Diane's Discoveries

He really did turn me into a writer…

This just makes me feel good about teachers...from Konrad Glogowski's blog: blog of proximal development » Blog Archive » He really did turn me into a writer ….

From Konrad: The following is an e-mail that I received yesterday from a former student. He was in my grade eight class last year and participated in my PhD research. The post that he refers to in his e-mail is my farewell entry that I posted at the end of August to thank my former students for a wonderful year of cognitive engagement.

Cell Phones: the Next Computers?

Will Richardson's blog brings discussion to the future of cell phones: Weblogg-ed � One Phone Per Child (?).

The New Face of Learning

Oh, My! This is an excellent article by Will Richardson in the online magazine, Edutopia:

Link: The New Face of Learning.

WHAT HAPPENS TO TIME-WORN CONCEPTS OF CLASSROOMS AND TEACHING WHEN WE CAN NOW GO ONLINE AND LEARN ANYTHING, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME? By Will Richardson

The more things change, the more they stay the same

The latest from a favorite blogger, David Warlick; his September 20th blog: 2 Cents Worth � The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The other day, I posted a list of my very first workshops as The Landmark Project (1996), and commented how most of the topics are still among my topics today — evolved, but the concepts are still there.

Chris, at K12 Station commented:
I started training teachers to integrate the web into their classrooms in 1999 … no surprises here in the area of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” The thing that amazes me is that most teachers use computers for attendance and email with almost no problems whatsoever … but many of those same folks still don’t have an adequate grasp of the key concepts required to deliver online content within instruction.

2 Cents Worth » Hitchhikr Today
Chris, I have always held that teachers (and everyone else) will use technology that solves a problem for them. Teachers do not really see delivering content as a problem. it’s what they were trained to do. It’s what they’ve done for years. There’s no problem there, from their perspective.
However, the problem that they do not yet perceive is that our children DO NOT CONNECT TO LECTURES AND STALE POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS. They live in a rich, dynamic, and interactive information landscape. If teachers are paying attenntion to this, then they will see a problem and will, as good teachers, try to fix it. That’s when they’ll start “getting” technology.

It will happen when they realize that it isn’t about technology, but about a new information landscape and that only from digital, networked, and overwhelming information will we be able to adequately teach our children.

It’s the Kids, Stupid

Will Richardson was in Edinburgh the end of May and especially was impressed by the students; below is a glimpse into his comments, see all his comments at: Link: Weblogg-ed » It’s the Kids, Stupid.

"There certainly were a week’s worth of highlights packed into my quick two-day visit to Edinburgh for e-Live 2006, among them meeting Ewan McIntosh, David Muir and John Johnson (three more checks on my edblogger life list), the very enjoyable meetup at the Jolly Judge just off the Royal Mile and later a fun dinner in Leith near Ewan’s home, listening to Alan November’s keynote and the opportunity to meet and chat with dozens of educators at every level of the Scottish system. But the best highlight, not suprisingly, were the kids. This conference was especially enjoyable because there were kids everywhere, in the audience, in the vendor booths, welcoming participants into the sessions, and even a couple of troops of wandering podcasters that were reporting on the event. It was really just a joy to watch them, producing everything from complex GarageBand performances (they even had one student band doing live performances into the computer) to creating claymation movies to demo-ing a whole host of interesting other applications that were set up throughout the venue. (Note to self: don’t just pack the camera next time…actually bring it to the event. Doh!) Talk about engagement! These kids were totally, wholly involved with the technology, having all sorts of fun, figuring it out, pushing it. It was pretty amazing..."

Understanding Students' Plumbing

David Warlick always has interesting comments about education; here is an excerpt for you to check from his post "A Day At Home".

Link: 2 Cents Worth. A Day At Home:

The study on the rise of IQ comes from James Flynn, a political scientist in New Zealand. Called the Flynn Effect, he has documented how IQ has been increasing since 1947, and that it started accelerating in the late 1970s. They suggest that advancing technology is having an influence on our thinking skills. Think about the digital watch, that will do 25 different things, with only three buttons. It's why I do not wear a watch any more, and why my VCR is a 12 o'clock flasher.

Our students, on the other hand, are adept at reasoning their way into these tools and operating them more intuitively than their neanderthal elders. But the literacy issue is vexing. What kind of society will result from a generation who can adapt easily to the machines, but do not know how to think about them, talk about them, or make decisions about their worth and ethicacy?

Technology is the way that our children work. But we must teach them how to work the information. The technology is merely the conduit. It's new plumbing. It's information that flows through it, and although the plumbing is changing the nature of that information, it's real-world knowledge, knowledge skills, and communication that people must learn to do. They will not learn it, until we start to understand their plumbing, and using it to guide their learning.

