EdTechDreams

Fingerprint Scanners in Schools: NOT an Invasion of Privacy

2007-10-01T08:22:00.000-04:00

I caught this article on the Time Magazine web site today regarding fingerprint scanners at schools. Apparently there is some kind of row over the fact that the lunch program is using fingerprint scanners in the lunch lines. Parents have raised concerns of privacy issues. What privacy issues? Parents flock to get their children fingerprinted to protect them in the case of abduction. Now many don't want their kids fingerprinted so that they can get their lunches faster. I personally don' t see how that can be construed as an invasion of privacy. I tend to not like a whole lot of government intrusion into people's lives, but this? Maybe I'm just missing the point, but what exactly is it that they fear will happen with these fingerprints?

Are you anxious about technology?

2007-09-28T17:00:00.000-04:00

The more I'm involved with education technology, the more I'm convinced that the greatest obstacle to the advancement of the use of technology in classroom instruction is anxiety. I run across it daily in my job. People will confess to me that they really wanted to perform a task on the computer, but were afraid to do so.

Age has something to do with it. The more experience you have with technology, the more comfort you have with trying to tinker with it. I was lucky enough to have grown up with parents who were willing to cultivate my interests. My experience started with a TI99-4A computer attached to our television in fourth grade. I imagine that is why I find it natural to grab something electronic.

Those who were not so lucky to grow up with technology are faced with a strange machine that really frightens them. So what is it that frightens you? That you will break it? Break it: tech support will fix it. Disclaimer: just save your files on a disk as a backup before doing anything too adventurous. When it comes to computers, they only way to learn is to push yourself to learn. If you push yourself, you would be amazed at what you can create with technology. Take the leap, today!

Economic Mapping

2007-09-27T10:25:00.000-04:00

I ran into a good site on Economic Mapping. I thought this would be really great for Social Studies classes:

Visualizing Economics

Maps like this could stir some good discussions on Social and Economic Classes.

Out With The New And In With The Old

2007-09-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

Dr. Scott McLeod, author of the Dangerously Irrelevant blog had a principal pulled from his Principal Blogging Project by the principal's superintendent. Dr. McLeod has some biting comments. I mostly agree with Dr. McLeod's comments. However, some superintendents feel the need to control all information to and from their school district. A superintendent having the right to do so, doesn't make it right. Public Relations is a true art that isn't understood by all. I hope the principal in question is able to return.

Email technique: keeping you out of trouble.

2007-09-24T09:01:00.000-04:00

I thought THESE were some great tips from Tech Learning regarding how to use email. It has several strategies and warnings that I find to be especially true. I wish I had written this myself.

TechLearning Article

Free Software Required

2007-09-17T20:33:00.000-04:00

India's Department of Public Instruction has made free software, including open source, mandatory in Computer Education classes. I keep wondering how bad Microsoft is feeling the pinch?

Check out the whole story.

Misconception to Concept: Social Constructivism

2007-09-11T22:24:00.001-04:00

One of the funniest shows I watched growing up was "Kids Say the Darndest Things." Whether you are a fan of the Art Linkletter version or the Bill Cosby version, what makes it funny are the kids and their view of the world. It's the little misconceptions that get us laughing.

As we grow up, we discover little misconceptions we have about ideas and subjects that we thought we had a grasp on. Such is the premise for the theory of Constructivism. Each of us have our own versions of concepts that we have "built" through our learning experiences. When a concept is introduced to us, that concept takes form primarily through analogies to other concepts with which we are familiar.

As we build these concepts in our mind through further learning experiences, it becomes like a large incomplete puzzle in our brain. Some parts of the puzzle may be missing while others may be completely wrong. It isn't until the missing parts are introduced to us through learning experiences that we might get the full picture. When we change the incorrect areas of the puzzle through learning experiences, we see the concept completely different than we had previously.

Social Constructivism is a way of bringing people together with different viewpoints of a concept in order help fill and correct the misconceptions that fellow students may have about a subject. Basically, learning a concept is greatly influenced by the context of the learning experience and the social interactions with those around us. This is precisely why using groups in learning has been so popular in education. Students help eachother understand concepts through the sharing of their learning experiences with one another and building the concept together as one. As the learning experience is underway, one student may have a misconception and one of that student's partners may correct them as they work on a common project. In other words, one student is missing a piece of the puzzle and another student has that piece in their mind. Through sharing and collaboration, they are able to fill in the missing pieces of eachother's puzzle.

Many of the tools that I will be talking about in the coming weeks have sharing and collaborating as key elements of their function. This is precisely why Education Technology is a great way to foster social constructivism in the classroom. By taking advantage of the sharing and collaborating elements of these tools, we can cultivate the mutual building and correction of concepts we wish to impart to our students. In the end, students possess a stronger, more precise understanding of a concept.

I found this great page with links to information on Constructivism and Social Contructivism. I've given an extremely brief introduction of the theory, and I invite you to read on!

I'm Back!!!!

2007-09-11T15:16:00.001-04:00

OK, maybe 2 months off was too much. Either way, I'm back and will be posting more soon now that I've gained momentum with the start of the school year.

Cool new gadget to keep the kids safe.

2007-07-09T14:29:00.000-04:00

Check out this little USB Key available at ThinkGeek:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/936f/

Install the software and the wee-ones can't go online unless it is plugged in. Keeps them safe and sound while sitting in front of the glow of the computer screen.

