MnEdTech

TIES 2011

2011-12-12T10:43:00.000-06:00

Hanging out at the 2011 TIES conference. Record crowds again, congratulations to TIES for that! Keynote speaker, Joel Rose, from the School of One initiative in New York gave a fine presentation. He discussed the large number of teachers who feel frustrated in their work. It helped explain why many teachers have a hard time adopting new technology. If they are already frustrated, adding something new (and often without any real training) just doesn't work. Tech Coordinators and others working in school technology get frustrated too. The many hats they wear on a regular basis can be daunting. I'll talk about that at a presentation this afternoon. We'll see how that goes. I think the important thing is to remember that everyone who works in educstion is part of a team and everything we do needs to be about the kids.

A Video Worth Watching

2011-12-02T08:52:00.001-06:00

I'm back again... I was introduced to this video and the website that the presenter operates by ECMECC's technology integration specialist, Jon Larson.

Adam Bellow is a former teacher turned educational technologist from New York. This video was presented at a conference in August 2011 and is very, very thought provoking and well done. Now we just need to act on some of the things he talks about in this presentation!

If you can find 15 minutes now or later to watch it, you shouldn't be disappointed. You may not agree with everything, but at minimum, you will think! Pay particular attention to some of the things he says about professional development! Then, when you are done, share this with administrators, curriculum directors, professional development coordinators, technology staff, teachers and anyone else who might watch it.

His website is called Edutecher. Lots of good information there. He has a mobile app as well so you can load it on your iOS or Android device. While the video above is from YouTube, if that is blocked by your school, it is also available on the Edutecher website (http://www.edutecher.net/tv.php?id=59). Enjoy!

Can we still interact with other human beings?

2011-01-10T22:50:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking quite a lot about human interaction and its current state in this technology rich world. When I was matriculating at the University of MN doing graduate work, I studied computer-human interaction and I've spent the better part of my adult life working with people and computers (and often both at the same time).

Today, I see people (sometimes myself included) walking around with their heads down and thumbs rapidly moving across virtual keyboards on tiny computers. How we don't have more sidewalk crashes and injuries, I'll never know. We certainly know about the risks of doing this while driving. Additionally, when I am out to eat, I am amazed at how many people I see with their faces in their smartphones when they are sitting across from or with other people. Have we lost the ability to interact face-to-face with other human beings? I hope not!

Recently, an article from the Minneapolis StarTribune was brought to my attention that addresses this issue to some degree. The author, Nathan Eklund, discusses the need to close his mental tabs before he is able to fully interact with humans after a day spent assimilated into the technology that is now part of our everyday lives. A very interesting read if you have an extra three minutes or so!

If it takes that kind of effort to actually engage in a meaningful conversation with our friends or loved ones, I'm worried!

I did also find an interesting new product introduced this weekend at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. You remember the boom boxes of the early 80's, right? It was the way people shared music at the time. People, most often kids, actually gathered together to listen to music and share experiences (of all kinds!!) Today, the kids walk around with earbuds stuck in their ears and sometimes share a playlist without any face-to-face interaction at all. Maybe this is OK, but it just doesn't seem right to me.

Enter TDK, a company I remember for their cassette tapes. They have released a 21st century version of the boombox that allows users to plug in an mp3 player or other USB device. I'm not sure it will catch on, but I'm glad to see someone still trying to support real human interaction.

TIES 2010 Conference Reflection

2010-12-10T12:55:00.000-06:00

High time I get back to this blog and give it a little TLC. And, there's nothing like a good education technology conference to get the "geek" blood flowing again. TIES 2010 was a very good conference this year and I commend all of the TIES staff, presenters and others who worked to put it together.

I also was very pleased that it had a decidedly education focus this year. I know that doesn't sit well with everyone, but I take this opportunity to point out that everyone working in a school needs to understand that the kids are why we are here and we all need to be concerned about the education of our children (whether ours literally, or figuratively).

