Showing posts with label edtech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edtech. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Reasoning Ed Tech
One of the most reasoned articles on the value and use of ed tech was brilliantly written by Alfie Kohn (The Overselling of Ed Tech). Not only should educators and technologists take note but politicians and corporate heads could also benefit from this short analysis. He centers on the question, "What kinds of learning should be taking place in those schools?". He maintains that a collaboratively derived answer to that question is a prerequisite to answering, “Is tech useful in schools?”. While I agree, I can't imagine how as a nation we could ever arrive at a coherent, coordinated answer to the first question. Common Core anyone? Satisficing answers may be more attainable by returning control to the local level. As it stands now, we are just wasting huge sums of money on technology and we don't even know why.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Too Much Ed Tech Too Frequently?
The following is an RSS Feed Reader snip from the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (http://www.educatorstechnology.com/) site encompassing but the past six days.
Your school just might be well enough funded to have implemented 1 to 1 classrooms or maybe just a legacy computer lab or two, or maybe tablet carts or four or five static tablets assigned to each classroom. Many might still be saddled with ancient slow and cumbersome desktops. (Aside note: I remember a time [the late 80's] when I lugged my "portable" 30-pound computer with two 5-1/4" floppy disk drives back and forth to work daily using a luggage carrier.) Surely whatever devices on campus, all have access to the Internet and every faculty member has a laptop, notebook or tablet device. No? Whatever the case someone or someones has the explicit, or worse, the implicit task of vetting new educational apps, websites, browser add-ons, templates, ed tech tools, hardware, and all stuff ed tech. Considering that these 60 some educational technology "things" above are from only one website, we can be assured that every six days produces many, many more, probably thousands. Who vets, recommends, budgets and buys ed tech stuff at your institution? Is it the administrators, the teachers, the IT guys, the education-technology integrator/coordinator, the cleaning crew? Who or what group would ever even have the time to visit each website and blog then look up and read a summary about each new thing. Does anyone even care that new and fabulous ed tech stuff, eminently capable of propelling students forward by at least two grades, goes on the market every day? What criteria is used? Do the teacher-users and student-user have input to decisions?ed tech tools, hardware, and all stuff ed tech. Considering that these 60 some educational technology "things" above are from only one website, we can be assured that every six days produces many, many more, probably thousands. Who vets, recommends, budgets and buys ed tech stuff at your institution? Is it the administrators, the teachers, the IT guys, the education-technology integrator/coordinator, the cleaning crew? Who or what group would ever even have the time to visit each website and blog then look up and read a summary about each new thing. Does anyone even care that new and fabulous ed tech stuff, eminently capable of propelling students forward by at least two grades, goes on the market every day? What criteria is used? Do the teacher-users and student-user have input to decisions?
Your school just might be well enough funded to have implemented 1 to 1 classrooms or maybe just a legacy computer lab or two, or maybe tablet carts or four or five static tablets assigned to each classroom. Many might still be saddled with ancient slow and cumbersome desktops. (Aside note: I remember a time [the late 80's] when I lugged my "portable" 30-pound computer with two 5-1/4" floppy disk drives back and forth to work daily using a luggage carrier.) Surely whatever devices on campus, all have access to the Internet and every faculty member has a laptop, notebook or tablet device. No? Whatever the case someone or someones has the explicit, or worse, the implicit task of vetting new educational apps, websites, browser add-ons, templates, ed tech tools, hardware, and all stuff ed tech. Considering that these 60 some educational technology "things" above are from only one website, we can be assured that every six days produces many, many more, probably thousands. Who vets, recommends, budgets and buys ed tech stuff at your institution? Is it the administrators, the teachers, the IT guys, the education-technology integrator/coordinator, the cleaning crew? Who or what group would ever even have the time to visit each website and blog then look up and read a summary about each new thing. Does anyone even care that new and fabulous ed tech stuff, eminently capable of propelling students forward by at least two grades, goes on the market every day? What criteria is used? Do the teacher-users and student-user have input to decisions?ed tech tools, hardware, and all stuff ed tech. Considering that these 60 some educational technology "things" above are from only one website, we can be assured that every six days produces many, many more, probably thousands. Who vets, recommends, budgets and buys ed tech stuff at your institution? Is it the administrators, the teachers, the IT guys, the education-technology integrator/coordinator, the cleaning crew? Who or what group would ever even have the time to visit each website and blog then look up and read a summary about each new thing. Does anyone even care that new and fabulous ed tech stuff, eminently capable of propelling students forward by at least two grades, goes on the market every day? What criteria is used? Do the teacher-users and student-user have input to decisions?
Friday, March 4, 2016
Personalized Learning; Competency-based Education; Distance (On-line) Education
The buzzwords Personalized Learning, Competency-based Education, Distance (On-line) Education have become increasingly popular since the 1990's. In some circles, these are pejorative terms which when enacted to an extreme through the conduit of technology are perceived to threaten teachers and the teaching profession. Technology is often seen as the cause and by reference, technologists are therefore at fault. Here is an excellent article by Jennifer Carolan that rehashes the history of Personalized Learning and adds some reasonable perspective regarding the role of technology. Her last paragraph capsulizes the theme.
But personalization does not mean isolation, and it doesn't mean sitting our students down in front of laptops all day. Personalization is a strategy that allows us to adapt to the needs of all children, preferably after giving them a powerful, shared learning experience that motivates them to dive deeper. The best schools and ed-tech companies understand that technology and personalization are not the ends of education, but that they are merely means to help achieve higher goals—goals on which the health of our society and democracy depend.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
OECD Report on Computers and Learning - Nothing New
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a report titled "Students, Computers,\ and Learning: Making Connections". The conclusions are not surprising.
