Adventures in Ed Tech

PLN- (P)erhaps a (L)ittle (N)ovelty?

2010-07-19T12:45:00.001-05:00

Cool MRI pic, huh? Thanks alles-schlumpf

You have to admit, there's a lot of acronyms in education. One of the biggest jokes in my training as a teacher was learning the plethora of abbreviations for initiatives and acts and organizations. We used to joke that we were going to SKOOL (or Some Knowledgeable Old Officiate of Learning) or that we were not that excited about LIFE (Lazy Inept Feeble Educators). Did you go to UCLA (or the University Closest to the Lakeland Area)? Think of all the acronyms that you've been acquainted with over the years. These are a few I know of just off the top of my head:

NCLB
ELL
RTI
ESL
EETT
RTTT
IDEA
IEP
SAT
ACT
PEP

There's a great list of education acronyms at this link. The fact that education needs all these acronyms is a testament to all the moving and shaking done in the name of education over the past 100 years. So we need acronyms, yes, but we need better acronyms and terms. The intuitive nature of our professions could be sabotaged by these unintuitive terms.

So PLN? P-L-N: Personal Learning Network ? This is the best we can do?

This is an acronym that sounds like it belongs in a marketing seminar, not education. A marketing seminar for insurance salesman.

Don't get me wrong, I love my "learning network", but I also love intuitive acronyms like SCUBA or TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). And this Personal Learning term is something that we all have to live and like every day because it's now a part of many educators' daily lives. Seeing that- shouldn't this acronym be one that we are in LOVE with (as in Lots Of Voracious Engagement). Shouldn't it be just as intuitive as the tools that we use, and the processes we transform using technology in education? I think it should.

When I reference my network of educators I call them my "brain trust" before I roll out the PLN term. This group of educators I engage with every day are a living, organic, knowledge base. They are real people with real experiences, and a wealth of knowledge. The letters PLN don't do them justice. They're too smart for that. However my BRAIN trust, my

(B)rilliant
(R)esources
(A)t
(I)nstant
(N)otice,

sounds to me much better than PLN. These people are part of my BRAIN, they've become part of my RAM, and without them I wouldn't be in the position I am today. I'd be SOL.

Educational technology is supposed to be all about being on the cutting edge- with tools, with pedagogy, and with implementation. But apparently not with acronyms. I mean SCUBA is an intuitive and innovative acronym, and we all know what that means. We all know what ACORN is, and although you may not like the organization, they had a really good name.

Can we think of something better? Here's a few that I came up with. Choose your favorite or add your own in the comments.

Brilliant Resources At Instant Notice (BRAIN)
Personal Education Network (PEN). (seen this one used before)
Brain Trust Online (BTO). or Online Brain Trust (OBT)
Educational Knowledge Base (EKB) -blecch.
Educational Online War Chest (EOWC)

Are you satisfied with "PLN," or would you characterize your group in a more innovative and intuitive way? What would you choose?

After completing this post, my Google Social Search came up with this post by Dean Shareski, so apparently I'm not alone in my disdain for this term.

SCUBA: See? Intuitive. Thanks Wikimedia

Google Clears the Roadblocks with Google App Inventor: What Will Apple Do?

2010-07-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the Image

You can blame me for drinking the Google juice all you want, but since last year I've been clamoring to help my Tech Club students learn App development.

Unfortunately, we've run into some snags. First thing we did is watch the free iPhone App class from Stanford University. Free class from Stanford? Super! To actually participate in the class, this required downloading the iPhone SDK, which also required giving Apple $99.

Roadblock: No money. My sixth graders seemed to have a problem coming up with the cash. I can't blame them. So, even without the SDK, my kids wanted to watch the iPhone class anyway. Okay...

Roadblock: Pre-requisite. Although this class is free, there's obviously some prior programming knowledge required. My students were lost after the second episode. Their programming knowledge from Scratch didn't cut it.

They've been bugging and asking how to make iPhone apps since the beginning of the year. Using Scratch has definitely helped develop their interest in programming, hands down. For app development, the Stanford class looked like a possible road, but it's clear that this free class was not designed for middle schoolers.

Create your own app?
I've seen "create your own app" tools online, but I also heard that Apple was not allowing these apps into the App Store. That would have seemed like a neat solution, but it also required... more money. Wouldn't it be cool if there was an app program like Scratch, that allowed anyone to be a developer- anyone to write their own app?

Well now there is! But it's not for the iPhone. It's for the Android phone.

Yesterday, Google announced the roll-out of App Inventor, a web-based program that lets you create your own apps with a computer and your own Android phone.

This. Is. Awesome. For so many reasons.

Google is putting App development tools in the hands of students. And teachers. And anyone who wants to make a simple, functioning app for their own or public use. This is a profound gesture for the world of creativity. I'm sure Sir Ken Robinson would be ecstatic.

A couple of cool tidbits:
1. it's VERY close to Scratch with its visual-block programming, and
2. (this is very Googly): it runs in the browser!!!
3. Of course it's free.

It's Open vs. Closed.
This really throws an arrow across the bow of Apple. Apple has claimed to be open in that they are "free from porn" and free from lots of spam apps, but there's a reason that the iPhone and the iPad is so sanitary; they're very closed.
To be honest, the open world is a little... messy. I'm okay with that. I think that the junk Apps will find their way to the junk pile once Google opens up the Market to other vendors (allowing them to create their own "stores" inside the Android Market), or Google uses Pagerank or something similar for the Android Market to clear the clutter.

I like the Apple user experience, but if Apple doesn't respond to this somehow, they will be sending many clear messages that say:

"Leave it to the professionals."
"You have to pay to play."
"We don't want just anybody to make Apple apps."
"We are closed."

There's just no way around this. They can pretend that they're open, but we all know that's just a fallacy.

Apple and Google vs. Education
Apple once built it's core business on education, and every day, Google seems to be taking that mantle. I hear more and more schools ditching Apple products for netbooks, whether for budget reasons, customer service reasons, and now there's rumblings that Apple is going to charge schools for every app downloaded to iPod and iPads (currently, one can image a handful of iPod touches with only one purchased app).

Does Apple give a hoot about education anymore?

Google seems to. Almost every time I have a need for a classroom tool, a browser function, or app, Google responds before I think of it. Already, my Google Certified Teachers' group received a message about getting App Inventor out to students- pronto. This Google Juice tastes so good right now; I can't wait to see what Google conjures up next.

This Apple Juice, on the other hand, is starting to taste a little sour.

Thanks for the Image

Audible for Android App- Learn on the Fly

2010-07-06T07:42:00.000-05:00

I have to say- I love my Android phone. Sure, it doesn't have the best user interface, but that is changing. I bought it with integration and productivity in mind, and I love to listen to podcasts and audio books on it. Recently, I found a gem of an app- the Audible.com beta app. Why is this significant? Because in the name of streamlining the learning process, listening to books is the next evolutionary step in content consumption. With audio books, you can simply consume more. I know that there are other audio book apps in the iPhone App Store, but there's really one name in audio books right now, and that's Audible, so I don't know why anyone would go anywhere else.

Image from: Android and Me

Now, this app is in Beta, so it's not totally ready for prime time yet, but it's close enough in my estimation. You can download the app for your Android (off Market) here: http://groups.google.com/group/audible-for-android-beta?msg=subscribe

I'll tell you 5 reasons you'll love it:

1. Streaming: It streams books, duh. Okay, it's not real streaming, but it does start playing audio as soon as you start downloading.
And you can download and then "remove from device" at your heart's content." That way you can save room on your device. For students who are forced to learn dry, heavy content this could be a Godsend. How often have you had to slog through a textbook wondering, "does this come in audio format? Ugh!" Let's hope they start making more textbooks in audio format.

2. Syncing: It synced up all of my previous purchases on Audible.com. I've been a member for a few months, and it remembered my purchases so I can listen to any of them at any time- on the go. This is great for folks like me who don't like having to sync my iPod up to my computer before I go anywhere that I'm going to listen. Just make it available to me. And make it easy.

3. No iTunes: No offense to Apple, but iTunes is not in the cloud. You don't need iTunes or some other forced download media player to play your books like other book apps, or, as also found on Barnes and Noble.com.

4. No more burnin' CDs! The app downloads them to your Android, and if you have a car with an AUX jack (like my Prius) you can listen to your books on some sweet speakers.

5. Take notes: there's a neat feature that lets you take a note during a particular point in the book. Take as many as you like- then at a later time, you can check your notes and it will take you back to that exact point in the book. This is super for students who are doing research and want to use a quote. If you use APA style to cite, you're definitely not going to use page numbers (which is okay by me), so this helps solve that problem of citing audio formats. There's also a button (not working yet) that will let you "share" that note through Twitter or other social media outlet. I'm sure this feature is disabled until it's finally released, but I wonder if Audible will also share the snippet of the audio as well. That would be very cool.

Anyhow- I like my apps simple and intuitive, plus I like apps that streamline my productivity. For a life-long learner like myself, having an Audible app goes perfectly next to my Google Listen app (review coming soon). Listen on!

This was cross-posted at the Tech and Learning Advisors blog.