Sir Ken Robinson, a best selling author and internationally recognized expert on creativity, was the keynote speaker. He advocates creating an environment in schools where students' creativity can flourish and they can find their passions. He points out that we have been stuck in a 19th century model of education. We have tweaked the process but certainly not transformed it.

I believe that technology must play a role in the transformation of education. We live in the 21st century with technology all around us. It can't be simply a tool to modify the same content we've always provided, nor can it be only a modern method for assessment. It needs to unlock a student's creativity and prepare them for a productive existence in the connected world in which they live. I also believe that we will make nary a dent in the system until we change the way we assess students. The reliance on high stakes tests that focus on 19th century skills is akin to stomping on the dreams of every child in a public school. The fact that we hold teachers accountable for students' performance on these assessments forces them to put aside any efforts to foster a child's passions and help them grow for the sake of covering what is "on the test." This may ultimately be the demise of our society. We must find a way to teach and assess 21st century skills for a global society.

All that said, take a look at the notes and materials from the many sessions at TIES 2010, and watch the following two talks by Sir Ken Robinson. I think you'll find it a thought-provoking and worthwhile experience.

Enjoy!

TIES 2010 Wiki

Sir Ken Robinson - 2006 TED Talk

Sir Ken Robinson - 2010 TED Talk

Technology TIPS done right!

2010-10-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

I recently received a message from a Minnesota instructional technology group list that originated with Shawn Brandt, a technology integration specialist for New Prague Area Schools. He was describing some aspects of Picasa, an online, free image management tool. In the message, he shared his website that includes well organized lists and descriptions of technology integration tools, news, a few instructional videos and best of all, tip sheets for using many of the tools. This is a very nice resource that Shawn has created, assembled and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Technology integration folks out there, take a look at this resource. This is a great example of putting wonderful resources and easy to use guidance right in front of your users' eyes. Well done! Here is a link to his "TIP Sheets" page, you can easily navigate the rest of the site from there...

http://www.np.k12.mn.us/TechIntegration/?page_id=47

Thanks for sharing this resource, Shawn!!

Marc Johnson

YouTube vids without ads and suggestions

2010-09-06T14:58:00.000-05:00

There is no doubt that YouTube has some pretty strange stuff. At times, very inappropriate for a classroom or any educational setting. However, there is plenty of very good, educationally sound material on YouTube as well. There are a number of reputable news outlets that utilize YouTube for posting their stories. Additionally, as we enter the mid-term election cycle, there will be a bevy of political content available as well (which could be good or bad!).

A member in the Verizon Thinkfinity Community suggested a website that will allow the user to enter the URL to a YouTube video and it will return a substitute URL (kind of like Tiny URL if you know how that works) that you can set a link to, email to yourself (or others), post to your blog (or other social networking site) and display the video without ANY of the ads or alternative content or suggestions.

It is called "Safeshare" - I've tried it and it seems to work quite well. I was able to paste the URL of a YouTube video into the box and voila' I had a new URL that opened in my browser and played the YouTube video without any of the extras - that can often be a deterrent to showing the videos in a classroom. Here is an example.

http://www.safeshare.tv/v/WvCIv5KCbeE

I have not tried this behind a firewall that blocks YouTube, so I don't know if it will bypass a filter. I am NOT an advocate of bypassing a filter anyway. However, if your school does allow YouTube, this is still a very useful utility to prevent any questionable content from accidentally being displayed when you want to use a YouTube video in your classroom, or, perhaps include it in a distance learning environment.

"Cool" online tools group in Thinkfinity Community

2010-09-05T15:00:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone...

Just a quick post to plug an online group in the Verizon Thinkfinity Community. It has been very active during the summer and the participants have some great examples of and ideas for using web 2.0 type online tools. Take a look! The group is called, "Online Tools for Educators" and, of course, joining is absolutely free and will NOT result in any spam or other unwanted correspondence.

HTML5 Video

2010-09-05T00:07:00.000-05:00

I started working on this post in June -- and then Summer hit like a freight train! It proved to be one of my busiest summers yet with work occupying more than its fair share of the time. No big family trips, but lots of small excursions here and there. All-in-all, it was good! Now, back to the reality of the school year...

