Category Archives: Thoughts

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Tech Task Force Planning, Analysis and Shared Values

The Technology Task Force held seven face to face meetings and virtual meetings via DAILE Moodle, visited 8 schools across the country, attended 3 International Conferences on Educational Technology, Science Education, and Laptops in schools, and worked with the white paper submitted by Durham Academies Technology Advisory Committee that spent a year working on research regarding student laptops.

Our recommendations are as follows.

  • Expand and support a digital learning and communication environment accessible anytime, anywhere
  • Set expectations and provide ample professional development opportunities and support
  • Expand and support the physical infrastructure for a student laptop learning environment to begin in sixth and ninth grade

Planning
Our Task Force met seven times face to face during the 2006 – 2007 academic year along with virtual meetings conducted via DAILE Moodle. The original twenty members identified areas of interest to research early in the year and spent time gathering data to share with the group. In conjunction with the work of the Task Force, Liz and Karl were also on the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) that undertook a study of the feasibility of a one to one laptop initiative. The two studies provided data that blended together well. The TAC visited eight schools from around the country in person as well as conducted many virtual visits.

Analysis
As the task force obtained data, we shared it within the discussion forums so we could make sure that all members could express their view. The TAC also shared data gathered by site visits which was shared via a laptop study white paper submitted in August of 2007. The task force incorporated the TAC white paper into its recommendations since many of the questions or topics were ones the task force focused on as well.

Shared Values

• Technology must be used to support other Task Force Recommendations as it supports our entire learning environment

• Learning environments are changing with the advances in technology and global pressures

• Change is handled best when presented with a corresponding amount of trust and support

• Technology is advancing in ways not seen before with negative consequences for industries who do not keep pace

Some of the Schools we Visited
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School of the Future in Philadelphia

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The Urban School in San Francisco

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Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia
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Saint Agnes and Saint Dominic School in Memphis
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Berkeley Prep in Tampa
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Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga

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Saint Mary’s in Raleigh
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Greensboro Day School

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Cary Academy

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Dr. Jim Goodnight’s Address

Dr. Jim Goodnight addressed the National Workshop on Stimulating and Sustaining Excitement and Discovery in K-12 (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) STEM Education on August 1, 2007. He is the CEO of SAS and co-founder of Cary Academy. Long known for his support of education, his speech reflects the state of what needs to happen in education. He stated that we need a Sputnik type event. Take a listen to his presentation as he clearly states what schools need to do more of while shedding the historical patterns of the past.

In a related note, I was at Cary Academy on Friday to attend a meeting. Students are using the tools he talks about so his words are backed up with action.

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Scratch…Programming from MIT

A long time ago there was Logo which allowed users to interact and program a turtle to do certain actions. My predecessor, Rachel Avery wrote books on Logo. Logo still exists although it is now done via MicroWorlds or Terrapin Software. I remember conversations I had with the parents of students in the Lower School who wished I taught students some basic programming as a way to demystify how a computer program works as well as to introduce them to the power of programming languages. I was not successful in this as the schedule was always too tight or there were other skills or topics that needed addressing. Lost in all of this was the chance for students to tinker around with software and programming. I regret that I was not able to accomplish that in the Lower School which is why I am hopeful for the Lego Mindstorms NXT Club that will be starting soon in the Middle School. While still not a mainstream class, it will at least be offered as a club. Small steps still take you on a journey.

I listened to a podcast by Wesley Freyer who also writes a blog at Moving at the Speed of Creativity. He had a interview with his son Alexander who played with using Scratch from MIT. The value of tinkering is not lost on the youth of today. I remember tinkering with my dad’s old cars when I grew up as it was mysterious to me how they worked. I often could not put all of the pieces back which meant it no longer worked. Of course, I never tried this with a working car so there was no real harm done. I learned a lot with these adventures into a V8.

Today, students are able to tinker with all sorts of technology. Scratch is another wonderful tool. Alice is another that I will be exploring in order to bring programming to girls in the Middle School.

So, scratch the programming itch and tinker away.

We will have it installed soon on the computers at school.

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Open Source Learning: How well do you share?

Tech Learning Educator’s eZine appeared in my email today. Instead of clicking on it to delete it because I was too busy, I thought I would take a look as a title grabbed my attention: Open Source Learning: How well do you share?. The article by Cheryl Oakes hit the spot with me. I am thinking about topics the Technology Task Force has been considering for the future of Durham Academy. One topic that is of great interest to me is the Virtual Learning Environment which we started to build last year when we set up the DAILE Moodle. The adoption rate has been incredible and even today, I heard a seventh grade student say that she loves Moodle. Now, it could have been because she had 5 or 6 messages from friends waiting for her or it could be that she finds it more useful in accessing information for class. I did talk with students yesterday about messages using DAILE Moodle. They brought up a good point in that they liked it since they could communicate with friends they may not see at school during the day. It is a way to stay in contact. Hence, it builds community. While we may not like it that students can not always talk with their friends during school, the reality is time constraints affect them as much as it does us adults.

Cheryl talks about colleagues that she has worked with or listened to who have helped her move forward. Many of the people she listed are folks I have followed as well. I met Will Richardson in Memphis this summer and he felt like an old friend. Reading her article brought up a great link called VoiceThread.com that allow users to upload an image with narration. Once done, users can share it will parents or friends. Teachers can use it for free with their classrooms. While it is still beta and I see no revenue stream, it is a powerful tool.

