Derry's Tech Thoughts

Vote With Your Feet

2009-06-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Scott McLeod blogged about leaving a 2 hour workshop because the facilitator did such a poor job. (http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2009/06/walking-out-on-bad-presenters.html)

I, too, find myself giving a presenter about 5 minutes or so to "engage me or enrage me", to borrow Marc Prensky's term. And yes... I drift off, check e-mail, think about other things. But not when I'm watching TED videos. Or Seth Godin.

Perhaps it's because I've been so smitten with Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds (blog is here) and his common-sense approach to presentations and how humans process information.

My question for this post: what ramifications does this have for our 21st century learners...students AND adults. Is this OK?

Do You Twitter?

2009-02-10T11:32:00.001-08:00

I'm not a Twitter-er, but I do see the power of social networking. Enjoy this post by Karl Fisch about how one of his students needed help with a research report.

David Pogue, NYTimes Technology Columnist, also conducted a Twitter experiment while live on-stage during a conference presentation. The comments on this one are interesting ~ people feeling USED by his appeal for help.

Guy Kawasaki found himself on an island without his MacBook power supply. You guessed it, Twitter to the rescue. (This post also has some innovative ways to market yourself on Twitter).

...and if you need ME, just call my (un-webbed) cell phone... :) Derry

Energy and Passion

2008-10-08T15:14:00.001-07:00

Those of you in South Kitsap have probably heard our new superintendent, Dave LaRose, give his passionate speeches about the "whole child". I think he's right on target, and yes, I'm probably biased.

However, Chris Lehmann (Principal at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia) gives Dave's energy a run for the money in this GREAT presentation about schools. Two reasons I share this:

I think the content is spot-on. Oh sure, he doesn't recite a lot of facts, but look into the eyes of any of our 21st century learners and tell me if the question of "relevance in light of Google" isn't one of the filters they're using.
The presentation format (Ignite) is very intriguing... 5 minutes, 20 slides, 15 seconds a slide. I think you get to the crux of what's important very quickly. (Oh, and no, you don't get a remote clicker - it's automatic every 15 seconds...)

Whaddya think?

Making Life Easier...

2008-08-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Just a few random updates from over the summer...

Seth Godin points us to Fonolo (http://fonolo.com/learn) -- an innovative service that is too cool for words. (But I'll try... it scans/transcribes the phone tree of a company and lets you quickly skip the menus, THEN it keeps an audio recording of the call. Check out the link above...)

I just learned that Jott is now charging for their service, but there is still a free version available.

And the ponderous question of the month...
I use Google Mail (gmail), and Google is famous for 'ad-word' placement based on what's in the message. Whenever I go into my Spam folder, the ads start popping up with "Spam recipe book" or "Great deals on Spam". Um...no...not THAT kind of Spam. I'd think it would be smarter than that? Or maybe the people at Google are like the folks in Hawaii and just have a real affection for processed meat!

Out Of The Office?

2008-06-03T14:22:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I'll be "out of the office" at a workshop, so I was setting out to do my out-of-office messaging ritual (voicemail, Outlook) when I realized......I'll be physically out of the office, but I'll still be connected.

So who cares if you e-mail or call me and I'm out of the office? I'll still be checking e-mail. With our Cisco Unified Messaging, your voicemail will show up in my e-mail box. You won't know the difference in an asynchronous sense.

The "Out of the office" concept is irrelevant now.

...well, unless I'm hiking, then I'm *really* out and, more accurately, "offline"...

...Bigger Than My Teacher Gives Me Credit For...

2008-05-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

(...to the tune of John Mayer's Bigger Than My Body Gives Me Credit For...)

Ian Jukes posted a link to this article to his blog:

Jon Beasley-Murray, Assistant Professor of French, Hispanic and Italian
Studies, the University of British Columbia, has decided to replace term papers
with something more challenging. He has asked students in his Latin American
literature to do their projects on Wikipedia, the biggest multilingual
free-content encyclopedia on the Internet.

Beasley-Murray told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in an interview published on
Sunday, May 11, that writing for Wikipedia "seems like a much larger stage, more
of a challenge.""The vast majority of Wikipedia entries aren't very good," he
admitted, adding that the site aims to be academically sound.

The professor promised a rare A+ grade to students who manage to get their
projects accepted as a "Featured Article," the top rank on the online
encyclopedia.