At the international level:
The United States:
A particularly obvious and significant finding:
At the international level:
Over the past 10 years, there has been no appreciable improvement in student achievement in reading, mathematics or science, on average, in countries that have invested heavily in information and communication technologies for education. In 2012, in the vast majority of countries, students who used computers moderately at school had somewhat better learning outcomes than students who used computers rarely; but students who used computers very frequently at school did a lot worse, even after accounting for the students’ socio-economic status.
“School systems need to find more effective ways to integrate | technology into teaching and learning to provide educators with learning environments that support 21st century pedagogies and provide children with the 21st century skills they need to succeed in tomorrow’s world,” said Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills. “Technology is the only way to dramatically expand access to knowledge. To deliver on the promises technology holds, countries need to invest more effectively and ensure that teachers are at the forefront of designing and implementing this change.”
The United States:
The socio-economic divide in Internet access in the United States has not yet closed. In 2012, about one in five (20.2%) disadvantaged students – those among the bottom 25% in socio-economic status – did not yet have a link to the Internet at home. In the same year, 97% of the remaining students (those among the more advantaged 75% in socio-economic status) had access to the Internet at home.
Fifteen-year-olds in the United States perform above the OECD average in the PISA tests of digital reading (511 points on the PISA digital reading scale). They are also better than average in evaluating which links can lead them to relevant pages as they read on line. When looking for information on the web, only 11% of students navigate in an unfocused way, if at all – compared to 15% of students, on average, across OECD countries.
In 2012, schools in the United States serving 15-year-olds had about five school computers available for every nine students. The students-per-computer ratio of 1.8-to-1 is one of the lowest among the 34 OECD countries.
A particularly obvious and significant finding:
The report found that the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students in digital reading was very similar to the differences in performance in the traditional PISA reading test, despite the vast majority of students using computers whatever their background. This suggests that to reduce inequalities in digital skills, countries need to improve equity in education first.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Integrating Technology and Empowering Students
Chris Aviles on edSurge offers a truly brilliant grading system using Google Forms, Google Sheets and his self-developed student tracking system. I had a similar experience as Chris when I taught high school, however, my solution was not nearly as innovative and I suspect, effective as Chris'.
If you teach, please, please read his article and study his forms. Adapt and adopt as necessary to your situation. Students can sometimes learn as much, maybe more, from the education process than from instruction per se. Peer grading with anonymity and without competition has been shown to be a valuable learning tool.
If you teach, please, please read his article and study his forms. Adapt and adopt as necessary to your situation. Students can sometimes learn as much, maybe more, from the education process than from instruction per se. Peer grading with anonymity and without competition has been shown to be a valuable learning tool.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
No More Teachers' Dirty Looks
An Edsurge blog asks, "Can Blended Learning Solve the U.S. Teacher Drought?" Basically, the issue is more about technology replacing people, in this case fully qualified teachers. As a technologist, I fully support the integration of technology in curriculum and lessons, when deemed appropriate by the teacher. Taking it a step further, the blended level is a decision that would be made at the school or district level and consequently dictated to the teachers.
There are obvious advantages to a blended learning model, most having to do with reduced cost or technology filling vacant teacher positions. Neither of these advantages, on the surface that I can see, would have a positive effect on student achievement. Another advantage, that of facilitating differentiated learning, has the potential of going some way toward increasing achievement, at least of certain students. One disadvantage--the need for a larger support staff. Supposedly, the number of support staff would diminish over time as faculty were trained, curricula rewritten, and elearning courses prepared. Reducing face time with experienced teachers, at least at this stage in our technology, can only drive down achievement overall. That is a major disadvantage. One master teacher with one "apprentice" teacher (read less expensive) in a blended learning environment could theoreticallyteach manage a class of 50 or 60 students. I believe that to be neutral, until I see results.
Will we always need teachers in the classroom? The inroads technology has made into education, in spite of the fact that studies are inclusive regarding value, indicate that technology will, at some point, be the definition of education. Virtual intelligence is already on the cusp of replicating many humanistic characteristics. How far away is it away from becoming a high-quality teacher? A quote from the article: "For example, a computer cannot, as of yet, teach deeper learning and critical thinking." [Emphasis added.]
There are obvious advantages to a blended learning model, most having to do with reduced cost or technology filling vacant teacher positions. Neither of these advantages, on the surface that I can see, would have a positive effect on student achievement. Another advantage, that of facilitating differentiated learning, has the potential of going some way toward increasing achievement, at least of certain students. One disadvantage--the need for a larger support staff. Supposedly, the number of support staff would diminish over time as faculty were trained, curricula rewritten, and elearning courses prepared. Reducing face time with experienced teachers, at least at this stage in our technology, can only drive down achievement overall. That is a major disadvantage. One master teacher with one "apprentice" teacher (read less expensive) in a blended learning environment could theoretically
Will we always need teachers in the classroom? The inroads technology has made into education, in spite of the fact that studies are inclusive regarding value, indicate that technology will, at some point, be the definition of education. Virtual intelligence is already on the cusp of replicating many humanistic characteristics. How far away is it away from becoming a high-quality teacher? A quote from the article: "For example, a computer cannot, as of yet, teach deeper learning and critical thinking." [Emphasis added.]
Friday, August 21, 2015
Chrome Apps for this School Year
Originally posted @ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.