Is Facebook a Learning Tool?

2010-06-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

Photo from Franco Bouly

So far at ISTE10, I've been hearing a lot about social networking in education. It started at Edubloggercon on Saturday, where there were multiple discussions about learning spaces, PLNs, and then Web 3.0, which is a term I'm sure Ben Grey dislikes.

Here's my takeaway so far:

If you ask Jeff Utecht, we should be integrating Facebook via the marketing departments at our schools to gain some leverage. His experience is that students asked to use Facebook as a user group tool. Whether his experience in an international school translates to American public schools remains to be seen.

If you ask David Jakes, students say that they don't want Facebook at school. He says student's say, "stay out of my space."

If you ask Will Richardson, inspiring students to leverage students to use Facebook, whether it's as group or fan pages, might be the most effective way to incorporate Facebook into learning at this point. He says, "we're in a disruptive phase right now," where everything is basically being sorted out.

I think social networking does have a place in education. But I think the biggest question is, should we be using Facebook? Or should we be staying out of their space, using alternative tools like Buddy Press or Ning, to inform or shape student uses of Facebook?

What do you think?

I'm in love with the browser.

2010-06-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

The browser is such a beautiful thing.

I'm struck by how much of a browser fanatic I am. Links, productivity, files- everything is just so much easier to find just by typing into that wonderful little address/search bar. Why can't everything just live in there? Can it store my car keys? Well, the darned thing can remotely turn on my Squeezebox Internet Radio from anywhere in the country, so it probably can.

So, today, it occurred to me that Google may yet solve all of the world's problems. Okay, maybe not all of them, but maybe just this one- the one most technology directors and facilitators struggle with every year: user logins.

Last week a colleague of mine was struggling with having all of these different user names and passwords for all of the different Web services like Edmodo, Wikispaces, Google Docs, Glogster- the list goes on for like 8 more tools. He wanted a tool that could merge them all. I've heard folks use Moodle, but this doesn't solve a problem like Edmodo, which doesn't allow you to have your own unique URL, among some other ed sites.

After using Ubuntu for the past few weeks on my netbook, I checked out an education version of Ubuntu via Jim Klein, and it was very clear that the problem with all of these login problems I and other tech admins have had over the years isn't truly with the Web- it is with the operating systems that we use at our schools. Mac, PC, even Linux- there's no perfect solution for multiple logins. Log into the OS, then some of the services, then the rest, depending on the teacher- it's never truly solved. This is partly why I went toward Google Apps for Education- many good services- under one secure login (SSL- but that's another story). Like the local food movement, every school has different OS needs, different students, and the OS and the district should tailor itself to those specific needs. It should grow its own OS based on the technology appetite at its own district.

I've heard of folks using Moodle as a front door, which is fine- that's open source as well, but my guess is that soon, many of these problems are going to be solved by a new product that uses the Web as the OS. And I'm talking about Google Chrome OS. And with Google cozying up with OAuth, I think that we are starting to see the light at the end of the security tunnel. I'd be interested is seeing how that could be integrated into an Education Version of Google Chrome OS, let's call it Google Chrome OS for Education Remix.

Logging into Apps for Ed? Solved! Logging into Voicethread? Done! Wikispaces or Glogster? Done and done! One click!

Ubuntu is a great solution right now, and I would recommend any district save itself $50,000 and dump all those extra software licenses and, you know, hire a teacher.

This post was cross-posted at Tech and Learning.

The Nature of Bullying

2010-06-13T23:27:00.003-05:00

From Chesi - Fotos CC on Flickr

Bullying isn't an exact science. It's an organism that grows; it's like a weed. With every new technology and Web 2.0 tool, there are always new methods and processes adopted that may harm our students. We need for our students to understand cyber-bullying as a concept, as an organism that eats and breathes. As it stands now, too many students are learning bullying as a requirement for the EETT grant, and most likely with cracker jack curriculum materials that were designed strictly for compliance, not analyzation.

If you desire to have students do a bullying unit, perhaps have them create their own concept map of bullying. Start with resources such as:

http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/serial.htm
This pdf from Stop Bullying Now offers info on what to look for if a child is being bullied.
Digizen.org: Great movie on bullying.

Have them use Dabbleboard.com or Mywebspiration.com to create a flow chart of the concept of bullying, showing what behaviors to look for in a bully, or the bullied child. Have them demonstrate the relationship between the types of bullying or cyberbulling, and the consequences for allowing bullying to happen. Make sure to incorporate the bystander's role and their consequences as well. Here's a version that I am working on:

Here's the direct link:
http://dabbleboard.com/draw/drezac/safetymodel

In this concept map, I offer bullying as an organic process, one that has beginnings, behaviors, and methods. The profile behaviors alone may not elicit abuse, but when combined with technology tools, they can have all sorts of consequences, such as suicide, expulsion from school, and depression. What's also important is how to prevent the consequences. If students create these maps, the aim is for them to know what the consequences are for all of the parties involved, as well as what are the possible solutions to prevention?

This concept map was created using Dabbleboard, a very accessible tool that any students can use without signing up. It's important to have tools available to kids that work right out of the box, so that the concept map is the lesson, not the tool.

Does the concept map work? I think that it's a good start, but, of course, the concept may change when new technologies emerge, as may the consequences.

If we can get students to understand the process of bullying and the systems in place to prevent it, then I think we'll have done our job as educators. Let's not work to just comply; let's work to create.

Creating a Problem Based Unit

2010-06-07T22:06:00.004-05:00

This post is a requirement for my TIE program. Read at your own risk!

Creating an effective problem-based unit can be like fitting a triangle into a trapezoid hole; it may fit, but it may not look pretty. Creating a mini-unit for PBL was quite an adventure. My adventure did stem from the first fact that I didn’t quite grasp what all of this conceptual modeling was about. Then, I began to comprehend modeling on a higher level during my first unit attempt, Creating a Fire Safety Plan. I didn’t quite get the “conceptual” part of the modeling issue. I struggled with getting sixth graders to understand what a concept was- a model of a concept. I don’t teach concepts or systems very much in the technology lab, but I did solve my own problem: what topic and problem could I have them solve? Internet safety was the topic to the rescue. We do teach Internet Safety at least one week out of the year (and every day), and it is conceptual, or at least, can be introduced that way.

For the first unit attempt, I actually did do the lesson with my students. Here’s an example of one of the final products:

So, yes it’s not conceptual, but some of them did turn out nicely. And I learned that students can actually create some interesting looking things in Dabbleboard.com. For my new unit: What is Online Safety?, I give them a lot of freedom and choice: they are to model the “Road to Online Safety,” and I give them lots of choices for completing the task. They can create a flow chart or create a game. Since many of my kids know Scratch, the programming software, they could use that, or use a printable game board, or use Dabbleboard for the flow chart.

Practice First
I focus on the process of teaching 99% of the time in my position. I think that to implement a proper problem based learning unit, students do have to have some experience solving heuristic problems. If all they have done is algorithmic problems, the tougher, right-brained problem could stump them. It might do me good to give them some sample problems to solve, give them some practice before I throw this unit at them.

When I created this unit, I made sure to follow the criteria set forth by John Barell on page 60 of his book, Problem Based Learning. Online Safety is a complex problem, that is always growing organically. The methods by which children can bully grows every day. Bullying is a concept that is relatable to all students at this age, and it has a lot of dynamic elements. Is it fascinating? Well, if you ask a kid outright, they would say not, but when you introduce them to the Digizen video, and some of the online interactives that come with this lesson (I’ve done different Internet Safety lessons with my students), you see that they get fascinated as they analyze more. The video is powerful. It is absolutely significant, considering recent media stories. The skills they learn in this unit follow them to any other subject, especially when they use technology in other classes, as well as at home.

Boundaries
Does it have too many boundaries? Well, I’ll bet that it might look that way in the beginning, but I’ve given them many different roads to complete the task. They have something like 6 different programs they could use to complete the task in so many considerations. I also give them a choice as to what they could create- a game or a flow chart. The game is extremely boundary-less. The flow chart is simply a “road” of the concept.

The lesson is effective because it’s aimed at all learning styles. There are multiple learning strategies, organizational charts, video, audio, and multiple choices of programs from the simple (MS Word) to the more complex (Scratch). There are no set guidelines as to what the game or chart should be other than to teach younger students what it’s like to be bullied, and what to do if it happens. Best of all, there is no set answer for how this problem should be solved, so students should come up with many different ideas and creative products.

Cloud Computing: K-12 Schools' Knight in Shining Armor

2009-03-05T20:50:00.028-06:00

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to present a poster on Edu20.org at the ICE conference in St. Charles, IL.

I had some wonderful, spirited conversations with teachers and tech-coordinators alike. I had a handful of Moodle folks come over and take a look "for curiosity's sake." Now, I am not sold that Edu20 is the final solution for a school or a district. I think all of this is still playing itself out. But one thing was inherently clear. Teachers absolutely loved it. They loved how it looked, and how easy it was to use. They loved that it didn't take 2 weeks of PD to use it. That really is saying something- technology often makes teachers cringe with the fear that it won't work in class, or that something will get them off their game. Take it from a teacher (me): we like it when technology works, and when it solves pedagogical issues in our classrooms.

