tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62132828344001009762024-03-18T06:47:11.344-04:00Confessions of a Jesuit School CIOAn #edtech oriented blog featuring musings of a Jesuit educator making the most of living in the 1s and 0s of a digital world. A lot of current events in Brebeuf Tech and Jesuit education in general as well as experimentsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-19419551352773104112018-04-12T09:46:00.001-04:002018-04-12T09:46:36.182-04:00#NCEA18 -- Presentations on Digital Citizenship and Digital Discipleship<h2>
Changing Culture Through Digital Discipleship</h2>
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Fake News, Faith, and Formation</h2>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="389" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQos_y_ozu4j1x0XIqJ-z7KeOu8sedlM0-f6D9k9RPSmn4758bF5bZ9rTH1mloM-u6feRFQvBgpwflx/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-13546304778532100682017-02-16T10:11:00.000-05:002017-02-16T10:24:37.442-05:00From the #edtech newsletter: Critical Thinking Update Part I and II<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zdcbyrzezRA/WKW6UgdGIjI/AAAAAAAB81M/McykpdM8xYUt_vwkK7GRSaYKMvWyDqhYACLcB/s1600/dino_TRC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zdcbyrzezRA/WKW6UgdGIjI/AAAAAAAB81M/McykpdM8xYUt_vwkK7GRSaYKMvWyDqhYACLcB/s200/dino_TRC.JPG" width="184" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students are aware of donut Thursdays<br />
and attempt to participate</td></tr>
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Many long-time readers or people who have watched a Jen and JD presentation know that each Thursday we provide donuts or bagels for teachers and staff in our teacher resource room. This is sheer bribery as we try to entice educator's to see some of the tools we are introducing and have #edtech conversations. It also gives us a chance to drop a few tidbits into an email that might otherwise be ignored (no one ignores the call for donuts!)<br />
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At the request of some visitors from IAIS last week and a few associates on Twitter, I am going to return to the blogosphere and highlight some of the edtech activities we are doing in the school. Our current focus is on critical thinking. (Note: Some editing of the original emails should be expected).<br />
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IT Update: Failover Results, Some Data on Critical Thinking, a few tools and more!</h2>
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Happy Thursday!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today’s carb is Bagels AND we restocked the coffee.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A special thanks to everyone who has been working to try new
tools! The feedback on the voice-comments software has been impressive (yes, I
just talked about feedback on feedback – I like to get Meta on bagel days). One
teacher commented, “I have so many things that I want to SAY, but there is just
no way to type all of that. Hopefully this will help.” Or, put another way,
“Sometimes you want to say something about a paper, but you know that you would
have to type so much because of TONE. This would let me express tone in the
comments.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>FAILOVER RESULTS<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The failover test on Monday went better than could be
expected. We took down one of our major servers and we were back online and running
through the backup server in Kentucky in under 5 minutes. We also tested our
backup fiber line and got a clean test switching back to that. Thank you for
letting us run our disaster tests – they make us all more stable in the long
run.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>A Few Data Points on Critical Thinking<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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One of the buzzwords in education revolves around giving
students 21<sup>st</sup> century skills (note: we are 17 years into that
century – probably we should have this down). While there are a number of
traits that inevitably get listed, the ability to solve
never-before-encountered problems in a systemic and rational way usually gets
listed in a few different ways. – The summary term for this is CRITICAL
THINKING.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Brightbytes survey indicates that our students are
encountering “Critical Thinking” activities in class pretty regularly (for
example, 82% of students are regularly asked to collect and analyze data). <o:p></o:p></div>
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We are also strong when teachers are asked about having
students conduct research (over half of our teachers have students research
monthly or better; that is 10% higher than the national average.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Conversely, though, individual faculty members do not feel
they engage in other critical thinking activities on a regular basis. The number one requested
professional development from the survey was exposure to more tools for
critical thinking:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Researchers have found that<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #626464;"> </span></span><span style="color: #626464;">“students
who have experience applying scientific inquiry and reasoning to real-world
problems in the classroom will have an edge when faced with these types of
questions as adults.” (Brightbytes, insights).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Practically Applied:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In talking to teachers around the building,
some of the suggestions include:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Increase critical thinking opportunities in the
classroom by focusing on ways to “off load” essential activities that do not
require classroom time. (Flipped Videos that give short lectures AHEAD of class
time so that class time can be used to engage in a problem solving activity
that could not be done as homework). – A number of tools exist for this
including Camtasia and Youtube.</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Using a tool to give you feedback before class
or in the first few minutes so that you can focus on “trouble spots” and not
spend the entire class period going over things students already have down – Many
of our teachers are using Google Forms and its new grading feature to
accomplish this. Other options include Nearpod for a quick before-class quiz.</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Instead of having students find summaries of
data from news websites or blogs, have them add the term “DATA” and ask for
specific filetypes such as excel (.xlsx) or comma delimited spreadsheet (.csv)
to get raw data that can be analyzed and/or visualized by the student directly.</span></li>
</ul>
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Want to learn more about techniques to increase critical
thinking in the classroom? Pick a lesson or objective that you would like to
“Criticize” (Ha! Punny.) and contact JD to setup a time to meet and brainstorm.
Interested in seeing a demo of any of the tools listed above? Stop down in the
TRC. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>TOOLS REFERENCED:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html" target="_blank">Camtasia </a>– Create videos using webcam and computer screen</li>
<li><a href="https://nearpod.com/" target="_blank">Nearpod </a>– Interactive lectures and live feedback quizzes</li>
<li>Google Forms – Data collection and online quizzes</li>
<li>Advanced Google Searching – Finding information beyond
typing in keywords</li>
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Have more tools you have used or ideas to increase critical
thinking in your department or content area? Please drop us a line or post your
ideas/thoughts/lessons in the TRC! We all learn from sharing with eachother.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That does if for this Thursday. Have a great week and come
have a bagel (while they last).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EGwbjiGYwtk/WKXAo78x16I/AAAAAAAB81k/fObdSYvRCRExeW_i8hdINTaAsn7NOk1WACLcB/s1600/Board_217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EGwbjiGYwtk/WKXAo78x16I/AAAAAAAB81k/fObdSYvRCRExeW_i8hdINTaAsn7NOk1WACLcB/s400/Board_217.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Whiteboard in the TRC is a constant think-space for lessons, <br />
teacher ideas, edtech tools and magnetic fling-darts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
<br />IT UPdate: Critical Thinking Part II and Donuts</h2>
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Today’s donuts are brought to you buy Dunkin’ and the letter
C for Critical thinking!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you to everyone who sent us suggestions or wrote on
the whiteboard with your critical thinking ideas! We will keep the whiteboard
up for a few more days and then compile the email and written suggestions next
week.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Follow up to Authentic Problems and Data:<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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Last week we focused on our results for solving authentic
problems and using data. There are a number of websites today that can give you
activities to help highlight or introduce authentic issues in your classroom or
provide data for discussion, research and reflections.</div>
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<b>History Pin</b> is a collaborative website that is
map-based and allows students to explore the world and contribute by adding
material from their own local area. <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/historypin">https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/historypin</a><o:p> </o:p><b>Spent</b> is like an old-school text based choose your
own adventure that focuses on raising social justice awareness and issues.
Players play characters living on the poverty line and must make decisions based
on events. With some scaffolding on the teacher side, this could work well with
students in teams or with a follow up reflection and discussion activity. <a href="http://playspent.org/">http://playspent.org/</a> </blockquote>
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<b><u>Some notes about note taking!<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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One of the top uses of technology in classrooms throughout
the building is for notetaking. But the style of note-taking can vary and has a
demonstrated effect on how students retain information and access it later
(which is really close to the definition of critical thinking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If students type exactly what the teacher says, they have
excellent notes for review, but have done very little mental exercise – essentially
serving as a conduit from the teacher to their screen. Pam Mueller of Princeton
University was a professor who looked into this:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“When people type their notes, they have this tendency to
try to take verbatim notes and write down as much of the lecture as they
can," Mueller tells NPR's Rachel Martin. "The students who were
taking longhand notes in our studies were forced to be more selective — because
you can't write as fast as you can type. And that extra processing of the
material that they were doing benefited them." (<a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away">http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away</a>).
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Many news agencies took the angle that we needed to get rid
of technology completely (Bad Tech, go lay down!). Alternatively, this could be
a good classroom exercise to help students discover what they SHOULD be writing
down and why it is important to paraphrase key ideas. This concept is
introduced in the digital citizenship class and the English department
reinforces this with annotation checks regularly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Other teachers have suggested giving students a handout
(paper or digital) that students can fill out through the course of a
presentation or reading. The outline format and/or guiding questions disrupt
the ability for students to turn off their brain and type whatever is being
said – even the act of figuring out what box to type in on a digital handout
can be enough cognitive exercise to improve retention and access.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How do you help students take notes in class? What tools
have you seen students use effectively? What do you recommend? Share with JD or
write in the TRC and we will share out your responses!</div>
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That is it from the #edtech corner. This week JD will be
recording some videos for teachers interested in using Nearpod or <a href="http://kaizena.com/" target="_blank">VoiceComments</a>. Have other tools you would like to have added to our video library?
Let JD know.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-76010748016811450272017-01-26T08:46:00.003-05:002017-01-26T08:46:46.308-05:00FETC 2017 Presentation<h4 style="background-color: #f5fafe; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 8px;">
At FETC? Come see me today at the following presentations</h4>
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<span class="SessionLink"><h4 style="font-size: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 8px;">
<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">C522: How Small Schools Realize the BIG Promise of BYOT</a></h4>
</span><div style="-webkit-margin-after: 0.2em; -webkit-margin-before: 0.2em;">
<span class="devPresenterDetailSessionDateTime">Thursday 26 January 3:20 PM - 4:00 PM</span></div>
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<label class="infoLabel" style="color: #444444; display: inline; float: none; font-weight: bold;"><span class="devSessionLocationLabel label" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; width: auto;">Location</span><span class="label2" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px;">:</span></label> <div class="SessionLocation devSessionLocation DisplayText" style="display: inline; float: none;">
Orange County Convention Center - North 320E</div>
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<label class="infoLabel" style="color: #444444; display: inline; float: none; font-weight: bold;"><span class="devSessionTrackLabel label" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; width: auto;">Track</span><span class="label2" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px;">:</span></label> <div class="SessionTrack devSessionTrack DisplayText" style="display: inline; float: none; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 2px;">
Future of EdTech Information Technology</div>
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<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">C602: Google Cardboard: Bring the World to Your Classroom</a></h4>
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<span class="devPresenterDetailSessionDateTime">Thursday 26 January 4:20 PM - 5:00 PM</span></div>
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<label class="infoLabel" style="color: #444444; display: inline; float: none; font-weight: bold;"><span class="devSessionLocationLabel label" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; width: auto;">Location</span><span class="label2" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px;">:</span></label> <div class="SessionLocation devSessionLocation DisplayText" style="display: inline; float: none;">
Orange County Convention Center - South 330AB</div>
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<label class="infoLabel" style="color: #444444; display: inline; float: none; font-weight: bold;"><span class="devSessionTrackLabel label" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; width: auto;">Track</span><span class="label2" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px;">:</span></label> <div class="SessionTrack devSessionTrack DisplayText" style="display: inline; float: none; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 2px;">
Future of EdTech Educator</div>
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<div class="SessionTrack devSessionTrack DisplayText" style="display: inline; float: none; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 2px;">
Can't make it? The slides below will be showing while I talk (but I don't really read from slides)</div>
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<h4 style="background-color: #f5fafe; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 8px;">
<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">C522: How Small Schools Realize the BIG Promise of BYOT</a></h4>
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<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;"><br /></a></div>
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<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;"><br /></a>
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iMSdnMxQYQYI7ap-Si-QGaakj3aWl9kExzm2bdOrQS0/embed?start=false&loop=true&delayms=60000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="background-color: #f5fafe; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 8px;">
<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">C602: Google Cardboard: Bring the World to Your Classroom</a></h4>
</div>
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<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;"><br /></a></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OVUO451TJsR0bTJCn1DvoxWz6lafEWzutoDQ4UqM6do/embed?start=false&loop=true&delayms=60000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe>
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<a class="SessionLink devSessionTitleAndLink devSessionLink" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #0c6cc5; cursor: pointer; outline: none;"><br /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-40595944500190317822015-03-02T14:21:00.002-05:002015-03-02T14:41:38.316-05:00A shameless and lazy post while playing with Live updates...more later<span id="docs-internal-guid-8198d243-dbec-e723-d9f4-2a9ba8ec9062"></span><br />
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In the Digital Citizenship class, students were challenged to come up with ways to report data interactively. Since blogger supports iFrames, this is my test bed for right now. More later...<br />
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Want to join the experiment? Click the link below or scan the QR code:</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-59681426979002235902014-07-28T21:11:00.002-04:002014-07-28T21:11:46.002-04:00The Jen&JD Show: #SummersOff Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7vfQ8t6W34g?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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We return to the TRC with new mascots, more snark, and even some discussion about education:</div>
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ISTE2014 Recap, Makerspaces, Renovations, Preparing for the start of the school year, Mission based sequencing, and more....</div>
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PLUS: Name-The-Mascot Contest.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-6854756676357820742014-05-27T09:58:00.000-04:002014-05-27T09:58:28.010-04:00JD Talks All the Things...Today at 4pmOk, so this blog is a little dusty. It has been an incredible year and lots of cool stuff has been going on, like:<br />
<ul>
<li>Brebeuf Jesuit will be continuing its classroom renovation with 15 classrooms, new art center, renovated multi-purpose room and more (these classrooms are the result of collaboration with teachers on what is necessary for a BYOT room)</li>
<li>Brebeuf was also nominated for a MIRA award. This award celebrated the tech-accomplishments of businesses and organizations in Indiana. Brebeuf Jesuit was <i>THE ONLY SCHOOL</i> nominated in the education category.</li>
<li>The second year of BYOT saw more integration, new ways of collaborating, increased numbers of chromebooks and the movement of the tablet to secondary device.</li>
<li>Jen and JD split up the road show this year with JD speaking at FETC for the first time and Jen Keynoting the Jesuit Librarian Conference. They came back together for the #21Learn conference in Ohio and the National Catholic Education Association.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thejournal.realviewdigital.com/?i=MAY+2014&acct&email=jdferries@brebeuf.org#folio=6" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PA5xn1fBxhM/U4SWzvKrP7I/AAAAAAAA5Jg/ehVoQvXhnoE/s1600/Top3_for_blog.png" height="144" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to read the article and watch video<br />
w/ the #edtech Droid and Dragon</td></tr>
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I was also fortunate enough to be named the May Innovator of the month by THE Journal. This is definitely something very cool in part because of the list of people who have come before me, many of whom I consider good friends (even though we mostly only talk on the Twitterz).</div>
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As part of this series, I will be doing a webinar about...well...a little bit of everything...Seriously, the descriptions looks like my twitter feed without the snark:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In this wide-ranging webinar, JD Ferries-Rowe will discuss how he, as CIO of a prep school, brings together BYOT, hands-on PD, and flipped learning to help teachers create a mobile and dynamic classroom experience. He will also discuss teaching students digital citizenship (and the perils of digital distraction) and will reflect on how widespread technology integration has changed the physical design of the classroom.</i></blockquote>
So, if you are not doing anything today at 4pm and feel like listening to JD and asking some questions, I would love to chat! <a href="http://www.instantpresenter.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=ED51DC83884F" target="_blank">You can register through EdWeb.net here.</a><br />
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For those of you who can't make it or want a little preview, here is the slide-deck that i will be moving through :)</div>
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As always, thanks for all the comments, feedback, well-wishes, snarky retorts, and links that help us stay half-a-step ahead of the students who are navigating these #edtech waters along side us.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-47630832341352074732014-01-30T08:13:00.002-05:002014-01-30T08:13:42.578-05:00Quickhit Thoughts from FETC Day 1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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Following my usual pattern, I am sitting in the eye-opener session (sponsored by Google) putting <br />
together some thought from yesterday's kick-off of the Flordia Education Technology Conference (FETC)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A Keynote on What Matters</span><br />
Discovery Channel sent Architectual guru Danny Forster to give a phenomenally entertaining presentation on his life travelling around the globe discussing the great building (and in one case really deep mines) of the world.<br />
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His takeaway was that it is important to move beyond the utilitarian purpose and to consider both the context of the environment (the place, the surroundings, the history, the mission) in creating buildings that will be truly meaningful.<br />
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BRIEF INTERLUDE: Pre-show music is Daft Punk. I really don't want to think about all of these educators and vendors being "up all night to get lucky" END INTERLUDE<br />
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He did a great job of not drawing the conclusion but allowing the audience to discover for themselves. It was certainly easy to come to an anti #edreform conclusion that in our pursuit of value-added matrices and common core aligned test scores, we may have lost sight of the purpose and context of education.<br />
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Another thought that occurred to me was the importance of considering the environment when using social media (or teaching the use of social media). Facebook, Twitter, G+, Instagram all have unique use cases and we should understand their use and purpose not only in the function of the network but in also in how our kids are suing these systems as a part of their lives.<br />
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Best question and response:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
"what do you think of the lack of creativity in our schools today?" gets applause - "there is a blip in the matrix" - <a href="https://twitter.com/dannyforster">@dannyforster</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23FETC&src=hash">#FETC</a><br />
— JD Ferries-Rowe (@jdferries) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdferries/statuses/428649446243827712">January 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"> On to the Vendor Fair</span><br />
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
There is a rich irony in listening to a presentation abt functional design and then be released into a line <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23FETC&src=hash">#FETC</a> <a href="http://t.co/5mVkC3bT8A">pic.twitter.com/5mVkC3bT8A</a><br />
— JD Ferries-Rowe (@jdferries) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdferries/statuses/428651301522919424">January 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
Ok, I said these would be quick hits, and the show is about to begin:<br />
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<b>Glass is Growing</b><br />
I am beginning to hear a Google Glass backlash among some educators regarding limited use-case and what it cannot do or how it cannot be used. Interesting sidenote: it is very similar to the cell phone discussions that we heard a decade ago.<br />
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This is the first conference I have been to where I am seeing a decent amount of Glass Explorers (at Blackboard World this summer, I was one of two). I am still showing Glass to a lot of people seeing it for the first time, but it is growing.<br />
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<b>BYO is Coming into its Own </b><br />
I was cherry picking the opening night of the vendor fair, but there were a lot of web-based applications and if there were native apps, they were chrome, android, and iOS -- oh what a difference a year makes.<br />
