Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book

Arvind Gupta: Turning trash into toys for learning

Variable Workspace Environment Survey

Please complete this survey in order to provide insights about this direction of thought with regard to variable workspace environments.

I believe the stand-up desk question is actually a three dimensional equation where one could sit or stand while working on a vertical or horizontal surface, all cross-referenced with the particular task at hand. In other words, it is not a simple either/or situation.

Nor is it a generalizable personal preference. Instead, it is a task-specific, personal situation that may have a fourth dimension: Time. Does the time to complete the task (or work on the task) affect the preference as well? I think so, but will have address that in a later survey.

Until then, thanks for your participation on this pilot survey.

A Stand-Up Desk Experiment

In order to learn more about how the application of stand-up desk would work in MCPS elementary school classrooms, I thought it would be interesting to just put one in a classroom and see what happens.

A 3rd grade classroom at Lewis & Clark was chosen and one adjustable stand-up desk was delivered.
The desk, pictured below above, came with no strings, directions, or rules. The teacher was in charge of the desk. I guess there was one string, however. Well, two really. The first is that I would be returning the desk to its proper home at or before the end of this school year, and second, I wanted to know what the students and the teacher think about the desk, and would likely blog about it here.

Students take turns using it and chronicling their thoughts about it. The images below represent the written thoughts of the students who have used the desk thus far. The first two images are those things the students listed as pros of the stand-up desk, and the next two pictures are the cons about the desk. You can click on the images to make them larger.

Maine's Kindergarten iPad 1-to-1 Initiative

Years ago, I followed the Maine schools 1-to-1 laptop project. I found it interesting on multiple levels, but also I was skeptical for several reasons. Now it is time to dust off my past thoughts and update them given the changes across education, technology, and the 21st century world in general.

In the meantime, here are a few links to get readers up to speed:

The Impact of Maine’s One-to-One Laptop Program on Middle School Teachers and Students: Phase One Summary Evidence Research Report #1

The Impact of Maine’s One-to-One Laptop Program on Middle School Teachers and Students Use of Laptop Computers and Classroom Assessment: Are Teachers Making the Connections?

Research Report #4

Article: Going One-to-One from the December 2005/January 2006 issue of Learning in the Digital Age

Personally, I have an iPad and am quite pleased with the device's potential in education. The iPad2 is even better, but ultimately, it is not the machine but the use. As an instructional technologist encouraging the effective and appropriate use of technology in education, my goals include the fearless use of technology in academic and creative endeavours in order to pursue, with reckless abandon, great teaching and learning. In other words, the tech should become invisible within the experience and the learning be conceptualized and owned independent of the device.

In the above CNN video, I tired to figure out what the students were doing with iPads. A lesson learned (from my perspective anyway) from the earlier Maine 1:1 Laptop initiative was that in order for the technology to truly impact the students within the overall longterm goals of education, it had to take a backseat to the content and message of the lessons. However, in studying the 1-to-1 results including those in the links I referenced above, I sometimes had a hard time separating out the computer from its effects.

The yardstick I am using here is not to make the project platform-independent whereby any similar tech might/should yield similar results (as I believe that is often a mistake by the uninformed that leads to 1) the rapid downfall of a project, 2) measurable results contrary to those intended, and 3) a clear path for opponents to challenge the hardware decisions and budget), but instead to focus on the learning objective and outcomes by which the device is an efficient conduit to personalization and success.

The kindergarten entry point for this integration will also be a something to watch. Not only is it a project launching from a grade level often contrary to conventional district technology expenditures, but it provides a wonderfully effective leverage point causing all grades to follow to either get with the program or risk giving the impression that a student's matriculation is actually downhill slide into mediocrity.

Is the Future of Education on the Web?

Astoria High School in Astoria, Oregon just became an experiment in the future of student computing. The tech company Google put an experimental laptop into the hands every one of the school’s 700 students. Beyond the usual one-to-one initiative is the fact that the particular laptop, named the Cr-48, is not a regular laptop, but more a cross between a laptop and a mobile internet device.

Here's a video of the initial deployment at the High School.

What a day!

The video below is a humorous take on why to use an internet based notebook over a traditional laptop. Note: at the end it mentions that 25 computers were harmed during the filming. No kidding! With the fabulous photography, especially in slow motion, and the application of wonderful yet damaging scientific/engineering procedures, this five minutes and 37 seconds is well worth your time even though it is an infomercial.

What does the P in PC stand for? Why personal of course. But have you forgotten why the C was called P? I know, the Cr-48 is not just a dumb terminal accessing a mainframe…or is it? Either way, that’s not my point. Instead, I would like you to consider why we wanted some P in our C.

Was it to get away from the mainframe? Likely. But remember the mainframe is not dead, just remarketed. IBM has a whole page of mainframes for sale on their website as well as a historical archive of information about the mainframe. And with just a slight tweaking of the meaning of the term mainframe, cloud-based computing and thin clients have pushed mainframe as a concept back to the forefront. It’s just that the mainframe no longer must be physical machine in a physical place. Instead it is more of a mystical aberration where everything is sort of …well, everywhere, anywhere, somewhere?.

