On literacy, high speed access, and happiness at the keys

How might I organize instruction to ensure that all students have substantive learning experiences with technology?

http://www.smud.org

Fewer than 2/3 of preschool-age children are read to at home.  Do you think that this figure has improved now in 2013?  (National Educational Goals Panel, 1994)

http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1255&context=reading_horizons

It should start with three storybooks per day as soon as the child can sit and hold up his own head to pay attention.  If the child wants more, give him more.  Without reading at an early age, it’s hard for a student to develop an imagination and visualize his productive possibilities.  The absolute truth from 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sonMj03ZJPQ

Resetting the grid

The textbook for this course sites inclusion and infusion as barriers for teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms.  The administration with plans to infuse a higher technology is bound to district teacher mindsets and the multiple pathways to start these practices.  (Transforming Learning with New Technologies, 299)

It’s a waiting game with a gamut of factors:  A teacher’s fluency in adaptation, appropriation, and invention; a teacher’s unwillingness to change favorite plans or a reluctance to incorporate into new lesson plans; decisions by administration and support they can give.  For the students, is technology a reward or punishment?  Or an add on?  Will they be separated into groups by ability?

Academic success by way of laptop computers, clickers or palm devices is no guarantee.  The major reasons for this are digital inequalities and participation gaps based on socioeconomic factors.  The digital divide is relative to differences in access.  Students from rural communities and poverty often have limitations in literacy and less access to a high speed Internet while not at school.

Since the dot-com bubble burst at the turn of the century, cable TV and telecommunications have improved the grid to support high-speed connections.  Remember cumbersome, expensive modems?  Now we live in a hand-held environment with free Wi-fi zones at schools, libraries, and cafés, but students and teachers still need state of the art computing to fully utilize the speed of this.  At what cost?  For those without, it may have cost them literacy development at a crucial age.

Unfortunately, young people in all economic categories are frequently fed marketing, entertainment—celebrity—prompts, supported by Flash-powered Vine video, and excess YouTube.  Many teachers use YouTube incessantly!  Ok.  But this still reinforces that a student can learn without really reading and understanding … comprehending.

Differences in household income affect how a young person approaches technology and this is an unfortunate reality of using Web technology for learning. (Transforming Learning with New Technologies, 305)

Dichotomy

Students can accomplish detailed lessons and research with good home broadband connection.  But there is no level playing field.  A school administration knows this.  To work around this in a smaller district or isolated school, would be to survey the parents and find out what the students use at home so homework can be conducted via the Internet and a teacher-parent-student pact.  This requires self-discipline and a desire to excel.  Students in impoverished settings often do not have willing parents or steady communication between teachers and parents.

wallickcommunities.com

tncenturyfarms.org

All the technology available will not bring academic success to a student.  They need to learn the discipline of it, just like any other science of learning.  They need to find their own path to success, and this requires a solid mentor, a desire to learn the technology and hone the skill.  These are challenges—not roadblocks, hurdles, and hindrances—to academic success.

The teacher is the master who sets classroom guidelines and two conditions must be met:  Students are SHOULD NOT using handheld devices in class for any reason unless part of lesson plan and core standards for research do not include a solid understanding of technology beyond that for life skills.

Iowa Core Standards for Curriculum do not provide standards for technology for each subject.  Nothing is written, as this is up to the teacher and school administration.  But literacy is defined in the standards.  Thus from this how can we expect a student to really grasp technology for a productive purpose?

Challenge

International Society for Technology in Education’s National Educational Technology Standards for Students.  http://iowacore.educateiowa.gov  08/01/10. p. 64.

Technology Literacy

Each Iowa student will be empowered with the technological knowledge and skills to learn effectively and live productively.

This vision, developed by the Iowa Core Curriculum 21st Century Skills Committee, reflects the fact that Iowans in the 21st century live in a global environment marked by a high use of technology, giving citizens and workers the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions as never before. Iowa’s students live in a media-suffused environment, marked by access to an abundance of information and rapidly changing technological tools useful for critical thinking and problem solving processes. Therefore, technological literacy supports preparation of students as global citizens capable of self-directed learning in preparation for an ever-changing world.

