Learning Aloud

Check this out. I came across this link on the MIT Technology Review blog site. Blogger fired.

The Education Department has produced a press release summarizing Internet access. The short version – access in schools has greatly improved and equity issues have diminished, differences in student access from home are increasing.

The body of this press release provides some useful statistics and links to additional information.

There are some folks you can count on to consistently oppose what you advocate. I think this predictability is helpful and saves me some time when I need to search for resources. I like to challenge the students in the “pro technology” classes I teach to determine what they might say to refute the position of X (insert name of famous anti-technology person here). For example, I still sometimes show a Nightline tape I purchased (9/30/98) because it quickly establishes the positions of a number of individuals and ask that students identify key arguments and possible counter arguments. Books are also a nice way to present the “other view”. I buy and read these books, but my students seem to think it is too much of an investment on their part to do the same.

I bring this up because it appears there is a new book of this genre. Todd Oppenheimer has a new book called The Flickering mind: The false promise of technology in classrooms (see review).

{sarcastic rant} The arguments seem to be about the same (my simplified and obviously biased interpretation follows) — schools seem impervious to true change and yet spend money on new technologies (insert historical reference to TV, film, radio — I would also suggest insert book, but that one seemed to work). We have no strong research evidence that the innovation (insert innovation of your choice) improves performance on standardized multiple choice examinations. Since these “technologies” never seem to stand the test of time (unless one considers use of said technology in any venue external to schools) and have little research support, these pointless experiments cost money that might better serve some other purpose. {/sarcastic rant}

Escaping from California is much tougher than I expected. The fires near Los Angeles have created a smoke screen that has played havoc with flights out of LAX. I arrived here at 9:30 so that I would have plenty of time to get through security. I like to get to my gate early. Some people do this to see if they can get on an earlier flight. Not me — I like to sit comfortably, listen to my music, read or work on my computer. I missed my chance – the 1:00 flight left at 4. I could have been on it, but I did not realize what all of those people standing in line were doing until it was too late. I was to leave at 2:30. Now, I will leave at 10:30 (P.M) if I can get out at all. That puts me in Minneapolis sometime early tomorrow morning. No fear – that is almost the time the first flight leaves for Grand Forks. If everything goes well, I should make it home about 8. This is exciting — I don’t think I have stayed up all night since my college days (or the last time I had to finish a grant).

Aside from my ability to stay awake, I am actually in pretty good shape. I have my fully charged iPod and PowerBook. According to the iPod, I have enough music to get through 1.4 days without repeats and two books (The Second Coming of Steve Jobs and Lies and the Lying Liers Who Tell Them). Unfortunately, I have about 10 hours of battery life. I am now through Steve Jobs (he is back at Apple) and about three hours into Al Franken. Steve Jobs is not a very nice person, but I still like the Mac. Al Franken is both funny and scary at the same time — read this one.

This would be tolerable if LAX was wireless. I asked and it is not. Some people are very grumpy, almost irate, because their flights were cancelled. I am a litttle grumpy because I cannot connect to the net. I feel sorry for the gate agent who has to deal with these other people. Still, I did have to ask about wireless. I claimed that I can access wireless in Minneapolis. She said MSP is a big airport. I think GFK (Grand Forks) has wireless. Grand Forks is not a large airport.

Must save energy – transfering power from laptop to iPod.

When I left LA, temps were in the 90s. When I finally reached ND again (8:10 in the morning), it was 30 and snowing. They had to de-ice the plane before it could leave. There is something about walking off a plane and across the tarmack in a tee shirt and a snow storm that will wake you up. I teach until 1 and then get some sleep. Over 30 hours — not bad for an old guy.

Heard about XML, but baffled by what it is and what it is good for? Here is a good description provided by Paul Merrill – XML.

Yesterday Bernie Dodge gave a presentation entitled WebQuests and other Viruses. The focus was on understanding how some useful ideas take hold and take on a life of their own. The “virus” was the metaphor for this process of dissemination. Today, I attended a session by Lloyd Rieber in which he gave some attention to the same topic. Dodge’s idea/virus is the WebQuest. Rieber is attempting to encourage a focus on student authored PowerPoint games. He argues that while students can author games in many ways, PowerPoint games have the advantage of being based in a software that is familiar to educators and widely available. Reiber is also taking a similar approach to Dodge and is promoting the PowerPoint game through a web site – Homemade PowerPoint Games. This site provides examples of games and game templates.

Cindy and I are at two conferences in Anaheim – AECT and NSBA (National School Board Association) T&L. Our visit is an efficient opportunity for us because the combination of conferences addresses our different interests. The two conferences also share a common vendor exhibit providing an opportunity to contact old friends and catch up on new resources being released.

For example, we have been following Tech4Learning for years (see our web site for a description of mediablender). This company’s newest offering addresses the need for staff development and support. Recipes4success provide explanations for how to use common software in implementing classroom projects. For example, how might a student use MediaBlender to create a multimedia project.