Many of them came up to me the next day and said that they had signed up and started adding their classes to Edu20. Neat! The ease and freedom of Web-hosted services prevails. How about that! They didn't need to download anything or spend any time writing code. Edu20.org was made for teachers.

Not So Fast
Now, I did not hear the same thing from the tech coordinator side of things. Many Moodle folks asked me questions about, go figure, controlling content. In fact, I was grilled on the most interesting of questions:
"Can I download my gradebook using an ActiveX data object?" [not sure]

"When students send messages, is their a way to report abuse or filter content?" [sort of]

"If I don't like something or the look, can I change the color or the font type?" [not really]

"How are messages and classes archived, and can they be downloaded in [something I don't understand] format?" [answer too long to explain]

"Can I backup the gradebooks in one motion, or do I have to do that class by class?" [You can do it all at once]

Fascinating questions. Controlling the content. I get it. I did have some answers, but I don't have them all. What was clear was "the fear" was there. That fear was further validated when Miguel Guhlin wrote in his blog that:

"Moodle...enables powerful ideas to slay the fears our leaders hold."

This fear must be real. Mr. Guhlin says it's so.

The Cloud vs. The Walled Garden
Teachers and tech coordinators seem to be coming at this from two different points of view: pedagogy vs. content. Teachers want technology that works from a pedagogical standpoint: they want their lessons to flow, without being hampered by load times, unnecessary shut downs and the spinning wheel of death. They want less clicks, and easy sign up. I believe that is why the Apple platform works so well in the educational environment; teachers spend so much time managing children, projects, gradebooks- that they have an emotional and physical limit. The Apple frees that up. That's why Wikispaces is working well. Voicethread is a great example of the merging of design, user management, and flow. It's no surprise to me that when I show teachers this Web 2.0 solution to managing their classes, they seem ecstatic, like it fulfills a need they've had for a long time. That's how I felt when I started using Ectolearning a couple of years ago. It was freedom to a teacher who needed a solution to class and pedagogical management. In fact, I would describe the differences between a tech coordinator and an educator to be content vs. pedagogical management.

These Web-Hosted solutions appear to be breaking down walls, allowing classes to be mobile, allowing content to follow the user everywhere they go. Cloud computing- or simply, The Cloud- seems to be taking us into a place where someday, a student on Chicago's South Side is going to be able to enroll in a public school in Austin, TX because that school's curriculum will be something that holds that student's desires. Skype, Elluminate, Second Life and other online tools will allow that student to participate in any classroom across the world. This is possible now- technically- but not politically.

While the idea of Moodle as an open source vehicle and a solution to slay the fears of policy makers is understandable on the one hand, I'm worried about the overall message I'm receiving. While The Cloud offers more and more tools to students across the Globe, instead should we build a wall around our curriculum so that we can protect it? Copyright it, maybe? It seems like an oxymoron to use an open-source platform to build a digital wall around your curriculum or your school. Maybe for a higher ed institution, but for a public district?

The idea of building a "walled garden," as Miguel puts it, stems from fear. Is that fear really about student information, though, or is that fear really about digital ownership? Who owns the information? Who owns the curriculum? Who owns the school? When you put something in The Cloud, it doesn't really belong to you anymore, does it? This unrealized fear about losing content is nothing more than a fear of not owning content. These are two fundamentally different ideas, but belong in the same conversation.

The other day I downloaded an Episode of Fox's 24 from iTunes. It sits on my hard drive. I own that episode. Do I get the same satisfaction though, when I watch it for free on the Hulu website? Maybe not- maybe a little less. I don't own it, then. It's like watching Star Wars on the USA Network versus having the DVD Complete Trilogy sitting on a shelf. I can't smell the vinyl when I watch it on for free on TV.

I haven't one iota of a problem with our wonderful technology coordinators and educators figuring out how to develop a unique system that works for their districts. In fact, the work that is going into developing Moodle will most likely improve The Cloud offerings as well, and, in the future, may even offer a Cloud version of Moodle. But to the policy makers, who harbor this fear, a fear not even fully realized yet, this fear of losing content, I ask:

Are we afraid of losing content, or insecure in our digital ownership rights?

Tim Lee, Adjunct Scholar at The Cato Institute, in his blog referring to The Cloud, states "the cloud isn't going away, but hopefully we can clarify our thinking about it by talking about the different types of clouds." I like how his point of view includes a 360 degree view of cloud computing and reminds us that content management and digital ownership rights are very much in the same conversation.

To my part, I offer this: The Cloud is an absolute good, that the very idea of an open Internet that is available to everyone, does not discriminate, is not exclusionary, and allows information to grow and be exchanged without walls or economic status will further support a society of collaboration, sharing, and participation. Let children sign up for any school they desire, and let technology be their savior here, not their virus or...Trojan Horse.

Great Wall image courtesy of Phoenix Han
Berling Wall image courtesy of siyublog.
Darth Vader image courtesy of kennymatic.

A Model of Problem Based Learning (PBL)

2010-05-24T19:24:00.008-05:00

Problem Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional technique that I'm becoming much more fond of these days. For those who haven't tried it on a class of students, I think that as an instructor you'll really enjoy watching your student's brains light on fire. Me- being in a technology lab, I don't teach my students concepts as much as I teach them applications and skill, so coming up with a unit for them that required them to use a previous concept was not quite as cut and dry as one might think.

My unit requires them to create a fire escape plan from my room. They could use Dabbleboard.com, Sketchup, or Google Earth to create the plan, but they also have to use research from the Firesafety.gov site. For two groups of students I was not there to facilitate, because I had to step out of the room, but everyone seemed to go right to Dabbleboard to create the plan, because they told me- "it was easy." It was a lot of fun for the kids and myself, and I highly recommend teachers give it a try. Here's a sample of the finished product from Dabbleboard.

PBL: A Concept:

To help myself and other instructors understand the history and concept of Problem Based Learning, I created this concept map below. Please click on this link to get a better view:
http://mywebspiration.com/publish.php?i=448697a37

To explain what is happening here in this concept, I relate PBL to a light bulb (an efficient LED, of course). What gives the light bulb (or Problem Based Learning) its electricity or its energy, are the ideas and concepts of thinking- created by the greatest critical thinkers of all time. In this case, Socrates, who, with his method of Socratic questioning, actually got himself killed. Descarte, whose philosophy of thought ("I think, therefore, I am") and Darwin, and his aptitude for questioning life's origins, give PBL its roots.

That basically brings us into the 20th Century, when education as a standardized mode of learning, came into being. The theories of Howard Gardner, Piaget, Benjamin Bloom, JP Guilford, John Dewey, and Edward DeBono are the filaments whose theories of solving problems and critical thinking drive education to this very day. Any student teacher has read about Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences as part of their standard college curriculum. Their theories are what make the light bulb make the connections it needs to create light.

The four hovering concepts (in light blue) are the main goals of all their theories combined. Brought together in many combinations, our theories of problem based learning want to create people who think systematically, who solve heuristic problems (as opposed to algorithmic), who use models to illustrate ideas, and who make learning meaningful.

The final three "light" bubbles are the ultimate goals of problem based learning: to use authentic situations and processes that will help learning be more meaningful, to promote inquiry that's more than just Googling for an answer, and finally, to create people who think critically about the way that things are made, the systems that control our environment, and who question their very existence.

Dabbleboard.com and MyWebspiration.com
My students are very excited to use a tool like Dabbleboard to create maps and add to graphic organizers. Like Google Docs, it allows students to be able to share a screen and draw in real time. They worked on theirs for two days, saving the URL of the board, so they could go back later.

To create the concept map, I signed up for an account at MyWebspiration.com. It's the web version of Inspiration, but it's very free. I found it pretty easy to use, though it had a little trouble finding the layers when I tried to "send to back." I like tools like this that offer URLs where you can see the larger completed work, because I find the Web and the Cloud easy to organize my work.

I hope that this model can be useful to instructors interested in using PBL for their practices, or studying PBL further.

Ten Interactive White Board Web 2.0 Tools

2010-05-22T04:48:00.004-05:00

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I own a Promethean Board, but I've never been too attached to the software. I'm also surprised at how little the Promethean software has actually changed in the past 4 years since I started using mine. The ActivInspire software that I currently tried out with my Mac left me wanting. Since the Web seems to inspire so many intuitive and interesting tools, I often go to the Web and just use the layover tool to save what I'm doing on my board. When I'm doing something on the IWB, I want to be able to have students participate from their seat as well as the board. I'm also dismayed that there are so few ways for students to create products with an IWB. The Web has come to our rescue for creating content with IWB. Here's 10 Web 2.0 tools that work handily with IWBs.