August 20, 2015
You probably are already working on your digital toolkit making it ready for the start of a new school year. Part of your preparation will definitely consist of making [a] decision on the kind of web applications and mobil[e] apps you will be incorporating in your teaching. This means that you need to have a fairly decent knowledge of educational web tools out there and the potentialities they can offer to your instruction. To this end and to help you make informed decisions about the technology to use in your class, we went ahead and did some digging into our archive and curated this collection comprising some of the best educational Chrome apps out there. We hope you will find it useful. Enjoy
1- Chrome Apps for Math Teachers
2- Chrome Apps for Recording and Editing Audio
3- Chrome Apps for Annotating and Editing PDFs
4- Chrome Apps for Bookmarking and Curating Content
5- Chrome Apps to Enhance Students Reading Experiences
6- Chrome Apps to Enhance Teachers Productivity
7- Chrome Apps for Creating 3D Models
8- QR Generator Apps for Chrome
9- Chrome Apps for Research Students
10- Chrome Apps for Notetaking
11- Chrome Apps for Screen Capture
12- Chrome Apps for Sketching and Doodling
13- Chrome Task Management Apps
August 20, 2015
You probably are already working on your digital toolkit making it ready for the start of a new school year. Part of your preparation will definitely consist of making [a] decision on the kind of web applications and mobil[e] apps you will be incorporating in your teaching. This means that you need to have a fairly decent knowledge of educational web tools out there and the potentialities they can offer to your instruction. To this end and to help you make informed decisions about the technology to use in your class, we went ahead and did some digging into our archive and curated this collection comprising some of the best educational Chrome apps out there. We hope you will find it useful. Enjoy
1- Chrome Apps for Math Teachers
- GeoGebra
- Desmos Graphing Calculator
- Math Arcade Games
- Graph.tk
- Buzz Math
- MathBoard Addition
- Monster Math Flash Card
- Popular math
2- Chrome Apps for Recording and Editing Audio
3- Chrome Apps for Annotating and Editing PDFs
4- Chrome Apps for Bookmarking and Curating Content
5- Chrome Apps to Enhance Students Reading Experiences
6- Chrome Apps to Enhance Teachers Productivity
7- Chrome Apps for Creating 3D Models
8- QR Generator Apps for Chrome
9- Chrome Apps for Research Students
10- Chrome Apps for Notetaking
11- Chrome Apps for Screen Capture
12- Chrome Apps for Sketching and Doodling
13- Chrome Task Management Apps
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Don't Neglect Windows 10 Store for Education Apps
Microsoft fell far behind Google and Apple in the app race, especially in the education area. Things are changing for the better for education. The store is improving in organization and app quality. Check out the offerings. Many Most are free. Review carefully; many Microsoft apps were previously disappointing, even scams.
Education
I've previously discussed how difficult it is for an individual teacher, no matter the platform, to select appropriate apps for integration. The process needs be a grade and content subject collaborative effort aligned with applicable standards. And educators should be quick to discard and replace while widely advertising their reviews, at least within their PLCs, which btw, should also be composed of like grade and content educators. Again, and this can't be emphasized enough, each teacher must select the apps that complement their individual pedagogy and peculiar student mix. Departments, schools, districts, and states would be badly remiss to dictate standard educational apps. Economies of scale don't come into play when the purchase price is free.
Education
I've previously discussed how difficult it is for an individual teacher, no matter the platform, to select appropriate apps for integration. The process needs be a grade and content subject collaborative effort aligned with applicable standards. And educators should be quick to discard and replace while widely advertising their reviews, at least within their PLCs, which btw, should also be composed of like grade and content educators. Again, and this can't be emphasized enough, each teacher must select the apps that complement their individual pedagogy and peculiar student mix. Departments, schools, districts, and states would be badly remiss to dictate standard educational apps. Economies of scale don't come into play when the purchase price is free.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
te@chthought
This is a great site for all things educational K-20. If you haven't been there, go. It's worth more than a cursory look, possibly even subscribe to receive emails. This is from their mission statement:
In a couple of recent articles, the concept of disruption and its value in education is discussed (article 1, article 2). The second article gives examples. Disruption was extrapolated from a theoretical business model and attempts to explain events in education progress(?) somewhere between evolution and paradigm shift. Interesting reading but I'm not sure I want to add it to my very long list of forgotten models.
Here are Terry Heick's (te@chthought's director) thoughts regarding what's trending in 2015:
The interactive list is available at the site, however, here is a non-interactive list:
Trending Up
Awkward Middle Ground
Trending Down
TeachThought’s mantra is simple: learn better.
Our mission is to illuminate and actuate optimal learning for everyone, everywhere. This starts with helping smart teachers teach smart, and it extends to work with like-minded organizations to bring visibility and traction to their ideas.
The pie-in-the-sky goal is a modern enlightenment that results in healthy communities and interdependent citizens–and we believe that this can happen much more simply than it’d seem.
The secret is to change the way people think about learning. It’s possible more than ever to create learning spaces that are personalized, self-directed, social, and creative. This requires new tools and models, but more importantly a paradigm shift in how everyone–educators and otherwise–thinks about “education.”
In a couple of recent articles, the concept of disruption and its value in education is discussed (article 1, article 2). The second article gives examples. Disruption was extrapolated from a theoretical business model and attempts to explain events in education progress(?) somewhere between evolution and paradigm shift. Interesting reading but I'm not sure I want to add it to my very long list of forgotten models.
Here are Terry Heick's (te@chthought's director) thoughts regarding what's trending in 2015:
What’s trending up for 2015 school year in terms of education technology?
iPads are still the standard but other platforms are making headway. That should be fun to watch over the next 3-5 years.
Educators are getting better at spotting crap edtech, but waste still abounds. There are even some educators who are against technology in the classroom at all.
Schools are getting better at thinking tech-first (not in terms of priority, but design). But they are still struggling to meaningfully integrate edtech at the learning model and curriculum level.