Regardless of current realities, literacy in any context is defined as the ability “…to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in order to function in a knowledge society…” (ICT Literacy Panel, 2002) “….When we teach only for facts … (specifics)… rather than for how to go beyond facts, we teach students how to get out of date.” (Sternberg, 2008) This statement is particularly significant when applied to technology literacy. The Iowa essential concepts for technology literacy reflect broad, universal processes and skills.

Although it is important that current technologies be integrated into all teachers’ classroom practices and all students’ experiences, it is also important to understand the broader implications of the transforming influence of technology on society. For example, creativity, innovation and systemic thinking are requirements for success in this environment. Technology is changing the way we think about and do our work. It has changed our relationships with information and given us access to resources, economic and professional, that were unimaginable just a few years ago

Technological advances also present societal challenges. It is essential that students have a deep understanding of technology literacy concepts in order to deal with technology’s challenges and implications. It is also essential that educators partner with “…digital natives”…, teaching ways to mediate the challenges, and to realize the potential of technology literacy. (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008)

All the core subjects have avenues for using technology for problem solving and composition.  In a reading environment, a teacher can propose a computer lab or laptop computing assignment to build documents through a web crawl, a Prezi, a Glog, etc.  Students can learn to use the Internet resourcefully and responsibly, to read the information, to learn how to properly list sources using a style guide.

We will type and edit papers, letters, and correspondence; save as a PDF, attach files to an email; organize and edit photos and imagery; create PowerPoints that sell—all to complete a unit with a teacher’s supervision!  Students can create credible self promotion and I don’t mean football accolades.  Reading, history, art—liberal arts—teachers of these subjects can work together. Get the most out of spelling and grammar check so students really get it!  Let’s get creative with our software and not go through the motions of composition.

Many ways to master the keyboard: 

There are subtle ways to get through to a student and ask “Is happiness for you today to sit and text and visit YouTubes and Vine videos, then break for video games later on.  All day.  Every day?  Is this happiness for you?  When do you start?   The answer is always “Now.”

Technology, in its perpetual change is marginally recyclable.  It is both a fiscal and mental investment for taxpayers and users.  How does the teacher get the greatest return for his students and the district?  What is valuable for his students?  Near the halfway mark of the 21^st Century’s second decade, we can start with self-awareness at the keys.

For Johnny Fitzgerald Kennedy

At the core of American Literature

Transcendence from
Whitman, Thoreau, Emerson
              a brave new order.

America today 

Not the greatest nation,
we have grown up!
We have only our own captivity
              and take it personally. 

We seek a daily independence
or security and captivity
in our own devices.

             vices

Our politico and media trumpet how great our democracy
            for so many decades            
            and scores.

Post modern, our collective ego  
           clocked–
           and checked.

We are One
and we are Proud.

Children are teachers too

She did all this on her own. I think I would hire her as PowerPoint builder without second thought.

[SCRIPT]
As adults, the learning curve on new technology is lengthy, especially if the medium is not intuitive. The MacBook operating system and the legacy of Apple computing are intuitive to me, but beyond print and basic word publishing software, PowerPoint and Web design is a foreign language.

The day after I upgraded laptop computers, my youngest daughter instantly commandeered the machine and wowed me with her PowerPoint abilities. The opportunity for her in grade school to become creative with this is priceless. She has used it in book talk and science applications.

That particular Friday evening, November the 8th, I told her that I also added the Microsoft Office package and she seemingly knew that it included PowerPoint. Little did I know that while I was preparing dinner for her and her sister, Gwen was building a learning tool for me, teaching me how easy it is to construct using PowerPoint.

Using the new Photobooth for a series of humorous snapshots, how quickly she captured her candid self. She added these photos to a simple outline of text she compiled, a simple story to her dad, on a nice template shell. The basics of PowerPoint were handed to me.

In summary, she wrote a brief note explaining that like many possessions of mine that interest her, I would give her the old laptop computer one day. She built it like a note from the future. Unfortunately the old laptop did not survive and her—own computer upgrade will come again. Meanwhile, my child handed me major example of learning to help me in my new career.