1. Sketchcast.com
With the layover tool, you can record mathcasts, drawings, and other creations. You can hook up your microphone and record your voice, which can be really good for having kids practice for extended response math problems. I can also see vocalizing tool be used well for kids to think-aloud during an art exercise. Here's my non-voiced example:

2. Dabbleboard.com
I've talked about Dabbleboard before. The reason I tend to get frustrated with the concept of IWBs is because teachers tend to hog them. With a tool like Dabbleboard, you can send out the URL to a class so that they can interact from their seat, or get up and write on the board. Plus, with a saved link, you always have an easy artifact not attached to Activ or SMART software. Also embeds.

3. Jeopardy Labs
Everyone wants to make Jeopardy games or Wheel of Fortune in their IWB software. Well, here's an easy cloud tool that works great when used with a smart board. Of course, use it as a pre-test, a formative assessment, or for just plain fun. But again, with a save-able URL, I feel better organized having my tools on the Web. Kids can easily make their own version, share it with the class to play Alex Trebec.

4. Scriblink.com
Scriblink is another tool similar to Dabbleboard, which can allow you to collaborate on the white board in real time, create graphic organizers, and save the URL. Check out a special message I made here.

5. Flockdraw.com
Here's a simple site, mainly for drawing and artistry, but, like Dabbleboard, you can embed the picture into your site. I like embeds because I believe they can enhance the online learning environment by putting all of your tools in one place.

6. This is Sand at http://thisissand.com/
Wow- what a unique tool for creation and exploration. I have to thank Kevin Jarrett for sharing this tool with me. It's reminiscent of those bottles were you fill with different colors of sand and layer them and then design them by sticking pencils in them. You get the idea. Fun tool.

7. Imagination Cubed at http://www.imaginationcubed.com/
While this tool doesn't give you URL or embeds, it's super easy to use, which can engage younger students very quickly. I always tell people to go the Web first and show off some of these web white board tools to teachers to hook them. Much of the software in Promethean and SMART can be overwhelming to teachers who fear technology. Engage them first with this tool.

8. Little Animation for Kids http://www.littleanimation4kids.com/
I think the most important thing you can do for the little ones is to get them engaged in technology as soon as possible. With the IWB, Little Animation for Kids, has nice interactives and games suited nicely for the IWB.

9. Spell a Picture
This simple site is a nice IWB online activity where students can choose letters to spell different words based on objects that they see. I really wish I could embed it, perhaps into an interactive lesson plan, but the little kids K-2, will like it.

10. Skribl
Skribl is another online sharable whiteboard. I'm happy- because they recently added an embed widget for sharing and collaborating. The user interface is kind of home-grown, but it's functional. With a login, you can save your boards for later use. It's not the prettiest UI, but saving is key.

This is just an overview of many tools out there, and the list continues to grow. Soon, I hope there will be some more comprehensive IWB Web Apps, that run on Flash or now HTML5. My kids found that even taking the Brain Pop quizzes on the IWB made reviewing for tests more fun. Engaging with technology does have its benefits, but can we start creating with this tool, instead of just "interacting" with it?

Generation C: Let's Teach Our Children to Code

2010-05-15T15:57:00.009-05:00

Photo by D. Rezac

So I'm in the fifth year of taking my child to playgrounds, and I've become quite the observer of her "playing" behavior. She's always been a kid who will climb anything. What I've always loved about her is that she'll create her own path, climb up the slide, she'll climb up the fireman's pole, hang upside-down from her knees from the monkey bars, she'll climb over fences and areas that are meant to keep kids safe, like in the embedded picture.

When she does this, what happens every time is this: kids will start following her. Then they'll try climbing up the pole, up the slide, try hanging upside down, and try playing in ways that the playground designers may have not meant to be played.

And what do you think the other parents say? For the past three years I've been collecting (in my mind- could have used Evernote here) quotes from what the parents on the playground say after their kids follow my kid's lead:

"No Billy- that's not how you're supposed to climb that."

"Honey- that's not safe."

"We don't want the other kids to get any ideas."

"Jenna- you're going to hurt yourself."

"Those bars were put their for a reason, kiddo."

Yes, I'm that parent

As a technology integrator I am keenly aware that we are preparing students for jobs that haven't been created yet. A speaker remarked at the recent Tech and Learning Forum that Britney Spears recently hired someone to be her "online presence manager." How do you prepare a student for a job like that? I'm reminded of that age-old quote with the two roads going into the wood.

Robert Frost's quote:
"Two roads diverged into a wood. I- I took the road less traveled by. That has made all the difference."

This has always been a romantic idea. Who hasn't wanted to be an artist, a filmmaker, a screenwriter, an astronaut, to climb Mount Everest- who hasn't wanted to go against the grain? Do we really dream as kids to sit in a cubicle and do data entry? Heck- we don't dream to do that as adults, but many of us end up doing that anyway. We put words like Frost's up in our schools and businesses all the time, and we preach to kids to take create their own path, to be unique. Is that what our culture actually produces? The reality is we then tell them, "you better have a backup" or that those dreams aren't "realistic" or, tell them flatly, like the Dad from Dead Poet's Society, "you're going to Harvard, and you're going to be a doctor."

And we may not use these words exactly, we may send these signals without even using words. Many of us pre-select their path.

Let them create.

How can we select their path, if we don't know what kinds of careers will even be available for them when they graduate college? If we don't even know what the future will be like for our children, shouldn't letting them create their own path be one of our top priorities? If their careers haven't even been created yet, don't we need to give them every freedom to discover that path? We need to be careful when we tell a child "that's not the way it's done." Their way is the only way sometimes, and we just need to get out of the way. Sometimes there's not much room for negotiation. To write a capital E for example, that is done relatively one, universal way. My child gets upset when I tell her that our language only has 26 letters. As our tools become more creative and collaborative, there are going to be new ways to communicate, and students are going to find new ways to make connections. Are we facilitating this kind of creation? Or- are we training our students to be afraid, to have multiple fall-backs, and to wrap themselves in bubble wrap? How do you have a fall-back career for a future where you don't know if the fall-back jobs of today will even exist?

Teach Them Programming.

We are currently undergoing an industrial revolution with the Internet right now. Web tools, languages, and Apps are going to be ruling the economy in the next few years, and, perhaps decades. Facebook is creating it's own virtual currency, and, with 500 million users, it stands to be it's own nation. I've never seen a bigger need for vocational training aimed at teaching students how to create and code web applications. This doesn't mean that students will be locked in a closet creating new ways to use MS Excel, but perhaps they'll be following Steven Kaplan's lead in creating iPhone and iPad apps like his new iChalkboard. Steven is only in eighth grade. If your students are gymnasts, musicians, guitar players, volleyball players- what types of Apps could they create with their likes and interests in mind? Take a look at the Scratch gallery, and take a look at the possibilities of what students can do with programming.

If you give a kid a paintbrush, they might paint a picture, but if you teach them to create an App, they might design a new art form altogether.

Photo by D. Rezac

I want my $500 million dollars!

2010-05-12T15:40:00.003-05:00

The National Education Technology Plan calls to cut $500 million in funding for educational technology, by severing the EETT program. This money helps to keep technology in many of our poorest and under-served schools. We have to ensure that our students have nothing but the best, most cutting edge learning environment- to stay ahead of the pack. I made this Google Search Story to keep educational funding in the public eye. Let's get back our $500 million!

The End of Year Suitcase

2010-05-11T15:10:00.002-05:00

Image from Bob AuBochon on Flickr.

Every year I like to put together a suitcase full of links and inter-actives that my students and staff may have used throughout the year. This year, I'd like to take that opportunity to create an open document where any educator can add their tools and links that they've used with their kids, and share this document with whomever would like it. I started adding some things, and the document is still growing.

The link to the Google Document is at http://tinyurl.com/suitcasetools
Please add your favorite free tools, free downloadable software, and inter-actives to the document. Then feel free to share this link with your students. There's enough there to keep them busy all summer!

Thanks in advance for contributing!

Dabbleboard: Too Easy

2010-05-04T15:51:00.005-05:00

Today I did sort of an experiment. I gave my kids a problem to solve: to create a model of a Fire Escape Route from my classroom. They could use one of three programs: Google Sketchup, Google Earth, and Dabbleboard.com for their modeling. They chose the latter.

When I asked them why most of them chose Dabbleboard, I got the required response: "it's just easy." Now, I'm not going to debate in this post whether the easiest tool is the best tool, but Dabbleboard is a pretty darn intuitive tool. When you are trying to engage young kids with technology, I think you want to show them tools where there's not a lot of hassle like sign up, and give them a tool that works right out of the box.

In Dabbleboard, you can just create.

Graphic Organizers and Embeds: In my practice, I do like the graphic organizer, and although I don't use an Interactive White Board very much, when I do, I love using layovers. Each Dabbleboard is embeddable, which is important because I want the Web to be more customizable. One day, it would be nice to embed just about any Web tool into your website, so that you can create a custom Online Learning Environment. Below is my Online Bullying Attribution Chart. Add to it, if you like.

 

Custom Links: Lastly, I like Dabbleboard because you can create a custom link to any Dabbleboard page, and you can share and chat with any of your collaborators. One of the frustrations I used to have using an IWB, was that many of our graphic organizers couldn't be saved as a link to the web. With Dabbleboard, that's no problem. For some students, of course, adding a chat can be disruptive, but as the owner of a board, you don't have to share the chat. Check out this example:

http://dabbleboard.com/draw/drezac/citizen

The easiest tool isn't always the best tool, but engaging a student sometimes is more important than slogging through a lesson. And for Tech Facilitators who are trying to engage teachers with Interactive White Boards, please show them Dabbleboard first.

