CEMaT Ed Tech Connection

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The NY Times just recently published an article titled Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? It provides much food for thought around reading and what it means to be literate today. The article cites university research, some from right here in Michigan. The comments page hosts some interesting opinions from around the world.

It was announced at the 2008 National Educational Computing Conference in San Antonio last week that Apple will now offer K-12 institutions the ability to distribute audio and video content through iTunes U. Eight states, including Michigan, will serve as pilot content providers. Michigan Department of Education’s corner of iTunes U is called MI Learning. (Search for MI Learning in iTunes.) At the time of this post, MDE has uploaded about 100 free pieces of educational media for public consumption from 5 main providers of content. MDE plans for offer stipends to local educators to develop content. The focus will be on Michigan history although other content areas are welcome.

In an interview, Michigan Department of Education’s Director of Educational Technology and Data Coordination, Bruce Umpstead said these rich media assets for teachers, students and parents, “make education more relevant to where the students are at today.”

According to Director Umpstead, iTunes is blocked by most school districts due to the possibility of questionable content and downloading large amounts of data not related to curriculum that have the ability to clog schools’ networks.  So, why go through iTunes to distribute media? Director Umpstead citied these reasons:
•    To get educational media into the hands of students, engage them as lifelong, 24 hour learners, outside of classrooms
•    For parents to understand that the hardware their children use (computers, mp3 players, etc.) can be used as learning tools to access relevant educational content. When parents start to ask districts about using these technologies, districts start to listen.
•    For teachers to post media
•    Apple (iTunes) has a big share in the distribution of digital media

Unfortunately, at this time a glance at the 100 or so pieces of media on MI Learning shows that many of items are not geared toward students. Only about 30% focus on curriculum (Marketing).

Michigan Department of Education has partnered with MACUL on the project. Judy Paxton is the part time coordinator. She can be contacted at jpaxton@macul.org

Related links:
Listen to the Inside Michigan Education interview with Bruce Umpstead
Related article in the THE Journal (note: site supported by many ads)

Many are familiar with Daniel Pink’s thought provoking book, A Whole New Mind (if not, it may prove to be worth your time). Some Lenawee ISD staff members have had a chance to read portions of the book and jigsaw it in a professional setting. Those who have not read the book or just want more media about the thinking behind it may want to view streaming video of Daniel’s keynote address at the 2008 Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Conference: http://webcast.kzonetworks.com/plugins/webcast/regform.php?id=155 (Viewing from KZO Networks is free, but one must register with a name and email)

Pink’s central ideas in an insufficient nutshell:
Routine work in the USA is disappearing, and right brain abilities (see below) are becoming more critical to our economy. The “write-right” rule applies: If you can write down the steps of a process and there is a right answer, then the task will go to the place that can supply providers of the task at the lowest cost. Right-brain abilities can be nurtured and developed.

Pink claims that the 3 questions that matter now can help determine who gets ahead and who gets left behind:
Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
Can a computer do it faster?
Is what you are doing in demand in and age of abundance?

He says that the 3 factors contributing to the offshoring of logical left-brained tasks are:

Abundance
We’ve experienced huge changes in middle class living standards in the last couple of generations. Example: We now have more automobiles than licsenced drivers. We need self-storage units for our extra stuff outside of our homes which translates into an industry that is larger than the motion picture industry.

Asia
The highly educated fraction of the people in India and China overwhelm entire populations in other regions of the world. By 2010 India will become the world’s largest English-speaking country.

Automation
Routine work that can be done by computers (ie. some kinds of legal work, preparing taxes, etc.) cuts into our need for certain professional services.

There are 6 right-brain abilities that are hard to outsource and automate and matter most in an age of abundance (read the book for detailed definitions and suggestions for exercises):

• Design
• Story
• Empathy
• Symphony
• Play
• Meaning

A big take-away for education:
In schools we now have relatively good access to hardware (computers, camcorders, cameras, headsets, mp3 players/recorders, etc.) and software (Photo Story, iMovie, Audacity, Inspiration, Garageband, web 2.0 apps) that allow students to exercise and grow their right-brain capacities, however it is clear that we need to change our instructional practices and expectations so that students are engaging with these tools in meaningful ways.

Holding with tradition of the past 8 years, the annual fall AT&T / MACUL Student Technology Showcase will be held at the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing on Wednesday, November 12, 2008. This event is a great opportunity for a teacher and a small team of students to highlight and demonstrate student technology projects to the Michigan legislature and the general public. As noted on this blog, 2 teams from Lenawee County participated in 2006.

