A Kindle In Every Backpack?
Topic: Emerging Technologies

Cross-posted on TBlogical.org

 

When Amazon released its second generation Kindle in February 2009, there was speculation that the enhancements in this new device would make it a natural for storing and accessing textbooks. But the limited number of textbooks and other instructional materials available in Kindle format made this seem like a pipedream. Now, as the true impact of the recent fiscal crisis continues to make itself felt nationwide, there appears to be increased serious interest in schools making a switch to electronic textbooks or ebooks to save money.

 

Just this month, ABC News and several other news organizations reported on a document released on July 14 by the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). Titled “A Kindle In Every Backpack,” this report suggests that the government could purchase a Kindle or other ebook reading device for every student in the U.S. so that textbooks could be distributed and updated electronically and to enable teachers to customize instructions for students. The proposal still needs a lot of work, and the initial cost would be high ($9 billion the first four years), but members of the DLC predict that schools would save hundreds of millions of dollars in subsequent years.

 

Amazon is not the only business looking at this market. There are a number of ebook reading devices currently available as shown in this table. And there are websites like Shortcovers that allow users to purchase and download ebooks onto a variety of devices ranging from ebook readers to laptops, MP3 players and smartphones. In other words, it might be possible for students to shift to use of some electronic texts right away by using devices they already own!

 

With states scrambling to cover huge deficits, it may be time to serious consider ways this technology could be used to reduce costs and make sure students have access to up-to-date instructional materials in a variety of formats. What are the questions you would ask?

Cell Phones on Campus: Finding the Middle Ground?
Topic: Emerging Technologies

Frustrated by students' refusal to adhere to the school's ban on cell phones, a principal in Canada recently purchased and installed a device that jams cell phone signals (see article). Of course, these devices are illegal in Canada (the U.S. as well), so it wasn't long at all before he had to pull the plug. Yet another failed attempt to deal with the cell phone issue through force.

In going back over The Starfish and the Spider, which I'll be referencing during a talk in Calgary next week, it came to me that the cell phone thing is a classis example of a spider institution (schools) attempting to deal with cell phone toting students as though they were spiders when, in fact, these kids are acting just like starfish. What happens when you try to clobber a starfish? You don't get rid of it, you create more. And that's what's happening with kids and cell phones.

Bans aren't successful- instead, kids have learned to carry disconnected phones or fake phones to hand over to teachers. They text while the phone is in their pocket. They download ringtones that are out of the range of most adults' hearing.

What if school officials tried some different approaches? The authors of Starfish and Spider suggest three strategies for working with starfish. First, try to change the ideology.  Micro loans are far more successful at squelching terrorism than any military action because these loans change the ideology from one of despair to one of hope. What could we change to impact kids' thinking about cell phones and their place at school?

Second, try to move the starfish closer to the center. When people have something tangible they care about, they're more likely to go along with the program. What might that look like with cell phones?

Finally, maybe educators should decentralize themselves a bit. Maybe there is a place for cell phones in the classroom!

Not all three strategies work in every situation, but surely we can find some common ground here. I'd be interested in hearing how others are dealing with this situation.

;Technorati Tags: cell phones in schools, education, school administrators, Susan Brooks-Young

 

 

President Obama Appoints Nation's First Chief Technology Officer
Topic: Leadership Issues

Cross-posted on TBLOGICAL

 

Last October, Barak Obama promised that if he were elected, he would create a new cabinet-level position. Saying that the United States has not done nearly enough to tap into technology and its potential for creating new jobs, Obama proposed creating the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the U.S. Now, six months later, this promise has come to fruition. During his weekly address on April 18, President Obama announced that Aneesh Chopra will be the nation’s first CTO.

 

Currently serving as Secretary of Technology for the state of Virginia, Chopra’s new position comes with three goals that support the new administration’s top priorities. First, he is charged with promoting use of technology to support job creation. Second, Chopra is to explore ways technology use can be leveraged to reduce health care costs. Finally, he is to focus on use of technology to increase national security.

 

The business world sees this as a welcome step toward updating and expanding a national infrastructure that recently has received little attention. This sector also views this appointment as a commitment to returning the U.S. to a leadership role in technology-related advances worldwide. But what do educators think about this new position and the impact Mr. Chopra might have on bring education into the digital age?

 

Whether it happens in K-12 grades, post-secondary programs, or on-the-job training courses, every one of the three goals listed above must include an education component in order to be successfully implemented. How will education leaders take advantage of this fact to leverage resources and launch innovative programs designed to help the new CTO meet his goals? What related conversations are taking place in your school, district, or region?

 

Technorati Tags: Chief Technology Officer, education, school administrators, Susan Brooks-Young

 

 

What WERE They Thinking?
Topic: Leadership Issues

References to this article have popped up on Twitter, even ASCD's SmartBrief.

Apparently a reporter in Charlotte, NC turned up a number of Facebook pages maintained by people who identified themselves as being employees of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Nothing wrong with that, but these teachers used the Facebook pages to post derogatory remarks about their students and to discuss personal activities that were completely unprofessional.

How do we help educators and other adult members of the school community understand that Facebook, MySpace, and other social network sites are not private? How can we expect students to treat adults respectfully online when teachers post remarks like, “I'm feeling p---ed because I hate my students!”