Imagine... if students showed their learning (language, critical thinking, media bias, etc.) by putting their work before a worldwide audience. And I don't think it's just for post-secondary, either.

WASBO 2008

2008-05-09T18:09:00.001-07:00

I was privileged to present today to the Washington Association of School Business Officials annual conference in Tacoma, and had about 50 people in attendance. The two-hour session was titled It's a Flat, Fast, Creative World: Change or Die and built on previous presentations about The World Is Flat, The Long Tail, and other core ed tech principles.

I tried to record the sessions in Elluminate, but my apologies ~ I forgot to hit the "record" button, so there's no audio! AAARRRGGHHH!

At any rate, the slide deck is available at SlideShare (http://www.slideshare.net/derrylyons) and supporting links on del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/derrylyons/wasbo2008)

It's not linear...

2008-04-18T15:25:00.001-07:00

I had coffee with my friend Paul this morning. In December, their family was devastated by the loss of his son (mid-twenties) in a tragic car accident. We began our conversation with my gently asking him "how are you doing". He responded that it was hard, and...um...it's not linear. That truth instantly sparked: grief isn't linear.

During my drive to work after our conversation, I realized how many things in my normal, everyday life are un-linear. "I thought we dealt with that already... why is it coming up again?" "We've already done technology training." No doubt you have a few of your own.

Life is an iterative process.

Why I Love LinkedIn

2008-04-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how many "social networking" sites have come up over the years. How do you choose? Years ago, the folks at classmates.com started gaining traction in the whole "class reunion" business. (You know what... I don't have that much in common with my HS graduating class, much less college.) Facebook and MySpace link friends together, but I think many of us in our "post-20's" don't have a lot of friends using those services.

LinkedIn.com asks you for a bit of information about yourself (name, e-mail, where you worked/dates, education/dates) and then cross-references your info against other LinkedIn users who were at those places at the same time. If you know them, you can add them to your network that allows you to look at each others info and other contacts. (Remember the old commercial... they tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends...)

In a second phase, you can upload your address book and it will compare e-mail addresses from your address book with any potential LinkedIn users. Again, making the connections is all voluntary, so you don't have to connect with the geeky Bruce that used to work in accounting.

What's really impressed me is the level of trust and control you have... they don't spam your e-mail, they don't spam your friends, they let you choose how much or how little to show.

And why would you use it?

In the field of IT, folks move around quite a bit, so it can be a challenge to keep up with. As people move around (and hopefully keep their LinkedIn profiles up to date), you can keep track of them
You can see who is connected to others, so it maps a network of trust. (Oh, Paul used to work with Jane, so I can ask Paul how she does with...communication or VB scripting or ...)
You can recommend (or be recommended) by others as a kind of standing testimonial/endorsement.
If you're looking for a job, there's a powerful recruiting arm of the tool (haven't used it, so I can't really comment on it...)
If you are part of a professional group (say, WASBO or WAMOA), you can upload a logo that your folks can add to their profile, making it easy to verify who's part of your group, either now or in the past.

There are many contact management tools (for instance, Plaxo comes to mind), but with LinkedIn, it's the power of the network. If you decide to join, look me up and invite me to your network!

Podcasts, Voicethread, Relevance

2008-04-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

For those who know me, I can get REALLY excited about some new technologies (i.e. Jott) that click with my vision and practice, but I can also dismiss other technologies (i.e. VoiceThread) that I just can't get in to. (Perhaps there are just too many usernames and passwords to manage?)

Knowing that TIME is a big issue for teachers, the whole idea of podcasting seems to be intriguing and elusive. I've seen three different grant proposals from three different teachers looking to get iPods for classroom use (podcasting of lessons, English language learners, etc.), so it seems to be a pretty hot ticket. I think the time and relevance to instruction still continues to be a significant issue. BTW, none of the grant proposals were funded. :(

Mark Milliron just blogged about Mobility and Learning (more to come, I'm sure) and shared a story about a professor (higher ed, but could be K12) who would review classroom writing assignments by creating a podcast of her feedback as she would read the student's work.

According to her, the students flipped. They loved having this mobile, in-depth
feedback. She loved literally being able to talk her students through her
impressions.

Taking this a step further, it clicked with me that one of the challenges of turning work in via an online system (Moodle) is the need to get it printed out to handwrite comments. I'm intrigued with the idea of the writing samples being ONLINE, the teacher reading it online while recording his/her thoughts into a custom audio narrative.