According to MACUL, “Last year over 50 schools demonstrated technology-rich projects to legislators to help raise their awareness about how students learn in the 21st century. Last year’s displays included local history projects, robotics, student broadcasting, computer repair and support, digital storytelling, scientific classroom technology, and much, much more.”

The 2008 AT&T/MACUL Student Technology Showcase is free for participants and visitors. Registration is not quite ready yet but will be soon at www.classroomhelp.com/att (2007 info is still up). Keep updated through the MACUL website www.macul.org.

As the flattening of the world becomes a commonly agreed upon concept, building understanding between cultures and countries is increasingly important. Somewhat similar to the groundbreaking Encyclopedia of Life web project (which was written about in this blog in July 2007), the proposed World Digital Library will seek to distribute an unprecedented amount of “significant primary materials from cultures around the world” via the Internet. All kinds of media will be archived and made freely available in multiple languages as early as late 2008 or the beginning of 2009.

The project, proposed by James Billington, Librarian of Congress, will include robust search functionality, translation, and magnification, among other tools. The project is being spearheaded by a group of international institutions led by the Library of Congress and including Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the National Library of Brazil, the National Library and Archives of Egypt, the National Library of Russia, and the Russian State Library.

PD opportuntity from Oakland Schools:

Power UP! 2008 Educational Technology Conference
Fri. April 11, 2008 - 8:00 am to 3:30 pm - Oakland Schools

Power UP! 2008 will feature discussions about Web 2.0, Michigan School  Technology Requirements, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and survey  information from the Pew Internet & American Life Project (conference brochure)

LISTEN to national and local professionals speak about  technology in education!
OBSERVE student demonstrations showcasing technology use!
VIEW an extensive technology vendor area!
Conference content questions? call Mike Souden at 248.209.2287

COST: $35 per person, which covers food and meals
Registration (online) accepted through 5 PM, Friday, April 4, 2008.
For registration questions please call Event Management at 248.209.2500.

The 2008 MACUL Conference is March 5 -7 in Grand Rapids, MI.  Conference participants will learn about innovative, technology-related programs and have access to an extensive exhibit area which highlights hardware, software, computer-related materials, and other educational technology. There is still time to register under the early bird rate (until Feb. 19).  After 2/19, rates go up $30.

Special offer: A complimentary conference registration (non-transferrable) is offered to a school board member or superintendent with each fully-paid, two-day conference registration from within a school district. There is no limit on the number of complimentary registrations per district, although the invitation is extended only to the superintendent and school board members. School board member(s) and/or superintendent(s) are welcome to come for one or both days of the conference. This offer excludes pre-conference and hands-on workshops and does not provide membership in the organization.

Conference highlights:
Pre-conference Workshops (3/5)
Conference Kickoff Reception (3/5)
RoboFest (3/5)
Opening Keynote with Mary Culliane (3/6)
Student Technology Showcase (3/6)
21st Century Model Classroom (3/6 and 7)
Featured Speakers/Breakout Sessions (3/6 and 7)
Closing Keynote with Hall Davidson (3/7)

PBS Frontline just aired an important episode called Growing Up Online.  It explores how the Internet is “transforming the experience of childhood” for some youths.  If you missed it, you can view the entire program online (high bandwidth needed) at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
In addition to the episode, the site also offers extended interviews with experts, links to helpful resources, a chance for viewers to post their ideas to a discussion board (a fascinating read) and more.  The Growing Up Online Teachers’ Guide should be ready for people to access in February.

What are the implications of the topics explored in the episode for Lenawee County residents?

Last week the Library of Congress announced on its blog that it has joined the Web 2.0 shift with a pilot project that resulted in uploading to the photo-sharing site Flickr more than 3,000 photos from two collections of its vast holdings (over “14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials”). The historic images, in both black and white and color, are from the 1910s, 1930s, and 1940s and include a huge variety of subjects from agriculture to World War II to sports.

 
Delano, J. Going to town on Saturday afternoon, Greene Co., Ga.  Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 1941.

What does this mean to the average person? LoC sees this project as leading to increased access to their informative collections. “No copyright restrictions are known to exist.” This is good news for education, but users still need to cite sources when downloading or linking to the photos. Folks with Flickr accounts can help tag the images with meaningful words or phrases. They can also leave comments about the images or add notes, opening the door to knowledge sharing or questions and answers. Many images already contain many comments, tags and notes.  People can also subscribe to a feed that automatically announces when LoC posts new photos.

Library of Congress Blog:  http://www.loc.gov/blog/?p=233