In a nutshell the Cr-48 looks like a laptop and behaves like a laptop, that is if you only use your laptop to surf the net and use web or cloud-based apps. It does not download in the traditional sense, nor run traditional programs beyond its browser-like OS called, as you’d expect, Chrome OS, and Chrome-based apps. In fact, in some ways is similar to the One Laptop Per Child Program's XO machine.

Here are some links to info and reviews about the Cr-48 notebook:

Google’s site showcasing the Cr-48

Engadget’s review of the Cr-48

A first-hand account of using the Cr-48

A description of a soon to be released public version

And of course, a naysayer’s take on the Cr-48

So the Google CR-48 Chrome notebook is an interesting change in paradigm…or is it?

I’ll spare you my take on the Cr-48, especially since I have not played with one yet, but I do find this technology innovation somewhat circular in its reasoning. Not good or bad, just circular. But remember, traveling in a circle does not mean you are always in the same time zone.

New technologies have a way of arriving before their time. But in this case, the Cr-48 just might be right on time. Very much like the iPad, it will take users of the Cr-48 a while to start asking what it can do rather than what it can’t. But once over that hump, there is a great big world of new possibilities waiting discovery.

And that's when things will really get interesting!

Really using 21st Century Technology

In the video above, a Missoula third grader gets to use a rather striking example of 21st century technology to talk about some common topics in science, namely earthquakes and volcanoes.

Interestingly, back at the 2009 National Science Teachers Association's national conference, the US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan mentioned that, “You need to challenge yourselves and each other to move the curriculum beyond dinosaurs and volcanoes…”

Duncan did not say don't teach about dinosaurs and volcanoes, but instead teach about them and then beyond them. Frankly, if kids could grasp the actual science behind dinosaurs and volcanoes, they would be far ahead. Sadly, most lessons in these areas focus on lower level (knowledge, comprehension, etc.) "facts" which are easy to assess with multiple choice instruments.

As I watched the video, I was encouraged by the pauses as the student studied the imagery on the globe. He is not reciting anything, but interpreting what he sees which in my book is at the highest levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. In other words, complex scientific images are presented in a spherical (authentic) representation of the earth which in turn are then cognitively analyzed (separated into pieces) by the student, then reassembled (synthesis) into a reasonably coherent explanation of the relationship between the pieces (remember the student is only 9) .

A few things to keep in mind: 1) the sea floor is visible here, but in real life it is not; 2) the images are in false color; 3) his sister is selecting and moving different images of which the student does not always know what is next; 4) the globe is bigger than the student so he cannot even see half the globe from his perspective; 5) the colors change and the oceans and continents switch between positive and negative space projections; and 6) the student is able to adapt to the images "on the fly" meaning he understands not only the individual concepts but their relationship to each other.

The Price of the Wishes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea3oQeP2nPM

This MCPS video provides some insights (and coaching, I presume) into what students wish for, expect, and deserve. It is an interesting list and in most cases requires more change in attitude and procedure than in funding.

I believe there are many opportunities to save money while implementing the 21st Century Initiative. Do you?

Here is an abbreviated transcript of the student wishes. Following the wish, I added my thought about the cost of such a wish. Although I leaned my guess on the generous side, my point is that we can do much with little or no change in cost.

Each question is followed by the gist of the student response.

· How do you feel you learn the best?

· When it’s quiet with a touch of music Free

· … teachers demonstrate things Free

· …my teacher demonstrates stuff Free

· I see how to do it, then I do it Free

· When I have a partner who can help me Free

· By doing the project. Not just by watching them Free

· …when someone shows me Free

· …with interactive projects Free

· …when I have music on Free

· being able to stand up and move around Free

· hands-on experiments Free

· when my teacher shows me it and we work it out on our whiteboards Free

· when you work in partners Free

What do you wish the school day looked like?

· …start a little bit later Free

· ? fun and friendly with math Free

· start later and end later Free

· start the same but end at 4 Free

· more social studies Free

· perfect, no problems

· an hour in gym Free

· science every week Free

· come in at 9 and end at 2:30 everyday Free

· start at 8:40 Free

· longer so we could learn more Free

· more geography in our school day Free

· more science Free

· bright and sunny Free

· started a little later and end later Free

· 20 days in a row school and then an 8 day break Needs study

What do you think students need to learn to help them be successful adults and community members?

· Read higher ranked books…push themselves to the limit Free

· Math and science Free

· More science Free

· Science and math Free

· Math and reading Free

· More science and social studies Free

· More math Free

· More English Free

· Math and reading Free

· How to handle real-life situations Free

· Fish and hunt Free

· More math Free

What technology do you wish you had at school?

