Cowboys & Indians
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Inspired
Who inspires you?
Sir Ken Robinson shares who inspired him. I'll share mine...
Sir Ken Robinson shares who inspired him. I'll share mine...
Who: My dad, my wife, my children & my favorite teachers.
What: ACTS community, Life and the right.
Where: My home town of Idalou, believe it or not.
When: When I learn to be quiet and still
Why: The belief that our role is to help each other out.
How: Be still, be quiet and know that He is.
Who/What’s on your list?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Student Voices
There are many ways to look at the impact of technology on our education system and there are also many factors that go into making technology successful - professional development, access, connectivity, content, etc. I think for many years we have focused on teacher access, teacher PD and to some extent integration to the instructional process. It's great to hear the students perspective on what they are doing and how technology is a part of who they are. It is the very essence of how they go about their life. This video clip from CoSN reiterates the fact that students are learning far beyond the standards and far beyond what they are able to do through an instituional setting. We as educators should consider embracing the many ways that students acquire, create and share their knowledge.
I thought I would share an excerpt from a blog post by David Warlick at the CoSn conference for superintendents. Good insights as to the impact of technology in education.
I thought I would share an excerpt from a blog post by David Warlick at the CoSn conference for superintendents. Good insights as to the impact of technology in education.
Most of the research on the impact of technology in education, that he shared indicated little to no impact — until he got to recent studies done by Becta in the U.K. where enormous investment has been made in technology. What has accompanied that investment are efforts to redefine and retool education to reflect 21 century realities. They found dramatic advancement in learning, when that investment was accompanied with enthusiasm and support.
A U.S. metastudy came to two conclusions.
- We’ve often over-promised what technology can do.
- When there is appropriate vision and adequate professional development, Technology can be a powerful, transformative tool.
We are making progress when it comes to teachers. 63% of teachers say their technology skills are “somewhat advanced” or “advanced”. Yet most of them use their skills for e-mail and Internet research, not changing teaching. (CDW-G Teachers Talk Tech Surevey 2006)
From the student perspective (customer), they are expressing growing frustration that schools are “irrelevant”. We teach them all in a cookie-cutter style, while, in their outside the classroom information experiences, they learn at their own rate — and they do a lot of learning outside the classroom. Krueger talks about individualized instruction. I prefer talking about personalized learning. It implies to me a more active and direct involvement by the learner.
Krueger then depressed us all by talking about what technology gets from the Obama stimulus package. That deserves its own blog post.
This one caught my attention. 88% of the voting public believe that 21st century skills are important and should be integrated into the classroom. What actually struck me was the 10% who said that 21c skills are important, but that they should not be taught in school. Where does that come from?
The next slide indicated that 99% of people say that 21st century skills are critical to the future economic success. Yet school and district administration continues to run against resistance among parents and community.
We finally watched the new student-version of the Learn to Change, Change to Learn video. Here are some of the quotes that resonated with me.
"I can make anything that would have been ordinary, extraordinary." “I just started making music a few months ago. I’m learning how by trial and error.” “I’d say that being able to experiment with technology is what is good about technology.” “Video games are about coordinating and communication.” “When you have access to everything, you get to know yourself better, because you have to choose what to use and what not to use.”
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Black Out
I noticed this today on Twitter and it caught my eye, but I really didn't know why. It just stuck out like a sore thumb.
Then I read this post on ReadWriteWeb by Richard MacManus.
Then I read this post on ReadWriteWeb by Richard MacManus.
Many New Zealanders have joined the protest against this law by blacking out their Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or Bebo photos - and even their own websites and blogs.
The blackout is part of a week of action against S92, declares a press release by the Creative Freedom Foundation, a non-profit group in NZ that has similar copyright concerns to those made famous internationally by Lawrence Lessig. The Creative Freedom Foundation will also announce a S92 song remix challenge this week, and "various other initiatives including video commercials and radio broadcasts will follow."
It is important to note that the law only applies to telcos and ISPs, but that copyright holders (e.g. the entertainment industry) can demand that ISPs disconnect internet access for those people they accuse of copyright infringement. P2P users and website owners who allegedly have copyrighted material on their websites are most likely to be the target. While some of those people may actually be copyright offenders, what has upset the Creative Freedom Foundation is that disconnection can occur simply by accusation - the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty' becomes meaningless.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Flickit iPhone App
I've loaded this app and it's just as clean and easy as it says. I would definitely change a few things. 1) make it easier to load multiple images at one time instead of having to go back into your library after each image. 2)As stated, make viewing flickr from the app. Overall, great find and very simple straight forward.
Flickit: Gracefully Add iPhone Photos to Flickr
We've had excellent ways to view photos on Flickr from the iPhone - Flickr's iPhone-optimized mobile site is great and we're fans of the Cooliris iPhone app. Getting them to Flickr however - either by emailing them to a Flickr dropbox or using an existing app - always seemed to lack that certain je ne sais quoi.