Apps are getting downright brilliant in spots, but in-app purchasing? That’s getting a bit out of hand, isn’t it? And something has to be done about all of the usernames and passwords.
Below are 30 entirely subjective but hopefully somewhere close to reality takes on what’s trending up and what’s trending down in education and education technology for 2015 and beyond. A handful of these aren’t pure edtech items, but it’s all part of the same ecosystem yes?
Note that this list isn’t an endorsement–meaning this isn’t necessarily the way I think things should be, but rather what they seem to be–at least from my vantage point, right here, right now. Ask me again in August.
What’s trending up, what’s trending down, and what’s in that awkward middle ground of education and education technology? Below are 30 guesses.
The interactive list is available at the site, however, here is a non-interactive list:
Trending Up
- Teacherpreneurs
- Decentralizing academic standards
- Rethinking data in the classroom
- Adaptive learning algorithms
- Digital Citizenship
- Focus on non-fiction, digital media
- Depth of content
- Experimentation with new learning models (including flipped classroom, sync learning, blended learning, etc.)
- Teacher self-directed PD, webinars, streams, etc.
- College as a choice
- Collaborative learning
- Digital Literacy
- Focus on learning spaces
- Design thinking
- Mindfulness, meditation, downtime
- Teacher as guide-on-the-side
- Gamification of content
- Genius hour, maker hour, collaboration time
- Workflows
- Cloud-based word processing
- Mainstreaming + co-teaching
- Platform Agnosticism
- Librarian as digital media specialist
- YouTube channels, Google Chromecast, AppleTV
- Apps like Storehouse
- 1:1 tablets/devices
- Project-Based Learning
- Mobile-first #edtech design
- The innovation of apps
- Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive
Awkward Middle Ground
- Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc.
- “Accountability”
- Professional Learning Communities
- Differentiation
- Computer coding
- Traditional reading lists of truly great literature
- Pure creativity
- Self-directed learning
- Massive in-person education conferences
- Colleges in general
- Experiential learning
- Cultural Literacy
- The physical design of most school buildings and universities
- Memorization of prioritized content that leads to design thinking
- Debate
- Pressure on systems
- Gamification-as-grading-system
- Tutoring
- To-do lists
- Cloud-based learning
- One teach, one drift/prompt/observe
- Moving from one OS to another (e.g., from Android to Windows Phone)
- Librarian/DMS as bibliophile
- Online encyclopedias
- Apps like Prezi
- Socioeconomic disparity
- Mobile learning
- Mobile assessment
- Honest-to-goodness free apps
- iCloud
Trending Down
- Mass education publishers
- Common Core standards, Race to the Top
- Data Teams
- Scripted curricula
- Draconian district filters
- Humanities
- Coverage of content
- “21st century learning” as a phrase or single idea
- The perceived quality of teacher certification & training programs
- College as the standard
- MOOCs
- Agricultural Literacy
- The traditional classroom
- “Low-level” recall of easily accessed data (facts) or skills (arithmetic)
- Lessons that favor “verbally expressive” students
- Pressure on teachers
- Standards-based grading; pass/fail; student retention
- Increased “instructional hours”
- Whole class processes
- Flash drives, hard drives, CDs, emailing files
- Alternative schools/classrooms for special needs students
- Apple-centric thinking
- Librarian as no-nonsense, ruler-wielding taskmaster
- Cable television, subscription-based content streaming
- Apps like PowerPoint
- Oversimplifying BYOD thinking
- “Doing projects”
- Mobilizing non-mobile content
- In-app purchase gouging
- Dropbox
Thursday, August 6, 2015
A Massive List of Technological Education Tools
This site can be overwhelming. I suggest you click the Browse around and explore button where you can search by category, subject, age, and platform. After you click on an item within one of the tools search areas you can filter the tools by price (free or paid), platform, subject, age, and category. Sorting is also available by popularity, dated added, and last update. The short (2-1/2-minute) video overview is helpful but getting inside and 'putzing' around is more valuable.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Top 100 Tools for Learning 2014
Jane Hart, founder of Centre for Learning Technologies, compiled the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2014 – the results of the 8th Annual Learning Tools Survey – from the votes of 1,038 learning professionals from61 countries worldwide. The list was published on 22 September 2014.
2014 Top 100
Monday, August 3, 2015
iPads in the Classroom
There's an interesting article at EmergingEdTech pitching the advantages of tablets (especially iPads) in the classroom. Some notable impacts (the validity of the studies are not verified):At the University of California Irvine’s iMedEd program, each of the 104 medical students in the class of 2014 received an iPad from the school when they started in 2010. Towards the end of their programs, this class scored an average of 23% higher on national exams than previous classes (even though their incoming GPA and MCAT scores were comparable). The iPads provided contained a full suite of electronic textbooks, as well as podcasts of lectures and other resources.
A study of kindergarteners in Auburn, Maine showed that students who use iPads scored better in every literacy test than those who don’t. The study focused on 266 children whose instruction featured the iPad. Those who used the device scored higher on the literacy tests, were more interested in learning and excited to be there.