Drop.io: The Web's Swiss Army Knife

2010-04-29T10:49:00.006-05:00

What if you were told that tomorrow the Tech Administrator of your district was going to block virtually everything: Youtube, Facebook, Blogger, Skype, Google Apps, Edublogs, Kidblog- it doesn't matter- but you are allowed to keep only one of your tools unblocked.

Which Web tool would it be?

For me, that tool is Drop.io.

When I ask people if they know what Drop.io is, most people say "yes," but I wonder if they really understand how versatile a tool like Drop.io is. It is virtually the Web's first Swiss Army knife, a multi-functional Web "object" that functions not only as an off-site file drawer, but also as a multi-media player, podcasting host, presenting tool, and virtual flash drive.

A Virtual Flash Drive?

Sometimes when I show kids that they don't need their precious flash drives anymore, you get this sense of depression. They say, "but my flash drive lights up!" I know kids, but the fact is, that flash drives are a relic of the olden days of 2008. This is 2010! There's free space all over the Internet for you to save your stuff. Google Docs even allows you to save any file now. Drop.io is never publicly indexed, so I'm never worried that our stuff will be viewed by outside parties. Of course, as a tech educator, I make sure that I protect student information from the outset. As an administrator of a drop, you can turn off commenting on a drop, turn off uploading after a certain point, and even create a custom look to it. You can create a custom Drop name like Drop.io/ilovedropio or- Drop.io will create a unique drop name for you. Take those flash drives off your neck chain! Drop.io is your flash drive.

A Podcasting Platform
One of the things that frustrate teachers who want to create podcasts, is the whole ftp transfer thing. "Do I put it on my own server or is there a free server somewhere else?" Some teachers also aren't given access to server space for fear that it will fill up (ahem). Well, archive.org is an off-shore place to put your stuff, though I feel like archive.org wasn't really created to be a place where people can just save anything, just to archive meaningful Internet history. Maybe that's just me. Yes, each drop only has a 100MB limit, but you can "create as many as you like," and for audio podcasts, I find that one or two drops is usually okay to host our class podcasts. Also, with the "Dropcast" feature of Drop.io, with virtually one click, students or parents can download all of your class podcasts to their iPod. Check out this example: http://drop.io/thefremontstorycorps2

A Media Player
One of my favorite aspects of Drop.io is that once a media file (.mov, mp3, or ppt, pdf) is in the drop, you don't really need to download to play. It will play right in the drop, and it will play at full screen! I can't stand when the Internet forces downloads on me, and this saves my hard drive a lot of unnecessary heart ache. This is great for presenting student work because we can get through a lot of presentations in one class period because- they just start playing! And, again, you can download them.

A Media Creator
One of the things that is difficult creating podcasts is having 28 students in a classroom trying to record simultaneously. Group them? Sure. But, I solved that issue with Drop.io. Every drop has it's own unique phone number so that students can call the drop and record a message. This message gets saved as an .mp3 that can be downloaded almost instantly. Our latest project asks students to interview a parent or guardian based on NPRs StoryCorps concept, and this was easily accomplished with Drop.io. We then upload those files to Garageband, do a little editing, add music and introductions, and the final product is pretty nice. You can also email a file to a drop; I once had a student who created her interview by recording it using the voice recorder on her phone. We simply emailed it to a drop so that she could download it. Too easy.

Mass Downloads

One thing I ran into when doing a Google Earth project: in order to collect all of the Google Earth .kmz files from 50 students, I used the "Create Zip Archive" feature. It downloaded all of the files in one folder, which I was then able to mass-upload to Google My Maps to create this map :
https://sites.google.com/site/fremontolympicguide/past-olympics-a-tour
Another problem solved with one click.

Embeds
If you don't want folks to just view media from the Drop.io page, you can easily embed any media into another site. Here's a digital story that was created about Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Backchanneling, Presentations and More
Each drop on Drop.io has a chat function built into it, so you can create a backchannel on any drop without going to another tool. But have you tried Present.io? Present.io is a tool built specifically for doing presentations on the Web. I have never seen it used yet, but basically, you put in all of your presentation files, media, etc, click "go" and share the link to the drop with anyone who you want to see it. There seems to be a 10 user drop in limit, but you can pay for an upgrade. It's a presentation format that you could set up in literally minutes. I would pay for the upgrade just to engage folks in the experience.

An Easy Sell
I'm always asked about what tools I would show a teacher who is adverse to using technology. Drop.io is one of those multi-functional tools that is so easy to use, it engages the user right away, regardless of their tech skills. You want people to adopt your Web solutions? Show them Drop.io. If anything, a teacher will be excited about having a simple solution to storing some files that are easy to get at. Drop.io can be a perfect tool to invite teachers who get frustrated with technology, or who are intimidated by technology in general.

And with that, I say:

Keep your hands off my Drop.io!

There are only solutions, if you believe there is a problem.

2010-04-25T23:15:00.008-05:00

How many of us are islands? Ira Socol's recent blog about tenure brings to light a problem that I think deserves discussion.

Tenure. (Yes, I repeated it just for the effect.)

Ira believes that the tenure system encourages innovation by allowing innovative teachers to flourish. Some folks have jumped in saying how they wouldn't be able to do the kinds of things they are doing in their classrooms without tenure. I cannot disagree with that. But does that really make tenure a good thing?

Sure, tenure protects good teachers. But doesn't tenure also protect a whole bunch of really bad ones? Are we supposed to wait and wait and wait until all of these new, progressive teachers finally take over by reaching tenure? I don't think that the time is right in education to be patting tenure on the back. At least not yet.

Here's a problem that a new teacher faces. Let's call him Bob:

Progressive Bob just got a new job at "Poor, Under-Served School A", after leaving teacher's college. Progressive Bob has great ideas about change and systemic implementation. Bob likes to use interactive white boards and technology, and has ideas about using social networks with teachers to improve communication at his school and to share teaching strategies. Bob talks to teachers about his ideas, and receives a lukewarm reception. Some say they'd never go near a "social network." Some teachers use Bob's social network, but the use of this network doesn't last long. Bob also receives a grant for technology, but none of the teachers want to use any of the money that Bob says he'll give them. Bob meets with the Principal, and it is decided that the money will not be accepted because the teachers feel they do not need any more teaching tools that year. Bob is frustrated because he has many new ideas for implementing change, but the teachers that he works with are not interested in changing. Even though their school is performing quite poorly on state tests, Bob cannot seem to make change.

To solve Bob's problem, he leaves School A and goes to Highly Touted School B.

School B is a school that is performing very well on their state scores. Progressive Bob likes the fact that this school has lots of money for computers and technology, but sees some areas for improvement. School B is very traditional. All of the desks face forward in the classrooms, and there is almost nothing on the walls. Teachers don't share strategies. The teaching strategies used in School B are very rote, and often Bob sees students in the hall memorizing glossaries or math tables. School B holds the State Tests in the highest regard. Bob is able to work with some teachers and shares some teaching strategies with them. Things look somewhat positive as Bob is able to get some teachers to listen to his ideas of change. Bob presents solutions on bullying and implementing technology, but more often, Bob is called into the Principal's office to "explain" how his tools are going to help the school. Bob decides to write a blog to create a "transparent" classroom, and, once again, Bob is called back into the Principal's office to explain how a blog is supposed to help students and teachers. At the end of two years, Bob has had excellent observations in his science class, but he his asked to leave his position because they feel Bob is not "fitting in."

Why can't Bob fit in?

The problem Bob faces, that many teachers face when they leave college, is that for four years, they have to play "safe" in order to be tenured. They have to take the exciting things that motivate them about teaching that might be considered "risky"- and quell those strategies. Is this the solution to fixing our broken schools? If we play it safe, will we still be ready to try new strategies when we've reached the other side and gained that tenure?

For Rich or for Poor?
Bob tried working both ends of the spectrum, and in both instances his progressive use of technology made him somewhat of a "freak," although even his superiors thought that he excelled in the classroom. In both instances, whether teachers worked for poor schools or rich schools, the complacency for trying new things or taking risks with curriculum always existed. It didn't matter where Bob worked, tenure affected the environment either way.

Solutions: How do you change the system?
Solution #1: Go Very Slow. Is the solution to systemic change in a school district a slow process, where we should methodically inject progressive thinkers into the old system, waiting, as time builds us a new system? Isn't it possible those progressive thinkers, those "risk takers," might get comfortable with their tenure and decide change isn't worth it? Can you inject change sideways into a top down model, and have the biggest change?

Solution #2: Be a leader. I'm reminded of something Chris Lehmann said at a conference in 2009. He said to a group of teachers, "if you're not willing to get fired, you're not doing your job." The message here is that to make change we need people to rise to the top, and change things from the top down. From a visual model standpoint, you're going to have a better change reaching people if you are the one dictating policy, instead of annoying people with your ideas about policy that you have little power to change from the bottom.

