IT5710 Telecommunications and Networking in Education Week 1 Reflection

It is a new semester for me in UCD land and I am very excited to be starting this course. It is a mix between web applications and the physical side of networks and computers. Very cool stuff.

The first week of class we spent time looking at different Web 2.0 applications. I enjoy all of the new sites that come out and tools that make a good connection to education. I also like tools that just make day-to-day life easier. I don’t see these tools as just being fun, because if they can save a teacher time and effort it is my assumption that will give them more time and energy to focus on teaching.

I liked the the SeachMe browser. A visual based browser that gives a quick screen shot before you even have to click on that page. I have searched many times for things and clicked on link that was not even worth the click, so a way to stream line my information finding missions is welcome.

Creative Commons was another simple solution to copyright your personal work or the work of your students. It also gives students a sense of what copyright is and why it is important. If we can get students to start thinking that their work has value then maybe they will start viewing the work of others with value.

Another issue I have been noticing with teachers and kids I work with is just how much they under utilize the capabilities of modern browsers and computers. My wife does this all the time too. I’ll be working on the computer and she will come up asking to do something, or to use the internet. “Can I close you out of this” is the first thing she says. I usually have about 20 tabs on two different windows for some specific purpose and she always wants to close one of them before opening a new window or tab. I am kind of amazed at how many people still continue to use and search the web like this. One page at a time. I think we could all do kids and teachers a service by trying to help them surf more efficiently.

Great News!!!

I just learned that I will be the Building Technology Coordinator at the high school I teach at next year. This is HUGE for me, and I couldn’t be more excited. The previous post is a part of what I brought into the interview and I know that type of thinking made an impact on the people in the interview.

I really have to thank all of the people in the UCD program for helping me get to this point and all of the wonderful people that take time to post and share online.

More details (and an entire new blog) to come.

Cheers!

Technology in Schools

I see….

 

A language class using Skype voice and video online to talk with Japanese students trying to learn English

 

Science doing virtual dissection

 

Math using Smartboards effectively

 

English students publishing to the world

 

Art creating digital master pieces

 

Music streaming concerts to relatives in Guam

 

Food Sciences cooking in real time with a chef presenting in France

 

Social Studies capturing the history of their Grandparents

 

Administration networking and collaborating with the best administrators in the world

 

Staff training and Professional development happening online at a pace and level that users are comfortable with

 

The best high school web page in the state

 

State of the art technology being used to it’s full potential

The Cell Phone

This is a topic I have been pondering for quite sometime. CELL PHONES IN EDUCATION. I stress it because these devices have become such a stress on so many teachers. I have come to the following conclusion about cell phones:

1. They exist
2. They will continue to exist
3. They will be used by more and younger students in the future
4. They will have a positive impact on education in the future

Ok, I respect school districts or schools ability to make decisions about technology. Some of these schools have decided to ban all cell phone use. As a high school teacher I can see how this would an advantage. No more ‘emergency’ text messages from parents that students have to answer during class, no more wondering about what that guy is really doing with his hands under his desk in the back of the class, no more worry about your video or picture showing up on Youtube.

However, the power of these hand held devices is undeniable. I currently teach 10^th grade students. That means they were born in 1992-1993. Do you know what that is in cell phone years? Well in 1992 about 1% of the world hand a cell phone. At the end of 2007 there was an estimated 3.3 billion cell phone subscriptions on the planets, around 50% of the world population. In the U.S. the mobile phone penetration rate is 81% according to Wikipedia.

So if we look at the number of cell phones on earth compared to the number of phones on earth it would be something like this:

Cell have increased from basically zero since 1992 to 3.3 billion 2007.

World population increased from basically zero (33 million) in 2000 BCE to 3.3 billion in 1965.

So in cell phone years these kids would about 4007 years old.

It makes me nervous to hear schools ‘coming down hard’ on cell phone use. It is an uphill battle at best and more likely a futile fight. The pendulum has already swung and educators need to face that reality.

I think it makes more sense to find a way to bring these devices into the educational fold rather than stripping these students of one of the ways they communicate and recieve information effectively. These devices can be used for education; however, the companies that make the products have not had to dedicate attention to educational possibilities and teachers (myself included) have not spent enough time seriously considering these devices as an educational tool. It is my guess that when this happens the impact will be enormous.

Is it annoying to teachers to see a kid texting in class- yes. But it shouldn’t be reach the deepest pit of anger that it seems to reach with many teachers. If a students is a talking to another student when they should not be, a good teacher has strategies to deal with that type of activity. In my opinion a good teacher does not threaten to take the students tung and give it to a higher authority until and even higher authority can come pick it up. We can find a way to make these thing useful.

Here are some examples and thoughts other people have on the issue.

Cell Phones in the Classroom: A Good Practice Guide

Exploring Cellphones as Learning Tools

Improving education with teacher of the year

ACU first university in nation to provide iPhone or iPod touch to all incoming freshmen

HHS blog and pod tech training

It was a great day for me at Horizon High School. I had the chance to run a tech training meeting on blogging. We had 12 teacher come to learn a bit more about blogs and how they could be useful as a classroom or professional tool.

