Response: Should schools allow teachers to use outside technology tools?
Topic: Leadership Issues

Scott McLeod's post today on the Technology & Learning blog raises some questions about teacher and student use of Web 2.0 tools that school administrators need to address. Scott writes:

 

"So administrators are essentially in a bind. If they don’t allow usage of these tools, they become fodder for bloggers and other educational technology advocates because they’re failing to tap into the pedagogical potential of these creative technologies and ignoring the future needs of students and society. If they do allow usage of these tools, they run the very real and likely risk of inappropriate usage, including usage that may incur legal liability and significant financial costs for the school organization and the taxpayers that it serves. I think it is important that we not downplay schools’ obligations in this area. Cyberbullying, sexual harassment, and other inappropriate uses of technology are real and frequent occurrences by both students and employees. Schools cannot abdicate their legal and moral responsibility to monitor appropriate usage of technology tools.

As an educator, I desperately want to allow students and teachers to use these wonderful new tools that are external to the school organization. As an attorney, I’m struggling to figure out how to make this happen."

I think educators are already guilty of downplaying cyberbullying, sexual harassment, and other inappropriate uses of technology by refusing to deal with these new technologies. Incidences of these behaviors happen regularly and impact schools, but we often deal with it by burrowing our heads a little deeper in the virtual sand.

Why are kids (and adults, for that matter) misusing technologies? In large part I think it's because very few of us are stepping up to the plate and teaching them appropriate use, setting parameters, and then following through. I don't think this lets parents off the hook, but it has to start somewhere. We can't control what happens at home, but we can address what happens at school.

I'm not suggesting completely throwing caution to the wind, but I do think we need to start facing issues squarely. For example, many of the Web 2.0 tools I use have built in privacy features. Are we making sure that teachers and kids know they're available and how to use them? We could take advantage of collaborative tools within defined knowledge groups, modeling effective use for those times when users are in less confined environments--but it's the rare school that takes the time.

Granted, we can't anticipate every possible issue, but we can position ourselves so that we're being proactive rather than reactive. I could go on, but this post is way too long already. I'd sure like to hear other's thoughts on this topic! 

Technorati tags: Scott.McLeod, Web2.0, school.administrators, Brooks-Young

 

Photo credit: Electrical Web by C.P. Storm 21 April, 2006. 20 Sept., 2006 (http://flickr.com/photos/cpstorm/132627453/)  

Zoho Apps: Possibilities
Topic: Emerging Technologies

I'm playing Zoho, a Webtop applications suite (free). One of the resources allows you to create simple polls, so I thought I'd try one here. Once the poll is created, the app generates the html code you need to post it on either your blog or Web page. Anyway, here it is (just above the calendar). I'd appreciate it if some readers took the time to complete the poll so I can look at how the tool aggregates responses and let you know if it's worth pursuing. You can remove a rating by clicking on the same star.

Many possibilities here for staff and students... 

There are several other apps at this site that I'll be trying out and sharing here soon.

 

Technorati tags: Zoho, Web2.0, school.administrators, Brooks-Young

 

Just this last weekend I was talking with a group of educators who need a place for students to upload videos. I mentioned YouTube and said that I thought it was possible to make videos private (for those folks worried about safetly issues). The general consensus of the group was that their districts would never allow students to use this site.

Later I ran across several references to Jeff Utecht's YouTube channel where his 7th grade students (in China) are posting a series of videos about the history of technology.

Administrators need to look at these and start figuring out how to make it work, not why it can't! 

Technorati tags: YouTube, Web2.0, school.administrators, JeffUtecht,Brooks-Young

 

Web 2.0 Apps in One Easy Location
Topic: Emerging Technologies

There are so many new Web 2.0 apps cropping up that it's tough to keep up with everything. A new site, Go2We2.0, is a handy way to get an overview and links to many of these new resources. Check it out and then keep coming back to see what's been added!

Technorati tags: Go2Web2.0, Web2.0, school.administrators, Brooks-Young

We Need Some Help Here!
Topic: Leadership Issues

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released highlights of its Education at a Glance 2006 report. Every U.S. school administrator and teacher needs to read this comparison of how our schools stack up against 30 other countries, particularly in light of today's announcment of revised Curriculum Focal Points from NCTM.

When it comes to mathematics, we're consistently below average when compared to global peers. This is extremely worrisome in light of an increasingly global society. While NCTM's recommendation to focus on a few core concepts each year makes sense, it's not going to help if that translates into drill and kill with no substance.

Technorati tags: k-12.mathematics, NCTM, school.administrators, Brooks-Young

Photo credit: Math by Akash k 8 April 2006. 9 September 2006 (http://flickr.com/photos/akash_k/125489887/) 

Very Cool School Library Site
Topic: Classroom Blogging

I review hundreds of district, school, and classroom sites every year. Needless to say, it takes something really special anymore for me to say, "Wow! This is very cool!!!" That happened this morning, thanks to a post on Will Richardson's blog.

Grandview Library Blog is very nicely done. The media specialist provides project organizers for students in grades 1-3 and a digital journal for 3rd graders. There are also links to student blogs and wikis. But the real gem is the Grandview Newspaper, featuring student writing, artwork, and multiple podcasts. Check it out!

