Point A to Point B

Category: Russo’s Ramblings

  • Great Questions – Do Anyone’s Tech Standards Adress These?

    Courtesy of Barbara and her Dare to dream – Classroom technology Blog, the following questions appeared on a t-shirt being given out by Nettrekker:

    21 Skills for 21st century learning!

    Can your students….

    Make complex choices?

    Benchmark a process?

    manage a negotiation?

    Communicate clearly?

    Motivate others?

    Connect globally?

    Organize information?

    Cope with change?

    Read a digital map?

    Demonstrate innovativeness?

    Resolve conflict?

    Distinguish fact from opinion?

    Respond to a blog?

    Frame problems and solutions?

    Sell ideas to others/

    Give an effective presentation?

    Set priorities and goals?

    Lead a team?

    Use technology well?

    Learn outside the classroom?

    Work effectively in teams?

    If I look at our district K-12 technology standards (which look much like any other district – word processing skills, spreadsheet basics, presentations, ethics, etc. etc. etc.), just about NONE of the above questions are addressed. And I think it is reasonable (absolutely necessary…) that the above are the skills we should be aiming for. If that is the case, what does it say about the general state of technology “standards?”

    Thanks for the post, Barbara!

  • Another “Jump Out”

    Browsing through the blog postings from NECC, this one-liner shared during Andrew Zolli’s keynote panel discussion jumped out at me: (thanks to Jorge on his Desert Dew blog)

    In the new paradigm, the Principal is now called “The Chief Learner.”

    Pow. Why? It comes down to learning. Great teachers since the beginning of time know that learning is the engaging part, and do whatever they can to engage the kids in it. Technology has provided a veritable magic carpet to expedite the learning. Great teachers saw this instantly and took off with it (regardless of whether or not they were “techies.”

    Unfortunately the principal of today has become “The Chief Moderator,” “The Chief Compromiser,” and/or “The Chief Lawsuit Avoider.” Not because they want to, but because they have had to. When the focus goes away from learning, the system suffers, and that is a lot of why our system struggles.

    The Chief Learner…that’s what we all want our leaders to be.

    On a somewhat connected note, this is why ed-techers love the new stuff – including me. I was not-so-nice in my previous post about twitter, but I now see that the folks there involved in it were LEARNING something new, how to incorporate it, how to utilize it. That is the addicting part of what we as educators do. I believe the key to why we got into the business, whether we knew it or not, is that we love to learn. Technology is great since it provides a never-ending (and often overwhelming) stream of new things to learn.

    Keep it focused on the learning, and from that all the right things will happen.

  • Technology is Still Just a Tool, Right?

    One of the things ed-tech-ers have to watch out for is being swayed by the “cool new tool” syndrome. Interestingly, Twitter, as an example, was all the rage at NECC. Its just a tool, but post after post talked about the tool, rather than the learning.

    At NECC there were folks live blogging, twittering, and skype-chatting all at the same time during sessions. Just how many layers of concurrent communication are necessary? Does this really lend itself to higher order thinking, or just spread-too-thin thinking? Those involved (all great people whom I immensely respect and read regularly) are reporting that this is a fascinating new layer. I’m not sold at all, but I was not there, either.

    Published work should involve some layer of personal contribution – formats that are essentially live transcripts are nice, but do they provide enough information to prove worthy?

  • On SMART Boards and other Interactive Whiteboards…

    A comment I posted at the site for the SMART Board Lessons Podcast was discussed on theSMARTBoard_Podcastlogo_small.jpg episode that followed. Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger are the hosts of this excellent weekly show that focuses on using SMART Boards in the classroom.

    The discussion (during episode 74) that caused my comment was about the differences between brands of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) and the issues that arise. On the following show (episode 75), Ben and Joan discussed my comments and brought up some good points. I received an email from Ben inviting me on the show – perhaps something will work out.

  • The Top 100 Most Influential *People* in IT

    The title of this article published by eWeek should really be, “The Top 100 Most Influential Men, with a couple ofZDTop100.jpg women tossed in, in IT. By my count there were a total of seven women in this list.

    Seven??? I guess its no suprise that men dominate the IT industry, given the stereotypical image of men being computer savvy. I was just suprised at how glaring the lack of influential women in IT is, in this age of equality, or attempt at such.

    Is this just one more uphill battle girls in school will have to face – another profession which they will have to go out of their way to prove themselves to get anywhere? I think about my daughter, only 2 now – does she face the same glass ceilings that have existed for years, and will the glass be thicker?

    I sure hope not. Technology IS the necessity of the future, and there is 50% of the population that has just as much brain power and skill to lead companies, and the world, in the direction we want them to go.

    Attention all girls: You are bright, you are talented, and you have every right to lead the way in what happens in techhnology. Don’t let ANYONE, including yourself, let you think any differently!!!

    Image citation:

    "Top 100 graphic." eWeek. 12 May 2007. Click image above for source URL.

  • What should our model classroom look like?

