Technology

Children of 2030: My Magazine Only Has One App

John,

Long time no see. I’ve obviously been missing in action on this side of the hemisphere as I prepare for eventual fatherhood. The thought makes me nervous but excited for this new future I’ll have. For one, when people ask me about my kids, I don’t have to say “Some of them are OK, but we’re having a hard time with negative exponents.” I can actually talk about my own at home. Secondly, the child is coming into a world that’s rapidly changing with little regard to whatever the older generations believe about the current world. As many of us relish the “good ol’ days,” whatever that means, the younger generation has already deemed the absurd as possible and the eccentric as normal when it comes to communication in different platforms. To wit, please watch this:

We knew this was bound to happen. We just didn’t know in what capacity. Not only is the baby befuddled by having these media, she prefers the newer medium, possibly because of aesthetics, but also because of the ease of us for the child. She sees the magazine and tries to use the same methods she used for the iPad on the magazine and got immediately frustrated rather than try to learn how the magazine works.

That’s prescient for those that believe that publishing is dead. After ruminating on this some more, I thought about how many purists say, “Back in my day, books mattered. Now all kids want to do is play on their little devices. They’re gonna be an illiterate bunch!” Not so fast. I can’t imagine that, back when the printing press was invented, that purists said, “Back in my day, writing books by hand mattered. Now all kids want to do is get books already printed for them and then they quickly move on to the next one. They’re gonna be an illiterate bunch.” Libraries look cool, but if we could store 1000 books in a fraction of the space, why wouldn’t we?

More importantly, if a portable reading device is more intuitive and more interactive, doesn’t that (at least minimally) connect the reader with the text? People still want to read, but no matter what the medium. Much of it is a matter of relevance and engagement. Conde Nast, for instance, made an excellent move recently by developing app versions of their magazines. Wired Magazine particularly functions MUCH better under the iPad than the print version. Computers lend themselves to a different depth than the print version. Kids get that. Why don’t we?

In no way am I saying we should dump the hard copies of everything we have. My living room has stacks upon stacks of books from all different genres. In a few years, I know that, while I’m sitting next to my son reading a book, he will, too. They’ll both have pages, both tell a story, both have an author, and both be available to us as often as we like. Mine will require both hands. So will his. Mine will require my finger tips to turn the pages. So will his. When I’m done with mine, I can put it back in my library. So will he. It just so happens that his will be thinner than the width of a pencil, and he can get his books much quicker than I can.

Smartphone Learning

Submitted by JohnHolland on Fri, 09/23/2011 - 7:55pm.

Hi Folks,

I attended the NYT Schools for the Future conference thanks to the Center for Teaching quality this Thurs. I met an educator there who wanted to know,

What kinds of teaching/learning is possible/being done, with smartphones. He is a headmaster of a private school serving a variety of SES students including high poverty.

Has anyone had success using smartphones as a learning/teaching tool and if so how? If anyone has links to examples I would love to see them. I told him I would access out network to answer his question.

Thanks you awesome people.

"All About Me" goes digital

Submitted by AnnetteHarris on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 9:48pm.

Last week my students completed their first project of the year, digital stories about themselves. Every classroom teacher usually has their students write an "All About Me" during those first few days of school when they are trying to get all of their paper work in, organize textbooks and their classrooms. So, I decided that this year these stories wouldn't end up at home in a trash can or kitchen drawer. We turned the students' creations into a digital story using TuxPaint, Photo Story 3. The students' stories were made into a classroom story in Windows Movie Maker.

First, students created a drawing of themselves using the free downloadable program TuxPaint. They had an option of creating a cartoon drawing of themselves with exaggerated features or their own interpretation of themselves. Each student took the first letter of their first name off and this became their "new" name. This was something I thought put a little twist on the task, and the students did seem to be intrigued by this simple change from the normal. They soon had their drawings completed since they learned to use this program last year. The next step was to add them to Photo Story 3.

Second - Fourth Grade

Students in 3rd and 4th grade learned to use Photo Story 3 last year when they were 2nd and 3rd graders. A quick refresher on the program was unnecessary for some, but we went through the steps for creating their own digital stories. Second graders began their photo stories with no knowledge of the program, so their instruction was more teacher directed. We used the interactive whiteboard to model how to create a photo story. Each day I went through the very simple steps again as a reminder.  All of the requirements for the photo story were visible to the students while they worked.

All students imported two copies of their drawing, edited the first image, left the second image "as is". This created a pretty cool transistion from the edited version to the orginal drawing which the kids loved. Next, students added their name, customized motion, recorded their voices reading their already written "All About Me".The last steps were to add their music and save the project in folders labeled "Students" on our local server. Each classroom has a subfolder in the "Student" folder and we use these for all of our projects, so second through fourth grade students quickly learn how to navigate in and out of the folders to save or transfer work.

