Documenting The Inauguration

My co-woker, Peter Smith, and I will be taking 4 students to Washington, D.C. to document the events surrounding the Presidential Inauguration with a variety of technologies.  We will be using tools like blogs, Twitter, video, podcasts, and Flickr to examine the impact of the election of Barack Obama and understand the personal stories of those in attendance.

To learn more about the trip visit our informational site: http://sites.google.com/a/worcesteracademy.org/inauguration/Home

Using TV For Class Without the TV

I remember when I was a kid and one of my teachers would show a 8mm film from the 60's in class.  Those film strips were painful to watch.  Not only were they boring but they lacked any substance.  Later, with the advent of cable and the hundreds of TV channels, our options increased.  Now better shows could be recorded on VHS.

Now as many of you are sure aware, the Internet can provide those shows to us for free and on demand.  No longer do you have to have a pile of VHS tapes laying around.  With the creation of tools like Slingbox, which brings live TV to your computer, and Hulu.com, access to relevant shows has never been easier and simpler.

While Hulu.com may not have access to all the shows you want yet, the model itself is worth acknowledging.  As we move further into the 21st century, it will be Internet's ability to provide the resources we need for education to greater and greater numbers of people that will truly change the world.  The equity that an Internet connection has brought will not only enhance education but provide more and more people with the opportunities to learn.

While streaming video and it's potential cannot be overlooked as a fad, it's potential is only as good as how it is implemented.  As educators we must make sure that while we provide access to these tools, they do not stand alone as the only means of instruction.  The video is a tool that must be supported by the proper activities and methods of reinforcement for a true educational impact.

Presentation on Connectivism

I have been taking a class on Technology and School Change. My final paper is on the concept of Connectivism and how it can help improve student learning and teacher professional development. To learn more about my project, take a look at the presentation I had to create for the paper.

Paul Hudson Presents at Google

Paul Hudson, author of Prelude to Tomorrow, was kind enough to speak to me and my summer reading workshop about his book at the beginning of the year. Two weeks ago he did a similar talk at Google.

It is a great book, if you have the time, I highly recommend reading it. Watch the video and judge for yourself.

Ancient Rome and Google Earth

If you teach World History, you need to check out the new Google Earth 3D layer of Ancient Rome. It presents Rome as it would have looked in 320 AD.

The layer was created by Google and The Rome Reborn project at The University of Virginia.

In addition, Google for Educators have created a competition that is connected to the release of the new Ancient Rome layer. Create interesting lessons based upon the new Rome layer and win some great prizes.

New Media Literacies

As of late, new media and social media have been the focus in education. Applications Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube have become an integral part of our teaching practices. Project New Media Literacies, created by MIT, has been examining where New Media is going and how it can apply in education. Check out their new video.

The New Globalization

This is the post for my election day workshop that addresses how the environment, the economy, and technology will fuel the new direction in our global society.

We will examine the arguments in Tom Friedman's book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

What are the Problems?

His book focuses on the convergence of three major problems:

Global Warming

Global Flattening

Global Crowding

Developing Trends

How have these 5 trends led to those major problems?

Energy and Resources


Petro Dictatorship

Biodiversity Loss


Climate Change


Energy Poverty


Each problem has been driven past the tipping point.

What Can We Do?

Our governments must embrace the environmental challenges we face and turn it into economic success.

Green Is The Next Red, White And Blue

Green is Capitialist, Geo-Strategic, Future Oriented


What is the scale at which we need to produce energy and what is the economic impact?

How Can We Make Green More Capitalistic in a Flat World?

Environmental Technology jobs will improve the economy and our environment?

If green is the future, what do you envision the future to look like?

This is what Friedman envisions.

What Needs To Change?

Green Party vs. Green Revolution

If we must create a Green Revolution, it will take a rethinking of how we operate.

What do you think will start a real Green Revolution?

IT and ET

What would happen if Information Technology merged with Environmental Technology?

What we need are 100,000 Garages... trying 100,000 different solutions


Here is another perspective on the issue from Clay Shirky.

Letter to the Next President

The final part of the workshop is to create a video "letter" to the next president.

After listening to Friedman's arguments:

What would you propose the next president must do to ensure that we are able to tackle the environmental and economic problems that challenges our globe?

You may use your mobile phone camera and Qik or Photo Booth to record your video. You must post the video on our YouTube Group page.

Voting, Creativity, and Students

As I have mentioned in the last few posts, creativity and student engagement are at the core of true learning. This video captures those ideas. If we are to get our students to really learn, they must take on the learning themselves and not be passive participants. If creativity and thinking are the skills companies are looking for in their future employees, this video about the election is a prime example of what kids need to be doing in school.



Head nod to C. Del Tatto.

The Voice of the Youth

This is a video for "Oxygen", a song by Willy Mason. This song came out when Mason was 19. Watching this video reaffirmed something for me: The voice of our youth must be heard.