The Franklin Academy High School in North Carolina initiated a 1:1 iPad program at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. In April, 2014, the Academy released results of a study that shed light on the impact that the use of the iPad had on academic achievement and the development of the vital non-cognitive skills that their program is founded upon. Study results indicated that these students exhibit the following positive student behaviors:
Increased motivation in students
High confidence level with the use of technology
Opportunities for collaboration
Organizational benefits
Efficiency in completing tasks
Self-directed and extended learning opportunities
Increased independence towards becoming a continuous learner
Developing skills of a problem solver
Obviously, these are just a few examples of such studies. This article from Secure Edge Networks,
More meaningful than the studies is the paragraph on professional development:
Successful implementation of any large technology initiative requires effective planning and well-designed professional development. It’s really just that simple. Not that it is easy to do, but the bottom line is that any large initiative and expenditure such as this requires quality planning and proper PD and support. One popular avenue for professional development in the world of education technology that doesn’t require school districts to figure it out all by themselves is the conference setting. Back in 2011, the Franklin Academy in North Carolina ran the first national Teaching and Learning with the iPad Conference in the U.S. Attendance at the annual conference has grown every year, and attendees have come from all across the world. Over the years, numerous other such conferences have sprung up as well, and educators can take advantage of professional development opportunities like this throughout the year, at locations all across the world.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Coding for Educators and Students
I am not sold on the idea that in and of itself coding is a K-12 essential. There are now a number of databases containing common code sequences in all languages and it won't be too far in the future when code will be available "on demand" by way of plain language query not unlike Google. A little further out, five or fewer years, I expect we will see code that writes code. Consequently, I don't have much faith in estimates claiming that 1.4 million programming jobs will be needed over the next decade.
However, from my limited experience with it, I do believe coding to be a beneficial technological integration tool. Coding is "non-subject specific, lending itself to interdisciplinary lessons that integrate math, science, English, art and a variety of other subjects. Students simultaneously balance logical reasoning, creativity and problem solving in real-world scenarios." Watch the video at Made with Code. Then, if you're not convinced that coding requires a considerable amount of logical reasoning, creativity and problem-solving, try a couple of simple projects of your own. At the least you will gain an appreciation for what is involved in programming. EmergingEdTech lists and briefly discusses four additional coding sites for teachers and students. If you really want a challenge sign up for Harvard's very well known free introductory computer science course, CS50.
However, from my limited experience with it, I do believe coding to be a beneficial technological integration tool. Coding is "non-subject specific, lending itself to interdisciplinary lessons that integrate math, science, English, art and a variety of other subjects. Students simultaneously balance logical reasoning, creativity and problem solving in real-world scenarios." Watch the video at Made with Code. Then, if you're not convinced that coding requires a considerable amount of logical reasoning, creativity and problem-solving, try a couple of simple projects of your own. At the least you will gain an appreciation for what is involved in programming. EmergingEdTech lists and briefly discusses four additional coding sites for teachers and students. If you really want a challenge sign up for Harvard's very well known free introductory computer science course, CS50.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Terminator: Gynesis
Chart and verbiage from The Emerging Future.
"Eighteen to twenty years out, technological advancements will be hundreds of thousands to a million times more advanced. That makes our first 14 years of exponential growth seem flat-lined (no progress), when, in fact, it will be 4,000 times more advanced than today. We currently have regenerative medicine in clinical trials and consumer wireless computer-brain interfaces for $300. What will it be like in 20 years when technology is a million times better?"
Many serious and respected scientist and futurists predict that continuing technological advancements at the current rate will result in a technological singularity.
"The technological singularity is the hypothetical advent of artificial general intelligence (also known as "strong AI"). Such a computer, computer network, or robot would theoretically be capable of recursive self-improvement (redesigning itself), or of designing and building computers or robots better than itself. Repetitions of this cycle would likely result in a runaway effect — an intelligence explosion[1][2] — where smart machines design successive generations of increasingly powerful machines, creating intelligence far exceeding human intellectual capacity and control. Because the capabilities of such a superintelligence may be impossible for a humans to comprehend, the technological singularity is an occurrence beyond which events may become unpredictable, unfavorable, or even unfathomable."
Scary and as of now at least, hypothetical and movie fodder, however, let's look out a mere five years:
What will be the impact on education? Technologies have already been created to give us the ability to:
- Regenerate our sick and aging bodies giving us healthy radical longevity
- Personal guidance
- Free energy
- Desktop fabricators
- An interactive intelligent environment
- Accident free autonomous transportation
- Embedded nano and micro intelligent systems in our body and environment
- Advanced cybernetic and bionic senses, organs, and limbs that are superior to our biological ones
- Poverty reduction tools to create worldwide abundance and then radical abundance
- Computer brain interfaces allowing for our intelligence to multiply millions of times
- Manipulate molecules and atoms
- The ability to live in space
And the following technologies are here today: Sensors, nanotechnology medicine, quantum computing, bioinformatics, synthetic biology, robotics, nanobots, artificial organs and senses, ubiquitous knowledge, smart materials, open source software, IBM's Watson, Google search, Siri, Google assistant, computer-brain interfaces, telepresence robots, self-aware robots,3D printing, longevity escape velocity biotech, server farms (the cloud), microelectromechanical systems, smart phones, tablets, cybernetic limbs, medical tricorders, personal genome, genetic analysis, genomic engineering, proteomics, exoskeletons, autonomous machines (cars, planes, insects, rats, birds, weapons, etc.), gene therapy, desktop sequencers, regenerative medicine (regenerating, growing, and printing human body organs), computer made synthetic life, interactive surfaces, Google's Project Glass, Google Fiber, augmented reality, cryogenics, repurposed drugs, nanotubes, nano-shells, nanoviricides, and smart, interactive, and energy producing walls, floors, countertops, mirrors, doors, and windows.
What this last graph means is that your eighth-grade student, by the time she graduates from high school will be facing a higher education technological world that is 32 times more advanced than the one she knows today. Exactly how are educators expected to predict and educate students to such a world? And by the time our eighth-grader graduates college and is expected to perform in the real world, she will be in a world of technology that is 500 times more advanced than today's. How does one prepare a student to compete in a global marketplace that has been so dramatically changed by technology?
