Just Because You Can...
Topic: Leadership Issues

I attended ISTE 2010 last week. Overall, it was a great experience for me both personally and professionally. However, the main conference got off to a rocky start when a feeding frenzy hit Twitter and other social networks during the opening keynote.

The behavior of many of the backchannel participants was appalling. I have no issue with constructive criticism, but many of the comments were way over the top. What I'm finding interesting now is that some of these folks are on the defensive, justifying their behavior by basically saying the speaker 'made' them behave that way...for example, if he had done more research on his audience or if his slides were better, people wouldn't have bashed him.

I cannot fathom this type of thinking and suspect that most of these educators would be on the warpath if their students used a backchannel in this same way.

I was going to write more, but have found some thoughtful discussion about what happened in other blog posts. So, rather than reinvent the wheel, I'm adding links here. Bottom line, the speaker deserves many apologies!

Backchannel or Bashchannel?

Message and Delivery

How a Bad Presentation Can Help You

Employers May Monitor Employee Text Messages
Topic: Leadership Issues

Cross posted on TBlogICAL 

 

A ruling by the U.S. Supreme on June 17, 2010 may impact school districts and other education institutions that provide cell phones to employees. The court agreed unanimously that governmental agencies may access and read an employee’s text messages under certain circumstances.

 

The case that was brought to the Supreme Court involved a police officer in Ontario, CA whose text messages were reviewed when department officials became concerned that SWAT team officers were using department-issued pagers for too many personal text messages. And sure enough, in one month alone, of the 456 text messages sent or received by the officer in question, 400 were personal.

 

The city does have a policy stating that employees have no guaranteed right of privacy when using communication devices provided by the department, but officers had been told informally that their messages would not be audited as long as they paid for additional charges. So the officer and three others sued the department for violating their constitutional right to privacy. A lower court ruled in the officer’s favor, but the Supreme Court has now reversed that decision on the premise that the search itself was reasonable.

 

The decision is the court’s first related to Digital Age technologies and 4^th amendment guards against unreasonable search and seizure. And while the court did not provide broad guidance on employees’ privacy, the decision did identify conditions that must be met before government agency may review an employee’s personal texts. They are:

 

• The cell phone must be provided by the agency.
• The employee must be told in advance that any messages sent using the device may be monitored by management.
• There must be a legitimate work-related reason for reviewing the messages.

As increasing numbers of education agencies provide cell phones to some employees, it is critical that policies be created that outline acceptable use and privacy expectations. It is equally important that these policies be enforced in an even-handed, consistent way. How does your agency handle this issue?

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.

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?

The World Is Flat- Free Audio Version (until 8/11/08)
Topic: Leadership Issues

If you've read The World Is Flat, you know how good it is and may be interested in a quick review. If you haven't read the book, now's the time. Between now and August 11, you can download a free audio copy of the book. Click on this link.

This is a book that every school administrator needs to read and share with staff, parents, and the community. 

 

Technorati Tags: Thomas Friedman, World Is Flat, school administrators, Susan Brooks-Young

 

 

Refreshed Technology Standards for Teachers
Topic: Leadership Issues

ISTE released the refreshed NETS for Teachers this morning at NECC. The revised standards are aligned with the refreshed NETS for Students released last summer and focus more on how the technology is used and much less on how to use the technology. Learn more here.

This afternoon the last phase of this first NETS refresh cycle began with a meeting where attendees began looking at how to update the NETS for Administrators.Similar meetings will be held throughout the year at various conferences and events. You can learn more on the NETS Project page. 

>Technorati Tags: technology standards, NECC 2008, school administrators, Susan Brooks-Young

 

 

Off to NECC
Topic: Leadership Issues

This is the lengthiest break I've taken from blogging since I got started nearly three four years ago. Many things conspired to push the blog to the back burner--the project I mentioned in my last post, a prospectus for a new book on mobile technologies in classrooms, and prepping for a series of sessions and workshops throughout May, June, and July. I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and am really looking forward to NECC. I hope to see many friends, learn something new each day I'm there, and share that learning here.

In the meantime, just a mention that I'm trying to look more deeply into UMPCs. Purchased an HP Mini-Note shortly after their release. There are some things I like a lot (nearly full-sized keyboard and the 120GB drive. Also the 9" display is great. However, there are some real drawbacks as well (Vista crawls on it, the battery life is ridiculously short at 3 hours, and the extra one-half pound feels surprisingly heavy when compared to my eeePC). In addition, at $549 plus tax and shipping, it's over $600. All said, it may be an alternative for adults who resist the eeePC.