As educators we must allow our students to dream big and speak their mind. They are just as curious, concerned, and invested in our world as we are. As Mason sings in the song,

THE KIDS OF TODAY MUST CARRY THE LIGHT

This is a great song that not only addresses some powerful issues but shows that we must give our youth a voice. We must provide them with the skills to question, inquire, and respond.

Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi and Creativity

I saw this video a few months ago but as I have been thinking a lot about educational design, I thought posting this video would be appropriate. As we reconsider how our educational system is designed, the ability to be creative in and out of the classroom is of paramount importance.

Check out the video and I hope that it helps you find your "flow".

The New Humanities and a New Direction

I got into teaching to make an impact. I wanted to prepare my students for what may lie ahead. When I started teaching, I thought I would make a lasting impact upon my students by teaching history.

While I originally thought that simply teaching history would make an impact, I have come to realize that for educators to truly make a difference in our students' lives we cannot rely upon a traditional curriculum.

With the crises we face and an every changing world, it is critical that we reassess what we are teaching. We must examine what it takes to prepare a student for the challenges they will face. We must challenge our students to think. To be able to be presented with a difficult challenge and develop a solution. If we are to prepare the future leaders of this world, we must supply them with the skills to think abstractly. To do that we must reevaluate how we design our curriculum. No offense to the proponents of a traditional curriculum, but that ain't gonna solve global warming.

This video, found by Antonio Viva, is from Rutgers University. Rutgers has developed a New Humanities program. The core of the program gets at what I was mentioning. They have developed a curriculum that is built upon the principle of making students think about "the biggest problems our time". Now that will make an impact. That will prepare our students for their future.

The Story of Stuff

Over the last few days I have been thinking a lot lately.  My focus has been the election, our economy, the status of the world, creativity, my teaching, and how all of this is inextricably tied together.  So nothing too deep.  For the last few days my students and I have been examining globalization and it's effect upon the status of the world.  We have had the opportunity to address the current economic crisis while learning about where we are going as a globe.

My students and I are looking at arguments by Thomas Friedman, Tom Palmer, Fareed Zakaria, and Noam Chomsky in order to piece together an understanding of globalization and it's impact.  But tonight, as I quickly checked my updates on Facebook, I found a site, The Story of Stuff, posted by my boss, Antonio Viva, that made me reconsider how I approached globalization.

I am in the process of writing a proposal for a workshop for our election festival.  I was initially going to focus on the economic crisis and globalization.  But after watching The Story of Stuff, I think it's vitally important that the focus should consider globalization's economic and environmental impact.

A book that gives some good insight into this problem is Thomas Friedman's new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

Friedman proposes that an ambitious national strategy—which he calls "Geo-Greenism"—is not only what we need to save the planet from overheating; it is what we need to make America healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure.

As we look ahead to November 4th and beyond, think about  what you can do to help reverse the negative impact we have had on this planet.  We can turn our economy around AND reduce our carbon footprint, it is just going to take some creative thinking but it must be done.

K12 Online Conference 2008 Pre Conference Keynote

The K12 Online Conference 2008 is a great resource for ideas and trends that are influencing education. This is the pre conference keynote. It is a good perspective on what education should like now. Stephen Heppell presents on what education should look like in today's world. As he says himself,

It's the death of education... but it's the dawn of learning

"It Simply Isn't the 20th Century Any More Is It?: So Why Would We Teach as Though it Was?"

Prelude to Tomorrow Workshop

After reading Paul Hudson's book, Prelude to Tomorrow, and having the opportunity to speak to the author via Skype, answer the following questions:

• Does traveling simply provide you a means to reach a destination or is there something more that you gain from your experiences?

• How has this book inspired you to do your own traveling? Where do you want to go and why?

• Describe the most meaningful trip you have taken. Why do you remember it so vividly?

Free... Chris Anderson and the New Economics

This post is for my workshop on Chris Anderson's book The Long Tail.

The Long Tail

From An employee at Amazon when talking about the Long Tail:

"We sold more books today that didn't sell at all yesterday than we sold today of all the books that did sell yesterday."

What does this statement represent?

What does it mean when I can only find this book on Amazon?

The Response

The Rise and Fall of the Hit

If the Long Tail killed the Hit and made commodities more widely available, will physical stores survive?

Shelf Space Strategies in Long Tail Markets

The Future

Because of the Internet and the minimal cost of online storage, more and more stuff is not available to a wider and wider audience. Anderson's thesis in The Long Tail is a groundbreaking one. But his new book, Free will have even great implications.

Introduction to Free on YouTube.

So if the Long Tail Destroyed the idea of the 80-20 rule (that is 20% of a companies products make up 80% of its revenue) what will this concept of free economics do to the future of the marketplace?

Google

Nick Carr sums up Google's economic model like this:

"Google’s protean appearance is not a reflection of its core business. Rather, it stems from the vast number of complements to its core business. Complements are, to put it simply, any products or services that tend be consumed together. Think hot dogs and mustard, or houses and mortgages. For Google, literally everything that happens on the Internet is a complement to its main business. The more things that people and companies do online, the more ads they see and the more money Google makes. In addition, as Internet activity increases, Google collects more data on consumers’ needs and behavior and can tailor its ads more precisely, strengthening its competitive advantage and further increasing its income. As more and more products and services are delivered digitally over computer networks — entertainment, news, software programs, financial transactions — Google’s range of complements expands into ever more industry sectors. That's why cute little Google has morphed into The Omnigoogle.