Flickit is different. It's a beautiful little app that offers a simple - yet rich - Flickr uploading experience. Or as Lifehacker puts it, "the free Flickit application is [Flickr's] truest friend on an iPhone or iPod touch." We couldn't agree more.
While Flickit's functionality can be found in other apps, the look, feel, and usability give it something special. It has an aesthetic that matches the iPhone, with big chunky buttons and stylish animations. Long story short, Flickit just feels like an iPhone app.
Once you've installed Flickit and logged into Flickr, you'll start with Flickit instead of your camera. Shoot photos directly from the app or grab pictures from your existing camera roll. Select a photo with which to work and you can edit title, description, and tags, add it to a set, choose its visibility, and geotag it with your current location. Press upload and you're done - fast. And it's all thanks to Flickit's streamlined uploading engine.
Downside? Flickit is an upload-only utility. So you're not going to be browsing your photos from it. That's unfortunate because given how they handle the upload process, we'd love to see how they handle viewing.
Want to give it a try? Download Flickit for free.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Drop In: Connect the Dots
Don't settle, do what you enjoy. This was to me the basis for Steve Job's commencement speech of 05. As you look at two of the brightest technology leaders (Jobs/Gates) of our time, a common thread comes about. They both worked really hard and they both were true to their passion. At some point, the probably got a lucky break, but for the most part, they did not conform to the status quo. They both went about their success by leaving college early. They both were diligent in their passion and focus. This video, which some of you may have seen is a great window in to the priorities and dots connected that brings us not only the Apple brand but the person behind it. This is a fantastic lesson about life and consciously dropping into what what matters to you and connecting all the dots that gives your life meaning.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
TMEA 09 - San Antonio, Tx
We've just landed in San Antonio for the 2009 TMEA convention. With close to 20k or more members, it's one of the largest education & music shows. We have been preparing for some time now to launch the WeAreTeachers NetCafe. We will be live streaming, posting Twitter feeds, Flicke pic updates and a full series of session / educator meet ups throughout the event. I am very excited about this because it directly focuses on a particular audience and those who embrace the notion of of Web2.0 & social media in the music & arts. If you have a moment, follow the NetCafe online @ Weateteachers.com. Search for the TMEA Netcafe or visit the Community tab. We will try to capture as much engagement and happenings. More updates at #TMEA on Twitter.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Different Differentiated Instruction
Granted this 9 year old prodigy comes from a background of technology know-how. His father is a chief technology officer at technology firm and writes iPhone applications. But what astonishes me is that this kid has taken these new technologies and applied it. I'm sure that he was not taught by his classroom instructor or that in doing it, he checked to see if it aligned to his learning standards. As nine-year old Lim Ding Wen states:'I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw.'If you haven't read about or downloaded the iPhone App, Doodle Kids, it now has more than 4,000 downloads and growing. In addition to this, Lim is also writing more kid games including a space race game called 'Invader Wars.'
So what is it that brings about the brightest and best from countries like South Korea, Japan, Finland, etc. and U.S. is lagging further behind?
UNICEF ranked countries on academics and found suggested that:
It's not surprise to me that a 9 year old student from Singapore can create an iPhone App because it's something his sisters wanted. I believe there are many students here in the U.S. that are equipping their children with FLIP cameras, iPhones, video editing and Web designing tools."...countries are consistently performing better than others when it comes to educating and equipping their young people for life in the 21st century ..."
"In all countries under review, a strong predictor of a child's success or failure at school is the economic and occupational status of the child's parents," it added.
If the notion is true that a strong predictor of a child's success is economic and occupational status, then this would hold true for Lim Ding Wen. I believe this to be the case for our kids as well. Many affluent families have digital cameras, wireless Web access from home, and students have cell phones with mobile Web capabilities. The key to this child's success story and others is not what they are doing in school, but rather what they are doing outside of the school day. Kids today have tremendous access beyond the school day including applications and Web 2.0 resources that so many districts block. The reality is, students are accessing and creating and applying 21st century skills at home everyday! As an institution, the schools should and do a sufficient job and teaching students the basic skills and 4 x 4 curriculum requirements. With that said, if the core instruction is provided for students at school, the innovation and application of 21st century skills is a result of the core learning and happens everyday all around them with all the resources at their disposal. Granted it may not all be included in the school day. The catch, not all students come from econcomic or occupational setting as Lim's family.As is stated in so many education technology circles, U.S. students need 21st century skills to compete in the global economy. My question is... 'will this happen from an institution, or rather from a community of learners through online venues outside the school walls?" If students who are economically well-to-do and parents come from a "21st century occupation," I don't think there's much to worry about there, but what about the many who do not? What about those who are from single parent homes, rural parts of the country or not economically equipped to have access?
Organizations like ISTE and Partnership for 21st Century Skills are making a strong push to ensure schools are prepared.
I've just starting reading the book by Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers.
In just reading the introduction and summaries about this book, the notion is about why some people succeed and appear to be prodigy-like, and what are the factors that create this notion. One factor is definitely talent and hard work, but there are many factors that he explores that are quite interesting.I'm interested in people who are outliers—in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August.
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