    This is a question we ponder regularly, and is a question we should ponder regularly. Its been on my mind again recently as we (district technology facilitators and IT staff) think about major upgrades to our computer technology hardware.

    So, what should our classrooms have in them as far as computer technology? We have started toclassroom concentration.jpg infuse good things into the classroom, but are they the right things? Are there other things to consider?

    I’d love to hear any idea, big or small. What would make you want to leap out of bed in the morning and get to your classroom?

    Image citation:

    Phitar. "Classroom Concentraion." Flickr. 13 Feb. 2007 http://flickr.com/photos/phitar/
         89287777/.

  • When will state exams be word processed?

    8818524_3a9d27ff31_o.jpgIts ELA testing time – all of our 6th, 7th and 8th grade students are busy writing furiously in their test books.

    In the era we are entering, where the web is our medium of choice, kids spend far more time keyboarding (correctly or incorrectly) than writing. In the work force the same is true – handwritten communication is far less common.

    Are we reaching a point where students are being inhibited in performance because they are handwriting?

    By no means am I saying throw out the ink and get the keyboards out – handwriting is important, of course, but is the zone of comfort moving from quill to QWERTY? As a technologist I’m on the keyboard constantly, so this is certainly the case for me. Any writing I do that is intended for an audience besides me gets typed. One main reason is that my handwriting is pretty bad – I have a hard time reading it myself.

    There are huge logistical implicaitons for having students word process state exams. Equipment access is obviously the biggest one – if every student has to word process at the same time, there are not enough computers to do this. A one-to-one initiative would have to be in place to pull something like this off.

    Just some food for thought – definitely file this one under Russo’s Ramblings…

    Image citation:
    “Pen and Ink.” by Trinity-of-One, via Flickr 18 January 2005.

  • SMART Board Sweetness

    600i_overview.jpgSo with the current focus on updating our 5-year Technology Plan, I’ve been thinking about new hardware. In the area of interactive whiteboards, the newest thing is an all-in-one solution that includes the whiteboard, a projector, speakers and all necessary computer hookups in one wall-mountable system. The version from SMART Technologies, our district’s standardized brand, is the model 600i. I was just reading an article about how Sarasota County in Florida is installing thousands of Promethan’s all-in-one model, the ActivBoard+2. I figure GTCO Calcomp has a version as well, or will soon (have not looked into that).

    So why are these so sweet? The price is higher than any of the components separately, but when you factor in ceiling installation of a projector, labor, cabling, etc., the price suddenly becomes very competitive. All the pieces for an excellent A/V teaching station are built right in together. My biggest concern is that since these are newer technologies, how wil they perform? Specifically the projector – it uses “short-throw” technology – since the projector is on an arm connected to the board, it has differnt components to do so. The TCO of such projectors is the largest question mark vs. a typical ceiling mount installation.

    In some conversations I have had, it appears the technology is good – so its worth investigating if this is a solution we want to pursue. I’m looking forward to finding out!

  • flibbertigibbet

    How fun is that word??? It was the Dictionary.com Word of the Day for December 22nd. It means a silly, flighty, talkative person, and the word certainly matches the definition. Regardless of its meaning, its just plain fun to say – try it – you’ll see what I mean.

    I subscribe to the Dictionary.com Word of the Day through my Bloglines account. Each day brings one word into my inbox – this one is worth a year of subscribing!

    Flibbertigibbet, flibbertigibbet, flibbertigibbet…

    PS Disclaimer: I’m not implying I know any flibbertigibbets – I just like the word…

  • Time’s Person of the Year 2006 – You, me, him, her…everyone (almost…)

    timewho.jpgSo Time Magazine announced that anyone who contributes to/uses the Internet in the current Web 2.0 sphere to be the Person of the Year for 2006. It’s an intriguing concept, but I’m not sold on this being the most news-worthy “person” this year.

    Reading the introduction piece to the story, it is absoluteley optimistic about what the web is doing to bring power to the masses, and I’m a sucker for optimism. The Internet today is a publishing platform for anyone who wants to get on board (hence this blog…) but is that the most news-worty thing this year? Is that the most important thing that shaped the world, given that fact that more of the 6 billion people in the world do not have Internet access than do? This may be the most important thing for those who take broadband for granted, but what about those who do not have electricity and are more concerned for how they are going to feed their child his/her next meal?

    Like I said, I’m not convinved on this one, but then again, the only people who care about Time’s pick are those who have a standard of living such that these things matter. One thing is for sure – those with Internet access can more easily identify with global thinking since the globe is the stage of the Internet. Has the Interent shed new light and power on the masses? I’m not so sure on that one, either. I think the Internet has shed light on how the masses really are (and Youtube has just become a vehicle to “show off”), rather than creating a new common human condition.

    Anyway, as the category says, file this one under Russo’s Ramblings…

    Image citation:
    killrbeez, “Time Magazine Person of the Year” 26 December 2006, via Flickr.