Mobile devices have become so powerful now it is hard to believe. All of the photos and video in this post were shot on my HTC Evo phone by Sprint. Most, if not all, of the middle and upper school students I work with have phones of this caliber. As a technology director I'm often thinking about how standardized systems support ease of adoption and support in schools. At my school every teachers in the middle and upper school has the same laptop, in the lower school, the faculty have the same laptop. Each student in grades 8-12 has the same laptop in each grade. This means teachers know what students have, and the tech team can easily support them as the knowledge needed is limited by the limited models.
But, if the real issue is certain generic capabilities of the tools (photos, video, writing, audio, Internet access), perhaps standardized equipment is not necessary. I am not convinced by this, but am somewhat enchanted by it. People using their own tools in ways that they are comfortable with. Will that meet the needs of teachers trying to utilize technology for higher-order learning? I don't doubt that it could, but I struggle with how to be strategic in an institution doing it.
Are you letting people bring any device to school? Giving them access to your network? Letting teachers manage dozens of different ways of approaching lesson objectives? What are the advantages? What are the drawbacks?
I had to draw it up before I forgot, but here's the setup for the NCAIS Innovate conference broadcast. @alexragone was in New York City, @vvrotny was in Chicago, and I (@arvind) was live in North Carolina. We conducted a live webcast of our show 21st Century Learning by interviewing @kellyhines, @msstewart, and @plugusin. The team at #ncinnov8 was awesome, hospitable, and just plain fun. The audio/video of the broadcast is being edited and will come out as soon as we can get it out. Thanks to Kelly, Meredith and Bill for the wonderful conversation.
Lastly, but not leastly, big props to @samandjt for his and his team's incredible work getting the tech set up. We did some last-minute tweaking (read: a lot) and they handled it with grace.
TEDxNYED used more than $100,000 of equipment (most of which we rented for ~$9,000) to record/broadcast live in HD. We are currently editing the videos which will be placed on TEDx's YouTube channel. @mjmontagne asked me via Twitter if we would share our AV setup, so I fired up Inspiration and made a quick visual. If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Racewire is one of the few places covering how net neutrality legislation affects people of color in particular. They are in support of a regulated national broadband plan that would help protect "certain" communities from being left out and/or targeted - they make a comparison to the unregulated mortgage industry which preyed on people of color. This is an important issue to keep in mind as you watch the evolving dialog around broadband laws.
Today a colleague of mine and I gave a talk to middle school parents at our school on ways to teach your child about appropriate boundaries and behaviors online. We shared a number of links and I thought my readers (if there are any!) might find them useful for use in your own schools and with your own families. There are a lot, but they are great!
We watched the video, "Do You Know 4.0"
The Pew Internet and American Life Project did a study called Generational differences in online activities which summarizes the different things that different age groups do online - from e-mail to social networking, and everything in between.
David Pogue has a well-written article in the New York Times titled, How Dangerous Is The Internet For Children where he breaks down the myths and truths regarding children online. In that article is a link to the PBS Frontline documentary Growing Up Online, which is well worth your time to watch. You can watch it online for free.
We discussed a New York Times article titled, Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain, which discusses how women and girls actually produce the majority of image/video driven content on the web, breaking some of the myths of boys/girls and technology.
We discussed how the biggest threat to our children is bullying and sexual harassment and looked at an article about students and parents resorting to "Facebook sabotage" and sending colleges "dirt" on prospective students.
If you and/or your daughter are using Facebook, do read the article 5 Easy Steps to Stay Safe (and Private!) on Facebook.
We looked at a tremendous parent online safety guide created by Wes Fryer that includes resources/articles/lessons on: filtering, limits, social networking, instant messaging, parent resources and more.
From your questions
A number of you asked wonderful questions, and we told you that we'd include links to resources on regarding those questions. Here they are:
Creating family guidelines
We discussed creating guidelines for your family that are clear for your child and you. NetSmartz has a great age-based list of guidelines that you may want to consider.
Multitasking and brain development
The Dana Foundation has a good primer called Brain Development in a Hyper-Tech World which tells us that little is yet known about the effects of all the technology in our children's lives. We do know however that "multitasking," or fast attention switching makes learning much less productive than focused work. The article also discusses social development in the age of Facebook.
Questions about spelling
Research shows that text message speak does not harm spelling skills. Article from the Telegraph.
The Curriculum, Technology, and Education Reform master's program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a good summary of some of the research regarding using computers for writing, including critiques of and benefits of using spell check software.
