New Podcast Episode Up…
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In this episode, Sallie, Richard and Mark talk about Google Teacher Academy and Google Apps for Education.
Show Links:
Google Teacher Academy
Google Apps for Education
Show Selections:
Mark - The Big Switch
| Disrupting Class
I will have lots more to say about this book in the near future. For now, I wanted to chime in with my general early takes:
- I agree with nearly all of this book as I have said most of it in the past. I felt like I was reading my own thoughts in fact.
- Computer based learning MUST lead real changes in schools.
- Chartered (as the author refers to them) schools allow us to see a model for positive change. It’s important that K-12 public schools do not begrudge the efforts of these schools. We can learn from them.
- In 5 years - and certainly within 10 years - public schools will have begun to change in ways they might not understand now. They should embrace this as an exciting and challenging time - not as an event from which we must protect ourselves (and our jobs).
I have said for a long time - I am trying to work myself out of a job. Teachers and other K-12 Administrators need to take on that challenge.
Good book - especially for K-12 Administrators, School Board members and law makers.
Podcast coming…
After several months of laying low, the edthink group reconvenes tonight for our 3 episode. Sallie will be joining us tonight to talk about her incredible Google Teacher Academy experience (which she wrote about earlier).
Look for the episode to be posted soon.
Somewhere in the middle
We’ve blamed Googles before. That is we’ve blamed “evil” and “self-absorbed” companies for our social ills for a long time. But, they have a famous slogan of their own which seems to suggest they don’t set out to upend social norms. Face it, companies like Google are a reflection of who we are. If they are ruining us, we have the free choice to NOT let them. Fr the record, as usual, I believe reality lies somewhere in the middle of this argument.
Further, Google is not making us stupid. I have enjoyed “The Big Switch” greatly, but I don’t think, as Mr. Carr seems to think, that Google is making me dumber. If anything, they have given me access to more information than my grandparents - all 4 of them - had access to in their lives combined.
But, then again, I’m not sure I buy into the “Google Generation” either. Kids are kids. If they think we’ll buy into them on Facebook as a learning opportunity all the time, then they’ll sell it hard.
Again, I think the truth lies in the middle.
Can we all just agree that, for the most part, these types of reactions are overblown?
Everything in moderation.
Alabama’s ACCESS
Congrats to the State of Alabama for this leading edge effort. I’ve been talking about divisions linking up and doing this for years here in Central Virginia. For whatever reason, the traction has not been here.
Again, at this point, given the evidence which seems to be there, this is the future of education. We need to see this more often and work towards some instructional best practices (they may be there, I just haven’t seen them).
Dot and the Line
Long story as to why I got on this today. But - my return to it included watching it for what I know would be at the least the 25th time in my life. Never gets old.
Anyway, I had always intended to use this quote in the life I had originally dreamed up for myself as a Social Studies teacher.
“Freedom is not a license for chaos.”
I love that quote and had forgotten it was buried in the treasure. No real point to make other than genius is often subtle.
Stop what you’re doing…
Maybe it’s because I enjoy looking back at history and examining how we got where we are with a particular topic. Or maybe it’s because I have been making the comparison between the Internet and electricity availability for years. But “The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google” is great work which seems to let us see the future. We’ve been here before. We know what is coming to some extent. And so, can’t we use that knowledge to help shape our decisions…learning from history?
My favorite quote so far is the last paragraph in the first chapter (I’ll excerpt or brevity) :
“Many of the characteristics that define American society came into being only in the aftermath of electrification….Today we think of these developments as permanent features of our society. But that’s an illusion. They’re the by products of a particular set of economic trade-offs that reflected, in large measure, the technologies of the time.”
Fantastic book bringing unprecedented clarity to our past and potential future.
Soon, we’ll all be living in the cloud. Oh, and I found some videos of Nicolas Carr, he author, on YouTube. Here is just one.
Bandwidth in K12 exploding…
Our district is getting a DS3 this year. We have 1850 kids, so we meet the standards below. But - according to this, we’ll need 2 more in 5 years.
Over the next 5-7 years, the group recommends an external internet connection of 100 Mpbs for every 1,000 students and staff members and internal wide-area network connections of at least 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) per 1,000 students and staff members.
This is coming from this recommendation. I don’t know anything about that group, but (I can’t believe I’m saying this) that sounds about right. It’s a new world.
Blame it on anything you want…
So now it’s Wikipedia’s fault. I would say this is unbelievable. But it’s not. People love to blame everything - anything - but the root cause for the problem IF the root cause it themselves. This is garbage:
“It’s dangerous when the internet is littered with opinion and inaccurate information which could be taken as fact.”
I’m not going to spend time describing why that is a monumentally stupid thing to say. I think the whole article speaks for itself. I’ll just sum up my comments by saying kids aren’t stupid. Maybe we just need to help them - dare I say teach them - how to use these tools.
You know - Alan November wrote about JUST THIS ISSUE YEARS AGO! Wake up Scotland.
EUCALYPTUS
They are going to have to start naming this stuff differently. I’m not sure me trying to spell this regularly is going to work.
EUCALYPTUS is a very geek thing. BUT - it’s got some VERY cool potential for K-12 technology. All of this “web services” stuff is going to change the way we work and interact with data. With 3D (Data Driven Decision-making) still a buzz in K12, we are going to have to figure out ways to keep data clean and clear.
This might be the next level.
Technology in K-12 helping?
I’m struggling. I have a degree in Instructional Technology and have spent the better part of 9 years lobbying to whoever will listen about integrating technology into K-12 classrooms. But, I’m having a hard time determining if all my work really has made a positive impact?
Sallie visited Woodberry Forest this past week to see how they get it done. Turns out, they don’t really. I’m going to get more info on them as soon as I can, but the short of it is this: They don’t use technology in the classroom nearly to the extent my school division does. Period. BUT - and here is the kick in the teeth - they put an unusually high percentage of students into Ivy League schools and other prestigious universities. So - should K-12 public schools put their money into keeping students longer during the day (say, study hours after athletics as at Woodberry?) instead of technology?
I don’t know. But after spending 8 years as a Technology Director and spending countless hours on helping teachers bring technology to their students, it’s making me wonder what impact this push for technology is all about. Projectors are nice, but when teacher continue to use them poorly, what good do that really do. Laptops are convenient, but awfully expensive for the return maybe.
Of course, then I see this…and this…and wonder even more.
Blame it on anything you want…
So now it’s Wikipedia’s fault. I would say this is unbelievable. But it’s not. People love to blame everything - anything - but the root cause for the problem IF the root cause it themselves. This is garbage:
“It’s dangerous when the internet is littered with opinion and inaccurate information which could be taken as fact.”
I’m not going to spend time describing why that is a monumentally stupid thing to say. I think the whole article speaks for itself. I’ll just sum up my comments by saying kids aren’t stupid. Maybe we just need to help them - dare I say teach them - how to use these tools.
You know - Alan November wrote about JUST THIS ISSUE YEARS AGO! Wake up Scotland.
We’re going through changes…
…just like everything else.
Anyway, EdThink started one place and is morphing - alittle. We started off our site use Joomla. I personally love it. But it’s not really designed to do what we wanted to do. So, yes, we made the move to Word Press. This site is nowhere near done. LOTS to add and certainly lots of content to write. BUT - if you will excuse our mess - we’re moving forward.
For now, it might just be me posting. But - over time - the others will chime in. Stay tuned.
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About
EdThink is an educational technology focused group which provides training, support and consultation on the integration and management of technology of all types in K-12 classrooms. We use this site and the accompanying podcast to offer insight and opinions into the relevant topics of the day.
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