The meeting was less than an hour long and began with me showing example blogs trying to show examples of how flexible ‘blogging’ really is. I think for a lot of people the word blog = online journal. And of course many blogs are just that, but there is so much more that can be done.

The teachers in the training were great, the picked it up really quickly and in less than half an hour all of them had a WordPress blog up and running. Cool stuff.

Meme: Passion Quilt

Independent Thinking!!

I was tagged by Neil Hokanson for the Passion Quilt Meme

It is really important that kids get a chance to process their thoughts about tough topics and have the chance to express those thoughts. Sometimes it is easy for us as educators to get excited about things we want to share and that is great, but we should always remember that kids need time and space to think.

Passion Quilt Meme Rules:

• Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.

• Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to Miguel Guhlin’s original blog entry.

• Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

I am tagging:

Zhihua Song

Jen Hackenburg

Paul Silli

Ayrolyn Keady

Katie Kidd

A Great Question

I have just started an online class and in one of the posting boards this question came up:

I like the idea of creating an environment that is safe for learning (and in turn learners). Do you think this is easier or more difficult in online courses?

   The start of this course has got me thinking more about that topic. I have to say Scott has really setup an environment that is conducive to people sharing, and responding. It seems simple and natural but should never be viewed as ‘extra’ in class a setting. (live or online) I have no doubt that creating a positive and safe environment is a base requirement live or online. Now, is it easier or harder online….hmmm lets look at the +’s and -’s Online +’s

+’s to creating a safe online environment

 Time to think before you have to respond 

People are usually in the space for a common reason. Why waste time in an environment that does not appeal to your interests? Thus, limiting the dissidents that are sometimes forced to exist in classes that do not want or do not enjoy.

If something completely inappropriate is said in posting board it can often be moderated and even removed (or need to be approved)

I think people are much more willing to protect the environment that they exist in an online forum. Bullies, or just people who are out of line, get dealt with in a swift manner by a large number of people if the go against the norms of the group.

Physical characteristics play no role. The Warren G. Harding Effect (he looks like a president!) has no bearing. People are recognized for their ideas.

  

Online –‘s to creating a positive environment

Posts or writings, or context can be misinterpreted. A person with a sly and sarcastic tone (even in a fun infectious way) can easily come off as an incredibly abrasive individual to the reader who can’t see a ‘wink and smile’ while the comment is being made.

I think there is something to be said for sharing the same space with other individuals. Sharing a room that is filled with laughter due to a funny joke or story is something different that a list of “lol”  ‘ROFLMAO’  ‘lolz’ ‘haha’ on a screen.

In a live class I can constantly remind the class of class norms and expectations anytime or how often I want. That may be more difficult and annoying (to the entire group) online

I can gauge the ‘mood’ of the class in a live setting by just being in the room. I think I can really tell ‘who gets it’ live. I don’t think I could do that as easily online.

I think it would be much harder to spot someone who needed immediate attention in an online world. I have stopped classes to talk privately to a student who is on the verge of tears.

Little things like picking up a wrapper on a floor when seen by students sends a message that you care about the room and where you exist. That might be harder to show those simple acts of caring online.

   

Honestly, I’m not totally sure if setting up a safe environment would be easier or harder online. Online you may have technology that gives you more control of content, but I think I would give up a lot of what I think makes me a good teacher.

Great question.

Success!! well kinda

Today the film below was shown to the student body. It was played over the closed caption in our school and it was met with some pretty good reviews. I know that many of the TVs didn’t have the channel the DVD was played on, and that advisory has a notoriously low attendance rate, and not all of the teachers in advisory really knew what was going on. But my guess is that about half of the school had a chance to see it.

If just 20% of kids get the message and change some habits, then that would be great. And those who saw it really liked it. They said things after that could not be mistaken for hollow praise and if you ever want to find some tough critics just go ask any 14-18 year old what they think about something. They will tell you.

 It was a really good experience in a lot of ways, it started with an idea–> then I had to learn a skill (imovie, editing, video formats, ect) —–> then I had to produce the message in formats that could be viewed (DVD, internet streaming)—-> I had to ’sell’ it to our school —–> I had to make sure that it could get viewed by a large group of people (closed caption system) ——> and I plan on following up with email thanks to people who helped pull it together. I would be pretty surprised if the whole thing combined took less than 20 hours. I wouldn’t be shocked if was really closer to 30….yikes, but I think it was worth it in many ways.  

Recycle What You Can

I created this video to try and help our student government get the word out about recycling in our school. It was a ton of work but I really think it will help support the recycling program at Horizon. The plan is to show it to the student body this week, so needless to say it took up ALL of my time the past 10 days or so.

Panama Canal

This week in our American History class we are looking at American expansionism and imperialism and what would be a better way to teach this than by playing Van Halen ‘Panama’ while showing this time lapse photo. It is rumored that their history teacher may pretend to be Diamond Dave at the request of some students.

We can’t use Youtube in the building so I used a trial version of Camtasia to screen capture it and saved it on a flash drive.