Thursday, July 23, 2015
A Tool for 1:1 Classrooms
"Splashtop Classroom allows teachers to share their desktop and applications. Once connected, students can view, control and annotate over lesson content directly from their mobile device. Splashtop Classroom is perfect for teachers and instructors that want to engage the entire room!"
Watch short video.
Watch short video.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
The Server Must Be Down
Blame it on the server. Many glitches are blamed on the server which by extension places blame on the server/network administrator, a technician with a difficult job. This short blog is about server basics and is intended to give network end-users some appreciation for the work servers perform.
A computer or device on a network that manages network resources. A server can be a hardware device or a computer application (software).
File: a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files.
Print: a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages network traffic.
Database: a computer system that processes database queries.
Web: a computer that delivers (serves up) Web pages. Every Web server has an IP address and possibly a domain name.
Proxy: a serverintercepts all requests to the real server to see if it can fulfill the requests itself. If not, it forwards the request to the real server.
Application: a program that handles all application operations between users and an organization's backend business applications or databases.
Cloud: a group of multiple connected servers (a cloud) on the Internet performing one or more standard server function.
Backup: a server responsible for backing up and restoring files, folders, databases and hard drives on a network in order to prevent the loss of data in the event of a hard drive failure, user error, disaster or accident.
Fax: provides fax services for clients.
Name: provides DNS services.
Sound: provides multimedia broadcasting, streaming.
Mail: handles transport of and access to email.
Communications: carrier-grade computing platform for communications networks.
Catalog: a central search point for information across a distributed network
Maintaining and managing servers to support a school with as few as 400 computers running a mix of operating systems is full-time job sometimes requiring third-party support. Consequently, many schools have opted to move many server services to the cloud in recent years. The advantages and disadvantages of in-house servers versus cloud services are beyond the scope of this blog. Anyway, the physical location of the server providing end-user services is seldom of concern to end-users.
What is a server?
A computer or device on a network that manages network resources. A server can be a hardware device or a computer application (software).
Types of servers:
File: a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files.
Print: a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages network traffic.
Database: a computer system that processes database queries.
Web: a computer that delivers (serves up) Web pages. Every Web server has an IP address and possibly a domain name.
Proxy: a serverintercepts all requests to the real server to see if it can fulfill the requests itself. If not, it forwards the request to the real server.
Application: a program that handles all application operations between users and an organization's backend business applications or databases.
Cloud: a group of multiple connected servers (a cloud) on the Internet performing one or more standard server function.
Backup: a server responsible for backing up and restoring files, folders, databases and hard drives on a network in order to prevent the loss of data in the event of a hard drive failure, user error, disaster or accident.
Fax: provides fax services for clients.
Name: provides DNS services.
Sound: provides multimedia broadcasting, streaming.
Mail: handles transport of and access to email.
Communications: carrier-grade computing platform for communications networks.
Catalog: a central search point for information across a distributed network
Maintaining and managing servers to support a school with as few as 400 computers running a mix of operating systems is full-time job sometimes requiring third-party support. Consequently, many schools have opted to move many server services to the cloud in recent years. The advantages and disadvantages of in-house servers versus cloud services are beyond the scope of this blog. Anyway, the physical location of the server providing end-user services is seldom of concern to end-users.
4 Questions to Ask about Your Lesson, Unit or Activity
From the dangerously!irrelevant blog:
What percentage of the learning occurring in your school system would simultaneously satisfy at least two of the above (2Q)? At least three of the above (3Q) for a triple win? All four (4Q) for the quadruple win?
- Deeper learning. Did it allow students to go beyond factual recall and procedural regurgitation and be creative, collaborative, critical thinkers and problem-solvers? Did it really? [If not, why not? Our graduates need to be deeper learners and doers so that they can add value beyond what search engines, Siri, and YouTube already can do.]
- Student agency. Did it allow students to drive their own learning rather than being heavily teacher-directed? Did it really? [If not, why not? Our graduates need to be autonomous, self-directed, lifelong learners so that they can reskill and adapt in a rapidly changing world.]
- Authentic work. Did it allow students to be engaged with and/or make a contribution to the world outside the school walls? Did it really? [If not, why not? Our graduates need to be locally- and globally-active so that they can be positive citizens and contributors to both their community and the larger world.]
- Digital tools. Did it allow students to use digital learning tools to enhance their learning beyond traditional analog affordances? Did it really? [If not, why not? Our graduates need to be digitally fluent so that they can effectively navigate our technology-suffused information, economic, and learning landscapes.]
What percentage of the learning occurring in your school system would simultaneously satisfy at least two of the above (2Q)? At least three of the above (3Q) for a triple win? All four (4Q) for the quadruple win?
Monday, July 20, 2015
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Blended Learning: Is Rhode Island's Future the Future in Education?
An excellent discussion of blended learning in Rhode Island here.
Highlights:
To be successful, experts agree, a blended learning program needs to have a clearly articulated vision from its educational leadership, the right technological tools and an in-depth professional development program for teachers.
...a growing need for more and better “curation” of the best ed-tech tools, programs and approaches. That way, teachers wouldn’t have to spend hours experimenting and trying to keep up with the exploding marketplace for blended learning, and could focus more on their students.
Blended learning can provide teachers with crucial feedback that enables them to intervene with greater precision and effectiveness and customize learning for their students.
Technology is just a tool for teaching and learning, not an end unto itself. Learning can be messy. Not all learning is linear and students have different needs and ways of communicating what they can do and what they don’t know. There is no technological substitute for the judgment of a good teacher.
