Learning Aloud

The feds have just released a new survey concerning K-12 use of the Internet.

Parstad, B. & Jones, J. (2005). Internet access in U.S. Public Schools and classrooms: 1994-2003. (NCES 2005-015). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics

Yes – I realize 2003 and new survey should not be used in the same post when describing the Internet, but it may have taken some time to get results through the editorial process. 😉

Some key findings (if schools have Internet connection):
1) 93% of instructional rooms have Internet access
2) 32% have wireless access
– wireless access is one variable sensitive to SES differences (ranging from 36% to 25% across grouping variable)
3) ratio of students to Internet-enabled computer is 4.4:1
– varied with SES differences (4.2:1 to 5.1:1)
– overall change since 1998 12.1 to 4.4
4) 48% of schools allow students to use computers outside of regular hours
5) 82% provided professional development to staff on use of Internet in instruction

Zemsky and Massy discuss the reality of elearning and change in higher education. This is a nice account of where the assumptions we made were wrong and why change will occur (but slowly).

Why blog? I sometimes wonder. Why do so many people try it once or twice and then quit? Too much time I suppose – the idea of writing a personal blog sounds appealing, but there is a certain reality that involves a long term commitment. So many ideas for personal development are like this – read a book, work out, etc.

Bill Ives offers a nice analysis of personal and institutional benefits (just in case anyone from my institution ever wonders why I spend my time doing this).

The gender inequity in IT employees has always been an issue. Now, it appears that women are also leaving the IT field at a higher rate. It appears the field changes too quickly and nonwork issues make keeping up too stressful. NewsFactor.com

What is the deal with naming generations with letters and how quickly can a new generation emerge? The Kaiser Family Foundation reports the discovery of a new generation – Generation M. I guess the M stands for media ’cause it appears 8-18 year olds are increasing time spent with computers, the Internet and video games without reducing the time spent viewing television and listening to music.

Maybe M stands for mult-tasking – the report indicates families have the television on while eating meals, listening to music while studying, etc. — sounds a lot like my house even though I am an OG (old guy).

By the way, the Kaiser Foundation offers a streaming media summary and a panel discussion related to their findings. Something about this struck me as funny. Maybe it was some of the concerns raised about Generation M and suggestions for parents (take the TV and computer out of the kid’s bedroom). I will try to resist watching the video and reading the report at the same time.

A new wiki type, Wikimedia Commons, offers organized collections of multimedia resources. This could grow into a great resource for educators.

Here is your reading assignment for tonight – Igo, et al. (2005). Exploring differences in students’ copy-and-paste decision making and processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 103-116.

A thing I have noticed about technology is that it allows the more elder among us to recycle our research interests from grad school. Back in the ’60s, I was interested in note-taking and note-reviewing. Basically, can student learning from lecture (or possibly text) be improved by improving note-taking and/or note-reviewing. A couple of years ago I began to revisit this old interest by recognizing that lecture outlines and complete accounts of lectures could and are often made available through CMSs and began evaluating student performance as a function of how and when they used these resources. Technology made practical (providing various forms of notes to students) the implementation of ideas that previously were interesting but very different to act on.

The citation I provided again brought me back to some of the research I studied so many years ago. In some situations, students can now “take notes” by cutting and pasting from a source into a personal document. Is this good or bad (say in contrast to writing personal accounts as a note-taking technique)? The study is focused ONLY on the process of note-taking which limits the practical value of what was observed. BUT – the study demonstrates that when student copy and pasting is limited (by the space that was available to hold the pasted material in the study), students appeared to learn more. The message – the more you think, the more you learn. Thinking here was caused by the need to carefully select material.

It would be best if students had to think a lot to take notes, but would have perfect (i.e., complete and accurate) notes to review. What circumstances would encourage this set of outcomes?