Filtering your home computer
We don't recommend any particular brand of filters for home. That being said, many families find it helpful to block out objectionable content or block certain websites/applications at certain times. GetNetWise has a section that highlights popular filtering tools.
PC Magazine has an article on Child-Safe Browers.
Misinterpreting e-mail50% of all e-mail is misinterpreted, even that written by the best writers. Know that when you are sending and reading e-mail, and discuss this with your children.
We've been having a great time use Flip video cameras at the school where I teach. We have students video tape their robots (one-button recording, no memory cards), plug the camera directly into a laptop (no wires needed), and then upload to our school account at Blip.tv. Then, take the little code snippet, pop it into our EdTech blog, or our Moodle, and the video is ready to go. Simple. Effective. Awesome.
Now, Flip came out with the Flip HD, and David Pogue put up a great video review. Do yourself a favor, get one of these for the holidays for a few hundred dollars (or less for the cheaper ones), and forget about all that klunky old video hardware.
I provided a little writeup for the NY techies list to help them get ready for the NEIT2008 Unconference, beginning on Wednesday. I posted the info on, *gulp*, email, so I'm redoing it here, now. We're really excited to have author of SEND, David Shipley and Generation Yes educator, Sylvia Martinez there to help push the conversations.
A: The NYSAIS Education and Information Technology unconference. For you auditory learners, listen to the NEIT2008 preview podcast at EdTechTalk: http://www.edtechtalk.com/21cl_83
Q: How can I share photos during the unconference?
A: Via Flickr (http://flickr.com). Tag all your photos: NEIT2008 and they’ll automatically show up on the unconference wiki slideshow.
Q: Speaking of the unconference wiki, what is that?
A: It’s where you can find the schedule, rides to/from Mohonk, info on how to prepare, the schedule, the notes from breakout groups, photos, blogs posts and more. Oh, and you can edit it to year heart’s content! It’s here: http://neit.wikispaces.com/
Q: How can I contribute before, during, and after the conference?
A: Using blogs, podcasts, wikis, Twitter, and any other web2.0 tools, just tag things: NEIT2008
If you read all of this, nice work! Now that you’re geared up, just get up to the mountain safely. See you Wednesday,
Amazon just announced their new e-book reader, the Kindle. It is pricey, $400, but I think the idea is pretty stellar. A super-easy to read screen (not like a laptop screen) that works in any light and is high resolution. Big previous/next page buttons to help you flip through the books. And you can download books anywhere there is cellular service (with no plan needed to buy). Books are a little expensive, from about $8-16, but at least I can feel good not having to buy paper (while feeling bad about adding more poisonous electronics to the world, hmmm).
I can imagine myself on the subway, on a flight, on my sofa or at my desk reading Love in the Time of Cholera (what I'm reading right now) with the lightweight, simple e-book reader. Some people think it's terrible, but I think they're not focused on what the product is for. It is not a laptop, not meant to be a laptop. Laptops are good at other things, but not for reading books on.
If I had to wish for a use in schools? Well, every student would have a Kindle with all of their textbooks on it. Then, that's all they'd have to carry around, and it is lighter than the average paperback. I would consider one feature - the ability to take notes/highlight digitally on the Kindle. The other feature I'd like to see personally is the ability to send (and lose access to) an e-book I'm finished with to a friend. You could even charge me a buck or two, but passing on/receiving books is one of my favorite past times.
I’m finally putting my report cards aside. I’m going to spend some time not thinking about educational technology for as long as possible. I’m headed to Spain and Morocco to do some backpacking. I can’t totally put aside the technology though as I pack my digital camera, memory cards, travel adapters, chargers, CD-R’s, USB card reader etc. During last year’s India trip I took similar equipment. This time I’m not taking a laptop though as I am only carrying one backpack. No room for extras. Just enough clothes to make it and a guidebook to pick my next destination.
I picked up a new digital SLR camera, the Canon Digital Rebel XTI. I am a bit of a photo snob, and I love my digital point and shoot (Panasonic Lumix). But this camera takes photos to a whole new level. I am amazed at my initial shots. I sprung for a decent prime lens which is giving me some great results.
I will be abroad for new years, but hope to try and tune in to some of the Worldbridges New Years Webcastathon. Some great voices will be broadcasting around the clock, so tune in when you can. If I have access to Skype I might try and jump in from a Spanish Internet cafe.
Happy holidays and happy new year everyone. See you in 2007.