...or, I guess we could continue requiring 1" margins and a box of red pens...

3rd Grade: Runescape vs. Math Workbook

2008-03-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

I have the privilege of being a "pal" with a 3rd grader at one of our local schools. (This is different than a "mentor", since as you see, we're both learning from each other.)

During my visit yesterday, I took along the EEEpc (see previous post) to ask for his input. He was impressed at the size, and at first struggled a bit with the trackpad, but once we added a mouse, he was fluid. I asked him to open the web browser and show me his favorite web site.

"How do you spell ruin-escape?"
"Ruin, as in ancient ruins? R-U-I-N."
"No, it's a game, ruin-scape."
"Let's google it... OH, RUNESCAPE."

After he typed the address in, what I saw was nothing short of amazing. A 3rd grader who struggles with reading and math took ME to school on the intricacies of this game. Here's a summary of his narrative...

First you get signed in, and then here's my character. (He's quickly using the arrow keys to move).

So at the bottom are all of the things I've collected. You fight with the goblins and get points, and then they drop things that you can pick up. (As he's killing a goblin)... yeah, he doesn't have anything.

These other people moving around are other players... but some of them aren't real people, but I can tell the difference. You can fight with them and take what they have. (I ask why the guy right there doesn't just whack him and take his stuff.) Oh, you have to be in a certain place, like the coliseum.

Here's a store, let's go in. Naw, there's nothing here that I want. Let's go over here to the exchange... see all of these people? They're trading things, so if I go to this screen (an online auction), I can sell some of my things. There are some things that are expensive, like this easter egg for (some bajillion points), but some things are pretty inexpensive, too.

So here's a discussion area, and this person was swearing, you can tell by the ****'s. Can you remember this for me? j134ssa (or some login), and now we have to report him. So I go over here and, what was that login again?, and we mark it as "inappropriate language", and now a message pops up down here.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I thought I got to be the cool person with the laptop, and I was quickly humbled by all that my pal could do, but also the core skills he was demonstrating. Math skills in understanding the value/buy/sell of his possessions, spatial/geographic awareness in moving from place to place, ethics in understanding what wasn't appropriate, and certainly reading in the things that showed up on the screen.

Our Futures Task Force is struggling with the question of what a 21st century learning environment looks like, and the word "relevance" keeps flashing before me. My pal is a very bright student who is willing to put forth the energy into the things he sees relevant. Very eye-opening...

EEEpc: Essential Environmental Elements?

2008-03-12T12:03:00.001-07:00

I'm glad that Susan has purchased an Asus EEEpc. I've been playing with one for a week (thanks, Jeff!) and we're ordering a couple to continue learning with. In answer to her question, I'd like to move from the technical things and ask:

What are the Essential Environmental Elements necessary for life and success with the EEEpc?

My BIG observation about this (and any similar) device: It fundamentally challenges our current notion of technology in the classroom. Not because it's cool, not because it's small, not because I don't need as much electricity...but because at it's very core are assumptions (probably correct) about the way kids need to be connected and learning. If we crack the hood and start ripping out Skype and Messenger and ... and ... and ... to get it back to a pseudo-Web-1.0 device, we're totally missing the point.

As an IT director, here are the questions I'm excited to begin wrestling with.
Hear me clearly: these are NOT gripes, these are observations and challenges for my own self-reflection.

1) Do you have wireless access?

If not, that's what this little guy is about.
If you do, can anyone bring in a EEE and connect?
What does getting started / technical support look and feel like?
Does the access you have / services you are blocking feel significantly different at school than at home?

2) The first icon you see is for Web Mail. Your choice of 4 services ~ Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL.

If a district doesn't provide e-mail to students, or even if it does, are these services blocked for students?
What is our responsibility to monitor their e-mail?

3) iGoogle and Google

Rather than developing secure "lockers" on school file servers for students to use, this ad-hoc sharing environment allows students to choose who gets what rights to their content.
Some of it may be "academic", some not.
Teachers don't have an override to peek into those electronic lockers, either.

4) Messenger and Skype

If the current frustration of texting with cell phones is any indication, having Skype and messaging could be enough of a tipping factor to discourage use in the classroom. (Karl Fisch has a good, recent blog post on Skype).
Video and audio features built in.

5) Wikipedia

You now have an encyclopedia "loaded" on a laptop (see #1).
Are you having the primary source discussions?