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This is not to say that there are not a lot of iPAD only vendors or that there aren't a lot of "LOCKDOWN IS GOOD" opportunities. My favorite pitch along this line was a vendor who said: "it doesn't matter if they use a Mac. They will still be using Word...WINDOWS WORD!" -- This was the same vendor who was selling a lockdown experience that took every computer, tablet, and form factor and gave you the same Icons, Desktop, and user experience. "can you imagine how easy it is when everybody is doing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time" -- Wow. It is 2014<br />
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INTERLUDE from @jcasap "It wasnt that long ago that we had to call the internet...from our home phones...and the internet was rude...it would hang up on you" END INTERLUDE<br />
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<b>What I am thinking about - Vendor Style:</b><br />
<i>Hapara</i> -- an LMS overlay for Google Apps for Education w/ a remote chrome viewer. Teachers can quickly share documents, view and edit documents without permission issues, and administrators have more control over viewing drive contents (a need I have rarely, but when it is there, it is usually important).<br />
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<i>Ladybug from Lumens</i> -- Ok, i dont often get excited about document cameras, but how about this for a feature set:<br />
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<ul><a href="http://www.lumens.com.tw/a/program_img/goods/2013122414165598555.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.lumens.com.tw/a/program_img/goods/2013122414165598555.jpeg" height="150" width="200" /></a>
<li>USB port to hold pictures</li>
<li>Attach a mouse and you can annotate WITHOUT a computer</li>
<li>HDMI Passthrough (plug your laptop into the camera and you can use the same source to the projector -- ooh</li>
<li>A gorgeous picture</li>
<li>Under $550</li>
</ul>
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<i>Hummingbird</i></div>
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Program in SCRATCH (or other languages) and have it actually control a robot...even a robot made from cardboard. The $200 kit comes with sensors, motors -- you provide the imagination (and the cardboard as required).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z2jMWTeyp7c/UupM27mKIyI/AAAAAAAAzVk/wyXHJlOrANs/s1600/20140129_181011_121.mp4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z2jMWTeyp7c/UupM27mKIyI/AAAAAAAAzVk/wyXHJlOrANs/s1600/20140129_181011_121.mp4" height="179" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You Knew I was going to love the Dragon</td></tr>
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<i>WeVideo</i> is one of my favorite products. It was awesome to hear that they had added call outs and more text-overlay capability. It was more exciting to hear that they are predicting video screen capture and better web-cam integration for Q2 -- Clearly this chromebook friendly web-based video editor is aiming squarely at TechSmith -- it might be time for them to release a Camtasia for Chrome. </div>
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Ok, I think that is what I have for today. </div>
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I will be pretending to be an Extrovert while presenting "CLAIM, ANALYSIS, AND CONTROVERSY" -- our #digcit unit where we begin the process of tackling infowhelm and echo-chambers with our Freshman. 2:00pm is S320B</div>
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Questions? Comments? Drop me a line. - JD (Getting back to blogging)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JD's Day One Swag - The rubber Yo-Yo is a blast</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-68928222930059128892013-12-11T10:33:00.001-05:002013-12-11T10:33:00.829-05:00Advent II – By JD Ferries-Rowe | Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory SchoolLest you think I only rant about Common Core and the beauty of Robots...<br />
I was asked to write a reflection for the school website for the 2nd Week of Advent.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">After a decade at Brebeuf Jesuit, I am still sometimes struck by how much a Jesuit idea or way of thinking (we call them “Charisms”) can reveal itself in the strangest places. The idea that I have been reflecting on the most as we approach the Christmas holiday…particularly as I think about what it means to get ready for Christmas…is the idea of the counter-cultural response. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">When the Jesuits were formed, St. Ignatius did not want a cloistered monastery. He wanted priests who would be active in the affairs of the world, providing an example and occasionally guidance to a world that sometimes struggles with focusing on God. Thus, the Jesuits needed to be the counter-cultural response…living in the world, living with the people, but always pointing out when the cultural norms of the day became a stumbling block for people seeking God or trying to make the world a more just place for everyone.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">That brings me to Advent.</blockquote><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IRaAYsXjWhI/UqiFkWkjAiI/AAAAAAAAwZM/O7sMNVnGaEg/s1600/brebeuf-seal-pms202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IRaAYsXjWhI/UqiFkWkjAiI/AAAAAAAAwZM/O7sMNVnGaEg/s200/brebeuf-seal-pms202.jpg" width="187" /></a>You can read the rest here:<br />
<a href="http://brebeuf.org/reflections/2013/12/advent-ii-by-jd-ferries-rowe/">Advent II – By JD Ferries-Rowe | Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School</a>: <br />
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Comments always welcome and appreciated.<br />
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<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-81067989407809334672013-11-21T14:40:00.000-05:002013-11-21T14:40:48.989-05:00For the Greater Glory...On Means, Ends, and Lessons Learned from RobotsThere is a Jesuit catchphrase for just about everything. One of the most common in educational circles is AMDG - an abbreviation for a latin phrase which translates to "For the Greater Glory of God". Many Jesuit schools require students to write this in the header of their papers, other schools have signs and posters, our school made it the student e-mail domain.<br />
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It's a big deal...<br />
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<b><i>Interlude: What's in a Name?</i></b><br />
Two months ago, a group of students decided to form a robot club. Their goal was to have Brebeuf Jesuit participate for the first time in the Indianapolis VEX robotics championships. This event, sponsored by the Mayor's office, offers free registration and robotics kits to any school willing to field a team.<br />
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As I was filling out the online registration, i was faced with a huge question: Team Name. I felt the cold sweat breaking out. This was HUGE. We needed something that could capture the spirit of our school, the care-free but driven attitude that made up our team, with just enough nerd-cred to show that we were the real deal. After a few panicked seconds I typed: AMDGeeks.<br />
<b><i>End Interlude.</i></b><br />
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This Saturday was the two-day culmination of our Robot Team's hard work. And it was pretty awesome:<br />
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Much has been written and will be written about the use of robots and practical "real-world" problem solving (and to be fair, i want to live in a world where building small-scale competitive robots is the "real-world" -- its like pokemon, but with robots). This is what I observed:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Problem Identification</b>: What is the scope of the problem? What are resources available?</li>
<li><b>Complex, Strategic Thinking:</b> Given the limitations in time and resources, what will be the best solution</li>
<li><b>Hypothesis Testing</b>: Build it, test it, note the results, modify, try again.</li>
<li><b>Research</b>: Yes, it started with YouTube and Google. But it also included talking to physics teachers, calling in experts in fields from welding to general construction.</li>
<li><b>Cooperation</b>: Each team member had strengths that were drawn upon throughout the tournament. Each team was allied with one or more other robot teams for individual rounds.</li>
<li><b>Empathy, Emotional Control</b>: Students were reading feelings, supporting one another, etc. </li>
</ol>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quite a bit different from your typical testing environment</td></tr>
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A collection of corporate sponsors, educators, politicians and student-coaches, some as young as ten years old, were creating an environment that was a celebration of the development of college-preparatory and 21st century skills!<br />
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What struck me as I looked in the audience of hundreds of parents, students, teachers, administrators was the lack of teacher-evaluation. Stick with me here, this might be important:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">iAspire: one of numerous <br />Teacher Evaluation Apps</td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>There was no principal in the stands of the Banker's Life Fieldhouse with an iPad App that allowed her to quickly check off the common core standards that were being met.</li>
<li>There was no Lexile, no Acuity, no Terra Nova pre-test of cognitive potential.</li>
<li>The only analytics collected were in service to teams figuring out from one round to the next what was working and not working...how to work with one team in an effort to defeat two more.</li>
</ul>
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Yet, in this environment with all of its chaos and shouting and stress and fun, real learning was taking place. Students from a variety of backgrounds and schools were learning to work together, communicate effectively, and devise complex strategies to achieve a common goal.</div>
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<ul>
<li>It was a demonstration of student learning and real-world application.</li>
<li>It was the lived experience of preparation for 21st century skills.</li>
<li>It was one of the best observable environments for implementation of many of the common core state standards.</li>
</ul>
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and yet...no evaluations were made and no test score was given.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>AMDG, Common Core, and the Fight for Education</b></span></div>
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Critics of the Common Core State Standards are often painted as lazy educators who do not want their work held up to the scrutiny of science and data. Accusations often imply that any who do not support the CCSS and its integrated regime of corporate testing, textbooks, computer management systems, and teacher evaluation tools must not really want kids to succeed.</div>
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The problem that educators face in discussing this issue with politicians and parents are that the CCSS has become the ultimate goal of education -- education's AMDG. Anything that works toward the #CCSS (read, anything that is "COMMON CORE ALIGNED") is automatically <i><b>GOOD</b></i> because it works toward the ultimate goal. Anything that criticizes that ultimate goal is automatically <b><i>EVIL</i></b>.</div>
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This is what leads to the shock and almost dismissive attitude in state legislatures when teacher's try to explain the flaws in the CCSS-Testing regime. Because the CCSS has the mantle of the ultimate goal, the advocates for teachers, whether they are administrators or unions, are hesitant to go directly at the issue and instead beg for more time or increased professional development.</div>
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Educators and Parents and Politicians need to step back from the CCSS-Testing megalith and realize that despite the political spin that has deemed it as the ultimate goal -- it is actually a means to an end. In Fact, built within its purpose and rhetoric are the true ultimate goals of education according the CCSS's designers, the true ends: College and Career Readiness, Development of Leadership Potential, Citizenship.</div>
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In order to have a discussion about the role of robotics and STEM or times for reflection or appropriate use of lexiles or the need to read non-fiction vs. 18th century literature, teachers and parents and educators must first have a discussion about Goals and Ends for education. We need to discuss education's version of AMDG.</div>
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RkDdA8nG9HI/UojlPiCmZWI/AAAAAAAAu-k/GCMKH8W9djc/s640-no/AMDGeeks+Seeded+9th+after+4+rounds+of+prelims.+%2540brebeufjesuit+%2523tw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RkDdA8nG9HI/UojlPiCmZWI/AAAAAAAAu-k/GCMKH8W9djc/s640-no/AMDGeeks+Seeded+9th+after+4+rounds+of+prelims.+%2540brebeufjesuit+%2523tw.jpg" width="320" /></a>The common core state standards are a politically popular and well-funded MEANS to reach the end. Yet they are discussed as if they are the END itself. Common Core and its implementation (and all of the testing and data and expense that accompanies it) is a path, an interpretation about how to reach the ultimate goals of education. </div>
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One can believe that the Common Core and its associated baggage is not the right direction for a school or state or nation without being against education itself. One can reject a particular MEANS without rejecting an separate END.</div>
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CCSS is not AMDG.</div>
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Need proof? Watch the robots.</div>
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(More on this tomorrow...)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-91212078501216532442013-11-05T13:56:00.000-05:002018-02-23T07:57:20.186-05:00Instinct Gone Awry: On Traffic Jams, Distracted Behavior and the Myth of MultiTasking<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-ebook/dp/B001BAGWQE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383670456&sr=1-1&keywords=traffic" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="322" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--iH_cgMdV-0/WpAO70xlInI/AAAAAAACPdU/yecwUSCQm6s76Rk7hWBSliHH7mUfBy-nwCEwYBhgL/s200/traffic.jpg" width="128" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-ebook/dp/B001BAGWQE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383670456&sr=1-1&keywords=traffic" target="_blank">Trust me - its' good</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the most fascinating non-fiction books I have read in recent years was called, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Traffic </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Tom</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Vanderbilt. The book breaks down a number of behaviors that seem completely natural for creatures that developed over </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">thousand</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of years, but that can be non-sensical when in control of a few tons of metal and plastic travelling 10 times faster than a normal person can run. This basic juxtaposition comes up again and again in the book: naturally evolved intuitive reactions do not always make sense behind the wheel of a car. </span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-4d4ee8ae-2989-6ae4-9b1e-dc2e18d665c4" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been thinking about that book and how it applies to the teaching of technology in schools, both with students and in the context of professional development with teachers. </span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Put simply, our natural inclinations may be wrong.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interlude: The Data Dilemma</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our school suffered a catastrophic data loss this spring. It was one of those two-fold, perfect storm type disasters that had multiple causes both human and structural. The end result was that a number of teachers and administrators lost data permanently. It was a blow to the tech department and the trust we had built up over the years.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flash forward five months. A teacher brings in his laptop that is no longer opening files. Long-story and much investigation later, we were able to find a crypto-locker virus on his computer that had been given permission to bypass our virus screening by the user. This particularly nasty ransom-ware encrypts files and then offers to unlock them for a payment of a few hundred dollars worth of bit-coin.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “I think our best bet is to pull your files from backup. Did you have everything on the [School home drive]?”</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teacher</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “No. After what happened, i don’t use that anymore.”</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “Not a problem. Where are you backing up files?”</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teacher</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “I keep them on the computer. So they are close to me and safe.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>End Interlude</b></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This teacher’s reaction was completely natural, completely animalistic. It is the same reaction we have regarding our children: Keep them close; keep them where we can see them. All will be well.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But in the world of data, the safest thing to do is to put copies of that data in as many places as possible, as far apart as possible, so that one or two mistakes or disasters do not cause loss of important information. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the world of educational technology, we are not just fighting against the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ignorance </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of “...but I didn’t know”. Sometimes, we are battling </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">instinct </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and that is a much more ingrained adversary.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which bring us to the focus of today's blog (yeah, its one of those long ones!):</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interlude: The Distraction Dilemma</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While teaching a summer school #digcit class, students were given time to work independently to gather research. I became fascinated watching one girl work on her assignment while checking her phone. In a ten-minute period, she looked at her phone 18 times. Each time was less than 10 seconds, many times under 5.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “Did you know that you are constantly looking at your phone?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Student</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “Not constantly...just when i get a message. I am still working”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “Show me what you have done so far”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Student</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “Well, I am taking notes on this webpage.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “Show me the notes.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Student</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “I just started, so I don’t have much yet.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: You started that document over 10 minutes ago. You haven’t moved the screen past the first paragraph and only have 14 words typed on your notes.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Student</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “Ten minutes? No way!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>End Interlude</b></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the ancient plains, it was important to be able to quick-glance our environment. To stop eating or caring for the young and take a quick survey for predators. But this comfort in an ability to quickly disengage from a primary task, instinctively survey (a secondary task), and return to the primary task at hand is VERY different from engaging in two cognitive tasks like RESEARCHING and carrying-on a time-delayed, written CONVERSATION. Put simply, human beings are bad at it. Worse, we don’t realize it:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We - the people we talk with continually said, look, when I really have to concentrate, I turn off everything and I am laser-focused. And unfortunately, they've developed habits of mind that make it impossible for them to be laser-focused. They're suckers for irrelevancy. They just can't keep on task.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">- Dr. Clifford Nass, Professor of Communication at Stanford. </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/05/10/182861382/the-myth-of-multitasking" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">NPR Interview</span></a></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Lied-His-Laptop-ebook/dp/B003YUC7BI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eLzanT4w2xc/Unk6C9VUGGI/AAAAAAAAt4A/7W0iu5PqKko/s200/liedtolaptop.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Lied-His-Laptop-ebook/dp/B003YUC7BI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" target="_blank">Dr. Nass wins awesome title award</a></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nass continues, explaining that as the number of screens increase, we maintain a belief that we can handle the attention spread of an increasing amount of data and distraction. “There's some evidence that there's a very, very, very, very small group of people who can do two tasks at one time but there's actually no evidence that anyone can do even three.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As teachers and technologists, part of our job is to help students develop the skills and habits of mind that they will need to survive and thrive in a world where instinct can lead them astray. As with all education that matters, this can be done with a combination of setting context, gaining experience, and promoting reflection that leads to change and action.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Setting Context: </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As part of our professional development focus on distracted behavior, we had each adult keep a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">distraction journal</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> over the weekend. Adults by and large were shocked at the amount of distracted behavior they found in themselves, analogous with the student who had no idea how much time she spend on a one screen vs. another. This personal context can be supplemented with reading research (or summaries of research, depending on the age level) so that students know this is not just the old folks complaining about the young whippersnappers and the gadgets and what not.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Providing Experience:</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much of this discussion will ultimately come down to whether students who have been immersed in multi-screen worlds find value in focusing their attention on one screen or, at minimum, one cognitive task at a time. Part of the development of this habit of mind will come down to a lived experience. This can take the form of neurophysiology games played in the classroom, such as this example from an NEA Article:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remove the face cards from a standard deck and select 15–20 random numbered cards. Have your subject mentally add the black cards and subtract the red cards from a running subtotal as quickly as possible, while being timed. (Younger students simply may add all card values.) </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next, call off a list of 15–20 random alphabetic characters while the subject mentally keeps track of the number of vowels recited, while being timed. Then add the times of both exercises.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, repeat the first experiment, but this time interrupt the subject’s addition periodically with recited alphabetic characters, while the student attempts to keep track of both results simultaneously. Odds are that the final experiment will take measurably longer than each exercise conducted individually. (It is likely that the final experiment will yield fewer correct answers, besides.) - </span><a href="http://www.nea.org/home/30584.htm" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NEA</span></a></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Reflection and Action:</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the point that the context and experience have made an argument for single-tasking, the teacher (and parents) should be ready with some concrete suggestions about how this can be accomplished without setting the world on fire (or you know, not texting your friends, which can be the same thing emotionally).</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Design study time around focused time and texting breaks.</b> Research is showing that undistracted learning yields better long-term and more adaptable use of knowledge. Thus 20 minutes of concentrated studying (TV off, phone on silent) followed by 10 minutes of un-interrupted texting or pinning, should yield more efficient results than a half-hour of study and text. Done as a non-threatening experiment at the high-school and middle school level has yielded good discussion and reflection -- and even some changes in habits.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Work on following suggestions from the American Association of Pediatrics.</b> There was a lot of buzz last week when the AAP released recommendations for limits on screen time, but the two strongest suggestions for families were:
</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">-- limit recreational screen time to two hours a day (this would be about a 75% reduction for the average teen).