Because the sales of complementary products rise in tandem, a company has a strong strategic interest in reducing the cost and expanding the availability of the complements to its core product. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that a company would like all complements to be given away. If hot dogs became freebies, mustard sales would skyrocket. It’s this natural drive to reduce the cost of complements that, more than anything else, explains Google’s strategy. Nearly everything the company does, including building big data centers, buying optical fiber, promoting free Wi-Fi access, fighting copyright restrictions, supporting open source software, launching browsers and satellites, and giving away all sorts of Web services and data, is aimed at reducing the cost and expanding the scope of Internet use. Google wants information to be free because as the cost of information falls it makes more money.

There’s one more twist. Because the marginal cost of producing and distributing a new copy of a purely digital product is close to zero, Google not only has the desire to give away informational products; it has the economic leeway to actually do it. Those two facts — the vast breadth of Google’s complements, and the company’s ability to push the price of those complements toward zero — are what really set the company apart from other firms. Google faces far less risk in product development than the usual business does. It routinely introduces half-finished products and services as online “betas” because it knows that, even if the offerings fail to win a big share of the market, they will still tend to produce attractive returns by generating advertising revenue and producing valuable data on customer behavior. For most companies, a failed launch of a new product is very costly. For Google, in general, it’s not. Failure is cheap."

How will Google's business model shift our perspective towards the future of economics?

Clay Shirky

Failure is cheaper... The average quality of what is produced is much lower but the average quality of what is consumed is much higher.

What is the implication of this change? How will it impact the future of economics?

Shirky's new book is Here Comes Everybody and he has blog as well.

For more information on the Long Tail and the principles that Chris Anderson discussed, visit his blog.

Social Media and Our Classrooms

Lately I have been following Howard Rheingold's work with social media. It is innovators like Rheingold and Danah Boyd who have been at the forefront of the discussion on social media in education.

Social Media is "the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings".

One of our main goals as educators is to promote the development of critical thinking skills. Social Media is a perfect example of this. Using the technology that our students are familiar with, video, twitter, blogs, forums, wikis and chat, we can support our curricular goals with new methods.

Rheingold has created a platform, that will go public soon, that brings all these social media tools together and promote a higher level of understanding. The web platform takes these social media in order to support the skills we attempt to impart to our students.

He states in a video, "student-led collaborative inquiry and involvement... enlists their enthusiasm in ways that even very good lectures and texts don't." He covers what he calls meta-skills, which include: critical inquiry, pathfinding, balancing individual and collective voice, and attention-to-attention.

Social Media like Seesmic, which allows video posts and responses, can provide a platform for support of the skills that Rheingold mentions in his aforementioned video.

These meta-skills are a core part of what we teach, it just makes sense to use technology that will bolster our teaching efforts and keep our students engaged.

Big Think

So I stumbled upon Big Think the other day. From what I understand, one of my childhood friends' brother started the site. When my mom told me to check out the url I immediately thought, "it's gonna be some personal homepage that isn't worth my time". Boy I was wrong.

Big Think has an amazing amount of potential in education. The mission of the site is to bring video interviews of the great minds and leaders of today discussing ideas that matter to them. The videos allow for comments and discussion on the site as well as the opportunity to present your own ideas for future videos.  As educators we aim to help our students develop their thinking skills and to clearly express their own ideas.  This will be a excellent tool to support that curricular goal.

Using this site will bring a whole new dimension to class discussions and is definitely worth a look.

Too Good to Pass Up

My friend blogged about this. It was too good to not pass on.



enjoy...

Just Around the Corner

School is just around the corner and with that comes last minute preparation for a year full of firsts. I am the Director of Academic Technology, I have redesigned my AP World History class as well as my World Civilizations II class and I am starting graduate school.

Director of Academic Technology

This is a new position at my school and with it comes a lot of opportunities and potential directions but will require a strong focus. As I see it for a school that is moving towards potentially becoming completely 1 to 1 in the next few years, my primary goal should be to make faculty and students familiar and comfortable with the tools that can best suit their needs. It is a matter of identification and simplification. At this point presenting too much would push our potential adopters away before they would even see the advantages of the technology I am introducing. Beginning a position like this will take tact and patience. You have to listen and build relationships before you go too far "off the deep end".

One of my priorities this year is to promote student voice. I am a coach, teacher, advisor and friend to many of the students on campus and one of the things I hear most often is that they aren't heard and don't know what's going on around campus. Part of my goal this year is to use technology to help resolve these problems.

AP World History

This will be my second year teaching AP World History and my focus this year will be to build the historical habits of mind that are required for the exam. My focus isn't to teach to the test but rather to provide them the skills necessary for deep examination of the content, which in turn will prepare them for the exam.