Ask a question and get an immediate response

What rules and procedures might you institute or design with students to make clickers a cooperative rather than a competitive learning situation?

http://learninginhand.com/blog/four-student-response-systems.html

No these students aren’t texting, but they might be testing.  A challenge to teachers and students lies in the engagement of performance assessments.  There are system assessments for new teachers, self and student participation, basic classroom response, and of course student response assessments that demonstrate timing and critical thinking.  The goal of teaching with clickers is to promote active learning as students can engage and everyone’s ideas and opinions are expressed electronically.  Or student involvement can remain anonymous, without embarrassment in a virtual game-like setting.  Students can see real-time feedback and teachers can assess without correcting paper and pencil quizzes.  The teacher has instant feedback and can take action sooner than later.  With this question-centered instruction, students can ask questions before answering an answer.

The most popular click systems are made by einstruction.  A look at the robust benefits can be found at http://www.einstruction.com/srs-overview  It looks so easy: 

ASK A QUESTION AND GET AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

Keep every student engaged in class with the latest RF student response systems (clickers), including Pulse, Spark and our IR clickers. Ask a question and track immediate responses. With detailed reports, educators will know more about learner comprehension and progress around curriculum. Facilitate greater interaction in a dynamic learning environment that encourages class discussion and participation. – See more at: http://www.einstruction.com/srs-overview#sthash.pg4uwZkH.dpuf

eInstruction gives educators real-time student feedback that makes it possible to know when to reteach content for the whole class, differentiate instruction for individual students, or progress to new material. Gain greater insight into what students are learning and understanding today, and what they need to learn more about tomorrow. – See more at: http://www.einstruction.com/srs-bettertogether#sthash.r8tDkgxW.dpuf

Assessment modules feature LCD, touch screens, and a Wii approach with action buttons.  The maximum number of devices for a classroom of students ranges from 64 to 1000.  Of course these require battery maintenance for optimum performance and are thus limited in the time that they can be utilized.  But use is simple.

http://www.einstruction.com/files/default/files/downloads/CPS%20Spark%20Student%20Quick%20Reference.pdf

Conceptually similar to “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” or other quiz game shows, a common setup for clickers is in multiple choice.  Clicker learning is also an indicator of our insomniac society and how we combine attention deficit disorder, technology, and opportunities to keep the diverse class of tiered learners on task.  Routine use of clicker assessments is one paperless method for students to learn the value of critical thinking and a good night’s sleep for best academic performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMriTkE3igY

Its system software (eInstruction) allows for question entering, connecting to a digital projector, and presenting questions on a screen and radio receiver.  Clicker assessments can be set up in yes/no, true/false, alpha-numeric rankings, or short answers.  Its system software allows for entering questions and prompts for exchange between display on a digital projector transmitting and a radio receiver.

Witness Insight 360 Classroom Instruction System, and a clicking classroom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbi6fkZVPJQ

As a teacher in a language environment, I see myself using this application for brief survey design, short quiz review, feedback, and creative inquiry and opinion prompts for good discussion.  I see value in creating multiple-choice lessons for a literary unit or fun with grammar, usage, and vocabulary building.  We can laugh at awkward definitions.  Students can see, read, and pay attention with their peers. Challenge—how to create a game requiring a response from everyone.  Perfect for test prepping, students of all tiers can see the unit elements come together.

Another benefit of teaching with clickers is that students are not belittled for being slow at the click, as learning activities should not be set up to reward the fast-clicking know-it-all.  If 15/20 have responded, this is an opportunity for them to assist the other 5 with the appropriate response—and click.  The teacher can see the young mind in motion.

At first I thought that the clicker would not be a useful device for a reading or language arts environment.  But with careful classroom strategy, this could be all the rage.  Depending on the amount of devices available, the clicker would be a perfect Friday fun activity with tiered team splitting, designated rotating captains (the clicker), and a quiz bowl setting.

Watch this eInstruction testimonial in a math setting and its endless virtual classroom possibilities beyond simple click devices. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0MtS3Ix-UE   Sold.

December Ode

The Wolves at St. Francis

The night of the winter solstice
and the new snow,
the creaking bergs shoved
against each other,
unsettled in black liquid
against the shore.

The squeaky transmission
bounced beyond the jetty,
inviting a mist from the sea
o’er speckled beach,
a matrix of paw prints
and cracked ice.