</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">--create screen-free zones, especially in teen-and-under bedrooms to promote uninterrupted sleep. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Model.</b> Ultimately, it is difficult to advocate a focused or multi-input single-tasking while working on three different projects on two or more screens. Teenagers see through the artifice and, perhaps more importantly, there is no evidence at this point that the problem gets better with age.</span></li>
</ul>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Technology is a game changer. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has increased the speed of our lives beyond what we are naturally able to cope.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has increased the amount of data available to us in general and at any given moment</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has increased our need for awareness of our own habits and our instinctive reactions to the world around us.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But to shun technology entirely is not going to better prepare our students for a life of Google Glass and self-driving cars. Better to understand where our instincts will conflict with reality and where we must develop new habits and new skills.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nass explains that the brain is plastic -- malleable and able to change, adapting as best as possible to a multi-cognitive world. But it is not elastic. Once neural habits are formed they can be very hard to change. We should begin the dialogue and the practice of screen-control young and reinforce it at home and school, training the brain to control the screens and not training it to barely keep its attention-deprived head above the distracted waters.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-71165396882355320152013-10-24T13:08:00.000-04:002013-11-21T15:02:18.214-05:00Of (Mickey) Mice and Copyright -- A Teachable Moment<div>
John Steinbeck wrote <i>Of Mice and Men </i>in 1938.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YRgeNtCBhqI/UmkkVbBN0EI/AAAAAAAAsV8/fF3ssAoDqc4/s1600/OfMiceAndMen+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YRgeNtCBhqI/UmkkVbBN0EI/AAAAAAAAsV8/fF3ssAoDqc4/s200/OfMiceAndMen+(1).jpg" width="128" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Edition Cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
75 years later, it is a book that school children still read. The tale is a powerful one and it has captured a place in the American literary canon.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With a little bit of searching, you could find a .PDF copy on the internet and download the text. With a little bit more work, that PDF copy can be transformed and distributed to a classroom of iPads. An entire classroom of children could be exposed to this character study of two men in the the early 20th century...for free</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But -- and this is important -- that is illegal.</div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Interlude: Copyright Basics</i></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Society values creativity.</b> As John Keating said in <i>Dead Poets Society</i> (a movie that may have inspired more wanna-be teachers than the TFA), "...medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."</li>
<li>In order to encourage creative types to be creative, society allows said creative types to make money off of their work in a number of legally binding ways. This ownership of a creative work is called <b>COPYRIGHT</b>. (it's even in the constitution): </li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">"the Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." - Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8</span></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Society also acknowledges that creativity spawns creativity. Thus, after a reasonable period of time, society deems that creative works should enter <b>THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.</b></li>
<li>Society also finds that there are instances where the absolute control of a creative work can be outweighed by another benefit to society, such as education, critical review, or even for parody. In the United States, these are collectively called <b>FAIR USE EXCEPTIONS.</b></li>
<li>How and when creative works become a public good is a subject of debate and is ultimately determined by a society's government (and the corporations who pay lots of money to provide opinions to politicians).</li>
</ul>
<b><i>End Interlude</i></b><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Steinbeck, who passed away in 1968, had sold the rights to this book to a publishing house which continues to make money off of the 2 million or so copies sold each year. The copyright was renewed in the 1960s and extended to a total of 95 years. Seven years ago, his family sued to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/14/books.booksnews1" target="_blank">win back the rights </a>to the book.<br />
<br />
By all current laws, the book enters the public domain in 2033. If by some strange circumstance it becomes unavailable (e.g. goes out of print), it can be used by schools because of an exemption in the current copyright law. That is unlikely to happen.<br />
<br />
If classes want to read this book, the schools need to pay for it.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What about Educational Fair Use?</span><br />
Educational Fair Use is awesome and powerful. It allows teachers and students to use excerpts of works for educational reasons and to incorporate a variety of copyrighted materials into presentations and lessons without needing to pay copyright holders for every single work.<br />
<br />
But it is limited. It is limited by the amount used, by the nature of the original work, and the intent and purpose of the use. And it is limited by the impact on the market: If the only reason to make twenty copies, digital or otherwise, of an entire book is to keep from buying twenty copies of that book, fair use protection does not apply.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Interlude Two: What Does this have to do with Mickey Mouse?</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7_N7hmOW0Y/Umk78MsioqI/AAAAAAAAsWM/M06yr01sSPI/s1600/1928-steamboat-willie-62.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7_N7hmOW0Y/Umk78MsioqI/AAAAAAAAsWM/M06yr01sSPI/s200/1928-steamboat-willie-62.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Used proudly under Fair Use Guidelines</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mickey Mouse debuted in 1928. By the laws of that time, he would now be freely available for use. However, the US Congress has strengthened copyright protections and extended the length of copyright in such a way that the House of Mouse can sue anyone trying to put "Steamboat Willie" on a lunchbox until 2023.<br />
<br />
The last major debate on this issue in 1998 was nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act". Sonny Bono (he of "& Cher" fame) held the hands of that sweet, innocent corporation and proclaimed, "I got you, Babe" and secured big-D another 20 years of mouse-exclusive merchandise.<br />
<br />
So while there is some hope that we can one day read the almost century old works of Hemingway or Steinbeck without paying a large per-book cost, the show is not over until the politicians are paid...and Disney has deep pockets.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><i>End Interlude</i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
We live in a world with easy access to all sorts of media. Freshman enter the #digcit class every day with the expectation that movies, photos, stories and ideas are readily available and should be free of charge. Put bluntly, they believe some stealing, while illegal, is not really bad.<br />
<br />
When questioned, there are a number of reasons:<br />
<ul>
<li>Movies are too expensive to buy</li>
<li>What if the movie is not good? then you just wasted your money</li>
<li>I want to watch it now, not when it comes out on DVD</li>
<li>Studios make so much money anyway. </li>
<li>I am not the one who "stole" it. I just downloaded it.</li>
<li>etc, etc...</li>
</ul>
We as educators need to take a different tact than reinforcing the idea that copyright in the modern age is meaningless and that taking what you want because it is readily available is a digital right.<br />
<br />
At the same time, we need to empower students to understand the way that corporations and politicians can change ideas and the laws that enact them in ways that may ultimately hurt society. We need to write to politicians and publish letters to the editor. We need to show students how to change the system by becoming active. Thus, I humbly offer the following template:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: blue;">Dear Politician who Accepted Money from Disney, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: blue;">I know that it's hard to believe in this day and age, but schools don't have a lot of money. We have reduced the number of teachers, eliminated librarians, and practically dismantled the unions. But tests and pre-tests cost money and between Acuity and Lexiles, we're flat broke. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: blue;">We would like to teach a book called OF MICE AND MEN. Maybe you've heard of it. I think there's a movie. But due to copyright extensions that moved Public Domain from 28 years to 70 years after the author's death (or 90 years for corporate-owned works), this book is not yet available to be freely read on our iPads or downloaded from <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/" target="_blank">Project Gutenberg</a>. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: blue;">So we were wondering if you could send us some of that Mouse Money you got for protecting Disney from the ravages of exploitation. We checked at Half-Price Books and a paperback printed in 1993 is only $5.36 cents. If you wanted to be awesome, we could get a digital copy to read on our shiny new iPads for $9.99 - this is the digital age after all. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: blue;">Thank you for your consideration, </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: blue;">Teachers and students at a school trying to show respect for all laws, even the silly ones.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On Reflection...</span><br />
The extension of copyright law has added to the cost of teaching Literature and may deny some students the opportunity to learn from certain works.<br />
<br />
But Literature's loss could be Social Studies' gain. Rather than throwing our hands up in exasperation or giving in to social pressure that pretends everything on the Internet is public domain, we can explore the impact of laws and capitalism, of creativity and social good in a real and authentic way.<br />
<br />
We can read...<br />
We can debate...<br />
We can analyze...<br />
We can persuade...<br />
<br />
As teachers, our job is to model to and advocate for our students. But more importantly, we should create environments where they can be advocates for themselves: Students should be able to take a stand and work to make their lives and the lives of others better.<br />
<br />
We might be able to do that by stealing a book...<br />
but we might be able to do it better by figuring out why it is stealing in the first place.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources: </span></i><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright Timeline: <a href="http://www.arl.org/focus-areas/copyright-ip/2486-copyright-timeline">http://www.arl.org/focus-areas/copyright-ip/2486-copyright-timeline</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Mickey Mouse Protection Act: <a href="http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/pl105-298.pdf">http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/pl105-298.pdf</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Disney and Public Domain: <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120910/02485220325/disney-claims-house-mouse-built-with-copyright-ignores-public-domain-foundation.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120910/02485220325/disney-claims-house-mouse-built-with-copyright-ignores-public-domain-foundation.shtml </a></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-35220051191190337562013-10-21T14:47:00.002-04:002013-11-11T14:37:00.148-05:00Presentations, Webinars, Upcoming Appearances OR JD was feeling guilty about not posting anythingA number of you have pointed out my lack of ranting/blogging in recent months. I have lots of ideas and am still active on Twitter but am finding it hard to keep up with the writing. Call it writer's block, overwork on the other parts of my life, or just blame a household filled with three girls (that's what I do). What I have enjoyed doing a lot of recently is chatting on Twitter and Google Hangouts. As always, feel free to strike up a conversation or ask questions. I am <a href="http://twitter.com/jdferries" target="_blank">@jdferries</a> or +<a href="https://plus.google.com/112005246863806291249/posts" target="_blank">jdferries </a>just about everywhere :)<br />
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In the meantime, below are the gSlides of some recent presentations. The first is a look at how schools can think about and begin programming for Digital Citizenship, including aspects that often get lost in the hype about cyberbullying and risky student behavior.<br />
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The second is an outline or our pilot program using G+ as the foundation for a classroom community complete with increased student ownership, tight integration with Google Calendar and gDrive, and creative use of scripting tools like gClass Folders, Autocrat, and more.<br />
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At the same conference, Jen and I unveiled our first post-1:1 presentation outlining some of the changes in the school, both in terms of teaching and infrastructure, that took place AFTER we went 1:1. So much for kicking back and eating bon-bons.<br />
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Finally, proving that JD does more than read comics and rant about the Common Core, JD presented an introduction to his favorite type of debate at the recent IHSFA coaches' clinic.<br />
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<span style="background-color: yellow;">UPDATE: by request, I am also posting the Blackbaord Engage Webinar that Jen and I presented in August. JD did a live version variation of this presentation with an emphasis on <a href="http://blackboard.echo360.com/ess/echo/presentation/a4889aae-c74d-4fb5-9ff0-98d62c9e05db" target="_blank">BYOT called "Engaging Students in a 1:1 BYOT World" at Blackboard World 13 that was recorded by Echo360.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Measuring the Effectiveness of a Digital Classroom</span><br />
Presented by Webinar for BlackBoard Engage and Regional Service Centers in Indiana w/ <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/111105459321089965477" target="_blank">+Jen LaMaster</a> August 28, 2013<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Digital Citizenship: Beyond Cyberbullying and Selfies</span></div>
Presented by Webinar for Jesuit Secondary Education Association w/ <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/111105459321089965477" target="_blank">+Jen LaMaster</a><br />
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October 17, 2013</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="389" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/128ekQETc30UQZ6ARPaSK4g5YGdK3eo9ZnHxeJP6UCXo/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe></div>
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You can hear both <a href="http://twitter.com/40ishoracle" target="_blank">@40ishoracle</a> and myself in all our audio glory <a href="https://www.fuzemeeting.com/replay_meeting/a92a9fc6/5575815" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hanging Out: Creating a Classroom Community with Google+</span></div>
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Presented at Indiana Computer Educators on October 10th, 2013</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pHEm0r-zeg95pVLq5Usl0L08jLRsjKnYvakLxW0RROY/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So You've Gone 1:1 -- Now What?</span></div>
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Presented at Indiana Computer Educators on October 10th, 2013 w/ <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/111105459321089965477" target="_blank">+Jen LaMaster</a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Essentials of Lincoln-Douglas Debate</span><br />
Presented September 6th, 2013 at the Indiana High School Forensic Association Coaches' Clinic<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="389" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qroLzKbbVUimqsAZVqs4wgnHq3RUT8IKXeSmBGGzCVg/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe>
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The soon-to-be-popular <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/jdferries/videos" target="_blank">Jen and JD Show</a> should have our second episode of the semester sometime this week (the school is going on Fall Break - Yay!)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What to catch us live?</span><br />
November 13-15: Higher Education Computer Consortium, Indianapolis, IN<br />
November 13-15: Jesuit Secondary Education Association, Technology Coordinators (Just JD)<br />
November 17-21: Jesuit Secondary Education Association, Assistant Principals (Jen has this one)<br />
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January 26-29: Jesuit Secondary Education Assosciation, Librarians (Jen has the Keynote!)<br />
January 28-31: Florida Education Technology Conference (JD has 2 sessions)<br />
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April 22-24: National Catholic Education Association (Jen and JD are back together for a roadtrip!)<br />
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...and we are waiting to hear back from ISTE :)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-37868096417338075492013-09-23T09:21:00.001-04:002013-09-23T09:21:12.720-04:00The Return of the Jen and JD Show! Goal Setting for 1:1, Reflections, and Guests!Returning to blogging and vlogging with the awesome @40ishoracle.<br />
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Today's episode (about 20 minutes) features a reflection on our 1:1 BYOT implementation, some thoughts about setting goals for a 1:1 program, and an interview with two students in an iPad 1:1 school (who may or may not be my daughters during a parent-teacher conference inspired Take-Your-Daughter-to-Work day).<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-15959881551617784082013-07-30T11:53:00.002-04:002013-07-30T11:58:11.108-04:00Quick Thoughts on Canaries, Coal Mines, and #EdReform<div class="tr_bq">
This is (Maybe) not going to be a TL;DR blog post. I am in the last week of setup before teachers return and have two labs, 40 teacher computers, two renovated classrooms and more to finish.</div>
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Yesterday, AP reporter Tom LoBianco broke a story that Tony Bennett, then State Superintendent was <a href="http://www.indystar.com/viewart/20130729/NEWS05/307290048/Report-Grade-changed-Republican-donor-Christel-DeHaan-s-charter-school" target="_blank">heavily involved</a> in reassessing the Indiana A-F school grading system on behalf of one particular charter school.<br />
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Late yesterday afternoon, State Impact released an <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2013/07/29/bennett-stands-by-decision-to-boost-indy-charter-schools-grade/?utm_source=bit.ly&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter" target="_blank">article </a>where Bennett justifies the approach:<br />
<blockquote>
But Bennett, now Florida Commissioner of Education, defended his actions, saying Christel House is one of four charter schools widely recognized as the best in Indiana. </blockquote>
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“Tindley, Signature, Herron and Christel House — I made many comments that by any measure those would be four A schools,” Bennett told StateImpact Indiana. </blockquote>
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Bennett says his department ran into problems when initial calculations indicated the school would receive a C under the statewide accountability system, which didn’t sit well with the then-superintendent. </blockquote>