6) Internet Radio

Not really high on my list-of-critical-network-services-that-taxpayers-spend-money-for, and really, it's just an alias to http://www.mediayou.net/

7) The Learn Tab

So what resources will get loaded?
Textbook content?
Static versus online?

8) Printers

While printing a hard copy is still very much needed, does the ability to have things stored in Google Docs or on a flash drive change the need to have a printer INSTALLED on the device?
One option could be walking up and plugging in to a USB printer. Not sure about compatibility...I was able to log in to our MS Active Directory network and choose a network printer, but there were several steps involved.

9) Ownership

Current paradigm: If the district or school purchases a device, IT is expected to support it. Whatever necessary anti-virus protection we need, making sure only authorized things are installed, etc., etc.
If you bring one from home, do we need to "manage" it any differently?

So I will continue to wind down this path, moving from technical considerations to philosophical musings to classroom management and hope that teachers who are embracing these will give us input and wisdom to make the path clearer.

I need a WII...and some safety glasses

2008-03-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

OK, I've been VERY remiss in blogging the last 6 months, so I need to make up for lost time.

If you haven't seen the wiimote project, watch this video by Johnny Lee. Amazing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

Convergence: Google Earth, ExpertGPS, Wikipedia

2007-09-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much can happen with a simple software upgrade. It's mind boggling the compounding power of simple software upgrades of multiple packages.

Many of you know my love for ExpertGPS ~ a great tool for working with GPS devices, managing routes and waypoints, the usual stuff. Dan Foster (the author) sells a "family license" for like $80 which gives you free upgrades for life. (I prefer this over Google Earth because I can cache the maps offline ~ maybe you can do that with GE now?)

Step 1. ExpertGPS now has an urban maps option which, in addition to topo and aerial, gives greater clarity; but they also have a "Go To Address" function. I looked up "Doty, WA 98539" (where the Lyons clan originated from, and my brother is now.)

Step 2. ExpertGPS now also has a "Press F7 to see in Google Earth". Sure enough... ZOOM... right to 46 38.138 / 123 16.764. As I'm browsing around in GE, I notice a blue dot titled Doty, Washington.

Step 3. I double-click the blue Doty, Washington dot and get a Wikipedia window with a "stub" entry for this once-thriving logging metropolis. Now, there is TONS of history for this town of 500, as it was quite the boom town in the early 1900's. You won't any good history on Google, though. (Ironically, Google thinks there's hair salons and hotels... not for the last 100 years or so.)

But what a great project for kids! Use Google Earth to examine towns in Washington, or around the country, and then update the Wikipedia entries. Even Kent, WA, which has a more robust entry, has some great history that hasn't been captured in Wikipedia.

Derry's Music, Johnny A, and The Long Tail

2007-09-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

So my musical interests have forced me down The Long Tail (see my earlier post). I was listening to the radio (103.7 The Mountain here in Seattle) and heard a great guitar piece by artist Johnny A. Being the Music 1.0 person that I am, I began searching for the (gasp) CD.
(Interesting side note... his web site says "New CD... in store now". Oh really?)

BMG Music? C'mon... get real...
Wal Mart? Online only.
Fred Meyer? No. (Although the helpful kid told me it would be in the Blues section under 'A'. Right. If they had it.)
Fye? We're out. (And it would have been under Jazz)
Borders? Nope. (Who?)
(...light bulb... DING!)
My old stomping ground... the "old faithful" of CD's... Silver Platters! (No sir. "We're out, but we can order it for you." I didn't want to ask why I needed him to order it for me when I could get it online... obviously I'm not savvy enough to do that myself.) Interesting that they had more white place cards than they did CD's.

So... I can order it online from Amazon, or from his web site...just get out my Visa and be done with it. I could probably download it via VCast on my cell phone even. Why have I spent almost a month driving from store to store?

...because that's the way I've always shopped for music. I want the tangible CD, I want to fuss with the shrink-wrap in the front seat and listen to it on the way home. Maybe it's a tradition... or maybe that's been the LIMITATION.

Guess I'll head off to order the CD online and put an end to my impatience, but what a reflection on my old school behavior. I'll let you know how the ALBUM sounds once I get it...

Jott Blog Post

2007-09-05T12:45:00.001-07:00

(Edited only for clarity... this post was conducted via my cell phone at 45 mph through Jott. Sure it's short, and some of the language doesn't make sense, but you can hear the original audio. Not bad for a free service...)