I have revamped my class so that it is much more linear in chronology but the class will work on document analysis, their writing, and debate as a way to support the chronology.

I will also be having professors from universities from near and far presenting in person and virtually to my students on topics ranging from Eastern belief systems to Eastern Europe in the 20th century.

It will be a lot of work this year in preparing the lessons and making sure the students are on track but the reward will be worth it.

World Civilizations II

This year I will be teaching one of my classes using the Understanding By Design method. My World Civilizations II class is going to be project based. The idea is that by using themes I want my students to understand how we got from 1450 to the present. The projects will be the final assessment as they work through the essential questions that I will present to the class.

I have overhauled this class in effort to bring in a deeper understanding of how our present was shaped by the past while helping my students understand the value of asking questions and investigation. One of the highlights for me will be the field trips that we will be conducting for each of the themes that the class will cover.

Graduate School

I am going back to school. I have asked myself a number of times why now. I have thought about this often especially since I am beginning so many new things at once as well as coaching my cross-country team. But as I mull over this I always come back to the same answer.

I am driven and see a M.A. program focusing on Technology and Education as a path that will provide me a better understanding of what how technology can further the educational landscape. As our world changes and schools grasp to keep up, technology will play a huge role.

While this degree will not make me a fortune teller, it will provide me with the skills to understand the trends as they occur and predict the best approach for my school.

And Their Off

And so on Monday the year begins, meetings will start and chaos will ensure. No matter if you are like me and are entering into a great deal of change or are starting the same job, simplify your life, bite only what you can chew, and take one step at a time. While my life doesn't look like I'm taking my own medicine, even with a crazy schedule if you set realistic goals and are persistent, you will succeed.

Randy Pausch and the "Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch, who had been a professor at Carnegie Mellon, passed away on Friday. Dr. Pausch was most famous for his "Last Lecture speech that he gave at Carnegie Mellon after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. His speech has been printed and has become a best seller. Due to it's availability on You Tube it has been seen by millions all over the world. If you have not watched it, please take the time to watch the "last lecture" below.

The Role of the Internet

Beyond the speech itself, the spread of his talks and the allure of his message was promoted via the internet. Through his website he updated the world on his cancer treatment and condition. His case became an inspiration for many and the internet spread his message even further. The ability to create a connection and a bond to someone who we may have never met is the true beauty of the internet. While Pausch's message in his "Last Lecture" was for his children, he has in turn impacted the lives of millions. The internet has the potential to not only simplify our lives but deepen them as well.

"The Last Lecture"

Cloud Computing

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how we make our daily work as seamless and manageable as possible no matter our location. One of the major problems that I have noticed as an educator is having my information located all over the place.  Another issue I see school's having is dependence upon infrastructure.

These problems can be solved with a solution like cloud computing. Because the applications and storage would be located online, a school could minimize its dependence upon hardware and licenses, cutting costs and centralizing access to applications and information. Cloud computing has the potential to bring laptops to more students as all you would need is a web browser and an internet connection to access everything from email to word processors.

Applications like Google Apps have the potential to simplify our lives by bringing all we need into one location. If we are to make technology a ubiquitous part of our lives, we have to make it manageable. The ability to have all of our applications n one location that is accessible on any computer with an internet connection will do that. Not only will it simplify our lives but it will allow us to go beyond the classroom computer and access our information anywhere.

photo credit: Creativity+Timothy K Hamilton

Lively: An Option For Virtual Collaboration

If you like the potential of virtual worlds for educational purposes but are afraid of the openness/shadyness of Second Life there is now Lively, which was created by Google. It is a program that you can download on to your computer. You control who has access to the virtual community you create.

The ability to create a virtual conference room that you design yourself without the fear of access from strangers should calm the fears of many educators when examining the use of virtual worlds. Lively has a lot of potential to bridge the gap for distance learning and could be a great "flattening" tool. I can't wait to check it out when they come out with a Mac version. This has the potential to do a great deal of good for distance learning and helping classrooms connect with schools from around the world, spreading cultures and ideas.

At this point in time Lively is only available for Windows.

Check out the promotional video that was produced by Google:

Study Rails

In an age where online distractions like Facebook and AIM are everywhere, a way to stay focused while studying is becoming ever more necessary. For a school or family that is serious about keeping their student(s) on task while studying, Study Rails might be the answer.

Study Rails is an online study aid that will help students organize their activities and assignments, avoid procrastination, and avoid online distractions. When ADD is being diagnosed almost as commonly as a cold, methods to keep students focused are at a premium. While Study Rails may not be the holy grail, it seems as though it is a useful tool that will help a student focus on his/her work become more organized and avoid unnecessary distractions. I have not played around with this tool but as my school moves towards a 1 to 1 laptop program, applications like have a great deal of potential.

There is a 14 day trial period and pricing can be as little as $7 per student per year for institutions. If you are interested, check out the demonstration video about Study Rails.

