Digital Eyes

First, welcome back to a new school year everyone! It is always an exciting time to be back at school. This year, we have made many changes to the technology we have available. Many of our teachers have new laptops. We are implementing wireless throughout our district. We have moved to Active Directory from Novell. This has led to some password changes. Then there are the little changes along the way. We updated MOODLE to the latest version. We have migrated our data to a new data mining software. These changes can be frustrating. When you come to work ready to go through your class lists and make name tags only to find out you can't find your class list because it is in a new place, this is frustrating. When your new machine has a new image with different stuff in different places or your archived files haven't been put back where you expect them to be, this is frustrating. When you try numerous times to log into your webpage to update it and you can't get in because you h...

Ever wonder what your students are thinking while you are teaching? Backchannel discussions are the way to get student thinking at the forefront of your lesson! Wikipedia defines backchennel as : "the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks. The term was coined in the field of Linguistics to describe listeners' behaviours during verbal communication, Victor Yngve 1970. The term "backchannel" generally refers to online conversation about the topic or the speaker. Occasionally backchannel provides audience members a chance to fact-check the presentation." So often when the teacher is speaking (or a student), the other students are disengaged. They may be thinking about something else. We don't really know. Providing your students with a backchannel to discuss what you are teaching in real time gives them a way to engage in the discussion, while at the same time, it gives you a way to KN...

I have been a fan of Bill Ferriter, who blogs at The Tempered Radical , for a long time. Not because I always agree with him, but because he always makes me think. His recent post on Using Digital Tools to Support PLCs got me thinking, mostly because we have been having the same conversation here. We have a few classes at our Summer Tech Institute in August that focus on how technology can facilitate our learning teams. We have some phenomenal teachers that will share ways that they use MOODLE, Google Docs, and video conferencing to share data, discuss student assessments, develop common assessments, and much more. Bill does such a nice job of explaining how he and his team are using a wiki to accomplish this same thing. "Over the past six years, my own learning team has had to learn how to coordinate the following actions : The development of common assessments. The development of shared sets of essential outcomes. The publication of shared sets of lessons and materials. ...

After reading about this course about Critical Literacies, it really got me thinking about how we teach. We use textbooks and assign chapters to be read. We all come to class having read the same thing and then discuss it. Sound familiar? Well, I have to admit, I don't get it. In my world, no one assigns me what to read. I have to go find it. I have to sift through gobs (yes, this is a technical term!) of information and find the most relevant, accurate, non-biased, current information. I love the design of this course. It basically breaks the course down into four categories: 1. Aggregate - Give students access to lots of information and give them the opportunity to practice the skill of focusing their search and finding the best information. Don't just tell them what to read, show them where to go to find the information. Teach them how to search, analyze sources, and choose the best information. This is a skill that will be essential to their future! 2. Remix -  Give studen...

This recent study states that the more books you own, the further your children will advance in their education. It would have me believe that if I just go out and buy a bunch of books and put them on shelves, my kids will go to college! How wonderful! Unfortunately, it doesn't ask any of the relevant questions about reading today. For example, how does reading on a digital device compare? Can my kids read on an iPad or Kindle and still go to college? If they read books (which they do), should they also read digitally? Should they be well versed in attaining knowledge in a variety of ways, including video, audio, still image, print, digital text, etc...? Will this help or hurt their chances of going to college? I have said it before. I am not anti-reading. I'm not even anti-traditional reading from a book. My kids read books daily. They are excellent readers. But... this isn't the question in my mind. The question is, "Do other media negatively impact a student's ...

"In 2002, the information produced would have filled 37,000 Library of Congresses! .01% was on paper!" What does this mean for education? Do we spend more than .01% of our time focused on paper based reading? What should we be doing instead? We need to change the stigma that book reading is real reading and electronic reading is not. It is quickly becoming the opposite! From this study by UC Berkeley's School of Information Management and Systems: http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info-2003/execsum.htm#summary Head nod to Mike W. for sharing this fact with me via his blog at http://edinatech.blogspot.com/ *Image thanks to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/question_everything/1460025318/

I came across this video on how to give an Ignite talk. It got me thinking. (Surprise! Surprise!) An Ignite talk is a presentation in which you must present your material within 5 minutes. You must use 20 slides which auto advance every 15 seconds. It is amazing to watch how people are able to get their point across quickly and efficiently. A few years ago, I was working with my peer coach (Yeah Jill!). I wanted to shorten the amount of time I took on direct instruction to get my students working more quickly. I felt that the longer I went on, the more my students became bored or disengaged. So I set a goal to try to finish my direct instruction and get students to work within the first 10 minutes of class. Jill observed me and timed my instruction. Sure enough, by the tenth minute, all students were at their seats started. What's more, Jill observed the students. They were more engaged and excited and ready to begin their work. Of course I paused their work time throughout class ...

Thanks to my wife for sharing this quote with me! "Some people grumble because roses have thorns; I am thankful that the thorns have roses." -- Alphonse Karr I immediately thought of technology when I read this quote. Some people think of the problems that arise when using technology rather than thinking about how technology helps resolve problems.

Admittedly, anytime you question the importance of reading, you are taking your life in your own hands. So let me preface this by saying that I am NOT questioning the importance of reading... I am broadening my definition of reading. It is not the act of reading that is so powerful, but the ability to understand and interpret what we have read. So why is it any less important to understand the messages we receive through other media? Why is information in a book inherently better than information on a website, video, podcast, or anywhere else? The answer is, it's not. I know... the act of editing... the sheer cliff one must navigate to get published helps to weed out a lot of the garbage that gets published elsewhere, but now we are making a judgement about what all of our students read... or consume. We might want them to read books that we deem valuable, but we need to prepare them to consume information from many sources. On an average day, I read receive information from books,...

