consultants
-Work with Reading and Science Consultants to develop something like this
-Best Practices Still important – do some of the work before getting on the web.
-Pedagogy
www.slideshare.net/donnaandrebecca/bestof2-worlds

Take Homes:
Share with Reading Consultants and as many others
Looking for collaborators
Collaboration a key thing




2. Podcating With Purpose
www.bobsprankle.com

-gabcast

-utterz

-www.educationpodcast.com
http://www.bobsprankle.com/bitbybit/podcast/bitbybit073008.mp3

http://spranklepodcastblc.wikispaces.com/Keynote+Presentation





3. Practical Pedagogy: Web 2.0, Online Learning and Professional Development
Lauren C. Panton
Chatham University

Alternatives to F-to-F workshops

Push or Pull
Formal vs Informal
Personal Learning Environments
(Google e-mail for students – protected – at a cost)

diigo – more robust than del.icio.us (groups, send text from a web page and not the whole thing)
voicethread(techdi.blogspot.com)
(Tim Fahlberg – math tasks and voicethread)
k12onlineconference.org
chinswing.com
dimdim with moodle
http://www.slideshare.net/lpanton/practical-pedagogy-professional-development-web-20-and-online-learning/



July 17:

John Davitt -keynote

-E-Bay formative assessment feel good more than education
-Which world? – both – working at the point to which the two worlds meet
ClassTools.net – Jackpot – slot machine with names
-Stress kills learning – black belt third degree blogger
-Learners are different
-How do you want your learning?
-learning score
--Davitt’s Learning Event Generator Do ___ As______
Steps
1. Keep Learning Active – provide feedback
2. Make learners as important as shoppers (Scratch – struggleware)
3. Work on Active/Passive
4. Trust yourself – Bridge 2 worlds
5. Embrace the age of ad hocracy
www.newtools.org
johndavitt@mac.com
www.learningscore.com

blcconference.ning.com

www.tinyurl.com/6fcynp

Kiva
evernote
Jing




1. A Day in the life of a teacher teaching with tech

31 Days – Flickr
Smartboard Lesson Podcast
Three Principles – How People Learn and How Students Learn
1. What precoceptons are students bringing to learning
(How do facts fit together in network of concepts)
2. metacognition
3. social and conceptual netowrkds

3 Practices
1. Watch it and Do it (Teach it)
a. Reveals Preconceived Misconceptions
-builds conceptual and social networks
-promotes metacognition
-twitter what is happening in the classroom
blog what is happening
Save everything, make it a pdf file and go to slideshare.net (incidental learning – 48% of profile complete)
31 Days – image is metaphorical – related to content of class search on Flickr or Slideshare

2. Transparency
-share everything –
-galleries of thought
(Kids write text book) scribe post
3. Learning is a conversation
4. reflection - blogs, wikis, students write the book

http://adifference.blogspot.com

http://dkuropatwablc08.pbwiki.com/





2. Kiva – microlending platform – microlending and microcredit
Make small business loans to men and women in third world countries
Kiva.org
as small as $25
-How do they connect people
-Lenders, financial institutions and borrowers
-Haiti vs. Prom
-Semester at Sea
-World Vision
-classes collect money and donate
Kivafriends.org – lists different group lenders see schools using Kiva today
www.onehen.org

Teacher does all o fit right now
Creating better interface for that to happen, so look for it
-research on Kiva – what worked and what did not work
-Kiva Fellows Program –commit to minimum of 10 weeks
-Translators
-no more than $1200 per individual loan
-Kiva – name for unity also “nice” in Finnish
-Fellows chosen thorugh application process on site.






3. Internet /Online Safety

Even on Webkins – moral – do not give away password
Digital Native term – no , less of a sense of fear – yes

brianmull.wikispaces.com/BLC08_OnlineSafety







July 18:

1. Everything New is Old Again
dkuropatwablc08.pbwiki.com

chacha – slave labor farm

cell phones as reliable internet service as well as data streaming

Average British Citizen is on camera every 6 seconds

Music Video London’s Surveillance Video

geocaching

Jean Claude Bradley – Drexel University – No lectures, just podcasts and videos – more of a coach

tweet wheel – tweetwheel.com

http://dkuropatwablc08.pbwiki.com/





Keynote
-Pedro Noguera
Re-Imagining Schools

Don’t be encumbered by what exists

Screw up motivated kids

How good are we with kids who actually need help?
Doctor very good only if you are healthy?


2. Empowering Community and Enhancing Creativity in the Classroom
Tom Daccord

http://edtechteacher.org


Students creating content and students creating the knowledge – that’s the key (write the text book)
Colaborative and Cooperative as well as Challenging

Don’t forget the old stuff like MS Word, web search and print search


3. I can do that without technology – Actually, no you can’t
David Truss

http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com

1. The rant
http://fon.gs/injenuity /mouse (That’s My Mouse)

2. I can’t
How to use the i-phone by Paige –on YouTube
Kids expect the feedback in different ways than we did
fon.gs/paige
fon.gs/digitaldivide
a. Wat I know and what I need to know Batman and utility belt vs the Borg from Star Trek assimilating
b. Public school – what do we have and what do we wish we had
c. Skills and abilities of students in class

a. – I can change and do something about
b. always a problem with what we have and not
c. idea of competence and new responsibility for us

fon.gs/digitalcompetence
fon.gs/digitalexposure

How can we make our students feel like empowered learners – Do we permit them to make mistakes? Do we permit ourselves to make mistakes? YouTube Famous Failures
I can, I must, I will


3. The elephant

If there is an elephant in the room, introduce it.
The elephants? iPhones, cell phones
80% of people will have iPhone or similar in 5 ears or less
Wireless should be like oxygen
Tech support should be innovation support
fon.gs/Kathy what walls - attitude

If we block sites at school, who will teach appropriate use at home
Pride in getting around filter - teachers

4. the ant
fon.gs/Stephen
fon.gs/bloglessons

Overall, BLC was a great conference. It had no vendors or no vendor hall, although some vendors did present at sessions, so I think this made a big difference. Some key concepts:
-pedagogy
-21st Century Skills
-Digital Literacy
-The Elephant in the room
-micro-credit
-collaboration
-TPCK (Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge)
-See the big picture - Card Color Changing Trick

Wordle Tag Cloud

I am so happy that I was able to go. The conference affirmed the direction we are heading and gave me other things for consideration, also. Thanks, AEA 11, fr allowing me to attend BLC!