ed tech as a thinking tool...nice

HI All,

Long time no post.

Intel has a set of tools that I thought you might want to be aware of. They are designed to help develop higher order thinking skills in kids! Go figure! All kidding aside, they are definitely on the right track when they focus on these types of "thinking" products. You have to give credit where credit is due.

Here is the link--> Here

All the best!

Jim :-)

Getting in Deep

The Deep Web.

Do you know what it is?

If not, check out the following article. It is a really interesting piece by Jamie McKenzie.


Deep Web

Happy Valentines Day. <3
Jim :-)

more myspace hype

This article points out the dangers of being too revealing in the myspace web world and offers some "food for thought" for all to consider.

My 8th grade son tells me that many kids are starting to go "undercover" due to the fact that their parents are becoming more savvy about the site.... and are checking in on their postings. I am sure that many kids may be showing their parents one web space presence and actually conducting another with their friends.

I KNOW their are strong feeling on this. I, for one, am completely in the middle on this one as the ACTUAL parent of one of the earliest adopter tweens on the block.
The article

Rant on! I can take it.

Jim :-)

A Bush do/don't list

Things to consider for the near future:

DO--> Appoint a person to head the Office of Educational Technology(OET)

DON'T--> Cut 3.2 Billion dollars from the federal ed budget again



Jim :-)

An old interview..

Geoffrey Fletcher, editor at large of the THE Journal, has posted an old interview and want us ( ed techhies) to tell him when we think the interview took place.

See it here.

It sends home the fact that we have been saying the same things over and over again as it relates to the intelligent deployment of ed tech and the necessary commitment to staff development. My guess is that this interview is from 1995 (or so). What do you think?

Also...here is my e-mail response to Geoff.

<<
My favorite old issue of Electronic Learning is the "Technology in the USA 1992-93 edition" where it was pointed out that Apple 2 computers represented 53% of users followed by Radio Shack/Tandy 17%, Commodore 15% , And IBM compatibles 13%! Also, 54% of districts reported Laserdisc use.
(I loved those things!)

Also, how about this headline, Tech and Learning Oct. 1993 (I kid you not) "The Internet- A first look". You gotta love that!>>>


All the best!

Jim Forde :)
edtechnot.com

eelearning <-- (that isn't a typo)

--from an e-mail from Jim Morrison the Editor-in-Chief of Innovate ----

Innovate is issuing a call for papers for a special issue devoted to the emerging field of “ee-learning.”

We have become familiar with “e-learning” or (E)lectronic Learning, which uses communication technologies to connect students and instructors separated by distance and/or by time, and to provide students with access to learning resources and interaction. And there is a long history of (E)xperiential Education, where learning takes place in the “real world” of work and service and governing and the other institutions we create to organize our encounters and interests.

Historically, electronic and experiential learning have been unique and separate domains of study and practice. The joining of the two e’s in “ee-learning” provides an opportunity to define and organize an emerging pedagogy that brings together these two domains.

ee-Learning offers the possibility of ending (or at least dramatically reducing) the distance between the academic disciplines and the practices they are designed to inform and illuminate. ee-Learning allows the settings of the world–businesses, service agencies, government offices, or community centers–to be the primary scene of instruction, making it possible for students to learn by applying theory to practice in these settings. Communication technologies allow students engaged in such settings to act as a learning community by engaging with each other as well as their teachers and colleagues, and to reflect on their experiences. Instructors help students relate their experiences to the bodies of knowledge of the curriculum, and to extend their learning by use of the rich resources found on the Internet as well as books and the older media of instruction. The combination of real-world experience and communication technologies can provide learning opportunities not available in the traditional classroom setting.

We solicit manuscripts that illustrate the possibilities and challenges of ee-learning pedagogy. Key questions for consideration may include the following:

1. How does ee-learning impact our traditional views of learning as separate from practice in the real world? As needing a specialized and set-apart environment called “school” or “college”?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of minimizing the traditional role of the classroom and face-to-face contact with fellow students and faculty?
3. What is the potential impact of ee-learning on the roles of teachers, students, and learning support services?
4. What is the potential impact of ee-learning on the structure of colleges, universities, and public schools?

If you would like to submit a manuscript for this special issue on ee-learning, please refer to the submission guidelines described in the “Submit an Article” link from the main page of Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) and send it to the special issue editor, Steve Eskow (drseskow@cox.net) and to the editor-in-chief, James Morrison (jlm@nova.edu). Deadline for submissions is April 30, 2006.

A discussion forum for this special issue has been opened within the Innovate-Live Portal at http://www.uliveandlearn.com/innovate/. In order to participate in the Innovate-Live interactive webcasts and community, you must be a member of the Innovate-Live Portal. Please register at http://www.uliveandlearn.com/innovate/register.cfm

Best.

Jim
----
James L. Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, Innovate
http://www.innovateonline.info
Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership
UNC-Chapel Hill
http://horizon.unc.edu

Testing Technological Literacy

ETS is at it again!

They have now developed a test to measure technology literacy. I am really not into the idea of having even MORE testing our classrooms, but I have to admit that the focus of this test is interesting.

Here is a quote from the WashingtonPost.com article.

"Students will receive an individual score on a point scale of 400 to 700, and schools will get reports showing how students fare in seven core skills: defining, accessing, managing, integrating, evaluating, creating and communicating information.

The new "core" version that will be sold to high schools can be taken in a school computer lab over about 75 minutes and consists of 14 short tasks, lasting three to five minutes each, and one longer task of about 15 minutes. Students may be asked, for example, to determine what variables should go where in assembling a graph, and then use a simple program to create it. They could also be asked to research a topic on the Web and evaluate the authoritativeness of what they find."

I am surprised at the nature of the tasks. The idea of asking kids to do something meaningful with informaton and and having them determine the reliability and validity of the source is a good idea. I was expecting something much worse.

Here is a good web site with critical evaluation of internet resources links.

What do you think about the idea of a tech literacy test?

Jim :-)

using google maps

Here is a great posting from a cool blog.

Way to go Mr. Belshaw.

Jim Forde :-)

Edutopia - Adopt and Adapt article

At edutopia Marc Prensky does an interesting job of describing the way in which schools typically adopt new technologies. He describes a four step process:

1. Dabbling.
2. Doing old things in old ways.
3. Doing old things in new ways.
4. Doing new things in new ways.

He also makes a strong argument for 1 to 1 computing.

He also speaks of the typical "school resistance to change" issue. I will defer to Larry Cuban on this one. In his classic book, Teachers and Machines, he describes attempts to adopt classroom technologies from educational radio on up. I like his stance that teachers will adopt technologies if it meets certain criteria that make sense. They typically demand ease of use, accessibility, durability etc. The resistance to change may actually be a pragmatic move on the part of professional educators who know what it takes to teach kids in REAL schools. This view better matches the experience I have had with my teaching peers when it comes to innovation adoption.

What do you think? Testing 123 ...is this thing on?

Jim :-)

PS- if you are into ed tech on any level you must get the Postman book.