So, I'm really excited. This is a service called Jott, which their latest enhancement allows me to record a message, it transcribes it and it will post it to my blog. So it's kinda of a morph from podcasting to blogging and ability to do it from a cellphone anywhere, so thinking about voice recognition software and the next phase of that which rather have it installed on your computer or service on your cellphone. The convergence of this...
Click here to listen

Ham Radio in the 21st Century

2007-08-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege today of serving on the communications team for the RAPSody bike tour through Kitsap County (http://www.rapsodybikeride.com/) I had the easy job, as these hearty souls biked 165 miles over two days.

In our discussions, and as I waited for the bikes to go by, I began reflecting on what role ham radio plays in our new "digital world". I realized that, much like other venues, it's not about the technology. It's about a committed group of people willing to give up their Saturday (and beyond) to help others by using their specialized skill sets. Oh sure, my wife still limits me to one antenna per vehicle so it doesn't look like a "porcupine", and there are many hams that reallylove their gear, but it's more than that.

Really, very few of us build radios in the basement anymore. We purchase (expensive) gear for voice communications, but also find innovative uses. (I've not blogged about it before, but Automatic Position Reporting System - APRS - uses ham radio and GPS technology to track station movement. VERY cool, IMHO) Many hams participate in field day activities to further demonstrate they can go anywhere, set up quickly and be on the air in a flash.

So is there still a place for amateur radio? You bet! There was a discussion today about part of the route "just using cell phones instead of radios". True, almost everybody has a cell phone... but nobody has party lines anymore. Cell phones are great if (a) you have coverage and (b) you only want to talk to one person at a time. During events, there is a net control (similar to a dispatcher) that keeps the information flowing and making sure stations are all on the same page. We all hear the same info: "Watch for rider 294... he's had a flat and may need help" "Is there a unit with more tools that can come to station 302" etc... I can't imagine doing that with a dozen cell phones.

Kitsap County has a very active emergency communications team, and the bike ride today was an opportunity to give everyone practice both with equipment and the process for using net control. Had this been a real emergency, the process would have scaled up and been joined by the few dozen hams who weren't at the event, interfaced with Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management, and I'm confident would have run like clockwork.

Yeah, we probably do look funny standing on the side of the road with radios and antennas, but it's gratifying when somebody has just ridden a bicycle 50 miles and uses the precious few breaths after climbing the hill to say "Thanks for being here".

(Shout out to the folks who helped out today: Merv N7IZ for pulling it together, Montie K2MLS for being net control, Bernie KC7RQV, Craig AD7CX, Barry AC7MD, Rich KD7TOV, and Jim KE7JMY)

Spiders, Starfish, Cheetahs, Hippos and TED

2007-08-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since my last blog post... the struggle of how much to read from other blogs, and where to post the new stuff.

On vacation last week (between the waterskiing and dirt bike riding), I finally read The Starfish and the Spider by Brafman and Beckstrom. (Nod to Susan Brooks-Young for the recommendation.)

This PHENOMENAL book really codifies and validates Friedman's 4th Flattener
of Open-Sourcing. The premise of the book is that organizations can be one of
two structures: a spider, or a starfish. The spider has a head (which can be
squashed) in the form of a CEO, and all of the legs march to the head. The
starfish, on the other hand, is a much more dynamic organism that moves by
agreement and, if you try to kill it, it multiplies.

I was really struck with the "tip" of when a starfish-type community
receives some kind of wealth (revenue from a product, cows, etc.), it quickly
morphs into a spider.

So what does this have to do with cheetahs and hippos? First, let me say if you have never watched any of the TEDtalk videos (www.ted.com), you NEED to spend 18 minutes and listen to one of the speeches. They're on a variety of topics (political, social, environmental, economic, medical, education)... I would recommend the Sir Ken Robinson video as a start.

I'm currently listening to George Ayittey (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/151) talking about the greed of African leaders. What struck me was the title of his talk and his opening (paraphrased) observation:

The cheetah generation is a new breed of Africans. They understand what
accountability and democracy is. They're not going to wait for the government to
do things for them. African's salvation rests on the back of this generation. The hippo generation are the ruling elite. They are stuck in the intellecutal past,
complaining about colonialism and imperialism.

Hmmm... can you match the starfish to the generation?