Technology also can’t replace an educational vision. What are your goals? Are you trying to close achievement gaps? Are you emphasizing project-based learning? Are you trying to develop entrepreneurs? How are you using technology to help achieve those goals?
Right now, any teacher who is running blended learning well is managing a huge workload. The work is not sustainable for all, and many of our current classroom teachers can’t or won’t put in the hours necessary to run their classroom this way, especially if they don’t see tangible benefits to doing so.
State and district leaders must figure out ways to mobilize and organize collaboratively so that we can source both content and assessments with and for classroom teachers. Ed-tech products can be partners in this work, but ultimately the system must have local buy-in and local ownership if it’s going to stick.
It’s not enough to promote the expansion of blended classrooms; we must also equip teachers with the proper tools to make their systems manageable.
We need our building leaders to be driving blended learning change, which requires that superintendents take time-consuming administrative tasks off their plates so that principals can devote more energy to the shift to blended learning.
We also have to do a better job gathering data on how well these technologies are actually working.
Highlights:
To be successful, experts agree, a blended learning program needs to have a clearly articulated vision from its educational leadership, the right technological tools and an in-depth professional development program for teachers.
...a growing need for more and better “curation” of the best ed-tech tools, programs and approaches. That way, teachers wouldn’t have to spend hours experimenting and trying to keep up with the exploding marketplace for blended learning, and could focus more on their students.
Blended learning can provide teachers with crucial feedback that enables them to intervene with greater precision and effectiveness and customize learning for their students.
Technology is just a tool for teaching and learning, not an end unto itself. Learning can be messy. Not all learning is linear and students have different needs and ways of communicating what they can do and what they don’t know. There is no technological substitute for the judgment of a good teacher.
Technology also can’t replace an educational vision. What are your goals? Are you trying to close achievement gaps? Are you emphasizing project-based learning? Are you trying to develop entrepreneurs? How are you using technology to help achieve those goals?
Right now, any teacher who is running blended learning well is managing a huge workload. The work is not sustainable for all, and many of our current classroom teachers can’t or won’t put in the hours necessary to run their classroom this way, especially if they don’t see tangible benefits to doing so.
State and district leaders must figure out ways to mobilize and organize collaboratively so that we can source both content and assessments with and for classroom teachers. Ed-tech products can be partners in this work, but ultimately the system must have local buy-in and local ownership if it’s going to stick.
It’s not enough to promote the expansion of blended classrooms; we must also equip teachers with the proper tools to make their systems manageable.
We need our building leaders to be driving blended learning change, which requires that superintendents take time-consuming administrative tasks off their plates so that principals can devote more energy to the shift to blended learning.
We also have to do a better job gathering data on how well these technologies are actually working.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
3rd Graders Spend 75% of Day on iPads--Good or Bad?
Glued to the Screen: Inside a 3rd Grade Classroom Where Kids Spend 75% of the Day on iPads
June 23, 2015
[Many interesting comments at below site.]
INEOLA, N.Y. — When the 24 third-graders in Morgan Mercaldi’s class arrive at the Jackson Avenue School every morning, they take their iPads out of their backpacks and put them on their desks. The tablets will remain there, or in hands and laps, until the children put them in their packs to take them home.
Last year Mercaldi had her students stash the iPads away when they weren’t using them. But she has abandoned that. “Putting them away serves no purpose. We use them constantly,” Mercaldi says.
Mercaldi’s class in Mineola, N.Y., is in the fifth year of a district initiative that now provides iPads to all students in grades three through nine. At Jackson Avenue, which houses the third and fourth grades, all 417 children, including those in special education, have their own tablets, and they spend about 75 percent of their instructional day on the devices, more than many other schools that have embraced digital learning.
Despite a lack of hard data on how digital learning affects student achievement, Mineola, a fairly affluent New York City suburb, is betting heavily on technology to help children meet an array of tough Common Core standards. By embracing iPads while keeping the traditional model of one teacher working with 20-some children, the small school district offers a vision of what the future of digital learning might be.
Here’s a typical day in a third-grade classroom.
10 – 11:20 a.m.
At around 10 a.m. on a late-winter day, Mercaldi’s students sit scattered around the sunny classroom, some at their desks, some perched on a shelf running along one wall and some on the bright blue rug. All the children have their iPads out as they read and do English language arts exercises. Many use eSpark, which creates a “playlist” of education apps geared to each student’s needs.
After about 25 minutes, Mercaldi calls the students together to revise the first-person pieces about frogs that they each researched and wrote. Like so much in the class, the assignment has had digital and paper elements. Mercaldi’s students received their iPads in October, and now move smoothly from pencil to touch screen and from paper to tablet. The children did their frog research both online and in books, organized the materials on their iPads, and did their writing on paper.
Now, Mercaldi tells the students to begin revising their narratives. “I want you to work on communication skills with a partner,” she says. The children leave their iPads on their desks and sit on the floor in two concentric circles. Working in pairs, they alter words in their texts. One suggests changing “scary” to “frightening”; another, “animal” to “creature.”
At 10:45 a.m., after a short snack break, the students take out their iPads for the first of several math lessons that Mercaldi will sprinkle throughout the day. Today, the main topic is finding the area of rectangles and the multiplication needed to do that.
As Mercaldi stands at a large interactive whiteboard, the children follow along on their tablets, trying to figure out the area of a 7-by-13 rectangle. “Do we know 7 times 13 just like that?” she asks the students. Most agree they do not, and so break the number down, eventually coming up with 3 times 7 plus 10 times 7.
Staying with math, the students then use their iPads to answer questions Mercaldi has posted on Edmodo, which helps students and teachers communicate electronically and lets Mercaldi see the children’s answers. (Last year Mercaldi used regular email and was bombarded with messages. She finds Edmodo “more efficient … a little more teacher-student.”) Reviewing the students’ work, Mercaldi says, lets her assess whether every child is meeting the standards and, if not, where he or she needs help.