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“So when we looked at our data and saw that three of those schools were A’s and Christel House was not, that told me that there was a nuance in our data,” says Bennett. “Frankly, my emails portrayed correctly my frustrations with the fact that there was a nuance in the system that did not lend itself to face validity.”</blockquote>
Now lots of people will be talking about this over the next few days (<a href="http://dianeravitch.net/" target="_blank">Ravitch's Blog</a> is LOL funny), but the debater in me noticed something that may not be picked up in all of the gleeful shouting.<br />
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Tony Bennett is basically running a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sentinels" target="_blank">"Canary in a Coal Mine"</a> defense (named for those brave little birds who sacrificed themselves so that miners would have a chance to escape carbon monoxide poisoning).<br />
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If we believe that a) The charter school in question is clearly on par with the others named and b) that all four charters are clearly what "we" mean when we refer to an "A" level school. Then for any of those schools to not receive an "A" indicates a flaw in the system.<br />
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That is a consistent pleading. But in debate world, it opens itself up for a dilemma style attack. Either:<br />
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1. The accountability system which impacts school grades, reputations, teacher evaluations, grants, and more is flawed enough that it was worth a quick-scramble fix to "get it right" before the powers-that-be got upset<br />
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or<br />
<br />
2. Bennett and his team hold that a school in which only 1/3 of the 10th grade students passed the Algebra test can still be an "A" worthy school:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DibkYbtqCy0/UffcVaWpHhI/AAAAAAAAnWU/ak_l-CFTQe8/s1600/Bennett1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="46" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DibkYbtqCy0/UffcVaWpHhI/AAAAAAAAnWU/ak_l-CFTQe8/s400/Bennett1.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/documents/ineds/ed2.pdf" target="_blank">E-mail response</a> from Joe Gubera, Chief Accountability Officer</td></tr>
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What is interesting, is that neither of these positions seems consistent with the #edreform rhetoric that calls for strong, data-based accountability that is well-researched and not prone to political influence. Teachers have been arguing for YEARS that there were problems with hanging a school by a few data points, particularly when the analytics experts themselves haven't quite got a handle on the data (see last year's <a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2012/07/educational-analytics-idea-that-might.html" target="_blank">Educational Analytics</a> post which was <a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2013/07/speed-dating-redhead-mixed-messages-and.html" target="_blank">confirmed this year</a> by the head of BlackBoard's Data division).<br />
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The response has been that "we" (being the whiny teachers who are against #edreform and the invasion of #EdBiz in our schools -- or, you know, are skeptical of amorphous data -- or, you know, that think) just need to get on board and trust the numbers. Of course, that would fly in the face of proposition 2. Because those numbers do not look good from an accountability standpoint.<br />
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Bennett's solution?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E-mail from Tony Bennett, Same source as above</td></tr>
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What would "solutions" that are "not explanations" be? The idea that this school might not be up to "A" snuff is not even considered. The Canary died so it is time to fix the problem.<br />
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When a dilemma is revealed, the best thing to do is to take a deep breath and step back.<br />
Analyze your presumptions and premises. Something is wrong.<br />
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The problem isn't that Tony Bennett discovered that something is wrong. The problem is that the thing that was "wrong" flew in the face of his deeply held beliefs in how teachers, schools, students and education should be measured.<br />
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Maybe now we can have that discussion on a larger scale.<br />
Maybe<a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2013/07/30/a-bat-writes-a-letter-to-bill-gatrs/" target="_blank"> Bill Gates can accept the consequences</a> of his role on this world of high-stakes accountability. Maybe other states can <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2013/07/29/gov-pence-signals-intent-to-withdraw-from-common-core-consortium-parcc/" target="_blank">join (hopefully) Indiana in stepping back from PARCC</a> before we enter into that can of murky data and expensive investments in non-educational resources.<br />
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We have a dead canary on our hands. This is our chance to escape.<br />
Let's make sure that the problem we fix is the right one.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-34378503604659896082013-07-15T11:36:00.001-04:002013-07-30T10:39:11.254-04:00Guest Post: Parenting in a Post-Post Racial Society -- Teach Your Children Well<i>Opening up the space to guest-bloggers may become a more regular thing this year. This post comes from Elizabeth Ferries-Rowe (the seldom posting <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/109226110223161836074" target="_blank">+Elizabeth Ferries-Rowe</a> or <a href="http://twitter.com/wishbabydoc" target="_blank">@wishbabydoc</a>), mother of 3 and Chief of OB/GYN at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. She happens to be married to me, but after reading her thoughts this weekend, I felt it was important to expand her audience beyond FaceBook.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Being a parent is scary. You keep your kids close for a short time, and you teach them what you can to keep them safe when that time is up. Sometimes, though, that isn’t enough. When I heard the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, my first thought was of my friend Rana. We’ve known each other for years. We were residents together, and we joined the same practice after graduating residency. We’ve had our kids together, and we’ve shared the struggles of raising a family as busy full-time moms. We’ve swapped stories of pumping milk for our babies between C-sections at 3 a.m. and laughed as our precocious kids learn to speak like grown-ups through tiny mouths. Of course, as our kids get bigger, we’ve started to see where our parenting experiences will differ. I have three girls, and Rana has two boys. Also, Rana’s family is black.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The early commentary on the verdict has been revealing. From a legal standpoint, the verdict seems to be justified in light of Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law*. The law permits deadly force and does not require a person to attempt to escape a situation where he or she is threatened. The problem, of course, is that the degree to which one feels threatened is subjective. George Zimmerman reported to police that he feared for his life, and a jury of his peers believed that he was right to fear. What was it about that night that justified his fear in the eyes of a jury? Trayvon, 160 pounds and armed only with a bag of Skittles, was not perceived as a credible threat based on superior physical strength or overwhelming firepower. The jury accepted that Trayvon posed a threat because he was young and male and black. Of course, some will argue that Trayvon was a bad kid, and that bad outcomes are inevitable when you make bad choices. After all, he had a history of marijuana use and fights at school – as if those would justify his death. When George Zimmerman aimed a weapon at him that night, though, he knew none of that. He knew only that a young black man was walking through the neighborhood after dark - and that alone was enough to justify following him through the night, and ultimately killing him. If Trayvon had been anything other than who he was – white, or female, or elderly – and all other facts in the case remained the same, I doubt that Zimmerman would have been acquitted. If Zimmerman had reported fear for his life when faced with a 16-year-old white girl, the jury simply would not have believed him. Not that this theoretical 16-year-old white girl and Trayvon Martin would be meaningfully different in the threat they posed – only that Trayvon’s very person made him legitimately dangerous to those determining Zimmerman’s guilt or innocence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The crime of being young and black is hardly news, despite our self-congratulatory claims of being a post-racial society, and I do not pretend to understand how it must feel to raise children under that cloud. We all face our parenting challenges. As my eldest hits puberty and only gets taller and blonder and tanner with every passing day, events like the sexual assault and social media humiliation of a teenage girl in Steubenville, Ohio last year make me wonder how to best protect my girls. Should I tell them never to attend parties? Should I tell them to be afraid of boys as they grow into young men? Should I tell them to be cautious that the way they dress doesn’t imply openness to sexual advances? I shouldn’t have to, but part of parenting girls in our society is teaching them that they can’t count on others to treat them as human beings, and that they must make smart decisions to protect themselves. The difference between me and Rana, though, is that I can teach my girls how to minimize the risk. I can teach my daughter not to wear short skirts, lest some young man conclude she was “asking for it”. How can Rana teach her boys not to black? Why should she have to try?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the night of the verdict, I sent Rana a text: “Thinking of you tonight. Give your beautiful boys a hug for me, too.” She responded: “Thanks E. I’ve already cried…and will continue. My babies are not safe.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don’t know where to go from here. The case highlights the flaws of the “stand your ground”, but to focus only on that is to miss the bigger picture. There are a multitude who are more learned and more articulate that I am on the stereotype of the Angry Black Man in America, but I know that until we find a way to see a 16-year-old boy in a hoodie as just a 16-year-old boy in a hoodie, our society will continue to be constructed around fear. Rana’s boys are smart, funny, unique little people. When she sends them out at night in a few years, though, they will be smart, funny, unique young black men. It’s up to all of us to find a way to help her keep them safe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">* In light of the attention this article is getting today (Thanks, FARK :) ), the author (and wife) pointed out that she had corrected the Stand-Your-Ground line on her Facebook page as the details of the case were being publicized. Since I am not on FB much, I missed the update: </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">"The early commentary on the verdict has
been revealing. From a legal standpoint, the verdict seems to be justified
based</span><i style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> on <span style="background-color: yellow;">the premise of self defense</span></i><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> The law permits deadly force and
does not require a person to attempt to escape a situation where he or she is
threatened." </span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is probably some room for discussion about SYG influence given the statements of at least one juror (<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/07/stand-your-ground-did-indeed-play-role-zimmerman-trial" target="_blank">example HERE</a>), but I will leave that topic for the Fark message board. :)</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-38497372885105935492013-07-11T12:08:00.001-04:002013-07-11T12:49:11.475-04:00Speed Dating -- A Redhead, Mixed Messages, and a #BbWorld13 Call to Action sans NotesIt began with an invitation that was given to all of the #BbWorld13 Bloggers: Come for a reception that will include food, drinks, a digital sketch artist, and <i>SPEED DATING</i>.<br />
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wow. I mean, you have to understand, not only am I very happily married, but I am intensely introverted. I am the blogger that scared off other bloggers and made them feel bad about talking to me. I practically invented the hashtag #tweetfrom10ftaway.<br />
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Was I ready for this? Well, I did look pretty good in my Google Glass and I was wearing my lucky Dr. Who shirt. So, with a lot of hesitation, I entered the a live-action version of the blogosphere.<br />
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They plied us with food and drinks. The sketch artist was AMAZING (I'll share the pic soon, but I never got my digital copy). And then one of the organizers approached me and said that I would be paired off with <a href="http://twitter.com/medinatech" target="_blank">@MedinaTech</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catalyst Winner,<br />
@medinatech</td></tr>
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Wait a minute? That isn't how speed dating works!<br />
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I will give it to BlackBoard, they really did their homework. She was a 40-something, midwestern mother of <span style="background-color: yellow;">three</span> <strike>two</strike>. She was a redhead. Sure, she was a little into checking her phone, but who among us is not? I mean, there seemed to be no downside.<br />
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Then they told the two of us that we were speed dating together and that our first table had another two people already at the table! Well, I certainly knew where Blackboard sat on the political spectrum. Talk about innovative!<br />
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My introverted sensibilities were reeling. What had I gotten myself into?!? But, WTH, we were in Vegas after all....<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Speed Dating Table #1: Social Learning</span><br />
We were paired off with two experts in social learning. And then came that awkward moment where we had to break the ice. What to say?<br />
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<ul>
<li>"So, think this twitter thing will ever take off?" - stupid</li>
<li>"Are LOLcats the zen koan of the modern age?" - i mean, i want to be generous, but how do you even hold a Big Mac with those paws?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rxcwazx4bKI/Ud7KYGiNKNI/AAAAAAAAk7M/Afp93eJBJHc/s1600/20130710_173437_926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rxcwazx4bKI/Ud7KYGiNKNI/AAAAAAAAk7M/Afp93eJBJHc/s200/20130710_173437_926.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg, casually dropping bombshells</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then I realized. I was a blogger. I was here for the hard-hitting questions!<br />
<br />
"So, think Blackboard will ever make a play for MySpace?"<br />
<br />
A silence fell over the table. In a hushed whisper, our social media guru looked at us and said "No. That is not going to happen"<br />
<br />
Mind. Blown.<br />
<br />
At our first table. On the first real question...<br />
<br />
<b><i>We had discovered a company that Blackboard would not buy!!</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
and then it was time to move on...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Speed Dating Table #2: Mobile and Mosaic</span><br />
Oh this guy was smooth.<br />
<br />
He made us feel comfortable by lulling us into a conversation about whether he was table #1 or #2 or #3. He used latin words like <i>de jure</i> and <i>de facto. </i>I knew from my time on the interwebs that girls go for Latin men. Would @MedinaTech be swayed?<br />
<br />
He was there to sell. He had a product called Mosaic. It's a big deal here at #bbworld13. It is social and mobile and gives news and...stuff. I would love to tell you more but just as the conversation was getting interesting...<br />
<br />
It was time to move on (look, I told you in the title I didn't have my notes).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Speed Dating Table #3: Analytics</span> <br />
(NOOOOOOOOOOooooooo! - emphasis added by jd)<br />
<br />
He tried to cover it up with words like data analysis and aggregation. He talked a good game, but finally I sussed it out: "Wait, you're the analytics guy!"<br />
<br />
Now long-time readers of this blog (or, you know, from yesterday) know my feelings about analytics. I switched into debate mode. I had one of the enemies of education in my sights and I was ready for it!<br />
<br />
He began talking about the systems he worked on that allowed institutions to pull information from a variety of sources and generate reports based on student demographics, course content, common core state standards, up-time, usage logs...you name it.<br />
<br />
Oh. I had him.<br />
<br />
"Soooo, you do a great job pulling information, but is education really at the point that we can do much with this information? I mean, we aren't Google or Amazon. Insurance Actuarial number-geeks had years worth of data before they were willing to say anything other than smoking was bad for you."<br />
<br />
Ka-Boom<br />
<br />
Paraphrased Response:<br />
No. You are absolutely right. We don't even know what some of the matrices and permutations are yet. This is a very early field and we are just beginning to tap into the power of numbers. It takes a lot of thought and lots and lots of data for the experts to begin to tap into the long range potential.<br />
<br />
Um...yeah.<br />
<br />
"So, does Blackboard provide this analysis?"<br />
<br />
"No. We give the tools to generate the reports. Figuring out what to do with the data is the responsibility of the individual institution. It's complicated but there is some really great information you can get even at this early stage."<br />
<br />
...and it was time to move.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Speed Dating Table #4: MOOCs</span><br />
If you haven't heard, "MOOC" (which is Massive Open Online Classroom) is the "Flipped Classroom" of 2013. Every company is an expert. It will be a game-changer. It will solve all the problems of education without addressing a single social ill (that actually has some of that analytic validity).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tejddcPdzg8/Ud7KY6qvwzI/AAAAAAAAk7U/SU83X8L7C_M/s1600/photo+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tejddcPdzg8/Ud7KY6qvwzI/AAAAAAAAk7U/SU83X8L7C_M/s200/photo+%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Internet History, Technology<br />
and Security Badge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was still off my game from the analytics guy basically agreeing with my whole problem with the movement in Big Data.<br />
<br />
Then this guy (he is the pretty awesome @drchuck) gave me a sticker. Oh, man, he is good. I am a sucker for an external motivator. I am totally taking his course! -- this could be the one...my first MOOC I actually complete!<br />
<br />
That led into a conversation about the online class movement. Dr. Chuck, one of the original players in the field, was concerned with the proliferation of "experts" both corporate and consulting that didn't really understand how students learn or how technology can and cannot be leveraged to address these needs.<br />
<br />
We talked about the potential of MOOCs beyond 5th year differential calculus. Could it be used for remedial education? Is there a chance to access the motivational barriers that derail so many people. Do these motivational solutions arise from the MASSIVE or the ONLINE?<br />
<br />
Exciting stuff...but it was time to go *sigh* -- I am not cut out for speed dating.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Speed Dating Bonus: Are you a Man or a Puppet?</span><br />
and then I saw him.<br />
From across the room.<br />
I couldn't believe he was here.<br />
I mean, there was a rumor that he had applied for a press badge and been soundly rejected (and by that, I mean no one replied to his tweet).<br />
<br />
But here he was. And he came to see me!<br />
<br />