Solution #3: Make tenure a good thing. If you want a tenure system to work, then perhaps all teachers should really work for it. Tenure shouldn't be something that is given to you, but something that you are allow to keep. Make them be a mentor to a new teacher. Require that they not only go to Professional Development, but perform PD as well. Require they keep up with technological advances in the classroom. Of course, give them some choice as to how to do this, but I think the point of a tenure system should be that teachers not get comfortable teaching one way, but are always challenged to think in new ways and implement new strategies based on the current models of teaching.

So what did Bob do?
Bob kept on being a leader, and kept teaching the way he thought he should, trying new strategies and using new tools. Bob kept writing in his blog, gaining new readers, and sharing his strategies with educators all over the world. Bob used inquiry, questioning, tested theories, and gained a bigger voice until he found what he was looking for.

Bob's Solution: Go find a new place to work. Keep trying until you find the place that matters, and make your voice heard.

Using a Free LMS: A Case Study for Edu20.org

2009-02-24T17:22:00.020-06:00

I've always been a big fan of the Learning Management System. While getting my Masters, I used Blackboard, and later, Livetext. I know that Moodle is gaining popularity. I've seen it, and I'm keeping an eye out for it. I've been using a free web-hosted LMS called Edu20.org for the past year. It has satisfied my needs in many ways. It also has some flaws, and I'll detail those here as well.

This article is not intended to be an endorsement of Edu20.org. I'd like simply to offer the pros and cons of such a tool and it's place in Web 2.0 and in the classroom as it stands now.

The Overview:
Edu20.org is a free LMS, and by free, I mean that it does not cost the user one penny to host your class content. That is not true of Blackboard and even to use Moodle, you must use your own server space which may cost a district extra dollars. First impressions are that it's a fun, interesting place to host your stuff. Here's a look at the front page:

As you can see, it's a simple front page, with soft playful colors, and an engaging interface. Once students log in, they immediately see their avatar and some basic information about them, like how many points they earned (I've never used this) and how many friends they have.

Edu20 is more than just a LMS. It's a educational social network. It can connect students all over the world. Interestingly, since this is only my first year using this, I've rarely exploited the social aspect of the site. I find that it's pretty easy to get the kids signed up for my class- took less than a class period. Once they are in they can find their class content by navigating the top tabs:

All they have to do is click "learn," and, depending on how many classes they are enrolled for, they will have a list of their classes. They will click on that and then be taken to their class content. It is all organized in a playful, professional tab system.

In their class below they have a plethora of tools before them. Resources, lessons, students, forums, assignments, collaboration (which includes a simple wiki, a personal blog, an optional chat room, a very good debate function, and groups), a feed reader, and classroom policies.
All in all, it doesn't take most students very long to learn how to navigate the system as long as you use things consistently. I've discovered that many students who used the system in fall, now have come back for the spring and have not forgotten how to get in.

To take you on a more thorough tour of Edu20.org, I've created this screencast below. I try to draw a line down the middle, show you the positives and negatives, and be realistic and objective. I had to split it into two parts. Part 1 is below. Part II will be added shortly.

Let me just ask you one question after seeing and reading this:

Do you believe that the future of the Internet is web-hosted services?

And by "hosted" I mean available to everyone, any time and anywhere. This can be somewhat of a philosophical question, and I'd love to hear those ideas.

Google Apps for Education and the Teacher's Process

2009-10-03T19:49:00.001-05:00

Do these steps look familiar?

As teachers, we all use Gagne's steps, for the most part, but what I've found is most teachers may not even remember where these steps came from, me included, until recently: American Educational Psychologist Robert Gagne.

Gagne's steps were based around the Information Processing theory, where the goal was to maximize retention of knowledge (most likely- rote knowledge).

While I don't believe treating the learner like a machine (computer) is a very helpful metaphor, project-based learning and Understanding by Design models of instructional design have fashioned the Nine Steps to their liking.

The Nine Steps still work- for good lesson plan organization, and can be used for higher-order learning as well.

I've found that the Google Apps for Ed environment allows the Nine Steps to really flourish and take on a new life of their own. This presentation was given on October 3rd, 2009 at the ICE-chip Mini-Conference and explores how Google Apps transforms the teacher's educational process into the digital world.

Links that were used in this presentation:

Gaining Attention:

Google Presentation Sample, Simple Machines: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjYxY2Z6dHdnY3E&hl=en

Describe the Goal/ Objective

Google Presentation Sample: Researching the Land, 3rd Slide in: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUKY528tgMv_ZGR3MnZxeF82N2Y1Y2oyYmN6&hl=en

Stimulate Prior Knowledge:

Anticipation Quiz Form Sample: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDVBZ2trdUxVc0tMNWUwU1JvSjRyUlE6MA..

Present New Content:

Google Presentation Sample: Researching the Land, 6th Slide in: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUKY528tgMv_ZGR3MnZxeF82N2Y1Y2oyYmN6&hl=en
Text Coding with Doug Buehl, Google Books

Provide Guidance

Tutorials: Using Google Video and You Tube to embed tutorials in a Presentation:

Citing Creative Commons image tutorial: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjY0ZnRyOXJiZHE&hl=en
Using other teacher and student tutorials as guidance: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjY1Zzc4aGc2NTY&hl=en

Elicit Performance
Provide Feedback

Love Letter Video embedded in Google Presentation:http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjY2Z2t0d2g0amQ&hl=en

Assess Performance:

Digital Scantron Form: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dEpwNm40NmtQb3RKeVJiLUpXQ29nV2c6MA

Enhance Retention

Extra links:
Google Apps for Ed
My RTI data form example

Thanks to http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art3_3.htm for the nine-steps image.

Ning: Lesson Learned (and how to avoid future disenfranchisement)

2010-04-16T16:49:00.010-05:00

It can't be that surprising.

Ning says today that they are cutting free networks and laying off staff. The outrage on Twitter from teachers (who rely on free stuff) is understandable:

The writing was on the Ning wall; just look at the past. Michael Arrington from TechCrunch predicted Ning was dead four years ago. They improved a lot since then, but I know that you know, that you know that I know- that I'm not the only person to think that Ning is lacking some critical element. Some folks are pretty blatant in their distaste for the tool. I dare say the largest reason we are using Ning is because...it's free. Shouldn't your first reason for using a tool be- because it's good? Now, whether this poll below states that is another thing.

Replace audience response hardware with Poll Everywhere

How can we avoid this disenfranchisement in the future?

The Problem: You're an educator, or a school district, and you're cash-strapped. You want to find free tools online that you can use with your students. You'd like to create a community, and Ning.com was a free piece of that puzzle. However, something like Ning required a large buy-in, meaning, it's not a tool that you can use simply for a day like Wordle.net, or drop.io, but one that, if it is to grow (like IEAR.org has been doing lately) the people in your social community have to put in real time- writing, sharing, creating profiles, adding links, and uploading images and videos. Ning requires a huge buy-in, which means that if it fails- there could be a huge disenfranchisment to the community. There could even be trust lost in the Internet, it's tools, and people might think twice before they start joining more networks next time because their time and effort may be wasted.

As I look on the Web, one can already see educators looking for more "free" tools and alternatives, but will that solve this problem? Will buying into another free tool like Ning be worth it? Here's a model that I think represents this problem nicely. The problem with free web tools can be summed up with this sentence model:

Web 2.0 is to free, as a wolf is to a sheep. (Or a wolf in sheep's clothing.)

Web 2.0 tools have really one goal these days, and if you follow what's happening in the venture capitalist market, it's really- to get bought. It's a wolf in sheep's clothing- it looks all cute and fluffy, but soon as you get to reliant on that wool come sheerin' season- look out- because that wolf wants to eat your entire social network. How can you ask teachers and educators to buy into a product, when that goal as a company is not to grow, but to get a pay day? I'm not sure if that was Ning's goal, maybe it is to grow, but we must tread lightly before we buy in that deep.

So how do we prevent this from happening again? How do we prevent from losing our learning environments? Three possible solutions.

1. Always look at the fine print. There is always a price. Before you base an entire community on one tool, you need to look at who is creating the tool. Are they a small operation of 1-2 people, who are trying to get sucked up by a bigger company? Or are they an established organization or company (like Google), who you know are going to be around for a while? We should not be surpised. Look at the creators and make a decision about your buy-in based on that common sense. Read TechCrunch or Mashable. It really will help.

2. Lobby ISTE to create an educator tool. Can ISTE provide some leadership in creating a network that educators could use, which could be free or have a very small fee? Wouldn't it be nice knowing that the organization that provides leadership in the Ed Tech community is actually nurturing their own network of educators by creating their own tool? I think they have the resources to pull this one off. What do you think?

3. Just Pay: The Web 2.0 market is just that right now- it's a market. It's burgeoning market, and in order for the tools you like to survive, they have to make money. We know that we don't want our students to see ad-based content, so we have to lobby our schools to pay for these tools or pay for them ourselves. I've paid for many a subscription out of my own pocket, whether it was for Voicethread.com, Edublogs.com, or others. It's not much, and personally, it's worth it to allow my kids to use such cool and progressive tools. ISTE has grants, and so do most state educational organizations. Having the right tool is going to help your learning environment, which will pay off for you down the road because the products that your students will create will be the most cutting edge stuff that is out there.