I'd love to hear your ideas and specific strategies you've used to deal with this issue. It isn't going to go away... 

BTW, one teacher has been recommended for firing and several others for disciplinary action as a result of the shenanigans in Charlotte.

I'm All Thumbs!
Topic: Emerging Technologies

I live on a small island. It’s important to know this because one of the limitations of living there is that my cell phone does not work when I am at home—simply no bars.

As a result, I am cell phone challenged. I have one because when I travel, it’s my lifeline to home and necessary for work that must be conducted when I travel. However, until my first grandbaby was born a year ago, I didn’t even have a camera in my phone. Why bother?

Having this baby in our lives has taught me two things (at least). I now ‘get’ Flickr and I’ve upgraded first my phone (a camera is needed when she does so many cute things) and now my service (I’ve tried everything I can to transfer those cute pics from my phone to my computer, to no avail).

So, at the ripe old age of 57, I’ve started to learn to text. So far, I’m having a pretty rough go. I’ve mastered entering the simple email address to send photos. However, sending an actual text message seems to take forever. My friend Ryan taught me a text acronym, but I can’t use it in front of friends, family, or clients.

My daughter showed me how to access the Word feature, but assured me I won’t be happy until I get yet another upgraded phone with a keyboard. She counsels patience, tells me that while texting takes more time than talking, it’s perfect for those times when you want to say just one thing.

I do not understand yet how kids do this under their desks. I do understand why several states have outlawed texting while driving. Good grief! How could anyone even think they could do both???

At this point, I’m looking for acronyms that I can use in polite company and tips from other digital immigrants who have come to grips with texting.

I suppose the phone upgrade isn’t far off, but I would like to avoid it for a while!

NAEP will start measuring student technology skills
Topic: Leadership Issues
Back in 2005, the NAEP board decided that there would be a national test of student technology skills in place by 2012. Apparently they're moving ahead on this decision. WestEd has been awarded the contract to develop the test framework. No word yet on what it will look like or what grade level(s) will be tested. A little more info is available here.

New Report on American Schools
Topic: Leadership Issues

Strong American Schools has just released a new report, A Stagnant Nation: Why American Students are Still at Risk. The executive summary and full report can be access here.

A Nation at Risk was published 25 years ago. Since that time relatively few-- some would say virtually none--of the reforms recommended in that report have been implemented. For example, the original report suggested a 7 hour school day and between 200 and 220 school days per year. Nationally, the average school week has increased by just 36 minutes.

See this new report for additional examples and discussion. 

Student bloggers: to monitor or not to monitor...
Topic: Leadership Issues

Karen Fasimpaur has posted a question asking whether or not all student blogging should be moderated. I think she's asking about use of private blogs that are hosted in house and not available for public viewing.

I'm going to respond to that and then ask another question. But first, private blogs...

I do believe that educators can make productive use of private blogs when they are being used as a sort of 'sandbox' to help students learn about blogging in public. I'm not sure that I can get too worked up about whether or not these are 'real' blogs because if anyone else is reading the posts (including teachers, fellow students, parents) there is an audience beyond the individual writer. That's the point, right? And, most 'real' blogs have a very limited reading audience.

Educators should not stop there, however. At some point (I don't know if this is an age or grade level issue), kids should have the opportunity to post their ideas in public blogs. For example, look at the benefits reaped by Eric Langhorst's students during the Guerilla Season blog project each year. That wouldn't happen in a walled off environment.

Now for the next unasked question. Should student posts be moderated before being made public? I think so, but I know a lot of educators who believe this is an infringement of students' free speech rights. What do you think?

Google Reader in Plain English
Topic: Emerging Technologies

Lee at Common Craft has just posted a new Plain English video. This one explains Google Reader in just a couple of minutes. Great way to help staff grasp the concept!

 

 

Technorati Tags: Google Reader, Common Craft, school administrators, Susan Brooks-Young

 

 

Texting In Its Place
Topic: E-Communication

Last Sunday's newspapers contained two interesting stories about students and texting. The first, "Teen Texting Expert Insists on Being Perfect," appeared in the Washington Post. LG Electronics recently sponsored a national texting contest, and 14 year-old William Glass III was a finalist. Nothing remarkable about that until you learn that Glass refuses to use text-speak. He spells out every word and even uses proper punctuation!

Glass clinched a regional championship, but lost the national contest. That's okay. It's great to know that texting doesn't have to preclude spelling and punctuation. And--he had a great time!

The second article, THX 4 THE GR8 INTRVU! appeared in the Seattle Times. Apparently some of what we've taught kids about being polite has penetrated. High school and college students are remembering to send thank you notes after an interview. Unfortunately, instead of using traditional pen and ink, or even less traditional, but still acceptable formal email, interviewees are texting their appreciation and potential employers don't like it. Why? They say the practice "hints at immaturity and questionable judgment."

Employers also don't want to be 'friended' by interviewees. When one job candidate found the interviewer's personal Facebook page and invited her to be his friend, her reaction was extremely negative. "I'm not his friend. I'm not even his employer. I was somebody who just interviewed him. They call is social networking for a reason."

Seems to me both these articles would make a great foundation for life and career skills lessons on separating personal and professional use of technology.  

 

Technorati Tags: texting students, Washington Post, Seattle Times, school administrators, Susan Brooks-Young