· New computers Large expense

· iPads Mild expense

· more internet access Free

· faster computers Large expense

· laptop Large expense

· iPads Mild expense

· iPad Mild expense

· iPad Mild expense

· iPads Mild expense

· smartboards in our desks Large expense

· iPads Mild expense

· iPads Mild expense

· touchscreen computers built into the desk Large expense

· newer computers Large expense

· touchscreen computers built into your desk Large expense

· iPads Mild expense

· laptops Large expense

· iPads and computers Mild and Large expense

· new computers Large expense

· laptops Large expense

· five cameras Mild expense

How would you make a better learning environment?

· Bigger with more ? Free?

· Like how it is Free

· Wouldn’t change anything Free

· Like it the way it is, perfect… Free

· Having kids pay attention more Free

· Standing up desks Mild expense

· Like it the way it is Free

· Get the weird smell out of there Needs study

· Have a longer school day Free

· Stand-up desks Mild expense

· Art Free

· Take reading tests Free

· I like it just the way it is Free

20th century skills for the 22nd century and beyond!

"To know the road ahead, ask those coming back."

---Chinese Proverb

-----The following is a post I made in my Science 2.0 Blog for the National Science Teachers Association about its consideration of 21st Century Skills. The original post appears (click) here.-----

A team of science educators has developed a new NSTA position statement acknowledging the value of 21st-century skills within the context of science education (available here). The statement advocates for the science education community to support 21st-century skills consistent with best practices across a science education system and notes that “exemplary science education can offer a rich context for developing many 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and information literacy.”

With the first decade of the 21st century already in the rear view mirror, it is somewhat interesting-for several reasons-to still be considering what we call 21st century skills. Like it or not, the 21st century is already 11% over, and yet 21st century skills discussions are couched as if 1) there is a really a choice, and 2) the 21st century is still to come.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane to consider the challenges to traditional education when calendar pages all over the globe flipped from 1899 to 1900, or in this case, to 1911.

Some of the notable events of the first 11 percent of the 20th century include:

The first Nobel Prizes are awarded

The first Trans-Atlantic Radio Signal

Einstein proposes his theory of Relativity

The first electric washing machine

Ford begins selling the Model T

Plastic is invented

Peary is first to reach North Pole

The air conditioner is invented

Blériot flew his monoplane across the English Channel

Rutherford discovers structure of the atom

Raymonde de Laroche was the first woman to receive a pilot's license

Amundsen reaches the South Pole

The first talking motion picture is demonstrated

Digested, this list indicates we drive cars, human flight is obvious, instant global communication is possible, we have a serious challenge to Newton, the guts of an atom are known, and we have stood on the extreme reaches of our planet. In essence, kids, everything from here on out will be much different than anything known before. Ever.

Welcome to the 21st Century Parents for 21st Century Schools blog

As a parent of two students in the MCPS, I have more than a passing interest in the success of the 21^st Century initiative. And likely it will be up to the parents to make sure the implementation is both a reality and successful in its goals.

Although there has been a considerable effort by the MCPS 21^st Century committee to both inform and include parents, much of the initial work on the initiative was somewhat ambiguous and hard to jump into the conversation already in progress. There are likely many reasons for a generally low amount of parental involvement during the design phase, but it is my opinion that as the project is implemented across the MCPS, then parental involvement is critical in order to maintain the momentum of change, and provide the personalized input that only parents can.

The other day, my third grade son casually described how the time was filled as the viruses were being removed from the school’s computers. Earlier, he described how much time was wasted waiting for the computers to boot up, and then restart after crashing while trying to log on to the network. What makes this move from funny, to sad, to angering is that my sixth grade daughter had the same complaints when she was in third grade.

It is my hope that the MCPS vision for 21^st century education will be implemented expeditiously. Any 21^st vision worth its salt must be nimble, transparent, and responsive. It cannot be an old-school hardbound action plan rolling out a checklist for the next ten years. A 21^st century education is more than technology. It is more than content. It includes skills, philosophies, understandings, and environments. Although the events of the world right now are catching governments off-guard, they should not be surprising since they are simply scaled up versions of what we see everyday.

Students cannot be manufactured in an assembly line fashion according to historical traditions. Too many students are disenfranchised, discriminated against, and discouraged by our current system and its methods. Much of the educational failure of the past was grounded in a one-size-fits-all model often driven top down and without remorse for those who did not fit the traditional stereotype of an American student. You know, the perfect kid in the 1950's TV shows and movies.

However, the 21^st Century initiative will provide a rich playground for change where all students are equally important, and provided their necessary avenue for success. But teachers are not the only experts here. Parents must be involved if this implementation is going to allow the positive and necessary change we hope it will. In fact, parents may be the main force necessary to make it successful. So with all this in mind, I encourage you to join the dialog, share your dreams, and let your voice be heard.

It is also my hope that the successes and interesting observations can be shared here. Parents will see a side of this initiative outside the school walls, and those insights need to be shared if we truly are 21st Parents for 21st Century Schools.