Tag Archives: technology

April 24, 2012 · 10:58 am

FAIL

What a year… As the academic year winds down I have time to reflect on how much I failed this year.  But I have learned some interesting things about education and myself through these failures.

The first lesson:  Teaching is really about the relationships we build.  By teaching from an office over a codec system 100 percent of the time has reinforced how important personal interaction is.  For the students and the teachers.  And it is not just the connections we develop during the class; it is the daily vibe of school.  The interactions between class, lunchroom banter, and the questions before and after school.

I was unprepared for the drastic change in the environment of my classroom.  Trying to remember names, understanding strengths and weakness, and interacting with students to understand their personality.  I failed.  I have a few ideas for next year that I will try to use to create a better personal connection with the students.  Because, at the heart of learning, is the relationship between student, teacher, and the subject matter.

The second lesson: Technology is not a separate component to learning.  It is not a bonus feature to bring into the classroom and use because it is cool.  I failed in the use of technology this year.  Part of my teaching responsibilities is the TECHS course that ESU 10 has developed over the last seven years.  Since the class is centered on teaching all aspects of technology I thought I had to use technology everyday.  Which isn’t my personality (lesson three).  So, I saturated the class with technology instead of using the best tool for the lesson.

The third lesson: Teaching is an art.  I know that there are strategies that support an effective classroom, but I think those strategies work because they support a teacher’s personality. For the TECHS class, I used everything that was in place from last year (I did add some lessons but I used the timeline, test, and other assignments that were already set up unchanged). And I failed.  It was like trying to dance with another person’s shoes on.  Hard to find your groove.

Ironically, Mr. Stritt told me how each year the class changed, lessons were moved, new ideas added.  But I tried not to change it, to follow the great lessons that ESU 10 had built.  But it wasn’t mine.  It didn’t fit my personality.  Which connects back to lesson one; learning is a relationship between students, teachers, and the subject matter.

The fourth lesson: Failure can be a good thing.  I have learned a lot this past year.  Would I do it again? Maybe not, there were some hard times for me.  But to have the opportunity to come to a deeper understanding of education was worth it.  I am excited to see what I do with my failures next year.  I hope I can write a success blog next year.

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April 15, 2012 · 9:52 pm

Mobile 2012 Reflections

As the weekend winds down and I get some time to reflect on the Mobile Learning Experience, a couple of things come to mind right away.

Point One: The energy from the conference was intense.  The conference was big enough to meet a new person at every breakout session, yet intimate enough to make real connections with people.  Even the schedule worked into this with the meals.  I was able to sit with my colleagues, yet have new people to meet at every meal.  The keynotes were also an integral part of the energy.  Each message was connected to the conference, but unique to each keynote.  I walked away with different ideas because of each speaker.

Point Two: The power of mobile devices. The first aspect is from Graham Brown-Martin’s keynote, which is we are still not tapping into the power of mobile technology.  We are using a technology designed to be mobile in an immobile environment. Now, what educators and schools are doing with them is awesome!  I’m pushing the idea farther, as I was thinking during Graham’s keynote and tweeted the idea that teachers use Mondays as a “Keynote” day, then, let the students go the rest of the week.

I understand that wouldn’t work all the time, but it brings up the second aspect of the mobile devices and technology: options.  There is a time for lectures (think about how powerful the keynotes and breakout sessions were), a time for worksheets, a time for tests even.  A buzzword right now is differentiation.  Simply put, options.  Mobile devices equip both students and teachers with that.  As an example, I will use simple story structure as a lesson.  In class we might read, listen, or even watch a YouTube video of the story.  I would have some vocab, which I could have a stack of flashcards for them to study, or even have them design their own.  Then, allow the students to show they understand story structure by writing a story, filming a story, or creating a cartoon.  All of which can be done on a mobile device.