Understanding By Design and School 2.0

If you have a chance watch this presentation given by Chris Lehmann, the Principal of the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia, Pa. His presentation was on using Understanding by Design as the basis of a school's teaching. Understanding by Design was created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. The idea of Understanding by Design is based upon project based learning. Chris covers how this concept is being used at SLA and how it can be implemented at your school. He also included a wiki with all the information from the presentation.

The ideas that he presents take a lot of what we already know about project learning and gives the template and basis for that general knowledge to be applied as the core of your school's pedagogy rather than a part of it.

Enjoy the presentation via UStream:

Free Videos by Ustream.TV

Visual Prompts and Writing

Today was my first day of tutoring at 826 Valencia in San Francisco. It was a lot of fun working with my student Gloria, a rising 5th grader, and helping her get prepare to write an essay prompt. I forgot how enjoyable it was to work with the younger students. In the process of working with Gloria and listening to her complaints about how boring writing was for her, I started thinking about how I could make writing "more fun" for Gloria and the other students.

I then came up with the idea of using Tumblr. If you haven't checked it out, it is a blog. But it is different because you can quickly post an idea, image, or video. I saw Tumblr as a great way to bring visuals into the writing process.

I created a Tumblr page for 826 Valencia. The idea is this. I have been taking pictures of interesting things around San Francisco. I post the pictures and then have an essay prompt connected to images that they either recognize or that interests them. I also posted a You Tube video to add some video to the process.

The part that will really make the writing process "more fun" for the students though is when THEY start taking their own pictures and posting their own prompts. All of a sudden, they have a vested interest in the prompt. Either they took the picture or their friend did.

It is important to get our students involved in the learning process. Using the Tumblr blog not only gives them a different type of prompt but it also gets them involved in the entire process. They don't just have to respond to the prompt but we can teach them how to create their OWN prompt.

Try it out with your own students. Get them involved in the process. Use more visuals. They will respond.

Also along these lines. If you have a chance, read The Back of the Napkin, it is a wonderful book that discuses the idea of using pictures to solve problems. I highly recommend it for any teacher or non teacher for that matter.

Google Trends and Education

If you have never seen Google Trends, it tracks the searches made on Google's web search. Google Trends can help us understand our culture. The website tracks what is of interest. There are two facets to this site: Google Trends and Hot Trends.

Google Trends

Google Trends can be an excellent way to examine how events that happened in different parts of the world can be examined. For instance take a search of Aristotle and Confucius. Google Trends will present how often the chosen terms have been searched and where they were searched. When discussing perspective, Google Trends could prove useful. As you can see in the picture below, Aristotle many more searches than Confucius. Does this make Confucius any less of a philosopher? What about the location of the searches?

Does it mean anything that even in the Philippines we find Aristotle to be searched higher than Confucius. This type of tool can be used to start discussions on point of view and perspective. While the search volume on Confucius is not as high, the news reference is almost equal at some points. Why is this? These are questions that Google Trends can help raise. It can be an interesting way to get your students to examine more deeply the questions of why the Western education and influence still has a strong grip on the world despite the effects of globalization.

Hot Trends

Hot Trends is a way to quickly take a look at what people are interested in. The page provides you with the top 100 searches of that particular day. For instance, today many people were searching the results of the Neil Entwistle trial.

The Hot Trends section gives the view a intimate look into what people in the United States or around the globe are searching. This is an excellent way to examine pop culture and discuss our culture and what influences our interests.

Change Isn't Bad, Is It? Part 2

Last week I posted two articles, one by Nicholas Carr of the Atlantic and one by the Economist. Both took a stance on technology and it's impact upon our society. I wanted to discuss their arguments and present my own opinion.

The Atlantic

Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet has adversely affected how we think. We no longer deep read. He believes that because we are flooded with information through sources like Google we are losing the ability to synthesize information due to the over load of data. While he does state that technology like the Gutenburg Press was received with similar skepticism, his analysis focuses on the fact that the advancement in technology is changing the way we think and that is a bad thing.

The Economist

The Economist article takes a less aggressive stance toward the influence of the Internet and search upon our culture. The author agrees that we are changing but argues that is not necessarily a bad thing. The author continues to state that change is inevitable and if we continue to hold on to the status quo as though it is the only way to think and learn we will do ourselves and future generations a major disservice. The quote that resonated the most with me was the following:

So, no surprise that when we incarcerate teenagers of today in traditional classroom settings, they react with predictable disinterest and flunk their literacy tests. They are skilled in making sense not of a body of known content, but of contexts that are continually changing.

Teachers must recognise that our pedagogical tools are inconsistent with the skills needed to survive in a world where people are always connected to everyone and everything. In such a world, learning to think for oneself could well be more important than simply learning to read and write.

My Opinion

When examining technology's influence upon our culture, of course it has changed us. Is that a bad thing?  Absolutely not. It provides us with opportunities and challenges that would have never been present if the technology was not available. It has made my students more globally aware. When I was my student's age, I had did not know as much about events happening around the world. We were to simply memorize facts. Now my students are discussing global issues with schools around the world. Technology has also opened doors for people around the world to present their ideas and have a change to achieve the supposed "American Dream".