A man's puppet. An #edtech legend. Interviewer extraordinaire:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2BQZLXUjNm0/Ud7TFt9-4_I/AAAAAAAAk7w/51kul_9XEoM/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2BQZLXUjNm0/Ud7TFt9-4_I/AAAAAAAAk7w/51kul_9XEoM/s320/photo.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wokka Patue and his handler Sam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Maybe I am pretty good at this speed dating thing after all!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">On Reflection: Calling Blackboard to a Become Digital Citizen and Educational Advocate</span></div>
<div>
What I like about Blackboard, despite their categorization as an educational business and all the profit motive angst that goes along with it is this:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At its core are people who are excited about the potential for the future of education and the role of technology within it. They have people who know what it means to be on the cutting edge and the uncertainty, exploration, occasional failures, and potential payoff that comes with it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These are people who site at the core of some of the major movements in educational technology not just for this year or next year but for 10 years from now.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, my question for Blackboard is "where are you in the conversation?"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When the Gates Foundation's paid politicians talk about the data gleaned from a glorified digital bubble test as if it is the analytic cornucopia that bypasses years of teaching experience, do you tell them publicly "We are not there yet!"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When every vendor is fighting for a slice of the MOOC pie and struggling school districts are requiring online courses for every students, do you tell them that we really don't have the full picture on human motivation in the online world yet and that the students with the most potential to benefit might also not be ready for the technology being offered?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When Common Core stands as the good guy of education while the PARCC test stands in the wings waiting to give us another half-generation of test-obsessed, noise-ridden data, that has no actionable use in the classroom, do you shout from the roof tops: The Common Core demands that you assess students' ability to think critically, collaborate, and use the internet. PARCC does none of this, but our system can do it!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When the CEO, Jay Bhatt, calls for the company that leads the way in educational technology to become a better digital citizen, he has to come to the table with more than an auto-routing text service.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The teachers and the students of the nation need an advocate who can combat the half-truths and testing/publishing monoliths and deep-pocketed foundations. You have the knowledge and expertise and clout to be that advocate.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is your gauntlet.</div>
<div>
Please, pick it up.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-11875478334119871302013-07-10T18:48:00.002-04:002013-07-10T18:57:02.417-04:00Making Sure the Juice is Worth the Squeeze: A #BbWorld13 Rant<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R20YufnoEZ0/Ud3e4nThc_I/AAAAAAAAkoE/ewn7bs_dwgA/s1600/220px-Orange_juice_1_edit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R20YufnoEZ0/Ud3e4nThc_I/AAAAAAAAkoE/ewn7bs_dwgA/s200/220px-Orange_juice_1_edit1.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MMM. so much work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My wife has a simple rule about eating. She refuses to eat food, no matter how good it tastes, that is not worth the effort. No crab legs; no lobster. Fresh squeezed orange juice? right out. This typically works to my advantage since i get to look like a superhero just by cracking a lobster tail for her.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-6ee90bb0-caab-c877-1e51-f71bbb66b012" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This thought was going through my head this morning as I started to reflect on the conversations that I had yesterday evening entering the vendor fair. If you have not been to one of these conferences, it is a sight to behold -- booths from all of the big names in Educational Technology: Blackboard (duh), Macmillan, Pearson -- you get the idea. If they have made money off of teachers and students (and, in this case, hook into the Blackboard ecosystem), they are here. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I was walking in, I was wrapping up a conversation with two Blackboard administrators who were discussing the best practices for rolling out new versions of the software (a generally thankless task). They asked how we did this at Brebeuf Jesuit and I had to go into the elevator speech about why a school-geek would present at Blackboard World since we don't use Blackboard (our school uses the k-12 product that was acquired by the LMS-megalith two years ago: EdLine).</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The conversation turned to our BYOT program and I made a comment along the lines of </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“but BYOT isn't limited to a device. We encourage our teachers to try new things and new products. They just need to link into it from the LMS so parents and students know what is going on." </span></blockquote>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes these experiments cost a little money and sometimes the program grows big enough to warrant a site license or broader training and development (“Flipped Classrooms” are a good example of both of these).</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The response was striking: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That is a wonderful idea. That’s just how it should be. How do you pull in the data and activity from all of these different sources so that you can report it?”</span></blockquote>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My response: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.</i></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interlude: #EdTech </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worshiping</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at the Altar of Analytics</span></span></b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My colleague’s question is legitimate in this day and age. In modern education, if you can’t attach a number that can be processed as an analytic permutation that shows adequate yearly progress, personalized student growth metrics, or widgets per cognitive unit then your program is dead in the modern educational water.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had a vendor who was very excited to come to our Jesuit school and show us a program that would give district level curriculum administrators incredible data with drill-down (a wonderfully popular buzzword) potential all the way down to the number of students within specific grade-bands who correctly answered a multiple choice question on an in-class quiz.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think about that: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Why would a district level admin need to know that 32 percent of students getting a "C" in Mr. Smith’s English classed missed question 3 on the pop quiz?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> She wouldn’t. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But that is what sells. Thanks Gates Foundation.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>End Interlude.</b></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My actual response: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"We don’t collect the data. Given the choice between forcing teachers to use only those products that can be effectively parsed for data of questionable value (see last year’s <a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2012/07/educational-analytics-idea-that-might.html" target="_blank">bbworld post on Analytics</a>), we would rather err on the side of academic freedom."</span></blockquote>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what I meant was "The Juice Isn’t Worth the Squeeze."</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some technologies being touted at Blackboard World ‘13:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lockdown systems: create a browser that does NOT have access to the largest repository of human knowledge ever</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Monitored Proctoring Systems: Use webcams to make sure that students are actually taking the test, paying attention, not using tools inappropriately</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lots and Lots of analytics w/ Drill-down</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">eTextbooks with student activity features including how many seconds each student spends on a particular page</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Flipped Classroom" video software that records the number of times a student watches a segment, quizzes them for attention, and notes the number of blinks per second (one of these might be snark).</span></li>
</ul>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of these systems gather data and report it back in very pretty charts and graphs. Many of them, by nature of the blackboard ecosystem, can cross apply this data to grades and demographics. Most of this makes data gurus (of which I am one) drool and harken to the Big Data Acolytes’ dreams of the future of education.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But very little of this has a practical application in the day-to-day life of the teacher. The day-to-day life of the teacher does not afford time to get through all of the class material, let alone parse and analyze data to find trends that might indicate an individual learning difference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it is for this data that we are willing to place handcuffs on the creativity of our teachers and our students and deny them access to emerging, innovative technology that is often free!</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before we invest in the newest product on the vendor floor...</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before we become dazzled by reports that may never be printed let alone impact our classrooms...</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before we forbid the use of tools or websites or apps simply because they don't contribute to AYP...</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let's take a collective step back and think about the purpose of data. When the CEO of Blackboard says in his keynote:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">BIG DATA unto itself doesn't matter that much", it may be a good time to reflect.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Data is a tool that has the potential to inform our educational practices, to give new opportunities for students in the classroom, to provide appropriate and indicated experiences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But at the point that we sacrifice new opportunities, innovative experiences, and best practices because it doesn't fit our data gathering methodology... The cost has become too high.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Juice is no longer worth the squeeze.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-53328980763542457872013-07-10T09:56:00.003-04:002013-07-10T11:10:11.091-04:00Stumbling into Relationships -- Reflecting on Twitter and SMS at #BbWorld13<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qZjtbI6bHrQ/Ud1kgcpyhPI/AAAAAAAAkdI/q1CTdRZC6bY/s1600/20130709_110347_995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qZjtbI6bHrQ/Ud1kgcpyhPI/AAAAAAAAkdI/q1CTdRZC6bY/s200/20130709_110347_995.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look on my works ye mighty and despair!<br />
Blackboard World is in Vegas!</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Decided to end my self-imposed blogging hiatus with #bbworld13. I should have a post about why I went offline for a month (standardized testing depression mixed with catastrophic data failure) and some posts focused just on Google Glass (yes, I have them. Feel free to be jealous) coming up soon. But this week is devoted to Blackboard World...or at least the random thoughts that occur to me as I attend the largest corporate bash celebrating educational technology vendors! This year I am going to try more posts that don’t take quite the commitment to read...no promises...I might decide to get Ranty.</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Session 1: Twitter!</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, there is this new thing the kids are using called Twitter. Maybe you have heard of it? It is, like, all the rage - Taylor Swift is even on there. Cheryl Boncuore and Aurora Dawn Reinke from Kendall College presented their experiences using twitter in their classes, focusing in particular on a capstone project class.</span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Two quick impressions: </b></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ll203CC7imo/Ud1mavqz4XI/AAAAAAAAkdg/VlhnPgL0KmA/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ll203CC7imo/Ud1mavqz4XI/AAAAAAAAkdg/VlhnPgL0KmA/s200/photo.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharing the results of a semester of Twitter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. given the amount of time we spend talking, blogging, and sharing about the use of Twitter on #edchat, #patue, and #edtechchat (as well as so many other places, conventions, policy meetings), it was a little bit of a disconnect to hear people talking about this fresh and new -- it was a good way to revisit this little microblogging service with fresh eyes.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. They had data! Bless the college folk and their need to actually prove the things that we talk about anecdotally all the time!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Major Takeaways:</b></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>The Good</u></i></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter is awesome! (woot!)</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter is very useful for finding and sharing research in particular fields</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter has the potential to allow students to connect to industry leaders and interact with them on a limited basis -- some leaders respond enthusiastically to this interaction, particularly if it is authentic and does not appear forced.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter is a powerful tool for engaging students and forming relationships between students and faculty. It is a quick and easy way to encourage positive behaviors and affirm students (through favoriting and retweets).</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>The Bad</u></i></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter should NOT be used as homework reminder system. This leads to negative impressions of the platform and decreased engagement (note: while I know teachers in my school who do this, it is not exclusively this or a majority -- will be an interesting discussion for next year though).</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter should not be used to stalk students. Focus on the classroom aspect and not what the students did over the weekend. Unfollow if necessary. (another note: There was very little in this session about my personal obsession with developing #digcit skills in students. Thus, there was a high level of comfort with “have students create a professional account” rather than “talk to students about why their drunken dancing should not be broadcast on Vine” -- not sure if this was due to the college environment or if there is some other disconnect).</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>And the oh-so-very-ugly</u></i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a conversation at the end about the appropriate way to assess the use of twitter. I actually heard the comments “It is just not feasible to grade every single tweet.” It is cold comfort that it is not just the k-12 set that has become obsessed with testing culture.</span></div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
assessment obsession not just a k12 issue. theres no need to assess twitterfeed - engagement & empowerment are inherent goods <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23bbworld13&src=hash">#bbworld13</a><br />
— JD Ferries-Rowe (@jdferries) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdferries/statuses/354721518917386241">July 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Session 2: SMS Marketing for Prospective & Current Students</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>(note: I only attended part of the session. Had to get ready to live-tweet the keynote)</i></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This session gave some of the most staggering number about the sheer amount of texting that is done worldwide, in the US, and by kids. A few interesting tidbits out of the gate: the US now leads the world in texting. there was a period of time when that was not true, but it is a reality now. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conversely:</span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
81% of mass emails will not be opened. 94% will not respond to email actioncall -- how much did your organization spend on email? <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23bbworld13&src=hash">#bbworld13</a><br />
— JD Ferries-Rowe (@jdferries) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdferries/statuses/354723962707640323">July 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
<br /></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The session focused on the sheer practicality of texting. This included using short-codes to encourage the downloading of apps or to facilitate engaged responses. Using SMS for follow-ups during the decision making process in order to accurately gauge yield of students from the accepted pool, and using responses to establish communication lines that could encourage a student to come or at least give the real reason why she is attending somewhere else.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<h3>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">On Reflection: Stumbling Across Relationships</span></span></h3>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What struck me about both of these sessions is that both sessions started with the hard-hitting numbers: Metrics for engagement, potential audience, yield, etc. But both of them ended up focusing on the the environment that is created when adults communicate informally and personally -- both sessions talked about relationships!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“60% response rate -- that is incredible. And you get that response rate because you are having a conversation with a real person. It starts with a simple text, but when the response to a question is personal -- that means something to the student”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A student gets a favorite, or even better a retweet, and that student is excited that something they did was noticed”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Students were able to go beyond what was required -- they wanted to”</span></blockquote>
