Classroom Reboot

Is Internet Access a Fundamental Human Right? You Betcha!

2010-02-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

This administrations commitment to expand broadband internet access for all people is akin to providing every child a free public education. There are more than 11 trillion pages of knowledge available on the web and it is growing at a rate of more than 200 million pages per month. Google is close to posting every book ever published online which means for the first time in world history anyone with an internet connection will have access to all of the world published knowledge. In addition, the global marketplace the internet facilitates makes it possible for anyone to create and sell products or services anywhere in the world. There are many other arguments that can made about making internet access a fundamental human right, but I believe education and economics are simply the most powerful. Your thoughts?

1 TO 1 Laptop Programs for Students Only As Good As the Teachers Who Integrate Them... Duh!

2010-02-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/02/16/11-programs-only-as-good-as-their-teachers/

A recent set of studies compiled in an article published in studies were published in January by the the Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment suggests that 1:1 laptop programs employed by schools show positive academic gains in students ONLY when used in a classroom with an effective teacher who has the skills and pedagogical style necessary to use them as an effective tool for teaching and learning. I am not sure that these are groudbreaking studies since nearly all data collected in classrooms about impacts on student achievement suggest the same thing: its the teacher stupid. Having worked with technology and teachers for nearly fifteen years at all levels, I have never thought for one moment that ubiquitous access to technology for students was a panacea for increased academic achievement. Anecdotaly, I have been in classrooms where every student had a laptop and the teacher stood at the front of the room lecturing while clicking through slides on their smartboard. This is a technology rich classroom but not learning rich. On the other hand, I have witnessed teachers with only one computer in the classroom utilize it's power as one of many interesting and purposeful learning stations that students engaged in throughout the course of a class period. The difference no matter what instructional tool or resource you provide is the quality of the teacher using it.

SecondLife in FirstLife - The mashup of augmented reality with live online maps and it's potential impact on education

2010-02-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

This recent TED Conference presentation by Blaise Aguera y Arcas we see a glimpse of the not so distant future in which video and mapping/gps converge on the phone and desktop to provide a live feed of personal presence and interaction. I have been prognosticating about this technological advance for about three years after having a debate with a colleague over the future of SecondLife, a virtual world where people assume avatars and interact in real-time in a computer generated environment. We have toyed with this world as a potential teaching tool, but our experience mimicked that of many other teachers referenced in a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education highlighting most educators dismay with the virtual world concept and eventual disinterest in using it as a teaching and learning tool. I argued early on that SecondLife offered a glimpse of what could be in the real world if technology permitted us to have a virtual presence in our existing environment. The educational possibilities would be enormous. Now we see a glimpse of how this might work out and I am wondering what other people think of this as a burgeoning learning space. How could it supplement, enhance or otherwise replace our current classrooms?

Coming Soon (real soon) ! A necklace device that lets you view data about every object you encounter

2009-12-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

This early version of augmented reality has been stirring up some discussion on the blogosphere. The debate is about personal privacy. I agree that there is much to be afraid of in terms freedom, but I am equally concerned about the impact this genre of digital connectedness will have on the teaching and learning process. Some say that it will change how education is "consumed" - instead of go to place (face-to-face or virtual) and consume your knowledge, you can now obtain that content in real-time as you experience it. This assumes many variables such as access to people, places and objects that have educational importance so the digital divide may morph into something less about access to hardware and more about access to the right the content. In any event, I am sure their will be more to come on this emerging technology as it evolves out developmental phase and into mainstream consumer phase. What are your thoughts on this?

Race to the Top: Innovation or Repurposing More of the Same?

2009-11-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

This recent NY Times article examines how states are positioning themselves from an education policy and programmatic perspective to gain an edge in the new administrations "Race to the Top" fund worth about $4 billion cumulatively. One of the requirements of the grant proposal is for each state to get acceptance from all stakeholders (education unions and school boards) on the issue of tying teacher evaluations to student performance on standardized tests. Another requirement is for each state competing for Race to the Top funds to buy into the national educational standards movement and accept the forthcoming federal curriculum standards as their benchmark for student learning in their state, effectively eliminating their own curriculum standards. I wonder if either of these policy changes at the state levels actually offers any innovation. It is my belief that most school leaders evaluate their faculty at least partly on student performance. In addition, changing student learning benchmarks from state to national sounds like just more of the same. For $4 billion dollars, I would hope that we could buy some serious innovation and reform that engages the best minds in education with the best and brightest in technology to come up with innovative tools and resources that help us teach and assess the best ways we know how. What are your thoughts on this important topic?

Should we monitor student teacher electronic communication?

2009-11-04T09:05:00.000-08:00

This article from Education Week this week explains the new law in LA that requires students and teachers to document and save any communication that occurs between students and teachers on personal electronic devices (not supplied by school or occurring on school network servers). The obvious intention of this law is to insure that students remain safe while reducing teacher liabilities. However, this law feels Orwellian by nature and could further erode the critical relationship between student and teacher. What are your thoughts on this new law and how it impacts student teacher interaction?

One Example of How Technology Has Transformed This Student's Life

2009-11-02T18:23:00.001-08:00

This student's testimony to Congress shows in real human terms how access to technology and his teachers willingness to integrate it throughout the learning process has transformed his life for the better. Having worked with students from urban communities where student and teacher access to digital media for teaching and learning is sparse, I can attest to this young man's portrayal of the power of the tools he utilized in his education. However, I have also seen the gross misuse of technology as an educational tool. What are your thoughts on the promise and peril of digital media as a teaching and learning tool?