I've been playing around with HTML5 lately, especially as it relates to video. We've been wanting to provide opportunities for video streaming at ECMECC without the cost of a commercial system. Budgets just aren't going to allow for that kind of expenditure. The issue that has been most problematic has been that of cross-browser and cross-platform support. We tried an implementation of Darwin Streaming Server, but it uses the RTP protocol which requires a plug-in such as Quicktime or RealPlayer. Not all modern browsers are supporting plug-ins the same way, then there is the issue of installing said plugins. We also tried some other methods of streaming including some open-source flash players. Great in many cases, but not supported on the iPhone, iPad or many other mobile devices.

Enter HTML5, the still evolving next generation of web development code. Now supported on most browsers and compatible with many mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad, HTML5 looks to be a promising (and relatively simple) way to stream video to the world. If I've done things right, the video below (the first generation of the popular "Did You Know" video) will play in nearly any browser on nearly any platform. If it doesn't work, give me a break, I'm still learning :-)

Below the video, I've inserted a few links to resources on video streaming with HTML5. I'll keep you updated on our progress!

data="http://www.ecmecc.k12.mn.us/html5/flowplayer-3.2.2.swf">

Download video as MP4, or Ogg.

Dive into HTML5 - A good basic guide to HTML5
Best HTML5 Media Players - A blog post with information on many HTML5 media players
HTML5 Tag Reference - A reference guide to HTML5 tags from W3Schools

Enjoy - and hope you all had a great summer!!

MN Legislature Preserves School Funding

2010-05-19T19:10:00.002-05:00

As is many parts of the country, there are tough financial times being faced by schools in Minnesota. With astronomically large state (and national) deficits, the job of a politician is more thankless now than ever. While I have been very critical of the direction of politics in general recently, I do want to take a moment to thank the members of the Minnesota Legislature for holding K-12 education generally harmless through the tough political decisions that were faced in the recently concluded session. Sure, there are still many underfunded initiatives and our kids are facing greater challenges than ever, but in a typical Minnesota response, "it could have been much worse." The fact that technology funding was preserved is of particular interest to those who might read these words.

Even if I don't always agree with them, I do respect the work that our political leaders are doing at a time of unprecedented global economic turmoil. Now, if we could just stop being so "gosh darn" polarized in our political views, maybe we could actually do some great things rather than just holding on.

2010-04-28T23:02:00.002-05:00

The Verizon Foundation has launched the redesigned Thinkfinity website. It provides easier access to some of the Thinkfinity resources from the home page. If you've never used this resource, you should really take a look. They work closely with nine national partners including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic and many more to bring high quality lesson plans, online activities and other educational materials to teachers and students.

The redesigned website also introduces the Verizon Thinkfinity Community where educators can converse, ask questions, trade ideas and more.

Belt AND Suspenders - A Lesson in Data Backup

2010-04-28T08:43:00.003-05:00

A college roommate of mine was once introduced at a banquet as the only person the emcee knew who was so conservative that he wore a belt and suspenders. That phrase has stuck with me over the years and I use it once in a while to describe security measures in technology. There are times when it means "overkill" and there are times when it serves as a good reminder - this one is the latter.

Two mutually exclusive events this week involving Data backup should serve as a reminder to all of us. Two stories of personal stress as two friends both lost years of digital photos. One accidentally deleted them and the other had a drive fail. In both cases, without any backup, the stress has been significant and the monetary cost may be steep. In both cases, many hours of lost time dealing with the issue.

One has recovered the photos at the cost of recovery software and an external drive to restore them to (and hopefully use as a backup drive in the future). The other will most likely get them back but will pay $600 to $1000 to a data recovery company.

Real examples to remind us all to practice safe computing. Back up that data early and often!