Addicted to Google Apps

2007-03-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

My first PERSONAL (thanks, Susan!) Web 2.0 venture was del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/derrylyons) at the urging of David Warlick last November. (I'd dabbled with Airset and wikis with Susan Brooks-Young in years past, played with Moodle, etc. but it never really "stuck" personally.)

After Jim Hirsch's IT Leadership Summit yesterday, I'm now an account-holding Google-r, and oh has my life changed.

(Patrick Crispin does some great workshops on using the Google Search Engine, and welcomes you on his site at www.netsquirrel.com)

I created my personalized home page (www.google.com/ig) and started adding "gadgets".

Google Reader for my RSS feeds (reader.google.com)
Had to add Dilbert and Weather.com
Then Gmail
Then Google Docs (docs.google.com)

...a new tab for mapping...

Incidentlog.com for Seattle 911 dispatches
Traffic for Seattle
(Starbucks map not a gadget yet, but a link... www.findbyclick.com)

...a new tab for reference tools...

Wikipedia
Whitepages.com
Document to PDF
UPS Package Tracking
Bible Verses
Spell Check

...and a play tab for "gadgets" (AKA do-it-yourself plug-ins)

"Oh the places you'll go"...

ncce2007

NCCE 2007 IT Leadership Summit

2007-03-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

A great time today with Jim Hirsch, Assoc. Supt for Tech & Academic Services in the Plano Independent School District. There's no way I can fold in the rich conversations we had, but I'll at least capture the highlights.

First, Jim welcomed visitors to his online resource page at http://k-12.pisd.edu/c@es/

We discussed three core areas: Open Technologies, which was a great distinction between Open Source and Open Technologies (which include Open Source, but also so many Web 2.0 services as well).

We then moved on to Cyber Security, including resources from CoSN and their self-assessment checklist http://securedistrict.org

Our final topic was Personal Computing, and while it includes 1:1 laptops (great presentation by Laurie Longo of Shoreline SD (http://learn.shorelineschools.org/kellogg/llongo/) it also includes other mobile devices such as Ultra Mobile PC's (http://www.umpc.com)

So my outcomes...

I need to get "plugged back in" and "sharpen my saw" with the magazines and info sources that are out there (Wired, Fast Company, ed sources from other countries)
I finally set up my gmail.com account (derry.lyons@gmail.com, if you're so inclined) and embark on my next round of Web 2.0 ~ online documents, Google Talk, and even blogger.com is happier now that my blog has been converted over. Wish me luck!

So much more to think about and do... "the conversation has just started..."

ncce2007

Mr(s). President, meet YouTube...the NEW media

2007-01-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

In listening to NPR today, I was struck by one of the commentaries about how the "big announcements" for presidential exploratory committees were being done on the web. That's right - no more finicky press corps, just an electronic fireside chat by the likes of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and others. Here's one reporter's take on the trend: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6944951

Sunnyslope Elementary

2007-01-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Sunnyslope Elementary and principal Bob Leslie for convening a tech vision committee to look at how to prepare staff and students for the future! Kudos to Bob for starting to use del.icio.us and wanting to start his own blog!

Bob shared this article from Principal Magazine called "The Tech Savvy Principal"
http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contentId=288

I'd also recommend a virtual visit to Meriwether Lewis Elementary in Portland (http://lewiselementary.org/), where Tim Lauer is principal. He's a definite Web 2.0 kind-of-guy as evidenced by his non-school blog (http://tim.lauer.name/).

Workforce Of The Future

2007-01-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

As our district is in the throes of developing another 3 year tech plan, we're at the pivotal point of "what should kids know, and when". Obviously there's the NCLB 8th grade tech literacy component, but the most recent issue of TechLEARNING has a link to The New Commission On The Skills of the American Workforce.

I'm clicking with the first 8 pages or so of the Executive Summary, as it seems to reinforce some of Friedman's predictions about what the future holds for our kids. I'm still processing the overall recommendations, though. Reminds me a bit of my family's Christmas morning charter schools discussion around the breakfast table, it's not just my nieces that are hungry for more. How to build something that's flexible, accountable, well-funded and government-run all at the same time?

Anyway, the world continues to flatten...

School Board Presentation

2006-12-20T18:52:00.000-08:00

On December 20, I presented some of the recent info (Did You Know, The Long Tail) to the South Kitsap School District Board of Directors. Here's the rough outline of the speech...