The finished products were added to Windows Movie Maker and a classroom movie was created. This movie was added to the school website so parents and grandparents could enjoy their very cute creations. We watched the stories in class and the students evaluated their work. Their comments about their own work? The voices were too quiet or too loud, the microphone was too far away or too close, the music was too loud. We didn't spend alot of time discussing these things while the students were creating their stories. They would likely have not believed me or listened anyway, but they discovered what needed to be done to make it better on their own and I believe will make the adjustments as the school year goes on.  Students in grades 3 and 4 will upload their digital stories to their home pages in ThinkQuest and add the text of the stories to their home pages as well.

As I reflect on the project, I believe that it was a good project and I think a great way to start off the school year. What would I do differently? I will let students evaluate a partner's story before finalizing the digital story in the program. There were only a few who didn't finish or didn't save their work properly. Those few had some time management issues and didn't complete their drawing, so they had to import whatever they had completed into their stories. Some students did not complete their "All About Me" stories for the classroom and not all teachers participated, so these students wrote their stories at home or during the computer lab time. The classroom teachers who spent more time on developing the students' stories have the best digital stories.

Kindergarten - 1st grade

Students in Kindergarten and 1st grade have no experience in the computer lab  since last year I only taught 1st - 4th grade. I introduced the program, TuxPaint to them and they learned how to use the tools in the program. Then, these students used the program to draw a picture representing themselves. This program is great for teaching kindergartners their shapes, colors, and "click and drag" of the mouse, saving and opening files, starting a new file, erasing, choosing appropriate tools. They added their names to the drawings and I imported them into Photo Story 3. Each student recorded their voice on their picture and a classroom digital story was created. These are posted on the school website and we viewed them in computer class as well. When they evaluated themselves, all of the students said they "needed to talk louder".

So, the first project has been completed and I'm very excited to be moving on to something new. (Check them out on our school website ) What is in store for Kindergarten and 1st grade? This week we are working on creating patterns using the program, Kidspiration.

Third and 4th grades received their user names and passwords and logged in to ThinkQuest for the very first time this year. The 3rd graders are very excited and think they are very grown up now that they have their own web space. The 4th graders are old pros and easily transisioned into the program. They will spend this week and next setting up their home pages and will add pages about current events, music, art, and sports. We will focus on writing this year as they learn how to send messages, ask for directions, post writing assignments, create and respond to discussions. More to come on this exciting program.

Second grade was happy today as they are learning about writing captions for photos. They brainstormed captions today after viewing two photos. One photo was of chickens that had just gotten off of a big truck. The best caption of the day? "Chickens gone wild".  Next week, they will divide into groups of four, take the digital cameras out, and take their own photos. Then, their each member of the group will take a photo, insert it into a Word document, and write a caption for each picture.

Pretty exciting things are going on at WES! Stay tuned for more details on projects as the year goes on.

 

 

 

 

Kenan Fellowshipdom

Submitted by KarinaColon on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 3:10pm.

On Monday of this week (6/23), I began my trek in to Kenan Fellowshipdom, and by Friday, my brain had turned to mush.

Read up on the Kenan Fellowship Program so that you can get a little background. As part of the KFP, fellows spend two weeks in a summer institute receiving professional development that will aid in curriculum and leadership development. Week 1 was held from June 23-27 at NC State University.

I arrived at the McKimmon Center at NCSU early Monday morning feeling blessed, nervous, anxious, and happy. While the day proved to be filled with a plethora of program information, we also received brand new laptops, stipend checks, and “getting to know you” opportunities, as well as the promise of a week full of exciting opportunities.

On Tuesday, Fran Riddick of the Triangle Leadership Academy came in to talk about technology, ethics, and 21st Century Skills, while John Dornan, president and executive director of the NC Public School Forum, spoke about education systems around the world.

On Wednesday, we visited MCNC in the Research Triangle Park and listened to a few presentations about cutting-edge educational technology. In the afternoon, we listened with awe as Billy Ray Hall president of the NC Rural Economic Development Center spoke about the impact of globalization on rural North Carolina, and as Carolyn McKinney discussed professional teaching standards and the teacher working conditions survey.

On Thursday, Dave Walbert and company schooled us on Learn NC. In the afternoon, we traveled in passenger vans to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science to learn about exhibit design and educational programs.

Finally, on Friday, we visited MeadWestVaco Corp located on NCSU’s Centennial Campus to understand the climate and culture of innovative organizations, spent some time with the esteemed Dr. Denis O. Gray discussing the social science involved in industry-university partnerships, and toured the brand spanking new Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) at NCSU with Winnell Newman, manager of student programs. While at BTEC, we also went through a series of simple experiments with Dr. Driss Elhanafi that he designed to show how biomanufacturing (at its simplest) works.

And that was the end of week 1. So why am I telling you all this? Well, I wanted to recount what I did and to highlight the diversity of my experiences. AND to speak on the thread that ran through all the presentations: PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Hold on a minute! Isn’t the 21st century here…like right now? Anyway..this is a summary of my thoughts on all I heard and saw this week.

Today’s world is very different from what I ever imagined it to be. I must say that my teachers, not really knowing what I would face, prepared me fairly well. Yet, I must also say that I had exceptionally great educators. Does everyone?