</div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Jesuit education, the foundation of the system lies in the relationship between the student and the teacher -- understanding their context, creating an environment where they feel empowered to seek out Truth and have the time and resources to reflect on their experiences and ask questions. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In each of these sessions, the real revelation was partly obscured by the numbers and the data and the metrics: students learn better when they are known by their teachers. Students want to attend a school where they feel a personal connection with another human being. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is easy to paint technology as the dystopian-disconnector of our modern age. I have certainly had discussions with the 8yo and the 11yo about the siren-song of TIny Castle and Candy Crush Saga. But in reality, most of time that teenagers are engaged with technology, they are also engaged with people. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our responsibility is, in part, to help them engage appropriately and effectively. But as educators, the takeaway from this is that learning happens with most students not because the textbook is so riveting or because the subject matter is so enticing -- learning happens because someone with whom they have an authentic relationship cares about something enough to share it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...And that beats sharing tomorrow’s homework assignment anyday.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Up Next: Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky, and the irony of leveraging freeware in Vegas</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-5218674353623724652013-05-10T16:32:00.001-04:002013-05-10T16:53:57.781-04:00Blackboard will want me as a BbWorld VIP Blogger because...(A photo essay)<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I actually teach classes, adults, students...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N1aqEy_Rf50/UY1N1JGRo0I/AAAAAAAAhNg/HL3K1tgZPZk/s1600/20130228_104147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N1aqEy_Rf50/UY1N1JGRo0I/AAAAAAAAhNg/HL3K1tgZPZk/s200/20130228_104147.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#digcit: Teardown</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kUyiq-j0Mgk/UY1N2q2rbNI/AAAAAAAAhNo/aYs5wyHVspI/s1600/20130307_104501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kUyiq-j0Mgk/UY1N2q2rbNI/AAAAAAAAhNo/aYs5wyHVspI/s200/20130307_104501.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#digcit: Multimedia </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k7xFRvvwltg/UY1N2iPGn8I/AAAAAAAAhNs/_oBicGpT2g0/s1600/20130308_103531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k7xFRvvwltg/UY1N2iPGn8I/AAAAAAAAhNs/_oBicGpT2g0/s200/20130308_103531.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Xavier Staff Development: <br />
Keynote and #Flipclass</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gIAKgSNmpIw/UY1PL4QEo0I/AAAAAAAAhN4/Jfr1BYBrZ6s/s1600/1359241666598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gIAKgSNmpIw/UY1PL4QEo0I/AAAAAAAAhN4/Jfr1BYBrZ6s/s200/1359241666598.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debate...lots of debate</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I specialize in snarky analysis...</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ia_LB3Fxm6k/UY1NnhFLQ4I/AAAAAAAAhNM/uGiw0kmKZZY/s1600/c94a1ab1dc42b3f5154c4ef30ad41426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ia_LB3Fxm6k/UY1NnhFLQ4I/AAAAAAAAhNM/uGiw0kmKZZY/s320/c94a1ab1dc42b3f5154c4ef30ad41426.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have a blog that gets pageviews...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-information-skills-for-247-news.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tojWismh6Tw/UY1Qa9U1vDI/AAAAAAAAhOA/wMUzyDjiLgg/s1600/graph.PNG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One good post...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3ITLSLMAnmQ/UY1SgC242uI/AAAAAAAAhOI/HPQRCGOS28s/s1600/20120419_150650-picsay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3ITLSLMAnmQ/UY1SgC242uI/AAAAAAAAhOI/HPQRCGOS28s/s320/20120419_150650-picsay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I wrote the book, <br />(well - technically I helped write the chapter)<br />on BYOT...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nz7pQn37bUs/UY1SgnBBkJI/AAAAAAAAhOM/v21JpsaUh-Y/s1600/thebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nz7pQn37bUs/UY1SgnBBkJI/AAAAAAAAhOM/v21JpsaUh-Y/s320/thebook.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handbook of Mobile Learning</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I got Google Glass :) - so, you know, that rocks!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iO_pwthijuo/UY1NoObn6CI/AAAAAAAAhNI/XTsAAB-f_lg/s1600/glass2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iO_pwthijuo/UY1NoObn6CI/AAAAAAAAhNI/XTsAAB-f_lg/s400/glass2.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next step...cyborg!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I wrote awesome daily blogs last year :)</span><br />
Including...<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2012/07/so-this-is-day-that-i-was-conflicted.html" target="_blank">BB_Engage: Red-Headed Step-Child?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2012/07/educational-analytics-idea-that-might.html" target="_blank">Analytics: Not ready for Prime Time</a>?</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have Geek Cred...</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v3Xgr5A9Gl4/UY1SgYa6B7I/AAAAAAAAhOU/N8ZVeLqg7-8/s1600/leggos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v3Xgr5A9Gl4/UY1SgYa6B7I/AAAAAAAAhOU/N8ZVeLqg7-8/s320/leggos.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vd1rob4ljmk/UY1ShOpZyFI/AAAAAAAAhOQ/JBf1RDlq5CU/s1600/usbdrive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vd1rob4ljmk/UY1ShOpZyFI/AAAAAAAAhOQ/JBf1RDlq5CU/s320/usbdrive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not afraid to ask the hard questions...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xBJvJ4TlPNo/UY1NnaIRe7I/AAAAAAAAhNE/fgyerlurOzo/s1600/20120710_082343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xBJvJ4TlPNo/UY1NnaIRe7I/AAAAAAAAhNE/fgyerlurOzo/s320/20120710_082343.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's for Breakfast? (#BBWorld12)</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-74280653840245475142013-04-24T20:05:00.003-04:002013-04-25T09:43:28.776-04:00A #BYOTchat video featuring Brebeuf Jesuit StudentsA submission for #BYOTchat. Thu, April 25th, 2013 at 9pm EST.<br />
moderated by the ever-amazing <a href="http://twitter.com/40ishoracle" target="_blank">@40ishoracle</a>!<br />
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Come join in the fun!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g4869KsDEkc" width="560"></iframe>
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<i>Note: This was also my first opportunity to fill out a fair-use copyright claims dispute on youtube, so that was kind of fun.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Want more BYOT goodness? <a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank">Our collection of Blogs, tools, FAQs, and more</a><br />
Some of the images in here are a part of our <a href="http://pinterest.com/jdferries/byot101-a-photo-series/" target="_blank">pinterest </a>collections<br />
...and of course, you can always find<a href="http://twitter.com/jdferries" target="_blank"> JD</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/40ishoracle" target="_blank">Jen</a> on Twitter</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-48554721399169080622013-04-23T17:35:00.001-04:002013-04-24T08:09:17.761-04:00Wishful Thinking and Misdirection: Indiana Common Core Advertisements<div class="tr_bq">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has been an interesting Spring in Indiana. Usually, once election season dies down, I struggle to find good cannon fodder for my #digcit class to rip into outside of the school newspaper... Not so this spring.</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Indiana legislature is </span><a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2013/04/10/with-senates-approval-whats-next-for-common-core-pause-proposal/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">considering a bill</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that seeks to "press the pause button" on the Common Core State Standards. Watching the TV on the morning news, one would wonder why they would do this. A flood of commercials from two or three affiliates of national interest groups (and their deep-pocketed book publishing sponsors) have hit the airwaves demonizing anyone who would question the gospel of the common core.</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As with most politically motivated ads, there is a ton of bad logic just waiting for a dissection. I am hoping to post a link to my favorite commercial soon, but two claims that are made are worth some preliminary analysis:</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Claim #1:</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Bad workforce readiness, the need for remedial education prior to college, and the popularity of reality TV are all a result of poor state standards in Indiana.</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, to be fair, I made one of those up. </span></span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The commercial does imply a causal link between the outgoing Indiana State Standards and the other two bad outcomes. It doesn't present any evidence or resources that this is the case. It doesn’t even show a statistical relationship between standards and outcomes (correlation). While flipping through my handy chart of logical fallacies, there are a lot of things that are close, but this may just be a case of WISHFUL THINKING.</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wishful thinking (which does fall under the category of "Appeal to Emotion"), is where we make decisions based on what is pleasing to imagine, rather than by evidence or reason (thanks, Wikipedia). It is nice to believe that simply adopting a common set of items to memorize, concepts to learn, and skill sets to practice will solve all of our educational problems. Imagine a world where we adopt the standards, implement a little professional development and *POOF* test scores increase (don’t laugh too hard, I have #edtech mailings promising that). The implication in the commercial is that the only reason why we have not had decent international test scores is that we were teaching Polar Coordinates while the rest of the world was using the much more advance Euclidean Geometry!</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's not that simple.</span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-27a52019-3896-ab35-534d-b872e4186bd9" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think of the complexity between these allegedly "bad standards" and a student, ready for college. There are teachers and their lessons (this is the whipping-person of choice for the union-busting #edreform movement). Student motivation and even attention can be impacted by poverty (</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/the-unaddressed-link-between-poverty-and-education.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one of the factors that actually has some correlating research</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). The international tests could ask questions that are unrelated to what is being taught (or even what is in the standards themselves).</span></b></span></b></span></b></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Standards are a starting link in a very long, complicated chain that is modern education. To imply this level of direct causation is insulting to parents, students, legislators and teachers...It also assumes that the standards are actually better.</span></span></div>
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</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Claim #2:</b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>The Common Core State Standards are Better than the Current Indiana Standards</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In order to believe that the Common Core has magical curative effects on education, the CCSS should be better than the current Indiana standards. Certainly the commercial implies this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(Note: A more complicated argument would have been that there is a benefit to standards crossing state borders which is over and above the quality of the standards themselves. A ridiculous argument would claim that all of the for-profit companies making a mint from a market expansion coupled with a reduced need for product variety will happily reinvest those profits to hire back veteran teachers or bring back libraries and extra-curriculars -- it is more likely that they would just make some more Youtube videos)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But, and this is important, they are not better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Fordham Institute conducted a<a href="http://edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2010/201007_state_education_standards_common_standards/Indiana.pdf" target="_blank"> comparative analysis of English and Mathematics</a> standards between the two. The "old standards" score a 7/7 for content and rigor in both categories. Regarding English, they pointed out that Indiana standards were "clearer, more thorough, and easier to read", a significant detail when creating a document that will be translated into student learning objectives and assessment items. The Institute's blog puts it bluntly:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;">"There’s no doubt that Indiana, all by itself, had devised some of the best English (and math) standards in the land; indeed, drafters of the Common Core would have done well to plagiarize even more of the Hoosier State’s fine work." - <a href="http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2012/indiana-and-the-common-core-tony-bennett-got-it-right.html" target="_blank">Chester E. Finn, Fordham Institute</a>*</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is easy to visualize that in the creation of across-the-board standards, some states will improve and some (like Indiana, Massachusetts, and California) will stay the same or take a step backwards. The commercial uses its thirty seconds of airtime to hammer at the idea that the Indiana standards were bad and that it was this "badness" that caused the problems we now face. While that is a much simpler stance to take, it is wrong.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is wrong to create commercials that draw false causality and overly simplify complicated matters</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is wrong to treat education as a political football while accusing others of doing the same.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is wrong to feed vague logical fallacies to parents and voters without disclosing information that would help understand the issues at stake better.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ultimately, whether Indiana adopts the Common Core State Standards or sticks with the Indiana State Standards that were significantly revised in the last decade (yes, the current standards have not even made it through a single K-12 cycle), the state will have independently validated "good" standards. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But it is important for parents, and voters, and legislators to understand that this is a much more complicated issue than that which is being framed in the public discourse. There are a lot of players with deep pockets who are not completely altruistic in their desire to improve the United States education system. </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">We need to take a moment to understand the issues.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">We need to reflect on the complex connections at play between corporations, State Education Boards, Schools, and classrooms.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">We need to press pause, because the Common Core is only one piece of a much larger puzzle.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Up Next: Putting the Brakes on Innovation - What we know about the PARCC Assessment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>* A few notes about the Fordham Institute's analysis: First, they do note that there was room for improvement in both the English and especially the Mathematics standards from Indiana. This fact is referred to on the stand.org's<a href="http://stand.org/indiana/common-core/myths-vs-facts" target="_blank"> "Myths vs. Facts"</a> website. Corresponding improvements that could be made to strengthen the common core are ignored by that same site. (this website also has an OUTRAGEOUS "but you didn't answer the question" dodge in its Myth #2. Classic Straw Man). </i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>* Second, not to misrepresent their stance, the Fordham Institute is an advocate of the common core and praises Indiana's adoption of it. The Institute does not claim, as the commercials do, that Indiana's standards were the cause of the Hoosier state's educational ills. They assert among other things that there are benefits in comparing performance across state lines and that there is a huge potential cost saving for all of those poor impoverished publishers and test-makers.</i></span></blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-73657950761613832402013-04-16T16:23:00.004-04:002013-04-16T18:53:03.851-04:00Shall we play a game (part III) - Demographics and Hidden Curriculum<a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2013/04/shall-we-play-game-gamers-initial.html" target="_blank"><i>In the first part of the series we explored Game Goals and how they influence the educational impact.</i></a><br />
<a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2013/04/shall-we-play-game-part-ii-why-game.html"><i>http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2013/04/shall-we-play-game-part-ii-why-game.html</i></a><br />
<i>After today, there is probably about one more post in this series, namely because I am hoping to share feedback that I have received from teachers and gamers about the series so far, but it may take a back seat to my need to rant about PARCC tech requirements soon. Fair warning.</i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">People are not Lemmings: <br />Considering the Demographics of Gamification</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1GgENdG_D-w/UW2oikGsnsI/AAAAAAAAfl8/gGMhN1iYehI/s1600/Lemmings_-_1991_-_Data_East.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1GgENdG_D-w/UW2oikGsnsI/AAAAAAAAfl8/gGMhN1iYehI/s320/Lemmings_-_1991_-_Data_East.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Popular Puzzle Platform Game Lemmings challenged players to solve <br />
the puzzle before the lemming followed each other to their doom.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the last post, we dissected the millions of hour played by gamers in the United States and distinguished the games by type, noting that the educational value, particularly what is noted in the research, refers to specific types of games that make up a portion of the games that are a) played or (as some have pointed out on social media) b) may be appropriate to be advocated in a school.<br />
<br />
Additionally, there is a lot of data being collected about how different types of games appeal to different people. Genre preferences have been noted with regard to age, access to computers, and family income. Some of the best data has been scraped from Facebook by the folks at <a href="http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/december12010/" target="_blank">Data Genetics</a> regarding gameplay by age and gender (from 2010):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LFc2oXpP2t0/UW2lbFD97eI/AAAAAAAAfl0/Wvbh0Ee33eo/s1600/callofduty4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LFc2oXpP2t0/UW2lbFD97eI/AAAAAAAAfl0/Wvbh0Ee33eo/s200/callofduty4.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Call of Duty 4, a First-Person Shooter style game with a strong collaborative component (local or over the internet) is one of the strongest gender-biased games tracked, with over 92% of players being male. Conversely, the infinite matching game Bejeweled Blitz is a casual game that flips the demographic to almost 80% female. Similar analysis shows that changing the subject or theme of the game (but keeping similar mechanics) only slightly shifts the demographics. Casual games tend to trend female (although there is cross-gender appeal) while non-casual games heavily favor male interests.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7HMWCVVCWq8/UW2lZCmfMEI/AAAAAAAAfls/bW6me5UUsOQ/s1600/bejewelled+blitz.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7HMWCVVCWq8/UW2lZCmfMEI/AAAAAAAAfls/bW6me5UUsOQ/s200/bejewelled+blitz.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Thus, as we begin to consider educational technology that leverages the "gaming" label, we have to understand that not only are games not created equal in terms of mechanics and desired skills, but that the appeal of certain games will not be universal in the classroom. Simply put, just because it is a "Game" does not mean that every student will be drawn to it like killer robots to surviving humans (ROBOTRON 2084, how i loath thee)<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's A Secret: Identifying the Hidden Curriculum when It is All Hidden</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f806BEVSnZk/UWRyRXH1HMI/AAAAAAAAff4/6ZHI3H9IjeI/s1600/secret_zelda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f806BEVSnZk/UWRyRXH1HMI/AAAAAAAAff4/6ZHI3H9IjeI/s200/secret_zelda.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