Now in her second year with the iPads and her seventh year as a teacher, Mercaldi seems unfazed by the technology. “I kind of grew up with technology. It’s the future,” she says.
Most children also seem comfortable with the devices. “I have one at home but I was excited to get it at school because I thought it would be an interesting experience,” Brianna DiVirgilio says.
11:20 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.
When students finish their math questions, they can move on — to reading on eSpark, working on an app or watching a video. Then, at around 11:20, the class divides again, this time into four groups, each designated by a color. The group assignments are geared to the students’ individual levels and what they need to know. One group reads with Mercaldi. The other three do lessons on their iPads: one on eSpark, one answering language arts questions on Edmodo and the third on MobyMax, a provider of electronic curricula.
The students seem to like MobyMax the best because it begins every day’s task with a joke. While the technology may be new, the gags aren’t (“What has four wheels and flies?”). The children also like the badges — usually a nature photograph — that they get when they answer a set of questions correctly.
At Mercaldi’s prompting, three girls explain how they made videos about the imaginary organizations all the students created: Clothes Court, Rockin’ Socks and Shoes and Books for Reading. The videos are accessible by scanning a QR code with a mobile device.
A couple of boys are big fans of a drawing app. Demonstrating how it creates various visual effects, Brendan Ludwig observes, “You can do all the basics. You can make a perfect house, and if you want to make changes, you don’t have to delete it.”
With two dozen third-graders using all these apps and programs, technical glitches are inevitable. One girl discovers that the camera on her device is not activated, something Mercaldi promises to fix.
Working on MobyMax, Angelica Moreira cannot call up the math quiz she wants. Other children try to help her, something the school encourages. “We teach the kids how to troubleshoot,” Jackson Avenue principal Janet Gonzalez says. “Some of the kids are teaching the teacher.”
In the meantime, Angelica selects new backgrounds for her tablet. “I do this a lot while I wait around,” she says. But even after her new wallpaper is in place, the quiz will not load. Eventually someone realizes that MobyMax is preventing Angelica from trying a second quiz too soon after taking the first.
Despite being so-called digital natives, the students vary in how expert they are on the iPads and how much they like them. “Some people know more than other people on the iPad and they get jealous,” says Joshua Parr. Joseph Parrino has had trouble with the iPad’s flat electronic keyboard — “my fingers slip,” he explains — and so has brought a plug-in keyboard from home. And several children say they prefer old-fashioned books to the digital alternative.
By 11:40 it’s time for the second of the day’s math lessons, a drill — Mercaldi calls it a “sprint” — in which the students use paper and pencils to rapidly solve a series of problems, this time involving number patterns. After that, they will break for lunch.
12:55 – 2:30 p.m.
Shortly before 1 p.m., the children return from lunch for another math lesson and open their paper workbooks to exercises on finding the area of a rectangle. At Mercaldi’s urging, the students offer various strategies for the same problem. “Use what works,” she says.
After several students depart for music class, those left behind alternate between iPads and paper to solve problems about rectangles and the properties of multiplication.
The tablet has one advantage with the children. “They’re engaged and they like it; it doesn’t seem like a job,” Mercaldi says. But the device also can be too much of a good thing. “It can’t consume their every day,” she says, adding, “The hardest thing was finding the balance.” In general, she tries to take the students off an app after 20 minutes. With several hours during the school day on the iPads, plus homework time and other afterschool use, it’s not hard to imagine that some Jackson Avenue students may look at their tablets for six hours or more a day.
The day’s math lessons end with a problem set, to be done on the iPads. Most students come to the rug to work on the questions with Mercaldi and the other children. A few, though, go it alone. Mercaldi tells the children to list all possible rectangles with an area of 48 square centimeters and to consider what the various shapes might look like.
“When the numbers are closer, don’t they kind of look like squares?” Brianna proposes.
Once they have completed their work and submitted it to Mercaldi, the children can read on eSpark. One boy, though, finds something more enticing to call up on his screen: “Road Crossing.” Some students quickly call him out — “Isn’t that a game?” one asks. Mercaldi picks up on the buzz and asks the boy what he’s doing. Caught, he answers, “I’m playing a game.”
While some parents may have had qualms about giving young children access to the web, Gonzalez says there have been surprisingly few difficulties. The students clearly know the situation: “If you do stuff that’s bad on it, you can have it taken away,” they say.
The day’s final lesson has the children gathered on or around the rug with their iPads for a science class on climate and seasons. Mineola is in the midst of a severe cold spell, and the students chatter with the teacher about this. As that dies out, Mercaldi takes up a reading that is posted on the whiteboard, and the children follow along on their tablets. The text has lots of information and complicated vocabulary, so Mercaldi offers tips. “I would definitely use highlighter to mark something interesting or something you learned,” she advises.
Once they have completed reading the passage, Mercaldi challenges the children to write down something interesting from the reading and to post on Edmodo a picture of the climate zone where they would like to live. She advises anyone who’s not certain of the assignment to take a picture of the whiteboard.
“Can I send you back to your seats? Can you do this without talking? Then you’ll earn three marbles,” she tells them. Students can cash in the marbles for purchases at a classroom store or for a class prize (the children have chosen unstructured tablet time).
The posting of the pictures is a bit slow, and they overlap one another when Mercaldi tries to put them on the whiteboard. She pledges to return to the project the next day. Now it is 2:40, and the children pack up their iPads. It’s time for a hockey game in the gym, and, for now at least, there is no app for that.
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