National Broadband Plan

2010-03-16T22:56:00.004-05:00

Recently, the FCC released the National Broadband Plan which was commissioned by congress in early 2009. While I haven't read through the 376 page document cover to cover yet, it has some ambitious goals and a direct impact on education. If you haven't seen it yet, you can download the entire report at:

http://download.broadband.gov/plan/national-broadband-plan.pdf

The plan website also has a great deal of information and is found at:

http://www.broadband.gov/

Goal #4 of the plan directly relates to education by suggesting, "Every American community should have affordable access to at least 1 gigabit per second broadband service to anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and government buildings."

In the school cooperative I direct, ECMECC, we have a gigabit network connecting 14 member districts, several non-member districts, higher education institutions, public libraries, county and city government and a few other entities. While we share the internet access among all the entities and it doesn't amount to a full gigabit, we enjoy a broadband network that permits us to share a number of services that are often limited to individual entities and we have great access to cloud computing services, video and all that the Internet has to offer.

Having tasted that level of access, it is easy to support that kind of connectivity or greater to every American community. It appears that the FCC is suggesting changes to the Universal Service Fund (E-rate) program to help facilitate this level of access. It will be interesting to watch this take shape. It will be important for all of us in educational technology to follow these developments closely and work together to see that any changes are implemented in a fair and equitable manner. The telecommunications companies will wield their influence to be sure and we will need to be at the table as well.

The final paragraph of the plan's executive summary worries me a bit. It begins with, "The remaining half of the recommendations are offered to the Executive Branch, Congress and state and local governments." I'm not convinced, recently, that these bodies are capable of implementing the recommendations that have been left to them. They continue, " Policymakers alone, though, cannot ensure success. Industry, non-profits, and government together with the American people, must now act and rise to our era’s infrastructure challenge." This I think is true. It will be an interesting decade ahead to be sure.

2010 TIES Coordinator Conference recap

2010-02-12T16:23:00.003-06:00

Well, back home after the annual TIES Coordinator Conference. Always a good time to network with colleagues working in school technology around the state. There were some very good sessions this year and you can find some of the session resources posted on the TIES Wiki if you are interested. Here are a few brief highlights...

Google, Google and more Google - Yes, this was quite the buzz. More and more schools seem to be riding the Google wave (pun intended if you know about Google Wave!) The Google Apps for Education package provides an enticing group of apps and who can beat the price. So... are schools moving this direction because it meets their needs or because it is free? I'll be researching this more as several of the districts I work with are looking seriously at this.
Mobile devices - The upcoming iPad from Apple was a topic of many. No, the Apple rep didn't have one to show us, but there was a fair amount of discussion about how this might affect education. I'm sure you'll hear more from me on this in upcoming posts.
Social Networking - Aimee Bissonette from Little Buffalo Law & Consulting discussed the legal implications of cell phones, email, texting, social networking, etc. both in and outside of schools. Her advice in a nutshell... be prepared, have set policies about such things in place for both staff and students and don't "look the other way."
Speed Geeking - Like speed dating only you have people with some expertise in various instructional technologies sitting at the tables and others who would like to learn about those technologies get to rotate through talking to each "expert" for three to five minutes.

As always, a good learning and networking experience. Check the wiki site linked above for more information.

Mobile Computing Revisited

2010-02-10T22:55:00.003-06:00

Wow... A lot has happened since my last post. For now, I want to comment on mobile technology again. I'll be discussing this topic once more at the TIES Coordinator's Conference with the hope of engaging some school technology personnel in a discussion of why devices like the iPod Touch may have a place in our classrooms. Now, of course, the iPad (still a rather unfortunate name, I think) has been announced and we have the potential of adding a device that runs all the iPhone/Touch apps on a screen with some real estate. It could be an interesting year ahead in mobile computing. Here are some good reads about the iPad and Touch that you might find interesting...

Article from the Apple Learning Exchange

Post at the MEMO (MN School Technology) website

Blog Post from Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog

Digital Learners

2009-12-14T13:00:00.003-06:00

I've posted information on the "Did You Know" series of videos created by Dr. Karl Fisch, Dr. Scott McCleod and others. There are several similar creations that live on the web. While we can certainly debate the statistics that are presented and the issues they raise, I believe they all serve a similar purpose. They make us think - something we all need to do more of.