Technorati tags: Will.Richardson, Grandview.Library.Blog, school.administrators, education

LonelyGirl15--Why Educators Might Care...
Topic: Emerging Technologies
I've had a YouTube account for several months, but am not a frequent visitor. I checked it out when it was named one of the best Web 2.0 offerings of 2005, but it didn't take too long for me to figure out that it wasn't my cup of tea--there's that darned digital accent again!  Doesn't mean that it doesn't hold appeal for loads of other folks though, including many teens.

Then, a couple of weeks ago I heard a short news story about LonelyGirl15. Her first video appeared on YouTube last May and she quickly became the darling of YouTube users getting hundreds of thousands of views.

Once the media turned its attention toward her, it was just a couple of weeks before it was generally concluded that LonelyGirl15 and her videos are a hoax. So why pay attention? I think there are several reasons.

First, with no fanfare at all, the videos captured enough attention that more than 26,000 people subscribe to watch her clips. I think we'll see increasing numbers of people turning to this kind of entertainment--short, serialized, home grown, and on-line. How can we use this to educate kids?

Second, the videos managed to gain an audience even though her behavior has been very circumspect. She's alluded to problems with her parents, membership in an odd religion, and sneaked out of the house to go to a party, but so far that's it. In fact, if teachers wanted an example of 'safe' vlogging, her first posting includes a statement that she isn't going to say where she lives, and why.

Third, even if this does turn out to be an art project (as some have claimed), these are students I'd want in my class! The production quality is good, there's an engaging storyline--this took a lot of work!

Finally, several knowledge groups have sprung up consisting of people who are 'for her' or 'agin her.' We've seen this with reality programming on television. Just imagine what we could do in classrooms if we could get students to care so passionately about a subject area!

Technorati tags: LoneyGirl15, YouTube, school.administrators, education

A Rational Look at MySpace
Topic: Leadership Issues

Although my own twenty-something kids tell me that MySpace is losing some of its allure for them and their friends, it's still growing in leaps and bounds among teens.

Yesterday, U.S. News & World Report published an article that is one of the few I've read that isn't semi-hysterical. Called Decoding MySpace, author Michelle Andrews takes a common sense approach to why teens are drawn to this site and how parents can monitor their kids use of it and others like it. I particularly appreciated her remark that DOPA may backfire because it will place all responsibility for dealing with kids' social networking on parents rather than sharing the task with educators. This one's a good read!

Technorati tags: MySpace, DOPA, school.administrators

Conventional Wisdom vs. Collective Wisdom
Topic: Leadership Issues

The following are some ideas that I've been mulling over, but haven't really gelled into anything yet. Comments, suggestions, etc. most welcome as I try to sort this out! 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been reading Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubnar. Chapter 3 includes a discussion of some of the issues with conventional wisdom, certain ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public, whether or not these ideas or explanations actually are true. There's a free, downloadable study guide for students that may be helpful in working through this chapter.

Seems to me that many of the problems in the U.S. education system result directly from our acceptance of conventional wisdom that no longer holds water.

A quick example. It may have once been true that the majority of school drop-outs were failing academically. However, the recently released report, The Silent Epidemic, states that two-thirds of today's drop-outs had GPAs of 2.0 or higher when they left school. This is something we need to explore in greater depth...while we're at it, let's look at school calendars, the length of the school day, scheduling in middle and high schools, the fossilizing curriculum, and more.

Something that isn't discussed in Freakonomics is the value of collective wisdom. James Surowiecki describes how this works in his book, The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations.

It would be possible for us to use the collective wisdom of educators, parents, students, community members, and others to take a long, hard look at what's working, what isn't, and how things might be changed. 

It would mean being able to identify wise groups...where people have independent ideas, private information they're willing to share, a way to gather and aggregate ideas...probably more. Also, it would require the right questions. Not sure yet what those would be. 

 

 

Technorati tags: k-12.education, Freakonomics, conventional.wisdom, collective.wisdom

So...What are the Right Questions?
Topic: Leadership Issues

Dean Shareski added a comment to yesterday's post that I don't want to leave buried there, so here's what he wrote:

"I would also add that we've been asking the wrong questions. Instead of looking for increases in student achievement, we need to consider that the laptops are akin to pencils, desks, paper and other tools we've traditionally used to learn. There's never been any test or question about the validity of pencils. Pencils don't improve achievement. Good teaching does. Also, I'm sure in many classrooms pencils are used inappropriately but we don't question their value.

As much as I agree about our need to use the tools, I think the challenge we face is how do we use them differently. In the article you cite, it seems it's the classic case of forcing square pegs in round holes. Traditional classrooms don't suit themselves well to utilizing laptops effectively.

Helping teachers and students create new learning environments is the key."

I happen to be reading Freakonomics (finally) and one of the things the authors keep returning to in that book is, what questions are you asking? Are they the right questions? How do you know?

I'd be very interested in hearing what others think about what questions we should be asking related to technology and education. What do you think? 

 

Technorati tags: laptop.initiatives, Freakonomics, instructional.technology

Photo Credit: http://flickr.com/photos/aymlis/20975366/, by Amylis, 22 June 2005. 7 Sept. 2006