Which moves me to the third point: the Teacher – Student relationship.  I started an interesting discussion about app development for teachers between breakout sessions, but I didn’t get the opportunity to finish.  Understand this discussion had the chance to be one of those incredibly deep pedagogy challenging discussions, but I never had the chance to bring it up again.  At the beginning, my inquiry was on the idea of equipping teachers to be able to build apps that would help students in their study of a lesson.  The opposite side was that the students should build them.  I don’t disagree with that, but one aspect I see of technology is the empowering of teachers to be what they went into this profession for, to teach.  Teachers can be the experts again of their field.  If fostered correctly, teachers should be the experts of the curriculum, not the textbook or a website.  The “options” available to connect to the content pushes teachers to raise their game.  And that, as a professional, is exciting.  Our jobs are changing.  Our challenge is to actually design a learning experience that gives students the tools and motivation to live by the highest expression of their talents.

Mobile 2012 was an incredible opportunity for me as a teacher.  I cannot wait to hopefully be a part of Mobile 2013.

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March 13, 2012 · 9:45 am

Red light! Green Light!

“Red light!” Jill looks over the kids. Jason is… falling.  He is out.

You are frozen, waiting for the “light” to change.

“Green light!”

You take off, but not too fast, so you can stop with the light change.  But your feet want to run, the light is still green.  You are torn between letting your feet go, reaching the end before she turns around to change the light, or keeping your pace in control so you can freeze when the light turns back to red.

What color is the light in your classroom?

I recently showed the Ted talk, “Why Videos Go Viral” by Kevin Allocca, from a TEDYouth event.  The main point of the talk is about why videos become popular, but Kevin makes an interesting point toward the end of his talk, “No one has to green-light your idea.”

Kevin was talking about creating content on YouTube, but the idea goes way beyond that.  I would love to be a student during this time.  The opportunities to create and pursues activities that ignite our passions are at our disposal.

And that is where I think educational reform needs to take place.

It is not in technology.  It is not standardized tests.  It is in turning around and hollering, “Green light!”  The underlining paradigm of education needs to change.  Students are creating projects and pursuing their dreams without us.  They are finding their own way in this world, finding their own success.

Without us.

And I think that is the most important aspect of all of this.  School should be the place that empowers students to be able to live their life to the fullest.  School should be the place that strengths our society by build community and cultivating our culture values. And one of our most traditional values has always been the idea of success.  It is the heart of the “American Dream.”  And at this moment in time, we have a greater opportunity to pursue our dreams then ever before.  But is school matching the possibility that is present in our society?

We need education to change the light to green.

I would love to hear your stories about how you have been changing the light in your school.  Share your stories with me in the comment section.

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March 6, 2012 · 10:30 am

Why I am excited about technology as a teacher.

I will acknowledge right off the bat that I know that I have a unique situation with my position at ESU 10, and that the greatest benefit I have is time. The second benefit is that I am surrounded by knowledgeable colleagues that are patient with me as I present some grand ideas.

And the grandest idea I have is that technology can empower teachers.  I think technology can strengthen what teachers do best: teach.

Before I talk about the technology, let me address a deep philosophy of a classroom.  Teachers are experts.  Experts in many different fields to handle a classroom, but especially in their subject.  But most of the time teachers have to rely on a textbook, a book of worksheets and assessments. Let alone the idea of standardized testing (that will be another blog).  These tools are good tools, and many teachers fuse their expertise with these options to provide their students great lessons.

But what if the teacher produced more of the tools for their classroom?  What if teachers actually got to showcase their expertise?  What if teachers were empowered to do what they love? To teach.  Imagine the energy and impact this would have on the students, the teacher, the school as a whole. Empowering.

Courtesy of Centura Student Angelica

One of the ways this can happen is the new iBook Author, from Apple, which allows you to create digital interactive textbooks. To be honest, this application is easy to use.  The templates range from basic design to more creative layouts, but all one has to do is type and drag-and-drop files.  Teachers can add their presentations right to a page.  There is a question widget for student review and other cool options.  Teachers can write their own textbooks.

Another interesting approach is web app development.  What do students have with them at all times? Right…their cell phones. I know that they are not all smart phones, but more and more are.  But a web app is designed to work on a web browser and as an app, so teachers can create content that bridges that gap.  And it is getting easier to create web apps, whether you know how to program or not. iWebKit is a framework that I used to create my first study app for the book The Natural.  You do need to know some basic programing but much of the time is spent on creating content because the code is provided.  Even if you don’t know any programing, services like Wix Mobile allows you to create web apps with no coding.