Back to hosted?
Someone on Twitter mentioned that perhaps we should go back to a hosted solution, like Buddypress (from Wordpress). I disagree with that option. The best tools are going to be in the cloud, and I don't think that it's time to go backward right now. Some cloud tool will eventually win us over. This problem won't be solved until the Web 2.0 market has grown and evolved enough that there are some real competitors in the social networking arena. Right now Facebook is at the top, and Myspace is falling drastically. It's no wonder that Ning is suffering. With social networking, people would rather have one place to go to- not three or ten. If Facebook created a Facebook for Educators, now we'd have a real solution.

Mark Zuckerberg could probably afford that.

Google Lesson Plans for the Class: Wilderness Classroom

2010-04-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

We all have unique curricula- which is why it's not easy to find online experiences that can bring a large group of people together. Teachers often don't have a lot of wiggle room during the year, which is why it's sometimes hard for them to join online global experiences. There are the larger collaborative events, like Life 'Round Here and the Flat Classroom Project, which are fine projects that require plenty of classroom time. Or there are simple, quick, collaborative items like the Guess the Wordle project, which can be used as a simple activation exercise for a lesson.

I prefer online experiences that don't tie you down, especially if you've never done them before. It's no fun to find out three weeks in that you don't like the experience. Global projects don't have to be time consuming, but they do have to have connections.

Which is why I love the Wilderness Classroom.

The crew on their last expedition to the Amazon River.

Have you heard of the Wilderness Classroom? A team of explorers go on an adventure, and they live-blog the entire experience. At their interactive website- they have a Daily Dilemma, Mystery Photos, daily podcasts, students can have interactive chats with the team, Cast Your Vote- where students can make decisions for the team, vodcasts, Cultural Connections, and a Wilderness Library- and it all happens live online. There are numerous ways for students to engage in the experience with the team.

Take a look at their Getting Started guide.

They have a lesson plan database as part of their curriculum, but now if you are a Google Apps school, you can make great use of Google Apps, by using the Google Lesson Plans for the Wilderness Classroom. The first lesson plan is here:

https://sites.google.com/site/lessonplandatabase/google-apps-lesson-plans

It will be growing over the next few weeks, and, if you're a Google Apps school, you can even submit a Google Apps lesson plan to redferntwo@gmail.com and I'll be happy to add it. You don't need Google Apps at all to enjoy the Wilderness Classroom, but it could definitely heighten the interactive experience. Teachers- you don't need to create your own virtual global online experience from the ground up- this one is already created for you. Just join in, and add your touch of excellence. Help make the Wilderness Classroom the best global outdoor education experience for kids!

Drop in for a bit, or stay a while

I like the Wilderness Classroom because it offers so many ideas for classroom creation. For science and language arts, cultural education- the content that the Explorers add give all sorts of ideas for project-based learning. Just check out the previous expedition, and you'll see what I mean. It's exciting because you don't know what they are going to see on the trail the next day, what wildlife they will discover, or who they meet. It's the quintessential virtual field trip.

I also like it because it's flexible. You can catch up with the WC every day, a few times per week, or once per week. It's really up to the teacher. As a Google Apps teacher, your tools are tenfold with creating Presentations, interactive Docs, a Google Site, or using the new Aviary tool to create podcasts that are inspired by the Explorers' discoveries.

The North American Odyssey begins on April 22nd, 2010- Earth Day. Go to wildernessclassroom.com to register and download the curriculum guide. You can use their lesson plans, create your own, or add your own as well!

It's the end of the year! Get away from that test grilling, and have some fun learning online!

and

See you on Earth Day!

Social Unit Design

2008-06-10T21:30:00.001-05:00

Should I trademark this term, "Social Unit Design?" If you do a Google search for "Social Unit Design" you don't come up with anything. I know that I'm not the first person to use a wiki to design a unit. But surprisingly when I do more Google searches using terms like "social networking" "unit design" and "wikis," I get a few hits, but nothing specific. Right now there seems to be a real stress on how the students can use Web 2.0, but there doesn't seem to be as much as how we can get teachers to use W2.0 to collaborate and communicate. Even Classroom 2.0's topics are more student-centric, as opposed to teacher-centric; just check out their Success Stories. I see hardly any success stories of teachers using Web 2.0 to collaborate. Hey, if the teachers don't know how to use the tools, then there's a really big problem here. Or a really big market for new ideas, depending on how you see it.

So, for my summertime fun, I've created a Unit Design wiki at http://sciencedesign.pbwiki.com/.
I recently had a discussion with a seasoned teacher, and how every couple of years they spend the entire summer at their dining room table unit and lesson planning for the entire year. That sounds so lonely and boring. It's also pretty close to what I did on almost all of my summer and winter breaks. Being a new teacher as well, I don't have as many ideas for activities. I don't have the years of experience to draw from, so I have to constantly look up learning activities, because my own textbooks and classroom modules just don't give me enough.

So, I'm doing something called Social Unit Design. By creating a wiki on pbwiki.com, I've basically made my unit design a collaborative process. And because the folks at my school aren't with it on Web 2.0, I'm going to farm the work out to science teachers all over the world. Imagine all the work we can do, and all the ideas that we'll come up with, if we put our collective heads together! I'm going to go with my strengths and use Backwards Design, so I am hoping there's some web 2.0 folk out there who are familiar with it.

On my wiki page, basically there's a section for every part of the design process. If we start with the Big Ideas page, then we should get a good start on the process. What's also very cool is that the wiki itself would be an artifact of collaboration, useful to other teachers or students, and the assessment process of the unit could be extremly grand. Imagine 10, 20, or more science teachers all teaching the same unique designed unit all over the country this fall! We'll make content, process, and product all public using ustream.tv, classroom 2.0, or a blog page, and the world can see the final outcomes of all that our students have created.

On another level the collaboration could actually be opened up to the students, and they could share their final outcomes with other students all over the world- online. That could be called "authentic social assessment." Great- Google has zero hits on that phrase as well.

Interesting idea, maybe?

DR

Just Teach

2009-05-21T21:40:00.005-05:00

I've been away for a while, but it was for good reason.

I was teaching.

As prolific as I can be, one must have priorities. Although some days I am an advocate, and some days I'm a presenter, some days I'm a blogger, and some days I am just tired- one must remember that when all is said and done, I am still a teacher. And I love that.

Almost a year ago I was doing research for a final project in my masters program, and I talked with a former teacher. This former teacher had grown into a pretty formidable person in the ed tech world, and we had a conversation. I talked about my love for technology and Web 2.0, and how I was integrating that into my science class. I said how I wanted to go further with technology.

I was asked where I thought I'd be in five years or something, and I didn't have an answer. I was so new to the teaching profession (2 years) that I never really thought beyond my classroom. All I knew at the moment, was that I was extremely on fire for what a teacher could do with technology in the classroom.

Seizing the moment, I remember asking, "do you have any advice? I really want to dive into this Web 2.0 stuff, I really want to be involved in tech at a higher level."

And then I heard those important words.

Sometimes (come on- most of the time) people tell you stuff, and you nod your head and smile and you don't really listen to them. Well this time, my former teacher told me something that I can't forget.

"I know you're passionate about technology, and you're trying some progressive stuff in your classroom, but technology aside, the best advice I can give is just- be a good teacher."

Technology aside? What's more important than technology? I'm just about to try out a new Online Learning Environment! I just started a new Google for Ed account and I'm going to get all my students email addresses! I just signed up for Voicethread and we're doing some digital storytelling! Technology aside? I just went to three technology conferences, and spent every Sunday listening to Ed Tech Talk Live! I worked all year to build my Twitter network and am getting ready to pass 300 followers and sent almost 2000 tweets! Technology aside? I joined Classroom 2.0, started some forums there and...huff...puff....etc.

And in reading that paragraph, I hope you get it. Because I do. I really do.

Technology does not make a good teacher, nor does it make me good. I still have to motivate my kids with exciting projects. I still have to differentiate. I still have to organize. I still have to use best practices- regardless if the agenda is written on the whiteboard or the interactive whiteboard.

Be a good teacher. That's my focus.

Be a good teacher. Thy will be done.

Thanks ;-)

Seven Things About Me or...TMI

2008-12-30T09:12:00.015-06:00

I've been tagged! So what does that mean? I'm going to have to wait to post that article about "The Ethics of Chain Letters" for another day. This was all started by Angela Maiers. She tagged Ben Grey.

Now, the great Ben Grey has involved me in a plot to discuss seven super things about myself, and then pass this on to seven more super blogger/ educators.