Lately I've been feeling a bit conflicted. I hear some people write very eloquently about the power of data. If we collect good data on our students, we can use that data to help inform instruction. We will make sure that every student gets the instruction they need. They talk about common formative assessments. They talk about personalizing education. I hear others write equally eloquently about the fact that easy access to information changes how and what we teach drastically. They talk about constructivism and project based learning. They talk about the importance of creativity and design. They talk about deconstructing curriculum and focusing on skills instead of content. And me? I feel like a see saw. One day I'm on the data bandwagon. The next day I'm a hardcore constructivist. And I often have a hard time reconciling these two notions. On my data days, I'm thinking about standards, assessments, how my instruction ties into the curriculum. On my constructivist day...

Remember when... ...we used to pull over and unfold a map? ...we used to make sure we had a dime in case we needed to use a payphone? ...we used to wait a few days for our film to be developed? ...we used to have to watch a show at a certain time? ...we used to look up numbers in the white pages? ...we used to back up to handfuls of floppy disks? ...we used to wait weeks for a written letter reply to come in the mail? Guess what? Our students don't.

This past week was Spring Break. My family spent the week in Florida at Everglades National Park. We spent the week exploring, hiking, birdwatching, counting alligators, boating, and basically just enjoying nature. As someone who spends a good deal of time talking about the power and benefits of technology, I thought I ought to talk a bit about how important I think BALANCE is. For all the time we spend on our computers, cellphones, televisions, ipods, etc..., my family spends a lot of time enjoying nature and the outdoors. I often hear people talk about technology as a bad thing because it is making kids obese, antisocial, or noninteractive. I disagree with all of those assertions. As a family of technophiles, we enjoy playing sports, exercising, hiking, getting out in nature, camping, etc... One does not automatically eliminate the other. On the contrary, just as it takes a commitment of time and energy to ensure that we enjoy the outdoors, it also takes a commitment of time and ener...

This Sunday, I read this article in the Star Tribune . It talked about how professors are asking students to have a technology fast to gain an appreciation of what life is like without technology. It got me wondering. (Surprise, surprise!) Is it our job to teach kids how to live without technology? Did teachers need to teach kids how to live without cars? Without tv? Without radio? What if your pencil stops working? I understand that these teachers want their students to understand the value of face to face interaction. I also believe wholeheartedly that we should learn to appreciate nature and the world around us. But it is not like these teachers were leading hikes or canoe trips. Am I way off on this? I don't have a problem with learning to appreciate life without technology if you are also teaching them about life with technology. Where are the lessons on appropriate use? Who is teaching them how social networks are a valuable networking tool if used properly? Who is infusing t...

I am currently reading Curriculum 21 by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. One of the first questions she asks at the beginning of the book is "Is technology use in your district an event?" In other words, are we still in the place where we view technology as an add-on, a novelty, or an extra (if there's time)? If I'm being totally honest, I would say that much of the time this is true in our district. We haven't embedded technology into what we teach the way we have the pencil, paper, or book. What do you think it will take to move to the point where that is the case?

Ask any teacher what they are up to these days and you'd better pull up a chair and bring a snack. There are many new things happening in our schools and teachers are being asked to make many changes to they way they teach. Each change requires time: time to learn, time to apply your learning, time to collaborate and develop new curriculum. So when I speak to teachers about technology and 21st century learning, I am often greeted with a glazed over look that says, "I don't have time for one more thing." That's not to say that many teachers aren't doing wonderful things with technology. They are. But we could be doing much more. The key is figuring out what are the most important changes that need to take place. This is no easy task. Take the following initiatives: Data and Assessment Cultural Proficiency Technology Integration Literacy (This includes multiple concepts like Daily 5, Reader's Workshop, Big 6, etc...) Brain-Based Research The list goes on... ...

After reading this article from the Boston Globe about how American students in this professor's class are lazier than her International students, it got me thinking. Her argument goes something like this: American students are not doing well in her class because they are playing video games all night while her International students are overcoming their language challenges to produce better quality work. I won't argue with this. I went to school with a few of these students. I find it believable. It is the next argument that I have trouble with. She says "... creativity without knowledge - a common phenomenon - is just not enough." Hmm. Again, I agree, but I don't see the connection. Because some students play video games too long into the night, we should return to old style teaching of base level facts? OR... would a more engaging classroom that utilizes the power of technology make the class more beneficial to ALL students? The kids with lousy time management...

Over the winter break, my wife and I got talking about traditions. At this time of year, there are many. Somehow or another, the conversation ended up on technology. (I don't know how... really!!) We were talking about how traditions are a part of our core values. For us, a love of nature is a core value. We have planned a couple of family trips to take advantage of the nature that is accessible throughout our country. We talked about how many people, including us at times, feel like technology can be a threat to our core values. It might be in conflict with our work/life balance, our love of the outdoors, our perceptions of what good relationships are about. But then we began talking about how technology has helped us build on our core values. As we planned our trip to Utah to go to the National Parks, we used the Internet to research the parks, find a flight, book a hotel, rent a car, and look at maps of the area. We might use a GPS system to help us get around while we are there...