Features
High security access control system
Low-level Windows integration
Stealth technologies to prevent removal
One-key, one computer
Robust fail-safe procedures
Safe Mode boot prevention
Fully configurable
1024-bit RSA key signatures

I'd like to see it work in the wild, though. I wonder how quickly some hacker kid can get past it?

Why aren't educators discussing education?

2007-07-09T12:52:00.000-04:00

I've been in education for 10 years now and something just struck me that should have years ago: Educators don't discuss pedagogy. Maybe it has just been that I haven't been there at the opportune time. I have heard pedagogy discussed as a part of the usual beginning of the year in-service "blast" that teachers receive in our districts, but never in the hallways.

My challenge to myself and others in the edtech world: Get out there and ask thought-provoking questions regarding education, philosophies, techniques, and theories. Stimulate the teachers into thinking about how technology fits into these philosophies. Don't take it for granted that they "get it." Be a teacher of teachers and provide them with your insight.

Do educational leaders need to be Tech-savvy?

2007-07-04T09:15:00.000-04:00

Question: Do educational leaders have to be tech-savvy in order to have effective integrated technology programs in their building or district?

The simple answer is “No.” Saying that educational leaders need to be tech-savvy is equivalent to saying that they would need to have skills in maintenance, food service, special education, etc. The fact of the matter is that most leaders simply need to understand the concepts behind these areas. A great starting point is the NETS-Administrators standards.

If you are familiar with the other NETS standards, such as NETS-Teachers and NETS-Students you might wonder why educational leaders need to have technology skills in order to be effective. NETS-A is completely different. The fact of the matter is that educational leaders simply need to understand the concepts behind educational technology. In business, the CEO doesn't need to understand how a boiler works, but they at least need to understand that if the infrastructure is down, the company can't make widgets and, therefore, can't make a profit. NETS-A is a great launching pad for getting educational leaders familiar with the concepts behind educational technology, so that they can push innovation throughout the ranks and support technology integration leaders within their organization.

It is our responsibility, as instructional technologists, technology directors, technology coordinators, and other technology integration leaders, to ensure that educational leaders understand these broad concepts. If we don't, we not only do a disservice to ourselves, but also to students who can greatly benefit from educational technology. Here is a list of what I recommend to my brothers and sisters in the ed tech field:

Demonstrate effective examples of integrated technology in action. Don't just talk about, show the kids using the technology.
Promote and demonstrate effective methodologies with integrated technology and explain the philosophy. For example, I'm a great advocate of social constructivism and project-based learning. I make sure that in administrative meetings, board meetings and other gatherings of our district's educational leaders, that I show working examples of effective integrated technology through video, demonstration, or any other method I can contrive to get it in front of the leaders faces.
Be supportive of the teachers who use and model integrated technology. Be there for them. Get them what they need. Mention their names to educational leaders in order to promote your greatest resource.
Show research to educational leaders. Most administrators are "brass-tacks" type of people. It is the educational equivalent to “Show me the money!” Instead, it is “Show me the student achievement!” We have to not only show broad research by universities and other sources, but we also have a responsibility to show data that supports what we are doing in our own districts.

Take the time to promote, promote, promote. Become a saleperson for what you do and keep the kids in mind. They are why we are here.

Web 2.0: The Next Generation

2007-06-12T18:35:00.000-04:00

Whenever a new revolution in technology is coming about, I've always been proud of myself for being at or near the cutting edge. Maybe I wasn't at the "bleeding" edge where people are adopting emerging technologies immediately, but I was always looking for the new technology that would change the face of instruction in the classroom.

While I'm comfortable with the "boxes and wires" side of my job, there has always been a desire to focus on what we are here for in our type of "business": teaching kids. The last few years hasn't been too exciting, in my opinion, on the front of technology integration. Most of what I had been seeing was being recycled. Shame on me, for I had been asleep at the wheel.

As I was attending conferences and reading articles in newspapers and online, a quiet revolution was taking place on the web that will have a dramatic impact on technology integration: Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is the new Read/Write revolution of the web. You are probably already familiar with sites that are currently blocked in my district such as YouTube and MySpace. While educationally, these sites would most certainly have some value, the Wild West freedom of the Internet does not censor itself for content.

What has grown from such sites are a group of sites that focus on users being able to create accounts and then create, share, and collaborate with documents, pictures, and many other formats. Along with this has been a push from the tech world to move applications off of the computer to the Web. In other words, you won't install Microsoft Word, you'll log onto it from the web.

A great example of this is Google Docs (http://docs.google.com/). Here, you can create a text document like you would in Microsoft Word, and then share it with friends (or the world) and make it editable. Google Docs also has spreadsheet module and soon will launch a presentation module similar to PowerPoint. Other leaders in this new revolution that we will be looking at in the near future are:

While I'm sure there are many others, this is going to be my starting point for the next year. I'm more excited about integrating technology into the classroom right now than I have in a couple of years. If you're willing, I'm ready for us to take advantage of Web 2.0 in order to continue the educational technology revolution.

Ed Tech Dreams Intro

2007-06-05T14:12:00.000-04:00

Ed Tech Dreams is a blog for me to discuss Educational Technology subjects. Here I hope to share news, techniques, and announcements that will help us achieve more with technology in education.