Now, nobody puts Ben Grey in a corner. So, being the sport that I am, I must fulfill my duty as a blogger and educator to tell you seven, most likely, embarrassing things that will surely make me unhireable by the Obama Transition Team. Here goes:

1. I don't own an iPhone: I know, I know. I'm a tech teacher and in ed tech, and I still don't have a smart phone. I tell people that I'm holding out for the Google phone, but I really just say that to get them off my back. And, yes, it makes me feel like less of a man. In reality, my contract with T-Mobile isn't up for another four months, and when that happens...I'm waiting to get the next generation of the G1. So you'll all just have to wait and wait. This Samsung candybar phone better hold on til then. Ooops (just dropped it)!

2. I was a Musical Theatre major in undergrad (for 3 years). I eventually got my undergrad degree in pscyhology. So if you hear me sing an occasional show tune or hum a bar of Miss Saigon and Les Miz, you must really be understanding; I memorized all those songs in high school and they haunt my memories to this day. "One Day Mooooooore..."

3. I owned a personal training and nutrition consulting business with my wife. But now we're teachers, and have no time to work out, so- who cares, right?

4. I try to be funny, but mainly just to amuse myself. I think one of my favorite comedians was Andy Kaufman, whose main job as a comedian was to amuse himself and make jokes at the expense of the everybody else. Sometimes people don't understand my humor, but I'm laughing inside. Isn't that okay? If you get me, then you'll be rolling in the aisles. Glad a few of you out there do get it.

5. My Favorite Celebrity Moment: Neil Patrick Harris in Las Vegas rode the roller coaster on top of the Stratosphere with me and my friend. My friend and I then, unbeknownst to Doogie, followed him around for the next hour, just to "make sure" that it was really Doogie. After he stopped at a pants store to try on pants, we got bored and played some more slots. True!

6. I still believe that I'm going to win an Oscar somehow. I don't know what the road is from educational technology to Hollywood, but I did go to film school for two years. Someday the film knowledge and production skills (Final Cut Pro, anyone?) that I have will be put to use in some way that gets Hollywood's attention. Don't know how, but just you wait. One of my friends was in National Treasure II. Who knows what the possibilities are! I'll spare you the links to my independent films that are on youtube. Ugh.

7. I was in the movie The Right Stuff. You have to look extremely carefully, but you can almost see me in this still photo here:

And this ends the tour of my seven things. Now you know more, and I'm sure you'll want more, so click here. Of course I can't end this without tagging seven more folks, so, hmmm, let's see...

Lisa Durff (because someone had to)

Miguel Guhlin

Anne Mirtschin

Sharon Williams

Jim O'Hagan

Britt Gow

and, just for fun:

Lee Lefever

Now, go to it folks! But don't forget who sent you there! Over and out.

DR

The Ethics of Photosharing

2009-01-16T23:16:00.000-06:00

This is a first:

Has anyone ever asked you to take down a photo that you shared on Flickr, Facebook or Twitter? Well, if they haven't- your time is coming. It happened to me last weekend.

This person was upset that I had shared some photos with my Facebook friends that were taken at her wedding- many of whom also were at the wedding (who subsequently also shared wedding photos). She was not a Facebook member or into social networking, and she was upset that so many folks had not seen the "official" photos, which her photographer took, and that she had built her own website for. Oops.

Automatically I thought: are we not but a mere few steps from infringing on someone's privacy rights? It must be simply a matter of time.

As for Facebook, I am now in the "scanning phase" as a user, where old schoolmates I hardly remember are beginning to scan old photos of 8 year old birthday parties I attended (as a child) and have "tagged" me in them. Now, I've always been a pretty loose person on this type of stuff ( i.e. I'm not very private), to be truthful. But when is it too much, and when will it go too far?

Could Creative Commons Hurt Children?
I was recently pointed to Alec Couros's blog about his surprise when he found some not-so-upstanding Flickr followers tongue-wagging over photos of his young daughter. I, myself, have a daughter, and, although I do a pretty good job of making our Youtube videos private and not putting any "provocative" types of pictures out there, I think it's fair to say that Flickr, Youtube (owned by Google) and Facebook are on the precipice of some new privacy litigation either brought on by class-action lawsuits, or by some high profile victim (remember the Hillary Clinton cardboard cut-out breast-grab? She laughed it off, but could someone else?).

It begs a question of Creative Commons. If you allow people to share, mash-up and use your photos, could a knucklehead exploit your child because you put a Creative Commons license on it? Are you giving some perverts permission to do some inappropriate mash-ups? Shouldn't the actual children have rights over their image, if those postings might damage their future careers or their livelihoods? I'm pretty sure child stars have these rights written into their Hollywood contracts, but what about the average kid? Remember the "Star Wars Kid?"

It's still unclear how the video of the Star Wars Kid will have aided or impeded the development of that child. What if this was your kid, and the entire world mashed it up and shared it? What if you allowed it by sharing it under Creative Commons? One might say that Creative Commons doesn't hurt people; people hurt people. If it was Copyrighted, then I suppose you'd have grounds to sue.

There are a lot of questions here that I am not qualified to answer here when it comes to Creative Commons, fair use, privacy, and I hope that those people in the know will chime in on this conversation. Where are we headed?

A Brave New Photo-sharing World
Will we have to sign a waiver before entering an establishment stating that we won't snap pictures of unwitting people? Will we have to sign waivers or confidentiality agreements at our kid's birthday parties? Will cell phone companies and Google, Facebook, Flickr, and others be held responsible for hosting any of these photos, if they are found to seriously hurt someone? And what about RSS? Could Blogger be held responsible for RSS feeds posted on someone's blog with inappropriate Flickr streams? Where does the information start, and where does it end? While I know that most of these companies have user policies that put much of the responsibility with the end user, by offering the tool, certainly someone with a strong enough case could hold these companies responsible at some point.

We could be headed for a litigious nightmare, where we might lose many of these wonderful tools that we love. Or maybe we are going an all-together different route- as the definition of privacy as we've known it- changes in this public world.

I Want an RSS Feed of my Grocery List- and More

2009-01-07T14:56:00.017-06:00

If you haven't noticed, I like widgets. I would eat them for breakfast if I could. After reading this post, you might think this is possible. Widgets covered in RSS syrup with a side of permalinks- how does that sound?

RSS is becoming an art form. What can you create an RSS feed out of these days? Almost anything. I have trouble sleeping lately thinking about the possibilities. Last week I found a way to create an RSS feed out of the books that I read. Look below, right and you'll see a feed widget I created on www.widgetbox.com that shows my latest reads and reviews from my visual bookshelf. Widgetbox is my favorite new place to put my RSS feeds. Go there if you like widgets. But do you really care about what I'm reading? Well, I think some people may. If I were another tech teacher, I might be interested in where another tech teacher gets their inspiration.

It's All About Behavior
Lately I've been thinking about all of our online behavior. Social bookmarking, social networking, twittering, work, all of it- and I realize something: all of our behaviors can be represented by an RSS feed, whether it be online or not. In fact, there are some of our behaviors that I have not yet seen represented by RSS, that I think could be extremely helpful to others. We put these widgets in our sidebar because we want to offer our behavior and thoughts to others. So- it occured to me the other day: why not my grocery list? Most of our online behavior is linked to our lifestyle choices, our habits, our hobbies: why can't our eating and exercise behavior be learned from as well (in an RSS feed)?

For me, I am a healthy eater, for the most part, but I really like how one of my friends eats. She eats everything organic, she's never sick, and she looks really healthy. I want to subscribe to her grocery list. Or at least see what she's eating. I need an RSS feed for her grocery list!

Now- I also like how healthy one of our gym teacher's arms look. Very strong and cut. I want to subscribe to his arm workout via RSS.

And then I thought- this is totally possible! I use Peapod! Let's see if this can work....I'll go to www.peapod.com, and I'll find the RSS feed of my grocery list! The applications for something like this are enormous.

And then I thought of more possibilities: why can't I make an RSS feed from my gym workout as well? Why would I do that, you say? What if my personal trainer (I don't really have one) was able to monitor the RSS feed of my grocery list? Could he make adjustments to my workout based on that information? Then peapod.com could make recommendations of food based on my workout history and health feed (needs more protein, cut the carbs). Or perhaps one of those fitness web sites could analyze my food intake simply by how often I eat and how often I have to "replenish" my grocery supply for my home? I could manage my weight problem (I don't really have one) with RSS! Or my doctor could subscribe to make sure my (entirely made up) blood pressure problem was not being affected by my diet. What if, what if?

Ahhh, RSS. The possibilities. The 21st Century will be all about subscriptions.

Did it work?
Alas, this entire charade can now rest. For when I go to Peapod, I cannot burn an RSS feed of my list, and Peapod doesn't offer that info in RSS.

Darn.

So I guess my made up personal trainer, at this point, can't create that RSS feed about my fictional workout to help me from my fictional weight problem.

RSS Possibilities For Education
Do you see the possibilities, though? When it comes to education and my students, I'm beginning to see the value in all of their behavior. What could we do as teachers with that valuable information? If one student is having trouble in school, could that student subscribe to the "more successful" student's feeds? If another student is having trouble focusing, could they subscribe to the RSS feeds of the focused student? Could it help?

Why not?

Thanks to Eileen Dehli on Flickr for this photo.
Thanks to afiler as well for this photo.