Technology has "flattened" our world. Some like, Carr may argue that the technology has negatively influenced us as we now manage information. But I believe that the advantages of technology: the ability to connect to information almost instantly, the communal environment it has created, and the equity it has allowed heavily outweigh Carr's argument.

Creative and innovative ideas are now more widely accessible and the ability to solve today's global problems will be easier as you have more and more perspectives on these problems. Technology's ability to connect people around the world builds upon the idea of the Wisdom of Crowds. Problems will be solved by not simply relying upon a few minds but opening them to the public. So while we may lose a few skills with the advancement of technology, it is technology that will help us save our planet.

photo credits: Mrs. Maze and Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha

Change Isn't Bad, Is It? Part 1

The following articles both analyze the state of current technology and the impact it has upon our culture. I don't have time tonight to write what I really think about these articles but I will publish my analysis tomorrow. For now, I want to present you the two articles so you can begin to make your own decisions upon the current impact of technology.

Anti Technology

This is an article written by Nicholas Carr of the Atlantic. The article is aptly titled, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?". Carr takes a negative look at the advancement of technology and its influence upon our culture and how we think.

Pro Technology

An article written in the Economist, "From Literacy to Digiracy", presents a more balanced view on the idea of technology and it's influence upon our society.

Whether you agree with either author, they are engaging articles that will make you think about how technology is changing the way we think and work, for good or bad.

More tomorrow...

Teaching In A Cognitive Age

A Shift in Thinking

I have read a few articles over the last few days that deal with cognition and how our world is evolving in the 21st century. The articles by David Brooks of the New York Times, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Wayne Hodgins all focus on the development our cognitive abilities as a requirement for success in the 21st century. The argument all three state is that our economic struggles and potential successes are not based upon globalization and the expansion of China and India, but rather it is a matter of building and supporting our ability to think. Wayne Hodgins, a "strategic futurist" states,

The future is about putting more and more focus on leveraging and augmenting our cognitive abilities

Teaching and Cognition

Much like I mentioned in my last post about Dan Pink and Johnny Bunko, our success as a nation is dependent upon teaching our students to develop their abilities to think, solve problems and be invested in their work. It is not about memorization or regurgitation. We have computers that do that for us. Sites like Wikipedia make the lecture based classroom obsolete. The teacher is no longer the sole holder of knowledge. Whether you like this or not, the fact of the matter is that we have machines to retain information. For our students to succeed in today's marketplace, we must prepare them for the "cognitive age". The skills we teach and the ability to process information and develop solutions will be much more valuable than the simple memorization of dates or formulas.

Our future success as a nation, rather as a globe, is dependent upon our ability to synthesize information and focus on problem solving. Not only will we be preparing our students for a flattened marketplace but in teaching the ability to think and be creative, our teaching will become rewarding for our students. If the students can see the value of what we are teaching, they will become intrinsically invested. If our students become invested they will be motivated to do well.

It is a linear progression. If we teach cognitive skills to our students, they will be prepared to handle the problems facing businesses in today's global economy. If the students see the relevance of their work and enjoy what they are doing, they in turn are motivated to work hard and do well.

When examining the question of teaching in this cognitive age, we must understand that we can not do justice to our students with traditional methods. Our students must be prepared and that will only come from having them become invested in learning how to solve problems to the topics they face.

With the advancement of technology and a flattened playing field, employers now require their workers to be highly skilled problem solvers. This ability will only be developed by moving away from memorization of facts and teach how to think and problem solve using those facts. If we do not address this gap in our teaching we will do a disservice to our students and our nation's future success.

photo credit: symic and mark(s)elliot

Johnny Bunko, a Modern Day Superhero?

Last night at 11:31 pm I got into bed and decided to start, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, by Dan Pink. I thought I would read a few pages before going to sleep. 50 minutes later I finished the book.

I highly recommend the book. It is obviously a quick read and imparts some important life lessons.

Background

For those who don’t know, Dan Pink is the man who wrote A Whole New Mind, a book about the type of mind sets that will be required in business in our global marketplace. He specifically focused on how the following influences business operations.

1. Abundance - consumers have too many choices, nothing is scarce
2. Asia - everything that can be outsourced, is
3. Automation - computerization, robots, processes

Pink then goes on to discuss the six senses that will keep you in demand:

1. Design - Moving beyond function to engage the sense.
2. Story - Narrative added to products and services - not just argument.
3. Symphony - Adding invention and big picture thinking
4. Empathy - Going beyond logic and engaging emotion and intuition.
5. Play - Bringing humor and light-heartedness to business and products.
6. Meaning - Immaterial feelings and values of products.

To Pink, these senses will provide a worker with the skills to succeed in today's marketplace.

