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I have moved to newlyancient.com and will be writing regularly there! Content on this domain is no longer updated, but will be maintained as an archive in its original form.

Archive for October, 2007

Pensieve Post

1 year, 10 months ago 30 Comments

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I’m going to be in Boston (with questionable internet access) for the next 3 days, so I wanted to get some thoughts out of my head. Consider this my personal Pensieve post.

Microphone

Fearful? Stupid? Blind? Egotistical?

We really have a problem with perception in education. Technology is perceived too much as invasive to the learning and thinking structures. Technology is seen as basically a virtual reference book and type writer - no social aspects to it. Technology in school is something that is called upon when needed - to look something up or write a “final draft.” Instead, it should be seen as a constant companion, always there to socialize, share, research, and learn. Unfortunately, we are a long way from that. Before we even start leverage the possibilities of the web, teachers need to be comfortable with technology in the class room.

A prime example of teachers being afraid of technology was this Wednesday. We were going to be watching In The Time of the Butterflies as a collaborative project between social studies and history. At the end of the day, we were supposed to have notes about what we saw. Naturally, I took out the laptop to take my notes. The second the facilitator saw a laptop he screamed across the room, put it away right now. Afterwards, he went into a lengthly rant about how this movie should be regarded as the same thing as class - no technology. At the end of his self-centered rant, he asked me this rhetorical question: would you have a laptop in class? (He thought the answer was no) Well, yes I would. Besides proving beyond a doubt (and confirmed by other students) that this teacher is a jerk, this shows the problem with education today. Traditional teachers think that it could never possibly be used in the classroom for any purpose besides mischief. They never pause to think computers could (or should) be used to facilitate learning, understanding, or even note taking. Hopefully, we can change that - but it is going to be a slow process.

Talk, Talk, Talk

Over the last couple of days, there has been a flurry of activity in the edutech community. K12Online is in full steam. There are interesting conversations in EdTechTalk almost every night. I have also been interviewed a couple of times. First, informally on Kristin Hokanson’s show. I also got a few minutes in EdTechWeekly. Finally, Steve Hargadon asked some great questions in my interview with him. Definitely a very productive week!

Gutsy Guy

I’m upgrading my old boxes to Ubuntu Gutsy. In addition, I’m hoping to convert my parents to Linux. I’ll also be upgrading my MacBook Pro to Mac OS X on October 26th. Lots of new technology in the world!

Conference Planning

I’m hoping to attend an education conference or two in 2008. I might even be running a student strand at EduCon 2.0 or NECC. If you’d be interested, please add your name to this list. However, none of this will be cheap. (Even if I can secure a scholarship) Therefore, I am now accepting donations on my blog. If I don’t get enough, I may have to integrate ads into my feed and/or the next reboot. If you can spare a few dollars and you support education, teens, free WordPress plugins, or random charity please use the button below to donate to a worthy cause - namely, me.

Now I’m off to Boston! I’ll hopefully be able to tweet this weekend though.

Take Action

1 year, 10 months ago 13 Comments

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Earth From Apollo

Global warming is not a problem created by higher powers, beyond our control. Rather, it is created by the individual choices we make every day. The choice to drive 2 minutes instead of having a quick walk. The choice to change the world is ours.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

~Margaret Mead

On a personal basis, having been raised in an environmentally conscious family I do as much as possible to lessen my impact upon our planet. I bike to school every day and carry a lap top with me everywhere. This allows me to minimize my use of paper and conserve resources. When I do have to print something, I do so on 100% recycled paper. In addition, I print on both sides of paper. I encourage you to join me in saving out planet and combating the wastes of humanity. Specifically for teachers, here are a few ideas:

  1. Try to bike or walk to work if you can at least once a week. It will make you feel far more refreshed and prepared for the day ahead. If this is not viable, try taking public transportation or car pooling.
  2. Ensure there is a recycling bin in your room. Encourage students to use it.
  3. Give students the option of submitting work electronically. This will save paper and increase the number of assignments turned in on time.
  4. Publish publications (newsletters, announcements, grades) on a blog instead of printing them out for every student. Only make hard copies for families that specifically request them. (My school does this very well - daily announcements are published on the website, as well as quarterly grades behind a password system)
  5. Think outside of the box (and in the cloud)! Instead of having every student make a large poster board for a project, have students build a class wiki or web page to demonstrate their learning.
  6. Talk about the environment in class. Ask what students due to cut down their economic footprint. Tailor the discussion to the subject and age level you teach.

I urge you to consider the solutions above if you are an educator. I also recommend everyone calculates their carbon footprint and looks for ways to reduce it. Every single one of us is responsible for global warming and is responsible for finding a solution. We owe it to the planet, ourselves, and each other.

Blog Action Day

I wrote this post as part of Blog Action Day - a great method of leveraging the blogesphere for a worthy cause. While I hope you can take personal steps, a contribution to an enviromental organization is always welcome.

eduPod

1 year, 11 months ago 11 Comments

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iPod Nano Docked

Finally, some schools are coming to their senses and adopting the use of iPods in a classroom system. For me, this is a no brainer - especially in language oriented classes. Offer the day’s practice as a podcast that users can listen to and follow along with. Far more useful than the typical list of vocabulary - it would produce far better accents. Of course, one teacher has seen how this can really engage students in learning; by loading English-language learners iPods up with songs and having them define the words used Ms. Poli can generate a lot of enthusiasm. I would love to see the same idea applied in other classes - maybe looking for symbolism in songs or memorizing poetry for English. Auditory, self-directed learning using iPods definitely has a lot of potential. Despite this, I think the system is unnecessarily holding the rapid expansion of this technology back. Honestly, it is incredibly hypocritical to tell students to leave their iPods at home, yet have some students get them in class. (Not to mention being bad on the budget)

But even as students have been told to leave their iPods at home, the school here in Hudson County has been handing out the portable digital players to help bilingual students with limited English ability sharpen their vocabulary and grammar by singing along to popular songs.

Are we that afraid of letting the outside world into our schools? Do we honestly think that the risk is that great of cheating or other illegitimate activity… kids will cheat regardless. Put up firewalls? We hack them. Prohibit iPods? We hide them. Instead of fearing the outside world, let’s try embracing it and see where that leads us? Who knows… it might not be so scary after all. After all… don’t we want to create 24/7, lifetime learners? Despite the blindness to possibility, new iPod programs are certainly encouraging.