In the last post, we identified game genre by mechanics. Mechanics are important because that is what you DO in the game (hence, that is the skill that is developed through practice). We have also noted that mechanics is a huge driver in terms of appeal to various demographics. But it is important to note that mechanics is only a part of the overall game. Games are comprised of characters, setting, and in many cases plot and theme. These story elements are the subject of our next consideration.<br />
<br />
Most people going through a traditional education program get exposed to the deconstructionists and their ideas of the hidden agenda. I remember in 3rd grade getting new textbooks that suddenly had names of Hispanic origin and girls playing dress-up as doctors and lawyers. A hidden curriculum that had revolved around Caucasian dominance and stereotypical gender roles in the workforce was being, at least, partially addressed in my Grammar textbook.<br />
<br />
"Gaming-as-Learning" is full of hidden agendas. In fact, it is even marketed as such. How many ads have been in recent flyers/vendor halls/edtech magazines with catch phrases like "She won't even know she's learning" -- At the point that we have to keep the idea of learning under a bushel, our ears should begin to perk up.<br />
<br />
<b>Interlude: A Fashionista Nightmare</b><br />
My 10 year old was playing a game on her phone (<strike>Top Model </strike>- <span style="background-color: yellow;">Correction: I was informed by my now 11 year old that the game was actually TOP GIRL</span> - The fact that both of these games are in my app store is sad) with a consistency that I found disturbing. It was a casual game where the player took on the role of a fashion model. While the initial concern was one of screen time, when we sat down with our daughter, she began to describe the game-play:<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YeT2KCzzJ_w/UW3U5Nf2GfI/AAAAAAAAfmM/O-6bMKtWD_s/s1600/topgirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YeT2KCzzJ_w/UW3U5Nf2GfI/AAAAAAAAfmM/O-6bMKtWD_s/s200/topgirl.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Casual Game with a Message -<br />
Just the wrong one</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>When models were doing a photoshoot, they were judged based on the STYLE of clothing, skimpier the better - points awarded accordingly</li>
<li>After the photoshoot, they have to run down and get food. If they spend money on SANDWICHES instead of COFFEE and CELERY, they will gain weight and not fit in the clothes worth the most points.</li>
<li>In order to avoid paying real money for "upgrades", you may need to rely on your BOYFRIEND who was also able to sit in judgment based on weight, attitude, style, etc.</li>
</ul>
<div>
In discussion, my daughter was able to identify the game mechanics that she liked (choices, casual play, achieving goals, virtual interaction with characters), but did not pick up on the messaging until it was drawn out. The discussion continued as we identified traits in herself and her friends that the game was reinforcing or discouraging. After a long discussion, sometimes awkward discussion, she removed the game from her phone (and discovered the SIMS)</div>
<div>
<b>End Interlude</b></div>
<br />
Teachers who use educational games are conveying messages beyond the skills taught in the classroom. Hidden agendas can be as simple as the choice of badge (candy vs. smiley faces) for correctly solving a math problem, the amount of violence and gore that is acceptable in the name of strategic gameplay, or stereotypes that may be present in any number of plot lines.The content of the game can convey messages more effectively than passive worksheets or textbooks ever could for the same reasons that gaming itself is so persuasive -- behavior is modified to accomplish the goals -- in other words, students are taught to ACT differently based on game cues!<br />
<br />
<b>But there is an opportunity here</b>: Schools, classes, teachers, and students should be encouraged to approach<br />
the game as a subject for study as well as a tool for skill development or an amusing distraction. At some level, we have to be cautious that we are not letting bad messages get the official school seal-of-approval. But we should also use the games as artifacts for deconstruction. By teaching students to ask critical questions about story and mechanics and feedback, we teach them much more about critical thinking than they might be exposed to when deciding if the best way to kill the pig is with the red bird or the blue one (although to be fair, the red one can carry a light saber).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4DTxqi4rznQ/UW2yOFKfrCI/AAAAAAAAfmE/klWZUQHiMUM/s1600/angry-birds-star-wars-walkthrough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4DTxqi4rznQ/UW2yOFKfrCI/AAAAAAAAfmE/klWZUQHiMUM/s320/angry-birds-star-wars-walkthrough.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Up Next (final part???):</i><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Creativity vs. Linear Gaming - The MineCraft Effect</li>
<li>Gamers' Views on Classroom Gaming</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-77989412753513312552013-04-12T11:26:00.001-04:002013-04-16T18:53:03.856-04:00Shall We Play A Game? part II - Why Game Mechanics Matters<br />
wow. Response to the last post has been impressive. thanks for the comments and feedback on <a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2013/04/shall-we-play-game-gamers-initial.html" target="_blank">part I (Gaming goals and Profit Motive)</a>. Let's keep it going...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Where in the World... are All These Gamers</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o5laiikJ9PI/UWbjflLNMwI/AAAAAAAAfh4/FtalcqHAN5Y/s1600/where_usa_apple.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o5laiikJ9PI/UWbjflLNMwI/AAAAAAAAfh4/FtalcqHAN5Y/s1600/where_usa_apple.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.carmensandiego.com/hmh/site/carmen/" target="_blank">Carmen Sandiago</a> constantly reinvents itself for new ages</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://twitter.com/avantgame" target="_blank">Jane McGonigal</a> tells us there are 3 Billion hours of games played per week worldwide (183 million hours in the US). In her TED talk, she rightly calls this number of hours a parallel curriculum of learning. #Edtech vendors use this number to convince schools that "...students will WANT to do it!".<br />
<br />
But before we spend more money on educational technology, lets press pause on on the purchase order and deconstruct that impressive number a little bit. Not all games are created equal.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Avoiding Dysentery: Thoughts on Game Mechanics</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d8KkcEVEyQk/UWbwhDxYJ8I/AAAAAAAAfiI/0elDg06Xg98/s1600/dinosaurtrail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d8KkcEVEyQk/UWbwhDxYJ8I/AAAAAAAAfiI/0elDg06Xg98/s320/dinosaurtrail.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recent Shirt sold on Woot.com pays homage to THE OREGON TRAIL</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Game mechanics are the sets of rules, human actions, and game responses that make up the game (I am simplifying, you can get really in-depth here). The more complicated the mechanics, the more complicated the game. Conversely, CASUAL GAMEs are those with simple mechanics, lots of repetitive action, and low time-investment.<br />
<br />
Information from the <a href="http://www.casualgamesassociation.org/news.php#top" target="_blank">Casual Games Association </a>indicates that in 2010, 26 million people spent $6 billion dollars on games played on phones, tablets, Facebook and computers. According to NewZoo, this accounts for 39% of all that game time in the US (<a href="http://www.newzoo.com/trend-reports/casual-social-games-trend-report/" target="_blank">2011 Report</a>).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Understanding Mechanics</span><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6egVSG9U4G8/UWbx6gH7WzI/AAAAAAAAfiQ/jD50DjsZnFw/s1600/breakout.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6egVSG9U4G8/UWbx6gH7WzI/AAAAAAAAfiQ/jD50DjsZnFw/s320/breakout.png" width="320" /></a><br />
<b>Brick/Breakout Games</b><br />
One of the earliest Atari video games, Breakout, provides a good example identifying game <br />
mechanics. The basic design of the game is a series of "bricks" at the top of the screen that can be removed by a ball that crashes into it. The player moves a bar at the bottom of the screen to left or the right to bounce the ball into the walls or top of the screen. If they player misses the ball, it travels off the bottoms of the screen. Simple, right?<br />
<br />
<b><i>Game Mechanics:</i></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Hand-eye coordination. User must able to sync hand/finger movements with visual cues</li>
<li>Elementary Physics (reflection). User should predict where a ball will travel after hitting an object</li>
<li>Mechanical operation: Move Joystick Left. Move Joystick Right.</li>
</ul>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Te6zYjkddo4/UWbzgYFqevI/AAAAAAAAfiY/GH7Xa-d7u8E/s1600/pegglenights2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Te6zYjkddo4/UWbzgYFqevI/AAAAAAAAfiY/GH7Xa-d7u8E/s200/pegglenights2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peggle from PopCap is a new version<br />
of a Brick Style ARCADE Game</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
While game elements get more complicated (different shapes, obstacles, speed of the ball, etc.), the basic mechanics do not change. This style of game and mechanics is part of the ARCADE GAME GENRE. A person could (and from personal experience, actually has) spend hundreds of hours attempting to master Brick-style arcade games in all of their forms. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But the questions for educators, and this is important, is what skills or knowledge can be gained from this combination of Game skills (shift left, shift right); Required thought (if the ball bounces here, where will it end up?), and goals (clear the screen). Because, while thousands of hours were spent playing <i>PEGGLE </i>in the last two years, it has limited educational value (yes, Devil's Advocate, there are some limited applications in physics/science as well as as basic computer familiarity).</div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiF8KeAxIEQ/UWb07IRG8TI/AAAAAAAAfig/WZ6D0Vv9wyk/s1600/waldo_and_carmen_by_timburtonclone-d2zxjl5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiF8KeAxIEQ/UWb07IRG8TI/AAAAAAAAfig/WZ6D0Vv9wyk/s320/waldo_and_carmen_by_timburtonclone-d2zxjl5.png" width="320" /></a><b>Trivial Compute:</b> A very popular education game when the genre was first being developed was <i>WHERE IN THE WORLD/USA/TIME IS CARMEN SANDIEGO?</i>. This game was popular enough to spawn a game show, a theme song, a cartoon, and a love-interest meme with <i>WHERE'S WALDO?</i><br />
<br />
In the original version of this game, players were investigators in pursuit of a band of criminals. Investigators would find clues that would allow them to find move from location to location until a criminal (including the ever-elusive Carmen) could be captured.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Original Game Mechanics:</i></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Mechanical Operation: multiple choice selection</li>
<li>Knowledge/Memory/Note Taking: Clues and locations would repeat over the course of game play.</li>
<li>Research: Indexing, Keywords, Topic selection, etc. (one of the cooler elements of the original game was the inclusion of an old school Almanac used to find the answers to the clues left in the game).</li>
</ul>
Obviously, this game was conceived, marketed, sold, and played with an educational intent. It was one of the earliest examples of educational gaming. There was an inherent advantage in a player learning the answers to the geographical trivia questions that were asked through the form of (relatively simple) clues.<br />
<br />
Another appeal was the lack of dexterity controls. While some people enjoy the need for fast or repetitive or complex button/joystick combinations (say it with me, geeks: UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A Start), it is not for everyone.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s.pro-gmedia.com/videogamer/media/images/iphone/temple_run/screens/temple_run_1_605x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://s.pro-gmedia.com/videogamer/media/images/iphone/temple_run/screens/temple_run_1_605x.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It just keeps going...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Temple Run - It Just Keep Going:</b> <i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">TEMPLE RUN is </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">an example of a Never-Ending CHASE game (aracade genre) It was one of the most
popular casual games of the last few years. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">It is a game that is high in timing, coordination, and reflexes. There are about three patterns to learn (the most complicated being: When the game gets too fast, "trip" over a branch to slow it down).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><i>Game Mechanics:</i></b></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rapid Hand-Eye Coordination</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Endurance</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mechnical Operation: Tilt left, Tilt right, Swipe Up, Swipe Down, Tap*</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*the Tap feature is used to activate bonuses which can be "bought"
with either game-earned points or real money</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://peter.evans-greenwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/World-of-Warcraft-screenshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://peter.evans-greenwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/World-of-Warcraft-screenshot.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Battle Screenshot from WoW: Cool graphics and lots of<br />
Data to process and use</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>WOW - Another World of Gaming Complexity:</b> The game referenced most often in the academic literature on Gamification is <i>WORLD OF WARCRAFT</i>. This game took elements of a number of genres including ADVENTURE (solving puzzles and increasing levels of complexity/challenge with experience), ACTION/ARCADE (control button patterns), FIRST PERSON SHOOTER (Targeting, selection, tactics), MUDs/Multi-User Domains (collaboration, teamwork, communication) and created a new type of immersive experience, The Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG).<br />
<br />
Within this highly graphical system, players start with simple tasks and constantly "level up" by completing more and more complex quests that involve a variety of cognitive, collaborative, and strategic skills. Critical thinking is employed at every stage from quest selection to completing minor tasks to complete larger goals to planning multi-player attacks against enemies (both computer generated and other player).<br />
<br />
This game genre is cited for both its complex multi-skill development and its tendency to lead to hours of (admittedly obsessive) game play. Feedback is given to players in the form of computer-generated "Experience Points", new places and people to explore, and comments (of varying levels of appropriateness and geniality) from other players. The MMORPG genre is the ultimate prize in terms of development of complex and higher order thinking skills, investment of will and effort, and its ability to utilize real applications of communication and collaboration.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On Reflection: Regarding 10,000 hours, It's Not Very Effective</span><br />
<a href="http://lparchive.org/Pokemon-Quartz/Update%2023/24-pkquartzfull_232.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://lparchive.org/Pokemon-Quartz/Update%2023/24-pkquartzfull_232.png" /></a><br />
When evaluating educational gaming software, we need to avoid falling for the millions-of-hours hype that implies all games are created equal. One way to do this is to think about what our goals are for the classroom and how the experience of a game (or a lesson or a unit) will help us achieve those goals.<br />
<br />
Many gamify--the-classroom fans like to quote Gladwell's idea from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017930" target="_blank"><i>Outliers: The Story of Success</i> </a>about 10,000 hours. His claim is that if one practices a particular skill for 10,000 hours, one can become proficient. But for every <i>World of Warcraft</i>, there is a <i>Tiny Castle</i>. For every <i>Carmen Sandiego</i> there is a <i>Temple Run</i>. While many kids (and adults) have spent a good percentage of their 10,000 requisite hours becoming proficient at the game...at the end of the day they have mastered finger-swiping.<br />
<br />
And that isn't even on the test.<br />
<br />
<br />
Up Next:<br />
Player demographics vs. Game genre; hidden agendas; creative vs. linear<br />
<br />
References:<br />
<a href="http://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm" target="_blank">Most popular games of all time</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_genres" target="_blank">Wikiepedia - Game Genres</a><br />
<a href="http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/newswire/uploads/2009/09/GamerReport.pdf" target="_blank">Nielson 2009 Report on Casual Gaming</a><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-7426308857957345762013-04-09T19:50:00.002-04:002013-04-23T18:52:33.226-04:00Shall we play a game? (part I) -- A Gamer's Initial Thoughts on #edtech Gamification<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wtdtmybtc4U/UWQ7n6DyxAI/AAAAAAAAffo/bcoJ5VmJ_WU/s1600/shallweplayagame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wtdtmybtc4U/UWQ7n6DyxAI/AAAAAAAAffo/bcoJ5VmJ_WU/s320/shallweplayagame.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<object class="hark_player" height="28" width="300">
<param name="movie" value="http://cdn.hark.com/swfs/player_fb.swf?pid=rptftxrwmn"/>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/>
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<embed src="http://cdn.hark.com/swfs/player_fb.swf?pid=rptftxrwmn" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" width="300" height="28" wmode="transparent"></embed>
</object><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/undefined" style="color: #dddddd; font-size: 9px;" title="Listen to on Hark.com"></a>
</div>
<i><br /></i>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ready Player One: Preparing for a Buzzword</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vRwDHQP94wM/UWRM40M-XBI/AAAAAAAAffw/F9pVsOWAFNI/s1600/readyplayerone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vRwDHQP94wM/UWRM40M-XBI/AAAAAAAAffw/F9pVsOWAFNI/s200/readyplayerone.jpg" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A must read for Gamers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/undefined" style="color: #dddddd; font-size: 9px;" title="Listen to on Hark.com"></a>I can still recall sitting in my bedroom with the glow of a screen from the second level of Zelda. It was late, but I had pizza and Tab and a whole night ahead of me. I decided right then: Straight Through. No Break. No Dying. -- Time to save the princess.</i><br />
<br />
So when I hear about the Gamification of learning, particularly from those who are passionate about the ability that it could have to transform the educational landscape, I become excited. If the same drive and will and energy that led me through those agonizing levels to defeat Gannon could be harnessed for the power of educational good -- EPIC WIN.<br />
<br />
But as I begin to see "Gamification" making the same transition from innovative classroom technique to Edu.Vendor buzzword -- the same transition that "personalized" and "flipped classroom" made -- my excitement begins to slowly drain. My hyperkinetic eye movements (Pacman) and giddy shout of triumph (the first time I got Mario to bounce the turtles for 100 extra lives) are replaced by a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach: The sound of approaching doom ("I am SINISTAR")<br />
<br />