The Book

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko are a follow up to A Whole New Mind. In the book Pink uses the Japanese comic form known as Manga to focus on another 6 skills. The 6 skills Pink mentions are guiding principles to help someone understand what it takes to succeed in a world that is dominated by Abundance, Asia, and Automation. The 6 principles are as follows:

1. There is no plan

Follow your instincts, do not stick to a plan you created when you were in high school. Things have changed.

2. Think Strengths, Not Weaknesses

Your job should work to your strengths, do not do a job that focuses on what you don't like to do.

3. It's not about you

No matter what you do, whether you teach or you work in a business, the end product of your work is for someone else, it is not about your personal success.

4. Persistence trumps Talent

Remember the kid who was really good at lets say basketball, he could jump, was quick, and tall but only relied upon his natural gifts for success. You couldn't jump, weren't as fast, and not as tall but you practiced everyday. In the long run you probably were as good or better because of the efforts you put in to being a better basketball player. The same applies to work.

5. Make Excellent Mistakes

We will always make mistakes. Those who are so afraid of making mistakes will not try to push the limit or change. When our success now depends upon creativity and innovative thinking, taking risks and trying something, even if you might fail will pay off. You may not succeed every time but you will learn from those mistakes.

6. Leave an imprint

No matter if you are a teacher, a businessman/woman, or a politician, you can improve your world. Use your skills, we all have our strengths, to give back to your world. Whether it is community service, or pro bono work, make sure you do do what you can to leave your mark.

Conclusion

These are simple rules to follow. No matter what profession you are in, this is a great book to read. The book is visually stimulating, outlines some great career advice and is a quick read. Whether you are in a career that is satisfying or not, this book will help you understand what you need to do to better prepare yourself for an ideal career.



Technorati Tags:
Creativity, Ideas, Work

Inspired Creative Writing

Writer's Block

We've all found ourselves experiencing writers block and have struggled to overcome that mental collapse. Today I found a tool that will help with overcoming your lack of inspiration.

It is called Moodstream, it was created by Getty Images. Moodstream is an application that combines images and music. Based upon several different preset or personalized settings, the images and music are displayed to inspire and brainstorm for ideas. Moodstream perfect web application for creative inspiration when you are hitting a mental wall.

Classroom Application

In the classroom, Moodstream would be extremely useful as a writing prompt. If posted via a LCD projector the site would provide an excellent way to get your students to write about what feelings the images and music conjure. Rather than simply having one picture or one song, the preset wheel in Moodstream would provide a common theme that could inspire so many different ideas from your students.



photo credit: Moodstream

Students CAN Learn During the Summer

Many educators believe that the summer months bring a halt to the learning process for our students. This doesn't have to be the case. There are many innovative and engaging methods that will get our students involved and thinking over the summer months.

Here are a few suggestions that I found on Dangerously Irrelevant, a great blog by Dr. Scott McLeod. The following are ideas that were contributed by a variety of teachers.

Summer "Learning" Projects

• Try geocaching.


• Make a commercial for your city. Use a camcorder and post it on YouTube.


• Use Stellarium to find the view from your home. Then go outside at night to locate the sky features shown by the software.


• Do a service project using TakingITGlobal.


• Map out your summer travels on Google Earth.


• Research a topic that you may want to learn more about and create an article on Wikipedia.


• Create an oral history project. Visit your grandparents, the local VFW or nursing home. Armed with questions and a digital voice recorder, document your subject's past. Post the oral histories as a series of podcasts.


• Create a visual tour of your city using Flickr. Using a digital camera take pictures of all the sites in your city. Once uploaded, write descriptions about each location and then create a set for all the pictures in Flickr. The set could be used as a guide to the sites the student deemed interesting.

The point of these projects is to instill in our students that learning does not only have to take place in a classroom but rather, learning is an organic process that involves inquiry and thought and can happen anywhere at any time. Whether it involves technology or not, the point of projects like these is to engage our students and make them understand that learning shouldn't stop when their last exam is done in June.

photo credit: greg.turner

A Summer Tutoring Gig

The Dilemma

About a week ago, as exams were ending, I was faced with a problem. What was I going to do this summer? I will be out in San Francisco but I didn't have any plans to hone my teaching skills and learn about creativity and learning, two of my favorite past times. Sad, isn't it? Then I watched a TED Talk.

The Answer

I was watching a TED Talk about 826 Valencia, a tutoring organization in San Francisco, and I suddenly realized I found my answer. The TED Talk discussed how 826 Valencia was created to support students who needed the one on one help that their public schools were not offering. There are similar organizations that offer tutoring and support to students outside of the classroom but there was something that caught my attention. 826 Valencia is creating life long learners by making learning how to write something that students WANT to do. By using creativity, fun, and allowing the students to be active participants in the learning process, 826 Valencia takes the simple process of tutoring and gives it a shake. And by the way, they have a pirate store. Need I say more?


I don't know if it's student publishing, the artists they have come and preform for the students, the field trips, or the fact that there is a pirate store as apart of the organization, but the idea of being a part of such a creative and dynamic "school" made me begin to get excited about teaching in the summer. Wait, I thought teachers were supposed "shut down" for the summer.