Multitasking...How do they do it!

It's hard for my generation to understand how students can multitask while doing homework. Here's a teaser; you'll want to read the whole interesting article by Tom McHale: Techlearning > > Portrait of a Digital Native > September 15, 2005.

Meredith Fear sits in her room doing her homework. Books are scattered about, and a computer monitor glows before her. She is working on two Word documents and has four Web sites open. She checks her school e-mail account, her Bloglines news aggregator, and Furls of an online article for her independent study. She quickly transitions from this to respond to group members on Instant Messenger who have attached PowerPoint slides for an upcoming class presentation.

"The computer gives me a contact to all the people I need to talk to," Fear says. "It's a gateway to the world."

Today's secondary and even elementary schools are filled with students like Fear who are adept at multitasking and using technology in exciting new ways. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation report, "Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds," found that students who use media the most also spend more time with family, friends, and other activities. That may explain the need to do many things at once.

"It's the way we've all come to be raised," says Fear, a senior at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, New Jersey. She is a member of the National Honor Society, student leader of the local Amnesty International chapter, and president of the school's International Thespian Society. "There's a lot of work we're expected to do. You have to multitask to get everything done." That is particularly evident when doing homework. The Kaiser report, which surveyed more than 2,000 3rd through 12th grade students, found that almost "one third of young people say they either talk on the phone, instant message, watch TV, listen to music, or surf the Web for fun most of the time they're doing homework."...

Flying Colors

I just rediscovered an old friend, Edward de Jong: Magic Mouse Productions - Home of the best cd labeling software. Edward is the creator of a superb software program called "Flying Colors"; Edward demonstrated his beautiful, creative program at several TRLD conferences, the last being from 1996 through 1998. I'm happy to report that the software is still available.

Version 2.11 - Fun for the whole family. No grandparent should be without this product. This is one of the only programs you can use with your grandchildren to stimulate their creativity.

Although this website quote mentions grandparents using the software with grandchildren, teachers love it! Check his website for details.

Laptops to replace textbooks

It will be interesting to see how (if) this works out: Education | www.azstarnet.com ®.

All-laptop high school to open in Vail Textbooks are so last-century. At least, that's what they're saying in Vail, where about 350 students will ditch books for laptops this fall as the Southeast Side district opens the state's first...

Using iPods in the Classroom

Teachers Find Cool Uses for Apple's Ubiquitous Music Player

It's a sleek, sexy must-have for the MP3 set, but Apple's iPod -- a digital music player in fancy dress -- is more than just a gadget for tuning out nagging adults. With the help of some clever software and creative teachers, the device can get kids engaged in their schoolwork -- and help them express themselves.

Take a project by first-year teacher George Mayo, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. His sixth graders at Brandon Middle School record podcasts, or online radio shows, as part of their classroom blog, the M&M Online Magazine. On the air, they talk about their own blogs, from Nicole D.'s "True Life Stories," about classmates, to Anthony R.'s "Myths and Legends," which deals with Dracula and the Loch Ness Monster. One podcast consists of interviews with "busy" eighth graders who talk about the life of an older student.

The students use Mayo's computer, a microphone, and the recording application GarageBand to capture what they want to say. Then they convert this recording into an MP3 file (a popular audiocompression format) and upload it to the Web at www.mrmayo.org, where it can be distributed through an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed to subscribers who listen to the shows on their MP3 players -- iPods, most likely -- at any time.

Podcasting isn't the only way to integrate the tiny handheld into the classroom. At South Gate Middle School, in South Gate, California, students use the iPod and a small detachable voice recorder, like the Belkin or the Griffin iTalk, to interview family members about what it means to be an American. On Martha's Vineyard, in Massachusetts, third graders at West Tisbury School use the gadget to learn phonics. Beginning and English as a Second Language readers record letter sounds onto the iPod with a voice recorder, then import these audio files back to iTunes on the computer. The teacher records instructions for a lesson onto the iPod, creates a "playlist" of letter sound files on iTunes, and exports the lesson back onto the device. In an activity with consonant and vowel cards, students then listen to the lesson and, after hearing the prerecorded letter sounds, create words like cat or pad using the cards.

"It takes no time to teach children how to record their voices," says Valerie Becker, West Tisbury's technology teacher. "Even a student with short-term memory impairments was instantly comfortable with the iPod, and the middle school students do not need to be taught and can work immediately."

Whether used for podcasts or pod phonics, the popular player has earned a place in students' backpacks -- right next to their textbooks.

You've just read an article from the latest issue of Edutopia magazine Edutopia News 6.8.05