The most recent thought provoking presentation that was brought to my attention is a video by B.J. Nesbitt. While it is a couple years old already and borrows heavily on the "Did You Know" vids as well as one by Michael Wesch, (they are credited) it certainly makes us think. How do students in our classrooms today learn? Is it any different than 20, 50 or 100 years ago? What does it mean to be a digital learner and do we teach them differently? As parents, (for those of you who are) how do you want your children to learn?

There has been criticism of this video for using kids to promote an adult agenda. I can see how some would think that way, but I also think it can be looked at as giving a voice to students. As I said before, that is debatable, as are the statistics. However, if we focus on those things and even turn it into a political debate, we forget to think about the real issue - which is finding better ways to reach and teach our children.

Here is the video for those who are not in a school building that blocks YouTube...

Why wouldn't I want my child to have one...

2009-12-13T21:28:00.007-06:00

Do you know how many times in the last two weeks I've said, "I should write that down and put it on the blog?" Too many to count. With the annual TIES conference upon us (for those not from Minnesota, it is the largest education technology conference in our part of the "states") it is high time I get going again! We'll shoot for once a week the rest of this month and then, hopefully more in 2010. I blogged about this once before, but here is a slightly different twist on the subject...

I will be presenting a session at the conference on the iPod Touch in the K-12 classroom from the perspective of a teacher and a parent. As my oldest son has entered into his teenage years, I've started to think more about this issue of digital learners. He is as engaged in the digital world as his parents will allow! He plays a few online games, is quite adept at accessing information and creates digital movies. He does not have a cell phone (he would have us believe he is the only one in 8th grade without one) but he does have an iPod Nano. I see what he and his friends do on a daily basis with the digital tools at their disposal and I can't help but start thinking about how useful these tools could be in the classroom.

Take the iPod touch, for example, and the over 100,000 apps available. It is no wonder that classrooms around the country are experimenting with it as a learning tool. With the proper apps (many of which are free) it is a graphing and scientific calculator, an e-book reader, a classroom response device, a video player, a podcast player and a web browser among many, many other things. So, as a parent... I ask the question, why wouldn't I want my child to have these tools available to him? That question brings up many more... Why doesn't the school allow my child to use this in class? Why doesn't the school technology department allow the device to connect to the school network - ever? When will education embrace the technology that is commonplace outside of the schools inside the schools? I'm sure I'm not the only parent wondering about these questions - or am I?

I'm curious what you think - please discuss.

Do They Know More?

2009-11-19T22:59:00.003-06:00

OK... While I'm not ready to admit being "long of tooth" yet, I have started to notice that I am not among the young people at staff meetings, training sessions or other gatherings of educators anymore.

Today, Jon Larson, the ECMECC technology integration specialist was lamenting the number of times he had heard phrases to the effect that all of the new teachers are going to come to us with plenty of skills using (fill in the blank with a current technology.) Neither of us are convinced that is true. While the young folks may have more experience USING certain technologies, I don't believe they know much more about using the technologies to TEACH than those of us who have been in the profession for some time.

Ten years ago, I was working on a project at the University of Minnesota designed to transform the way pre-service teachers learned about using technology in the classroom. It was a bit painful trying to change the culture of having one class in the program that taught every education student how to use a half-dozen computer applications to an integrated approach to using technology as a tool for teaching and learning. That said, I think we managed to improve the program over three years.

So... I did some very quick and non-scientific research on some current teacher education programs around the state, checking course descriptions and requirements. I was disappointed to see that, in many cases, there were very few mentions of technology in course titles or descriptions. In fact, in most cases (perhaps the "U" being an exception), the list of requirements looked strikingly similar to my own course of study twenty years ago. I can only hope that technology is so integrated into the programs that it doesn't show up in titles and descriptions. After all, that is what we often say we want to accomplish in K-12, technology integration. I know that we are still far from that in our schools, so I fear that Academia may be even further behind.