Technology can empower teachers to produce more of the content of their classroom.  Technology can change the dynamics of the role of a teacher back to what teachers love to do: teach.

I know this is a grand idea.  For this to happen teachers need time, support, and the technology in their classroom.  But I would rather struggle toward a grand idea then stay in place and wonder what could have been.  And I am always willing to help if I can, because any struggle is easier together.

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February 22, 2012 · 11:51 am

Education and Technology

5:45 a.m. Wednesday, Feb 22, 2012

“Dad, can I have my iPod?” my second son asks.

“No,” I reply.

My son returns to eating his breakfast.

Courtesy of Centura Student Angelica

Technology and education have been at the forefront of my thoughts lately.  Last week I got to be a part of a school’s discussion on moving to 1:1 instruction with the iPad for high school students. The teachers shared their concerns, their fears, and their excitement.

I remember being at that junction when I was a teacher at Centura.  Yes, as an English teacher I worried about the loss of the book.  I wondered how my position as the teacher would be affected in the classroom.  Years later, I find myself teaching from an office through technology only.

Yesterday, I got to teach my American Literature class from Centura.  It was energizing to be in front of the students.  To have the room filled with laughter, with questions, with that energy that comes from a group of people working and sharing.  Today, I am back at the office getting the lesson plan tweaked so we can use Socrative during the class.

One of the themes we are covering in the American Literature class is education.  We have seen how Frederick Douglass educated himself by tricking street kids in writing contests. Frederick Douglass understood that education was one part of his path to freedom from slavery.   Ralph Waldo Emerson revealed in The American Scholar that true scholars hold a powerful responsibility to our world, to reveal truth.  Emerson also states that if nothing else, a true scholar has the ability to live and by truly living we learn. My favorite poet, Langston Hughes, stated in the poem “Theme for English B” that,

The instructor said,

 Go home and write
 a page tonight.
 And let that page come out of you—
 Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it’s that simple? …

…It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.

To simply state it; the message has been that true education is a reflection of ourselves and continues our entire lifetime.

But in class we are now reading The Street by Ann Petry.  And the message has changed.  The book expresses an idea that education is just something we go through to gain a better job that allows us to have more money.  I’m not sure this doesn’t reflect what education is today.

And no technology will change that. As no pencil will change it either.  Teachers have the power to change the view of education. And yes, tools like the iPad do empower teachers to make a difference, not just for the students, but also for their own love of learning.  I’m excited as a teacher for the things I can produce with technology, like my own textbook, or a web app that will help my students learn.

So, why doesn’t my son get his iPod?  Because he has been spending too much time with it and is in trouble of not making his A.R. goal this quarter.  And it is my job to teach him the balance of using technology.  As it is a responsibility of teachers to be that person who sparks real learning in students, as Langston Hughes writes,

I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white—
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.

That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me—
although you’re older—and white—
and somewhat more free.

Truth be told, education makes us free and connects us on deeper levels than any Facebook statues update could.  At the heart of learning we become the best of who we are.

Emerson states in the American Scholar “Life is our dictionary.” What are we helping our students write in their life?

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February 14, 2012 · 9:34 am

Regret

How many moments do you let go by?

Why?

In a 2008 study, “What We Regret Most … and Why,” by Neal J. Roese and Amy Summerville, it reveals that our top three regrets, in order, are Education, Career, and Romance.  The research basically showed that we regret those opportunities where we could improve our life and that most of our regrets center on what we could have done. Not on what we did.

But why do we let those opportunities go by, both the small and life changing moments?

This morning I helped drop off my children at daycare and school.  My second son and oldest daughter rode with me to their school.  We got there before my wife, so we sat in the car and they wanted to play our version of “I Spy Alphabet” game. My first instinct was actually to not play, to be quiet and wait.  A small moment (by the way Parenting is number four in the above study)… that I didn’t let go.  We got to the letter L and laughed the whole time.  The rule is to name something you see as you go through the alphabet. My daughter kept hollering out random things. As my wife pulled up “LION!” filled the car.

“Where?!” I hollered in mock surprise.  We got out of the car laughing.