It is thus with a nostalgic and hopeful mindset that I cautiously offer this multi-part prelection before I throw myself into Gaming as a tool to teach digital citizenship*:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Note: Gamification encompasses a lot more than educational software and really a lot more than education in general. I am consciously limiting my focus for the purpose of this post.</span></i></blockquote>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Rescuing the Princess: Thinking about Goals</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7hKXZ3Iv0s0/UWSEqzlvNsI/AAAAAAAAfgQ/6ztXYtAdJzs/s1600/toad_princess_is_in_another_castle.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7hKXZ3Iv0s0/UWSEqzlvNsI/AAAAAAAAfgQ/6ztXYtAdJzs/s200/toad_princess_is_in_another_castle.gif" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gamers will go a long way for a goal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
At the heart of gaming is a goal. It is this goal, and its similarity to a student's learning objective, that makes gamification appealing in the first place. After all, if a student will work voluntarily for hours to accomplish a virtual princess rescue, just imagine what we could pull off if we redirected it?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But goals are tricky things. First, they are only one part of a larger gaming landscape (we will cover other parts in the next post). A game can be burdened with a terrible ending, but can be overcome by excellent game mechanics (classroom activities) or even social features and scoreboards (group work, classroom leader boards).<br />
<br />
Good game designers consider intermediate and long range goals carefully as they construct the overall product. The Gamification movement is about using built in structures such as rules and feedback loops to generate continued interest in the face of difficulty and challenge.<br />
<br />
Simply saying "win the race by solving these math problems quickly" is not enough to qualify as an educational panacea, no matter how much you advertise the educational value of this particular prize. No virtual smiley faced "Badge" is particularly transformative in the long run. We have always known that kids love stickers and show them off with glee and pride.<br />
<br />
Simply, there has to be a careful consideration about the GOAL OF THE GAME beyond THE GOAL AT THE END OF THE GAME. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">WOULD YOU HELP ME PLANT A PUMPKIN?: <br />The Other Goals of Gaming</span><br />
There are also a number of "goals" at play in the big-picture of game-design that have little to do with saving the princess, but a lot to do with how the game is designed, marketed, played and replayed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Interlude: Building a Tiny Castle</b></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-LFcSWLImc/UWSEOct7OBI/AAAAAAAAfgI/ByfuIJmDRlw/s1600/tiny_castle_hud_full.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-LFcSWLImc/UWSEOct7OBI/AAAAAAAAfgI/ByfuIJmDRlw/s320/tiny_castle_hud_full.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A casual game that leverages impatience to encourage spending</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A new breed of game came along with social media websites that took "casual" to a whole new level. The goal of these environmental games might be to plant an attractive garden or build a farm. The ultimate goal though, is to get you to spend money.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In one version of this game-type, Tiny Castle, players are given </span>extremely<span style="font-family: inherit;"> linear "quests". These quests might be to clear a forest, plant a </span>specific<span style="font-family: inherit;"> type of tree, create a new species, or upgrade the castle. Each quest takes one or more of the essential game elements: food (to feed creatures), magic (to get rid of fog...just go with it), wishes (to become more powerful) and TIME. Lots and lots of real, one-second-at-a-time, TIME.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As we perform an analysis on the game mechanics, it would be easy to argue that the game could be an excellent way to develop time management skills and patience (i.e., if I set half of my denizens to work on a 3 hour goal and the other half to work on another 3 hour goal, I can finish two goals at the same time that will both be ready the next time I "check-in"). However, a careful look reveals a darker unstated goal. The most efficient way to grow fruit, gather dust, etc. is to be constantly plugged in, refreshing the </span>mechanical<span style="font-family: inherit;"> action - strategy is replaced by repetitive clicking. Delayed gratification (setting things up and walking away) is discouraged by the game </span>mechanic.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Know what constant clicking is? BORING!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So at any point a player can choose to supplement any of the slowly accumulating supplies by making an "in-game" purchase with real money. A player can even speed up an hours long building of a </span>renovated<span style="font-family: inherit;"> castle with a wish/hour (and there are even "special sales" on wishes). To make matters worse, some of the QUESTS are completed by "making a purchase of new wishes" (but you know, the first taste is free).</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Far from developing any sort of real-life transferable skill, the game discourages serious players from thinking of the game in that fashion. Even the in-game objectives lay the real objective bare: spend more real-life money on make-believe stuff.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>End Interlude</b></span></div>
<div>
<br />
While there are a number of people working on gamification (computer based and otherwise) who are passionate about learning and transformative classrooms, this prelection is a cautionary about what happens when the learning technique becomes "buzzworthy". I remember when I hit the vendor floor at ISTE last year and saw Interactive Whiteboard and Furniture vendors explaining how their equipment would help you "flip" the classroom.<br />
<br />
The vendors are attacking "gamification" with a vengeance. We as educators need to be familiar with the strengths of Gaming before we are sold another in a long list of goods that have as much educational value as Treasure Chest of Apples or a new horse for a make-believe farm.<br />
<br />
<i>Up Next: </i><br />
<ul>
<li><i><a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2013/04/shall-we-play-game-part-ii-why-game.html" target="_blank">Gameplay mechanics -- Covered in Part II</a></i></li>
<li><i>Creativity vs. Consumption / Linear vs. Non-linear Gaming</i></li>
<li><i>Hidden Messages</i></li>
<li><i>Evaluating Costs</i></li>
</ul>
Feel free to add, critique, comment, revise. This is relatively uncharted territory for this old school gamer and my thoughts are in flux.<br />
<br />
Special thx to <a href="http://twitter.com/40ishoracle" target="_blank">@40ishoracle</a> (her latest post on <a href="http://40ishoraclereflections.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-value-of-shared-experiences.html" target="_blank">collaboration</a> rocks). She is the one who turned me onto Jane McGonigal, who is <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html" target="_blank">advocating games to save the world</a><br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049717135527113973noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213282834400100976.post-52488306799698765922013-04-04T10:39:00.004-04:002013-04-18T13:53:03.650-04:00Competing for their Hearts and Minds -- #Digcit Thoughts from a RoadTrip VacationMy wife and I are taking the family on one of those road trips that seem to be a necessary rite of passage of raising-a-young-family that no one can explain. This post is a collection of reflections made on the journey -- Because you can take the #edtech geek out of the school, but you can't take the school out of the #edtech geek.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iUUJlpVr1O8/UV2BP5lNqnI/AAAAAAAAfY4/PU3hcUnf3Dw/s1600/20130401_191413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iUUJlpVr1O8/UV2BP5lNqnI/AAAAAAAAfY4/PU3hcUnf3Dw/s320/20130401_191413.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Different Tools, Different Data, Different Results</span><br />
On day three of our journey, we are planning on driving from Atlanta, GA to Raleigh, NC. My wife has been referring to the 4.5 hr journey for a few days, but when talking to our relative in NC, she says it is closer to six hours. She says "But mapquest said it was 4 and a half."<br />
<br />
I pull out my Nexus 7 and ask Google Now for a map to Raleigh: Six hours and 15 minutes.<br />
<br />
My wife (annoyed): "But why would it change? I Googled it just a few days ago!"<br />
Me (in interesting-conversation-about-tech-mode when I should have been in husband-consoling-wife-who-has-had-her-plans-derailed-mode): I thought you said you had used Mapquest?<br />
Wife (now annoyed at me): I used <i>something</i>. Why would they be different?<br />
<br />
...and while i could think of all sorts of reasons for differences including accuracy of routes, real-time information (those cool Google cars), differing calculation methods, real-time traffic or construction updates (not to mention any number of human error issues), I had picked up on the fact that this was NOT the conversation my vacation planner and mother of my children wanted to have...but it got me thinking.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Information Conundrum</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.waze.com/homepage/images/Map_editing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://www.waze.com/homepage/images/Map_editing.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waze Crowd-sourced mapping</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What my wife experienced is an increasingly common occurrence People in stop-and-go traffic who pull up<br />
a traditional GPS will often be frustrated by a red (slow) traffic line, but little information. But if that same person is using an app called WAZE, they can get minute-by-minute updates from real users, including the guy 2 miles ahead saying "they have the semi off the road now. traffic should start moving any minute." And while mapping and travel seem to be one of the easy highlights (Apple's early foray's into maps was well-documented as one of the companies few but often entertaining stumbles), there are a number of areas where we are beginning to see this issue arise for our students.<br />
<br />
The internet houses websites and blogs galore which at first glance can appear to have valid information. However, as the ease of creating and distributing information has increased, we have not had a corresponding rise in our capacity as humans to filter through this information and distinguish bad information from good. And this is not just a situation created by the rise of the blogosphere.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Billboards and Displays of Competing World Views</span><br />
As we are travelling down the highway on the way to Raleigh, I see a billboard that shows a caveman fighting/running from an old-style Tyrannosaurus Rex (you can tell older depictions from the positioning of the tail. If it drags on the ground Godzilla-style, its based on older anthropological models). It is an advertisement for a Creationist Museum - a concept I am familiar with due to our proximity to one in Kentucky -- I just didn't realize that they had franchised.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tFQs3NQS7wg/UXAy7_Lt-DI/AAAAAAAAfm8/EUr6rtSGw4o/s1600/dinocreate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tFQs3NQS7wg/UXAy7_Lt-DI/AAAAAAAAfm8/EUr6rtSGw4o/s320/dinocreate.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The newest creation museum advertising eliminates the "controversy"<br />
in favor of the draw of Dinosaurs. Thunder lizards are cool.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are currently 16 Creationist Museums. These museums are typically privately funded with a<br />
<br />
combination of models, animatronic displays, professionally produced videos and interactive activities typical of the modern museum experience. In fact, the many of the museums get high reviews from visitors and have been featured as tourist destination highlights. What is noteworthy about these museums is that the exhibits are based on young-earth/creationism interpretations of the origin of life and the planet.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T-Pi0RkpBPo/UV153yW70yI/AAAAAAAAfYw/GLFPAp5HRfo/s1600/20130402_115027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T-Pi0RkpBPo/UV153yW70yI/AAAAAAAAfYw/GLFPAp5HRfo/s320/20130402_115027.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Come Meet Your Relatives" sign outside the<br />
Mammal wing of the Museum of Natural History</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Either the Earth is 4.54 Billion years old or it's 6,000 years old. Relativism, while popular as a moral stance (that will be a rant for another day), is not as easily applied to geology.<br />
<br />
But thousands of people a year visit these museums that cost millions of dollars in order to learn from what National Center for Science Education director Eugene Scott called " <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/26/AR2007052600908.html" target="_blank">the Creationist Disneyland</a>". The discussion that ensued in the car-ride ranged from young-earth positions, to carbon dating, to evolution and catholic teaching. It led to one of our daughters pointing out the number of evolution references made at the Smithsonian Museum for Natural History (although the Gem displays were the biggest hit).<br />
<br />
The point here is not good science vs. bad science. (see the original <a href="http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/2012/04/savethedinosaurs-what-nyc-does-attack.html" target="_blank">#savethedinosaurs</a> post for some of that). There are two highly funded competing world views fueled by scientific method, research, religion, morality and money that are vying for the eyes, hearts, and minds of our students.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>What are the specific skills that students need to develop in order to function in this world of competing information and data?</li>
<li>Regardless of the status of the Common Core and its corporate sponsored testing offspring, what should schools be doing to put in place the development of these skills and habits-of-mind? </li>
<li>At what age do our students have to develop the capacity to use their skills and capacity for rational thought to determine which of these world views they will subscribe to and follow?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">#Edtech, #Digcit, and #BYOT -- Identifying the Essential Skills</span><br />
<b>1. Claim and Analysis</b>: Students must be able to find factual claims within a piece of writing, be it a tweet, Facebook vanity card, news article, or research paper. They should be able to identify and evaluate the supporting evidence (or in most cases lack thereof) which supports the claim.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Practically Applied: </i></b>We use the student newspaper. Preliminary questions we ask are:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Do you trust this source? </li>
<li>What reasons do you have in-source for this trust? </li>
<li>What reasons do you have beyond the source for this trust?</li>
</ul>
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<b>2. Identifying Assumptions:</b> World views are loaded with assumptions of truth. Identifying these assumptions and treating them as claims that can also be analyzed for support is a key activity in the high-data, conflicting conclusion modern age. The process of uncovering assumptions can be difficult to teach/learn, in part because human brains use assumptions to process data efficiently in the best of situations (and with all of the data produced in the world today, it is NOT the best of situations.<br />
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<b><i>Practically Applied:</i></b> Use a series of regressive questions as part of the research process when students are beginning to identify primary research questions and problems:<br />
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<ul>
<li>What is the problem that you have identified?</li>
<li>Why is that a problem?</li>
<li>What information do you need to formulate a solution?</li>
<li>What sources can provide that information?</li>
<li>Are there experts in the area who believe that it is not a problem?</li>
<li>What are their reasons for believing it is not a problem?</li>
</ul>
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<b>3. Closed Systems of Information, Silo Thinking, and Confirmation Bias:</b> The goals of hardware, software, and information providers in the modern business-oriented world is lock-in. This is the tendency to go to the same well for information and solutions. Again, this is an aspect of human nature - habits help solve recurring problems efficiently. Thus, Google wants you to constantly go to its website for the answer. Apple and Amazon are both creating stores of information and data access so that you never have to go to the Big-G for an answer. Fox, MSNBC, CNN are all competing for your eyeballs, your homepage, your attention and your trust. As you spend more time within one system, you find that the answers reinforce eachother on two levels: All of the answers seem to tie together, painting a coherent view of reality and all indications then seem that this source of information is a good source to rely upon in the future.<br />
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<b><i>Practically Applied:</i></b> Teach social media as a tool and not a distraction. Students should be working from a young age to a) question the reliability of information sources and b) build a system of information sources that intentionally have multiple viewpoints, biases, and information.<br />
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An early social network activity we use is to identify social media sources within a student's personal network. Count the number of friends, relatives, celebrities, news sources. Then rank those sources along different perspectives such as politics (conservative/liberal, Big/Small government), religious perspective, value of formal education, etc. Many of our students find that they are likely to have a network that feeds their own pre-existing world view and that the ideas presented are strikingly similar across social media.<br />
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<b>4. Variety of Tools and Sources.</b> An unanticipated side-effect of the 1:1 BYOT implementation at the school is the in-depth discussions about methodology, whether it is for creating a presentation or finding information. In a world where each student brings a device and the device is the choice of the family/student, there are a lot of tools in each classroom. Students begin to discuss and share problem-solving strategies naturally and teachers can foster this sharing with directed activities.<br />
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<b><i>Practically Applied:</i></b> Focus on process over product. Have students keep a process journal as part of each major assignment. Use the journal as a part of reflective and sharing activities. As different conclusions are reached, the student's become better equipped to un-pack how they reached a specific answer and why that answer was different from the conclusion of another member of the class.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On Reflection</span><br />
None of these applications are easy and very few of them can be answered with a click or a filled-in bubble.We have found that the amount of time we spend on individual projects grows as we add in time to use regressive questioning in the beginning and time to pair-and-share process reflections in the drafting stage of papers and presentations.<br />
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But this is a part of the answer to the issue of information overload and over-reliance on data-without-depth.<br />
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Our call as educators is to helps student identify not just the correct answers to the questions on a test but the underlying systems that produced those questions-and-answers in the first place. Corporations governments, and organizations are all to willing to have reliable consumers and followers.<br />
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We should accept nothing less than independent thinkers.<br />
Our children deserve it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IFCDTSk1v4k/UV2PUKFPeiI/AAAAAAAAfZI/-_wfZZ4egQw/s1600/20130401_113819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IFCDTSk1v4k/UV2PUKFPeiI/AAAAAAAAfZI/-_wfZZ4egQw/s320/20130401_113819.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More than just a consumer and political pawn</td></tr>
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