Thanks for the opportunity. I understand some of you have heard Ian Jukes at the WSSDA conference and were inspired by a look at the future.

I have 5 glimpses to show you tonight… only 5 because we don’t have time for all 173,000.

To frame our context tonight, I’d like to quote Gary Marx, president of the Center for Public Outreach:

“We have a choice. We can simply defend what we have…
or we can create what we need”

Our first glimpse comes to us from Jeff Allen, ed tech director at Olympic ESD.
Walt Bigby was at the last board meeting talking about services they provide, and technology leadership is among them. Credit for the original presentation goes to Karl Fisch of Arapahoe High School in Colorado for this 8 minute video highlighting data points in the world around us.

Did You Know Video
http://www.oesd.wednet.edu/blog/

If you have read the World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman, this sounds familiar.

Behind you is the state uniform bar for WASL scores. I’m sorry to report there is nothing uniform about the technology curve… it’s growing EXPONENTIALLY.

I was curious about Karl and Arapahoe, so I visited his Staff Development blog and would like to paraphrase a recent entry for our second glimpse.

Fischbowl Blog
http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/12/this-is-not-education-as-usual.html

I am fascinated by the student introspection about their own learning and the pursuit of relevance. In a recent article in Converge magazine, I was struck by Bianca's response to the "What do you predict..." question and how it contrasts with the adult answers.

Converge Article (pp. 60-61)
http://media.centerdigitaled.com/Converge_Mag/pdfs/issues/Converge_Fall_Issue.pdf

The digital natives are becoming restless. Again, remember Marx’s quote. Defend or create.

I recently finished “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson talking about the new marketplace, fueled by demands from the digital natives. Early in the book, he sets the stage by comparing his childhood with that of Ben. Let’s take about 5 minutes for a listen.

(Audio clip of Ben the teenager)

(Graphic of the Long Tail from the Wired archive web site)

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html

Anderson’s concept is that with more and more choices being made available through digital means (atoms vs. bits), there’s a very compelling market shift going on. This isn’t the record label/movie studio/book publishing house model we grew up with.

The last glimpse comes in wrapping up The Long Tail, there’s discussion about a 3-D printer we’ll soon have in our household. Need a set of legos? A widget? A kitchen utensil? Order it online and have it print out in your den. We have one of these printers at the high school, and while still expensive, it shows the idea isn’t that far-fetched. Bits back to atoms… and shipping is free.

http://www.zcorp.com/

As you continue to watch the accelerating pace of change, remember Gary Marx:

“We have a choice. We can simply defend what we have…
or we can create what we need”

Thank you.

The Long Tail

2006-12-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

In a random search of e-books at my local library, I happened upon The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. ...WOW!!!! If you liked The World Is Flat, this is a must read. The style is a combo Friedman/Malcolm Gladwell "Tipping Point" that looks at oh-so-many facets of our changing society. It shows not just how the Natives are changing, but how the marketplace of print, music and video must change to keep up with ever-increasing information stream. You can see the original article from Chris that appeared in Wired at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html

Upside Down...

2006-12-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking of the old Tom and Jerry cartoon, where one chases the other...then all of a sudden, they trade and begin chasing in reverse order. That was my reaction to the recent eSchoolNews headline of Riverdeep buys Houghton Mifflin for $1.8B (http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6729). This isn't your father's textbook anymore...

Weekly Reading - Dec 1

2006-12-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

From Converge Magazine, Fall 2006, article about Fort Wayne (p. 22), Mayor Graham Richard has a vision to build a city that is "wired and inspired".

Franke Park Elementary - the Mouse Squad. "We're making students responsible for teaching teachers...to set up a computer or the video conferencing equipment. These are not 'A' students. They are the kids who need some responsibility and need to build their self esteem". p. 26

Speaking of videoconferencing, Mayor Richard: "We do digital town hall meetings from my conference room to government classes where I am just there. The kids can all see me, they can see each other and they can ask me questions."

And my personal favorite from this issue. Question was posed to a series of influential panelists: "What do you predict to be the next big thing for education technology?" The usual suspects: kids will have PDA's, classrooms will have stuff, big networks. The best response was from a 14 year old high school student: Freeing students from substandard teachers and boredom are the biggest challenges. I'd like to see textbooks totally replaced by Web-based learning sites that are fun, personalized and up-to-date like MySpace.com, but connect people for learning, not just to chat. Out of the mouths of babes, so to speak.