But there are big moments, life-changing moments.  My current position places me at the edge of change.  Technology is always improving, changing, and education is the most powerful aspect I know that positively affects our lives (and the number one regret for people).

Laptop

Courtesy of Centura Student Angelica

Later this week I get the privilege of attending a teacher in-service for a school that is working on the idea of going 1:1.  Last week I got to speak, as a dad and teacher, about my view of technology in education.  I am still finding my feet in regards to expressing my philosophical views with my job.  Every teacher I have ever had in class or worked with had their own talents.  Even though I work with technology all the time, one of my personal goals for my job is to help teachers be at their best.  Technology or not. Because the classroom, everyday, is one of the most powerful places in the world. I am proud to be a part of that moment for students, teachers, and education in general.

Education is the number one regret people have… our most powerful regrets are those things we didn’t do, especially with things that would make our lives better.

This post doesn’t have any answers; it is simply a small moment I had to share with you.  To maybe plant a seed for your next moment in life, big or small, to not regret it.

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February 8, 2012 · 10:10 pm

24 hours

In the last 24 hours I got a real look at what technology can do for us in our lives.  I will try not to bore you with an extensive look at my day, but I think it is important to share with you how technology can be a great tool for us.

24 hours ago I posted a blog on shoveling snow.  The weather didn’t improve and I decided to work from home and that started a great 24 hours.

The Scratch Cat

I needed to communicate with the teachers for both of my class responsibilities, which meant email.  But that was not the only email I wrote (as I watched Storage Wars).  I sent an email to a TECH student who is interested in app development.  I also sent an email to a teacher about the Scratch program she was interested in teaching.

I then had to revamp some assignments for class.  The TECHS class wasn’t too much trouble because we were watching informational videos on Java Script that were already posted on Angel.  American Lit had to be changed to a purely online assignment.

I was then going to grade assignments for American Lit but got into two conversations about life.  One conversation on Facebook and one conversation on Twitter.  Both were with former students. The kind of conversations that energize you because they go beyond the basic; “Hey, what are you doing? Nothing. What are you doing?” routine. The conversations covered deep aspects of life (Fatherhood, Highs and Lows of Life).

I finally got to bed just before midnight.  I got a little extra sleep because the kids’ school

The Blue Moon Coffee Shop

had a late start because of the weather.  I got to drop off my two little girls at day care and then headed to my other office, The Blue Moon coffee shop.

As I drank coffee I was involved in a Twitter conversation about connecting with students on social media sites, sending information about Symbaloo for someone and read a couple of powerful articles.

I headed home so I could Skype into a Social Studies Teachers meeting a colleague (Deanna Stall) was hosting.  I demonstrated Socrative to them (a cloud based clicker tool for the classroom).

When my time was up I noticed a friend and colleague (Mr. Badura) was on Skype, so I shared Socrative with him.

I ate lunch (but didn’t tweet about it). 😉

Then I called each of the schools individually in my American Lit course with my iPad using the Polycom app.  I spent about 15 minutes with each school covering the guidelines of the assignments, answering questions about upcoming essays, and a few classes got a small tour of the house.

And now I am posting another blog.  To build on yesterday’s post, what technology did in the last 24 hours for me was to make small meaningful connections.  To share, to laugh, to help, and to make real personal connections with a wide range of people.  Now, I will take face-to-face conversations any day, but honestly, what happen in the last 24 hours could not have happen without technology.

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November 15, 2011 · 9:02 am

Connections

The picture is my youngest daughter with an iPad.  She will turn two in late December.  I recently made folders on the iPad, and with out any instruction, she figured out where her favorite apps were.  She enjoys drawing and animal apps, the ones that make the animal noises.  And yes, we have set her down in front of the iPad when we need a minute or two to finish dinner.  But as soon as I grab a book, or flop down on the floor, she will ignore the iPad to interact with me.  But will that always be the case?

A few weeks ago the boys had their first basketball practice. The whole elementary basketball league met at the high school for this practice.  There were some high school boys helping, and a few other boys that may have been there to help but were goofing around at an open basket.