I plan to do some additional research on this issue and I will report what I find here. I welcome any comments and responses. If you know of a teacher education program that is doing a great job preparing our teachers to use technology in the classroom, let us know. If you are a new teacher and want to describe your teacher education program, I'd love to hear about it. I hope I am completely wrong about what is going on. Clearly, it is easy to lose touch with issues that you've been away from for many years. For me, this is one issue that I need to reacquaint myself with as I work to make my organization more focused on technology professional development and integration.

MEMO - "Did You Know"

2009-10-05T14:39:00.003-05:00

It has been awhile and it is utterly amazing how fast time flies when the school year is getting underway and we are in the "normal" swing of education.

During the past several days, I was in attendance at the Minnesota Educational Media Organization's (MEMO) annual Fall conference. MEMO is a professional organization for school library media and technology staff. (http://memotech.ning.com) It was a great conference (though I was quite distracted during it - more on that in a minute) with a very strong program for instructional technology. I suggest all media and technology professionals in Minnesota who are not members consider joining the organization. The cost is relatively low and what you get more than anything else is connections with others in your profession. You will make of that what you will, but we are at a point in time when those connections are as important as they ever have been. If you are not in Minnesota, there are similar organizations in most states and some national organizations too such as the AASL and ISTE.

One of the keynote speakers was Dr. Scott McLeod from Iowa State University (previously with the University of Minnesota). http://www.scottmcleod.net/ Dr. McLeod discussed many issues facing media specialists and technology integrationists in education today. He shared with us the latest version of the popular "Did You Know" video. I recommend you take a look. (http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2009/09/did-you-know-4.html) Be prepared to read fast as it moves right along! It is amazing how much information technology has changed the way we do almost everything -- except, in some cases, teach. I pin some of the blame for that on the mandates for accountability using traditional testing methods. It is difficult to effectively change the content and methods for teaching when we are still testing the same rote knowledge. Not impossible, just difficult. If you agree with any of this, you might consider sharing some of the information in the video and from Dr. McLeod's blog (http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org) with school administrators, school boards, parents and legislators. We don't need to turn this ship on a dime. Dr. McLeod might have us think that we need to move quite quickly - but it would be good to start moving that wheel soon.

So, I mentioned that I was kind of distracted during the conference. We were experiencing some major network slowdowns in my school districts. Fixed now, but it took several days and it made me realize even more how important the network, Internet access and so on are to our schools. We joke about the phenomenon of being distracted with the phrase "look, a chicken!" Being at MEMO and having several "chickens" distract me made me remember the ultimate chicken that distracted us during a working session at a summer conference recently. It was "Mike, the headless chicken," and for those who don't know what that is, here is a chicken to distract you for a few minutes. How would we have ever known about this before the Internet!! http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org

Enjoy!

Satisfy your inner Geek...

2009-08-14T11:48:00.004-05:00

The older I get the more I realize I don't know. When it comes to the hard core world of networking, I'm really on the periphery. So... I was looking to satisfy my inner geek with a little information on VLANs and I stumbled across a website that looks like it might be quite useful for those of us who are NOT network engineers yet find ourselves with questions that only a network engineer might know.

http://www.edugeek.net/

The site is all about traditional "IT" in the education setting. The forums in particular seem to be quite active and it looks like people generally get their questions answered quite quickly.

Have a good weekend!!

Technology on the school supply list...

2009-08-03T22:50:00.006-05:00

OK... August is here and I'll now acknowledge the multitude of "back to school" promotions going on at every retailer (even Menard's is selling school supplies). We've downloaded the supply lists for our 1st and 8th grade children and are now planning our contribution to the economy. Fortunately, the highest tech device on either of the lists is a scientific calculator. Though I must rant for a moment... On the first grade list is a ream of photo copy paper and a package of dry erase markers. Isn't the school supposed to supply those? I draw the line when they start asking for toilet paper.