The truth is that K-12 teachers today are preparing a different type of child. A child bombarded by information. Teachers today are competing for attention and losing. You can hear them complaining, “Johnny doesn’t listen. Heather can’t focus. Michael doesn’t stay on task. Lisa can’t work in groups. Juan can’t work independently. Shenika can’t read. Nguyen can’t write. Who can compete with video games?” TEACHERS CAN!!!

The thread running through my week was the need for education that will prepare students to work in a technology-rich, collaborative, innovative, progressive environment. An environment that will call upon them to apply skills, analyze and evaluate information, synthesize, forecast, create, invent, and innovate all while working cooperatively with others. How many teachers do you know are doing this? REALLY DOING THIS? I know it’s hard: testing, standards, parents, testing, poverty, nutrition, testing, NCLB, language issues, lack of resources, testing… But if I and a bunch of others can do it, so can you. Reach out and ask for help if you need it.

We are not preparing students for our past, but for their futures. So for the sake of our future, teachers, start doing your job!!
Stop letting the textbook do your teaching. Stop letting your students sit in silence all day long. Stop test prepping. Stop making excuses. Stop making YOUR life easier. Stop, stop, stop, stop!

Do what you know is right, if you know is right. I understand ignorance abounds in education, especially among teachers, but it’s not for lack of information. It’s out there for the taking. But you must go get it! You can start by:

1. Being a lifelong learner.
If you don’t seek out information, how can you expect your students to seek? If you don’t learn from your mistakes, how can you expect your students to learn? If you don’t stay on top of research, how can you expect students to find it relevant? If you don’t learn, you can’t teach.

2. Taking action in the classroom.
Engage your students in active learning, authentic learning, real-life stuff. Put them to work together to solve a problem, complete a task, or plan a learning experience. Become a facilitator of learning, not a giver of information. Visit corporations and model your classroom after a successful one. Forget the egalitarianism that is teaching and stick your neck out. Show others how it should be done. Set an example.

3. Differentiate!
Every learner is different. Meet each child where he or she is at. Work with their strengths in order to pump up weaknessess. Let students help each other. Assess, assess, assess and then plan instruction accordingly. Respect differences, be tolerant, and accepting. Why should a child that can’t read be forced to read a novel? How would you like it if someone did this to you?

4. Collaborate
You don’t know everything so ask someone for help. Put brains together for the benefit of your students. Research proves the power of collaboration. Stop being hard headed and full of pride! It’s not about you…

5. Choose to be Great
Being a great teacher starts from the inside. Choose to believe that you are a great educator, that your students can learn, that your colleagues are valuable, that parents mean well, that the world is a good place. You CAN choose - but will you?

Teaching is no longer about giving information. In the 21st century, the age of advanced technology, abundance, automation, and working parents, it is about teaching students how to analyze and evaluate the unsurmountable loads of information available. It is about teaching students HOW to learn, WHERE to get resources, and WHY it is necessary. It’s about teaching how to use technology tools for “good and not evil”, how to innovate and create, how to collaborate and succeed. It is also about character education and ethics - teaching how to be productive and positive citizens.

TEACHERS, LISTEN UP! Get your head out of the 20th century and tune in. Students need you - Remember you too are competing for their attention.

Teacher Leaders Network Digital Toolbox

Submitted by agladinkramer on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 10:41am.

Teacher Leaders Network Digital Toolbox 

Use your voice

Audacity is a fairly intuitive tool for recording and editing digital sound files, with multiple tracks, useful for podcasters and musicians.

Gabcast is a tool for creating podcasts and integrating them with blogs. Its unique feature is it lets students record sound from a touchtone phone.

Skype is a free voice and video conferencing tool. You can even make phone calls from it!

Voicethread is an online media album that allows multiple parties to respond to text, video, and audio files using phone, microphone, telephone, text or video. 

Customize your information experience and network around ideas

PBWiki provides a free, basic web space for educators. Your students can use a common password to share files, collaborate on projects, submit homework, and lots of other stuff. And don't forget about using TLN for creating wikis to share with site members.

Twitter is a connectivity tool: Contacts can “follow” each other through “tweets” about personal updates, news flashes, quick thoughts, etc. Let TLN blogger and technology guru Bill Ferriter explain it to you on his classroom technology wiki.

Trailfire is a half-networking/half-bookmarking tool that lets you mark a trail through related websites and share your trails with other users to streamline your browsing and find helpful resources quickly.

PageFlakes for teachers is a feed reader for news that includes a grade tracker and task list. 

Become an educational news anchor--or bring digital video to your classroom 

TeacherTube is the place to share instructional videos or post clips for students, with supporting files (lesson plans, etc.) attached. The tool also lets you embed video feeds on websites.

If you have videos you'd like to share with the TLN community, feel free to send them to awilliams@teachingquality.org for inclusion in TLN TV.

Share and organize your images

Flickr is a sleek online photo organizing interface that integrates easily with programs like Voicethread.

Wonderful new resource with copyright-friendly images including gorgeous photos, free for use in blogs and other publications:  http://morguefile.com/archive/

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