I believe that creativity, student involvement, and fun are at the core of making our students truly passionate about wanting to learn. Isn't that our goal? We aren't teaching our student just for the sake of teaching them, we are trying to inspire them, trying to get them to see their potential and run with it.

At this point in the 21st century, for our students to become successful in a global marketplace, we must reconsider how we teach. If we continue to teach like we did 30 years ago or even 10 years ago, I fear that our students will not be armed with the skills necessary to tackle today's problems.

In his book, A Whole New Mind, author Dan Pink argues that many of the left brain jobs (law and accounting to name a few) will be automated and that for future generations to succeed, they must use their right brain and think creatively. To that end, it is our responsibility to create environments that support and nurture that ability to create and use your right brian.

826 Valencia does exactly that, it is helping to prepare our future leaders for a world that is and will be very different from the one that we knew even 10 years ago. It is imperative that we support institutions like 826 Valencia and that is exactly why, when I watched that TED Talk, my mind began to go wild.

The opportunity to work in such an environment would not only be satisfying because I will be able to do what I love, teach, but I will also be able to learn. I have applied and will have an interview in a few weeks. If accepted, I hope to learn how to create such an environment such as 826 Valencia because it is places like that, which our students will develop a passion for learning. That passion and the creativity that will come from their experiences will create "a whole new mind" that will arm them for their future.



photo credit: Sean Munson and Kiwikewlio

Google Applications and Education

My school is in the process of beginning a 1 to 1 laptop program. Every student in the middle school will receive a Apple Mac Book at the beginning of next year. This is a great opportunity for the school and presents us with an opportunity to address the issue of how we deal with information on campus. In the past, we have had a great deal of trouble consolidating and simplifying the transfer of information. You had to go to multiple sites to locate assignments, documents. There was no uniformity, no constants.

That hopefully is to change. Because the students will be using their computers on a regular basis it is logical to think that the information the need should be found in one central location. This would create fewer books they need to carry as well as create a sense of transparency that the parents will appreciate.

This is where Google Applications steps in. Google Apps brings all the applications that we use into one location. A uniform start page that houses all the Google Apps, every teacher, student, and potentially parent could have access to the documents, calendars, email, and internal links that would bring all the information from homework assignments to internal news into one place.

Not only will Google Apps help organize resources for our students, it will also promote true collaboration. As we get further into the 21st century, the ability to collaborate both locally and globally will be a skill that is necessary for success in the "real" world. Google Apps provides this practice. The applications, Google Docs, Calendar and Talk allow for students and teachers to share ideas, work on assignments or lessons together online, and reduce the paper trail of emailed copies.

In an era where effectiveness and simplicity are necessary for success, Google Apps provides an option for schools to not only consolidate information but support collaborative and project based learning, ideas that support the authentic learning that our students need for their futures.

To learn more about Google Apps, watch this short video or take part in the tutorial.

Are Our Exams Outdated? Yes!

THE EXAM

This was my history final exam today. As you can see my students were neatly aligned in their rows. This
may seems like a normal procedure but it got my co-worker and me thinking. How do we evaluate our students in a new age where collaboration and group work are the focus? Why do we use this model? My co-worker, Kirk Upton, mentioned that this is an industrial style of assessment. A model that does not correlate to the current collaborative model that our school is attempting to integrate due to our new strategic plan. Our methods of assessment focus on the individual and their ability to recall information rather than the skills learned through projects and authentic assessment.

THE PROBLEM

As the students sat to take their exam in the alloted 2 and 1/2 hours, you could see the anguish in their faces. Do we assess our students in order to torment them? No, then why make them suffer through an exam of recall when we are charged with preparing our students for what is beyond our walls. If we maintain our methods of assessment despite our need to move toward a collaborative model, we are doomed to push our students away from inquiry and learning. If we are faced with a flatten world, where our students are going to be competing with students in India and China, how do we prepare them for a more competitive global marketplace? Is it by having them take an exam like this? We must seriously reevaluate how we teach and assess our students as their success depends upon it.

THE SOLUTION

While this post will only create more questions than answers, I do believe that one method of assessment that would work is the portfolio. If our students were to keep portfolios of their work and would be assessed upon their improvement, wouldn't that be much more rewarding than having them sit at a desk and answer multiple choice for 2 and 1/2 hours?

There are more questions than answers but this is an interesting topic to start this blog.

Welcome

I have recently been hired as the Director of Academic Technology at Worcester Academy and this is my first entry on my new site. In this role I will be integrating technology at both the departmental and classroom levels. I will help faculty, staff, and students understand and utilize the technologies available to assist the learning process.

Previously, I was solely teaching World History and the focus of my thinking was on incorporating technology into the history classroom. This blog and my future entries will go beyond simply the humanities. I will investigate the state of education and how we can improve and support it with creative and innovative teaching methods across all disciplines. This blog will not simply identify potential technologies, rather the goal is to bring awareness to how technology as well as creative and innovative teaching methods are improving our profession. Topics will range from learning environments to lesson plans.