With younger children, we have it easy. I know that in a year or two I'll be among those shopping for a shiny new graphing calculator. I've seen models required at some schools ranging from $90 to $150 or even a little more. And... while our 8th grader does NOT have a cell phone yet, I know that is probably right around the corner as well. So that begs the question when will a smartphone or similar mobile computing device show up on the supply list? Or, phrased differently, why wouldn't I want my child to bring a device such as the iphone or ipod touch to school?

If I have to shell out $150 for a calculator anyway and a cell phone (to be used in an appropriate way, of course) why wouldn't I want all of it packaged into a single device. Not to mention all of the other functionality the smartphones have. I've talked about this for a couple of years now and done a few presentations on it. The reception from parents and classroom teachers is usually positive, but I meet a much more critical response from the technology folks in schools.

We recently had a discussion about mobile computing devices at one of our cooperatives regular technology coordinator meetings. I don't believe a single school in the co-op allows smartphones in the classrooms and most would not allow a (non-phone) device like the ipod touch to join their wireless networks.

As a former technology coordinator, I can understand issues like security, integrity of the network and so on. As a former teacher, I understand the classroom management challenges they present. However, as a parent, it gets a bit more fuzzy. I can spend $230 (or less) and equip my son with a device that is a scientific and graphing calculator, dictionary, thesaurus, foreign language reference, has full access to internet research tools, displays, stores and allows editing of word processing and spreadsheet documents, has access to hundreds of math, science and social studies applications, can function as a classroom response device, and... I'll stop there, but you get the picture. Oh... and if I want to, I can get one that is a phone too.

I can give him one, but he can't use it in school. What message does that send to our parents and students?

There are, in my mind, too many positives for us to draw a line in the sand and say "no" to these devices. It will be a challenge to figure out how to properly implement them and it will take a great deal of education for staff and students alike. Remember when the Internet was new and there were discussions about whether we should even let students access it? Try to take that away from an entire school and see what happens. We found a way to make that work (usually).

Plenty of people smarter than me have found great ways to use these devices in classrooms and I think it transforms teaching every bit as much as an electronic white board (and you can get a classroom set for 1/2 the cost). Try the phrase, "smartphone in the K-12 classroom" (or use "ipod touch" in place of smartphone) in your favorite search engine and you'll find a wealth of information. One of my favorite sites for ideas on using mobile devices is, http://www.learninginhand.com/

I'm sure I'll write more about this in the future. For now, I'd like to hear from you. Anyone in a school that is using mobile devices in the classroom? Has anyone tackled this with their technology personnel? Are parents asking about these devices or am I the only one thinking about it? Feel free to comment - oh, and you can chime in about your feelings on artificial vs. natural turf too if you'd like :-)

A little late to the party... but here we are.

2009-07-30T22:48:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite episodes of the 1980's (and early 90's) sitcom, "Cheers" is when main character Sam Malone, the "once was" major league pitcher now tending bar in a small watering hole in Boston "where everybody knows your name," is given the opportunity to fill in as a TV sports reporter. Part of his duties are to do a nightly commentary called "I on sports." He proceeds to provide captivating discourse on such controversial topics as... "cheering for the home team" and "natural grass or artificial turf." His ticket back to bar tending is validated when he turns to a rap and ventriloquism on back to back broadcasts.

Why do I mention this? Well, I'm certainly late to the blog party. Hey... despite years of work in education technology, I'm not always an early adopter! Despite the tardiness, I hope NOT to be one of those people who thinks they have something to say but, in reality, has no business, "doing the sports news on TV." What I DO hope is that I can provide engaging and perhaps, once in a while, entertaining information about technology in the K-12 schools. I may cover the role of traditional IT in the school environment, new and interesting instructional applications, administrative issues such as funding or staffing, and maybe an opinion or two.

I expect to invite some "guests" to write at times and I invite comments and feedback of all kinds. We'll get this party going full steam next week. In the meantime, enjoy this set of clips from Cheers - and, "Cheers"!!