This also brings up the use of Moodle over proprietary Virtual Learning Environments. Open source gives me 10,000 of developers who are committed to creating parts of a product better. I see the road map for Moodle and am impressed. Mahara will be built into Moodle version 2.0 due out next summer. This is a solution for our learning community as well.

Would we have this roadmap with a closed proprietary system?… Maybe, but at what cost?

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Wikinomics – A must read!

I have been “reading” the book Wikinomics while driving to work and on my morning walk. I read it by listening to it on my iPod. I think all educators as well as business people need to read this book as it illustrates the dramatic changes that “mass collaboration’ or “peer production” is causing in the workplace and school systems. Wikipedia is the largest collection of information with 700 million articles in 200 language that is mass produced with only 5 paid employees, but legions of Wikipedians who give of their time to either add content or police content added by registered users.

Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, Vodcasts, and other forms of disruptive technologies are here to stay and they are indeed changing the way businesses work. As a school we need to be prepared for these changes which is why I am so glad that we have started to use The DAILE Moodle as it represents peer production since it is open source software that thousands of schools and universities are helping to write and perfect daily. I love the fact that there are nightly builds of Moodle done to fix or patch problems discovered.

Some believe that open source software is done by people who have long hair and live in their parents basement. While there is nothing wrong with having long hair nor living in your mother’s basement, if you so choose, it is important to note that the authors of Wikinomics note that at present, IBM and Intel are the two largest companies that donate time and resources to the further development of Linux. What companies are realizing is that there are more people outside of an organization that can solve problems then they have inside.

I think teachers should start to use wikis with their classes as a way to create content. Imagine a wiki report on Dovey Coe? What would that look like?

California Open Textbook Project is trying to create textbooks using wikis. Curriki is a wiki global learning community attempting to create a knowledge and learning platform for all learners around the world. There are some big names behind this organization.

A must read for all of us in education as change happens here after industry but we are preparing students for their future, which is being created as we speak.
“Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything” (Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams)

Here is a short example of the book on WikipediaWikinomics Snippet on Wikipedia

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Do Schools Kill Creativity?

I guess if I am asking the question, I might have a bias. Michael Ulku-Steiner from the Upper School sent me this great link. Sir Ken Robinson discussed this at TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) in 2006. Watch the video and tell me what you think. Who is Sir Ken Robinson? From the TED website: “Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence”.

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Video Games in Schools (NCETC 2006)

I first posted this in November of 2006 in the Moodle. I moved it here for a large audience.

David Warlick is presenting a session on A Beginners Introduction to Games and Learning here at NCETC. Handouts are at his handout wiki. Video Games are an interesting issue for me as I see students coming to the lab at lunch to get on a computer so they can play games. Runescape is huge and I see students working together to get into the same game and then helping each other play. While this game site may be against the Acceptable Use Code of DA, I am fascinated by how students are collaborating and problem-solving for the 15 minutes they have after lunch. It seems to be mostly 5th and 6th grade students. Linerider as of late is very popular as students tend to use it for two purposes. One purpose is to make really complex lines that the rider must ride that incorporate loops and jumps. A different approach is to create lines that end with the line rider crashing. Guess which ones boys do the most and which ones girls do the most. This is not a scientific study but a casual observation as I walk around the labs at lunch time. How can we harness the benefits of games in an educational setting? David said that a study has found that those of us who are over 35 years old are only 10% likely to play games.

This topic is of importance as students are engaged and interested in gaming at school. The Serious Games Initiative is a place to start looking at how we might incorporate games. Peacemakergame is a game created in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University.

Since my first post I also heard about Tabula Digita which uses Algebra in a game. Games are more sticky then some classes for students these days.

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New Teachers Trained

After 2 days or 6.5 hours, we have trained the new faculty on their new laptops. This was the best session we have ever done since we used The DAILE Moodle along with our new Web Portal. Even though we had to move out of the Hock Center because there was no AC, we managed to get it all done.

Kudos to Tina, Michele, and Liz for their help.

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Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation (Live Blog)

Karen Ward and Bill Hamilton from Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation is speaking this morning about how to not only have a laptop program but to connect learning to the digital equipment. I joined DA in the AALF as an institution (free).

On their site, they have a response to the New York Times Article on why some schools are dropping their school’s laptop program. In a nutshell it was a lack of leadership and political battles not learning. A lack of leadership will adversely affect any program in education or industry.

3 things needed in a leader:
1. A person with a vision
2. A person with the courage
3. A person with the commitment to stay there for the long haul

Ask ourselves how we hope to see the laptops used. Will it just be for note taking efficiency or do we hope to have deeper use? Ask students like we have what they would like to see done with laptops or technology. I think the results from our survey show they have strong opinions.

It is not about technology, but about learning. I have never attended a conference on pencils, white boards, paper or other teaching device. This is a paraphrase on what Seymour Papert was quoted as saying.

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Treating Equipment with Care

Headphoneweb
Although most students treat the equipment with care, obviously the headphones are a problem. I know I buy inexpensive models that may break more easily. However, I think the real problem is that you try to take them off too fast or you are “playing” with them too hard. Please take better care of the new ones I have purchased.

If you happen to have your own headphones with you, please feel free to use them instead of the ones in the labs.

In addition, leave the computer and keyboard arranged for the next student. Logging out and pushing in your chair is also a very good thing to do.