Through unpacked snowy trails
we rambled–
past the monastery,
the cemetery,
and into the woods.
Bolting among the skeletal aspens
stark against the snow,
we breathed in the gray and silent night,
an amber street lamp illuminating a December fog.

We followed the moving creek,
black like a twist of licorice.
Through the woods
it kept its banks forever in renewal,
pushing towards the shore.

Past vacant stony grottos we coursed—
no statues, visitors, nor rabbits to stir—
ears piqued to the yelps from afar.

We stepped out
 of the forest
with lost breath,
tossing snowballs, listening to the howling,
the only sound around.

We finished at the stations
reminded of the higher calling–
the signals, the shore–
on that dark winter’s eve.

(originally published 12/23/2010, edited 11/12/2013)

Camptown races, doo-da; My apologies to the Dougie

Songs for the New Dance

Kid Rock
the line dance
the suburban hoe down mix
the hip hop.
I’ve had the time of my life!

What will the new dance be?

The silent iPod,
the sound of one hand clapping
a new jump jive, mosh, or grind?
We teach the old steps, our children must know.

Who will lead the new dance at the Star Wars cantina?
We join our hands.

I get knocked down
 but I get up again—
no, you’re never going to keep me down.

The Chumbawumba with a spin and…
Hands—flat on the floor
Arms—straight like sticks
Step kicks while the hands and arms give balance,
insects with their backs to the mix.

We arrive at the cantina
with found plutonic martinis and sapphire surprises,
while the immortal Ray Manzarek
hammers the keys and we sample the past.

(November, 2010)

Lecture less, Engage more

How can teachers design and lead classes that rely less on lecturing and more on differentiated learning by students? 

Every classroom has students at varying levels of learning and retention.  Some learn best from their peers through a cooperative learning environment.  For some it is not about education, but getting through the day and becoming a more socialized, actualized citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFoIv1zf5to

This particular student sometimes wants to standout, but has a hard time finding his way.  Sometimes it is struggling socially, but sometimes academically.  A teacher needs to give every student a chance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGm0r-L9izc

Plan lessons that are engaging to each student.  Prep them using standard routines for prior knowledge and relate it something in their life.  Compare, make eye contact, call on people, role play, and make them laugh.  Curriculum needs to include lower tier design to account for levels in literacy and attention span.  Lecturing to a diverse classroom allows students to wander mentally, sneak in a text message, write a note, doodle, and stare.  Keep in mind that doodling can be a method for processing new information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA

When a teacher engages he has the full attention unlike during a lecture format, where the ratio is indicative of the dropout rate or less—25%.  The IEP for those severely at risk is critical and the teacher has the responsibility to recognize all student conditions.  This is critical.

On intelligent design with Ben Stein

Intelligence, learning and reaching a student at a pivotal time is random.  It is philosophical, like the nanosecond before the big bang  cosmic new beginning. It is not chaotic, for that is unintelligible.  The laws of gravitation in the universe always explain that there was nothing and then there was something.  Think about this as a teacher.  We are the most intelligent species on the planet.  The potential to always reach someone at any point within the subject matter at hand is infinite.  For me, in literature, there will be thousands of opportunities.  Pay particular attention at the 3:00 minute mark in this interview with Ben Stein, the economics teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEMKVFEoOXE

In any given classroom, cooperative learning strategies are effective, but only if the teacher closely monitors the performance of each group, specifically how the at-risk students interact.  The challenge lay in a teacher’s hands-off approach to micromanagement and allowing the student to keep a peaked interest.

So what about technology?  How does this figure into the mix? Once again technology needs to be used as an engagement tool, not a distractive device.  In using Smart Boards with the younger grade level, each student needs a chance to write on this board, be the secretary, and participate.  In Prizio assignments, the teacher needs to see effort, not perfection, but encourage improvement.

We will reach a smaller percentage of students by supplying them with laptop computers and encouraging them to find it on their own that way, and hide behind their devices.  We are not going to reach students through wireless, handheld devices, unless we encourage kindles as the standard for page turning, highlighting, true reading.

To Point or Not to Point… and click

Reflect on experiences viewing or creating PowerPoint presentations.