Two of the boys were on the basketball team and were dressed in practice gear.  The third boy was dressed in jeans and a too-large polo shirt.  They were shooting crazy shots, doing alley-oops, just being teenagers.  Burning off energy and having a fun time.  Honestly, I was watching them with a touch of jealousy as they jumped to see if they could touch the rim.  I remembered those younger days when my friends and I would do the same thing.  Some milestones of adolescence do not change; other aspects seem to be changing.

The three of them were lost in the moment, simply being friends, simply having fun.  Then a cell phone went off.  The boy in the jeans immediately grabbed his phone to send a quick text.  That changed everything, the simplest yet powerful connection of that moment was gone.  One of the boys went off to help a group, the boy in the jeans and the other boy tried to continue to play, but the cell phone was now the most important thing.

Technology had become the focus.  At one point the boy in the jeans was throwing an alley-oop passes to the other one.  The boy had the ball in his hands when his phone went off again.  Ball in one hand, he pulls out the phone to check the text message.  Without even looking at his friend, he simply rolls the basketball toward the basket.  His attention now fully on the phone.  His friend grabbed the ball and walked off.  It saddened me.

I love technology, but this life is about people, about relationships.  Technology allows us even greater opportunities to connect with friends and family.  It gives us a chance to make connects with people we normally would never had been able to before.  But at this time when the definition of Friend is “click accept.”  That a text message on the phone has to be answered right now, no matter what is happening. We need to make the focus on the connection to people, not on the means of making the connection.

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September 26, 2011 · 3:51 pm

Collaboration

collaboration |kəˌlabəˈrā sh ən|
noun
1 the action of working with someone to produce or create something

As a distance learning teacher I have had classes from different schools collaborate during a class period.  I’ve used a number of different tools, Scribblar, Today’s Meet, and others. This semester I took an opportunity to see how well students could collaborate, not just across geographical barriers, but also across time barriers.

I teach ESU 10’s TECHS course. I have four class periods for the online sections. Using digital music downloading as a support issue, I divided the whole class into two groups.  Group one’s stance was that digital music should be free.  Group two’s stance was that there should be a price for music.  Side note: whether good or bad, sometimes I throw the students in the deep end to see if they can swim.  The guidelines were simple, as a group you need to produce a Google doc and Google presentation concerning your side of the issue.  Each group had a Scribblar white board to do work on, a Google doc, and presentation that I hosted for them.  They had a total of 5 days to work on it (including the weekend).  Below are the presentations.

Some observations:

1. Group work.  Just like a regular classroom, some students did more work than others (8 out 49 students reported that they barely worked on the document or presentation).  Just like a regular classroom, I had to refocus the groups at times. The interesting point was that working this way was seen as a positive and a negative.  Some quotes from the students.

“We could chat to other people in your group and talk about the assignment.”

“Well, it was hard for everyone in the groups to get on the right page. They were kind of all over the place, but in the end we did good.”

2. Quality: I feel for the open-ended way that I handled the assignment the students did a solid job.  I understand that the class is in a unique situation, a teacher they see only on the TV.  My first year teaching only from the TV, combined with my somewhat nontraditional way of teaching, probably made the students frustrated.  A student response, “It really didn’t have anything to do with what I thought this class was about.”

3. The Power of Technology.  From a student, “It’s cool how we could all work together as a group and share our ideas and opinions with each other.”  During class I would be having discussions with the students on the whiteboard (they talk more to me in text form then verbally). I remember one discussion that centered around the cost of a song verses the cost of a bottle of pop.  When on task, the students did a great job researching and holding interesting discussions with each other and me during the class period.  But there is always the negative side of this type of communication, “While working on the website with other schools it was hard to add info because so many people tried adding something to it at once.”  And the personal differences; a response from one student to the question about what negative aspect of the assignment they noticed, “the fighting.”

Final thoughts: As in any classroom, some students jumped into the assignment, others complained, some worked through the frustration, others just gave up.  The funny thing about the assignment was how much it felt just like a regular classroom.  I had the same frustrations as a teacher.  Student apathy, “why do we have to do this” attitude, and honestly, in this case, the technology only seemed to enhance the negative for me.  But I think showing how technology can connect us to opportunities to collaborate was worth the time.  When we truly connect who knows what we can create…

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