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.



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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.