Factors for interesting and memorable presentations

Information presentation design (using PowerPoint) is defined as the arrangement of written and pictorial information so that its intended audiences can easily and clearly understand it.  PowerPoint falls under the umbrella of graphic design that includes arranging type and images to communicate information visually. This medium can intrigue or bore an audience and also reinforce an instructor’s lack of creativity.   Its focus needs to be on students for their recall and to promote learning. (Transforming Learning with New Technologies, p. 223)

Engage

Interesting PowerPoint presentations do have fewer web links and more muiltimedia, like flash or voiceover.  They do not look cookie cutter.  Effective PowerPoints have a storybook feel in writer’s voice and graphics.  It is a presentation not a set of independent links.  Cohesive and bound like a pop-up book with tricks and curiosity-building devices.  PowerPoint is effective over a PDF or blog format because it can contain motion without the presenter’s direction.  This is done front end through programming, much like a website.  PDF and blog do not have embedded motion, for they are “documents.”

Teachers should not introduce a unit with the PowerPoint presentations if it contains too much information.  The presentation should test students for prior knowledge on a subject.  The message of the PowerPoint and its timing is critical for a successful presentation.  Ask myself: “Start of day, right after lunch, just before the bell, when and what type of students will see it?”  If the presentation has depth of new information, it should run later in the unit and be interactive in its construction.  The bottom line, PowerPoint should generate discussion.  PowerPoint is also useful for exam preparation, but it should not replace the reading from the book.  I have found for test purposes, if the instructor says specifically that there might be a couple items from PowerPoint on the test, then it is useful as a study guide with good supportive information.  This was produced by a publishing firm to accompany the textbook, but serves as a great presentation for test preparation:

Gornet_7_2

I’m crossing my fingers that the link was a success.  (Feel free to comment)

Strategies for engaging with interactive memorable, and lively presentation

Pause for participation.  Breathe.  Allow the students to absorb and ponder the message.  Check to see if each student is awake.  Look at their eyes.  Repeat.  A PowerPoint presentation needs to move slowly, generate questions, and create interaction in classroom environment.  As a reinforcement tool, PowerPoint must coincide with preparatory reading if used at the beginning of a unit.  As passive instruction, PowerPoint cannot stand alone, as it is neither hands-on nor independent learning.  It is not direct instruction but it can be a set-up for cooperative learning by showing an example.  To be creative in PowerPoint, a teacher should think of it like a pop-up book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bptuYPvfgk

As a sub in an elementary school one afternoon, I was lucky to witness children’s author Jacqueline Davies’ presentation to third and fourth graders.  Having sold over one million books in the Lemonade War series, she tours schools promoting creative development from the perspective of her personal history and her next books in the sequence.  Introspective and likeable with robust industry knowledge, there is a lot for her to sell.  What she really promotes is imagination.  Her PowerPoint slideshow had elements of flash and gathered great audience interaction.  Although I could not find her marketing piece online, I did find a PowerPoint at her website that exemplifies slow, questioning, and interaction.  At the  bottom of this Web page is a link to a PowerPoint that I could not share in this blog:

http://www.jacquelinedavies.net/school_visits.html

Or view this pdf of the same:

http://www.jacquelinedavies.net/downloads/poetry_residency.pdf

This demonstrates the fundamental limitation of PowerPoint in that it does not effectively link to online sources for sharing.  The user must have the software to view it.  The fun is lost in the PDF file.

When considering how to present effectively with color and interaction, teachers must focus on images to generate class discussion, create a visual for analysis of discussion topics, and display questions, comments on slides as attention getters.  Over time, a teacher will find or develop his own PowerPoint learning games.

PowerPoint is attractive and simple for teachers as a tool for technology.  However, the next generation of tools for the Smart Board already includes Prezi design elements, Animoto features, and Glogster multimedia. Glogster is best described as a poster with sound (225), like a pop-up book! Included are some fascinating video tutorials and with samples of this new interactive format.  This might be more inline with the future of presentations on the Smart Board. http://shsmediacenter.edu.glogster.com/in-my-humble-opinion/.  The advantage of Glogster is that students in our point and click—image and icon—interactive world can see the how the elements of a unit connect.  Glogster links to new dimensions in learning, including PowerPoint.  But that’s another story.